The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 40 – Part 9

Zhang Wuji said, “Brothers, we have disputed this matter for many days now. I am firmly unwilling to style myself emperor or king. My resolution stands, in obedience to the Holy Fire Tablets¹' great command. Our Ming Order's Dragon-Slaying Dao swears to slay tyrannical rulers who harm the people, to root out corrupt officials, and this purpose shall not change for a thousand years or ten thousand.” As he spoke, he drew the Dragon-Slaying Dao² from his waist. He lifted over a pearwood chair and cried in a loud voice, “I, Zhang Wuji, as Order Leader of the Chinese Ming Order, before the countless good brothers of our Chinese Ming Order, hereby make this oath. If I break this oath, let the Ming Order's countless brothers take me as their enemy. If I break this oath, let this chair be my example!” A flash of dark light, and the Dragon-Slaying Dao fell in a single stroke. It parted the wood as though it were clear water, and with a soft hiss the chair split in two.

The assembly saw that his heart was set, and moreover the former generations had indeed left this injunction, so they pressed him no further to declare himself king. They swore a solemn oath among themselves that henceforth they would labour to benefit the people, bring succour to the common folk, and bear hardship for their sake.

After this, Zhu Yuanzhang changed his title to King of Wu. At Poyang Lake he fought a great battle against Chen Youliang, and Zhou Dian, the Five Elements Banners³ and others aided Zhu Yuanzhang, routing Chen Youliang so thoroughly that he was killed in the lake. Afterwards he destroyed Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen and the other rival powers. Zhu Yuanzhang sent Xu Da to lead the northern expedition, driving the Yuan Shundi beyond the Great Wall into the desert, and so the Yuan Dynasty the Mongols had built upon Chinese soil came to its end. Zhu Yuanzhang did not forget the Ming Order, and named the dynasty he founded the Ming Dynasty. But because the Ming Order protected the common people, the court and its officials slaughtered and suppressed them. As the years passed, the later leaders proved unequal to their forebears, and the Ming Order too declined and faded.

That day Zhang Wuji set the Order’s affairs in order, entrusting them provisionally to Yang Xiao, Fan Yao and Peng Yingyu. He would keep his promise that very day and escort Zhao Min to Mongolia. He too would settle in Mongolia and never return to the Central Land. The post of Order Leader must in future be given to another worthy man. He and Zhao Min made ready their travelling gear, and when all was done, he found himself with leisure. He remembered that his father’s epithet was Silver Hook Iron Stroke,⁴ so he took up a copybook and practised his calligraphy, hoping to carry on his father’s legacy. But the brush proved stubborn in his hand. The brush-hairs were soft, and though he called upon the Nine Yang Divine Art⁵ and added the hand-methods of the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth,⁶ he could not master the instrument.

Zhao Min saw him holding the brush with a clouded face, and said, “Wuji gege,⁷ you once promised me three tasks. The first was to lend me the Dragon-Slaying Dao for a look. The second was that you must not wed Zhou Jiejie⁸ that day at Haozhou. Both those you have done. Now, what of the third? You must not break your word.”

Zhang Wuji was startled. “You… you… what strange trick have you in mind now?”

Zhao Min smiled brightly. “My eyebrows are too faint. Draw them for me. That does not offend the ways of the wulin,⁹ does it?”

Zhang Wuji lifted the brush and laughed. “From this day forth, I will draw your eyebrows every single day.”

Suddenly from outside the window came a soft giggle, and a voice said, “Wuji gege, you did promise me a task too, did you not?” It was Zhou Zhiruo’s voice.

The window pushed slowly open, and Zhou Zhiruo’s pretty face appeared by candlelight, half-smiling, half-not. Zhang Wuji cried, “You… what do you want of me now?”

Zhou Zhiruo smiled. “If you want to know, come outside and I will tell you.”

Zhang Wuji glanced at Zhao Min, then glanced again at Zhou Zhiruo. In that instant a hundred feelings crowded upon him, and he could not tell whether he was glad or sorry. His hand trembled, and the brush fell to the table.

Zhao Min pushed him gently. “Go and hear what she has to ask.”

Zhang Wuji leapt through the window. Zhou Zhiruo was walking slowly away, and he quickened his pace to walk beside her.

Zhou Zhiruo asked, “Tomorrow you see Miss Zhao to Mongolia, and she will never return to the Central Land. And you?”

Zhang Wuji said, “Most likely I shall not return either. What is the task you want of me?”

Zhou Zhiruo said slowly, “A debt repaid for a debt. That day at Haozhou, Zhao Min would not let you wed me. Henceforth, though you spend day and night with Zhao Min in Mongolia, you must never go through a wedding ceremony.”

Zhang Wuji was startled. “Why is that?”

Zhou Zhiruo said, “Does that offend the way of xia,¹⁰ does it?”

Zhang Wuji said, “Not to go through a wedding ceremony certainly does not offend the way of xia. I had a marriage agreement with you once, and that too was never solemnised. Very well. I give you my promise. After we reach Mongolia, Zhao Min and I will not go through a wedding ceremony, but we shall live as man and wife and have children all the same.”

Zhou Zhiruo smiled. “That will do, then.”

Zhang Wuji said in wonder, “Why do you put us to this difficulty? What is your purpose?”

Zhou Zhiruo gave a radiant smile. “You may live as man and wife and have children all the same. But after ten years or eight, you will be thinking only of me. You will not be able to let me go. That is enough.” With that her figure stirred, and she drifted away into the darkness and was gone.

Zhang Wuji’s heart grew muddled. He thought that henceforth, so long as he and Zhao Min were inseparable, living as man and wife and having children without a wedding ceremony, there was nothing amiss in that. But why, after ten years or eight, would I be thinking only of Zhiruo? Why would I not be able to let her go? He thought further, She never truly wed Song Qingshu, and she and I had a marriage agreement. She did many things that wronged me, but thinking on it now, she was not truly cruel to me. Some of it was because her shifu¹¹ forced her. She stole the Dragon-Slaying Dao and the Heavenly Jian, it is true, but the Dragon-Slaying Dao is back in my hands now, and my cousin Yin Li is not dead…

The one who loves me most and wishes most to marry me, besides Zhiruo, is naturally Min-meimei,¹² and Zhu’er too, and Xiaozhao…

Zhang Wuji’s nature was such that he remembered only the kindness others had shown him, and the more he recalled, the brighter it grew. Of his own accord he forgave their faults, for often the wrong others did him was done out of love for him. He thought on until every fault and failure had been turned to goodness in his mind, and even the small dregs that remained in his heart he dismissed with the thought, Who has no faults? I myself have wronged others, have I not? Xiaozhao treated me truly well. She has recovered the heart-method of the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, and it matters little that she does not serve as Holy Maiden Order Leader. Zhu’er will not practise the Thousand Spiders Ten Thousand Poisons Hand any longer, and perhaps one day she will come looking for me again, her great Zhang Wuji. I promised to take her as my wife…

Each of these four women had loved him with all her heart and branded him upon her bones. He remembered only their goodness, and all their faults and failures he had forgotten. And so each of them was very, very good indeed…

(The End)

Footnotes

1. 圣火令 – Shènghuǒ Lìng. The Holy Fire Tablets, twelve golden tablets of the Ming Order that symbolise the Order Leader’s authority. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 屠龙刀 – Túlóng Dāo. The Dragon-Slaying Dao, one of the two legendary weapons forged from the Heavy Iron Sword, said to hold the secrets of warfare. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 五行旗 – Wǔxíng Qí. The Five Elements Banners, the military divisions of the Ming Order, each named for one of the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. ↩

4. 银钩铁划 – Yín Gōu Tiě Huà. Silver Hook Iron Stroke, the epithet of Zhang Cuishan, describing his calligraphic style that mirrored his jian-work. ↩

5. 九阳神功 – Jiǔyáng Shéngōng. The Nine Yang Divine Art, the supreme neigong method recorded in the Nine Yang Manual. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 乾坤大挪移 – Qiánkūn Dà Nuóyí. The Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, the supreme secret art of the Ming Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 哥哥 – gēge. Elder brother, a term of affectionate address. Here used by Zhao Min for Zhang Wuji. ↩

8. 姊姊 – zǐzǐ. Elder sister, used here by Zhao Min for Zhou Zhiruo. ↩

9. 武林 – wǔlín. The martial forest, the community of martial artists and their affairs. ↩

10. 侠 – xiá. A martial hero who upholds justice and protects the weak. The way of xia is the code such heroes follow. ↩

11. 师父 – shīfù. Teacher and lineage father. Shī means teacher. Fù means father. ↩

12. 妹妹 – mèimei. Younger sister, a term of affectionate address. ↩