The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre Chapter 5 Part 3

Zhang Cuishan¹ sighed. “Very well. I was wrong, and you were right to kill them.”

“That will not do. Wrong is wrong. What is this ‘very well’? You sighed before you admitted it, which shows you were not the least bit sincere.”

Saving her life was the urgent matter. There was no point in wasting more breath in argument. He declared loudly, “Heaven above and the River God below bear witness! I, Zhang Cuishan, do this day sincerely and wholeheartedly offer my apology to Yin… Yin…”

He faltered.

“Yin Susu,”² she supplied.

“Indeed. I offer Miss Yin Susu my apology and my amends.”

Yin Susu beamed with delight and sank abruptly into the chair.

Zhang Cuishan hurriedly produced a pill of Heavenly Heart Detoxifying Elixir³ from the medicine bottle in his robes and gave it to her. He rolled up her sleeve. Half her arm had turned a purplish black, and the dark discolouration was spreading rapidly upward. He seized her upper arm with his left hand.

“How do you feel?”

“My chest feels tight and suffocating,” said Yin Susu. “ If only you had admitted your fault sooner! Had I died, it would have been on your head.”

In such circumstances, Zhang Cuishan could only speak softly to reassure her. “It will be fine. Set your mind at ease. Relax your entire body. Do not exert any effort to circulate your qi. Simply let yourself fall asleep.”

Yin Susu shot him a sidelong glare. “Pretend I am already dead.”

At a time like this, Zhang Cuishan thought, this girl is still so impossibly wilful and vexing. Heaven help the man who becomes her husband. He will have a lifetime of torment.

As this thought crossed his mind, his heart gave an involuntary lurch, and heat rushed to his face. Alarmed that Yin Susu might have read his thoughts, he glanced toward her, only to find her cheeks flushed a deep red, all shyness, though what she was thinking of he could not tell. Their eyes met for the briefest of instants, and both looked away at once.

Yin Susu suddenly murmured, “Zhang the Fifth… Brother, I spoke without thinking, and I struck you. Please… do not hold it against me.”

Zhang Cuishan heard her change of address, from “Zhang the Fifth Xia” to “Zhang the Fifth Brother”, and his heart began to hammer wildly. He nodded slowly, allowed himself a faint smile, then drew a deep breath and gathered his focus. A current of warm qi rose from his dantian, surging through both arms. He gripped the flesh above and below the wound on her arm.

After some time, wisps of white vapour began to rise from the crown of Zhang Cuishan’s head, a sign that he was exerting his full neili.⁴ Sweat steamed from his skin. Yin Susu felt a deep gratitude. She knew this was the critical moment, and fearing to break his concentration she shut her eyes and did not dare speak. Then, with a sharp pop, one of the Plum Blossom Darts leapt from her arm, shooting more than ten feet through the air. A stream of black blood spurted from the wound in its wake. Gradually the blood turned from black to red. Then the second dart was forced out by Zhang Cuishan’s neili.

At that very moment, a voice rang out across the river in a booming cry, “Is Miss Yin here? The Altar Master of the Vermilion Bird Altar⁵ pays his respects!”

Zhang Cuishan found this faintly strange, but he was channelling his energy at full intensity and could not afford distraction. The voice called again. Then the Branch Master aboard their own vessel shouted back, “There is a villain here trying to harm Miss Yin! Altar Master Chang, come quickly!”

The man on the approaching boat bellowed, “Scoundrel! If you so much as harm a single hair on Miss Yin’s head, I will cut you to a thousand pieces!”

His voice rolled across the water like a great bronze bell, thunderous and commanding. Yin Susu opened her eyes and offered Zhang Cuishan a small apologetic smile at the misunderstanding. The third dart, driven deeper by her own blow, was proving stubborn. Zhang Cuishan circulated his energy three times, yet still could not force it out. He heard the rapid splash of oars as the other vessel drew swiftly near. The boat rocked as someone leapt aboard. He paid no heed, concentrating solely on his task.

The newcomer ducked into the cabin and saw Zhang Cuishan’s hands locked around Yin Susu’s left arm. How could he have guessed that this was a healing technique? In his fury, the man drove his palm toward Zhang Cuishan’s back, shouting, “Villain! Release her at once!”

Zhang Cuishan had no hands free to block. He drew a breath, braced his back, and took the blow full on. The palm struck with a thunderous crack. Its force was tremendous, landing squarely between his shoulder blades. But Zhang Cuishan had mastered the deepest secrets of the Wudang Order’s neigong.⁶ His body did not move. He absorbed the force and redirected it through his arms into his palms. With a sharp pop, the third Plum Blossom Dart shot from Yin Susu’s arm and embedded itself in the cabin wall, quivering with residual force.

The attacker had been poised to deliver a second blow, but seeing the dart fly free, he arrested his palm mid-strike.

“Miss Yin, you… you are not injured?” he cried. Seeing the poisoned blood streaming from the wound, this man, clearly a seasoned veteran of the jianghu,⁷ realised at once that he had struck the wrong person. Mortified, he thought that his palm had force enough to split rock and shatter a stone stele. Zhang Cuishan’s organs must surely be destroyed. Fearing for the young man’s life, he hastily produced medicine from his robes.

Zhang Cuishan shook his head. Seeing that the blood flowing from Yin Susu’s wound had turned a healthy crimson, he released her arm, turned around, and smiled. “That was quite a palm strike you delivered.”

The man gaped in astonishment. He had killed he could not count how many renowned masters of the wulin⁸ beneath that very palm. How could this young man, who had neither dodged nor deflected, stand as though nothing had happened?

“You… you…” He reached for Zhang Cuishan’s wrist to check his pulse. Zhang Cuishan thought, I might as well have a bit of fun with him.

He silently engaged his neili, pressing his abdominal membranes upward, and in an instant his heartbeat ceased. When the man’s fingers found his wrist, the pulse had vanished entirely. His alarm doubled.

Zhang Cuishan accepted the handkerchief Yin Susu offered and bandaged her wound.

“The poison has been flushed out with the blood,” he said. “You need only take common antidotes now, and you shall be fine.”

“My thanks,” Yin Susu replied. Then she turned her head, her expression hardening. “Altar Master Chang, you have been most discourteous. Pay your respects to Zhang the Fifth Xia of the Wudang Order.”

The man retreated a step and bowed deeply. “So this is Zhang the Fifth Xia, one of the Seven Xias of Wudang. No wonder his neigong runs so deep. I, Chang Jinpeng,⁹ have given great offence. I beg your forgiveness.”

Zhang Cuishan observed a man of about fifty, the muscles of his face and hands knotted and gnarled like the roots of an ancient tree. He returned the salute with clasped hands. “I am Zhang Cuishan. Well met, Altar Master Chang.”

Having paid his respects to Zhang Cuishan, Chang Jinpeng immediately turned and bowed to Yin Susu with the utmost deference. Yin Susu acknowledged him with a casual nod, paying him scant attention. Zhang Cuishan observed this with quiet surprise.

Chang Jinpeng said, “Altar Master Bai of the Black Tortoise Altar¹⁰ has arranged a meeting with the Haisha School,¹¹ the Jujing Guild,¹² and the Shenquan School¹³ tomorrow morning at Wangpan Island¹⁴ in the mouth of the Qiantang River,¹⁵ to display the dao and establish authority. Miss is unwell; allow me to escort you back to Lin’an¹⁶ prefecture. The business at Wangpan Island should be well within Altar Master Bai’s ability to manage alone.”

Yin Susu gave a contemptuous snort. “The Haisha School, the Jujing Guild, the Shenquan School… Has Guo Sanquan,¹⁷ the zhangmen¹⁸ of the Shenquan School, also gone?”

Chang Jinpeng replied, “It is said he has personally led twelve of his finest disciples to the gathering.”

Yin Susu sneered. “Guo Sanquan may have a great reputation, but he would not survive a single exchange with Altar Master Bai. Who else is there?”

Chang Jinpeng hesitated briefly, then said, “I have heard that two young swordsmen of the Kunlun School¹⁹ will also attend, claiming they wish to see the Dragon-Slaying…”

At this, his gaze flickered toward Zhang Cuishan and he fell silent. Yin Susu said coolly, “They want to see the Dragon-Slaying Dao?²⁰ More likely their eyes burn with covetous desire.”

Zhang Cuishan’s heart clenched at those words. Yin Susu continued, “The Kunlun School is not to be taken lightly. As it happens, my arm was in terrible shape, but Zhang the Fifth Xia has been good enough to heal it. In that case, let us go and observe the spectacle. We may need to lend Altar Master Bai a hand.”

She turned to Zhang Cuishan. “Zhang the Fifth Xia, I am truly grateful. Let us part here. I shall take Altar Master Chang’s vessel, and you may have my boat to return to Lin’an. The affairs of Wudang need not be entangled in this.”

Zhang Cuishan said, “My third shixiong’s injuries appear connected to the Dragon-Slaying Dao. I would hear more of the matter, if Miss Yin would be so kind.”

Yin Susu replied, “The finer details remain unclear to me as well. You would do better to ask your third shixiong himself when the day comes.”

Seeing that she would say no more, Zhang Cuishan knew further questioning would be fruitless. He thought, The men who wounded my third shixiong were after the Dragon-Slaying Dao. Altar Master Chang spoke of displaying the dao and establishing authority at Wangpan Island, which means the dao is in their possession. Should those villains catch wind of this, they will surely come.

He said, “The scoundrel who threw these three Plum Blossom Darts, do you think he might also appear at Wangpan Island?”

Yin Susu pursed her lips in a slight smile but did not answer his question. Instead she said, “If you are determined to attend this gathering, then let us go together.”

She turned to Chang Jinpeng. “Altar Master Chang, have your vessel lead the way.”

Chang Jinpeng acknowledged the order and withdrew from the cabin in a stooped bow, as deferential as a servant before his master. Yin Susu merely nodded. Zhang Cuishan, however, respected the man’s martial accomplishments and rose to see him to the cabin door.

Yin Susu glanced at the shattered fabric on the back of Zhang Cuishan’s robe where Chang Jinpeng’s palm had struck. When he returned, she said, “Remove your robe and I shall mend it for you.”

“There is no need,” Zhang Cuishan replied.

“Do you think my needlework too crude?”

“I would not presume,” he said. But he fell silent after those words, his thoughts darkening. In a single night she had killed scores of souls at the Longmen Armed Escort, old and young alike. A murderer of such black wickedness he ought by rights to have struck down with his own hand. Yet here he sat, sharing her vessel, having just helped extract the poisoned darts from her arm. Though he could justify it as repayment for her kindness in escorting his shixiong, the moral accounting remained troublingly unclear. Once the business at Wangpan Island was concluded, he would need to part from her at once and never see her again.

Yin Susu read the displeasure on his face and guessed his thoughts. Her voice turned cold. “It was not only Du Dajin and Escort Captains Zhu and Shi. Not only the Longmen Armed Escort household and those two Shaolin monks. Monk Huifeng. I killed him too.”

Zhang Cuishan said, “I had already suspected as much. I simply could not fathom by what means.”

“What is so remarkable about it?” Yin Susu replied, “I was hiding in the water by the lakeshore, listening to your conversation. When Huifeng suddenly realised that you and I did not look alike and was about to say so, I shot a silver needle through his mouth. You searched for me on the road, in the trees, in the undergrowth. But how could you have found me?”

Zhang Cuishan’s voice was tight with barely suppressed anger. “And so the Shaolin Order became utterly convinced that I was the killer. Miss Yin, you are truly clever. Truly masterful.”

His words brimmed with bitter indignation. Yin Susu feigned obliviousness and rose gracefully to her feet, smiling. “You flatter me, Zhang the Fifth Xia.”

Footnotes

1. 张翠山 – Zhāng Cuìshān. His name meaning “Verdant Mountain.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 殷素素 – Yīn Sùsù. Her name meaning “Plain and Simple.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 天心解毒丹 – tiānxīn jiědú dān. Literally Heavenly Heart Detoxifying Elixir. Medicinal pill carried by martial practitioners for neutralising poisons. ↩

4. 内力 – nèilì. Literally internal force. Kinetic manifestation of cultivated qi; generates tangible effects such as deflecting weapons or scaling walls. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 朱雀坛 – Zhūquè Tán. Literally Vermilion Bird Altar. Mythological Vermillion Bird was one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations, representing the Fire element, the direction South, and the season of summer. ↩

6. 内功 – nèigōng. Literally internal skill. Practice of developing neili through breathing, meditation and qi cultivation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. Itinerant world beyond settled society and official reach, holding not only martial artists but the trades that travel with them, including pedlars, physicians, fortune-tellers, entertainers, boatmen, beggars, outlaws and the like. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 武林 – wǔlín. Literally martial forest. Those who actually practise, teach or study martial arts. Wulin sits inside the jianghu and is narrower than it: every member of the wulin belongs to the jianghu, but a pedlar or physician of the jianghu who never trained is no part of the wulin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 常金鹏 – Cháng Jīnpéng. His name meaning “Golden Roc.” Altar Master of the Vermilion Bird Altar of the Tianying Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 玄武坛 – Xuánwǔ Tán. Literally Black Tortoise Altar. Mythological Black Tortoise was one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations, representing the Water element, the direction North, and the season of winter. ↩

11. 海沙派 – Hǎishā Pài. Haisha School, meaning “Sea Sand School.” A Jiangnan faction. ↩

12. 巨鲸帮 – Jùjīng Bāng. Jujing Guild, meaning “Giant Whale Guild,” a seafaring faction. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 神拳门 – Shénquán Mén. Shenquan School, meaning “Divine Fist School.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 王盘山 – Wángpán Shān. Wangpan Island, the sea island where the Tianying Order raised the Dragon-Slaying Dao to overawe the wulin some years before. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 钱塘江 – Qiántáng Jiāng. Qiantang River, famous for its tidal bore. Flows through modern-day Hangzhou. See Wikipedia. ↩

16. 临安 – Lín’ān. Capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1276), known for its cultural refinement and West Lake scenery. Modern-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

17. 过三拳 – Guò Sānquán. His name literally meaning “Three Fists,” derived from his reputation for killing any opponent within three punches. Master of the Shenquan School. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 掌门 – zhǎngmén. Literally the one who holds the gate. Head of a martial arts school or order, holding its authority and its transmission. Zhǎng means to take charge of or preside over. Mén means gate, and by extension the school itself. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

19. 昆仑派 – Kūnlún Pài. Kunlun School, a major martial arts school based in the Kunlun Mountains of the northwest. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

20. 屠龙刀 – Túlóng Dāo. Dragon-Slaying Dao; the name’s literal sense is “dragon-slaying”. Legendary blade and the supreme weapon of the jianghu, forged with the Heavenly Jian from meteoric iron. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩