The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 6 – Part 2

Xie Xun said to Zhang Cuishan, “Zhang the Fifth Xia, you have embedded martial arts within calligraphy, opening an entirely new path and broadening one’s horizons greatly. I am impressed, truly impressed. Whatever instructions you have, please speak them quickly!” Bound by his word, he had no choice but to speak thus, though inwardly he was greatly dispirited.

Zhang Cuishan said, “I am a humble student and latecomer, fortunate to possess a meagre skill that has earned the Senior’s praise. How could I dare speak of ‘instructions’? I only venture to make a single request.”

Xie Xun asked, “What do you request of me?”

Zhang Cuishan said, “The Senior will take this Dragon-Slaying Dao, but I ask that you spare the lives of those on this island. You may compel each of them to swear a poisonous oath, forbidding them from revealing the secret.”

Xie Xun said, “I’m not that foolish, trusting oaths from others.”

Yin Susu said, “So your word counts for nothing. You said that if you lost the contest, you would obey another’s instructions. Now you wish to go back on it?”

Xie Xun said, “If I want to go back on my word, I go back on it. What can you do about it?” He paused, then added, thinking better of it, “Very well. I shall spare the two of you, but the rest cannot be spared.”

Zhang Cuishan said, “The two swordsmen of Kunlun School¹ are disciples of a renowned faction, and have never committed any evil in their lives…”

Xie Xun cut him off, saying, “What evil or good? In my eyes, there is no difference whatsoever. Tear strips from your clothes at once and stuff them deep into your ears, then press both hands firmly over them. If you value your lives, do not delay.” His voice dropped extremely low as he spoke, as though fearful that others might overhear.

Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu exchanged a glance, uncertain of his meaning, but hearing the gravity in his tone, they presumed there must be good reason. They did as he bid, tearing strips from their garments, stuffing them into their ears, and pressing their palms tight over both.

Suddenly Xie Xun thrust out his chest, drew in a great breath, and opened his mouth wide as if to release a mighty roar. Though the two could hear no sound, they both felt their bodies shudder involuntarily. They saw the men of the Tianying Order,² the Jujing Guild,³ the Haisha School,⁴ and the Shenquan School⁵ one after another gaping, their faces twisted in astonishment; then their expressions turned to anguish, as though their whole bodies were enduring terrible torment; and presently, one by one, they collapsed to the ground, writhing and rolling without cease.

Gao Zecheng and Jiang Litao of Kunlun School, alerted by the commotion, immediately sat cross-legged with closed eyes, channeling their neili⁶ to resist the roar. Beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled down their foreheads, the muscles of their faces twitching uncontrollably. Several times they raised their hands to cover their ears, but each time, when their fingers were mere inches away, they forced them down again. Suddenly, both Gao and Jiang leapt into the air, rising some ten feet, before falling stiff and straight to the ground, motionless.

Xie Xun closed his mouth and ceased his roar, then gestured for Zhang and Yin to remove the cloth from their ears. He said, “These men, after my roar, have all fainted. Their lives may be preserved, but when they wake, their minds will be shattered. They will become madmen, unable to recall or speak of anything that has passed. Zhang the Fifth Xia, I have done as you asked. The lives of all on Wangpan Island⁷ I have spared.”

Zhang Cuishan said nothing, thinking to himself, You have spared their lives, but these men are worse than dead. I fear this is more cruel than killing them outright. His heart filled with an inexpressible hatred for Xie Xun’s cruelty and ruthlessness. He saw Gao Zecheng, Jiang Litao, and the others lying unconscious, their faces a sickly yellow, drained of all colour. He reflected that within a single roar, Xie Xun had displayed such fearful power, and it was truly terrifying and awe-inspiring. Had he not stuffed his ears with cloth beforehand, he could not imagine what fate would have befallen him.

Xie Xun, his expression unchanged, said calmly, “Let us go.”

Zhang Cuishan asked, “Where to?”

Xie Xun said, “Back, of course! The affair on Wangpan Island is concluded. What business do we have lingering here?”

Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu exchanged a glance, both thinking, We must share another night on a boat with this demon, and who knows what fresh calamity may occur in those few shichen?⁸

Xie Xun led them to the rear of a small hill on the island’s western side. In the harbour lay a three-masted ship, his own vessel, no doubt, that had brought him to the island. Xie Xun approached the ship, bowed slightly, and said, “Please, the two of you, board the ship.”

Yin Susu said with a cold laugh, “And now you turn polite.”

Xie Xun said, “The two of you are honoured guests aboard my ship. How could I not receive you with proper courtesy?”

The three boarded, and Xie Xun gestured to the sailors to raise anchor and set sail.

There were sixteen or seventeen sailors aboard, but the helmsman gave his orders with gestures alone, never uttering a sound. It seemed every one of them was mute.

Yin Susu said, “What remarkable ingenuity, to find a whole ship of sailors both deaf and dumb.”

Xie Xun gave a faint smile and said, “What difficulty is there? I need only find a ship of illiterate sailors, pierce their ears deaf, and administer a draught that takes their speech. The task is done.”

Zhang Cuishan could not suppress a shudder.

Yin Susu clapped her hands and laughed, “Brilliant, brilliant! Deaf, dumb, and unable to read, so no matter what great secret you keep, they cannot betray it. It is a pity they must steer the ship. Otherwise they might have blinded them too.”

Zhang Cuishan cast her a sideways glance and said reproachfully, “Miss Yin, you are a fine young lady. How can you be so cruel? This is a tragedy of the human condition, and you can laugh at it?”

Yin Susu stuck out her tongue. She would have argued, but the words died on her lips as she took in his expression, and she drew them back.

Xie Xun said mildly, “When we return to the mainland, their eyes will be put out in due course.”

Zhang Cuishan glanced at the several boatmen, his heart heavy with pity. By tomorrow, he thought, you will have no eyes left.

He watched the sails rise and the bow turn slowly away from shore. “Senior Xie,” he said, “what of those on the island? You have destroyed every boat. How can they leave?”

Xie Xun said, “Young sir Zhang, you are not a bad sort, but you are too meddlesome for your own good. Let them live out their days on the island and perish in their own time. Is that not clean and tidy?”

Zhang Cuishan knew this man was beyond reason and fell silent. He watched their ship grow ever smaller as it pulled away from the island, thinking, Though most of those on the island are men steeped in evil, this fate is too cruel. If no one comes to rescue them, I fear not one will survive ten days. He thought further, The two disciples of Kunlun School have died on this island. Their masters will surely seek answers. Soon enough, the wulin⁹ of the Central Plains will be thrown into turmoil.

In recent years, the Seven Xias of Wudang¹⁰ had roamed the jianghu¹¹ with impunity, their every endeavour meeting with success. Who could have foreseen that today they would find themselves bound hand and foot, their lives hanging in another’s grasp, without the slightest means of resistance? Zhang Cuishan felt equal parts fury and frustration. He sat in silence, paying no heed to either Xie Xun or Yin Susu.

After a time, he turned to gaze from the window at the sea. The sun was sinking towards the waves, casting ten thousand golden serpents shimmering across the water’s surface. He was lost in contemplation when suddenly a thought struck him: How can the setting sun be behind the ship? He turned to Xie Xun and said, “The helmsman has lost his bearings. We are sailing east.”

Xie Xun said, “East it is. Quite correct.”

Yin Susu said, “East is nothing but the open sea. Where are we going? Tell the helmsman to turn about at once!”

Xie Xun said, “Did I not explain this clearly already? I have obtained this Dragon-Slaying Dao, and I must find some quiet place to ponder it at leisure. I must understand why this dao is called supreme in the wulin, why it commands all under heaven and none dare defy it. The Central Plains are a place of strife. If anyone learns I possess the dao, today one comes to seize it, tomorrow another to steal it. Fending off those whelps would be tiresome enough. How could I ever settle my mind? And if those who came were masters such as Zhang Sanfeng or the Leader of the Tianying Order, I, Xie Xun, might not prevail. Therefore I must find some desolate island in the vast ocean, beyond the reach of men, and settle there.”

Yin Susu said, “Then send us back first.”

Xie Xun laughed. “The moment you return to the Central Plains, my whereabouts would be exposed.”

Zhang Cuishan rose abruptly and said sharply, “What do you intend?”

Xie Xun said, “I can only ask the two of you to endure some hardship and keep me company on that deserted island for a few happy, carefree days.”

Zhang Cuishan said, “And if you spend ten years, eight years, and still cannot uncover the dao’s secret?”

Xie Xun laughed. “Then you two shall keep me company on the island for ten years, eight years. If I never figure it out in my lifetime, you shall stay with me for my lifetime. You are a talented scholar and she a beautiful lady, well matched in every way. You might as well wed on the island, bear children, and live out your days. Would that not be splendid?”

Zhang Cuishan was incensed. He struck the table and shouted, “Stop talking nonsense!” He glanced sideways at Yin Susu and saw her lower her head in embarrassment, a flush rising in her cheeks.

Zhang Cuishan was secretly alarmed. He sensed that if he remained in Yin Susu’s company any longer, he would find it difficult to restrain himself. Xie Xun was a powerful enemy without, but within his own heart, the restless clamour of desire was an enemy yet more formidable. In a place of such peril, surrounded on all sides by danger, the sooner he left the better. He suppressed his anger and said, “Senior Xie, I am a man of my word and will certainly not reveal your whereabouts. I shall swear a solemn oath now that I will not breathe a word of what I have seen or heard today to any man.”

Xie Xun said, “Zhang the Fifth Xia is a renowned hero of the righteous path. Your word is as good as a thousand gold, your promise as steadfast as the mountains. This is already well known throughout the jianghu. But I, Xie Xun, made a solemn oath when I was twenty-eight. Look at my fingers.” He held out his left hand. Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu looked and saw that his little finger was severed clean at the base, leaving only four fingers.

Xie Xun said slowly, “That year, a person I most revered and loved above all others wronged me grievously. He destroyed my family and brought about the deaths of my parents, my wife, and my children, all in a single night. Therefore I severed my finger and swore an oath: so long as I, Xie Xun, draw breath, I will never trust another human being. I am forty-one this year. For thirteen years, I have consorted with beasts alone. I have killed fewer beasts and more men.”

Zhang Cuishan felt a chill run through him, thinking, No wonder he possesses such peerless martial skill, yet the jianghu has never heard of him. It must be that what he suffered at twenty-eight was a horror beyond all telling, and so he grew to despise the world and loathe mankind, withdrawing from all company and hating every living soul. He had hated Xie Xun for his cruelty and brutality, but hearing these words, he could not help but feel a measure of pity. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Senior Xie, your great enmity and bitter hatred, surely you have already avenged it?”

Xie Xun said, “No. The one who wronged me is a master of supreme skill. I could not defeat him.”

Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu exclaimed in unison, “Even more skilled than you? Who is this person?”

Xie Xun said, “Why should I speak his name and bring shame upon myself? If not for this deep enmity and bitter hatred, why would I seize the Dragon-Slaying Dao? Why torment myself to uncover its secret? Young sir Zhang, from the moment I saw you, I felt a kinship. Otherwise, according to my usual temper, I would never have allowed you to live until now. That I have let you two live longer is already a great departure from my custom. I fear there is something amiss in this.”

Yin Susu asked, “What do you mean, ‘lived longer’?”

Xie Xun said flatly, “When I have unriddled the secret within the dao, I shall leave the island and kill you both. The later I figure it out, the longer you live.”

Yin Susu said, “Hmph. This dao is merely heavy and sharp, proof against fire. What particular secret could it hold? This ‘commanding all under heaven, none dare defy’ merely means it is the foremost blade in the world, nothing more.”

Xie Xun sighed. “If that were truly all, then the three of us shall live on this deserted island until we die.” His face grew ashen, his spirits sinking, as he realised Yin Susu’s words might well be true, and if so, his hope of vengeance was lost forever.

Footnotes

1. 昆仑派 – Kūnlún Pài. A martial school of the western regions. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 天鹰教 – Tiānyīng Jiào. The Tianying Order, meaning “Heavenly Eagle Order.” A major martial order led by the White-Browed Eagle King Yin Tianzheng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 巨鲸帮 – Jùjīng Bāng. The Jujing Guild, meaning “Giant Whale Guild.” One of the factions allied with the Tianying Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 海沙派 – Hǎishā Pài. The Haisha School, meaning “Sea Sand School.” One of the factions allied with the Tianying Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 神拳门 – Shénquán Mén. The Shenquan School, meaning “Divine Fist School.” A martial school known for its fist techniques. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 内力 – nèilì. Internal force. The kinetic manifestation of qi cultivated through neigong practice. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 王盘山 – Wángpán Shān. Wangpan Island, meaning “Imperial Plate Mountain.” An island where the Tianying Order held its gathering. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 时辰 – shíchén. A traditional Chinese time period equivalent to two modern hours; the day was divided into twelve shichen. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 武林 – wǔlín. The martial forest. The community of martial artists and their factions. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 武当七侠 – Wǔdāng Qī Xiá. The Seven Xias of Wudang. The seven disciples of Zhang Sanfeng, founder of the Wudang Order: Song the First Xia, Yu the Second Xia, Yu the Third Xia, Zhang the Fourth Xia, Zhang the Fifth Xia, Yin the Sixth Xia, and Mo the Seventh Xia. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. The itinerant world beyond settled society and official reach, holding not only martial artists but the trades that travel with them. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩