The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 6 – Part 3

Seeing the expression on his face, Zhang Cuishan could not help but offer a few words of comfort. But Xie Xun, with a soft puff, blew out the candle and said, “Sleep.” Then he drew a long, long sigh, a sigh filled with inexhaustible suffering and boundless despair, so unlike the voice of a man that it was more like the dying howl of some grievously wounded beast. Blended with the sound of the waves beyond the hull, the noise sent a chill through both Zhang and Yin as they listened in the dark.

Zhang Cuishan gazed out through the cabin opening. Under the moonlight he saw white shapes flickering across the surface of the sea: large fish and medium fish, leaping from the water one after another. As far as the eye could reach, there were thousands upon thousands of them, a marvellous spectacle. Zhang Cuishan had spent some time at sea in his youth, but he had no idea what this mass leaping of fish might mean.

A gust of sea wind blew in through the cabin hatch. Yin Susu wore only a thin robe, and after a time she began to shiver, unable to resist the cold any longer. Zhang Cuishan said in a low voice, “Miss Yin, are you cold?”

Yin Susu said, “I can manage.”

Zhang Cuishan removed his long robe and said, “Wrap this around you.”

Yin Susu was deeply touched. “No need,” she said. “You will be cold too.”

“I am not afraid of the cold,” said Zhang Cuishan, pressing the robe into her hands. Yin Susu took it and draped it over her shoulders. It still carried Zhang Cuishan’s warmth, and her heart filled with a sweetness that drew an involuntary smile to her lips in the darkness.

Zhang Cuishan, however, was turning over in his mind the only means of escape he could see. Think as he might, there was but one path: Unless Xie Xun is killed, there is no way out.

He tilted his ear and listened. Beneath the great surging of the waves, he could hear Xie Xun’s breathing grow deep and heavy. Plainly asleep. He thought, This man has sworn a solemn oath and will never trust another for the rest of his days. Yet he lies sleeping on the same vessel as the two of us, sleeping soundly. Can he be so confident that he fears no attack? Or does he lie in wait? Either way, I must risk a single strike. A moment’s hesitation, and my whole life ahead of me will be buried with him on some nameless island in this endless sea.

He moved softly to Yin Susu’s side, meaning to whisper a word in her ear. But at that very instant she turned her face towards his, and their two heads came together. Zhang Cuishan’s lips brushed her right cheek.

Zhang Cuishan started. He wished to explain that the touch had been no deliberate impropriety, but could think of no way to begin. Yin Susu’s heart was brimming with happiness. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and in that moment a tender sweetness filled her entirely. Then she felt his lips at her ear again, whispering, “Miss Yin, please do not take offence.”

Yin Susu’s face was hot as fire. She whispered back, “You care for me. That makes me very happy.” Though she had always been willful and killed without so much as blinking, now that she had met with the feelings of the heart she was no different from any young woman in all the world tasting love for the first time: startled, delighted, flustered, bewildered. Had it not been for the darkness, she would not have dared speak even those words.

Zhang Cuishan was taken aback. He had not expected a single apology to draw forth such an outpouring of feeling. Yin Susu was surpassingly lovely, and from the moment they had first met she had regarded him with tender eyes. Now, in those eight brief characters, she had declared her devotion outright. Zhang Cuishan was young and full of vigour. Though he held himself to the proprieties, he was not made of stone. He felt her body lean softly against his shoulder, and a faint fragrance drifted to his nostrils. He was about to speak a few gentle words to her when a thought struck him like cold water: Zhang Cuishan, a grave enemy lies before you, and yet you cannot steady your heart? Have you forgotten everything your shifu taught you? Even if the two of you are drawn to one another, and even though she has done your Third Shixiong a great kindness, she comes from a heterodox order and her conduct is unorthodox. You must inform your shifu first and gain his blessing before any match is arranged. How can you behave thus in a darkened cabin, like some clandestine lover?

At the thought he sat upright at once and said in a low voice, “We must find a way to subdue this man before we can escape.”

Yin Susu had been drifting in a pleasant daze. His words jolted her. “What?” she asked.

Zhang Cuishan whispered, “We are in deadly peril. To strike at him while he sleeps would be neither honourable nor worthy of a true man. I will wake him first and contest him palm against palm. You must fire your silver needles at once. Two against one is hardly sporting, but the gap in our skill is so great that we must take whatever advantage we can.”

His voice was no louder than a mosquito’s hum, his lips pressed close to Yin Susu’s ear as he spoke. Yet before Yin Susu could reply, Xie Xun burst into loud laughter from the rear cabin, saying, “If you had launched a surprise attack, you might have found your mark, or at the very least forced me onto the defensive. But now you insist on honour and fair play, preserving the noble manners of a righteous faction. You are asking for trouble.” The final syllable had barely left his mouth when his shadow shifted and he was upon Zhang Cuishan, his palm striking at his chest.

Zhang Cuishan had been gathering his zhenqi¹ from the moment Xie Xun began to speak, channelling his neili² in readiness. As the palm came crashing towards him, he thrust out his own right palm and met the blow with the Cotton Palm,³ the heart-transmitted art of the Wudang Order. The two palms met with a soft hiss, and Xie Xun’s force came pouring against him like a toppling mountain and an overturning sea. Zhang Cuishan knew the other man’s power far exceeded his own, and had long since decided upon a strategy of defence alone, to hold for as long as he could, each moment a moment gained. When their palm-force collided, his hand was driven back some ten inches. Yet those ten inches worked in his favour: no matter how fiercely Xie Xun pressed his attack, he could not shove aside the defending palm.

Xie Xun drove his palm-force forward three times in succession. Each time he found the opposing force far weaker than his own, yet somehow unyielding, feeble but not spent, weak but not exhausted. The harder he pressed, the more stubbornly Zhang Cuishan held. Xie Xun silently commended him. Then his left palm rose and fell towards the crown of Zhang Cuishan’s head. Zhang Cuishan bent his left arm and blocked the blow with the stance called Crossing the Golden Beam.⁴ The martial arts of the Wudang Order were renowned for their unbroken density, and among all the factions none could match their tenacity. Though the two men were vastly mismatched in skill, Zhang Cuishan called upon his shifu’s transmitted method, and for the time being Xie Xun could find no way through.

They locked together for some time. Sweat poured from Zhang Cuishan like rain. His whole body was soaked through, and he grew anxious within: Why does Miss Yin not strike? He is pouring all his force into attacking me. If she would fire her silver needles at his acupoints now, even if she missed he would have to withdraw to defend himself. The slightest break in his concentration, and he would take my palm-force and be hurt.

Xie Xun had long foreseen this very problem. He had expected Zhang Cuishan to collapse at once beneath a two-handed assault, but the young man’s neigong proved unexpectedly sound. He had endured the space of time it takes to drink a cup of tea without yielding. Both men, locked in their contest of palm-force, were watching Yin Susu from the corner of their eyes. Zhang Cuishan held his breath and dared not cry out. Xie Xun, utterly unconcerned, said, “Little girl, you had best keep your hands to yourself. If I switch from palm to fist and hammer down, your dear one here will have every meridian in his body shattered.”

Yin Susu said, “Very well. Senior, we shall follow you. Please withdraw your palm-force.”

Xie Xun said, “Master Zhang,⁵ what say you?”

Zhang Cuishan was consumed with anxiety. His mind cried out: Fire the needles. Fire the needles! This fleeting chance, why do you not seize it?

Yin Susu said urgently, “Senior Xie, withdraw your palm-force at once, or I will fight you to the death.”

In truth Xie Xun was wary of Yin Susu loosing a silver needle at him without warning. The cabin was narrow, the needles must be tiny, and in the darkness they would come silent and invisible, truly difficult to guard against. Yet he had no wish to unleash his full fist-force and kill Zhang Cuishan outright. He thought, This young girl is cowed by my power and dares not move. Otherwise, in a situation like this, the result would be harm to all three. So he said, “If you harbour no treacherous intent, I can spare your lives.”

Yin Susu said, “I have no treacherous intent at all.”

“Then swear an oath on his behalf.”

Yin Susu considered for a moment, then said, “Fifth Brother Zhang, we are no match for the Senior. Let us stay with him on this island for a year or two. With his intelligence, unraveling the secret of the Dragon-Slaying Dao will be no great difficulty. I will swear the oath for you.”

Zhang Cuishan thought, What oath? Fire the silver needles. Fire them! But there was no way to speak the words, and in the darkness no way to gesture. Besides, both his hands were pinned by the other man’s palm-force.

Yin Susu, hearing that Zhang Cuishan remained silent, said, “I, Yin Susu, and Zhang Cuishan have resolved to accompany Senior Xie on this island until the secret of the Dragon-Slaying Dao is discovered. If either of us harbours treacherous intent, may we die beneath sword and blade.”

Xie Xun laughed. “We who practise the martial arts die beneath blades every day. What is there extraordinary in that?”

Yin Susu set her teeth. “Very well. May I not live to see my twentieth year.”

Xie Xun gave a great laugh and withdrew his palm-force.

Zhang Cuishan’s strength gave out entirely. He slumped against the cabin planks. Yin Susu hurriedly struck a huozhezi⁶ alight and lit the oil lamp. She saw that his face was the colour of old gold, his breathing barely perceptible. Her heart filled with alarm. She drew a handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped the sweat from his face and head.

Xie Xun said, laughing, “The disciples of Wudang live up to their reputation. Remarkable, truly remarkable.”

Zhang Cuishan had been blaming Yin Susu for letting slip the chance to fire her silver needles. But when he saw the tears glistening in her eyes and the anxiety written across her face, genuine concern springing from the heart, his resentment melted and was replaced by gratitude. He drew a long breath. He was about to speak a few words of comfort when suddenly his vision darkened, and through the haze he heard Yin Susu shriek, “You surnamed Xie! If you have worked Fifth Brother Zhang to death, I will have your life!”

Xie Xun only laughed all the louder.

Then, without warning, Zhang Cuishan’s body rolled to one side, tumbling across the cabin. At the same instant he heard Xie Xun and Yin Susu both cry out, their shouts mingling with the howl of a violent wind and the crash of great waves, as though a thousand billows had fallen upon the ship at once.

A sudden chill engulfed Zhang Cuishan’s body. Salt water filled his mouth and nose. The fog of exhaustion that had clouded his mind cleared at the shock of cold. His first thought was: Has the ship sunk? He could not swim. Panic seized him, and he struggled to his feet. The planks beneath him tilted sharply to port. Seawater surged across the cabin and poured out again. He heard the screaming of the wind and saw nothing but water on every side. Before he could comprehend what was happening, Xie Xun’s voice rang out like thunder: “Zhang Cuishan, to the stern at once! Take the helm!” The command carried a gravity that cut through the storm as though it were no storm at all.

Zhang Cuishan needed no second bidding. He leapt to the stern. In the darkness he saw a figure flung backwards, a sailor washed over the side by a great wave, flying through the air for several dozen feet before vanishing into the sea.

Footnotes

1. 真气 – zhēnqì. Literally true qi. Refined qi generated through internal cultivation, denser and more potent than ordinary neili. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

3. 绵掌 – miánzhǎng. Literally cotton palm. Core Wudang palm technique emphasising yielding, continuous force, soft yet unbreakable, like cotton that absorbs and redistributes impact. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 横架金梁 – héng jià jīn liáng. Literally laying a crossbeam of gold. Defensive technique using the forearm to block overhead strikes, channelling the force downward and away. ↩

5. 相公 – xiānggōng. Literally minister or lord. Polite form of address for a young scholar or gentleman, commonly used in the Song and Yuan dynasties. ↩

6. 火折子 – huǒzhézi. A tinder tube: rolled paper or fibre treated with saltpetre, kept smouldering in a tube and revived with a puff of breath. ↩