The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre Chapter 7 Part 5

Chapter 7: Who sends the ice vessel to the immortal land? (5)

The three of them sat in silence for a long while. Zhang Cuishan said, “Elder Brother, you have taken this child as your godson. Let us give him your surname—let him be a Xie.” A flicker of joy passed across Xie Xun’s face. “You would let him bear my name? My own boy, the one who died—his name was Xie Wuji.”¹ Zhang Cuishan said, “If it would please you, then let our child be called Xie Wuji as well.”

Xie Xun was beside himself with joy. Fearing that Zhang Cuishan might think better of his offer, he said at once, “You give your own flesh and blood to me—but what of yourselves?” Zhang Cuishan said, “Whether the child bears the surname Xie or Zhang, we shall love him just the same. When he is grown, he will honour his parents and revere his godfather without distinction of near or far. Would that not be a fine thing? Susu, what do you say?” Yin Susu hesitated for just a moment, then said, “Whatever you think best. An extra person to love the child—that can only be to his advantage.” Xie Xun bowed deeply to the ground. “For this, I thank you both. The hatred I bore you for my eyes—let it be wiped clean, all debts settled. Xie Xun has lost a son yet gained a son. One day, when Xie Wuji’s name resounds through the realm, let all the world know that his parents were Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu, and his godfather was Xie Xun the Golden-Maned Lion King!”²

The reason for Yin Susu’s brief hesitation was this: the true Xie Wuji was dead, dashed to a shapeless ruin of blood and flesh, and to give her own child that same name struck her as ill-omened. Yet seeing Xie Xun so transported with happiness, she was certain he would dote upon the boy, and that the child would reap great benefit from his devotion. A mother’s love for her child attends to every smallest thing; so long as it served the boy’s good, she would consent to anything. She took the infant in her arms and said, “Would you like to hold him?”

Xie Xun reached out and gathered the child into his great arms. Tears of joy streamed down his face, and his limbs trembled. “You… you had better take him back,” he said hoarsely. “I must look a fright. I shall scare him.” In truth, a newborn of a single day understands nothing at all, but that he said so showed how utterly the child had captured his heart. Yin Susu smiled gently. “Hold him as long as you like. When he is older, you can take him out to play wherever you wish.”

Xie Xun said, “Wonderful, wonderful…” He heard the infant crying with great force and said, “The child is hungry. You should nurse him. I shall step outside.” In truth, he was blind, and Yin Susu could have nursed the baby in his presence without the slightest impropriety. Yet in his madness he was brutal beyond measure, and now, by contrast, he conducted himself with the refinement and courtesy of a Confucian gentleman.

Zhang Cuishan said, “Elder Brother—” Xie Xun cut him off. “No. We are family now. All this ‘Senior’ and ‘Elder’ business only makes us strangers. I say the three of us should swear brotherhood as sworn siblings. That would serve the child well too, in time.” Zhang Cuishan said, “You are a man of great standing and extraordinary skill. The gap between my wife and me and yourself is too vast. How could we presume to such an honour?” Xie Xun spat. “Bah! You are a man of the martial world, yet you talk like a Confucian pedant? Fifth Brother, Fifth Sister—will you call me Elder Brother or not?” Yin Susu laughed. “I shall be the first to call you Elder Brother. We are sworn brother and sister. If he goes on calling you ‘Senior,’ that would make me his senior too!” Zhang Cuishan said, “If that is how it stands, then your younger brother obeys in all things.”

Yin Susu said, “Let us agree on it today, then. In a few days, when I can stand again, we shall make the proper obeisances—the child to his godfather, and the three of us to heaven and earth as sworn siblings.” Xie Xun threw back his head and laughed. “A true man gives his word and keeps it till the grave. What need is there for bowing to heaven and earth? That thieving heaven cannot even manage its own affairs—I, Xie Xun, despise it above all things.” With that he strode from the cave, and across the open wilderness they could hear him laughing, a great booming sound full of unrestrained delight. In all the time Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu had known him, they had never seen him so happy.

From that day forth, all three devoted themselves to raising the child. In his youth, Xie Xun had been a hunter. His epithet, the Golden-Maned Lion King, was no idle boast—in the taming of beasts and the arts of the chase, he had no equal under heaven. Zhang Cuishan described the island’s terrain to him in detail, and after walking each stretch once under his guidance, Xie Xun committed it to memory. From then on, the hunting of deer and the slaying of bears fell entirely to him.

Several years passed in the blink of an eye, and the three lived together in peace. The child never fell ill and grew strong and sturdy. Of the three, Xie Xun seemed to love the boy most of all. Whenever the child’s mischief went too far and Zhang Cuishan or Yin Susu made to discipline him, Xie Xun invariably stepped in to intervene. After this happened several times, the boy learned to treat his godfather as his refuge, and at the first sign of parental anger he would flee to Xie Xun for protection. Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu could only shake their heads and smile ruefully, remarking that Elder Brother was spoiling the child beyond redemption.

When Wuji turned four, Yin Susu began to teach him his characters. On the day of his fifth birthday, Zhang Cuishan said, “Elder Brother, the boy is old enough to begin learning martial arts. Will you teach him, starting today?” Xie Xun shook his head. “No. My martial arts run too deep for a child to grasp. You should teach him the Wudang foundational methods first. When he turns eight, I shall take over. After two years of my instruction, you can all go home.” Yin Susu said in astonishment, “You say we can go home? Back to the Central Plains?”

Xie Xun said, “For several years now I have been studying the wind and currents of this island. Each year, when the nights are at their longest, a north wind blows steadily for dozens of days and nights without ceasing. We can build a large raft, rig it with a sail, and ride the north wind due south. If that thieving heaven does not meddle too much, you may well reach the Central Plains.” Yin Susu said, “You keep saying ‘you.’ Are you not coming with us?” Xie Xun said, “I am blind. What would I do back in the Central Plains?” Yin Susu said, “If you will not go, we certainly will not leave you here alone. The child would not stand for it either. Without his godfather, who would dote on him?” Xie Xun sighed. “If I can love him for ten years, that is enough. That thieving heaven is forever scheming against me. If the child stays at my side too long, I fear heaven’s spite will fall upon him as well.” Yin Susu shivered, but she told herself he was only speaking idly and thought no more of it.

Zhang Cuishan taught the child foundational neigong³ for building his constitution, reasoning that the boy was still young and need only strengthen his body for the time being. On this deserted island, there was surely no one he would ever need to fight. Though Xie Xun had spoken of sailing south to the Central Plains, he never raised the subject again. It seemed to have been no more than a passing fancy, not to be relied upon.

In the boy’s eighth year, Xie Xun began to teach Wuji martial arts in earnest. During these lessons he did not permit Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu to observe. The couple honoured the strict custom of the wulin and kept their distance, making no inquiry into the boy’s progress. They trusted that whatever Xie Xun chose to impart would be martial arts of the highest order.

Nothing of note occurred upon the island, and the days flowed past like water. In the blink of an eye, another year and more had gone.

After Wuji’s birth, Xie Xun’s spirit had found an anchor, and he no longer brooded over the Dragon Slaying Saber. Then one night, when Zhang Cuishan could not sleep, he stepped out for a walk beneath the moonlight and saw Xie Xun seated cross-legged upon a boulder, the saber cradled in his hands, his head bowed in thought.

Zhang Cuishan’s heart sank. He made to withdraw, but Xie Xun had already heard his footsteps. “Fifth Brother,” he said, “these eight characters—‘Supreme among weapons, the Dragon Slaying Saber’—it seems they are nothing but an empty boast after all.” Zhang Cuishan drew closer. “The jianghu is full of wild tales. With your brilliance, Elder Brother, how is it you have never been able to let this saber go?”

Xie Xun said, “You do not know. I once heard the truth of this matter from a Shaolin monk of great virtue—Grandmaster Kongjian.”⁴ Zhang Cuishan said, “Ah, Grandmaster Kongjian. I have heard he was the senior of Shaolin’s zhangmen,⁵ Grandmaster Kongwen.⁶ He passed away many years ago.” Xie Xun nodded. “Yes. Kongjian is dead. I killed him.”

Zhang Cuishan was stunned. In the jianghu, a well-known saying ran: “The Divine Monks of Shaolin—Jian, Wen, Zhi, Xing.”⁷ It referred to the four monks whose martial arts stood highest in the present-day Shaolin School: Kongjian, Kongwen, Kongzhi,⁸ and Kongxing.⁹ He had heard that Grandmaster Kongjian had died of illness. He had never imagined it was Xie Xun who killed him.

Xie Xun sighed. “Kongjian was a stubborn man. He simply stood there and took my blows. He would not fight back. I struck him thirteen times, and in the end, I killed him.”

Zhang Cuishan was even more shaken. He thought: To survive even a single blow from Elder Brother without dying would mark a man as a first-rate master. For this Shaolin monk to have withstood thirteen—his body must have been harder than iron or stone.

He could see the grief and remorse written upon Xie Xun’s face, and he guessed that some profound and terrible circumstance lay behind the tale. In the eight years since they had sworn brotherhood, the bond between them had only deepened, yet Zhang Cuishan’s respect for Xie Xun had always been tempered by a thread of fear. He dreaded stirring up the memories of old hatred, and so he did not press further.

Xie Xun continued, “In all my life, the men I have truly admired can be counted on one hand. Your shifu, the Reverend Zhang,¹⁰ I have long revered by reputation, though I have never had the fortune to meet him. But this Grandmaster Kongjian was a monk of the highest attainment. His fame in martial arts may have seemed less than that of his junior brothers Kongzhi and Kongxing, yet in my judgement, neither of them could have matched him.” Zhang Cuishan had heard Xie Xun hold forth on the great figures of the age before. Most he dismissed as beneath contempt. To earn so much as a few curses from him was already the mark of a first-rate personage; to win a single word of praise was all but impossible. That he should speak of Grandmaster Kongjian with such reverence came as a genuine surprise. Zhang Cuishan said, “Perhaps his reverence lived in seclusion and seldom ventured into the jianghu. That would explain why his attainments were so little known.”

Xie Xun lifted his face toward the sky and stared into nothing, murmuring as if to himself, “A pity, a pity. A man without equal in all the wulin, and I beat him to death with my own fists, thirteen blows. His martial arts were supreme, yet he was impossibly, infuriatingly stubborn. Had he fought back that day, I, Xie Xun, would not be alive to speak of it.” Zhang Cuishan said, “Can it be that his martial attainment truly surpassed yours, Elder Brother?” Xie Xun said, “How could I compare myself to him? I was not even close. Not even close! The gap between us was as vast as the distance between heaven and earth.” As he spoke these words, his face and voice were suffused with a sincerity of admiration that could not be feigned.

Zhang Cuishan was deeply astonished. Privately he was not entirely convinced. He reckoned that his own shifu, Zhang Sanfeng, possessed martial arts the like of which the world had seldom seen, yet even Zhang Sanfeng might hold only a half-step’s advantage over Xie Xun. If Grandmaster Kongjian had truly stood so far above Xie Xun that the gap could be called “as vast as heaven and earth,” did that not mean he surpassed Zhang Sanfeng as well? Yet he knew that despite the character for “modest” in his name, Xie Xun was a man of towering pride. If another’s skill did not genuinely exceed his own, he would never concede defeat.

Xie Xun seemed to divine his thoughts. “You do not believe me? Very well. Go and fetch Wuji. I shall tell him a story.” Zhang Cuishan thought it strange to wake a child in the dead of night to hear a story, and hardly good for the boy, but since his elder brother had spoken, he would not gainsay him. He returned to the cave and roused his son. The moment Wuji heard that his godfather wanted to tell a story, he shouted with delight, waking Yin Susu in the process. All three came out and sat down around Xie Xun.

Xie Xun said, “Child, before long you will return to the Central Plains—” Wuji said in bewilderment, “What do you mean, return to the Central Plains?”

Xie Xun waved a hand to silence him and went on. “If our raft sinks in the ocean, or drifts away without a trace, then none of this matters. But if you truly do reach the Central Plains, let me tell you: the hearts of men in this world are treacherous beyond imagining. Trust no one. Apart from your parents, every soul you meet may harbour designs against you.” Wuji broke in: “Godfather would never harm me!” Xie Xun nodded. “That is true. Apart from your parents and your godfather. I only wish someone had told me this when I was young. Ah, but even if they had, I would not have believed it.

“When I was ten years old, by a stroke of chance I came to study under a man of extraordinary martial prowess. My shifu saw that I had some aptitude and took a particular liking to me, holding nothing back in his instruction. The bond between us was as between father and son. Fifth Brother, the reverence and devotion I felt for my shifu was no different, I think, from what you feel for yours. At twenty-three I left my shifu’s side and journeyed to the Western Regions,¹¹ where I fell in with a band of remarkable men. They thought well enough of me to treat me as a brother. Fifth Sister—your father, the White-Browed Eagle King, was among those I befriended in those years. In time I married and had a son, and my family lived in happiness and harmony.

“In the year I turned twenty-eight, my shifu came to stay at my home for several days. I was overjoyed, naturally, and my whole family received him with the utmost respect and devotion. When he had leisure, he would instruct me further in my training. But this man—a figure of renown in the martial world—concealed behind his human face the heart of a beast. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after wine, he forced himself upon my wife…”

Footnotes

1. 谢无忌 – Xiè Wújì. His name meaning “Without Restraint” or “Without Taboo.” ↩

2. 金毛狮王 – Jīnmáo Shīwáng. Literally golden-maned lion king. Xie Xun’s epithet, one of the Four Protector Dharma Kings of the Ming Cult. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 内功 – nèigōng. Literally internal skill. The practice of cultivating internal energy through breathing, meditation, and specific exercises. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 空见 – Kōngjiàn. His name meaning “Empty Seeing” or “Perceiving Emptiness.” A Buddhist dharma name. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 掌门 – zhǎngmén. Literally palm of the gate. Head of a martial arts school. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 空闻 – Kōngwén. His name meaning “Empty Hearing.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 少林神僧，见闻智性 – Shàolín shénsēng, jiàn wén zhì xìng. A jianghu saying praising the four most accomplished monks of the Shaolin School by the second character of their dharma names. ↩

8. 空智 – Kōngzhì. His name meaning “Empty Wisdom.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 空性 – Kōngxìng. His name meaning “Empty Nature.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 张真人 – Zhāng Zhēnrén. Literally Reverend Zhang. An honorific title for a Daoist master of the highest spiritual attainment. Here referring to Zhang Sanfeng. ↩

11. 西域 – Xīyù. Literally Western Regions. The vast territories west of China proper, encompassing modern Xinjiang and Central Asia. ↩