The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre Chapter 8 Part 1

Voyage home after a decade at the Qiongfa.

Xie Xun¹ spoke in measured tones. “The scene of that night remains as vivid to me now as it was then. I sat upon the heated brick bed² in the guest house, quietly circulating my true qi,³ running through the Seven Injuries Fist⁴ in my mind once more. Fifth Brother, you have never seen my Seven Injuries Fist. Would you care to witness it?”

Before Zhang Cuishan⁵ could answer, Yin Susu⁶ cut in. “It must be marvellous beyond compare—peerless in power. Elder Brother, why did you not go after Song Daxia?”⁷

Xie Xun smiled faintly. “You fear I might harm your husband if I demonstrate? If this fist could not be unleashed and withdrawn at will, what manner of Seven Injuries Fist would it be?” He rose to his feet, strode to a great tree, and gave a thunderous shout that split the air like a peal from a clear sky. Amidst the reverberating roar, his fist hammered into the trunk.

With his martial power,⁸ that single punch should have snapped the tree clean in two, or at the very least driven his fist deep into the wood. Yet when he withdrew his hand, the tree stood wholly unmarred—not so much as a flake of bark had broken loose. Yin Susu felt a pang of sadness. Elder Brother has lived on this island for nine years. His martial arts have gone entirely to waste. I have never once seen him practise, so it is hardly surprising. Fearing he might take it to heart, she nonetheless cried out in loud acclaim.

Xie Xun said, “Fifth Sister, that cheer rang hollow. You believe my martial arts have declined greatly from what they were, do you not?” Yin Susu replied, “On this forsaken island, where the same four loved ones come and go day after day, what use is there in practising martial arts?” Xie Xun turned to Zhang Cuishan. “Fifth Brother, did you perceive the secret within that strike?” Zhang Cuishan said, “I saw that Elder Brother’s punch carried tremendous force on the way out, and yet when it struck the tree, not a single leaf so much as trembled. That much I cannot fathom. Even if Wuji⁹ were to land a punch, the branches would surely shake!”

Wuji cried, “I can do it!” He dashed over and threw a punch at the great tree, and sure enough, the branches swayed wildly, the moonlit shadows of leaves and boughs trembling ceaselessly upon the ground. Zhang Cuishan and his wife were pleased to see the boy’s punch carried no small force, and both turned to Xie Xun, waiting for him to explain.

Xie Xun said, “Three days hence, the leaves of this tree will yellow and fall. Within a fortnight, its trunk and branches will wither to dry husks. My fist has already shattered the tree’s inner vessels from within.” Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu were overcome with astonishment, but they knew Xie Xun never spoke idle falsehoods, and so his words could not be empty boasting. Xie Xun took up the Dragon Saber¹⁰ that lay beside him, drew it from its scabbard, and with a ringing stroke, slashed diagonally into the trunk. A great crash sounded as the upper half of the tree toppled outward. Xie Xun sheathed the blade. “See for yourselves whether my Seven Injuries Fist still possesses its power.”

When the three of them went to examine the cross-section, they saw that the channels running through the heartwood—the vessels that carried water and life through the trunk—had been largely destroyed. Some were twisted, some ground to dust, some splintered into fragments, some hanging by a thread, barely connected. It was plain that his single blow had contained multiple distinct currents of force. Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu were filled with awe. Zhang Cuishan said, “Elder Brother, today you have truly opened my eyes.”

Xie Xun could not suppress his pride. “Within that single punch lay seven distinct currents of force: some fierce and unyielding, some dark and supple, some hard within soft, some soft within hard, some striking sideways, some driving straight, some pulling inward. Should an opponent withstand the first current, the second overwhelms him. Should he endure the second, how then shall he contend with the third? The name Seven Injuries Fist derives from this very principle. Fifth Brother, that day you matched me in a contest of palm strength. Had I used the Seven Injuries Fist instead, you could not have withstood it.” Zhang Cuishan said, “Indeed.”

Wuji wanted to ask why his father had matched palm strength with his godfather, but seeing his mother frantically waving him off, he held his tongue and said instead, “Godfather, will you teach me this Seven Injuries Fist?” Xie Xun shook his head. “I cannot.” Wuji was bitterly disappointed and would have pressed further, but Yin Susu laughed. “Wuji, are you a fool? Your godfather’s technique is profound and exquisite beyond measure. Without a foundation of superior neigong,¹¹ how could you hope to practise it?” Wuji said, “Then I shall learn it once I have mastered a superior neigong.”

Xie Xun shook his head. “This Seven Injuries Fist is better left unlearnt. Within every person’s body flow the twin forces of yin and yang, and the five elemental phases¹² of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The heart belongs to fire, the lungs to metal, the kidneys to water, the spleen to earth, the liver to wood. Each time one practises the Seven Injuries, all seven are harmed. The fist’s name speaks true—it injures the self before it injures the enemy. Had I not damaged my heart meridian whilst practising the Seven Injuries Fist, I would not suffer those episodes where madness seizes me and I lose all reason.”

Only then did Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu understand why a man of such brilliance and formidable martial prowess could lose his wits entirely when the madness took him.

Xie Xun continued, “Had my neili¹³ been truly deep and unyielding—had it reached the level of Master Kongjian¹⁴ or Zhang Zhenren¹⁵ of Wudang—then perhaps I could have practised this fist without suffering harm, or at least suffered no grievous injury. But in those days I was consumed by the thirst for vengeance. I exhausted every effort to seize this ancient manuscript of the Seven Injuries Fist Manual¹⁶ from the Kongtong School.¹⁷ The moment the manual fell into my hands, I threw myself into practising it in frantic haste, terrified that the fist would not be mastered before my shifu¹⁸ died, leaving my vengeance unfulfilled. By the time I discovered that my organs had suffered grievous damage, it was already beyond remedy. At the time, it never occurred to me to ask why the Kongtong School, though they had possessed this manual for generations, had never produced a single master renowned for this divine fist—and why the Kongtong School itself had never risen to stand among the foremost factions. I was also drawn to the way this fist technique produced a tremendous, awe-inspiring display when unleashed. Fifth Sister, you grasp the reasoning behind that, do you not?”

Yin Susu pondered briefly. “It is much the same as your shifu’s thunderbolt technique, is it not?”

Xie Xun said, “Precisely. My shifu bore the epithet Unified Innate Thunderhand.¹⁹ His palms carried the force of wind and thunder—their power was terrifying. Once I found him, if I fought him with this Seven Injuries Fist, he would surely mistake it for the same martial arts he had personally taught me. By the time the force reached his body and he realised something was amiss, it would already be too late. Fifth Brother, do not think me too calculating. My shifu appeared rough and coarse, but in truth he was the most cunning, scheming, and ruthlessly devious man under heaven. Unless I fought poison with poison, my great vengeance could never be repaid…” He sighed. “But I have wandered down too many side paths. I still have not come to Master Kongjian.

“That night, after I had circulated my energy through three rounds of the Seven Injuries Fist, I vaulted over the wall, intent on seeking out Song Yuanqiao. The instant I cleared the wall, before my feet had touched the ground, I felt a hand tap lightly upon my shoulder. I was thunderstruck. With my martial arts at that level, that anyone could lay a hand on me before I could block or evade was beyond imagining. Consider, Wuji—that tap was gentle, but had he unleashed his force through that palm, would I not have been gravely wounded already? I snatched back at once, but caught only air. I threw a retaliating punch—that too struck nothing. The moment my left foot touched the ground, I spun round, and in that same instant, someone tapped me lightly on the back. At the same time, a voice behind me sighed, ‘The sea of suffering is boundless; turn back, and the shore is at hand.’²⁰”

Wuji found this enormously entertaining and laughed aloud. “Godfather, was this man playing games with you?” Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu, however, had already guessed that the speaker could be none other than Master Kongjian.

Xie Xun went on. “In that moment, I was chilled to the bone, my hands and feet trembling. A man of such skill could have taken my life as easily as turning his palm. Those eight words he spoke—‘the sea of suffering is boundless; turn back, and the shore is at hand’—took no more than an instant to utter, and yet he spoke them neither fast nor slow, each syllable brimming with compassion. I heard every word with perfect clarity. But at the time, all I felt was shock and fury. I spun to face him and saw a grey-robed monk standing some forty feet away. When I had turned, I expected him to be no more than two or three feet from me, yet with a single tap he had already floated forty feet distant. The swiftness of his movement, the lightness of his step—it defied comprehension.

“In that moment I had but one thought: A vengeful ghost! One of the people I killed, come to claim my life! Were he a living man, he could not possibly possess such lightning-swift skill. Yet strangely, the thought that he was a ghost only emboldened me. I roared, ‘Fiends and phantoms, get you far from me! I fear neither heaven nor earth—do you think I would cower before some wandering shade?’ The grey-robed monk pressed his palms together and said, ‘Layman²¹ Xie, I am Kongjian of Shaolin.’²² The moment I heard the name Kongjian, I recalled the saying that circulated through the jianghu: ‘Shaolin’s four divine monks—Kongjian, Kongwen, Kongzhi, Kongxing.’²³ He stood foremost among the four. Small wonder his martial arts were so formidable.”

Zhang Cuishan recalled that Master Kongjian had later been slain by Xie Xun’s thirteen punches, and a quiet unease stirred within him.

Xie Xun continued. “I asked, ‘Are you the divine monk Kongjian of Shaolin?’ The grey-robed monk replied, ‘I am unworthy of such praise. I am indeed Kongjian of Shaolin.’ I said, ‘I have no prior acquaintance with you, Master. Why do you trifle with me?’ Kongjian said, ‘I would never dream of trifling with you, Layman. Might I ask where you intend to go at this hour?’ I said, ‘Where I go is no concern of yours, Master.’ Kongjian said, ‘You mean to go and murder Song Yuanqiao, the great hero of the Wudang School, is that not so?’

“When he laid bare my intent with a single sentence, I was astonished beyond measure. He continued, ‘You wish to commit another act that will shake the entire wulin,²⁴ so as to provoke the Unified Innate Thunderhand, Chengkun, into showing himself, that you may avenge the slaughter of your family…’ When I heard him speak my shifu’s name, my shock deepened. I had never breathed a word to anyone about my shifu killing my family. It was a disgrace my shifu would have gone to any lengths to deny and conceal; he himself would certainly never have spoken of it. How then did this monk Kongjian come to know?

“My whole body shuddered. I said, ‘If you would show me where he is, I would serve you as ox and horse for the rest of my days, and count it no hardship.’ Kongjian sighed. ‘The sins Chengkun has committed are grave indeed, but you, in your blind rage, have caused the deaths of so many men and women of the wulin. That too is a grievous wrong.’ I had been about to say, What business is it of yours? But recalling the martial arts he had just displayed, I knew I was no match for him. Moreover, I had need of him, and so I swallowed my anger and said, ‘I was driven to it. Chengkun has vanished without a trace. The four seas are vast—where am I to find him?’ Kongjian nodded. ‘I understand the venom that fills your heart, with no means of release. But Song Daxia is Zhang Zhenren of Wudang’s foremost disciple. If you were to harm him, the calamity you unleash would be too great.’ I said, ‘Calamity is precisely what I seek. The greater the disaster, the more certain it is to flush Chengkun from hiding.’

“Kongjian said, ‘Layman Xie, if you were to harm Song Daxia, Chengkun would indeed have no choice but to emerge. Yet the Chengkun of today is no longer the man he was. Your martial arts fall far short of his, and this vendetta cannot be repaid.’ I said, ‘Chengkun is my shifu. How well I know his martial arts.’ Kongjian shook his head. ‘He has since taken a new master. His progress over these three years has been beyond reckoning. Though you have mastered the Kongtong School’s Seven Injuries Fist, it will not avail you against him.’ My astonishment knew no bounds. This monk Kongjian—I had never once set eyes on him in my life—yet he knew my every move as though he had witnessed each one with his own eyes. I stood frozen for a long moment, then asked, ‘How do you know all this?’ He said, ‘Chengkun told me.’” At these words, the husband and wife and Wuji all gasped in unison.

Xie Xun said, “You are startled even now, hearing it at a remove. Imagine what I felt when those words struck my ears. I leapt to my feet and cried, ‘And how does he know?’ Kongjian spoke with measured calm. ‘These past years, he has shadowed your every step. But he has constantly altered his disguise, and so you have never recognised him.’ I said, ‘I could not recognise him? Even if he were burnt to ashes, I would know him.’ He said, ‘Layman Xie, you are certainly no careless man. But these past years, your every thought has been bent upon training and vengeance. You have paid no heed to anything around you. You stand in the open; he lurks in shadow. It is not that you cannot recognise him—you have simply never bothered to look.’

“Those words carried a force I could not deny. What was more, Master Kongjian was renowned throughout the realm as a monk of the highest virtue. He would surely not stoop to deceiving me. I said, ‘If that is so, why has he not simply murdered me in secret and been done with it?’ Kongjian said, ‘Had he wished you dead, it would have been the work of a moment. Layman Xie, you sought him out twice to exact your vengeance, and twice you were defeated. If he had meant to take your life, why did he not strike then? Furthermore, when you went to seize the Seven Injuries Fist Manual, you clashed with three of the Kongtong Five Elders²⁵ in a contest of neili. But what of the remaining two? Why did they not join the attack? Had all five set upon you together, you might not have escaped with your life.’

“On that day, after I had defeated three of the Five Elders, I discovered that the other two had also sustained grave injuries. It was an enigma I had carried ever since, unable to unravel. Had the Kongtong School fallen to internal strife? Or had some unknown master been secretly aiding me? Hearing Master Kongjian speak thus, my mind leapt to the answer. ‘Was it Chengkun who wounded those two Elders?’”

Footnotes

1. 谢逊 – Xiè Xùn. His name meaning “Modest” or “Yielding.” ↩

2. 炕 – kàng. A heated brick sleeping platform common in northern China, warmed by flues running beneath its surface. See Wikipedia. ↩

3. 真气 – zhēnqì. Literally true qi. Refined internal energy cultivated through neigong practice. ↩

4. 七伤拳 – qīshāng quán. Literally seven injuries fist. A devastating fist technique seized from the Kongtong School, in which each blow contains seven distinct forces. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 张翠山 – Zhāng Cuìshān. His name meaning “Emerald Mountain.” ↩

6. 殷素素 – Yīn Sùsù. Her name meaning “Pure and Plain.” ↩

7. Song Daxia refers to Song Yuanqiao (宋远桥 – Sòng Yuǎnqiáo), foremost disciple of Zhang Zhenren of Wudang. His name meaning “Distant Bridge.” Daxia (大侠 – dàxiá) is an honourific meaning “great hero.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 功力 – gōnglì. Literally cultivation power. The accumulated depth of a practitioner’s martial arts cultivation. ↩

9. 无忌 – Wújì. Short for Zhang Wuji (张无忌 – Zhāng Wújì). His name meaning “Without Inhibition” or “Fearless.” The son of Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu, and Xie Xun’s godson. ↩

10. 屠龙刀 – Túlóng Dāo. Literally dragon-slaying dao. One of the two most legendary weapons in the jianghu, paired with the Heavenly Sword. It is said that he who possesses the Dragon Saber and the Heavenly Sword shall command the wulin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 内功 – nèigōng. Literally internal cultivation. Methods of cultivating and refining one’s internal energy through breathing, meditation, and qi circulation. ↩

12. 五行 – wǔxíng. The five elemental phases of traditional Chinese cosmology: metal (金), wood (木), water (水), fire (火), and earth (土). Each is associated with specific organs, seasons, and qualities. They form the basis of traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts theory. See Wikipedia. ↩

13. 内力 – nèilì. Literally internal power. The accumulated internal energy a martial artist develops through neigong cultivation. ↩

14. 空见 – Kōngjiàn. His name meaning “Emptiness Perceiving” or “Void Insight.” One of Shaolin’s four divine monks. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 张真人 – Zhāng Zhēnrén. Zhang Sanfeng, the legendary founder of the Wudang School. Zhenren (真人 – zhēnrén), literally “true man” or “perfected one,” is the highest Daoist honourific. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 七伤拳谱 – qīshāng quánpǔ. Literally seven injuries fist manual. An ancient fist manual passed down through generations within the Kongtong School. ↩

17. 崆峒派 – Kōngtóng Pài. The Kongtong School, a major martial arts faction based at Mount Kongtong in Gansu Province. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 师父 – shīfù. One’s martial arts teacher and mentor, carrying connotations of a parental bond. ↩

19. 混元霹雳手 – Húnyuán Pīlì Shǒu. Literally unified innate thunderbolt hand. The epithet of Chengkun (成昆 – Chéngkūn), Xie Xun’s shifu. His name meaning “Accomplished Kunlun” or “Perfected Kunlun.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

20. 苦海无边，回头是岸 – kǔhǎi wúbiān, huítóu shì àn. A Buddhist proverb urging repentance and the renunciation of evil. It teaches that no matter how deep one has waded into sin, salvation awaits the moment one turns back. See Wikipedia. ↩

21. 居士 – jūshì. A Buddhist term of address for a lay practitioner—one who follows the Buddhist path without taking monastic vows. Here, Kongjian addresses Xie Xun with this respectful form. ↩

22. 少林寺 – Shàolín Sì. The Shaolin Monastery, seat of the foremost martial arts tradition in the wulin, located at Mount Song in Henan Province. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

23. 见闻智性 – Jiàn Wén Zhì Xìng. The dharma names of Shaolin’s four divine monks: Kongjian (空见 – “Void Insight”), Kongwen (空闻 – “Void Hearing”), Kongzhi (空智 – “Void Wisdom”), and Kongxing (空性 – “Void Nature”). Together they were the most revered monks of their generation. ↩

24. 武林 – wǔlín. Literally martial forest. The broader community of martial artists and their affairs. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

25. 崆峒五老 – Kōngtóng Wǔ Lǎo. The Five Elders of Kongtong, the senior masters of the Kongtong School. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩