The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre Chapter 9 Part 5

Yin Susu looked around but saw nothing unusual in any direction. She thought, Perhaps you’re seeing things?

Suddenly Yu Lianzhou called out loudly, “Wudang’s Yu Er and Zhang Wu are passing through. Forgive our lack of proper greetings. If any friend is inclined, please come aboard for a drink!” As soon as he finished, they heard the sound of oars from the reeds. Six small boats shot out like flying, lined up across the river, blocking their path. From one boat came the whistle of a signal arrow. From a row of low bushes on the south bank, over a dozen men in black jumped out, all in black clothes, each holding weapons, their faces covered with black cloths, only their eyes exposed.

Yin Susu was secretly impressed. “This Second Uncle truly lives up to his reputation. He’s remarkable.” Seeing there were many enemies, she hurried back into the cabin. Wuji was already awake. Yin Susu dressed him and whispered, “Good boy, don’t be afraid.”

Yu Lianzhou called out again, “Which friend is in charge ahead? Wudang’s Yu Er and Zhang Wu send their regards.” But from the six small boats, apart from the rowers at the stern, no one came out, and no one answered.

Yu Lianzhou suddenly realised something and shouted, “No good!” He flipped into the river. He had grown up by the Yangtze River and was an excellent swimmer. As soon as he entered the water, he saw four men holding sharp awls diving toward them, clearly trying to puncture the boat and capture everyone alive. He hid on the side of the boat, waited for the four to swim close, then struck out with both hands, hitting two men’s acupoints. Then he kicked the third man in the waist’s Zhishi acupoint. The fourth man was startled and tried to flee, but Yu Lianzhou’s left hand had already grabbed his calf and thrown him onto the boat. Thinking the three whose acupoints were hit would drown in the river, he pulled them up one by one and threw them on the bow, then climbed back onto the boat.

The fourth man rolled on the bow, then leaped up and thrust his awl at Zhang Cuishan’s chest. Zhang Cuishan saw his martial arts were mediocre and didn’t even dodge. His left hand reached out and grabbed the man’s wrist, then his left elbow shot out, striking the man’s chest acupoint. The man gave a soft groan and fell.

Yu Lianzhou said, “There seem to be some experts on shore. We’ve observed proper courtesy. Ignore them and push through!” Zhang Cuishan nodded and told the boatmen to keep sailing. As they slowly approached the six small boats, Yu Lianzhou picked up the four men, opened their acupoints, and threw them over. But strangely, no one in the enemy boats made a sound, and the dozen or so black-clad men on shore were also silent, as if they were all mutes. The four men who had been diving went into the cabin and didn’t appear again.

Just as their boat was about to pass the six small boats, a rower on one boat suddenly raised his right hand twice. With two bangs, wood chips flew. Their boat’s rudder was destroyed, and the boat immediately turned sideways. It turned out the rower had thrown two fishing bombs used for blasting fish, but these were specially made extra large with more gunpowder, so the explosive power was very strong.

Yu Lianzhou remained calm and lightly leaped onto the enemy boat. Though he was skilled and bold, he still went empty-handed.

The rower on the small boat held his wooden oar and looked ahead, completely ignoring Yu Lianzhou leaping onto the boat. Yu Lianzhou shouted, “Who threw the fishing bomb?” The rower didn’t answer, wooden-faced. Yu Lianzhou rushed into the cabin. Inside, two men sat facing each other. Seeing him enter, they didn’t move at all, showing no sign of preparing to fight. Yu Lianzhou grabbed one by the neck and lifted him up, shouting, “Where’s your leader?” The man closed his eyes and didn’t answer. Yu Lianzhou, being a first-class martial arts master, didn’t want to use force to interrogate. He immediately returned to the stern, only to see Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu had already carried Wuji over to the small boat.

Yu Lianzhou seized a wooden oar and rowed against the current. After just a few strokes, Yin Susu shouted, “The thieves are letting water in!” River water was pouring into the cabin. It turned out the men in the small boats had pulled out the plugs at the bottom of the boats, letting water in. When Yu Lianzhou leaped to the second small boat, he saw it was already half full of water. He turned and said, “Fifth Brother, since they insist we go ashore, let’s go!” The six small boats had clearly been arranged in advance as a way to force them ashore. The three of them, with Wuji, leaped onto the shore.

On shore, the dozen or so black-clad men with covered faces had already formed a semicircle, surrounding the four of them. Most of these men held long jian. The others held twin blades or soft whips. Not one wielded a heavy weapon.

Yu Lianzhou stood with his arms folded, scanning from left to right, his expression cold, not speaking.

A black-clad man in the middle raised his right hand. Suddenly everyone split apart to the sides, each bowing slightly, their weapon points toward the ground, cupping their fists in greeting, clearing a path. Yu Lianzhou returned the greeting and walked through proudly. After he exited the circle, they suddenly closed in again, blocking the road, surrounding Zhang Cuishan and the other three. Green light flashed as all their weapons were raised.

Zhang Cuishan laughed loudly. “So you gentlemen are targeting me. Setting up such a grand formation, you think too highly of Zhang Cuishan.” The black-clad man in the middle hesitated slightly, then lowered his jian point and cleared the path again.

Zhang Cuishan said, “Susu, you go first!” Yin Susu, holding Wuji, was about to leave when suddenly the wind sounded. Five long jian simultaneously pointed at Wuji. Yin Susu was startled and quickly stepped back. The five men followed, stepping forward, their jian points constantly trembling, never more than a foot from Wuji’s body.

Yu Lianzhou pushed off with both feet and suddenly flew in from outside the crowd. His hands struck out four times in rapid succession, each strike hitting a black-clad man’s wrist. Four long jian flew into the air in succession. These four strikes were incredibly fast. The four jians seemed to fly up simultaneously. His left hand followed with a reverse grab, seizing the fifth person’s wrist. His middle finger then struck the acupoint on that person’s wrist. But he felt something soft and smooth. It felt like a woman’s hand. He quickly let go. That person’s wrist was numb, and with a clang, the long jian fell to the ground.

The five people, having lost their jian, quickly retreated. In the moonlight, green light flashed as two more long jian thrust over. But the jian were thrust flat, edges facing left and right. Each person was using the move “Leveling the Desert,” the jian force not strong, seemingly with no intention to harm.

Yu Lianzhou thought, Kunlun swordsmanship! So it’s the Kunlun School. When the jian points were less than four inches from his chest, he suddenly drew his chest back and circled his arms. His left index finger and right index finger simultaneously struck the flat of the jian blades. These two strikes used Wudang’s internal method. By rights, the opponent’s jian should have been knocked from their hands. But when his fingers touched the blades, he suddenly felt a soft force coming from the jian, actually neutralising more than half of his striking power. The jian didn’t leave their hands. But the two still couldn’t withstand it and stumbled back three steps. One lost balance and fell to the ground. The other cried “Ow!” and spat out a mouthful of blood.

From the time the six small boats had blocked the river, not one of the opponents had made a sound. Now this “Ow!” was a soft, crisp sound, clearly a woman’s voice. The black-clad man in the middle waved his left hand lightly. Everyone turned and left, disappearing into the bushes in an instant. Most of these people were slender, clearly women in men’s clothing.

Yu Lianzhou called out loudly, “Yu Er and Zhang Wu send regards to the Iron Zither Gentleman. Forgive our rudeness.” The black-clad women didn’t answer, but they could faintly hear someone laugh softly, a woman’s voice.

Yin Susu put Wuji down and held his hand tightly. “Most of these were women. Second Uncle, were they all from the Kunlun School?” Yu Lianzhou said, “No, they’re from the Emei Order.” Zhang Cuishan was surprised. “Emei? Why did you say you were sending regards to the Iron Zither Gentleman?”

Yu Lianzhou sighed. “From beginning to end they didn’t make a sound, and they covered their faces with black cloths, clearly unwilling to show their true faces. The five jians pointing at Wuji was the Kunlun School’s ‘Cold Plum Sword Formation.’ The two people thrusting their jian flat at me used Kunlun’s ‘Leveling the Desert.’ Since they were impersonating the Kunlun School, I went along with it and mentioned Kunlun School leader the Iron Zither Gentleman, He Taichong.”

Yin Susu asked, “How do you know they’re Emei? Did you recognise them?”

Yu Lianzhou said, “No. These people’s skill isn’t deep, probably disciples of the current Emei leader, Miejue Shitai,¹ perhaps her junior disciples. I don’t recognise them. But the soft force they used to neutralise my finger strikes on the jian blades, that’s definitely Emei’s internal method. It’s easy to learn other factions’ moves and formations, but once you use internal force, the truth can’t be hidden.”

Zhang Cuishan nodded. “Second Brother striking the jian with his fingers, they were wise to withdraw. The Emei Order’s neili is excellent, but using it without proper foundation against an expert inevitably leads to a great loss. If Second Brother had truly treated them as enemies, those two girls would be dead on the ground already. But Emei has always been polite to us.”

Yu Lianzhou said, “When Master was young, he received kindness from Emei’s founder, Guo Xiang nüxia. So he strictly instructed us never to offend Emei’s disciples, to preserve the old friendship. When I struck the jian with my fingers and realised the opponent’s internal force was wrong, it was too late to withdraw, and I ended up injuring two. Though it was unintentional, it still violated Master’s teaching.”

Yin Susu smiled. “Fortunately, in the end you said you were sending regards to the Iron Zither Gentleman, so you didn’t directly offend the Emei Order.”

By now their ship had long since drifted downstream with the current and disappeared. The six small boats had all sunk. The rowers, dripping wet, climbed ashore one by one. Yin Susu asked, “Are these all from the Emei Order?” Yu Lianzhou said in a low voice, “Most likely they’re from the Chaohu Grain Boat Gang.” Yin Susu glanced at the five long jians on the ground and bent to pick one up to look. Yu Lianzhou said, “Don’t touch their weapons. If the jian have names engraved on them, we won’t be able to pretend not to know later. Let’s go!” Yin Susu now respected this Second Uncle completely and answered, “Yes!” She took Wuji’s hand and walked toward the main road along the riverbank.

Passing a clump of bushes, they saw three strong horses tied to a large willow tree several dozen feet away. Wuji happily shouted, “Horses! Horses!” He had never seen horses on Ice Fire Island. Since coming to the Central Plains, he had always wanted to ride, but they had been on boats the whole time and never had the chance. As the four approached the horses, they saw a note pinned to the willow tree.

Zhang Cuishan took it down and saw written on the paper: “Respectfully presenting three mounts as apology for destroying the boats.” The characters were written with charcoal, hastily and very messily. The brushstrokes were soft, clearly a woman’s handwriting. Yin Susu smiled. “The Emei Order girls’ charcoal pencils for drawing eyebrows, today used to write notes for the Wudang heroes.” Yu Lianzhou said, “They’re quite polite.” They untied the horses and the three mounted. Wuji sat in front of his mother, very excited.

Zhang Cuishan said, “Since our tracks are already exposed, it’s the same whether we ride or take a boat.” Yu Lianzhou said, “Right. There will definitely be more trouble ahead. If we’re forced to act, don’t strike too heavily.” He had just unintentionally injured two Emei disciples and felt deeply uneasy about it.

Footnotes

1. 灭绝师太 – Mièjué Shītài. Her dharma-name, meaning “Extinction” or “Annihilation”. Zhangmen of the Emei Order. 师太 (shītài) is an honorific for a senior Buddhist nun. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩