The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre Chapter 9 Part 6

Yin Susu was deeply ashamed, thinking: Second Uncle merely struck harder than necessary, with no intent to harm, only to force them to withdraw their swords. They stubbornly resisted and so were injured. Compared to my own reckless slaughter of so many Shaolin disciples, the weight of our faults cannot be compared. One must bear responsibility for one’s own deeds—I must not cause Second Uncle further difficulty.

She said, “Second Uncle, these thousand men are all here for my husband and me. To you they show the utmost respect. If there are more obstacles ahead, let your sister-in-law handle them. Only if I truly cannot manage will I ask for your aid.”

Yu Lianzhou said, “Your words are too distant. We brothers share life and death—why distinguish between self and other?”

Yin Susu did not press the matter but asked, “They know Second Uncle is with my husband and me, yet they send only young disciples to intercept us. Why?”

Yu Lianzhou said, “Perhaps the matter was urgent and they had no time to muster others. Besides, young disciples are unknown to all—even if they lose, it matters little.”

Zhang Cuishan, having witnessed the conduct of the Emei women, surmised they had come to enquire after Xie Xun’s whereabouts. “So my sworn brother has also quarreled with the Emei Order. I never heard him mention it on Ice and Fire Island.”

Yu Lianzhou sighed. “The Emei Order’s rules are extremely strict, and most of its disciples are women. Abbess Mie Jue has never permitted her female disciples to wander the jianghu at will. That the Emei Order should also take up arms against the Heavenly Eagle Cult surprised us greatly at the time. Only recently did we learn the truth: Fang Ping, the old hero Fang of Golden Melon Hammer in Henan,¹ was murdered one night. On the wall were left eleven bloody characters: ‘The killer is Hunyuan Pili Hand Cheng Kun.’”

Yin Susu asked, “Was Fang Ping a member of the Emei Order?”

Yu Lianzhou said, “No. But Abbess Mie Jue’s lay surname was Fang. That old hero was Abbess Mie Jue’s own elder brother.”

Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu both exclaimed, “Oh!”

Wuji suddenly asked, “Second Uncle, was that old hero Fang a good man or a bad man?”

Yu Lianzhou said, “I have heard that Old Hero Fang farmed his land and read his books, associating with no one. Naturally he was not a bad man.”

Wuji sighed. “Ai, if Father keeps killing people at random, that is not right.”

Yu Lianzhou was overjoyed. He gently stretched his long arm and lifted Wuji from Yin Susu’s lap, stroking the boy’s head. “Child, knowing that one must not kill at random pleases your Second Uncle greatly. The dead cannot return to life. Even those heavy with sin and utterly wicked—one must not kill them lightly. They must be given a path to repentance.”

Wuji said, “Second Uncle, I beg a favor of you.”

“What is it?”

“If they find Father, you must tell them not to kill him. Because Father is blind and cannot beat them.”

Yu Lianzhou was silent a long while. “That I cannot promise. I can persuade them if I am able. But I myself will certainly not kill him.”

Wuji was silent, tears welling in his eyes.

At dawn the four reached a market-town. They slept half the day at an inn, then set out again in the afternoon. Sometimes Yin Susu shared a horse with her husband, letting Wuji try his hand at the reins. Wuji was, after all, still a child, and after a while riding, his worries for Xie Xun faded somewhat.

They traveled without incident and within a few days passed Hankou. One afternoon, as they approached Anlu,² they suddenly saw a dozen or so merchants rushing down the main road. Seeing Yu Lianzhou and the others, the merchants waved their hands frantically. “Turn back! Turn back! Ahead the Tartar soldiers are killing and plundering!”

One man said to Yin Susu, “You woman are far too bold. If you run into the Tartar soldiers, it won’t be a game!”

Yu Lianzhou asked, “How many Tartar soldiers?”

“About a dozen. Fierce as tigers!” The man fled eastward as he spoke.

The Seven Heroes of Wudang hated nothing more than the Yuan soldiers’ cruelty toward the common people. Zhang Sanfeng’s discipline was strict: his disciples were not to fight lightly, but against Yuan soldiers committing atrocities, they need show no mercy. Thus if the Seven Heroes encountered a large force of Yuan soldiers, they would avoid them; but if they saw a small group committing crimes, they would often act to remove them.

Yu Lianzhou and Zhang Cuishan, hearing there were only a dozen Yuan soldiers, thought: This is a good chance to rid the people of a plague. They spurred their horses forward.

After three miles they indeed heard cries of agony ahead. Zhang Cuishan, riding at the head, saw a dozen Yuan soldiers armed with steel sabres and long spears, surrounding dozens of common folk and wreaking havoc. The ground was slick with blood; seven or eight bodies already lay headless. One Yuan soldier picked up a child of three or four, kicked him high into the air, and as the child screamed, another soldier kicked him like a ball. After a few kicks the child fell silent—dead.

Zhang Cuishan was furious. He leapt from his saddle and, before his feet touched ground, his fist had already struck an Yuan soldier who was about to kick the child. The soldier made no sound and collapsed limply. Another Yuan soldier thrust a spear at Zhang Cuishan’s back.

Wuji cried out in alarm, “Father, look out!”

Zhang Cuishan turned and laughed. “Watch your father fight the Tartar soldiers!” The spear-tip was less than half a foot from his chest when his left hand flipped back and seized the shaft. He thrust forward, and the spear-butt struck the Yuan soldier in the chest. The man screamed, overturned, and plainly would not live.

The remaining Yuan soldiers, seeing Zhang Cuishan so fierce, raised a shout and surrounded him. Yin Susu leapt from her horse, seized a Yuan soldier’s long sabre, and cut down two more. The Yuan soldiers, seeing the tide turn, fled in disorder. But even in flight, these brutal men hacked and slashed at the common folk.

Yu Lianzhou was enraged. “Don’t let the Tartars escape!” He raced westward, cutting off four Yuan soldiers’ retreat. Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu also split to intercept. All three knew that though the Yuan soldiers were fierce, their martial skill was ordinary—even Wuji was stronger than them, so they need not worry about protecting him.

Wuji jumped from his horse and, seeing his Second Uncle and parents leaping like the wind, clapped and cheered, “Good! Good!”

Suddenly the Yuan soldier whom Zhang Cuishan had struck with the spear-butt leapt up, wrapped his arms around Wuji, flipped onto a horse, and galloped away at full speed.

Yu Lianzhou, Zhang Cuishan, and Yin Susu were horrified. They cried out and gave chase. Yu Lianzhou, with two swift bounds, reached the horse’s flank. His left palm shot out, riding the momentum of his leap, and struck the Yuan soldier’s back.

The Yuan soldier did not even turn. Instead, he struck back with a palm of his own. A soft bo sounded as the two palms met. Yu Lianzhou felt a force like an avalanche of mountains and seas, an extremely cold and yin internal energy surging toward him. In an instant his whole body was pierced with cold, his bones freezing. He staggered and fell back three steps.

The Yuan soldier’s horse could not withstand the shock of Yu Lianzhou’s palm and its forelegs buckled. The Yuan soldier, holding Wuji, rode the momentum forward, leaping more than a zhang. He unfolded some light-body skill³ and in moments had vanished more than ten zhang away.

Zhang Cuishan caught up and saw his Second Brother’s face pale white—plainly he was seriously injured. He hurried to support him.

Yin Susu, her heart consumed by love for her son, pursued with desperate abandon. But the Yuan soldier’s light-body skill was supreme. The further she chased, the further he drew ahead, until at last only a black dot on the distant road remained, then it turned a bend and was gone. Yin Susu refused to give up and continued her frantic pursuit. She no longer considered that since this Yuan soldier could injure Yu Lianzhou with a single palm, even if she caught him she would be no match. In her mind was but a single thought: Even if I lose my life, I must recover Wuji.

Yu Lianzhou said in a low voice, “Quickly—call your wife back. We must… we must discuss this at length.”

Zhang Cuishan thrust his spear and killed the two Yuan soldiers before him, then asked, “How badly are you hurt?”

Yu Lianzhou said, “It is nothing. First… first call your wife back.”

Zhang Cuishan, fearing there might still be skilled fighters among the remaining Yuan soldiers who would take advantage if he left, blocked and parried, killing every last one of them before leading a horse over, mounting, and riding west in pursuit.

After several miles he saw Yin Susu still running wildly, but her steps were stumbling—plainly she was exhausted. Zhang Cuishan leaned from his saddle and lifted her onto his horse. Yin Susu pointed ahead and wept, “He’s gone—I can’t catch him, I can’t catch him!” Her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

Zhang Cuishan, still worried about Yu Lianzhou’s safety, thought: I must attend to Second Brother first, then Wuji. He turned his horse and rode back to find Yu Lianzhou sitting with eyes closed, regulating his breath in meditation.

After a time Yin Susu slowly regained consciousness. “Wuji! Wuji!” she cried.

Yu Lianzhou’s ashen face had gradually regained some color. He opened his eyes and whispered, “What terrifying palm force!”

Zhang Cuishan, hearing his senior brother speak, knew his life was not in danger and relaxed at last—though he still dared not engage him in conversation. Yu Lianzhou slowly rose to his feet and asked in a low voice, “No trace of them?”

Yin Susu wept, “Second Uncle, what… what shall we do?”

Yu Lianzhou said, “Do not worry. Wuji is safe. That man’s martial arts are extremely high—he will certainly not harm a child.”

Yin Susu said, “But… but he has taken Wuji.”

Yu Lianzhou nodded. His left hand rested on Zhang Cuishan’s shoulder. He closed his eyes in deep thought. After a long while he opened them and said, “I cannot determine what school that man belongs to. We must go up the mountain and ask Master.”

Yin Susu was alarmed. “Second Uncle, can we not devise some way to recover Wuji first? We can ask what school he belongs to later.”

Yu Lianzhou shook his head.

Zhang Cuishan said, “Susu, at present Second Brother is seriously injured, and that man’s martial arts are so formidable. Even if we found him, we could do nothing.”

Yin Susu cried, “Then we just… give up?”

Zhang Cuishan said, “We need not search for him. He will come searching for us.”

Yin Susu was very intelligent, but the loss of her son had thrown her into panic. Now she paused, startled, and understood. That Yuan soldier’s martial arts were so supreme that even Yu Lianzhou was injured by a single palm—clearly he had been pretending. After injuring Yu Lianzhou, it would have been no difficulty to take their lives as well. But he had only taken Wuji—his intention was plainly to force out Xie Xun’s whereabouts. At the time, Zhang Cuishan had struck him casually with the spear-butt and the man had feigned unconsciousness. The three of them had paid no attention to his appearance at the time. Now, recalling it, the man had seemed to have a beard full of curls… not much different from an ordinary Yuan soldier.

Zhang Cuishan lifted his senior brother onto a horse, took the reins himself, and the three rode slowly. Reaching Anlu, they found a small inn and settled in. Zhang Cuishan ordered the inn servants to bring food and wine, then barred the doors and went out no more, fearing they might encounter Yuan soldiers and cause further trouble.

After killing those dozen-odd Yuan soldiers on the road, they knew that within a few days a large force of Yuan troops would arrive to massacre and plunder in retaliation. Who knew how many of the nearby common folk would suffer? But having encountered such injustice, they could not in conscience turn away. This was the tragedy of a fallen nation: across the vast land, all people were caught in the net of calamity.

Yu Lianzhou circulated his internal force through his body’s acupoints, healing his injuries. Zhang Cuishan sat guard beside him. Yin Susu leaned in a chair—how could she sleep? At midnight Yu Lianzhou rose, walked slowly around the room three times to stretch his limbs, and said, “Fifth Brother, in all my life apart from Master, I have never encountered such a master of martial arts.”