Twin Blades of the Storm Dragon Chapter 1 – Part 5

Xu Fei hastened back to the wine shop in the small town. Local officials had already arrived, and a crowd of curious onlookers, heedless of the rain, pressed into the cramped courtyard to gawk. From within the win shop came Chen Boyu’s¹ piteous groans. Xu Fei called for the crowd to make way and shouldered his way inside. An official raised a lantern to illuminate the scene: blood soaked the bed, and Chen Boyu’s wound lay at his waist, a sight of terrible suffering. Xu Fei’s tears fell unbidden. “Shishu,² the villain Zhang San³ has fled, but I swear I shall avenge you. Yesterday in Xuzhou⁴ I saw at once that Zhang San was no good man. Yet because you kept praising his honesty and generosity, I dared not speak. Today a friend warned me that Zhang San the Precious Blade bears a foul reputation in the capital. I grew uneasy and rode after you at once. I never dreamed I would arrive too late, and that such a calamity would befall you!”

Chen Boyu groaned for a long while before he could force out a few words: “I was careless! I never imagined anyone would have the gall to ambush me!… Zhang San, what a vicious, heartless wretch!”

Then he continued, “Forget vengeance, the sword must be recovered!… Fetch my daughter at once…”

This renowned fist master, whose name had once resounded through the jianghu,⁵ now wept like rain.

Xu Fei’s brow knotted. Tears streamed down his face as he gave his word and turned to leave. But the official caught his arm and whispered, “You mustn’t go! Night has fallen, and the rain still pours. Even if you ride to fetch his daughter, you cannot bring her back before dawn. And with such a wound, I fear, your shishu will not last the night. If you leave, we shall have no one to stand as the aggrieved party.”

Xu Fei shook his head in helpless anguish and asked, “Is there no wound medicine to be found hereabouts?”

The official pointed to a man gawking at the doorway. “That’s the apothecary—the only medicine shop in this town.”

Xu Fei went to him and asked, but the apothecary only said, “No wound medicine. Only poison drawing plasters.”

The official said, “What use is a poison drawing plaster?”

Xu Fei felt utterly powerless. He stared at his shishu through tear-blurred eyes, watching his breath grow ever fainter.

Xu Fei hurried to his side in alarm. Chen Boyu’s eyes flew open. “Damn you, Zhang San! Sooner or later, my daughter will avenge me!”

His eyes remained wide for a long moment, then his brow furrowed, and a groan died stillborn in his throat. His body shuddered, and after a moment, he lay rigid and lifeless. Xu Fei clutched his shishu’s hand, tears streaming like a spring, and felt the hand grow cold beneath his fingers.

“Shishu…” he choked out, grief so overwhelming he nearly fainted.

The piteous scene drove even the onlookers to bow their heads and file out in silence. The official turned to Xu Fei and said, “Weeping will avail you nothing now. I shall report this to the county magistrate. Tomorrow they will come to examine the body—prepare a coffin.”

Xu Fei nodded, and the official departed. Xu Fei kept vigil over the corpse, tears and mucus flowing freely through the night, unable to sleep a wink. The following day, rain still fell. Men came from the magistrate to examine the body and summoned Xu Fei to the county seat to answer questions. When Xu Fei returned, he commissioned a simple coffin from the townspeople and laid Chen Boyu the Iron Palm to rest within it, then hired a large cart.

That day the rain made the roads impassable, the water too deep for cart or horse, and they were forced to tarry another day. The next morning the rain ceased at last. The cart bore Chen Boyu’s coffin southward, Xu Fei riding escort. The small town was called Mijia Market,⁶ under the jurisdiction of Shangshui County.⁷ Another hundred li⁸ or more remained before they would reach Chen Boyu’s home village. A cart, a horse, only two carters, Xu Fei—and within the coffin, Chen Boyu in his eternal slumber. Though the rain had stopped, the skies remained overcast, and the autumn wind blew ever sharper. The road was a morass of knee-deep mud, making progress arduous.

Under such bleak conditions, they struggled onward for two and a half days before reaching Xincai⁹ territory, where they turned toward the village of Jinlin¹⁰ where Chen Boyu had made his home. Xu Fei’s heart grew heavier still. How am I to break this news to his family?

Tears dripped onto his horse’s neck. He raised his eyes and saw ahead a stand of fruit trees, half-hidden in the mist.

“There it is,” Xu Fei said to the two carters. They looked up as well, and saw a white horse galloping out from the grove, drawing nearer and nearer until they could make out its rider: a girl of thirteen or fourteen.

Footnotes

1. 陈伯煜 – Chén Bóyù. His name meaning “Elder Radiance” or “Brilliant Elder.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 师叔 – shīshū. Martial uncle. Younger martial sibling of one’s shifu. Shī means teacher. Shū means father’s younger brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 张三 – Zhāng Sān. His name meaning “Zhang Three” or “Third”. A common way to refer to someone’s by their surname followed by their position in the family or household. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 许州 – Xúzhōu. Historical name for Xuchang in Henan Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

5. 江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. The world of martial arts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 米家集 – Mǐjiā Jí. Literally Mi Family Market. Small market town under the jurisdiction of Shangshui County. ↩

7. 商水县 – Shāngshuǐ Xiàn. County in Henan Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

8. 里 – Lǐ. Traditional Chinese unit of distance, approximately 500 metres or 0.31 miles. ↩

9. 新蔡 – Xīncài. County in southeast of Henan Province, bordering Anhui to the northeast and east. See Wikipedia. ↩

10. 锦林村 – Jǐnlín Cūn. Literally Brocade Grove Village. Chen Boyu’s home village in Xincai County. ↩