White Horse Neighing in the West Wind – Chapter 17

Li Wenxiu turned to Aman and said, “You swore by the name of Allah that you would be his slave for life. If he cannot beat me and I take you from him, then you’ll be my slave for life, yes?”

The Kazakhs, when they went to war with other peoples, took their prisoners as slaves. The Quran¹ laid it down in plain text: a slave’s status was no different from livestock. They had no will of their own, and were at their master’s disposal to command or sell. If a master was himself overcome, then his property, his livestock, and his slaves all passed to the victor.

Aman listened and thought: I’m already a slave girl. Better to serve this one as master than to be tortured by that wicked robber. She nodded. “Yes.” Then she added, “But… you won’t beat him. That robber’s martial arts are very good.”

Li Wenxiu said, “Then don’t worry. If I can’t beat him, he’ll simply kill me.” She clapped her hands together and said to Chen Dahai, “Come on!”

Chen Dahai was astonished. “You’re fighting me bare-handed?”

“What weapon do I need to kill a bandit like you?”

Chen Dahai thought: Everyone here is an enemy. The longer I delay, the more danger I’m in. If he’s arrogant enough to fight empty-handed, all the better. He shouted, “Watch the jian!” and thrust his jian forward in a strike called Venomous Snake Exits the Cave, aimed straight at Li Wenxiu’s chest, swift and fierce.

Old Man Ji cried out, “Get back!” He was certain Li Wenxiu could never withstand it.

But Li Wenxiu’s body swayed, and lightly and deftly she dodged it. She appeared at Chen Dahai’s left side, her left elbow driving back into his waist.

Chen Dahai barked, “Good!” He circled his jian and slashed at her arm.

Li Wenxiu’s right foot flew up, kicking at his wrist. The move was called Swallow Flies from Beneath the Leaves, one of Hua Hui’s signature techniques. Li Wenxiu had practised it hard for seven or eight days before she could perform it, and now she unleashed it with startling speed and precision.

Chen Dahai tried to pull his hand back, but it was too late. A sharp pain shot through his wrist. He had been struck. Fortunately her leg strength was not great, and his grip held, so the long jian did not fly from his hand. He roared and leapt back a full pace.

Old Man Ji let out an “Oh!” of pure astonishment.

Chen Dahai rubbed his wrist, then charged in again. This time he did not underestimate the thin, pale youth in the least. Seeing that the boy’s footwork and handiwork were both formidable, he unleashed the Green Python Jian Style,² each stroke more vicious than the last, determined to run this youngster through.

Li Wenxiu had been taught by her shifu, Hua Hui, and her movements were nimble, her techniques precise and strange. But she had never once fought another person hand-to-hand, and she had no combat experience at all. At first she relied entirely on hatred, on the fury of wanting to kill this evil bandit to avenge her father and mother. But as the fight went on, she began to read the rhythm of his swordplay, and her mind slowly settled.

Old Man Ji’s cottage was tiny. and a fire had been lit in the hall as well. The two of them leapt and struggled beside it, the edge of his jian and her fist and palm often passing within less than a cun of each other. Time and again Chen Dahai’s jian seemed certain to find its mark, and time and again she deflected or dodged. Su Luke and the others watched with their mouths hanging open. But Old Man Ji grew more frightened with every exchange. His whole body shook without stopping.

At the height of the bout, Chen Dahai struck with Spirit Snake Flicks Its Tongue, the point of his jian darting at Li Wenxiu’s throat. She ducked low, lunged forward beneath the jian, her left arm deflecting his right forearm outward, and both her hands seized the pair of gold and silver short jian at his waist. She yanked them free, drove her arms forward, and with a muffled thunk, plunged them simultaneously into his left and right shoulder sockets.

Chen Dahai howled in agony. His long jian fell from his grasp. He staggered backwards, his back slamming against the wall, gasping for breath. The two short jian were buried to their hilts, the points protruding through the middle of his back. Blood poured down. The tendons and vessels were severed, and his arms hung useless. He tried to reach with his right hand to pull the jian from his left shoulder, but his right arm would not rise.

A great cheer filled the room. “The bandit is beaten, the bandit is beaten!” Even Su Luke was shouting. Supu and Aman threw their arms around each other, wild with joy. Only Old Man Ji still trembled without ceasing, his teeth clicking together.

Li Wenxiu knew he was trembling for her. She walked over and took his rough, large hand in hers, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, “Grandpa Ji, don’t be afraid. I beat him.”

His palm was ice-cold, and still shaking.

Li Wenxiu turned her head and saw Supu holding Aman tight. The swell of triumph she had felt a moment ago vanished in an instant. She felt herself beginning to tremble too. Old Man Ji’s hand was no longer cold, because her own hands had turned to ice.

She let go of Old Man Ji’s hand and walked over to take hold of the long rope still looped around Aman’s neck. In a flat voice she said, “You are my slave. You will follow me for life.”

Supu and Aman both went cold at the words. The four arms locked in their embrace loosened. They knew this was the law of the Kazakhs, passed down through the generations. A fate that could not be resisted. Both their faces went white.

Li Wenxiu sighed. She slipped the rope-loop from Aman’s neck and said, “Supu loves you. I… I won’t let him be sad. You belong to Supu.” With a gentle push she sent Aman nestling into Supu’s arms.

Supu and Aman could hardly believe their ears. Together they asked, “Truly?”

Li Wenxiu managed a bitter smile. “Of course it’s true.”

Supu and Aman each caught one of her hands and shook them, crying, “Thank you, thank you!”

In their wild joy they did not notice the few tears that fell from Li Wenxiu’s eyes onto their arms.

Su Luke struggled to his feet and clapped his great hand down on Li Wenxiu’s shoulder. “Among the Han there are good people after all. Though… though I’m afraid you are the only one!”

Che’erku shouted, “Bring wine, bring wine! Everyone drinks! I’ll drink with the good Kazakhs, and with the good Han, to celebrate the capture of the evil bandit! Eh? Where is the bandit?”

They all turned. But Chen Dahai was gone. While Grandpa Ji had been shaking with terror, while Su Luke and Che’erku were still muddle-headed from drink, while Supu and Aman were lost in rapture, while Li Wenxiu looked at Supu and grieved in silence. Each person had been wrapped in their own concerns, and not one had watched the bandit. He had slipped away through the back door.

Su Luke was furious. “Quick, after him!” He threw open the plank door, and a great gust of wind blew in. His legs were still weak from the wine. He lurched and fell.

The cold wind drove snow before it, so fierce it could hardly be borne, and every one of them felt they could not draw breath.

Aman said, “In a storm like this, he can’t have gone far. His arms are badly wounded. He’ll struggle for a while, then freeze to death in the snow. When dawn comes and the wind drops, we can search for the bandit’s corpse in the snow.”

Supu nodded and closed the door.

Su Luke stared at Li Wenxiu for a long time. Then he said, “Little brother, you’re Kazakh, aren’t you?”

Li Wenxiu shook her head. “No. I’m Han.”

Su Luke said, “That’s impossible. If you’re Han, why did you fight the Han bandit and save us Kazakhs?”

Li Wenxiu said, “Among the Han there are bad people, and good people. I… I’m not a bad person.”

Su Luke muttered, “Good people among the Han?” He shook his head slowly. And yet his own life, and his son’s life, had plainly been saved by this Han youth. He had no choice but to believe it.

All his life he had hated the Han. Now that conviction was shaking. He was angry with himself. Why had he got drunk the night before, instead of fighting the Han bandit himself? Why did he have to be saved by another Han?

All his life, at every critical moment, things had gone wrong. Bad luck. And yet the bandit’s jian had been at the crown of his head, and the boy had arrived in time to save him. Was that ill timing too? Was that bad luck as well?

By dawn the great wind and snow had at last stopped.

Su Luke and Che’erku set out at once to rally their people for the pursuit. There were bloodstains in the snow, and the footprints were plain enough. Besides, the bandit was gravely wounded, and he could not have gone far. Best of all, if he went to join his fellow bandits, then the great grudge of twelve years could be settled in a single stroke.

Over three hundred Kazakh fighting men formed the first pursuit party, with second and third waves following behind. To capture Chen Dahai alone hardly needed so many, but the real purpose was to wipe out the whole Han bandit gang that had plagued the grasslands for so long.

Su Luke and Che’erku took the lead. They ordered the rest of the tribe to follow more than ten li behind, so that Chen Dahai would not spot them and turn aside from his companions. Supu had been wounded the night before, but the injury was light, and he insisted on going with his father. Aman insisted too, though everyone knew she simply did not want to be parted from Supu. Che’erku chose two of his apprentices to go with him: one was the nimble Sangser, the other a young man so strong he was said to have the strength of a camel, and his nickname was simply Camel, and everyone called him that, and his real name had long been forgotten.

Footnotes

1. 可兰经 – Kělánjīng. The Quran, the holy book of Islam, which the Kazakhs of this novel follow. The passage on slavery referred to here reflects the historical institution, not a modern endorsement. ↩

2. 青蟒剑法 – qīngmǎng jiànfǎ. Green Python Jian Style, a fictional style whose name evokes the sinuous, striking motion of a large serpent. ↩