Heavenly Sword Dragon Slaying Saber Book 3

by Jin Yong

  Later in the afternoon a Ming Cult subordinate came to report, "Flooding Water Flag disciples, Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da and the others seek an audience with Jiaozhu.”

  Zhang Wuji was delighted; he personally went out of the gate to meet them. Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da were accompanied by Tang He, Deng Yu, Hua Yun, Wu Liang and Wu Zhen. They stood respectfully outside the gate. As they saw Zhang Wuji come out, they bowed in respect and said, "Greetings to Jiaozhu!”

  Zhang Wuji often remembered how Xu Da had saved his life; he was very happy to see these people, he immediately returned the salute. Taking Zhu Yuanzhang in his left hand and Xu Da in his right, he took them inside and invited them to sit down. After apologizing to each other they took their seats. By then Zhu Yuanzhang had already returned to secular life, he was no longer dressed as a Buddhist monk. He said, "As your subordinates received Jiaozhu’s order, we hurried along to the Butterfly Valley. We should have been arrived a few days earlier, but on the way we met a completely baffling matter that your subordinates had to investigate; hence we missed the general assembly. We ask for Jiaozhu’s forgiveness.”

  "I wonder what kind of baffling matter was that?” Zhang Wuji asked.

  Zhu Yuanzhang said, "All of us were delighted when we received Jiaozhu’s order on the first week of the sixth month; we brothers discussed what kind of gift we need to prepare to congratulate Jiaozhu. Huaibei is a poor place, there is nothing good in there; fortunately the assembly was still some times away, so we went to Shandong to try our luck. We were afraid the government authorities would recognize us; therefore, we disguised ourselves as mule cart drivers, your subordinate was the leader. One day we arrived at Guidefu in Henan, where were hired by some customers who wanted to go to Heze, Shandong. While we were traveling suddenly some people pursued us with blades and spears, very fierce and menacing. They chased away our customers and told us to drive other customers. Brother Hua wanted to deal with them right away, but Brother Xu signaled him with his eyes to look clearly into this matter before making any move first. Those people led us with our nine mule carts to a valley in the mountain. We saw there were already about a dozen other carts waiting, while on the ground sat some Buddhist monks.”

  "Buddhist monks?” Zhang Wuji wondered.

  "That’s right,” Zhu Yuanzhang replied, "Those monks hang their heads low, they looked so dejected. But among them there were some unusual looking people, some had their ‘tai yang xue’ [sun acupoint] bulging out of their temples, some were tall and powerfully built. Brother Xu quietly told me that those monks were all martial art experts. Those fierce people ordered the monks to ride on the carts and then they led us all to the north. Subordinate believed something was wrong, so I quietly told everybody to be on their guards and not to reveal our true identity. Along the way we paid full attention to what those fierce people were saying, but those people were very secretive; they did not say anything in our presence. Afterwards Brother Wu Liang gathered up his courage and eavesdropped outside their window in the middle of the night. He did that for four, five nights in a row before he finally found out that those monks were actually from the Shaolin Temple of Mount Song in Henan.”

  "Ah!” Although Zhang Wuji had partly guessed it, he still could not restrain himself from exclaiming.

  Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "Brother Wu Liang heard one of those fierce people say, ‘Master’s strategy is truly divine, worthy of other people’s utmost admiration. Shaolin, Wudang, and the rest of the six major sects are in our hand. Who had ever achieved such result since the ancient time?’ Another man said, ‘I am not surprised. One arrow two eagles [killing two birds with one stone], the Devil Cult leaders will be implicated by this matter.’ We seven people pretended going to the bathroom and quietly discussed this matter. We all agreed that since by coincidence this matter concerning our Cult fell into our hands, then we must investigate carefully and submit a report to Jiaozhu.”

  "You have done the right thing,” Zhang Wuji commented.

  "We continued going north,” Zhu Yuanzhang said, "All the while we maintained our disguises as simple men. Brother Tang He and Brother Deng Yu pretended to bicker over five coins of silver; they fought awkwardly, like people who do not know martial art at all. Those fierce people clapped their hands and laughed, and afterwards they did not pay us any attention anymore. We called them ‘lao ye’ [lit. old master] this and ‘lao ye’ that, flattering them by all kinds of crap. At one time Brother Wu Zhen was thinking of drugging them, diverting their attention and then saving those

  Shaolin monks; but then we thought it over, we did not know anything about what was going on, these ominous people were well-trained in martial arts. We were afraid we might disturb the grass and scare the snake, and harming an important matter by alerting the enemy; therefore, all along we did not dare to make our move.

  When we arrived at the Hejian prefecture we met with six other big carts, also full of prisoners.

  They dressed as common civilians. During the meal I overheard a Shaolin monk greeted one of the newcomers, ‘Song Daxia [great hero], you are here!’”

  Zhang Wuji leaped up and hastily asked, "Did he say ‘Song Daxia’? What did he look like?”

  Zhu Yuanzhang replied, "His body was slim-built, he looked about fifty, sixty years of age, wearing a three-branch long beard. His face looked simple yet elegant.”

  Zhang Wuji knew it was indeed Song Yuanqiao. He was pleasantly surprised and asked further what the rest of those people looked like. Turned out Yu Lianzhou, Zhang Songxi, Mo Shenggu three people were also among those prisoners. "Are they injured? Are they shackled?” he asked.

  "I did not see any shackle,” Zhu Yuanzhang replied, "I also did not see any injury. They talked and ate just like any ordinary people, only they looked dispirited; also they walked swaying and staggering. As he was greeted by that Shaolin monk he only smiled bitterly but did not say anything. The Shaolin monk was about to say something else, but one of the fierce people pulled him away. Thereafter our two groups were separated by about ten ‘li’s; we did not stop and eat together anymore; subordinate has never seen Song Daxia’s group ever since. About the third day of the seventh month our group of Shaolin monks arrived at Dadou [lit. grand capital, present day Beijing].”

  "Ah,” Zhang Wuji exclaimed, "You went to Dadou, then they must have fallen into the treacherous hand of the royal government. And then what happened?”

  Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "Those fierce people led us to take the Shaolin monks toward a big temple on the west side of the city. They also told us to spend the night in the temple.”

  "What temple was that?” Zhang Wuji asked.

  "When we entered the temple, subordinate looked up at the sign above the gate, it was called Wan An Si [Temple of Ten-thousand Peace],” Zhu Yuanzhang answered, "But because of that one of the ominous people struck me with his horse whip. That night we brothers quietly discussed our situation. We believed these ominous people would kill us to shut our mouths up, so when the sky turned black we quietly escaped.”

  "It was very dangerous,” Zhang Wuji said, "You were lucky those ominouspeople did not pursue you.”

  Tang He smiled and said, "Zhu Dage [Big Brother Zhu] has already anticipated that. Before leaving we captured seven mule cart drivers from the neighborhood and changed our clothes with theirs. Afterwards we killed them inside the temple. We mutilated their faces so that those ominous people would not recognize them. We also killed the other mule cart drivers who came with us and we scattered money everywhere to make it look like two groups of people fought over money and killed each other, so that when those ominous people returned, they would not suspect anything.”

  Zhang Wuji was secretly shocked; he saw Xu Da’s face showed he did not have the heart to do so, Deng Yu looked embarrassed, Tang He sounded very proud, but Zhu Yuanzhang was the only one who maintained his composure and did not show any emotion on his face, like nothing out of ordinary happened. Zhang Wuji thought, "This man is cruel and shrewd
.” He said, "Although Zhu Dage’s idea was wonderful, but from now on we must not kill innocent people so easily.”

  It was their Cult Leader’s order, so Zhu Yuanzhang and the others stood up at once. They bowed and said, "We will follow Jiaozhu’s instruction.” Thereafter when Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, Deng Yu, Tang He and the others went out to battle, they always observed Zhang Wuji’s order and did not dare to randomly kill innocent people. In the end they won the people’s hearts and were able to accomplish a great undertaking.

  Zhang Wuji said, "Zhu Dage, the seven of you managed to find out the whereabouts of Shaolin and Wudang two sects’ masters; it was not a small merit. After arranging the strategy to fight the Yuan we will go to Dadou to rescue the two sects’ masters.”

  After the official business was done, Zhang Wuji chatted with Xu Da and the others as friends. He recalled the time they stole and butchered an ox outside Zhang Yuan. They clapped their hands and laughed heartily.

  That evening in the general assembly Zhang Wuji burned incense to proclaim their oath to fight a coordinated insurrection against the Yuan from various places. The Cult leaders echoed their determination to work together; their main target was to drive the Yuan army away little by little.

  The following was their strategy:

  Cult Leader Zhang Wuji, assisted by the Brightness Left Emissary Yang Xiao and Green-winged Bat King Wei Yixiao held the ‘zong tan’ [lit. head/chief altar - central government] position, as the highest command for the entire Cult.

  White-browed Eagle King Yin Tianzheng commanded the Heavenly Eagle Flag, making their movement in the Jiangnan area.

  Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, Tang He, Deng Yu, Hua Yun, Wu Liang, Wu Zhen, joined by Chang Yuchun’s stronghold cavalry, plus Sun Deya’s troops would raise their arms in Huaibei’s Haozhou.

  Bu Dai Heshang [cloth sack monk] and Shuo Bude were in command of Han Shantong, Liu Futong, Du Zundao, Luo Wensu, Sheng Wenyu, Wang Xianzhong, Han Jiao’er and the others, to raise their arms at Yingchuan district of Henan.

  Peng Yingyu led Xu Shuohui, Zou Puwang, Ming Wudeng to fight at Jiangxi’s Ganzhou, Raozhou, Yuanzhou, Xinzhou and other districts.

  Tie Guan Daoren [iron hat priest] led Bu Sanwang, Meng Haima and the others raised their arms at Xiangchu and Jingxiang districts.

  Zhou Dian commanded Zhi Mali, Zhao Junyong and the others raised their arms at Xuxiu and Fengpei districts.

  Leng Qian was in charge of the Ming Cult member in the western region, cutting off any Mongolian reinforcement coming to the Central Plains from the western region.

  The Five-Element Flags were under ‘zong tan’s command, to be dispatched as necessary as the reinforcement for those who needed it.

  The people were 90% sure that this strategy came from Yang Xiao and Peng Yingyu’s minds.

  As Zhang Wuji finished outlining their strategy, the crowd broke into a thunderous applause. Zhang Wuji also said, "Logically, we cannot rely only on our own Cult’s strength to shake nearly one hundred years of Yuan’s occupation. We must make good contacts with the heroes and warriors; only by pooling our strength and resources together will we be able to achieve great merits. Presently almost half of the masters of the Wulin world of Central Plains are being captured by the royal government, ‘zong tan’ will think of a way to rescue them. Tomorrow all of the brothers will go your own way. Fight and kill the Tartars whenever you have the opportunity. ‘Zong tan’ will also head for Dadou for a rescue operation. We have met and enjoy this joyous fellowship today; I don’t know when we are going to see each other again in the future. Brothers, you must show loyalty to each other, give the important matter a foremost place in your heart, don’t fight with each other over power and profit, don’t kill each other. If any injustice of this kind is found among you, ‘zong tan’ will not be lenient.”

  The crowd shouted their answer with one voice, "We won’t dare to disobey Jiaozhu’s order!” Their cheers and shouts echoed throughout the valley. Afterwards everybody sealed their oath by shedding their blood and burning the incense; determined to hold fast to their just cause in live or death.

  The moon was shining brightly as it was daytime. The Ming Cult leaders sat around the banquet tables, while the staff of ‘zhong tan’ served some vegetable-stuffed round cakes to everybody. The round cakes looked like the moon, hence they called it ‘moon cake.’ Later on a legend developed that the Chinese made a pact to kill the Tartars while eating moon cake during the Mid-autumn Festival [‘ba yue xhong qiu - lit. mid-autumn of the eighth month]; it was because of the Ming Cult held their assembly that evening to decide the battle strategy.

  Zhang Wuji also said, "Our Cult has always had a rule passed on from generation to generation, that we don’t eat meat or drink wine. But presently there are famines everywhere; we can’t always choose what we eat. Moreover, our primary objective today is to drive the Tartars out. If we don’t eat meat or fish our strengths will wane and it will be difficult to fight. From now on I lift up this religious rule of not eating meat and drinking wine. We live in this world must put important matter first, eating and drinking rule is trivial matter.” From that time on the Ming Cult people ate the moon cake with pork stuffing.

  Next day early in the morning everybody bade Zhang Wuji goodbye. Although they were warriors and brave people, but thinking about the incoming bloody battle nobody knew who would survive and who would perish. Although they were confident that they would be successful, but among the attendees of the Butterfly Valley assembly, perhaps only half of them would live; inevitably they all left with heavy hearts.

  While the ceremonial fire was still ablaze in the Butterfly Valley, suddenly someone sang in a clear voice,

  “Burn my wretched body, oh raging holy fire.

  What joy is in life, what pain is in death?"

  The rest of the crowd responded in one voice,

  “Burn my wretched body, oh raging holy fire.

  What joy is in life, what pain is in death?

  To do good and shun evil, only for brightness’ cause.

  Whether it is a life of happiness or sadness,

  Everybody will go back to the dust.

  I pity the mankind, with their many suffering!

  I pity the mankind, with their many suffering!"

  The last phrase of ‘I pity the mankind, with their many suffering! I pity the mankind, with their many suffering!’ echoed in the Butterfly Valley. With their clothes as white as snow, the warriors came to Zhang Wuji’s presence one by one, bowing their heads and salute, raised their head back up, turned around and left without looking back. Remembering that in the ten or twenty years to come, these warriors, such as Xu Da, would shed their blood for the sake of the Central Plains, Zhang Wuji could not help his eyes brim in tears.

  The sound of singing was getting farther and farther away; the warriors dispersed their own separate ways. In a few moments stillness went back to reign in the Butterfly Valley, which was bustling with noise and excitement for the last several days; only Yang Xiao, Wei Yixiao, and Zhu Yuanzhang with his company left. Zhang Wuji asked in details the Wan An Temple’s location, as well as those ominous people’s appearance.

  "Zhu Dage,” he said, "The world is in chaos, we cannot waste any time in this insurrection. You do not need to accompany me to Dadou; let us part here.”

  Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and the others said, "We wish Jiaozhu success. Subordinates will wait to hear the good news.” Bidding their farewell to Zhang Wuji, they left the valley toward their assigned post.

  "We also have to leave,” Zhang Wuji said, "Xiao Zhao, you have shackles on your hands, you can’t move easily, you better wait for me here.”

  Xiao Zhao agreed reluctantly, but with the pretense of sending them off she followed them going out of the valley. They had walked for three miles, she still followed them. Then three more miles, she still did not want to leave. "Xiao Zhao,” Zhang Wuji said, "If you send us off farther, you might not recognize the way back.”

&n
bsp; "Master Zhang,” Xiao Zhao said, "Are you going to see Miss Zhao in Dadou?”

  "Can’t say for sure, but I might,” Zhang Wuji replied.

  "If you see her, will you ask her a favor on my behalf?” Xiao Zhao asked.

  "What do you want her to do?” Zhang Wuji wondered.

  Xiao Zhao held out her arms and said, "I want to borrow the Yitian Sword from Miss Zhao to cut this iron chain, otherwise I will not be free for the rest of my life.”

  Zhang Wuji could not bear to see her pitiful expression, "I am afraid she won’t let me borrow her precious sword, let alone let me bring it here,” he said apologetically.

  "Then . then, why don’t you take me along, ask her to borrow the sword just for a moment?” Xiao Zhao asked.

  Zhang Wuji smiled and said, "You talked in circles, in the end you want to go with me to Dadou, don’t you? Yang Zuoshi, do you think we can take her along?”

  Yang Xiao knew from the way Zhang Wuji speak that he wanted to take her along; he said, "I don’t think that’s a problem; so there is someone to take care of Jiaozhu’s clothes and serve him tea. Only your iron chain’s ‘clink, clink, clank, clank’ will be conspicuous. Let’s do it this way; she pretends to be ill, then she can ride in a carriage and not come out unless it’s important.”

  Xiao Zhao was delighted, "Many thanks Master, many thanks Yang Zuoshi,” she busily said; then she cast a glance toward Wei Yixiao and said, "Many thanks, Wei Fawang [lit. law king - I think another translator translated it as ‘protector king’, the same ‘fawang’ as Jinlun Fawang of ROCH]”

  "What do you thank me for?” Wei Yixiao said, "You need to be careful, if my previous sickness recurs, I am going to suck your blood.” While saying that he grinned widely, showing rows of white teeth; looking very strange.