Heavenly Sword Dragon Slaying Saber Book 4

by Jin Yong

  "Dage, come back!” Zhang Songxi called out, "Everything needs to be considered further.”

  In his disturbed mind, Song Yuanqiao ignored his call; he kept running with the sword in his hand. Zhang Wuji lifted up his feet to give a chase. Several leaps later, he cut off in front of Song Yuanqiao. Bowing down he said, "Da Shibo, Si Shibo wants to talk to you. Currently, Song Dage is under other’s influence; someday, he will come to his senses. If Da Shibo wants to punish him, you don’t have to do it right away.”

  Song Yuanqiao sobbed, "Qidi ... Qidi ... your big brother has done you wrong.” Suddenly he remembered how Zhang Cuishan had killed himself because he felt he had done Yu Daiyan wrong; right at this moment he suddenly understood the depth of his Wu Di’s [fifth brother] feeling. Raising up his sword, he slashed it across his own neck.

  Zhang Wuji was startled; using the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi to the fullest, he snatched the sword from Song Yuanqiao’s hand. But the blade had already cut the neck, creating a long strip of bloody cut. By this time Yu Lianzhou and the others had already caught up.

  "Dage,” Zhang Songxi persuaded, "Qingshu is going astray by committing this kind of treason and betraying his own Sect, Wudang people will hold him responsible; but cleaning up our school is a small matter, our country’s safety is big. We can’t lose sight on the big matter for the sake of a small one.”

  Song Yuanqiao’s eyes grew big; he was angry. "You ... you said cleaning up our school is a small matter? I . I fathered this disobedient son .”

  "Listening to that Chen Youliang,” Zhang Songxi said, "The Beggar Clan wants to borrow Qingshu’s hands, scheming to harm our En Shi [benevolent master] and gain control over the major Sects of Wulin world, and conspiring against our country. En Shi’s safety and well-being is the number one priority of our Sect; whether the Wulin world and the common people will have disaster or good fortune is even more important. This child Qingshu has done too much injustice; he will get his retribution sooner or later. We still need to discuss important matters.”

  Song Yuanqiao realized Zhang Songxi was very reasonable, he bitterly put the sword back into its sheathe and said, "My mind is troubled, I’ll hear what Si Di has to say.”

  Yin Liting took out some cut-wound medication and wrapped it around Song Yuanqiao’s neck. Zhang Songxi said, "The Beggar Clan has already sought to cause En Shi harm, and at this moment En Shi still does not know the facts. We must travel day and night to return to Wudang. Although that Chen Youliang is going to use Song Qingshu, we will never know; perhaps this devious villain will make his move sooner than what is planned. Right now our most urgent task is to protect En Shi. En Shi is advanced in years; if that fake-Shaolin-monk-pretending-to-be-a-news-bearer case is repeated, we can’t redeem it as his disciples even if we were to die ten thousand times.” While saying that, he cast a glance toward Zhao Min, who was standing some distance away; he still resented how she had sent someone to assassinate Zhang Sanfeng.

  Song Yuanqiao broke in cold sweats. "That’s right, that’s right!” he said in a trembling voice, "In my eagerness to kill that disobedient child, I pushed En Shi’s safety and well being to the back of my brain. I truly deserve to die to put the cart before the horse. Such a muddle-head.” And then he called out, "Let’s go, let’s go!”

  "Wuji,” Zhang Songxi turned toward Zhang Wuji, "We’ll leave the rescuing of Miss Zhou to you. Come to Wudang whenever you are finished, then we’ll talk again.”

  "I receive and obey Shibo’s instruction,” Zhang Wuji said.

  Zhang Songxi continued in low voice, "This Miss Zhao has a heart of the wolf, you must be very careful. Song Qingshu is a bad example of a real warrior who cannot resist a beauty. You should not follow his example.” Zhang Wuji nodded with his face blushing.

  Immediately the Four Heroes of Wudang and Zhang Wuji buried Mo Shenggu behind a large rock. The five of them kowtowed and cried bitterly in front of his grave. And then Song Yuanqiao and his martial brothers, four people, left.

  Zhao Min slowly walked towards Zhang Wuji and said, "Your Si Shibo told you to be careful and do not get deceived by this witch, and that Song Qingshu is a bad example, didn’t he?”

  Zhang Wuji’s face turned completely red and he bashfully asked, "How do you know? Do you a super ear?”

  "Humph,” Zhao Min said, "Let me tell you this: After considering this matter, Song Daxia and the others will not blame Song Qingshu for having an animal heart, instead, they will blame Zhou Jiejie [older sister Zhou] as the source of trouble [lit. red face muddling the water], by destroying a Wudang young hero.”

  In his heart Zhang Wuji silently agreed that she might be right, but his mouth said, "Song Shibo and the others are reasonable gentlemen; how could they recklessly blame others?”

  With a cold laugh Zhao Min said, "The more they are gentlemen, the more they will blame others recklessly.” She was silent for a moment before laughing and saying, "Quickly go and save your Miss Zhou; it would be terrible for you if she fell into Song Qingshu’s hand.”

  Zhang Wuji blushed again and asked, "Why would it be terrible?”

  Chapter 33 - Long Flute, Short Zither, Flowing Yellow Clothes

  (Translated by Foxs, Edited by Eliza Bennet)

  Four young women wearing white and four young women in black, each with a zither or a flute, stood on the eight directions. Amidst the sound of music, a woman entered the courtyard, wearing a soft yellow light robe; her left hand was taking along a twelve, thirteen years old girl.

  Zhang Wuji went to fetch the horses, and then together with Zhao Min, they rode across the Great Wall. He thought his Yifu must have fallen into the Beggar Clan, but since the Beggar Clan wanted to use him to coerce the Ming Cult into submission, he supposed they would not do him any harm; although some humiliation would be unavoidable. However, Zhirou was as clear as crystal and as clean as jade; if the devious and cruel Chen Youliang and the shameless Song Qingshu forced her, her only option would be to die. Thinking to this point, he wished he would grow wings and fly to Lulong. Only, Zhao Min was still injured, they could not possibly travel without any sleep or rest.

  That night, the two of them spent the night at a small inn. While lying down on the ‘kang’ [a heatable brick bed common in northern China] Zhang Wuji was deep in thought; the more he thought, the more anxious he got. He went outside Zhao Min’s window; he heard her even breathing as she fell into a deep sleep, so he went to the front desk to get pen and ink. Tearing down a piece of paper from the registry book, he hastily wrote a letter, saying that because the matter was urgent, he made up his mind to continue the journey the very same night, and that he would find her after the matter is settled. He advised her to continue her journey home leisurely while she was still recuperating from her injury. He placed the paper on the table and put a piece of rock on it, and then he jumped out from the window and rushed southward.

  By daybreak he managed to buy a horse, and kept changing horses along the way. After several days of traveling day and night like that, he finally arrived at Lulong. However, even by pursuing that fast, he did not see Chen, Song and Zhang Bo Longtou along the way. He figured that while he was traveling during the night, they were resting in an inn someplace, hence he missed them.

  Lulong was a strategic city in Hebei province, where the Tang Dynasty’s Jie Du Shi [provincial governor; in Tang times having military and civil authority, but only civil authority during Song] took his residence. It was attacked several times during the transition between the Songs and the Jins and suffered major damages. The city had never recovered all through the Yuan Dynasty, yet it had quite a large population.

  Zhang Wuji went all over Lulong’s main streets and small alleys, visited teahouses and wine shops, but surprisingly he did not see a single beggar. He felt very strange, "Such a big city, yet not a single beggar on the street; this is very unusual. Chen Youliang said that the Beggar Clan would have an assembly in here, certainly he was not lying. I think all beggars big and small within t
he city walls have gone to pay their respect to the Clan Leader. I must look for their meeting place, this way I can eavesdrop to find out whether Yifu and Zhiruo are really captured by the Beggar Clan.”

  He then visited all the temples, ancestral halls, abandoned gardens, and any open area around the city, but did not find a single clue. He even went to the villages on the outskirts of the city, but still did not see anything unusual. When evening came, he grew impatient, and could not help but thinking about Zhao Min. "I wouldn’t be this clueless if she were here” he thought. Finally he decided on going to an inn.

  After taking his dinner, he took a short nap, and then around the second hour [between 1 - 3 am], he flew out of the window and went everywhere to see if there was anything astir. But after looking to all directions, he saw the night was serene, without the least bit of sign that Jianghu characters were having a meeting.

  He was disappointed; but suddenly he saw a light on a tall building toward southeast from where he was. He thought, "This building must belong to a high-ranking government official or some rich family; it has nothing to do with the Beggar Clan ...” He had not finished his train of thought when he saw a shadow flash; someone was leaping out from the window on the second floor. Only, he was quite some distance away from the building that he could not see clearly. He thought, "Can it

  be that there are some ‘lu lin’ [lit. green wood, a term usually refers to ‘world of outlaws’] characters who are visiting this rich family house to commit a criminal act? Since I have nothing to do, I’d better check it out.”

  Utilizing his ‘qing gong’ [lightness skill], he immediately rushed towards that big building. As he was leaping over the enclosing wall, he heard someone say, "Chen Zhanglao [elder Chen] is really bothersome; it was decided that we are going to assemble on the eighth of the first month in Laohekou [city in Hubei], yet he dispatched an urgent message for us to hurry along and wait over here. He is not Bangzhu, why does he have a say anyway? Ridiculous.”

  The voice was loud and clear, the speaker was obviously indignant; it turned out that they were on a Beggar Clan’s business. As Zhang Wuji heard this, he was delighted. The voice came from the main hall, so he quietly crept toward it.

  He heard Shi Huolong’s voice reply, "Chen Zhanglao is a genius; that damn Jin Mao Shi Wang [golden-haired lion king] Xie Xun, who knows how many Jianghu people have been looking for him in these past twenty years, yet nobody has even caught the shadow of a lion hair’s fart. But Chen Zhanglao managed to capture him just like that. Nobody in the Wulin world has ever accomplished that, let alone people within our own Clan ...”

  Zhang Wuji was startled, but also glad that finally he heard something about his Yifu. He believed the Beggar Clan did not have any extraordinary masters and rescuing his Yifu would not be too difficult. He scanned the room pressing his eyes against a crack in the window. He saw that Shi Huolong was sitting inside, with Chuan Gong and Zhi Fa two Elders, Zhang Bang Longtou and three eight-pouch elders sitting on the lower positions. There was another well-dressed middle-aged fat man; judging from his appearance, he looked like a rich government officer, but on his back he carried six pouches. Zhang Wuji quietly nodded his head, "No wonder” he thought, "Turns out that there is a rich Beggar Clan disciple in Lulong. Who would have thought a whole bunch of beggars will be having an assembly in a rich man’s house?”

  He heard Shi Huolong continue "Since Chen Zhanglao urgently wants us to wait in Lulong, he must have a valid reason. We are planning this important matter; his granny, this ... this ... we must be very cautious over this matter.”

  "Bangzhu,” Zhang Bang Longtou said, "Please be informed that the reason the warriors in Jianghu are looking for Xie Xun is because they want to snatch the ‘wu lin zhi zun’ [the most revered in the martial art world], the precious Tulong Saber. Presently, this precious saber is not within Xie Xun’s possession. No matter how much we persuade or threaten him, he is not willing to reveal the precious saber’s location. We are wasting our time capturing this blind man; what use do we have of him other than making him to drink our wine and eat our food? In my opinion, we’d better torture him harshly; I want to see if he’d keep his mouth shut.”

  "No, that would be inappropriate,” Shi Huolong replied, "We might spoil something by using force. Let’s just wait for Chen Zhanglao and then we can talk about it at length.”

  Zhang Bang Longtou’s face showed discontent; he seemed to be upset that Bangzhu always wanted to hear what Chen Youliang had to say in everything.

  Shi Huolong took out a letter and handed it over to Zhang Bang Longtou. "Feng Xiongdi [brother Feng],” he said, "I want you to go to Haozhou immediately and deliver this letter to Han Shantong. Tell him that his son is with us, he is safe and sound. We only want Han Shantong to submit under our Clan’s authority, and then we will view his son in a new light.” "Delivering a letter is a minor matter,” Zhang Bang Longtou said, "Do I need to personally take the trip to do it?”

  Shi Huolong’s countenance slightly dropped, he said, "Speaking of military accomplishment, Han Shantong and his comrades have created quite a stir within this last half a year or so. I hear his subordinates, that damn Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and the others, have raised up their arms and very much all of them have some stinking ability. This time I am asking Feng Xiongdi to personally deliver this letter, first, to make sure Han Shantong will submit under our Clan; and while you are hanging around them, make sure you find out what kind of plan he and his generals are cooking. Second, I want you to investigate what kind of strange secret those damn Ming Cult people are hiding. Feng Xiongdi, the task you are bearing on your shoulder is not light; how could you say it is a minor matter?”

  Zhang Bang Longtou did not dare to say anything anymore; he simply said, "I respectfully follow Bangzhu’s instructions.” He accepted the letter, saluted Shi Huolong, and then left the main hall.

  Zhang Wuji kept on listening, but they were only talking about how in the future, after the Ming Cult, Shaolin, Wudang, Emei, and all other Sects were subdued, the Beggar Clan would flourish with awe-inspiring prestige. This Shi Huolong’s wild ambitions were not as lofty as Chen Youliang’s; if the Beggar Clan had a sole domination over the Jianghu and warriors in the Wulin world, he would be very satisfied. He was not thinking of ruling over the country [orig. jiang1 shan1 - river and mountain] by becoming the emperor. His language was vulgar, with a lot of dirty words.

  After listening for a while, Zhang Wuji was fed up; he thought, "It seems like Yifu and Zhiruo are imprisoned here. I need to rescue them first then I’ll give this big mouth, shameless beggar, a lesson.”

  His right foot moved slightly, he gently leaped toward a tall tree. Looking to all directions, he saw a dozen or so Beggar Clan disciples on the lower level. They had their weapons in their hands, going back and forth patrolling the area. Zhang Wuji thought that must be the place where they kept Xie Xun and Zhou Zhiruo prisoners. Slipping down the tree, he sneaked to the tall building nearby and hid behind a fake decorative hill. As soon as the two Beggar Clan disciples turned around and walked the other way, he leaped vertically up toward the second floor, where he saw bright light from lamps and candles. He stooped down underneath a window, trying to hear any sound of activity inside.

  To his astonishment, after listening for a while, he did not hear anything inside. "How come there is nobody inside?” he thought, "Could it be that the person in here is a martial art master who is able to stop his breathing?” But after listening a moment longer and still did not hear any breathing noise, he stretched out his neck to peek into the room via a crack in the window.

  He saw a pair of large candles on the table, which had been burned more than half of their original length, but there was not a single human shadow to be seen. There were three rooms on the second floor, located side by side. The one on the immediate east of him was unoccupied, so he peeked into the room on the west. This room was also brightly lit. He saw cups and bowls scattered on the
table, about enough to be used by seven, eight people. The wine in the cup had not dried up, the vegetable and meat dishes had not been finished, but there was not a single human being inside the room. It looked like the people had not been eating and drinking too long when they had to leave the room in a hurry.

  The room in the middle was pitch-black like a cave. He lightly pushed the door, but it was bolted from the inside. "Yifu, are you in there?” he called out in low voice. Nobody answered. Zhang Wuji thought, "Apparently, Yifu is not here. But why do the Beggar Clan people set up such a strict

  security? Could it be that they are running the ‘real is fake, fake is real’ tactic?”

  Suddenly he caught a whiff of smell of reeking blood coming out from the middle room. He was alarmed. With his left hand pressed against the door, he exerted his internal energy and ‘crack!’ the bolt broke. Quick as a flash he darted inside to catch the broken bolt so that it would not fall on the floor and create some noise.

  He only took one step forward when his foot stumbled on an object on the floor. It felt soft like it was a human body. He stooped down to touch the object and indeed it was a lifeless human body. This person had ceased breathing, but his face was still a bit warm; looked like he died not too long ago. Zhang Wuji traced the corpse’s head and found the head to be small with pointy chin, definitely it wasn’t Xie Xun’s head. He was relieved. Taking another step he bumped into two more bodies. He went to the western wooden partition and poked his finger to let the candlelight from the adjacent room passing through. He saw seven, eight Beggar Clan disciples scattered around the room, all dead. Obviously, they were killed because of heavy internal injury. He lifted a corpse up and tore the clothes off. He saw a deep fist imprint on that corpse’s chest, breaking up his ribs; apparently, the power behind the fist was extraordinarily strong.

  Zhang Wuji was delighted, "Turns out Yifu unleashed his mighty power and struck these guards dead.” He looked around the room, and saw on a corner of the wall a picture of blazing fire, engraved with the tip of a sword; it was undoubtedly the symbol of the Ming Cult. He also noticed that the latch of the window was snapped off; the window was open. "That’s right,” Zhang Wuji thought, "The dark shadow I saw fleeing out the upstairs window a moment ago must be Yifu escaping. I wonder how was he captured by the Beggar Clan? It must be because his blindness made it difficult for him to guard against the Beggar Clan’s deceit. If they did not use ‘meng han yao’ [drug, see Chapter 32], then they must have used some kind of trap [orig. ban4 ma3 suo3, dao3 gou1, yu2 wang3 - large rope to trip horses, hook to topple someone, fishnet] to capture him.”