Ten Thousand Thorns_A Fairy Tale Retold

by Suzannah Rowntree

  Or nearly all.

  On the borders of his new empire, Emperor Father-of-the-World still had to face the resistance of many brave leaders who would not accept the foreigner’s yoke. They too had the dream of Broken Spear. In a tiny village in the mountains of Sichuan province, lived the Coiling Dragon King.

  “That was his bandit title,” said Clouded Sky, as she paused. “He wasn’t a real king.”

  “Whether a man is a king or a bandit depends on whether you ask the Emperor or the peasants, dage. Maybe the Emperor himself is only a very great bandit, preying on the people.”

  The Coiling Dragon King and his followers were famous heroes of the martial arts world, and with his Golden Phoenix Sword, the Coiling Dragon King was invincible. No matter how many armies Father-of-the-World sent against him, the Coiling Dragon King and his followers maintained their freedom, bastioned by the hills.

  “Don’t forget where he learned his martial arts, Miss Iron.”

  “Dage must be aware that he learned them from Wudang Sect. It is not commonly known, but his shifu was none other than Sect Founder Zhang.”

  “When I heard the story at Wudang it was different.”

  “Or perhaps Wudang does not remember the full story.”

  The Coiling Dragon King and his men protected their village and roamed the martial arts world doing justice, feeding peasants, and battling the foreign Yuan regime. He had only one misfortune to keep him awake at night: the Coiling Dragon King had no child.

  The King and his wife sent up many prayers to every deity in Heaven, but none were able to help. “Maybe try the Flowers God,” one would say. “Have you spoken to the Moon Rabbit? What about Numi?” They worked their way through the whole heavenly bureaucracy, until only the First Deity remained.

  “He is far away and perhaps he will not hear,” said Coiling Dragon King’s wife. Her name was Lovely Flower.

  “What have we got to lose, anyway?” said Coiling Dragon King. So they made their prayers, and to their delight, Lovely Flower soon began to show signs of pregnancy.

  I suppose they must have made all the usual sacrifices, including the ones asking for a boy. Indeed, the baby was born healthy and beautiful…but it was not a boy. It was a girl, and they named her Morning Light.

  One year after Princess Morning Light was born, Coiling Dragon King organised a great celebration for the child’s First Grab ceremony. He spared no expense and invited everybody. All the heroes of the martial arts world, and even many of the gods. In the end, only the Eight Immortals came to represent Heaven. They could never resist the prospect of a party.

  “That’s also different to the story I heard. Only seven of the Eight Immortals came.”

  “Elder is quite correct. Seven of the Eight Immortals came…at first.”

  Before the meal of longevity noodles came the First Grab ceremony. All the guests gathered to watch. At the last minute, Coiling Dragon King unhooked the Golden Phoenix Sword from his belt and added it to the collection of symbolic items on the table. Morning Light was brought in and placed on the ground before the table to choose the occupation of her future life. She didn’t even look at the books, coins, pens, and other items on the table. Instead, the little princess toddled forward and grabbed the yellow tassel on the hilt of the Golden Phoenix sword.

  The guests applauded, but Lovely Flower sighed.

  “A warrior!” cried Coiling Dragon King with great satisfaction. “My daughter will be a martial heroine, like her father!”

  Next, Coiling Dragon King asked the Eight-But-One Immortals to bestow their blessings upon the child. When they had poured enough cold water over Visiting-Caves Lu to sober him up, the Immortals gathered around where Morning Light sat happily playing with the Golden Phoenix Sword, and each of them bestowed a blessing.

  “No man shall ever be led astray by her beauty,” said Peaceful-Countenance Lan.

  “An excess of learning will never make her arrogant,” said Imperial Brother-in-Law Cao.

  “She will always trust the wisdom of others above her own understanding,” said Iron Crutch Li.

  “Her words will always be gentle and reverent,” said Hunan’s-Son Han.

  “She will never make enemies,” said Zhongli of Han.

  “Others may concern themselves for the physical nourishment of the poor,” said Visiting-Caves Lu, “but she will devote herself to their spiritual enlightenment.”

  “And,” said Old Zhang Guo, beaming in delight, “on her sixteenth birthday, after sustaining a slight injury from the Golden Phoenix Sword, she will enter into a profound meditation, through which she shall attain complete enlightenment, and from thence leave her body and ascend spiritually into Heaven.”

  Lovely Flower gasped in delight. A murmur of surprise and even envy arose in the hall. Only the Coiling Dragon King yanked worriedly at his beard and muttered, “Never make enemies? Ascend into Heaven? What use is a daughter like that to anyone?”

  It was then that the doors of the hall flew open, and the Eighth Immortal, Lady He, flew in astride a celestial crane.

  When Coiling Dragon King had recovered from his surprise at her unexpected arrival, he cupped his fists and bowed. “Immortal Lady He! Welcome to the First Grab celebration of the Princess Morning Light. Please, join us to eat Longevity Noodles!”

  If he had not been so put out of countenance by the unwelcome gifts of the seven other immortals, Coiling Dragon King would have remembered that Immortal Lady He was profoundly enlightened and had long ceased to take any earthly nourishment at all.

  “No, thank you, your highness,” she snapped. “This penniless one would not have come, but the Flowers God sent me this memorandum and then went on a journey before I could return it.” She unfolded a scrap of white silk, written in red ink.

  “By the Jade Emperor’s command—no, I beg your pardon. The Jade Emperor is acting on orders from higher up.” She cleared her throat and raised her voice. “Indeed, the Princess Morning Light shall sustain a slight injury from the Golden Phoenix Sword, and shall enter into a profound meditation, which shall continue for a hundred years. At the end of that time, an unfortunate inability to detach herself from earthly illusion will bring an end to all the blessings bestowed on her today, causing her to leave her meditation for a life of passion and struggle in the martial arts world.”

  A shocked silence fell upon the hall. Only Coiling Dragon King looked hopeful.

  Immortal Lady He tucked the scrap of silk into her sleeve again, and bowed to Coiling Dragon King. “Your highness, please accept my sympathy in your misfortune. I’m acting on the highest orders.”

  With that, she climbed onto her celestial crane again and left.

  From that time on, Coiling Dragon King kept the Golden Phoenix Sword locked deep within five chests, where he could be sure that Morning Light would never touch it. Indeed, he forbade his followers even to mention the name of the sword.

  “Doesn’t Virtuous Husband want her to attain enlightenment?” Lovely Flower protested.

  “Of course I do,” said Coiling Dragon King. “Maybe when she’s sixty!”

  But the decrees of Heaven can never be thwarted. Princess Morning Light grew, and her temperament was not just warm and charming; it was also bold and fearless. By the time she was twelve years old, Morning Light had already mastered all the stances that Coiling Dragon King could teach her. He began to consider sending her to Wudang Mountain to learn from his martial brothers there, but before he could do so, a crisis arose.

  In the Year of the Monkey, Emperor Father-of-the-World sent an army to subdue the mountains, and Coiling Dragon King marched away to meet them. Most of his men never returned. After many months, Coiling Dragon King’s lieutenant Wild Goose returned home. His clothes were in rags and his shoes were in tatters, but he carried the Golden Phoenix Sword safely on his back.

  According to Coiling Dragon King’s last wishes, Morning Light and Wild Goose would marry, and together they would defend their village from th
e Yuan Emperor. Lovely Flower was crushed by her husband’s death, but she had not forgotten the prophecy made by Old Zhang Guo at Morning Light’s First Grab celebration. Secretly, she waited, hoped, and prayed for the day when her beloved daughter would be freed from the sorrows and misfortunes of earthly attachments. Whenever Wild Goose asked Lovely Flower to be his matchmaker with Morning Light, Lovely Flower put him off with the excuse that Morning Light still needed to finish her training with her martial uncles at Wudang Mountain.

  On Morning Light’s sixteenth birthday, Lovely Flower stole to the shrine to her late husband’s shrine, unlocked each of the five chests, and presented Morning Light with the Golden Phoenix Sword.

  Morning Light had never dreamed that such a beautiful thing existed. She was delighted by the blade’s lightness and balance, by the golden patterns etched into the steel, by the way it rang like a bell when she struck it with her fingernail, the way it hissed and shimmered and sang when she swung it through the air. At once, she ran to the courtyard and began to move through the eighty-eight stances of Coiling Dragon King’s Heaven-Relying Dragon-Slaying Sword Skill.

  “The Heaven-Relying Dragon-Slaying Sword Skill!” Clouded Sky shook his head. “If anything could give a martial artist unbeatable skill, that could! But it’s been lost for a hundred years.”

  Iron Maiden smiled.

  Morning Light knew each of the stances to perfection, but she was unaccustomed to the length, the flexibility, and above all the perfect balance of the Golden Phoenix Sword. It almost had a speed and power of its own, and as Morning Light moved through the stances it flickered faster and faster. Morning Light flitted like a butterfly and roared like a tiger. She stabbed the north and pierced the south; she struck the west and lunged to the east. At last, as she executed the final stance of the Heaven-Relying Dragon-Slaying Sword Skill, the Golden Phoenix Sword struck faster than she could see. Faster than she could move.

  A tiny cut appeared on her left forefinger.

  Morning Light gave a cry that was half pain and half delight. She licked her finger and sat cross-legged on the ground. A little cultivation of her qi energy, and the cut would heal. But a soft voice stopped her. Lovely Flower stood under the verandah, looking down on her.

  “You should go and meditate in the temple, child.” As Morning Light jumped to her feet and ran off, Lovely Flower murmured, “You must not be left in the rain and the snow.”

  Morning Light ran into the temple and sat down before the gods. Holding the Golden Phoenix Sword across her knees, she closed her eyes and began to meditate. Immediately she fell into a deeper trance than she had ever experienced before. She realised the illusory nature of desire, attachment, and anger. She understood the ineffable truth of all things.

  Revelation flooded her heart and illuminated her mind.

  Clouded Sky waited for Iron Maiden to go on, but she remained silent.

  “Is that the end of the story?”

  Iron Maiden sighed. “It’s sad, isn’t it? Morning Light might have been a martial heroine to rival her father. Instead, she was stuck inside a temple, aloof from the martial arts world!”

  “Morning Light experienced perfect enlightenment, the goal of all martial discipline. What better is there? The story I heard says that the princess still sits there in the temple in the mountains, guarded by ten thousand thorns. It says that some of the greatest heroes of the martial arts world have gone in search of her, to retrieve the Golden Phoenix Sword and learn the secret of the Heaven-Relying Dragon-Slaying Sword Skill. None of them ever succeeded.”

  “None of them knew the way to Ten Thousand Thorns Temple. But I do.” Clouded Sky went cold suddenly, and turned in the saddle, trying to see her face.

  “Is that your plan? We go in search of Morning Light? You can’t be serious!”

  “Why wouldn’t I be serious, dage? According to the prophecy of Immortal Lady He, Morning Light would wake from her meditations after a hundred years. The hundred years have now passed. We have to wake her and return the Heaven-Relying Dragon-Slaying Sword Skill, the Golden Phoenix Sword, and Coiling Dragon King’s army of peerless martial artists to the martial arts world! Only then can we hope to defeat the Emperor and bring peace to All-Under-Heaven.”

  The Heaven-Relying Dragon-Slaying Sword Skill! Clouded Sky’s skin prickled as he thought of the charlatans who roamed the martial arts world, selling what they claimed were original versions of Coiling Dragon King’s long-lost sword manual. If it was really possible to recover this lost skill, his name would never be forgotten. He would truly be the supreme martial artist; neither Iron Maiden nor anyone else would be able to defeat him. He could forge an alliance between Morning Light and the Roaring Tiger rebels, and lead them against the Vastly Martial Emperor. That is, unless the Vastly Martial Emperor reached Mount Jing first and dispersed, starved or slaughtered the rebels to extinction.

  “It’s impossible,” he said at last. “The Emperor is about to destroy the rest of the Mount Jing rebels, and you want me to run away with you on a wild goose chase?”

  Iron Maiden laughed. “No, not a Wild Goose chase. The village chief is Valuable Ox now.”

  Clouded Sky frowned. “So you’ve been there yourself? Why didn’t you wake Morning Light?”

  “I tried.” Iron Maiden sighed. “But you know that the temple is protected by ten thousand thorns. It would take a great hero to battle his way through them, and after that, it is only a deep attachment to the martial arts world that will succeed in waking Morning Light. Humble self is not worthy.”

  Despite himself, Clouded Sky was touched by her humble tone. “Your martial skill is profound, Miss Iron! Apart from my blood brother, Broken Spear, and my shifu, Harmonious Virtue, I doubt I’ve exchanged stances with a more accomplished warrior. Your skill is far above mine. If yours is insufficient, then mine certainly will be.”

  Iron Maiden was quiet for a moment. At last she said, “The martial skill is important, but so is the ocean-embracing vision and the reliance upon Heaven. You, Clouded Sky, do you really wish to bring peace and prosperity to All-Under-Heaven?”

  “Of course I do. But there are greater heroes than myself in the martial arts world. You should find one of them.”

  “Your martial arts are not so bad! Wudang Sect may not be what it once was, but your basic skills are strong; you only need a little improvement. I am only an ignorant girl, but there are one or two things I can teach you.”

  Train under Iron Maiden? He, a Wudang disciple? Clouded Sky tried not to be offended. “Taoist Priest Harmonious Virtue is my shifu.”

  “That’s why you ought to train with me. So you can learn what he isn’t teaching you.”

  He was momentarily speechless. It was unthinkable to learn martial arts from anyone without his shifu’s express permission—a permission which he would never seek, because it would be tantamount to accusing his shifu of failure.

  “I can get additional instruction from Harmonious Virtue anytime.”

  “I thought you wanted to defeat the Vastly Martial Emperor!”

  “You go too far, Miss Iron!”

  “Do I? You couldn’t defeat me, and I know next to nothing. You couldn’t even protect your blood brother!”

  “How dare you insult Wudang Sect!” Clouded Sky jerked his horse to a stop, then jumped to the ground and unsheathed his sword in one motion. “Wudang Sect is the leader of the martial arts world, and I will prove it!”

  Iron Maiden sniffed. “Of course it is! Everyone knows that! That doesn’t change the fact that I could defeat you in one stance. How is that an insult?”

  “You said my shifu had not taught me well enough to—to—to protect…” Clouded Sky pressed his lips together, and the hand that held his black sword began to shake.

  “But he hasn’t,” Iron Maiden said. Her voice softened as she saw him struggle with the force of his emotions. “I didn’t mean to insult your shifu, Elder, but it’s not worth fighting about. We ought to be helping each other esca
pe the Imperial Sword, not killing each other!”

  With an effort, Clouded Sky calmed himself.

  “Sometimes it is necessary to turn one’s back on smaller matters in order to serve the greater good, but if you disrespect my sect or shifu again, I’ll have to kill you!”

  “Much appreciated, hero!”

  “And my martial arts is as good as it needs to be!”

  “Prove it, then.” Iron Maiden slid off the horse and assumed a stance, her eyes sparkling with fun. “No challenge. Just a friendly exchange of stances.”

  She needed to learn a lesson. Willing to oblige, Clouded Sky attacked with the stance Piercing the Pearl, stabbing toward Iron Maiden’s forehead. His attack was lightning-fast, but she countered, shifting her head to the side even as her fingers shot out, aiming for an acupoint. Clouded Sky had expected the move, and his sword had already changed direction. But it was only a feint: while his attention was on her hands, she kicked an acupoint in his leg. He collapsed with a groan of pain.

  Iron Maiden retreated, and began to stroke Flying Crane’s nose.

  Clouded Sky circulated his qi to open the acupoint, buying time to think. He had lost. Again. She must have deliberately provoked his anger to get the upper hand more easily.

  He calmed his mind and tried to cultivate an attitude of detachment as he climbed to his feet and adopted another stance.

  “Again?” Iron Maiden shook her head with a sigh. As Clouded Sky charged, she unleashed a palm-strike in his direction, so powerful that it created gales of wind as she swept toward him. If he had not met the stroke with his sword, it would have broken bones. As it was, it threw him off his feet. Iron Maiden soared lightly through the air after him.

  As he leaped from to his feet, she met him with a jab to the Great Welcome acupoint.

  Clouded Sky went down. Iron Maiden bent over him.