by Jin Yong
Ming Cult originally had a religious rule so-called ‘shi2 cai4 shi4 mo2’ [meat dish are a matter of the devil]; prohibiting them to consume alcohol and meat. But after their altar was moved to the Mount Kunlun this prohibition against alcohol and meat was removed. In the Western Region fresh vegetables were hard to come by; they were more expensive than meat. Plus the climate was bitter cold; without cattle and sheep fat it was difficult to fight the cold using internal energy alone.
Around the pavilion, on the bank of the pond, there were seven, eight flower trees; they looked like ‘shui xian’ [lit. water deity; narcissus?] but not as big. The flowers were white; the fragrance was light and elegant. So close to this refreshing fragrance, drinking the good wine, the gentle breeze carried the flower scent; the warriors’ hearts were really carefree. That Miss Zhao was really cordial, she was very knowledgeable of stories and news of the Wulin world of the Central Plains; many of those were not known even to Yin Tianzheng father and son. Toward Shaolin, Emei, Kunlun, and the other sects’ martial arts she did not say too much, but she placed the highest regards toward Zhang Sanfeng and the Wudang Seven Heroes. She also heaped praises toward Ming Cult’s leaders’ martial art. She was seemingly talking without giving it too much thought; but each praise and every admiration were right on target. The guests were delighted and full of admiration toward her; but when asked which martial art school she belongs to, Zhao Min only
smiled without giving any answer, and then she changed the topic.
The wine had gone several rounds. Zhao Min always drank her cup dry. She was very open-minded. Every time a new dish arrive, she always moved her chopsticks and be the first to eat the dish. Her face was starting to exude a reddish glow from the wine; she looked even more beautiful. A beautiful woman would either be refined and elegant, or tender and glamorous; but this Miss Zhao, in her extreme beauty she also carried a third part boldness, a third part heroic attitude, while maintained her elegance. Plus, she also carried an air of authority, which gained other people’s respect and made them not dare to stare at her intently.
Zhang Wuji said, "Miss Zhao, our Ming Cult is most grateful for your hospitality. I have a question I’d like to ask, but I do not dare to utter it.”
"Zhang Jiaozhu,” Zhao Min replied, "Why are you acting like you are an outsider? Isn’t there a saying in the Jianghu world, ‘within four sides of the ocean, everybody is a brother’? If you do not think I am unworthy, just consider ‘xiao mei’ [little sister, she was referring to herself] your friend. Whatever it is you want to know, I will do my best to answer it.”
Zhang Wuji said, "If that is the case, then I’d like to ask: where did Miss acquire this Yitian Sword from?”
Zhao Min showed a faint smile; she loosened the Yitian Sword from her waist and placed it on the table. "Ever since Xiao Mei met with all of you, your eyes have never left this sword. I wonder if you care to tell me the reason behind it.”
Zhang Wuji replied, "Frankly, this sword originally belonged to Mie Jue Shitai, the Sect Leader of Emei Sect. The number of my brethrens from the Ming Cult who perished under this sword was not a few. Even I almost died from this sword’s stab on my chest. That was the reason we pay a close attention to this sword.”
"Zhang Jiaozhu’s divine ability is matchless,” Zhao Min said, "I heard by using ‘qian kun da nuo yi’ you were able to snatch this sword from Mie Jue Shitai’s hand. How could you be injured by this sword? I also heard the one injured Zhang Jiaoshu with this sword was a young female disciple of the Emei Sect; her martial art was only so-so. Xiao Mei really does not understand why it happened.” With raised eyebrows she looked at Zhang Wuji’s face intently; her mouth showed a faint smile, yet she was not smiling.
Zhang Wuji blushed profusely. "How did she know this clearly?” he thought. He said "the other side came too suddenly, I was not paying attention and let it slip.”
Zhao Min smiled and said, "That Zhou Zhiruo, Zhou Jiejie [older sister Zhou] is very beautiful, is she not?”
Zhang Wuji blushed even redder, "Miss is teasing me,” he said. He picked up the wine cup with both hands, trying to drink it in one gulp to hide his embarrassment, but unexpectedly his left hand slightly trembled and he spilled a few drops of wine on the sleeve of his clothes.
Zhao Min smiled and said, "Xiao Mei cannot bear the wine power, I am afraid if I drink some more I will breach the etiquette; I wouldn’t know the seriousness of what comes out of my mouth. I am going inside to change my clothes and will be back right away. Please all of you continue eating and drinking, no need to be polite.” She stood up, cupped her fists, turned around and went out of the pavilion, and disappeared beyond the willow and flower trees on the other side of the pond.
The Yitian sword was left lying on the table, she did not take it with her. The Manor servants continuously served food and wine.
The Ming Cult people stopped eating. They waited for quite a long time but Zhao Min had not returned. Zhou Dian said, "She left her precious sword here, obviously she trusts us.” While speaking he lifted up the sword with one hand. "Ah!” he suddenly exclaimed, "How come it is so light?” Grabbing the hilt he drew the sword from its sheathe. Everybody rose up from their seats in astonishment. Where is the Yitian sword, which could cut metal and slice jade, with its matchless sharpness? The sword in Zhou Dian’s hand was just a wooden sword. Immediately everybody smelt a faint incense-like fragrance, and saw that the sword’s blade was light yellow, for the sword was made of sandalwood.
For a moment Zhou Dian was at a loss; pushing the sword back to its sheathe he mumbled, "Yang . Left Emissary Yang, this . what kind of trick is this?” Although he loved to argue with Yang Xiao daily, but actually deep down in his heart he admired Yang Xiao’s vast knowledge and experience. This time facing a mystery he could not help but asking Yang Xiao for direction.
Yang Xiao’s face was serious, in a low voice he said, "Jiaozhu, I am 90% sure that this Miss Zhao harbors ill intention. This moment we are in danger, I think we’d better leave as soon as we can.”
"Why would we be afraid of her?” Zhou Dian asked, "We are numerous. Even if she is making her move, do you think she can eradicate us completely?”
Yang Xiao said, "Since entering this Green Willow Manor everywhere I looked I felt something strange. It feels right yet not exactly right; it feels wrong yet not exactly wrong. I can’t pinpoint what it is. Why should we stay in this place? We don’t have any specific reason anyway.”
"What the Left Emissary Yang said is right,” Zhang Wuji nodded his head, "We have had our meals; it’s time for us to leave.” Then he stood up.
Tie guan dao ren [the Iron Hat Taoist Priest] said, "What about the Yitian Sword? Aren’t you going to inquire, Jiaozhu?”
Peng Yingyu said, "In my humble opinion, this Miss Zhao has a suspicious intention; she won’t stop until she reached her goal. Even if we don’t look for her; she will definitely look for us.”
"That’s right,” Zhang Wuji said, "We have our own tasks to accomplish, there is no need to seek a new burden. We’ll wait for the enemy to exhaust himself; we’ll talk about it once we understand more.”
Everybody left the pavilion on the pond; returning to the main hall they told the servant to notify the lady that they were grateful for the feast and it was time for them to leave.
Zhao Min came out in a hurry; she was wearing a light yellow silk gown. She looked natural yet elegant; her glowing countenance was stunningly beautiful. "We have just met, why are you leaving?” she asked, "Is it because ‘xiao nuzi’s hospitality is too simple and slow?”
Zhang Wuji said, "We are very grateful over Miss’ hospitality, how could you say ‘simple and slow’? We have businesses to attend and cannot tarry too long. We’ll meet again someday and we’ll ask for more of your advice.”
The corner of Zhao Min’s mouth showed a faint smile, yet she was not smiling. She sent the guests off the village. The Divine Archers Eight Heroes stood on the either side of the road, bow
ing respectfully to send the guests off. The Ming Cult people cupped their fists, and without saying anything sped away. As they left the Green Willow Manor on all directions they saw open field, with nobody in sight.
Zhou Dian loudly said, "This Miss Zhao does not necessarily harbor ill intentions to us. Perhaps she was just playing a joke to Jiaozhu with that wooden sword. Even if that little girl wants to create trouble, what could she do? Left Emissary Yang, this time you were wrong!”
Yang Xiao hesitated before answering, "Whatever it is, I can’t say; but I feel uncomfortable.”
Zhou Dian laughed and said, "After the battle of the Brightness Peak the famous Left Emissary Yang has turned into a coward . Aiyo!” He swayed and fell from his horse.
Shuo Bude was the closest to him; he busily jumped down his horse to help Zhou Dian up. "Zhou Xiong [brother Zhou], what happened?” he asked.
Zhou Dian laughed and said, "No . nothing. I guess I drank too much wine so I am dizzy now.”
As the word ‘dizzy’ came out of his mouth, everybody looked at each other. Turned out as they sped way from the Green Willow Manor, everybody felt slight dizziness. Only they thought it was because of the wine, so they did not give it too much thought. But not only Zhou Dian’s martial art skill was high, his drinking capacity was also strong; how could a few bowls of wine make him so dizzy that he fell down from his horse? Surely something was amiss.
Zhang Wuji looked up and tried to remember Wang Nangu’s Book of Poison, which poison was colorless, tasteless and odorless; but could make people dizzy. He could not think of anything. But he ate and drank the same dishes and the same wine, yet why did he not feel anything different? Suddenly something flashed in his mind like a lightning bolt; he remembered something and was extremely shocked. He shouted, "Everybody who ate at the pavilion on the pond, get down from your horses and sit down cross-legged; right now! Whatever happened, do not circulate your ‘qi’ [breathing, in term of internal energy cultivation].” He also issued an order, "Brothers of Five-Element Flags and Heavenly Eagle Flag, spread out to all directions and encircle the leaders. Whoever is trying to get near can be immediately killed!”
Hearing their Cult Leader issued a strict order everybody replied it loud voice. They stood up, unsheathing their weapons and moved into position. Zhang Wuji ordered, "Do not leave your position until I come back!”
The leaders were confused; they only felt slightly dizzy, certainly nothing else seemed unusual, why was the Cult Leader so alarmed? Zhang Wuji warned again, "No matter how uncomfortable you are, do not fight it with your inner strength; otherwise the poison will be difficult to neutralize.”
The leaders were startled, "How can we be poisoned?”
Zhang Wuji’s shadow swayed and in a blink of the eye he had already fled more than a dozen ‘zhang’s away. He felt horse would be too slow, so utilizing his ‘qing gong’ to the fullest he flew back to the Green Willow Manor.
He was very anxious, knowing the extent of the poison attack on Yang Xiao, Yin Tianzheng and the others. The poison would not flare-up in three quarters or an hour; but it was not like the ‘xuan yin zhi’ [black/mysterious finger, Xuan Yin Finger in Chapter 22], in which the treatment could be delayed for a long time. If he could not find the antidote soon, these people’s lives would be in danger.
He flew over these twenty ‘li’s or so in a short moment. As he arrived at the Manor gate, he flew up like an arrow. The gate guards did not even see anybody entering the Manor, only a blur of a shadow. Zhang Wuji went straight to the garden in the back, towards the pavilion in the middle of the pond. He saw a lady wearing a light green silk gown; her left hand holding a cup, a book in her right hand, sitting quietly, reading a book and drinking tea. It was none other than Zhao Min. This time she was wearing female clothing. Upon hearing the sound of Zhang Wuji’s footsteps she turned her head around and gave a faint smile.
"Miss Zhao, I need some flowers and grass from you,” Zhang Wuji said. Without waiting for her to reply, his left foot kicked and he jumped from the pond bank to the pavilion in the middle of the pond. His body floated above the water like a dragonfly; while with his hands he pulled the seven, eight narcissus-like flower trees. As he landed on the pavilion, he heard several ‘swish, swish’ sounds, several tiny secret projectiles flew toward his face.
Zhang Wuji flicked his right hand and rolled the secret projectiles inside his sleeve. His left sleeve brushed away toward Zhao Min; Zhao Min slanted sideways to evade, only to hear a whistling sound. The gust of wind from the sleeve blew away everything on the table: teapot, teacup, fruit dish and everything else flew across the pond and shattered into pieces as they struck the flower trees on the other side.
Zhang Wuji stood up straight; he examined at the flower trees in his hand, and saw that each tree had a deep purple long root, and on these roots grew small beads the size of pearls, dark green like jadeite. He was delighted since he knew he had found the antidote; he put the roots in his pocket. "Thank you so much for the antidote, I am taking my leave now!” he said.
Zhao Min laughed and said, "Easy to come, but difficult to leave!” Tossing her book aside she drew a pair of paper-thin and frost-white daggers from the book; and thrust the daggers forward.
Zhang Wuji was concerned about Yin Tianzheng and the others’ injuries, he was not willing to prolong the contact. His right sleeve brushed away and dozens of golden needles in his sleeve shot out toward her. Zhao Min evaded sideways and flew out of the pavilion. Her right foot stepped on the stairs and immediately she flew back in; dozens of golden needles fell into the water.
"Good movement!” Zhang Wuji praised. He saw her left hand in front of her body and her right hand behind, both daggers came slanting down on him. He thought, "This little girl’s heart is so poisonous. If I did not know the Jiu Yang Shen Gong [the internal energy cultivated from the Nine Yang Manual] and did not read Wang Nangu’s Book of Poison, today the Ming Cult would have fallen under her hand without knowing anything.” Both of his hands reached out to grab her hands and snatch the daggers away.
Zhao Min’s white wrist flipped suddenly, her pair of daggers swift as lightning slashed his fingers. Zhang Wuji did not exert his energy in this move, he was inwardly groaning. But his internal energy was profound, in reflex his fingers moved and although he failed in snatching the dagger away, he managed to strike the acupoints on her wrists. Once again she flicked her wrists and the daggers flew out from her hands. Zhang Wuji leaned his head sideways to evade. ‘Bang, bang!’ The daggers struck the pavilion’s wooden pillar with such a force that they stuck on the wood and vibrated continuously.
Zhang Wuji was stunned; speaking about martial art skill, she could not be compared to Yang Xiao, Yin Tianzheng, Wei Yixiao and the others, but in term of alertness and quick-thinking, her reflex was very fast. Even though her daggers repeatedly missed their target, they would have been able to injure the opponent in the end. If early on he erroneously thought that he managed to disarm her and was not moving quick enough, then his life would have been gone by now.
As the pair of daggers flew out of her hands, Zhao Min’s right wrist flipped again and she quickly snatched the wooden Yitian Sword from the table. She thrust the sword, still inside its sheath, toward Zhang Wuji’s waist, without drawing the sword out.
Using two of his left hand fingers Zhang Wuji attacked the ‘jian zhen xue’ [shoulder chaste acupoint] on her left shoulder. As Zhao Min leaned her head sideways to evade, his right hand stretched out, using a marvelous movement from ‘qian kun da nuo yi’ he snatched the wooden sword.
Zhao Min withdrew to the steps; she laughed softly and said, "Master Zhang, what kind of martial art was that? Was it ‘qian kun da nuo yi’ divine skill? I think there is nothing special about it.”
Zhang Wuji opened up his left palm; revealing a pearl head ornament still gently shaking. It was the head ornament Zhao Min wore on the side of her head. Zhao Min’s face changed slightly; Zhang Wuji was able to snatch the hai
r ornament on her temple without her feeling anything. If when taking the ornament he slightly touched the left hand ‘tai yang xue’ [sun acupoint] on her head, then her little life would have been gone. But she was quick to think and she smiled. "If you like that pearl flower, then I’ll gladly give it to you; you don’t have to snatch it away from me,” she said.
Zhang Wuji was slightly embarrassed by her words; his left hand waved, tossing the pearl ornament back to her. "I’ll return it to you!” he said. Turning his body he was about to leave the pavilion.
Zhao Min held out her hand to take the head ornament. "Wait a minute!” she called out.
Zhang Wuji turned around. "Why did you steal two of the biggest pearls?” she said with a smile.
"You are talking nonsense, I don’t have time to joke around with you,” Zhang Wuji said.
Zhao Min lifted the head ornament high and with a stern voice said, "Look here, aren’t two of the pearls missing?”
Zhang Wuji shot a glance and he noticed two golden threads without any pearl on them. He knew she must have had taken those pearls herself; she wanted to lure him to come back so that she could carry out some other dirty trick. "Humph,” he snorted, ignoring her.
Zhao Min pressed the edge of the table with her hand and sternly said, "Zhang Wuji, I dare you to come within three steps of me.”
Zhang Wuji was not fazed by her intimidation, he said, "It’s up to you if you say that I am a coward who fears death.” While talking he had already taken two steps down the stairs.
Seeing none of her tricks worked, Zhao Min’s beautiful face changed; with a miserable voice she cried out, "It’s over! It’s over! I am defeated, how could I still have a face to see my Shifu?” Reaching back she pulled one of the dagger stuck on the pillar. "Zhang Jiaozhu,” she called out, "Thank you for your help!”
Zhang Wuji turned his head around only to see a flash of white light; she thrust the dagger into her own chest. Zhang Wuji laughed coldly, "I won’t fall .” he had not finished whatever he wanted to say when he saw the dagger enter her chest. She cried out miserably and fell on the edge of the table.