by Jin Yong
That evening, the two of them sat for dinner together with the old farmers, husband and wife. To their surprise, they had some chicken and meat dishes. Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min deliberately made a show of pinching each other hands under the table, or bumping each other with their elbows, just like a pair of eloping lovers, or like honey mixed with oil, neither one was willing to part with the other even for a moment. At first they were just acting, but later it became quite natural for them to show affection to each other. The granny saw everything, but she simply smiled. It seemed like the old farmer did not see anything; he just looked down and ate his meal quietly.
After dinner, Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min went into their room and bolted the door. After teasing each other on the dining table, part pretending and part real, they could not help but feel excited.
Zhao Min whispered, her pretty face blushing, "We are only pretending, we are not doing it for real.”
Zhang Wuji embraced her in his bosom, kissed her mouth and replied in low voice, "If we are only pretending, how can we have a baby in two, three years, and return home so that your Father can see the baby?”
"Pei!” Zhao Min bashfully spat, "Turns out you were eavesdropping on the side and heard everything I said.”
Although Zhang Wuji seemed unrestrained in talking and joking with Zhao Min, in his heart he always remembered that he was engaged to be married to Zhou Zhiruo. Although he hoped that he would live a happy live, he also hoped that after his marriage with Zhou Zhiruo he would be able to sort things out with Zhao Min. At this moment, with a warm and tender body in his embrace, he could not help but feel confused. But finally he restrained himself and only kissed her cherry lips and tender cheeks; and then he carried her to the bed, while he lied down on a wooden bench in front of the bed. He finally fell asleep after circulating his Jiu Yang Zhen Qi for twelve rounds along his entire body.
In the meantime, Zhao Min felt her face flush and her heart beat faster; she tossed and turned on the bed until deep into the night, unable to sleep at all. When she finally drifted off to sleep, suddenly, she heard footsteps from a distance. Someone was coming with great speed and had arrived at the door. She reached out to wake Zhang Wuji up. Coincidentally, Zhang Wuji had also heard the noise and was reaching out to wake her up; so two hands touched and they held each other tight.
They heard a clear and bright voice from the outside, "The virtuous husband and wife of the Du family, we meet again. Old friends come to visit in the night, we hope that we are not being rude”
After half a day, the granny replied from inside the hut, "Is it the ‘Qinghai San Jian’ [Qinghai (or Tsinghai - a province in western China) three swords]? From Chuanxi [western Sichuan] we, husband and wife, have exiled ourselves to this place, out of fear of your Yuzhen Guan [genuine jade Taoist monastery]. Our dispute was over a small misunderstanding, there is no deep animosity or a major offense between us. Why is it that after so many years Yuzhen Guan has not let it go and force us into hardship? As the saying goes, ‘killing the man does not necessarily mean to snatch his land.’”
The man outside laughed and said, "If the two of you are really afraid, kowtow to us three times, then Yuzhen Guan will forget the past and forgive your previous offense.”
With a creaking noise the wooden door opened. The granny said, "You are able to pursue to this place, your source of information is quick.”
The full moon had just risen, its silver light flooding the earth. Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min peeked from a crack on the wooden partition. They saw three Taoist priests wearing yellow crowns stand outside. The one in the middle was short and plump, the tip of his short beard was branched into two points.
"Will the virtuous husband and wife kowtow to apologize, or should we decide life and death with a pair of hooks and a spear?” the short Taoist priest asked.
The granny had not answered him yet when the deaf old man came out in big strides and stood in front of the door. With hands on his waist, he gave the three Taoist priests a cold look. The granny followed him out and stood by her husband’s side.
The short-bearded priest said, "Why hasn’t the Venerable Du uttered a single word? Do you think it’s beneath your dignity to talk to the Qinghai Three Swords?”
"My humble husband is deaf,” the granny said, "He could not hear anything you say.”
"Ah,” the short-bearded priest exclaimed, "Venerable Du’s technique in listening to the wind to distinguish the secret projectile was Wulin’s unique skill; how did he become deaf? Pity, it’s a pity.”
The priest next to him was even fatter than him. ‘Swish’ this priest unsheathed his sword and said, "Du Baidang, Yi Sanniang, are you sure you are not going to use any weapon?”
The granny, Yi Sanniang, replied, "Ma Daozhang [Taoist priest Ma], you are still this impatient? Shao Daozhang, we haven’t seen each other for several years, the hair on your heads have turned
gray. Hey, hey, you can’t even let go of a small childish matter, why should we bother talking to you?”
Swiftly she raised both her hands. Bright rays of light flickered from her palms, as each palm held three short blades, less than half a foot each; so she had a total of six blades. The old man Du Baidang followed her lead; his palms also hold six short blades. He swiftly switched the blades in his left hand to his right and the ones in his right hand to his left. It was as if his fingers were crossing each other with matchless dexterity.
The three priests were startled. They had never seen this kind of weapon in the Wulin world. It looked like a flying dagger, but there was no such technique among the flying dagger users. Du Baidang’s pair of hooks had shaken the Western Sichuan, while his wife, Yi Sanniang, was very adept at using a spear. But this time both husband and wife had unexpectedly discarded the weapons they had trained for dozens of years; so these twelve short blades must have extremely fierce and strange stances.
The fat priest raised his sword and he recited with deep veneration in his voice, "Three element-sword formation, heaven, earth and mankind [San Cai Jian Zhen Tian Di Ren].”
The short-bearded priest, Shao He, continued, "Lightning rapidly comes out of Yu Zhen, pursuing the star [dian zhu xing chi chu yu zhen - remember that their monastery was called ‘Yuzhen Guan’].”
The three priests moved around in a circle, always keeping the Du husband and wife in the center.
Zhang Wuji saw that the priests were moving to the left and all of a sudden to the right and vice versa. It looked like a three-element formation, but not quite a three-element formation. Their three swords were weaved into one bright net, but they did not attack the enemy.
After the three priests had moved for seven, eight steps, Zhang Wuji started to understand the principle behind the formation. He mused, "These three priests are very sly; they said it was a three-element sword formation, but it actually has the five-element principle hidden in it. If the enemy believes it was a three-element formation and fights the heaven, the earth and the mankind, three positions, they would be devoured by the five elements. Then it would be difficult for them to escape, and they would be either killed or injured. They are only three people, but launching a five-element formation; each one has to occupy more than one position and overcome their many variations. Their ‘qing gong’ and their sword techniques must be extraordinary.”
The Du couple stood with their backs against each other. Four hands flickered with silver rays, twelve short blades were constantly exchanged. Not only they switched the blades from their left to right hands and vice versa, but Du Baidang’s blades moved to Yi Sanniang’s hand, and Yi Sanniang handed over her blades to Du Baidang’s hands. All along not a single blade fell down, the short blades exchanged hands smoothly.
Zhao Min was baffled by their movement. "What kind of magic trick they are playing?” she asked in low voice.
Zhang Wuji knitted his brows without answering. He watched intently for a moment and suddenly said, "Ah, I understand. He is afraid of my Yifu’s lion’s roar.”
>
"What lion’s roar?” Zhao Min asked.
Zhang Wuji kept nodding his head, and suddenly sneered, "Humph, based on their skill, they want to slaughter a lion and subdue a tiger?”
Zhao Min was more confused than ever, "Are you talking in a riddle?” she asked, "Why are you talking to yourself and leave the listener in bewilderment?”
"These five are my Yifu’s enemies,” Zhang Wuji said in low voice, "That old man is afraid of Yifu’s lion’s roar, hence he punctured his own ear to deafness .”
‘Dang, dang, dang, dang, dang ....’ Suddenly they heard a series of clanging noises close to each other, just like a string of pearls; the five of them had begun fighting. Three Swords of Qinghai sent out five attacks in succession, all of which were parried by the Du couple. The twelve short blades in their hands went back and forth between the two of them. Under the moonlight the blades looked like three rings around the body, their defense was very tight.
The Qinghai Three Swords tried to penetrate their defense for a long time without any outcome and they immediately changed their tactic into defense. Du Baidang took the opportunity to enter their defense line; his short blade attacked the small and thin Taoist priest, Shao Yan’s abdomen.
There was a saying within the martial art practitioners, ‘an inch longer, an inch stronger; an inch shorter, an inch more dangerous.’ The short blades were less than five inches long, so they were extremely dangerous. ‘Swish, swish, swish!’ Du Baidang launched three blades which all were meant to kill without any regard for his own safety.
Ma Fatong and Shao Yan immediately launched a double attack, which was fended off by Yi Sanniang’s blades. Now they know that the blade technique this couple trained was based on close coordination between the two; one attacks the other defends. The one who attacks focused his/her attention only on the attack. Likewise, the one who defends only care about the defense. Neither one needs to divert his/her attention.
As Shao Yan received three successive attacks, he was forced to block frantically, and retreated several steps back. Du Baidang pounced on his chest, all his blades were aimed to Shao Yan’s vital points. Shao Yan’s condition was getting more and more critical.
Shao He let out a long whistle, and his sword movements changed. Together with Ma Fatong, the two swords formed a sword net between Du Baidang and Shao Yan, keeping Du Baidang three feet away from them. Now three swords joined together in a very tight defense, so tight that even water would not be able to penetrate.
Zhang Wuji let out another cold laugh and whispered in Zhao Min’s ear, "Both of the sword and the blade techniques are meant to battle my Yifu. Look at them, they all concentrate on defense and do not attack too often. More defense less offense; we won’t find the outcome of the battle even if they fight for another day and night.”
Indeed, after several failed offensive attempts, Du Baidang also changed his tactic into defensive. In low voice Zhao Min said, "Jin Mao Shi Wang’s martial art skill is outstanding. These five fellows only concentrate on defense, how can they score a victory?”
They saw the five people exchange blade and swords stances, and successively use seven, eight different moves, but victory or defeat was still difficult to be seen.
"Hold it!” Ma Fatong suddenly shouted, while leaping out of the circle.
Du Baidang also withdrew. His silver beard fluttered, showing off his might and power.
Ma Fatong said, "The blade technique virtuous husband and wife employed, was it trained to slay the lion?”
"Ah!” Yi Sanniang exclaimed, "Your vision is very good.”
"Virtuous husband and wife’s son was killed by Xie Xun, of course this great enmity must be avenged,” Ma Fatong said, "Since you have scouted the enemy’s whereabouts at the Shaolin Temple, why didn’t you make your move at the earliest convenience?”
Yi Sanniang cast him a sidelong glance. "This is our husband and wife’s personal affair,” she said, "We don’t see any need to trouble Daozhang [respectable term to address a Taoist priest] over it.”
Ma Fatong replied, "Yuzhen Guan and virtuous husband and wife’s dispute, as Yi Sanniang said, was over a small matter. It certainly does not worth fighting with our lives at stake, does it? How about we turn the enemy into friend by working together to find Xie Xun?”
"What kind of enmity does Yuzhen Guan have against Xie Xun?” Yi Sanniang asked.
"There is no enmity, hey hey,” Ma Fatong said.
Yi Sanniang said, "If you don’t have anything against Xie Xun, why would you painstakingly train this set of sword technique? We both train different techniques to achieve the same goal, which is to fight the Seven-Injury Fist.”
"Yi Sanniang’s vision is also very good!” Ma Fatong said, "In front of a sage we do not tell a lie; Yuzhen Guan only wants to borrow the Tulong Saber.”
Yi Sanniang nodded. She rapidly wrote several characters on Du Baidang’s palm. Du Baidang replied by writing several characters on her palm. Both husband and wife communicated using their fingers instead of their tongues. Using such technique, they were having a discussion for a while.
Yi Sanniang said, "We, husband and wife, only want to seek revenge. For that, we are willing to shed our lives. We have no interest in Tulong Saber whatsoever.”
"That’s great!” Ma Fatong happily said, "The five of us work together to break into Shaolin. Virtuous husband and wife get your revenge, Yuzhen Guan get the precious saber. By combining our minds and strengths, we can accomplish a great merit. Both sides obtain their desire, friendship will not be harmed.”
Five people struck each other’s palms to seal their oath straightaway. Then the Du couple invited the three priests to come into their house to have a detailed discussion on their plan to seek revenge and snatch the Saber away.
As the Three Swords of Qinghai were seated, they saw that the wooden door of the bedroom was closed; unavoidably they eyed it suspiciously. Yi Sanniang said with a laugh, "Don’t worry, they are a young couple from Dadu, running away from their homes. The girl is as pretty as jade, the boy is an uncouth fellow; both do not know the least bit of martial art.”
"Sanniang please don’t blame us,” Ma Fatong said, "It’s not that we don’t believe virtuous husband and wife’s explanation, it’s just that what we are about to accomplish is of the greatest importance, involving the life and death of the word’s heroes; if our secret is leaked, I am afraid .”
Yi Sanniang laughed, "We have fought for half a day, yet this young couple is still sleeping like a dead pig. It’s very prudent of Ma Daozhang to be cautious. You’d better see it with your own eyes.”
While saying that, she pushed the door, but the door was bolted from the inside. Zhang Wuji thought that it would be better for him to learn whatever information he could get from these five people before trying to find a way to rescue his Yifu, so he did not want to get rid of these people so soon. He immediately carried Zhao Min and put her on the bed. Quickly he removed his shoes and pulled the blanket over their bodies.
‘Snap!’ the latch broke by Shao He’s internal energy exertion. With a candlestick in her hand, Yi Sanniang walked in, with the Three Swords of Qinghai followed behind her. Seeing the candlelight, Zhang Wuji turned his eyes toward Yi Sanniang with a blank expression on his face. ‘Swish’ Ma Fatong slashed his sword toward his throat. His action was very swift and fierce.
"Ah!” Zhang Wuji cried out in fear, and jumped out of bed, as if he was delivering his neck toward the blade of the sword. Ma Fatong immediately held his sword, thinking that this man truly did not know any martial art, because no matter how brave, a martial art practitioner would not dare not to evade the sword.
Zhao Min mumbled and turned her body around as if she was still deep in slumber. Under the candlelight, her face looked captivatingly beautiful and tender.
"Yi Sanniang was right,” Shao He said, "Let’s get out of here!” The five of them returned to the living room.
Zhang Wuji jumped down the bed and put on his shoe
s. He heard Ma Fatong say, "Have virtuous husband and wife confirmed that Xie Xun is really at the Shaolin Temple?”
"We are absolutely certain,” Yi Sanniang replied, "Shaolin Temple has already sent out invitations to invite all heroes for a ‘Lion-slaying Assembly’ on the Duan Yang Festival. If they had not captured Xie Xun, they would certainly lose face in front of the world’s heroes. How could they do that?”
"Hmm,” Ma Fatong was silent for a moment before continuing, "Kong Jian Shen Seng [divine monk] of Shaolin Pai died under Xie Xun’s fist; of course Shaolin monks and disciples would want to avenge him. Actually, all virtuous husband and wife need to do is enter the Temple on the Duan Yang Festival, and open your eyes to see your enemy stretch out his neck to die. Without uttering any word or exerting the least bit of strength, your enmity will be avenged. Why did Mr. Du sacrifice his ears and risk the danger of offending the Shaolin Pai?”
With a cold laugh Yi Sanniang said, "My humble husband destroyed his ears five years ago. Besides, without any reason our only beloved son was murdered by that wicked thief Xie Xun. Our hatred toward him is as deep as the ocean. With this kind of enmity, would we leave the revenge in other people’s hands? In order to deal with this wicked thief surnamed Xie, our first step was to pierce his pair of ears deaf. We, husband and wife, will strive to die together with him. Hey, hey, ever since our beloved child was killed by him, we don’t have anybody to love in this world anymore. We don’t care if we offend Shaolin or Wudang, or die under thousand blades and ten thousand cuts.”
In the adjacent room, Zhang Wuji could hear a very deep hatred in her voice; he shivered involuntarily while musing, "Because of his suffering under Cheng Kun’s hands, Yifu has vented off his anger to many innocent people in the past. This Du couple does not look like bad people, yet because they are heartbroken over their son’s tragic death, they endured pain and suffering just to kill my Yifu. This kind of enmity will not be easily resolved. As soon as I rescue Yifu, I will have to take him far away to avoid further shedding of innocent blood.”