by Jin Yong
Zhou Zhiruo came near to him and said in a low voice, "You have sworn an oath to avenge your ‘biaomei’ [younger maternal female cousin]. But if the murderer who harmed her was your Yifu, do you still want to save him?”
Zhang Wuji was taken aback. "Yifu suffers from some mental illness, he cannot be held responsible for his own actions,” he finally said.
Du E said, "Zhang Jiaozhu come here to grant some more instructions today.”
"I beg the forgiveness of the three Eminent Monks,” Zhang Wuji replied.
"Well said, well said!” Du E said, "This Emei Pai Zhang Men; I heard she defeated all heroes under the heavens yesterday. Could it be that her martial art is superior to Zhang Jiaozhu’s?”
"Certainly,” Zhang Wuji replied, "Wan bei [younger generation - referring to self] suffered a severe injury and I vomited blood under Zhou Zhang Men’s hands yesterday.”
"That’s strange,” Du Nan said.
The three old monks’ long whip slowly shook and came out. Right at this moment, from the waist of the hill suddenly came a gentle sound of ‘qin’ [zither] and flute ensemble, intermingled with the cry of the birds.
Zhang Wuji was very happy. As the ‘yao qin’ [jade or mother-of-pearl zither] made three ‘zheng, zheng, zheng’ noise, four young woman wearing white clothes floating onto the peak, each one had a short zither in her hands. Next, amidst the rising and falling flute sound, four young women in black, each blowing a long flute, walked up the peak. The black and white intermingled, eight young women stood on eight directions. The zither and flute ensemble played a gentle, yet elegant music.
Accompanied by this beautiful music, a beautiful woman draped in light yellow soft cotton clothing strolled leisurely toward the peak. She was the woman Zhang Wuji met during the Beggar Clan meeting at Lulong the other day.
As soon as the little girl, the Clan Leader of the Beggar Clan, Shi Hongshi saw her, she rushed forward, threw herself in that woman’s bosom and cried out, "Yang Jiejie, Yang Jijie! Our Zhanglao and Longtou have been killed!” She pointed toward Zhou Zhiruo and said, "They were killed under Emei Pai and Shaolin Pai’s malicious hands.”
The woman in yellow nodded and said, "I know. Humph! Jiu Yin Bai Gu Zhua is not necessarily the strongest martial art in the world.”
Ever since she arrived at the peak, her entourage, her beautiful face and her elegant manners have captivated the attention of everybody present. These few words of her were clearly heard by everyone. The crowd of heroes was astonished. The older ones among them thought, "Could it be that Emei Pai’s claw technique is the sinister and ruthless skill, ‘Jiu Yin Bai Gu Zhua’, which shook the Jianghu over a hundred years ago?” They had heard the ‘Jiu Yin Bai Gu Zhua’s name, and they knew this martial art was evil and brutal to the extreme; but since it had been lost for a long time, nobody had ever seen it.
The woman in yellow took Shi Hongshi by the hand and led her back to the Beggar Clan crowd. Then she sat on a piece of mountain rock.
Zhou Zhiruo’s countenance slightly changed as in a low voice she asked, "Who is this woman?”
"I only met her once,” Zhang Wuji replied, "I don’t know her name, I don’t know her origin; I only know she has some relation with the Beggar Clan.”
"Humph!” Zhou Zhiruo snorted, and then said, "Let’s start!” Her long whip shook and coiled toward Du Nan’s long rope, while grasping this opportunity to occupy the space in between the three deep green pine trees. Her first move in attacking the center of the enemies was very ruthless and swift, with lots of guts; even first-class Jianghu masters might be unable to do what she did.
The crowd of heroes only saw her shadow in the air, just like a giant dark green crane sweeping down from the sky; her movements were incomparably graceful.
The flexible whip in her right hand entangled Du Nan’s long rope. Both of them exerted their strength trying to pull their respective weapons that Du Nan’s weapon was rendered useless temporarily. Du E and Du Jie’s pair of whips made a converging attack from left and right.
Zhang Wuji immediately stepped forward, but his step faltered and he tumbled down to the ground. The crowd of heroes gasped; they thought that after his injury, Zhang Wuji’s steps were weakened. They did not know that Zhang Wuji was using the ancient Persian martial art he learned from the Sheng Huo Ling tablets. His movements were weird, totally unpredictable. As he seemed to be falling forward, the Sheng Huo Ling tablets in his hands actually struck toward the pit of Du Nan’s stomach.
Du Nan’s long rope was still entangled by Zhou Zhiruo’s whip that he was unable to use his weapon to block the attack. Du E and Du Jie saw the danger. Their ropes left Zhou Zhiruo to assault Zhang Wuji. Two long strips of black ropes, with overwhelming power swiftly struck toward Zhang Wuji like a pair of black dragons so that he would be hard pressed to block. Who would have thought that Zhang Wuji rolled around on the ground to escape the attack while rolling toward Du E.
Du E thrust his left hand toward Zhang Wuji’s shoulder. Zhang Wuji parried with his left palm using the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi. His body shook and his shoulder bumped toward Du Jie. He resolutely wanted to make Zhou Zhiruo famous today by giving up the credit of defeating the Shaolin three eminent monks entirely to Emei Pai Zhang Men. His only wish was that he would be able to save Xie Xun. By using the ancient Persian martial art, he rolled and circled to the east, and stumbled and turned to the west. His movements were totally unattractive; he seemed to be in a very distressing situation.
There were many outstandingly experienced warriors with vast knowledge among the spectators, but this special ancient Persian martial art was simply too strange. In addition, there had never been anybody from the Central Plains using it. Much less, the fact that Zhang Wuji was heavily injured the previous day was a public knowledge. Consequently, no one realized that he was only pretending. There wasn’t any one among the enemies of the Ming Cult who was not secretly delighted, while all the friends of the Ming Cult were deeply troubled; thinking that Zhang Wuji might lose his life over this matter today.
Over several dozens of stances later, they saw that Zhou Zhiruo’s shadow abruptly flashed up and down, swiftly swaying in an unpredictable manner. In the meantime, Zhang Wuji seemed to be losing his ground. His hands and feet moved in a frantic manner, not any better than a fool who had just started training martial arts. However, no matter how dangerous his situation was, he always managed to escape the opponent’s fatal blow at the last moment.
The experienced heroes among the crowd started to realize that Zhang Wuji must have followed some type of footwork; perhaps something similar to ‘zui ba xian’ [drunken eight immortals], where the movements seemed disorderly, but actually contained strange and subtle variations within it. This type of martial art skill was much more difficult to master than the orthodox martial art commonly practiced in that era.
If this ancient Persian martial art were used to fight one of the three eminent monks, regardless of which monk, he would certainly be confused and put at a disadvantage; just as Zhang Wuji was battered and exhausted when he was dealing with the Wind and Cloud Emissaries for the first time. However, these three Shaolin eminent monks had been in meditation together for several decades; their minds were interlinked. As soon as one of the monks showed a small opening in his defense line, the other two monks would immediately close that gap.
Zhang Wuji executed all kinds of strange movements. Each one was designed to confuse enemy’s vision. He would move to the left, but actually attack to the right; he seemed to attack to the front, but actually aim to the back; his movements were very difficult to predict. However, the three monks’ whips were as steady as their heartbeat, totally immune to his tricks.
Toward the seventieth, eightieth stance, Zhang Wuji’s strange movements continuously emerged one after another, but all along he failed to harm even a strand of these three monks’ hair. After nearly a hundred stances, he felt the three monks’ whips were getting stronger, while his own movements wer
e getting sluggish; he was unable to move as quick as when they started fighting. He did not realize that the martial art he used was somewhat demonic, while the three monks’ ‘Jin Gang Fu Mo Quan’ was based on Buddhism power utilization technique to subdue evil spirit.
The spectators only saw as if he was fighting with renewed vigor, while actually it was because the demonic influence in his mind was growing stronger. If he fought for another hundred stances, unavoidably he would completely fall under the control of the three monks’ Buddhist influence and would continuously dance crazily beyond his control. Without any attack from the three eminent monks, he would condemn himself to his doom.
The common people called the Ming Cult as the Devil Cult not without any reason. This ancient Persian martial art was developed by ‘the Old Man of the Mountain’, the big devil that killed without batting his eyes. When Zhang Wuji first trained this martial art, he was unconscious of this demonic character; however, now that he was battling formidable opponents, he had to bring out the essence of this demonic martial art to its fullest potential, and thus his mind was gradually stimulated.
Suddenly he looked up to the sky and let out a hysterical and devilish ‘ha, ha, ha’ laughter. As he stopped laughing, from inside the dungeon among the three green pine trees came a voice; it was his Yifu, Xie Xun’s voice. Zhang Wuji heard Xie Xun’s old voice slowly recite the ‘Jin Gang Jing’ [Vajracchedika Sutra or Diamond Sutra], "Upon the occasion of hearing this Discourse Subhuti had an interior realization of its meaning and was moved to tears. Whereupon he addressed the Buddha thus: It is a most precious thing, World-honored One, that you should deliver this supremely profound Discourse. Never have I heard such an exposition since of old my eye of wisdom first opened. World-honored One, if anyone listens to this Discourse in faith with a pure, lucid mind, he will thereupon conceive an idea of Fundamental Reality ...” [Translator’s note: I was about to give up translating this passage, fortunately, I found the English translation by A.F. Price, http://personal.palouse.net/lotus/diamondsutra.htm The passage Xie Xun recited was from Section XIV.]
Zhang Wuji was listening and fighting at the same time. As Xie Xun’s chanting rose up, he felt that he was able to resist the power of the whips of the three Shaolin monks. He heard Xie Xun continue, "World-honored One, having listened to this Discourse, I receive and retain it with faith and understanding. This is not difficult for me, but in ages to come - in the last five-hundred years, if there be men coming to hear this Discourse who receive and retain it with faith and understanding, they will be persons of most remarkable achievement. Wherefore? Because they will be free from the idea of an ego-entity, free from the idea of a personality, free from the idea of a being, and free from the idea of a separated individuality.”
Listening to this point, Zhang Wuji’s heart became troubled. He knew that as his Yifu was being imprisoned in the dungeon on this peak, he listened to the three Shaolin eminent monks reciting the sutra every day. He was definitely able to escape the other day, but realizing he had committed
grave offenses in the past, he was adamantly not willing to leave. Could it be that after listening to the teachings of Buddha for several months, he finally had a change of heart? The sutra said, ‘in ages to come - in the last five-hundred years, if there be men coming to hear this Discourse who receive and retain it with faith and understanding.’ At this moment, in Yifu’s heart, the ‘latter man of the five-hundred years’ must be a reference to Zhang Wuji. Only, the meaning of the scripture was very deep; Zhang Wuji was in the middle of a heated battle, he could not stop to ponder. Naturally, he did not know that Subhuti was an elder who listened to Sakyamuni Buddha’s discourse of the Diamond Sutra. Therefore, his understanding of what Xie Xun was reciting was next to nothing.
He heard Xie Xun continue, "Buddha said to Subhuti: Just as you say! If anyone listens to this Discourse and is neither filled with alarm nor awe nor dread, be it known that such a one is of remarkable achievement ... When the Rajah of Kalinga mutilated my body, I was at that time free from the idea of an ego-entity, a personality, a being, and a separated individuality. Wherefore? Because then when my limbs were cut away piece by piece, had I been bound by the aforesaid distinctions, feelings of anger and hatred would have been aroused in me ... Bodhisattvas should leave behind all phenomenal distinctions.”
Zhang Wuji understood this passage of scripture. It was clear that everything in this world was illusionary. In regard to my own body, my life, my mind, everything was temporal. Even if others cut my flesh into pieces, I simply need to disregard my own body, naturally all hatred and resentments would vanish. "Yifu lives in a dungeon, yet he seems to be at peace. Could it be that he has reached the realm of freedom from shock, intimidation, and fear?” As he pondered about this, he had another thought, "Is Yifu trying to tell me not to agonize over his well-being? That I don’t have to exert myself in rescuing him?”
Xie Xun had been imprisoned in the dungeon for several months. Every evening he heard the three monks in the pine trees reciting the ‘Diamond Sutra’. He was slowly enlightened by the meaning of the scripture. This time, as he heard Zhang Wuji’s devilish laughter, he realized the demonic influence was already growing in his heart; Zhang Wuji gradually entered into a dangerous situation. Immediately Xie Xun recited the ‘Diamon Sutra’ with the hope of driving the demonic influence out of Zhang Wuji’s heart.
While listening to the Buddhist scripture, Zhang Wuji’s hands did not stop moving. In his heart, he pondered upon the meaning of the text he was hearing. The demonic influence in his heart gradually diminished. Consequently, his ancient Persian martial art lost its effectiveness.
‘Swish!’ Du Jie’s long rope struck toward his left shoulder. Zhang Wuji shrank his shoulder to dodge. Without realizing it, he was using the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi , supported by his Jiu Yang Shen Gong. At once he was able to neutralize the power of the incoming attack. His mind was moved, "It’s hard for me to score a victory using this ancient Persian martial art.”
Casting a sidelong glance toward Zhou Zhiruo, Zhang Wuji saw that she was struggling just to hold her ground, to the point that she was in the brink of defeat. He thought, "Today’s business is difficult to be resolved in a manner that will satisfy both sides."I can forget about saving Yifu, if I don’t go all out and Zhiruo is defeated.” Letting out a clear whistle, he used the Sheng Huo Ling tablets to attack bit by bit.
Meanwhile, Xie Xun did not stop reciting the sutra, but Zhang Wuji focused his entire attention on the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi so he closed his ears to the chanting. He tried to take the three monks’ long ropes as much as possible with the hope of Zhou Zhiruo finding an opening so that she might enter the circle.
As Zhang Wuji fought with all his might, the three monks felt the pressure on their ropes was gradually getting heavier that they were forced to increase their internal energies to resist it. The three monks’ ‘Jin Gang Fu Mo Quan’ was based on ‘Jin Gang Jing’s [Diamond Sutra] highest essence; namely, it aimed to achieve the realm of ‘free from the idea of an ego-entity, free from the idea of a personality, free from the idea of a being, and free from the idea of a separated individuality’. There was no difference between me and you, no separation of life and death, completely regarded everything as illusory. Only, although the three monks’ cultivation was high, as they fought, they were still unable to overcome the desire to win. Although they had disregarded life and death, their human ego had not disappeared. Therefore, the power of their ‘Jin Gang Fu Mo Quan’ could not reach its pinnacle.
Among the three monks, Du E’s cultivation was the highest that he had gotten rid of the ‘four freedoms from individuality’. However, the other two monks, Du Nan and Du Jie were still burning with the desire to achieve victory. This mixture of different inner desires had taken its toll in that Du E’s long whip movements did not seamlessly match with those of his two colleagues.
The crowd of heroes watching from the side had seen the changes in Zhang Wuji’s marti
al art. The battle in the middle of the green pine trees were growing in intensity. Thin mist started to rise from the top of the three monks’ heads. The spectators knew the mist came from the perspiration on the monks’ foreheads, which was turned into vapor by the heat generated from the exertion of their internal energy. It was clear that these five people had reached the stage of all out internal energy battle. Thin mist also appeared on top of Zhang Wuji’s head. But the mist rose like a long, thin straight line; it did not disperse like regular steam. Obviously, his internal energy cultivation was very deep, deeper than the three monks’. Just the previous day the crowd of heroes saw that he had received a severe injury. Who would have thought that he completely recovered in only one night? The depth of his internal energy really amazed others.
Zhou Zhiruo, on the other hand, did not dare to engage the three monks in direct confrontation; she only wandered outside the circle. As soon as the Jin Gang Fu Mo Quan revealed a crack in their defense line, she would jump in the opportunity. But as one of the whips intercepted her, her graceful figure would lithely turn back to evade. Because of this, the difference in martial art cultivation between Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo became apparent to the spectators. Many among the crowd of heroes could not restrain from voicing their opinions in whispers.
"For the last several years there is a rumor in the Wulin world that the Ming Cult’s Zhang Jiaozhu’s martial art skill is without equal. Sure enough, his reputation in well-deserved. Apparently, he was deliberately yielding to this Mrs. Song yesterday. It is called a gentleman will not fight a woman.”
"What do you mean a gentleman will not fight a woman? Don’t you know Mrs. Song was about to become Zhang Jiaozhu’s wife? It is called ‘old ruler’s affection is deep’!” [Translator’s note: I know it sounds weird in English, but perhaps someone will explain this saying for us?]