by Jin Yong
Unleashing his ‘qing gong’, Zhang Wuji dashed down the mountain. For the next several ‘li’s, the mountain path was full with the heroes returning home from Shaolin Temple. He was not willing to greet the heroes one by one, so he simply flew past them from the side, yet along the way he did not see any trace of Zhao Min at all. In one breath he had pursued for more than thirty ‘li’s. The sky was turning dark, the people walking along the road was thinning. Suddenly he remembered, "Min Mei is best in planning and scheming. If she has a mind to avoid me, then most likely she will avoid the main road. Otherwise, with my speed, I should have caught up with her long ago. Could it be that she is still hiding around the Shaoshi Peak, waiting for me to leave before she comes out and walk away?”
Burning with anxiety and he forgetting his own hunger and thirst, he ran back around the hills and valleys. Oftentimes he leaped up a tall tree, a hill peak or steep slope, looking to all directions. The empty mountain was quiet, the only noise came from the crows flying home for the night. Circling around toward the back of the Shaoshi Peak, he still did not see Zhao Min. "Whatever happens,” he mused, "I will always be faithful to you. Even if I have to go to the end of the earth or the corner of the ocean, I will find you.”
Once he made this decision, his mind calmed down. Looking toward the northeast he saw two large locust trees grew side by side, towering high from a crevasse on the side of the mountain.
Leaping up the tree, he found a large branch extended horizontally and lied down on this branch. After toiling for the whole day and facing many unforeseen incidents, he fell asleep not too long after he lied down.
Toward the middle of the night, in his sleep he suddenly heard gentle footsteps from several dozens ‘zhang’s away, which made him wake up with a start. By this time, the round bright moon had already slanting toward the western sky. Under the moonlight, he saw on the hillside, there was a shadow floating speedily to the south. That person’s figure was slender with a slim waist; obviously, the shadow belonged to a woman.
In his great delight, he nearly called ‘Min Mei’; but he immediately realized something was not right. The woman’s figure was taller than Zhao Min, her ‘qing gong’ was entirely different from Zhao Min’s, although her speed was inferior to Zhou Zhiruo’s, her steps were lighter and livelier. His curiosity was piqued. "This woman wanders alone in the deep of the night, I wonder what is it she is doing?” he mused.
At first he thought that he did not have any business to meddle with whatever this woman was doing, but then he thought, "Who knows? Perhaps I will find Min Mei’s whereabouts from this woman. If she has nothing to do with Min Mei, then I will slip out quietly, no harm done. I must not let any clue off easily.” Thereupon he got up from the tree branch and quietly slipped down.
Afraid that the woman might detect his presence, he did not dare to get too close. Besides, by stalking a young girl - a total stranger for that matter - in the middle of the night, it might be difficult for him to avoid frivolous suspicions from others.
He noticed that the woman was wearing black clothes, and she indeed was heading toward the Shaolin Temple. "Although she has nothing to do with Min Mei, she must be doing some clandestine activity related to the Wulin world,” he thought, "If her intention is not beneficial to Shaolin, I must interfere.” He halted his steps to listen, and did not hear any other people nearby, so he knew that this woman did not have anybody supporting her.
Walking for about the time needed to eat a bowl of rice, that woman had never turned her head around. Zhang Wuji had a vague feeling that this woman looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before. "Is she Miss Wu Qingying? Or one of the Emei Pai female disciples?”
Several ‘li’s later, Shaolin Temple was already in sight. The woman turned toward the side of the hill, approaching the Temple from the side. Suddenly she slowed down her steps and moved surreptitiously among the trees and the mountain rocks. It was obvious that she was afraid someone might see her.
Suddenly he heard clear ringing noise coming from the main hall of the Shaolin Temple, followed by the sound of chanting of several hundred Buddhist monks. Zhang Wuji was greatly puzzled, "Shaolin monks are still chanting sutra deep into the night, and there are hundreds of them. Is there an important ceremony going on?” he mused.
The woman in front of him proceeded even more stealthily. Several dozens ‘zhang’s more, she would have reached the side of the main hall. Suddenly there were light footsteps. The woman quickly ducked among the thick patch of grass. Four Shaolin monks with sabers and Buddhist staffs were patrolling around the Temple. The woman waited for the four monks to pass before standing up, and leaped toward the shutter by the main hall. Her leap was as light as flying cotton wool; her ‘qing gong’ was truly top-notch among the Wulin characters. Zhang Wuji noticed that she did not carry any weapon, plus she was alone; hence he believed it was unlikely that she came to Shaolin Temple to create trouble. He wanted to know who the woman was, whether she was a
friend or a foe; therefore, crouching behind her, he crept toward the northwest corner of the main hall.
He realized that he was in a very awkward situation. Someone of his position snooping around the Temple in the middle of the night, if he was detected by a Shaolin monk, although the other party might feign ignorance, he will not be able to avoid losing a great deal of face. And thus he was twice more careful; each step he took and each movement was as nimble as a cat stalking a mouse.
By this time, the chanting inside the hall was getting louder. Peeking from a crack on the window, he saw hundreds of monks arranged in neat rows, all sitting on round meditation mats, all wearing yellow Buddhist robes, draped in scarlet and gold kasayas. Some of them were holding ceremonial articles in their hands; the rest of them clasped their palms together with heads hung low, loudly chanting the sutras. It sounded like they were offering prayers to send departing souls crossing into the netherworld. Zhang Wuji understood immediately. "In the Great Hero Assembly this time, there were not a few people lost their lives. During the Yuan army attack up the mountain, even more people from both sides perished. Therefore, the Temple monks are holding this ceremony tonight so that the dead will be reborn happily.”
He saw that Reverend Kong Wen was standing in front of the sacrificial table. There was a young woman standing on his right. As soon as Zhang Wuji saw her, he was slightly stunned, since that young woman was none other than Zhou Zhiruo. Although he could only see her from the side, he could tell that her expression definitely showed grieve and distress; her pretty eyebrows were deeply wrinkled, as if she was harboring a deep sorrow.
"That must be it,” Zhang Wuji thought, "The reason Zhiruo kneeled down in front of Kong Wen Dashi this afternoon must be to ask him to hold this Buddhist ceremony. I suppose she is repenting from her conduct and deeds. The innocents who lose their lives under her claw and her sword are simply too many.”
Focusing his eyes, he tried to read the memorial tablets arranged on the sacrificial table. To his great surprise, one of the tablets read ‘nu xia Yin Li zhi ling wei’, seven characters [the memorial tablet of Heroine Yin Li]. Zhang Wuji felt a stab of pain in his heart, remembering how during her short and miserable life his cousin had always passionately devoted to him; he could not help from shedding some tears.
Amidst the ringing of chime stones and the tapping of wooden fish, Zhou Zhiruo gracefully kneeled down and bowed to the ground, while her lips were moving in quiet prayer. ZhangWuji raised up his ’shen gong’ [divine strength] trying to listen to what she said. This was what he heard, "Miss Yin ... your spirit in Heaven ... rest in peace ... do not come to harass me ...”
Zhang Wuji tightened his grip on the wall while disquieting thoughts filled his mind. "Biaomei lost her life under her sword, no doubt it was a cruel fate; but the torment inside Zhiruo’s heart, the pain she is suffering, might not necessarily be lighter than Biaomei’s. Suddenly from the ocean of thoughts in his mind a song surged up, the song he h
eard on the Brightness Peak, sung by the Ming Cult people, "What joy is in life, what pain in death? I pity the mankind, with their many sufferings! I pity the mankind, with their many sufferings!”
Zhou Zhiruo stood up slowly with her body slightly facing the east. Suddenly her countenance greatly changed, while she called out, "You ... you ... you have come again!” Her voice was shrill, suppressing all other noises in the main hall.
Zhang Wuji followed the direction of her eyes and saw the paper pasted on the window was
somehow torn, and the hole revealed a young woman’s face. The face was full of scars. Zhang Wuji was so shocked that he shivered and could not stop from crying out. Although that young woman’s face was full of scars and the bumps of the former days were gone, he was very sure the face belonged to his dead cousin, Yin Li!
He wanted to rush forward and call her, but his legs did not obey their master’s bidding; it was as if his feet were planted on the ground.
As the face appeared suddenly on the window, there was a loud crash in the main hall as Zhou Zhiruo fainted and fell to the floor. Zhang Wuji no longer cared whatever Shaolin Pai might think of him; he called out loudly, "Zhu’er, Zhu’er! [spider kid] is that you?” But no one answered him.
After calming himself down, he flew to the back of the hall to pursue, but all he saw was the moon hanging low on the horizon, casting its cold shadow on the trees; the young woman in black was nowhere to be seen. Normally he did not believe in deities and demons, but faced with these kinds of images and scenes, he could not restrain cold sweats from wetting his body and hairs from rising on the back of his neck. Bracing himself, he said to himself, "It is she, it is she! No wonder her back looked so familiar, turns out it is Zhu’er. Did her ghost know that the eminent Shaolin monks are offering prayers to help her crossover to the netherworld, so she came here to receive the prayers? Could it be that because she died an unjust death her spirit did not find peace?”
As the Shaolin monks heard some noise, several people came over to investigate. As they saw Zhang Wuji, they could not help but be startled. A senior monk stepped forward, saluted him and said, "We did not know Zhang Jiaozhu came to visit this late at night, otherwise we would have welcomed you properly. Please accept our apology.”
"I do not dare,” Zhang Wuji replied, cupping his fists to return the propriety. Stepping aside, he entered the main hall.
He saw Zhou Zhiruo’s eyes were shut tight; her face was without any sign of blood. Apparently, she had not regained her consciousness. Walking toward her, he put forth his strength to massage her and knead [orig. ‘tui na’ - a form of Chinese manual therapy] her back for some time. Zhou Zhiruo slowly awakened.
As she saw Zhang Wuji and realized she was in his embrace, Zhou Zhiruo hugged him and called out, "Ghost, there is a ghost!”
Zhang Wuji said, "This is indeed strange, but you don’t need to be afraid. There are so many eminent monks in here. I am sure they will be able to solve this mystery.”
Zhou Zhiruo had always been a dignified and staid woman. This time she was scared out of her wits, and right now she was embracing him in public; hearing him say these words, her face blushed and she busily pried herself away from him. She stood up, but could not stop herself from shivering. Quickly she grabbed his hand and even if she had to die, she would not dare to let him go.
Zhang Wuji exchanged some propriety with Kong Wen; he mentioned that someone was spying on them outside the window just now. Neither Kong Wen nor any of the monks had seen it, but the fact remained that it was a new torn on the paper, and the hole was still there.
"Wuji Ge ... Zhang Jiaozhu,” Zhou Zhiruo said, "That was what I saw earlier.” Zhang Wuji nodded.
"You ... you ...” Zhou Zhiruo’s voice was trembling, "Who did you say she was?”
"She is Miss Yin, my Biaomei Yin Li,” Zhang Wuji replied. Zhou Zhiruo cried out in fear and fainted again.
This time Zhang Wuji pulled her hand that she did not fall to the floor. She was unconscious for a moment but quickly recovered. Zhang Wuji said, "I did see Biaomei, but ... she is a human, not a ghost!”
"She is not a ghost?” Zhou Zhiruo was still trembling.
Zhang Wuji said, "I followed her all the way to Shaolin Temple. She walked like a human, not like a ghost.” He had said that to comfort Zhou Zhiruo, but deep in his heart, he was unsure.
"So you saw her walking like a human and not like a ghost?” Zhou Zhiruo asked.
Zhang Wuji then recounted how he saw that black-dressed young woman and followed her all the way to Shaolin Temple; also how he saw her hiding outside the long window and spying inside the main hall. Every action and every movement was of a young woman who was adept in martial arts, not at all peculiar in any way.
"Fangzhang,” he asked Kong Wen, "I [orig. ‘zaixia’ - the humble one] have one thing I am not sure I understand, I beg Fangzhang’s advice. When someone dies, will he really become a ghost?”
Kong Wen pondered about it deeply for half a day before answering, "The matter of the netherworld is difficult to assert.”
Zhang Wuji said, "That being the case, why did Fangzhang hold a ceremony to cross the departing soul to the netherworld?"
"Shanzai, zhanzai!” Kong Wen said, "The departing soul need not be helped to cross over. In the matter of live and death, virtue has its reward, evil has its retribution. The way of Buddha seeks to help living people achieving peace; the ones need help to cross over are the living ones.”
Zhang Wuji understood immediately. Cupping his fists he said, "Many thanks for the direction. I have stirred up trouble and caused disturbance this late at night. I only wish for Fangzhang’s forgiveness.”
Kong Wen smiled and said, "Jiaozhu is our humble Sect’s great benefactor. You have saved us several times, enabling Shaolin Pai to avoid disaster; why be overly courteous?”
Immediately Zhang Wuji took his leave from the crowd of monks. To Zhou Zhiruo he said, "Let us leave!”
Zhou Zhiruo seemed reluctant, she was afraid to leave the security of the Buddhist hall. Zhang Wuji did not feel comfortable to urge her strongly; he simply cupped his fists again and said, "In that case, we will say goodbye here.” Finished speaking, he turned around toward the hall gate.
Watching his back, suddenly Zhou Zhiruo called out, "Wuji Gege, will you see me again? I ... let me go with you.” She jumped to catch up with him, and then side-by-side they walked out the Temple gate.
After they were far away from the Shaolin Temple, Zhou Zhiruo leaned on Zhang Wuji’s side and held on to his hand. Zhang Wuji knew she was still afraid. With her soft and smooth palm in his hand, and catching a whiff of fragrance coming from her body, it was not possible for his heart to
remain unmoved.
The two of them walked silently for quite some time. Zhou Zhiruo slowly heaved a deep sigh and said, "Wuji Gege, when you and I met for the first time at Hanshui River that day, I was saved by Zhang Zhenren. If only I knew that I would suffer so much pain in the later days, my death in Hanshui River that day would be a lot cleaner.”
Zhang Wuji did not answer; in his heart he remembered the song the Ming Cult people, and without realizing it, he was humming softly, "What joy is in life, what pain in death? I pity the mankind, with their many sufferings!”
Listening to the lyrics of this song, Zhou Zhiruo’s hand, which held his slightly trembled. In a low voice she said, "Zhang Zhenren brought me to Emei Pai. He had my well-being in his mind. But if he, Senior, took me under his wings on the Wudang Mountain, letting me be a disciple of Wudang, everything today would be entirely different. Ay, it is not that En Shi [benevolent master] was not good to me, but . but she forced me to make that evil oath, wanted me to abhor the Ming Cult, wanted me to hate you and harm you, while in my heart ... in all honesty ...”
Zhang Wuji was rather touched to hear the sincerity in her voice; he understood she indeed have many difficulties, all sorts of vicious matters, mostly because she honored Miejue Shitai’s last words. Se
eing that she was also very scared, his compassion to her grew one layer deeper.
The night breeze blew gently on the mountain road, transmitting faint fragrance of wild flowers around them. It was early summer, the night was clear. With a beautiful girl pouring out her heart so close to him, Zhang Wuji could not stop his heart from beating faster. Moreover, when he helped her driving out the poison on that little island, they were flesh-and-skin close. She had shown him kindness in the past, and she was engaged to him once. All of these had made his heart confused and he was at a loss.
"Wuji Gege,” Zhou Zhiruo continued, "In Haozhou that day, when you were just about to get married to me, why did as soon as Miss Zhao bid you, you immediately come with her? Do you really love her with all your heart?”
"I was just about to tell you what happened that day,” Zhang Wuji replied, "Why don’t we stop and
sit for a while?” He pointed to a big rock by the side of the road.
"No,” Zhou Zhiruo said, "At this moment, my heart is in turmoil, I won’t be able to listen to you. Let
us walk quietly for a moment longer before talking about that.”
Zhang Wuji nodded. He followed her wander around, seemingly aimlessly. Zhou Zhiruo led him through a small path and walked for four, five ‘li’s before she finally said, "All right, you can tell me.” She walked toward a large mountain rock in front of a clump of bushes. The two of them sat side by side.
Thereupon Zhang Wuji told her how Zhao Min had in her hand a bunch of Xie Xun’s golden hair, which leave him no choice but to walk away, and everything else that happened afterwards. Zhou Zhiruo listened from start to finish, and then for half a day she did not say anything.
"Zhiruo, do you blame me?” Zhang Wuji asked.