by Derek Dorris
“Okay,” he said eventually. “I'll bring your plan to Shifu. He'll want to be straightforward with his martial sisters and brother but I think he'll persuade them to overlook that we're using their emotional tribulations for our gain—after all, it's in their greater interests too.”
* * *
Xun Da went back to the inn to greet his master. He had yet to see Wong Shi Hong since the old master’s arrival the night before but when he arrived at the inn he discovered the Old Wanderer still hadn't returned. This was not unusual for the old man lived up to his nickname in his comings and goings. This time, however, finding him was of critical importance. He left messages with all the wine shops and gambling houses in town for him to urgently meet his disciple back at the inn but all to no avail.
The more immediate problem would be faced that evening. Wangchuk Drup’s band of mercenaries was going to arrive in Gongsum looking for the mother of all fights. With only him, Li Jing, and Wu Chen here to meet them, they would be fodder. Of course, the Brotherhood had dozens of foot soldiers secreted around the city but in a fight of pure martial skill they would only get in the way.
“What are we going to do?” Wu Chen asked the two brothers in Xun Da's room later that afternoon. Time was, he would've charged in head-first but his maturity stemming from fighting battles that mattered these past years plus his memories of his last encounter with these mercenaries prompted caution within him.
The two intellects looked at each other. “They know my Shifu was to arrive last night,” Xun Da said. “So firstly we need to make it look like he did indeed arrive. Secondly—”
“Right,” Li Jing interrupted as if coming to the same realisation. “Let us make it look like the Blue Lady, Folding Wind, and Silver Phoenix have already joined us! If we simply give them reason to suspect it, the latent logic of our plan will confirm their suspicions.”
Xun Da nodded in agreement. “We'll tell the manager of this inn to get three of his best rooms ready and tell him exactly who is coming.”
“Well, who's supposed to be coming anyway,” Wu Chen chuckled, enjoying the subterfuge.
Li Jing added, “The viciousness of the Blue Lady and Folding Wind’s reputations will put the fear of hell in them.”
“Indeed, they were at their most fierce when they roamed Jianghu together so the staff should be truly terrified,” Xun Da added. “Word will spread throughout town like wildfire.”
“Of course, we have to assume, one of those mercenary bastards will send someone to confirm the rumour so we need to think of what to do there,” Wu Chen suggested.
Xun Da and Li Jing looked at each other and grinned widely. They knew exactly what the other was thinking. Together they looked at Wu Chen and burst into laughter.
“What?”
Night Raid on Gongsum
Lin Fung and Lin Niu skirted the back streets of Gongsum stealthily and with pace. Their long swords strewn across their backs wrapped in black cloth so they reflected none of the dim lanterns that lit the city streets. When they got to within a stone’s throw of the inn where Xun Da and the Majestic Wanderer were staying, they stopped. After seeing nothing out of the ordinary, they scaled the adjacent building and then deftly jumped across to the first floor of the inn.
Rumours had rocked the town only hours earlier that Four of Wulin’s Ten Greats were in the city at the same time and that two of them were the infamously cruel Shrieking Blade and Folding Wind. The panic that shuddered through the mercenaries’ fold was palpable and most of the group immediately leaned towards aborting their mission.
Han Liang was the lone voice of reason, calling for more detailed reconnaissance before they made any decision. The Lin couple elected to move in from the south while Han Liang and Priest Hou approached from the west. This was the manner in which they had planned their original attack only that plan also called for sixty Qui soldiers to initiate a fire attack on the inn, with Sing Yi and the Yarlese disciples disguised within their ranks. The mercenaries knew they weren't the 100 Fists Majestic Wanderer’s match, not by a long shot, but if they could set the building alight when everyone was asleep then they were convinced they could catch the master and his apprentice off guard.
With the news that Wong Shi Hong had just recruited three more grandmasters to his cause, the fire attack was called off but the flanking element of the plan was retained for reconnaissance purposes. As the Lin couple hoisted themselves onto the first floor veranda, they caught sight of two guards below them hiding behind some bushes. They hadn't noticed them earlier and were cursing themselves for their mistake. Luckily, they were merely foot soldiers so their presence wasn't detected but the clandestine presence of guards did imply something important was going on inside.
Making their way to a window frame outside the largest bedroom, they wet their fingers, made small holes in the paper blinds, and peered through them. Inside, someone woke up with a start. The Lin couple stood unmoving. It was Xun Da.
“Shifu, did you hear that?”
Though cold with suspense, the Lin couple controlled their breathing and stayed quiet. Have we been discovered? they wondered. Before they could think further, they heard a growling voice mumble a reprimand to Xun Da and the apprentice apologise. “Sorry Shifu. It was probably just my ears playing tricks on me. Go back to sleep.”
The Lin couple were about to retreat when they heard a low but forceful vibration coming from the darkest corner of the room. It sounded like a tree was being uprooted only it came and went in the pattern of human breathing. Suddenly they heard Xun Da whispering again. “Shifu, can you sleep with Uncle Tao’s snoring? I'll gladly switch beds with you if you like.” Again a mumbling of words told Xun Da to shut up and sleep. Another apology was proffered while the unearthly vibration continued to swell from the room.
Outside, the blood had drained from the Lin couple’s faces. Folding Wind has earned every bit of his reputation, they thought. His internal strength is miraculous!
On the other side of the building, Han Liang and Priest Hou had used their internal kung fu to land clandestinely outside the second and third largest bedrooms respectively. Each man noticed a person sleeping and spotted feminine garments and trinkets strewn throughout the rooms. Han Liang was about to pull away when he noticed a long thin sword hanging from the post of the bed. A shivering feeling told him it that was none other than the Shrieking Blade. Outside the other room, the Taoist’s eyes were inwardly fixated on a terrifying looking mace with a striking silver hue. He backed off involuntarily and signalled to the already retreating scholar.
When the four mercenaries met up outside the city walls, they all shared the same look. “I really didn't believe it,” Han Liang said. “This completely neutralises the Yarlese’s plans.” He was nervous but also starting to revel in the fact that the former monk had encountered a roadblock of this magnitude.
After Wangchuk Drup had approached him through intermediaries to request his involvement in the upcoming campaign, the scholar’s original plan had been to sit back and sweep up whatever rewards were left after the main players had wiped each other out. However, time and time again, he found the Yarlese was one step ahead of him and he was being increasingly cornered into doing more and more of the arrogant bastard’s bidding. Han Liang wasn't used to being outsmarted by anyone and it stung. This, he was going to enjoy.
Lin Fung and Lin Niu were reluctant to simply give up. They had no intention of engaging the Majestic Wanderer, Folding Wind, or Silver Phoenix in combat but they had a particular interest in confronting the Blue Lady. They had invested their lives’ work in their Circling Swords Style and were eager to test it against one of the most fearsome blade styles ever invented. Their own progress plus the fact that Wangchuk Drup had recently defeated the Blue Lady gave them enough reason to think that their school could finally usurp hers and take its rightful place at the top of Wulin. “We should follow them and wait for them to separate,” Lin Niu asserted forcefully, glancing at her husban
d.
“They'll spot us immediately,” Han Liang rebuked.
Priest Hou was initially of a similar opinion to the scholar; only it had bothered him that their scouting party was able to get so close to four of the world’s most elite fighters without alerting their heightened senses. “They should've spotted us already,” he said suddenly.
Han Liang looked at him for a moment and then his eyes widened. “Yes, something's not right. Is it possible that we've been played for fools?”
Lin Fung was a hothead by nature. “Pffft. You can't stage what we saw,” he chided. “The monk Folding Wind shook the entire room with his breathing.”
“Well, we can't take the chance,” Han Liang said. Then an idea occurred to him. “It's a shame Brother Sing won't get to see what the Yarlese’s disciples are made of after all.” He spoke as if he was now thinking out loud.
Priest Hou’s eyes twinkled and he bit down on the bait. “Let's tell the three disciples it was a ruse and send them in to find out for sure! Tell them there are only low level Brotherhood members at the inn. Whatever happens, they'll stir the nest and we'll see what flies out.”
The Lin couple also hated the intimidating way in which Wangchuk Drup recruited them to his cause so they too were itching to see his apprentices fail. They nodded their assent.
* * *
Once Xun Da was sure their eavesdroppers had left, he signalled Li Jing to stop his simulation. They had borrowed a billows from the local blacksmith which they inserted it into a long iron tube. Li Jing then climbed behind the brick bed and slowly opened and closed the billows into the iron tube. The result was the semblance of powerful breathing which the enemy had mistaken for Folding Wind’s.
Li Jing stopped the billows and jumped from behind the kang before he and Xun Da crossed the hall into the second room. Looking over towards the bed, they grinned widely as they saw Wu Chen dressed in women's sleeping attire, staring furiously at them from under the covers. After reluctantly agreeing to pose as one of the women in this charade, he had dressed up and got under the covers. However, at the last second Xun Da sealed his pressure points so that he was completely immobilised. Xun Da knew that, apart from breathing, genuine masters stay absolutely still when they sleep and Wu Chen was incapable of imitating that. But Wu Chen was a proud man and wouldn't easily consent to being immobilised under the covers, especially while dressed in such a compromising manner. So in the blink of an eye, Xun Da did what was necessary and decided to face Wu Chen's temper later. Li Jing couldn't resist. He approached Wu Chen with a gleam in his eye and lewdness in his voice. “My young lady, there's not much more I can do to restrain myself. Would you permit me to caress your hair just once? Simply shake your head if you don’t want me to.” Wu Chen fired lightning bolts from his eyes as Li Jing and Xun Da held their sides laughing.
Suddenly, Xun Da remembered the young maid who he had paid to play the role of Silver Phoenix. Without warning, he immobilised her too for the same reason as Wu Chen. Dashing into the room, he rapidly unsealed her pressure points explaining why he had done it. He paid her twice as much as promised and she seemed satisfied.
As for the Majestic Wanderer’s impersonator, it was a town drunk who they found asleep on the street, immobilised, and threw into Wong Shi Hong's bed. Every time Xun Da pretended to ask him a question he simply prodded him with a hidden stick to solicit the grumbling response.
Xun Da returned to Wu Chen's room and unsealed him only to spend the next few minutes using his internal kung fu to avoid Wu Chen as he was chased around the room. The three men laughed heartily for the next hour and satisfied that their ruse worked, they then went to bed for real. The plan was to wait at the inn for Wong Shi Hong to return and then either get the go ahead on Li Jing's plan or receive alternate instructions. It was late, so the two martial brothers stayed with Xun Da. About two hours after they went to bed, Xun Da was stirred awake in the manner he pretended earlier. Only this time, it was no pretence.
* * *
Henjin was the youngest of Wangchuk Drup’s disciples and the boldest. After positioning himself outside Xun Da's room, he placed his hands in front of the door and shot them forward. The Immaculate Palm Form was based on raw power so he screamed wildly as he thrust. As the door blew off the hinges and into the room, Linjin, the eldest disciple, sprang inside with his dagger sword drawn. A flash of white crossed his face and, in a trice, he was on one knee facing the floor. The middle disciple, Sinjin came next expecting Henjin to follow but the youngest brother found himself held back by a rotund man who appeared out of nowhere.
Sinjin saw Xun Da rendering his elder brother incapacitated, holding him in painful wrist lock but as he lunged to his aid, Xun Da spun in such a way that before anything else, Linjin was flipped a hundred and eighty degrees in the air landing on the flat of his back. Sinjin was running straight for Xun Da but the white clad hero was no longer there. He looked upwards just in time to see the sole of Xun Da's shoe smashing down on his face. He was the first to die that night.
Hearing his martial brother’s head being driven into his spine, Linjin carp jumped to his feet, screaming with rage and sprinting for Xun Da. With one sharp movement, Xun Da's upright body transformed into a double palmed battering ram which Linjin ran straight onto. Xun Da had spent the last ten years on the battlefield infiltrating command posts. Everything he did was lethal. Linjin’s head and legs shot forward while his entire upper torso was driven backwards. Even if his neck didn't break, his chest was shattered, his internal organs bleeding.
Outside the room, Henjin had shifted his weight to his rear leg and turned slightly to avoid Wu Chen's kick. As such, he evaded the knockdown the latter was aiming for. Suddenly, Li Jing came at him from the side and, though he was partially prepared for another surprise attack, Li Jing was much quicker than Wu Chen. Thus, Henjin was only managing to match the pair despite being stronger than both of them. When he heard Linjin’s furious scream, he knew something had happened to Sinjin and so he took the earliest opportunity to glance into the room. Sinjin’s body was in a vertical heap as if he had been driven into the floor like a steak while Linjin’s body was in the process of being turned into a square by Xun Da's palms.
Henjin opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. Li Jing's kick caught him on the back of the head and as his knees buckled, he collapsed face first into the bedroom. As Wu Chen sat on him to restrain him all Henjin could see was his beloved brothers brutally smashed. He lay there shocked to the core. Li Jing was shouting questions at him but he heard nothing. Tears filled his eyes.
Outside on the street, Priest Hou stood among the others listening with a smug smile. “So much for Wangchuk Drup’s disciples.” From the scuffle, they could hear the disciples had encountered two average opponents and one expert. However, the speed at which the expert moved was below what they'd expect from the Majestic Wanderer or any of the other Ten Greats so they concluded it was merely Xun Da. That said the vicious sound of Xun Da's attacks caused each of them to wince.
“Maybe it's time we lent a hand?” Han Liang suggested with a sardonic smile. He signalled Sing Yi who was across the street with the Qui soldiers. Without delay, the soldiers surrounded the inn. Priest Hou and Han Liang kicked off the ground and leapt onto to the first floor veranda. The Lin couple entered through the other side.
Xun Da had initially moved quickly but, in noting the similarities between himself and the Yarlese disciples—three young men who had obediently followed their master throughout Wulin—he was stalled by regret. However, he knew the rest of the mercenaries were bound to be close by and the only way to get out of this was to reduce their numerical superiority as quickly as possible. The fact the enemy chose to divide their numbers was a mistake he shouldn't leave unpunished. Staring at Henjin for another couple of seconds, he settled on a compromise and sealed his pressure points to immobilise him. Feeling a little more secure, he scanned the room. “Li Jing, close the shutters, Wu Chen, barricade the door.”
In his haste, Li Jing ran straight in front of an open window and had to arch backwards to avoid a barrage of darts. As they embedded into the far wall, the noise shook Wu Chen into action who threw anything he could find at the shutters in order to close them. Xun Da didn't use any weapons but he grabbed the mace and the thin blade which they had procured earlier and threw one to Li Jing and the other to Wu Chen. “Use them to deflect projectiles.”
At that moment, two windows exploded inwards as Lin Fung and Lin Niu rolled through. Two ‘chi’ sounds were heard as one, as they simultaneously drew their swords. Xun Da tried to intercept Mu’s sword before he removed it from the scabbard but was too late and he barely turned in time to avoid the first slice which came vertically downwards from head to toe. Niu moved on Li Jing who jumped nimbly backwards over the bed but remained airborne a second longer than he should have. Niu’s blade circled around her body like lightning and caught up with him while he was unable to change direction. Li Jing whipped the thin blade towards hers and being the poor imitation it was, it broke in two. However, it was enough to buy him the millimetres he needed to avoid the circling sword.
Wu Chen panicked when he saw Li Jing's precarious position and, with his left hand, swung the mace wildly towards Lin Niu’s head. Kneeling down she brought her blade across to her right flank and then circled it upwards in an anticlockwise action. Wu Chen's mace arm was fully extended and with the circling of her sword, both arm and mace continued travelling to the far side of the room. Wu Chen didn't feel anything; he just knew his left arm was no longer part of his body. He began to stumble backwards but a rush of blood to his head countered that impulse and he pushed forward with abandon.
Lin Niu was way ahead of Wu Chen in terms of martial ability as she had just demonstrated in the blink of an eye. Yet a wild boar that cares about nothing is a frightening prospect for even the most experienced fighters. She tumbled backwards and cried out as he shoved his bloody stump in her eyes to blind her. Lin Fung heard the call and that brief moment of distraction was enough for Xun Da to capitalise on. He stamped down on Mu’s foot and planted his shoulder into his chest sending him backwards through the window at unbelievable pace. Using his enormous battle experience, he immediately leapt on Lin Niu and took her sword. Rushing her over the open window, he held the sword at her back and told Lin Fung to call off the attack.