The Heaven Sword and the Dragon Sabre Chapter 26

Willingly disfigure a handsome face.

Approaching the afternoon that day, three riders and one carriage were seen galloping toward the north and in less than a day they had entered Dadou [lit. grand capital], the Yuan Dynasty’s capital. By this time the power of Mongolian cavalry had reached a hundred thousands ‘li’s [1 li is approximately 0.5 km], making their borders vast and wide, matchless throughout the history. Dadou later on became Beijing. It is the city where the emperor resided, where countless smaller nations and tribes sent their envoys to pay tribute.

As Zhang Wuji and his company entered the city gate they saw that a lot of people were coming and going; many of those people had yellow hair and blue eyes. Four people went to the western side of the city to find an inn for them to spend the night. Acting as a rich merchant Yang Xiao asked for three of the best rooms. The inn attendant rushed back and forth to serve them. Yang Xiao asked him about the historical sites and scenic spots around the Dadou; after a while he casually asked about ancient temples or monasteries. The inn attendant mentioned Wan An Temple of the western city first, “This Wan An Temple is situated among a thick forest; it has three big copper Buddha idols. No matter where you are going in this world, you won’t find the fourth one. You should have come to visit this temple. It’s a pity you have come in an unfortunate time. For the past half a year the temple has been occupied by foreign western monks; common people do not dare to come anymore.”

“Occupied by foreign monks, that shouldn’t be a problem, should it?” Yang Xiao asked.

The attendant stuck his tongue, he looked left and right before lowering his voice and said, “It’s not that I talk too much, but honorable guests have come to the capital, you must be careful when talking. If they see people coming in, those foreign monks will beat or even kill as they please; if they see pretty women then they will grab and take them inside the temple. They are backed by the Emperor. Who dare to swat a fly on a tiger’s head by coming to those foreign monks and confront them?”

The foreign monks were backed by the Mongolian power, plundering and rampaging, oppressing the Han people, Yang Xiao and the others had long been aware of it; but they did not expect these people would unscrupulously run amuck in the capital. Thereupon they did not talk with the inn attendant any longer.

After dinner that night they stayed in their respective rooms to cultivate their energy. Around the second hour [between 1 and 3 am] three people leaped from the window, heading west.

The Wan An temple was a big four-story building, with a thirteen floor paG.o.da behind it, which they could see in the distant. Zhang Wuji, Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao launched their ‘qing gong’ [lightness kungfu] to the fullest and in a short time they had arrived at the temple. Exchanging hand signals they circled to the left, with the intention of climbing up the paG.o.da to take a better look of the overall temple’s situation from a higher position. Unexpectedly when they were still about twenty ‘zhang’s [1 zhang is approximately 10 ft or 3.3 m] away from the paG.o.da they saw shadows of people on each floor of the paG.o.da, going back and forth, patrolling. It turned out that there were twenty, thirty people guarding the paG.o.da. As they saw this, three people were both startled and delighted at the same time, because if the paG.o.da was guarded this heavily, then Shaolin, Wudang, and other sects’ people must be imprisoned here; hence saving them time to investigate further. Only the enemy’s guard was so heavy, their rescue effort would certainly not be easy. Much less since each one of Kong Wen, Kong Zhi, Song Yuanqiao, Yu Lianzhou, Zhang Songxi, and the others had an outstanding level or martial art skill; yet they were still captured by the enemy, showing that the enemy was not only numerous, but their methods were undoubtedly fierce and cruel. Before coming to this Wan An Temple, three people had decided not to be rash and act recklessly; therefore, they quietly retreated.

Suddenly they saw a flicker of light on the sixth floor; about eight, nine people walked slowly with torches in their hands. The light moved from the sixth floor to the fifth, then from the fifth to the fourth, going down the paG.o.da. As they arrived at the first floor they went out the paG.o.da’s main entrance, moving towards the back of the temple.

Yang Xiao waved his hand and slowly crept toward these people. On the rear courtyard of the temple there were old trees towering to the sky. Three people hid behind one of the trees; and as soon as the wind blew they moved several ‘zhang’s away to the next tree. These three people’s ‘qing gong’ was very high, yet they only dare to move with the blowing wind and rustling leaves in fear of their movement to be detected by enemy.

Stepping stealthily they managed to move more than twenty ‘zhang’s. They saw around ten men wearing yellow robes, each with a weapon in his hand, escorting an old man wearing an oversized robe with wide sleeve. As that old man turned his head, Zhang Wuji could see clearly that the old man was the Kunlun Sect’s Sect Leader, ‘tie qin xian sheng’ [Mister Iron Qin (a musical instrument)], He Taichong; Wuji could not help but s.h.i.+ver, “Even Mr. He is also here,” he thought.

As they saw those people enter Wan An Temple’s back door, three people waited for a moment. After looking around to make sure n.o.body else was watching, they also entered the back door quick as a flash. The temple was huge, with many rooms inside; some of the rooms looked similar to those in the Shaolin Temple. They saw bright light coming out through long windows of the main hall; and guessed this must be the room where He Taichong was detained. Three people moved swiftly toward this hall. Zhang Wuji crouched on the ground trying to take a peek inside the hall via a small crack on the long window. Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao stood on either side, guarding against any possible sneak attack. Although these three people were bold and highly skilled, they were entering a tiger’s den at this moment, so their hearts were anxious.

The crack on the long window was very small so Zhang Wuji only managed to see the lower part of He Taichong’s body; he could not see any other people inside the hall. He heard He Taichong roar angrily, “I have already fallen into your treacherous hand; just kill me or cut me off, but don’t say another word. If you want me to take an oath to be the government’s hunting falcon or dog, then dream on. Even if you talk for three or five more years, you are only wasting your words.”

Zhang Wuji silently nodded his head, “Although this Mr. He is not an honorable gentleman, he stands firm in critical moment; he truly befits the character of a sect leader,” he thought.

He heard a man in a cold voice say, “You are so stubborn, our Master won’t force you. But do you know the custom here?”

“Even if you cut all my ten fingers I still won’t surrender,” He Taichong said.

“Very well,” that man said, “Let me explain it to you once again. If you can defeat three of our people, we’ll immediately release you. If you lose, we’ll cut one more of your fingers and lock you up another month. Then we’ll ask you again whether you want to surrender.”

He Taichong replied, “I’ve already lost two fingers, so what if I lose another one? Come, take your sword out!”

That man laughed coldly, “By the time you lose all your fingers, although you surrender, we won’t want a trash. Give him a sword! Mokopas, you can try him first!”