Chapter Ninety-Five: A Push in the Back

Li Zhongyuan did not wish to conceal it, so he briefly told him how, on Ascension Peak, he had accidentally discovered traces of Lu Pinghu and Murong Zhaixing, gone on to enter the Lotus Ginseng Cave, and there obtained the martial manuals of the Tianshan Sect’s southern and northern branches.

Qu Beiyuan was so astonished that for a long while he could not speak. At last he sighed, “A marvel indeed, a marvel. But you must never let a word of this escape. Once it leaks out, there will be only two possible outcomes. First, in order to avert trouble, Dun Nan may order the manuals destroyed. Second, some schemer in the martial world will stop at nothing to seize them, then use the arts of the Tianshan Sect to commit murder and evil. In either case, it is not what Lu Pinghu and Murong Zhaixing would have wanted. You must keep your mouth shut, and only then can these treasures of the martial world be preserved.”

Li Zhongyuan agreed solemnly.

The two of them chatted for a while about what had happened since their parting, and before long the conversation turned once more to the Xuanming Sword.

Qu Beiyuan smiled and said, “Have you ever considered this: back then, why did Ye Changqing use the Xuanming Chain to bind me, and yet send the only sword capable of severing that chain to the Wang family in Taiyuan?”

Li Zhongyuan had never truly thought about it. Scratching his forehead, he said, “As you once explained, it was to prevent someone from stealing the Xuanming Sword, cutting the chain, and rescuing you, so the sword was sent away.”

Qu Beiyuan chuckled. “Well, at that time you were still only a child without a trace of guile, so I said it that way. Now that you are grown, there are some things you ought to know.

“At first, I thought the same. But afterward, the more I considered it, the less it seemed right. Sending the Xuanming Sword to the Wang family in Taiyuan only made it easier for someone to seize it. If he truly meant to keep it out of others’ hands, there were only two choices: either guard it himself, or destroy it outright, once and for all. Yet Ye Changqing did neither.

“Instead, he secretly sent it to the Wang family in Taiyuan. Three months later, after he learned that the old master of the Wang family had died and that the Xuanming Sword had vanished, he did not seem troubled in the least.

“I puzzled over that for a very long time. Only after recalling an old incident did I finally connect all the scattered clues.

“This goes back to a secret from decades ago, and it begins with my master, Yin Liji. In that year, his cultivation went awry and he needed medicine to regulate his inner breath. If it had been any ordinary ingredient, that would have been simple enough; the Tianshan Mountains are rich in medicinal herbs, so why search elsewhere? But the prescription required one exceedingly rare catalyst called the Water Goblin.

“What is this Water Goblin? In truth, it is a water sprite. Though people in Great Tang often spoke of it, no one had ever truly seen one; all such tales were hearsay.

“Just then, envoys from the Eastern Isles came to Great Tang to pay tribute, and they presented a living creature known among them as a kappa, which was simply another name for a Water Goblin. How my master heard of it I do not know, but knowing his temperament, he would never let such a thing pass.

“He set out alone for Chang’an that very day. Once there, he learned that the creature had been kept in the lotus pond of the rear gardens of Daming Palace.

“Confident in his own extraordinary skill, my master waited until midnight, then slipped into Daming Palace with his sword and made straight for the lotus pond in the rear gardens. When he reached the pond, he discovered that there truly was some ugly, monkey-like thing in the water. He reached out to seize it, never imagining that the Water Goblin, though small, possessed astonishing strength and nearly dragged my master into the water with it.

“Fortunately, his martial arts were superb and his response swift. At once he summoned his inner power and hauled the thing bodily out of the water. The instant it left the pond, it lost all strength in its limbs and quickly died.

“But the commotion alerted the night patrol. Bronze gongs sounded immediately, and a large body of soldiers rushed over.

“My master killed several guards who were first to charge him, then while the others hesitated and fell back in fear, he stuffed the Water Goblin’s corpse into a leather pouch, slung it over his shoulder, leaped onto the high wall, and fled toward the imperial harem.

“Not knowing the way, and afraid to spring onto the palace roofs lest crossbows rain down on him, he simply plunged headlong through one courtyard after another. By chance, he entered a great hall. No one lived there; it was filled only with books and shelves and such. Just then, the soldiers caught up and were about to search the hall.

“My master was about to draw his sword and fight his way out when he suddenly noticed that one of the dragon eyes carved on the hall’s coiled pillar looked wrong. He was well versed in mechanisms, traps, and all manner of such devices, so he stepped forward and gave it a twist with his hand. A hidden door opened at the base of the pillar.

“He had no time to think and sprang inside. Behind the door was a secret chamber. There was nothing in it except a small wooden box. At first my master thought it some rare treasure, but when he opened it, he found only a silk painting.

“He did not examine it carefully then. He simply tucked the silk painting into his robes and waited until the pursuit outside had died down. Only then did he emerge from the chamber, slip out of Daming Palace by night, and leave Chang’an.

“When he returned to Tianshan, Yin Liji used the Water Goblin as medicine while studying the silk painting with great care. The painting itself was very crude, with only a few sparse strokes; it was certainly not the work of any master hand. Beside each image there was also a verse. Why would such a scribbled thing be solemnly hidden away in a secret chamber?

“My master was extremely clever. At once he surmised that it was no ordinary picture. Yet precisely what made it unusual, he could not say. He never told this matter to anyone, but I know of it, because I was Yin Liji’s most favored disciple. Whenever he ran into trouble, he would discuss it with me. He had even shown me the painting once, though at the time I had no idea what it really was.

“Soon after, I was to descend the mountain for training and experience, so I kept the matter in mind. Several months later, near Chang’an, I happened upon a Taoist priest. He was a disciple of Yuan Tiangang, and we had some old acquaintance between us. That day I drank with him.

“He grew thoroughly drunk, and while in his cups he told me that his master had once collaborated with Li Chunfeng of the Imperial Observatory, by command of Emperor Taizong, to calculate the fortunes of the realm. But once they began, they could not stop, and in the end they had even foreseen the destiny of more than two thousand years after the Tang.

“Only when Yuan Tiangang pushed at Li Chunfeng’s back did they finally cease. Thereafter the two of them recorded the results of their calculations, and because it was brought to an end by that push upon the back, it came to be called the Back-Pushing Chart.

“That Taoist priest had been attending beside them and had seen part of the chart. He even dipped his chopsticks in wine and sketched a few of the figures on the table. When I saw them, I was struck dumb. It turned out that the silk painting my master Yin Liji had stolen from the imperial palace was precisely the Back-Pushing Chart.

“I returned to Tianshan that very night and told my master. When he heard it, his face turned terribly ugly. Though he had always been proud and unruly, he knew full well that this matter concerned not only the survival of the Tianshan Sect, but also the fate of the common people under heaven. He said nothing, but in his heart he must have been filled with bitter remorse, regretting that he had ever taken the thing in the first place. At this point, even if he wanted to return it, it was already too late. Since it touched on the secrets of the imperial house, he hid the painting in the most concealed place he could find, hoping only that the court would remain ignorant of it.

“After several years of peace, when we had almost forgotten the matter, a great calamity befell the Tianshan Sect.

“Ye Changqing, founder of your southern branch, led martial experts up to Tianshan. If it had merely been a gathering of wandering heroes coming to lend a hand, that would not have been strange. What puzzled me was that a large contingent of the capital’s imperial guards also climbed the mountain together to help slaughter the men of our northern branch.

“You must understand: feuds and vendettas in the martial world have always existed, and the court has generally held to one principle: so long as no commoners are massacred, it will not interfere. Yet this time it actually sent troops to assist. That alone was highly unusual. Even stranger was that while those imperial guards were killing everywhere, they were also rummaging through everything in sight, snatching away any object bearing writing or images.

“At once I understood. Those guards must have been searching for the Back-Pushing Chart. This was not hard to infer. Back then, when Yin Liji broke into Daming Palace alone, he had worn a mask, but that did not mean no one might recognize the martial arts and swordplay of the northern branch. The court had likely long since set its sights on the Tianshan Sect, but had been reluctant to press too hard, fearing that if Yin Liji were driven to rage, he might reveal the Back-Pushing Chart to the whole world. So they endured and bided their time. Now that the southern and northern branches were at odds with each other, the court seized the chance to send men to aid the assault on the mountain while simultaneously searching for the chart.

“At that time my master, Yin Liji, was not on the mountain. With no leader and no warning, everyone was caught off guard. I was lucky to escape from Tianshan alive. As I descended the mountain, I saw that a great number of imperial troops were also stationed at the foot of the mountain. Clearly the court was determined to obtain it at all costs.”

Li Zhongyuan asked, “Did the court find the Back-Pushing Chart?”

Qu Beiyuan slowly shook his head. “I do not think so.”

Li Zhongyuan said, “Then according to you, is the chart still on Tianshan?”

Qu Beiyuan said, “It should not be on Tianshan either. I think Ye Changqing, known throughout the martial world as the Martial Zhuge, was a man of extraordinary intelligence. He must have realized that the court’s enthusiastic assistance this time concealed some hidden design. I imagine he also caught some whisper of it. So after storming Tianshan, he used his knowledge of the mountain’s secret places to seize the Back-Pushing Chart first, then hid it properly away.

“Why would Ye Ancestor do this? For self-preservation.

“Scholars use learning to confuse the law; chivalrous men use force to violate the ban. Since ancient times, the court has always had a deeply ambivalent attitude toward martial forces. Once men learn to fight, there are sect inheritances; and once there are sect inheritances, there are martial powers. The court cannot wipe them out completely.

“Moreover, annihilating them entirely would not serve the court’s interests. If no one in the world practiced martial arts, if all men became frail scholars who could not even lift a chicken, where would the court find soldiers for war?

“So the court must preserve a measure of martial spirit, but it can never allow the martial world to grow so large that it can stand as an equal to imperial authority.

“For that reason, the court has always governed the martial world with both suppression and appeasement, using both favor and fear.

“The Tianshan Sect had already become overwhelmingly dominant in the Western Regions, which had long displeased the court. Besides, this time the affair involved a secret of the imperial house. It would be hard to say that, once the court obtained the Back-Pushing Chart, it would not use the opportunity to strike viciously at the southern branch.

“So Ye Changqing absolutely could not let the court get its hands on the Back-Pushing Chart. So long as the court did not obtain it and could not discover its whereabouts, they would be afraid to stir up trouble and would not dare do anything to Ye Changqing’s southern branch.

“My guess, then, is that Ye Changqing hid the Back-Pushing Chart inside the Xuanming Sword. He used the excuse that it was to prevent someone from stealing the sword to rescue me, and secretly had it taken down the mountain. That is precisely why, after the Xuanming Sword was lost, he was not anxious in the least. There was nothing safer than placing the Xuanming Sword somewhere even he himself did not know. It was only poor Old Master Wang of Taiyuan who lost his life in utter bewilderment.

“And now the Xuanming Sword has unexpectedly fallen into Han Qinghua’s hands. That is for the best. With Han Qinghua watching over it, even if someone develops designs on the sword, they will have the will but not the means. If I have guessed correctly, Han Qinghua only knows that the Xuanming Sword is unrivaled in sharpness and can sever iron like mud, but does not know that it conceals a secret such as the Back-Pushing Chart.”