The Winner
by Ni Kuang
He stood proudly on the mountain top, sword lightly gleaming off the rocks. The sun was setting, sunlight reflecting off the tip of the blade, shooting out rays of dazzling light.
About two staves away, on a large, flat boulder, stood four men, all facing him, watching him, faces red with anger. Sweat rained down the foreheads of two middle-aged men. They looked really nervous, but he, standing there with his sword, was the opposite.
Directly below the boulder, for as far as the eye could see, people lay on the rocks, in the trees, seventeen or eighteen in all, all clearly dead, blood dripping from their bodies. In the distance several vultures circled in the sky.
He was only in around thirty or so, a cold, detached look to go with the pride on his face. His sword had been soaked with blood for sure, because now a drop of it trailed down the glittering blade toward the tip. Just as the drop of blood was about to drip off, he suddenly swung the sword up and the drop of blood whizzed off and splashed down on the face of an elderly man among the four.
The elder roared, but he just laughed “haha”.
As he laughed the four set off, surging up, the foremost of them wielding a pair of very short knives.
The knives were curved like a half moon, looking quite odd. The man leapt up and alighted on a tree, then with a swoosh he flipped, landing him on the mountain top. From this vantage point, he and his blades attacked!
He stood on the mountain top, still not moving, as if he didn’t know the enemy was already on top of him. Just then, a second middle-aged man brandished his sword rapidly and followed his blade in a charge, light trembling off the sword, heading straight for his chest. In that split second, a pincer attack from top and bottom formed.
Only when the sword and the two knives were just a span or so away from his vitals did he utter a cry, and the sword in his hand suddenly thrust forward.
His thrust came strong like the wind, the tip aimed dead on the tip of the attacking sword, fast as lightning, and there was a “clang” as the two sword tips crossed.
Then the other man let out a shriek as he pitched backward, backing up. Two steps back, one foot landed true, and the shriek as he dropped. It happened so fast it’s hard to describe.
In the blink of an eye the sound stopped and only two echoed reverberated back.
After forcing the man off with this sword to drop a thousand fathoms off the cliff, he suddenly turned around, sword already raised. Reflecting the setting sun, the sword in his hand whipped around in two circles quick as anything and two more savage cries followed and with two thuds two hands hold a knife dropped one after the other.
Two fountains of blood followed as the body dropped straight down out of the air. The man’s hands had been cut off at the wrist, and the excruciating pain had knocked him out before the man hit the ground. So he raised a foot and kicked the fallen body off the cliff.
In the blink of an eye the four men were reduced to two, still two left. Though they scurried up a stave higher, only seven or eight spans away from the mountain top, the scene they just watched stopped them from coming up.
He stood there again with his sword, the sun now slanted further west, reflecting even more the red blood on his blade.
He gave a cold laugh. “You twenty-four gangs teamed up to deal with me, how many people in total?”
The two men just panted but said nothing. He laughed again. “At least more than four, and now only the two of your are left. You’re not rushing up here to meet your deaths. Do you think you will be lucky enough to escape?”
The two men had unsightly looks on their faces. Now, amidst the sunset clouds, everything was red, all except for their ashen white faces.
They shouted in unison, “Don’t be so insolent. We still have our most capable assistant, who’s not here yet, or else you would have been dead already!”
He laughed again. “I’m known as the Diving Hawk of Heaven Mountain. You pack of demons and buffoons are no more than some field mice and frogs. As long as I stay in the mountains you all can carry out your evil among the jianghu, but once I come down, any thought of a way out alive is nothing more than wishful thinking—“
As soon as he said the word “thinking”, he planted the tip of his foot and shot up at an angle.
He had been standing on the mountain top which was only a stave or so in circumference. A man had just taken two steps back and in his carelessness, stepped on air and fell a thousand staves off the cliff. Now, he slanted up and the two men below were really shocked stupid.
And his nickname was “Divine Hawk of Heaven Mountain”. In the air, his arms spread, he really did resemble a divine hawk as he swooped down.
The two men never dreamed he would use such an attack. As they stood dumbfounded, his sword’s radiance covered them. They uttered a broken-off cry of alarm and one went left, the other right, their chests already spurting blood like a fountain as they fell.
Divine Hawk dropped down as well, but only six or seven spans before a swish of his sword stabbed the cliff.
His stab struck directly into a crevice in the wall and the sword sunk seven or eight finger-widths into the crack with a bang. The blade bent down and sprang back up several times, and he went up and down with it before finally settling.
Now, though he gripped the sword handle, he was still hanging in the air. But he was stable and of course could easily find some footing and climb down. He looked down and saw a rock sticking out a span or so and placed his right foot on it.
But just as his foot touched down on the rock, there was a flash of light and a sword shot out from behind a large rock, stabbing toward the instep of his foot!
Divine Hawk of Heaven Mountain’s shock was no small matter. He pulled his foot back and shouted, “Who’s there?”
Then came a soul-stirring chuckle and a breeze happened to blow by, carrying with it a refreshing scent.
A tall, slender woman stepped out from behind the rock, along with a silvery shining sword, its tip pointed a mere five or six finger-widths away from Divine Hawk’s chest!
Divine Hawk took a deep breath. You could say his situation right now was bad in the extreme. His hand gripped the sword handle, but he was unable to draw it to meet the enemy because he was using the sword stuck in the crevice to stabilize himself. If he drew the sword out he would fall into the bottomless abyss below before being able to attack.
And the point of a sword was already at his chest!
After that sudden deep breath he forced himself to stay calm and looked straight ahead and saw it was a woman so beautiful one dared not stare at her. The sunset clouds shining on her face made her cheeks look like a blooming flower. She was twenty-three or four at most and she wore a faint smile, making eyes at him flirtatiously. Divine Hawk was such a proud one, but he never dreamed there could be such a beautiful woman. If not for the tip of her sword moving up in that instant toward his face, making him feel the chill of the sword’s reflected light, then he really would have been frozen stupid!
She swayed her willowy waist lightly. She was standing on a rock no more than a span square, enough to make one worry her sway would cast her off the rock.
She laughed softly and an utterly gentle, charming sound came from her full lips. “Eh, Divine Hawk of Heaven Mountain, how did you end up hanging there!”
As she spoke, her sword moved slowly, the tip close to Divine Hawk’s face.
Divine Hawk was alarmed and angry. “Who are you?”
The woman chuckled. “Me? You’re Divine Hawk of Heaven Mountain. My name is not so impressive. I’m Oriole! I’m the helper the twenty-four gangs called for. Unfortunately I was a step late and they’ve all died. But that’s alright, that way they won’t get in the way!”
Her warbling voice was quite pleasant and she went on as if it all had nothing at all to do with the vital life or death of Divine Hawk but was instead just some trifling matter.
Hearing her talk like that, Divine Hawk’s heart beat rapidly and gasped. “You getting the drop on me like this is nothing. Wait till I come down and we can see who’s the victor!”
Oriole pursed her lips and smiled, her flirty look so lovely that Divine Hawk could hardly dare to look at her.
She said, “You’re a man, I’m a woman, decide what victor. Since I was sent for, then, I’ll just have to—“
As she spoke she slowly extended the sword in her hand, the tip nearly touching the tip of Divine Hawk’s nose. Ever since Divine Hawk had come down out of the mountains, his sword had mopped up the ne’er-do-wells of the martial world. Wherever his sword light struck no one was his match. When had he ever been in such an awkward position? Even so, right now, there was not a thing he could do!
A normal person in such a situation would for sure urge their opponent not to attack, or would beg for their life, but Divine Hawk was an exceedingly proud person. There was absolutely no way he could beg, and as for persuasion, he had already said his piece and been ignored, so there was no point in saying anything further. At that moment, all he could think of was how he could get out of this alive, and if he died he wanted his opponent to pay with her life. He was not about to be humiliated!
Thoughts whirled in his head and then he decided, and so as soon as the tip of Oriole’s sword reached the tip of his nose, he suddenly pulled his head back and used the momentum to swing his feet out suddenly to kick Oriole.
He and Oriole were quite close to each other, or else her sword would not have been able to stab his nose. Divine Hawk’s feet suddenly flew up and Oriole instinctively drew back.
However, where she was standing was only a span-square rock, so when she pulled back she lost her center of gravity.
Divine Hawk had already planned out his next move when he kicked. He didn’t think his kick would be enough to know her off, so he already knew his next move. As he kicked, he reached out with his left hand and grabbed onto the tip of Oriole’s sword and let go with his right hand at the same time.
His thought was that if Oriole didn’t fall, then grabbing the tip of her sword would slow his descent and he would be able to get out of this awkward position. But unexpectedly, Oriole’s backward momentum instead pulled Divine Hawk forward!
If his right hand had still been holding onto his own sword, then all Divine Hawk would have had to do was let go of her sword and Oriole would surely fall into the abyss below. But he had already let go of his sword handle. If he let go of the tip of her sword, then the only result would be he and Oriole both falling in unison.
In that split second he was falling, so he had no time to think. Suddenly, he heard a “clang” and Oriole’s cry of alarm and his fall came to an abrupt halt. He looked up and couldn’t help but give a wry smile.
He and Oriole, one holding the handle of the sword, the other holding the tip of the sword, and the sword had saved them both because the sword was stuck on the rock Oriole had just been standing on!
The rock wasn’t very thick, and by the time Divine Hawk had composed himself, he saw Oriole’s sweet, charming face was only a span away from his. Oriole was clearly startled, panting, breathing directly in Divine Hawk’s face, the delicate scent intoxicating.
Oriole was a bit later than Divine Hawk in composing herself, but she was the first to speak. “Okay, first it was one hanging in midair, now it’s two!”
Divine Hawk said evenly, “We both climb up the mountain at the same time and settle it at the top, what do you say?”
In their current situation, they could only work together to climb back up. Otherwise, if one pulled and the other didn’t, the sword wouldn’t stay balanced, and the one who pulled would fall off the precipice.
Oriole bit her lower lip and nodded. “Okay!”
Divine Hawk said, “Follow my lead. Up!”
As he said “up”, they both hoisted themselves up at the same time, their heads already peeking over the top of the rock. All they had to do was reach out and grab the rock and they would be out of danger.
But at that moment, there was a “snap” and Oriole’s sword couldn’t take the force any longer and broke in half!
They had been totally supported by the sword to stop them from falling. Once the sword snapped, they immediately plummeted.
But they were both first-rate martial arts masters. Adapting quickly, the sword snapped, and they immediately let go and reached a hand out to grab something on the rock to steady themselves.
However, there was nothing on the rock, so there was nothing to grab onto, but since they both reached out at the same time, they were able to latch onto each other’s hand!
These two were enemies about to fight to the death, but right now they could only hold tightly onto one another’s hand!
Their lives all depended on holding hands tightly so they could hold on, or else they would both fall off the mountain!
Oriole forced a smile. “Great Xia Divine Hawk, we’ve become a shared-fate bird!”1
Divine Hawk hmphed. As soon as Oriole had stated her name he knew she was a demoness from an evil sect, but now he couldn’t refute what she said because their fates really were bound together!
He just hmphed and said, “We still have to figure out a way to climb up!”
Oriole shook her head. “Climb up? Is that rock big enough for both of us to stand on?”
Divine Hawk said, “I’ll climb up first, then pull you up.”
Oriole said, “If it was me saying I would climb up first, then pull you up, would you believe me?”
Divine Hawk was stumped. Of course he wouldn’t believe her. All the first one to climb up had to do was let go and the other would fall to their death, and they were both completely hostile to one another, who would trust the other?
Anxious and angry, he said, “They what do we do?”
Dusk was coming on. Oriole looked down and saw a pine tree seven or eight staves below them; it had grown out a crack in the side of the cliff. “There’s only one way. We both let go at the same time and land on that pine tree.”
Such a a bold proposal from Oriole left Divine Hawk speechless. But he couldn’t show weakness. He took a breath and said, “Okay, we’ll let go together!”
Before he finished speaking they both let go. One hand released, two bodies dropped. They were close together, only a span apart, and now they felt nothingness as they fell, both wanting to grab onto something. They couldn’t help but reach out and hold tightly onto one another!
The two of them hugging tightly was something neither had ever imagined might happen, but now it happened quite naturally!
Falling seven or eight staves and try to aim one’s fall onto the pine tree was no easy feat, but once they were embracing each other tightly, they raised a breath of perfected qi and their momentum was not too rapid. They fell straight down and landed right on the tree!
They sunk into the tree and sprang back up, and in that movement they heard a tear and Oriole “eeked”. Divine Hawk looked and what he saw made his heart race!
He was still holding Oriole, but now Oriole was half-naked!
One half of her clothes had snagged on a branch, and now wrapped around Divine Hawk’s neck was a tender, snow-white arm, and Divine Hawk, pressed against that jade arm, made him feel that he had not fallen onto a pine tree but onto a cloud!
His heart pounded, wanting to push Oriole away, but Oriole anxiously called out, “You, you can’t push away from me, look up!”
Divine Hawk didn’t understand why Oriole wanted him to look up, but when he did he understood. Two branches has snagged on Oriole as they fell, and due to the force of their descent, had rended her clothes in half, one half still snagged on the branch.
If he and Oriole let go of each other, the other half of her clothes would fall off as well!
Divine Hawk’s heart pounded at the thought of it, and he felt a buzzing in his head.
Now, even if he didn’t hold onto her, Oriole would still be clinging to him.
Divine Hawk felt Oriole’s soft, fragrant body heating up, the irresistible heat erasing the proud, cold expression on his face and replacing it with a look that was really hard to describe. His mind was in chaos and he could hardly think at all.
Dusk had not yet come on too thick, but the evening clouds had disappeared from sight. But he could see Oriole clinging to him, her cheeks flaming red, such sweet, charming redness making Divine Hawk not have the courage to push her away.
Oriole panted as she said, “You’re not allowed to let go of me until it gets dark; then you can let go.”
Divine Hawk forced himself to calm down. “But once it’s dark, it will be hard for us to find the mountain trail.”
Oriole said, “Look, there’s a cave by the base of the tree. We can take shelter in the cave.”
Divine Hawk said, “But… you’re clothes…”
Oriole’s body suddenly began to tremble in Divine Hawk’s arms. Such a beautiful woman cuddled tight in his arms, he could feel her every slight shiver, something he had never experienced before.
Not only was the proud look on his face gone, even the last bit of pride in his heart was gone. He suddenly buried his face in Oriole’s pale neck and breathed in deeply the intoxicating scent her skin gave off. He relaxed his hold slightly, allowing Oriole’s clothes to flutter a bit, and he lightly rested his hand on her smooth, sleek back.
Panting, in an exceedingly intimate voice Oriole said, “I… I was sent for by the twenty-four gangs to deal with you, and I definitely have to beat you because ever since you’ve been roaming the jianghu, every gang and every faction has lost too much!”
Divine Hawk didn’t hear what Oriole said to him at first. He suddenly looked up, took a breath, and said, “I, I——“
When he said “I”, Oriole closed her eyes and slightly raised her head. The first quarter moon was up and the gentle moonlight shining on her gorgeous face, shining on her pale white, delicate neck, shining on her ample chest, drove Divine Hawk crazy.
Oriole’s starry eyes slightly closed, she said slowly, “Though I don’t have an illustrious, decent background, I know about living clean and honestly. I think, I… wouldn’t disgrace you.”
Her cheeks reddened as she said this. Divine Hawk moved upward and Oriole’s arms quickly wrapped around his neck. Divine Hawk said, “Hold onto me. I’ll take us to the cave.”
He slowly stood up, and as he did so the tree branch quivered, and Divine Hawk moved very carefully. He had to get to the cave, he had to get to the cave!
Oriole’s body seemed to be attached to his. Divine Hawk stood straight, reached out and grabbed a branch and he swung straight over, his feet alighting on a branch.
He let go with his left hand, right hand reaching forward to grab again and caught hold of the corner of a rock. Just then, Oriole said, “Wait a second, I’ll go first!”
Before Divine Hawk could respond, Oriole’s hands loosened and she fluttered like a butterfly into the cave. As she flitted into the cave, her clothes fluttered away. Divine Hawk was dazzled and he immediately swept into the cave.
It was pitch-black inside the cave, but Divine Hawk could smell a faint scent next to him.
His hands slowly slid down Oriole’s arms, finally grasping hold of her hands.
He thought no more of fighting, thought no more of hostility, thought no more of anything. He thought only of Oriole, and Oriole right then pounced into his arms.
Outside the cave, the crescent moon high, on a large rock under that tree lay a man with a grave chest wound. He had died under Divine Hawk of Heaven Mountain’s sword. But now his eyes were open, as if to say that although he was dead, the person they had sent for had won!
This is a translation of a short story by Hong Kong author Ni Kuang, which originally appeared in the magazine《老爺車》(Vintage Car).