Brother, Lend Me Your Head
by Wen Rui'an
trans. by JohnD
When he woke, the water in the stream beside him was still red, his lips pale white like the belly of a dead fish.
This was already the seventh time.
He wanted to kill that great evil of the martial grove, that evil person among the rivers and lakes, "Evil Consumes the World" Jin Jiujian, but there had been many barriers to get past: "The Unstoppable" (Jin Jiujian's treasured only daughter Jin Pozhu1, whose martial arts was excellent, and who charged into battle like an irresistible force), "Two Startled Stones" (Jin Jiujian's two sworn younger brothers, who were masters of "Stone Startling Magic"), "Three Possessed Demons" (Jin Jiujian's three personal guards, nicknamed "The Three Demon-Possessed Monsters"), "Four Spirits" (Jin Jiujian's four disciples, each skilled in the four strange skills: "Spirits Can't Guard Their Minds", "Divine Light Separates and Returns", "Spirits Appear and Ghosts Vanish", and "Spirit and Soul Lost Their Way"). There's no way a person can get past them.
In order to kill the degenerate head of the "Hidden Sect" Jin Jiujian, he first had to get through, one by one, "The Unstoppable", "Two Startled Stones", the "Three Possessed Demons", and the "Four Spirits". Only then could he get revenge on the supreme master who killed his father and exterminated his clan.
Song Xiaoqian had already tried seven times.
Seven times without success.
He had also been wounded seven times--seven times on the brink of death; but he hadn't died, purely by luck.
This time he had survived, but it made Song Xiaoqian come to a revelation: Since he couldn't kill his archenemy, it would be better to convert an enemy into a friend.
Song Xiaoqian had this change of heart, but his older brother Song Hushan was unaware of it.
Song Hushan still wanted to kill Jin Jiujian in order to avenge his father.
Song Hushan and Song Xiaoqian arranged to kill Jin Jiujian, but Song Hushan's martial arts skills were better, and he first wounded "Four Spirits", and attacked "Three Demon-Possessed Monsters", and was locked in combat with the "Two Startled Stones" when Song Xiaoqian approached him from behind and with one stroke of his sabre cut off his older brother's head, muttering something all the while.
Jin Jiujian was surprised, and when he asked the reason, learned that Song Xiaoqian had joined them, killing his brother to show where his allegiances lay. Jin Jiujian felt he was sincere, and so admitted him to the sect, though with caution. In the next five years, Song Xiaoqian performed many feats and achieved much distinction for Jin Jiujian's "Hidden Sect", and he won the heart of Jin Pozhu, and he also earned Jin Jiujian's trust. After he and Jin Pozhu married, Jin Jiujian gradually entrusted most of the important work in the "Hidden Sect" to Song Xiaoqian. Meanwhile, everyone asked him what he was saying when he had "put righteousness before family" and killed his elder brother. Song Xiaoqian just smiled and said nothing.
Later, Song Xiaoqian sent the "Four Spirits" on ahead on some errand and had them ambushed and killed. Then, he set up a plan to force the "Three Demon-Possessed Monsters" to leave, and then planted seeds of distrust towards the "Two Startled Stones" in Jin Jiujian's head, making him think they were going to mutiny, and used that as a pretext to have them killed. Finally, he drove Jin Pozhu mad and had her secretly imprisoned. Then, he arranged an appropriate night and exchanged the sword Jin Jiujian always wore at his waist. Then, when he and Jin Jiujian were drinking one day, he drew his sword.
Because of the anesthetic placed in the wine, Jin Jiujian was incapable of dodging, and Song Xiaoqian with one stroke chopped off his arm. Jin Jiujian went to draw his sword, but was surprised to find it wasn't his sword, and Song Xiaoqian again brandished his sword and cut off the other arm.
"You...!" Jin Jiujian gasped. "How can you do this to me?"
"For justice, for revenge, I wouldn't hesistate to do anything to get rid of a great villain! Do you know what I said that day when I cut off my brother's head?" Song Xiaoqian, hatred filling his chest, said, "I told him: 'Brother, lend me your head! Without your head I won't be able to hack off that dog head of Jin Jiujian!'"
"Oh, so it's all for justice! You say I am a villain. I trusted you, and you treat me like this! I've done evil all my life, but it's all nothing compared to your diabolical tricks!" Jin Jiujian smiled bitterly. "In the end, who is the evil one? Aren't you afraid that someone will avenge me?"
Notes:
[1] Her name is Jin Pozhu. Pozhu (破竹) also means "unstoppable", or "irresistible force", hence her nickname.'