One
Steel hit steel and the sparks that scattered smelled like an iron fireplace. It had been several years since Shā Wúshēng had his back covered in sweat. His drawn blade was not yet retracted. He carried twin swords on his back but was only able to draw one with his left hand. A bent iron arrow rolled at his feet. He did not even know where the arrow had come from. He was indoors and the door and windows were closed. If the shot had been aimed through a window, wall, or door, Shā Wúshēng would not be so distraught. But it was an arrow that appeared from nothingness. He understood that it was not one but two arrows as well. He sensed that only one shot was fired at him, and to be frank, it was hard enough for him to knock it down in that instant. The other remaining arrow was still trembling as it pierced the wall as if still trying to shoot something dead.
“… Are you alright, Lüè1?”
“I thought I was going to die from fright, Wúshēng.”
The Thief of the Wind Dust, elegantly holding a beautifully crafted kiseru with four dangling ornaments in his mouth, was sitting on a chair with an appearance that could be taken either way. As if he had anticipated that he would not be hit, or as if he could not move. At least he was not shaken in any way about being frightened to death. Only after confirming the Thief of the Wind Dust’s safety did Shā Wúshēng check his surroundings. There was no hint of a person. There was no sign of a third arrow appearing either, and no noise could be heard from behind the door. With his toe, Shā Wúshēng kicked away the bent arrow that was still lying at his feet.
“… What’s going on, what’s this? They were after me.”
“Me too.”
“But that one was off without even trying. The arrow aimed at me was different.”
“Well … did someone somewhere set up a ruse to shoot Shā Wúshēng, the renowned sword demon, before the tournament?”
“My reputation is small. I’m sure others would make better targets.”
“… If you put it that way, it’s true, but you too are quite famous.”
“Really? Actually, it’s out of place for me to even participate in this Sword Hero Tournament. I don’t know any people who would rather lose and be humiliated in front of an audience than be assassinated.”
“But isn’t it too early to say that you were the only one targeted?”
“Which means?”
“Well, wait here in this anteroom. I’ll go out and see what’s going on.”
“Hey, there wasn’t a word about you as a companion being allowed to walk out. According to the regulations of the tournament.”
“That is what I need to do, so please leave it to me. To me, who is said to cast no shadow in the moonlight and leave no footprints on a snow-covered road. And besides, you don’t seem to be very good at investigating other people.”
“Nevertheless, be careful, Lüè.”
“I know, it’s not like I want to die and it would be boring if you would be disqualified.”
Shā Wúshēng watched the Thief of the Wind Dust open the door and leave the anteroom. Finally, he let out one short breath. He returned the sword in his left hand to the sheath and sat down at the table.
He had known the Thief of the Wind Dust for about three years now. At first, he called him a bastard or you. It was one year later he called him his title, and it was this past half a year he came to call him Lüè. Because of the thief’s usual entanglement in wrongdoings, Shā Wúshēng originally teamed up with him in a sense of a bodyguard.
Shā Wúshēng only wielded his sword in the darkness. It had been twelve years since he dedicated himself to the sword, and before that, he had been in training ever since he could remember. Even now he continued to devote himself to the sword. He did not know anything else.
The Thief of the Wind Dust was infamous. The first request was to deal with someone who was in the way of stealing something – in other words, to fight on his behalf – but that request was prolonged. Simply because the other party was far away, but also because it was not easy to catch his shadow, a year had passed in search alone. During this period, the salary was still paid by the Thief of the Wind Dust. Shā Wúshēng even began to find it more convenient, as he was hired on a fixed-term contract, which was more efficient than earning money by defeating dōjōs, and he gradually began to feel more comfortable.
By nature, Shā Wúshēng was a talkative person. When he was in training, he would start talking about the art of swordsmanship and other subjects, changing from one topic to the next, to the dismay of his peers. So, having someone to talk to was (although he would stubbornly deny it) a blessing for him, and the Thief of the Wind Dust was also uniquely knowledgeable, meaning they could talk all night long and not get bored.
He decided to test his skills by knocking down the doors of other schools and killing their dōjō-master. There was no reason why such a person, a swordsman, should be silent and gloomy but they are certainly more likely to become so over time. Shā Wúshēng too had become much gloomier than when he used to innocently talk about ‘The Way of the Sword’.
Thinking about travelling expenses and wages had been left to the Thief of the Wind Dust, and because he had enough food and clothing he had recently begun to unintentionally think about civility. He thought it was a natural use of the swordsmanship he had mastered that he would settle for killing another person, anyone. The Way of the Sword, when you get down to it, was just a shallow and stupid story about how to kill other people. Death was the only way to prove it. His teacher taught him that there was more to it, but even Shā Wúshēng, who was willing to undergo any kind of rigorous training, was not convinced by that much. Thus, he broke off relations. If not only killing, what else would be there? If he wanted to learn about the philosophy of existence he would have joined the priesthood. If he wanted to make use of the knowledge he learned, he would have aimed for the imperial examinations. It was also Shā Wúshēng’s unwavering belief that a sword was only a tool to kill someone.
His melancholy arose from the fact that he had, to a certain extent, mastered that sword theory in his mind. If one could move, cut down, defeat or kill, then there would be nothing left to learn. The only use could be found in challenging other schools and continuing to make calculations to defy death. There was also the option of becoming a soldier somewhere, but his swordsmanship was only alive if it belonged to him alone and he realized that lining up in mass warfare was not to his taste.
Inertia would inevitably occur. At times, fighting a tough opponent would make him feel better, but soon he would feel heavy again. If he knew he was dealing with a person he didn’t care about, he cut them down as if they had no right to call themselves swordsmen. The way of the sword and the like was only a matter of killing or being killed. A Swordsman should not be called as such if he was not prepared to be killed when trying to kill the opponent. If he only dreamt of himself winning, he would be immature and third-rate. But when Shā Wúshēng finally found someone willing to do so, he would still win. It was still the opponent that died. If he would be honest, he would say he was bored and weary of this situation.
It was about half a year ago that he suddenly told the Thief of the Wind Dust about this honest story. This was after he had started calling him Lüè. He continued to accompany him in place of a bodyguard. It was a good distraction for Shā Wúshēng to protect the Thief of the Wind Dust, who had no shortage of enemies anyway. It was fair to say that the colour of his life had changed.
“You don’t want to become a proper swordsman, do you?”
When Shā Wúshēng was asked this at an inn, after a few drinks had been consumed, his reply was obvious.
“This is what I am, a proper swordsman.”
“But your name is circulating in the world in a very soiled way.”
“It can’t be helped. After all, my name means eradicator of life2. Wherever anyone hears it, they will hear it with prejudice, right?”
“Why did your parents give you that name?”
“Well. I don’t have any memories from right after my birth. And because I was abandoned, I had no opportunity to ask my parents.”
“… That’s the first time I’ve heard this story and it’s interesting.”
“I didn’t talk about it? Now that you say it.”
Shā Wúshēng then pointed to the large metal ornament that was like a large net-like eye patch wrapped around his face and gave the Thief of the Wind Dust a wry smile.
“… This is a remnant of something my mentor, who brought me up, used to wrap around me when I was a baby.”
“Oh, I think it’s rather elegant.”
“Well, I don’t actually need it, but I’ve always been wrapping it around, you see. Apparently, when I was abandoned, my skull was cracked and I was dying. My own father threw me away and cracked my head.”
“How did you survive?”
“My father must have been upset because I didn’t die. An ordinary person can be reckless once, but not twice in a row. My father, who was troubled, wrote a letter to my master, who was a well-known master swordsman at that time, that I was a kind of evil demon and wished me to be exterminated, then threw me away in front of the dōjō … or so the story goes. I don’t know how much of it is true. I don’t know, but that’s fine with me.”
“But why would your own father do something like that?”
“Well, this is also something I’ve heard, but my parents were a very wealthy family, merchant or aristocrat, I don’t know, but I was the long-awaited heir. But, you know, it was said that birds cried on the day I was to be born.”
“What birds?”
“The sinister or evil kind of bird, that always makes ominous crying noises.”
“… The sound that a sinister bird … evil bird makes, it must be very eerie.”
“When I was born at that time, my mother died. This may not be unusual, but they were clients, after all. The midwife, fearing that she would be blamed by the wealthy family for her failure, blamed her assistant and the dispute between them went on until they killed each other. Isn’t it a funny story, right Lüè?”
“It seems there exist considerable troublesome birds.”
“The people that were at that place killed each other without any survivors. When my father heard the commotion and rushed to the scene, he saw me, a baby, covered in blood and crying aloud while the evil demon birds continued to caw. Well, he couldn’t be blamed for losing his sanity.”
“You forgave him, did you? This father of yours.”
“Well. I honestly can’t see it as anything else but someone else’s problem. I was told this story at an age when I thought it was normal to have this kind of bearing. They even told me a sentence like ‘this person is Shā Wúshēng, the evil demon Rākshasa’, but I just laughed at them, because I had been very overpraised since I was a baby.”
As they talked about this, they continued drinking alcohol. The sentences increased. Shā Wúshēng had no idea how much of what he was saying was what he had heard and how much was his imagination. From the beginning he didn’t care about his origin, so he didn’t mind. But he was curious as to why they were having this conversation. When talking to this man called Thief of the Wind Dust, sometimes this is how he felt. It felt like he was asked about the content of his wallet and to show it to him. Before he knew it, he exposed that he only had this much money at this moment.
“… So why were we talking about this, huh.”
“The topic was why you’re not becoming a proper swordsman.”
“What else can a person with a name like mine become? And didn’t I tell you that I am a swordsman in my own way?”
“That would be one answer and I won’t dispute the mindset you have reached. But you are, unfortunately, still young.”
“I am not at the age to be called young, though.”
“No, no, imagine if you were to live to be a hundred. From now on, Wúshēng, you need to consider your future. Otherwise, it won’t be a very rewarding way to live, will it?”
“It can’t be helped.”
“Things can change in any way depending on how you look at them, think about them, and perceive them. Sometimes another truth is hidden opposite a truth. But then the joy of choosing one of those truths arises. It can even increase to three or four.”
“… You have an unusual way of thinking, Lüè.”
“I believe, since we are born into this world, it would be more fun to find ways to enjoy it until the day we eventually die, but is my way of thinking really that unusual?”
“That would mean letting go of the truth that we arrived at. People usually don’t have that kind of luxurious way of living.”
“If you would reach old age, I wouldn’t be having this conversation either.”
Looking away, Shā Wúshēng poured sake into his cup. He had the feeling that if he kept eye contact with the Thief of the Wind Dust, everything would be absorbed and manipulated. And he did not perceive this sensation as dangerous. He thought that surely this is what it must feel like to be trusted.
“… So? What does it take for me to become a proper swordsman?”
“Right. If we talk about it on a hypothetical basis, the first thing you would have to do is make money. Without money, nothing can start … but I could just steal it from somewhere and that would be it.”
“What’s proper about starting with stolen money?”
“I steal it, but you use it. No Problem. Besides, many coins in this world are just hoarded and never spend. Borrowing a bit of that money would be good for the world.”
“… What kind of logic is that. Are you not too drunk, Lüè?”
“Well, hold on. Let’s say you have the money anyway.”
“I understand. And then?”
“Right, how about opening a dōjō?”
“A dōjō? Me?”
“Yes. You then recruit disciples and earn gratuities for your living. Sometimes you also look after an abandoned child and the like. If a troublesome stranger comes along, you would drive him away for the good of all. … Well, I think that is something a proper swordsman is supposed to do, you know.”
“Stop talking nonsense. What would I teach when opening a dōjō? And anyway, what would anyone ask me about?”
“The art of the sword. Tell everyone the truth you have now.”
“I don’t have the conviction to start a new religion.”
“Religion may not have a form, but the art of the sword does. You know it better than anyone else, you have seen it for yourself more than anyone else, and you are convinced of it. Spreading it to everyone is a very clear and tangible act, though.”
“… Lüè, you’re forgetting an important thing.”
“Did I miss something?“
“… Who would knock on the door to a dōjō that was opened by a man named Shā Wúshēng?”
“Ah, about that.”
The Thief of the Wind Dust smiled as if he said something trivial. He did not appear to be drunk but was intoxicated by the enthusiasm with which he coaxed Shā Wúshēng. After all, alcohol was being served. No matter how he was coaxed, if he slept through the night, by the time he would wake up, everything would be gone.
“You can just change your name and the like, right.”
“Even just by changing my name, it won’t stop the people from calling me Shā Wúshēng.”
“I have an excellent idea to change that.”
“… I’ll take this opportunity to say that I always feel like I’ve had a lot of trouble after you had an excellent idea, you know.”
“No, no, I have similar struggles to you all the time. You only think that way because it’s not something we can show each other and compare.”
“And, what’s your excellent idea?”
“You are too infamous by the name Shā Wúshēng. Why not do something honourably under a different one this time? Then you can leave your name behind. It’ll even be possible to search for new truths under a different name from a different angle of life.”
“A new name.”
Shā Wúshēng had the weird feeling that this was wrong. He believed that a name, even if it were two names, was not something you call yourself, but something irrational that others call you without your permission. Was that not the only part of life that could not be controlled?
“… I’ve been thinking about it, Wúshēng. Your name was born amidst the cries of evil birds and named after them. So why not let a more noble bird sing next time?”
“For example?”
“Right, such as the phoenix3. That one seldom cries.”
“You talk about it as if you’ve heard it before.”
“There was one time. They really do cry sometimes. And only when you hear it cry, do you use your sword. Isn’t that what a refined swordsman is all about?”
“All I can do is laugh bitterly. You too wouldn’t be able to hold back your laughter if I told you this myself.”
“But, alas, I’m the one who brought this up. You can forget about embarrassment.”
“Then the truth is, that I can only kill people when the phoenix cries? Even if it doesn’t cry do I have to draw my sword.”
“So what, if it doesn’t cry then you just have to make it cry.”
What a selfish thing to say. Both he and the Thief of the Wind Dust were too drunk. Shā Wúshēng did not particularly object, he did not care about any of this. He had fun having a drink and talking nonsense with someone like this, and he also learned about a different truth from his own, of being a swordsman.”
‘Screaming Phoenix Killer4’.
This alias was mainly spread by the Thief of the Wind Dust and became well known. Later, after about little more than a year, it spread like wildfire.
***
1Lüè is the first character in the Thief of the Wind Dust: Lüè Fēng Qiè Chén (掠風竊塵). Shā Wúshēng somehow believes that this is his real name. To refer to him in the story only the title is used and it may sound a little weird. But to the reader it should be clear that this is not the normal name of a person.
2He is talking about the meaning of his name Shā Wúshēng (殺無生) or Setsu Mushō in Japanese. Literally: kill no life.
3The character used here is fèng. It is part of the word fènghuáng, a chinese bird of fire/phoenix with fèng being the male bird and huáng the female.
4鳴鳳決殺 ch: Míng Fèng Jué Shā, jp: Meihō Kessatsu
Setsuna's Translation 