Martial arts fans should have heard the saying "Flying Snow Shoots White Deer in the Sky, Laughing Book Heroes Lean on Bi Yuan", Jin Yong used these fourteen works to interpret what "martial arts" is, and the most out-of-the-circle works are none other than the "Condor Trilogy", namely "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and "The Legend of the Sky and the Dragon", but for people who have never read Jin Yong's works, no matter which one they start reading, it will not affect the reading experience, because its main plot is relatively independent.
It is precisely because each work has its own independent plot, after reading "Heaven and Dragon Slayer", people can't help but wonder, why didn't Jin Yong continue to write his story around the character of Zhang Wuji, or even start a new trilogy? After all, in the original plot, Zhang Wuji still has too many stories worth excavating.
(Zhang Wuji, Zhao Min, Zhou Zhiruo stills)
Of course, what readers are looking forward to more is that he will be like Guo Jing back then, have children, and become the guide of the rookie in the rivers and lakes, but why did Jin Yong let Zhang Wuji die?
1. The story of dying without a problem
The Song-Liao War at the end of "Dragon Babu" can be described as magnificent, the Central Plains heroes confronted the Liao army, and the three brothers Duan Yu, Xuzhu, and Xiao Feng staged a drama of capturing the Liao Emperor, which was so majestic.
At the end of "The Condor Heroes", Guo Jing led a group of heroes to resist the Mongolian army, and Yang Guo appeared like a savior, first killing the Golden Wheel Dharma King, and then flying stones to kill Meng Ge, which also filled the reader's sense of coolness.
And the battle at the end of "Heaven and Dragon Slayer" is a little boring, of course, the most important point is that this time Jin Yong directly skipped the follow-up war, and directly let Zhu Yuanzhang destroy the Yuan and founded the Ming Dynasty, yes, the person who laughed to the end was not Zhang Wuji.
In fact, it doesn't matter, Zhang Wuji's ambition is not here, he has long expressed that he has no intention of being an emperor and just wants to be an ordinary person, so his final choice is to return to the desert with Zhao Min.
And he had such a conversation with Zhou Zhiruo before he retired.
The original said: "Zhou Zhiruo said slowly: 'One report for one report!' That day in Haozhou, Zhao Min didn't let you marry me. After that, when you went to Mongolia, although you were with Zhao Min day and night, you couldn't visit the church and get married. Zhang Wuji was taken aback and asked, "Then why?" Zhou Zhiruo said: "This doesn't violate the way of chivalry, right?" Zhang Wuji said: "If you don't go to the church to get married, you naturally don't go against the way of chivalry." I had a marriage contract with you, but I didn't get married in a church later. Yes, I promise you. After arriving in Mongolia, I will not marry Zhao Min, but we will be the same husband and wife and have the same baby!' Zhou Zhiruo smiled and said, "That's good." ’”
(Zhang Wuji, Zhou Zhiruo stills)
And Jin Yong mentioned in the afterword that Zhang Wuji may go to Persia to find Xiao Zhao in the future, and Zhou Zhiruo may also go to the desert to find him.
With such foreshadowing, it is difficult not to imagine that the next story will revolve around Zhang Wuji's descendants and his lovers.
But Jin Yong let his story come to an end when he joined hands with Zhao Min to retire, strictly speaking, they didn't even write about their retirement, after all, the last "shot" of the original book was just Zhang Wuji's thrush for Zhao Min.
What did they go through later?
2. Jin Yong's martial arts worldview
To discuss "Zhang Wuji's future" or "why Zhang Wuji has no children", we must first determine whether Jin Yong has written a work with plot logic to undertake "Heaven and Dragon Slayer", and it is not difficult to prove this.
Although "Smiling Proud Jianghu" does not have a clear background of the times, there is a Wudang faction in it, and the head of the Wudang faction at this time is no longer Zhang Sanfeng, which is enough to prove that this story happened in the Ming Dynasty or after the Ming Dynasty.
(Zhang Wuji, Zhao Min stills)
And one of the Shaolin monks mentioned a sentence: "He knows that the patriarch of Sanfeng is like a god in his old age, and he has easily stopped using the sword, even if he is forced to do it with others, he only uses ordinary iron swords and wooden swords, this "real martial sword" is the blade he used in middle age, sweeping away the evils, shaking the rivers and lakes, and it is a very sharp weapon. ”
Another example is in "Chivalrous Journey", when Granny Shi argued with others about who was the first master in ancient and modern times, she also mentioned a sentence: "Shaolin and Wudang are two major schools, each with its own merits, and it cannot be said that Wudang is better than Shaolin, but Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng is the great master of the martial arts for hundreds of years, and he is also a person from China, which is absolutely undoubted." ”
You see, the martial arts people of later generations have obviously heard the deeds of Zhang Sanfeng, a senior master, but according to the setting of "Heaven and Dragon Slayer", it is only a matter of time before Zhang Wuji surpasses Zhang Sanfeng, and he has the four great skills of Qiankun Great Shift, Tai Chi, Jiuyang Divine Skill, and Holy Fire Order, so why is it difficult to train his descendants to become the first master in the world?
Obviously, Zhang Wuji is indeed the queen of extinction, otherwise such a big man would never be able to retire if he wants to, especially if the place where he wants to live in seclusion is still the desert, will those Mongols let him live a stable life?
(Zhao Min shouted stills)
But Zhang Wuji said back then that even if he didn't marry Zhao Min, he would have a baby with her, how could he break his promise?
The answer may be very simple, judging from Zhao Min's historical prototype, he may not have a chance to have children with Zhao Min at all.
3. It is destined to be a tragic ending
Who is Zhao Min's historical prototype? This has to start with her identity as "Wang Baobao's sister".
Wang Baobao is a famous general in history, and his sister is Guanyin slave, so Zhao Min's prototype is the Guanyin slave, so Zhao Min's ending is destined to be a tragedy, because she is destined to be forced to marry Zhu Yuanzhang's son Zhu Zhang, "Emperor Taizu Qinlu" mentioned Zhu Zhang's various evil deeds, as for Guanyin slave, although she became a princess, she couldn't talk about happiness at all, and finally became Zhu Zhang's funeral goods.
As for how Zhao Min fell into the hands of Zhu Zhang, there is no need to explain too much, because Jin Yong has always let the fate of characters with historical prototypes fit their historical prototypes as closely as possible.
(Zhao Min holding a sword stills)
Take Zhu Yuanzhang as an example, how can he be qualified to fight with Zhang Wuji in "Heaven and Dragon Slayer"? He is afraid that he is not even a third-rate master, but he has become the final winner, why? It is precisely because "Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty" is an objective historical fact that Jin Yong can only follow the torrent of history to create a story, so if Zhao Min is a character based on Guanyinnu, it is destined to usher in a tragic ending that belongs to her.
As for Zhang Wuji's future whereabouts, it is difficult to say, perhaps he was hit hard and never recovered, and he did not look for his old lovers, and finally died of depression, so he failed to leave a son and a half daughter.