The situation changed so quickly, it was as though the deities themselves had arranged it. It was as if Yahui had come to room 2210 precisely for this result. She didn’t feel that her tattered body was particularly remarkable, nor did she grant it much importance, the way nuns from Jueyu shifu and Shuiyue shifu’s generation had done. She was almost nineteen years old, and it seemed as though from the day she first started having her period, she had been waiting for this day. It seemed she had grown up just for this day, and that she had fallen in love with Mingzheng and saved her body precisely for the sake of this day. Only, this day should not have been with a person like Nameless.
Nevertheless, the day had now arrived, and the person before her was in fact Nameless. He claimed he could get Pastor Wang released from wherever he was being detained. He said he burned incense precisely to become an omnipotent deity capable of overseeing all other deities. Yahui had an inchoate sense of remorse, but at the same time she also felt a taut sense of anticipation.
She entered the bathroom, closed the door, and turned the lock. After confirming that the door was locked and the person outside wouldn’t be able to enter if she didn’t unlock it, she stood in front of the mirror, placed her hand on her open-collared shirt, and unfastened the first button. At this point, she felt that things had fundamentally changed. It was as though her heartbeat was no longer a heartbeat, and instead was a crazed bull trying to break out of its pen, producing an intense pounding sound in her chest, like a door repeatedly slamming shut. She placed her hand on her chest, and after waiting for the pounding to die down she suddenly felt a tightness in her inner thighs, as though her muscles were contracting spasmodically. Her body began to tremble so violently that she felt she was about to collapse.
It was only by grabbing the sink in front of the mirror that she managed to remain upright. Her face was covered in sweat, but her body felt so cold that it was as if she had typhoid fever. She originally wanted to unfasten her buttons one by one while standing in front of the mirror, so that she could carefully examine her breasts and belly, as well as that most mysterious area between her legs that had never seen the light of day. But after her trembling fingers unfastened the first button to reveal her small, round breasts, she suddenly felt that there wasn’t enough time. She was so dizzy that when she looked at the mirror in front of her, it was as though she were looking at a curtain or bedsheet that was unable to produce a reflection. Her body was pulled down by her trembling hands and arms. She attempted to use her legs to stabilize herself, the way that she had dug her toes into the ground during the tug-of-war competition with Ruan Zhisu, but this time when she dug in her toes, her ankles felt so weak that it was as though they possessed no bones or muscles. Her lips were very dry, and she desperately wanted to drink some water. The bathroom’s toilet, sink, and glass shower door, as well as the piles of bath towels and hand cloths next to the bathtub, the tricolored bath bottles that she could see through the glass shower door, and the various boxes, glasses, bags, and small towels arrayed below the mirror in front of her—all these objects began to spin around. Her gaze became like pieces of mud stuck to a car’s wheels, and through that mud-like gaze she heard her body fall to the ground and her head strike the tile floor. Then, everything went blank.
Yahui felt as though a bucket of cold water—square, round, wide, narrow, solid, liquid, opaque, and translucent—had been dumped on her head, and she became simultaneously blind and all-seeing. It was as though she could remember everything, but also nothing at all. Eventually the questions “Are you awake? Would you like some water?” reached her ears. Only then did she murkily realize that she wasn’t lying on the bathroom’s tile floor or on the hotel room’s queen-sized bed, but instead she was lying on a rug positioned in front of the bed and leading to the balcony. A large bedsheet had been placed on the rug, and on it there were a couple of large bath towels. Her head was oriented toward the balcony, and the balcony’s wooden door was open. The cool breeze blowing in streamed down from her head to her body, as though a silk cloth were being pulled down over her. It was only at this point that she realized that she didn’t have an ounce of strength in her body. She was like an infant, lying naked in front of the balcony. Meanwhile, Nameless was still wearing the same silk robe as before, but whereas previously his belt had been knotted on the left-hand side, now it was knotted on the right. He was holding a glass of water and sitting in a chair, gazing at her like a father who has a child late in life watches delightedly as the naked newborn is brought out of the delivery room. When he saw her awake, he blinked as he looked at the light on the balcony. Then, he took a sip of tea and put his cup down on the television cabinet.
“You truly are a jade nun.” He was beaming like a child who has just picked up a new toy. “I promise to have your Pastor Wang released from wherever he is being held.”
Yahui suddenly realized something and instinctively recoiled and sat up, while placing the towel between her legs and holding her arms in front of her chest.
“You should practice good hygiene,” he said, picking up her clothing from the bed and smiling as he stood next to her. “It was only after I forced open the door and carried you out that I noticed that your face, body, and breasts look exactly like those of the Bodhisattva in a painting—when the Bodhisattva was young, she must have looked just like you. I hadn’t expected that you would actually be a jade nun, but upon seeing you naked, I now see that you are really just like a young Guanyin. When the Virgin Mary was seventeen or eighteen, she probably also looked like this.
“To tell the truth, in three days or so, or in a week at most, I will become an omnipotent deity and the chair of the National Religion Association. Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam, as well as Daoism and Buddhism, will all fall under my direct oversight. Then, to celebrate my appointment to the National Religion Association and the announcement that I have been appointed to serve as the new association chair, I want you to come back here and bring your robe and take a bath. Then I want you to place your robe on the bed and lie down on it, like a young Guanyin or a young Mary. We will celebrate my promotion to a ministry-level position, whereby I will become a deity of all your deities!”
As he said this, he smiled at her, while she remained curled up, her arms hugging her chest. She listened to him as though using her ears to catch apples and pears falling through the air. She remained motionless, as though those words were directed to someone else and she were simply overhearing them. It was not until he once again mentioned Pastor Wang that those words finally seemed to enter her ears and approach her heart.
“You are a Buddhist, yet you treat that Protestant pastor very well.” He said this in a strange tone of voice, as he gently placed her clothing in front of her. “Jesus would definitely thank you. You should get dressed. When you passed out, you made me miss a meeting.” As he said this, he looked at her, then explained, “When it is announced that I am the new chair of the National Religion Association, your agent will notify you, and later, if you encounter any problems, you can contact me directly. However, in the meantime, you should preoccupy yourself less with other disciples’ problems.” As he said this, he walked up to a dresser located between the living room and the bedroom, untied his belt, then stood there looking at her as he changed into his shirt and pants. As he removed his robe, she saw that the liver spots on his shoulders and back resembled the spots on his window curtains. After he was dressed and prepared to leave, he told her that if he went ahead and left first, he would still be able to make the end of his meeting. He told her to wait a while before leaving, and as he was walking out, he turned and asked, “Other than the matter involving Pastor Wang, do you have any other issues that need to be addressed?” Seeing her holding her clothes and sitting there without responding, he reassured her, saying, “In a few days, Pastor Wang’s problem will be resolved.” Then he opened the door and left.
Yahui was left alone in the room, huddled naked under the bedsheet.