CHAPTER 27

Ji Gong takes pity upon the Daoist acolyte; Chen Liang makes a stealthy entrance into the mansion of Su Beishan

BY the time that Ji Gong had gone out through the door, Chen Liang was already dashing away. The monk followed him to the edge of town. Chen Liang had run so fast that he had left those following him far behind.

In the gray early-morning light Ji Gong could see that the Shrine of the Fortunate Cloud had collapsed. Its tiles were scattered, and nothing was left. Not a foot of unburned wood or an unbroken tile remained. Around the ruins of the shrine were countless people who had been fighting to save the shrine from the fire. To the west, a dozen or so men were gathered in a circle. Ji Gong went closer to look. There he saw Liu Miaotong badly burned, with blisters covering his body. There seemed hardly a place untouched. He appeared to be at the point of death.

As he looked at the young man, Ji Gong’s heart was moved to pity. Approaching him, Ji Gong asked, “How is it with you, young Daoist?”

Liu Miaotong recognized Ji Gong and said, “I did no evil against you, saintly monk. It was my brother and teacher, whose behavior has been punished by heaven. I beg you, Teacher, be merciful and save me!”

The monk laughed loudly saying, “Since you know that he deserved his fate, you must have known that he was doing unpardonable acts. Come! I will give you some medicine.”

A local official then spoke up. “Indeed, you may not! Monk, do not interfere. If you give him medicine, it may not be the proper remedy, and then his condition will be worse than before.”

Liu Miaotong said, “It does not matter. If I take it and die, the monk cannot be blamed. It will be my fate.”

The other bystanders said, “Since he wants to take it, why prevent him?”

Ji Gong asked one of them to bring a bowl of warm water in which to dissolve the medicine, and then gave it to Liu Miaotong. The young man drank, and before long he felt his stomach rumble. Then the blisters opened and the poisonous liquid in them drained away. He ceased to be in pain.

One of the bystanders said, “That is good medicine!”

Standing behind Ji Gong was another who said, “It is true. He really is a holy man, and that is a most unusual medicine!”

Ji Gong turned his head and saw a tall young man with a slender waist. On his head was an embroidered blue cap made from six triangular sections and topped with a colorful ornament. He was wearing a white silk jacket and a belt with a yellow goose-feather design over close-fitting garments of blue. His face was as pale as white jade. His eyebrows were high, full, and aristocratic looking, arched over his bright eyes. His features were handsome and pleasant.

As Ji Gong turned and saw him, the monk spat at him. Immediately the man ran, with Ji Gong after him. It was the same young man, Chen Liang, who had been on the roof. He had changed his clothing in order to come and find out whether his friend Liu Miaotong was alive or dead. Chen Liang had arrived on the scene just in time to see Ji Gong give the young Daoist some medicine. As Chen Liang said, “He really is a holy man,” the monk had turned and spat at him. Chen Liang then fled, with the monk in pursuit.

As he ran, Chen Liang thought to himself, “Even though I may be a robber, he has not tried to catch me, so why should I run? I will ask the monk why he is following me. With this thought, he stopped and saw that the monk had also stopped.

“Why are you chasing me, monk?” Chen Liang asked.

The monk, in turn, asked, “Why are you running?”

As he heard this question, Chen Liang laughed and said, “I know that you, sir, are a famous Buddhist monk. Will you take me for your disciple? I will leave the world to follow you.”

Ji Gong shook his head again and again, saying, “You are a criminal. Could you leave the world to follow me? We who leave the world speak of following the three rules of right conduct and observing the five prohibitions. The rules are those of Buddha, the laws, and the monks. The five prohibitions order us to abstain from killing, wantonness, stealing, eating meat, and drinking wine. If you were to leave the world, how could you reform in all these ways?”

Chen Liang replied, “I have no father or mother to guide me, no wife or child for whom I must be responsible. I would like to pay for my sins. I am able to do all that Teacher has just said.”

Ji Gong said, “If you really can do these things, go to Linan and wait for me. After I have finished my present business, we will meet again in Linan.”

When Chen Liang heard these words, he asked, “Teacher, you tell me to wait for you in Linan, but Linan is a big city. Where would you have me wait for you, sir?”

Ji Gong thought for a long time and answered, “I will see you in Linan under the bed.”

Chen Liang thought, “Under the Bed must be the name of a place in Linan.” He bade farewell to Ji Gong saying, “Teacher, I will go now and wait for you in Linan.”

Ji Gong said, “Go on ahead,” and Chen Liang took his leave. He did not go back to the Fortunate Cloud Shrine and his friend, Liu Miaotong, but hurried along the road. He did not stop to eat or rest overnight, so that he arrived in Linan that same day.

This was the first time that Chen Liang had been to see the capital, with its crowds of people and bustling activity. He found an inn where he could stay on India Street at the Qiantang Gate. The next day he went out, intending to visit the West Lake. As he walked along the shore, he saw the Cold Spring Pavilion on the island. Standing on the Su Embankment and looking in all directions, he still could not see the farthest limits of the lake.

From there he walked quickly on to the Monastery of the Soul’s Retreat, where he saw two monks sitting in charge of the mountain gate. Chen Liang went up to them and asked, “May I inquire of you two respected teachers whether senior monk Ji Gong has returned to the temple?”

The monks at the gate answered, “He is not in the temple, and it is usual for him to be away most of the time. Perhaps he may return in eight or ten days, or perhaps he may be away for three months. He has no fixed times to come and go.”

Chen Liang turned away and went back toward Linan. On the way, he continued to inquire of people he met where there was a place called Under the Bed. Though he met a great many people, none of them knew. Sore at heart, he decided to find a restaurant where he could eat and ask among the waiters.

On the north side of India Street he saw a place called Harmony with Heaven, with a large sign shaped like a wine pot hanging outside. A waiter immediately led him to a table upstairs near a window. Chen Liang sat down. When the waiter brought the menu, Chen Liang chose several dishes. While he sat enjoying the food and drink, he called a waiter over.

“What else would you like?” the waiter asked.

“Nothing to eat, but I would like to ask about a place,” replied Chen Liang.

“Please do,” said the waiter. “I know every place, large and small, in Linan.”

“Is there a place here in Linan called Under the Bed?”

The waiter shook his head several times and said, “There is no such place.”

After that Chen Liang did not ask anyone else. He began to feel a bit depressed. He thought to himself, “Ji Gong could not simply have been playing a joke on me, but how can I find out whether there is such a place?”

At the same time that he was becoming quite disappointed, there was a rather loud, continuous noise in the street below. Looking out, Chen Liang saw a crowd of people accompanying a sedan chair. From inside the chair he could hear sounds of weeping. The people seemed to be moving from east to west. As he stood up to look, he saw another man coming, all covered with blood and surrounded by several noisy people. Chen Liang could not hear what they were saying, and so he asked the waiter, “What has been going on? Who was the man who was beaten, and who was beating him?”

“You are not from around here or you would understand,” said the waiter. “This is a very hateful business. That person you saw who was beaten was a sworn brother of our proprietor. One of the others is Han Wenzheng, who has a little money-changing business. Because he owed two hundred ounces of silver to Su Beishan, they came and took his daughter away, even though Han Wenzheng asked them to wait until he could sell a piece of property. When he went to get her, he was beaten. Another man named Wang the Third tried to stop them and he was beaten as well. They came here to see our proprietor. This Su Beishan is one of the gentry and the richest man in the neighborhood. If he were anyone else, he would be punished. He lives on an estate on the north side of Fourth Street in the Green Bamboo Nunnery area. There is a big gate with four dragon-claw locust trees outside.”

Chen Liang listened while he finished eating. Then he paid the bill, went downstairs, and left. He entered the Green Bamboo Nunnery area and looked everywhere until he found the place. Then he went to a teahouse and sat with a cup of tea, thinking to himself, “That such things should happen in the capital city! Tonight I will go there and kill Su Beishan and his family to let everyone know that such people cannot escape heaven’s fury!” Having made his decision, he waited until it grew dark.

Then he found a fairly deserted place and changed into his suit of darkness. His daytime clothing he made into a small bundle and tied it to his waist. Going up onto to the roofs of the Su estate, he roamed about until he had explored the entire place. There was a large flower garden to the south with a small lake and a terraced rocky hill overlooking it. On top of the hill was a pavilion. There was no sound in that area, and that clearly was not the family center.

To the east there was a long building that he judged to be the library or reception hall. Going north at the center, he saw a large courtyard with verandas on three sides, surrounded by many small courtyards and gardens and linked together by many pleasant winding walkways covered with tiled roofs. This was certainly the family area. To the west, one courtyard surely contained the master bedroom. It was deserted, though nearly everywhere else there were sounds of conversation and movement.

In the western courtyard, the north building stood on a stone platform with a marble railing. Chen Liang dropped down from the roof and made a hole in the paper window. Inside were elegant furnishings of all kinds. There was a large wooden bed like a small room, enclosed on three sides with finely carved lattice work and hung with colorfully embroidered silk. He slipped inside and waited. In a little while he heard the sound of people coming, and he hid himself under the bed.