CHAPTER 39

Ji Gong introduces two followers; Lei Ming brings wine to the forest

AT the time when Ji Gong answered from downstairs, Cloud Dragon was like a person haunted by some experience from his past. His courage humbled, he leaped from a window and escaped. When Chen Liang heard, he said, “You see how it is, brother. I told you not to talk. You see, he has come.”

Lei Ming seized his sword and hurried to the door at the top of the stairs. Looking down, he saw the monk in his unsuitable ragged and torn garments, with two inches of hair on his unshaven head and his face oily and dusty. Lei Ming raised his sword, thinking that when the monk came up the stairs, he would cleave the monk’s head from his shoulders. Ji Gong had raised his head and as he saw Lei Ming, the monk pointed and recited the six true words, “Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum.” With his hypnotic powers, the monk stopped Lei Ming so that he was motionless. Ji Gong then came up the stairs, passing by the side of Lei Ming.

When Chen Liang saw him, he asked, “Teacher, how have you been?”

The monk inquired, “Liang, my child, are you well?”

Chen Liang replied, “Your disciple has waited a long time. Come and have a drink of wine, Teacher.”

The monk came to him and sat down. Chen Liang poured him a cup of wine—the monk picked it up and drank. Chen Liang came closer and said, “Teacher, manifest your mercy and loosen your power. If someone sees, how will it be?” The monk nodded.

Just as this was happening, they heard sounds from downstairs. “Aiee yah! Gu lo lo. Hwaaa! La! La! Yang dong! Yang dong!” It was the waiter bringing the tray with the dishes. He had been thinking, “Those three gentlemen upstairs are men of wealth and influence. If I serve them well, I will get a large tip.” Just as he started up the stairs carrying the tray, he lifted his head to look and saw the man with the blue face and red hair holding a sword high in the air as if he wanted to kill him. As the waiter took fright, his arms and legs grew weak. The tray fell and he turned and made his way uncertainly downstairs.

Upstairs, Chen Liang heard and again begged Ji Gong to loosen his power: “Teacher, quickly remove your hypnotic spell. Do not let people see this. It is not proper.”

Accordingly, the monk released Lei Ming, who came and sat down at the table as if nothing had happened. Inwardly Lei Ming was shocked and frightened. “Don’t worry, Teacher,” said Chen Liang. “My brother is a coarse, unrefined person, but he would not dare to do anything improper to our teacher.”

The monk said, “I know that also.”

While they were speaking, the waiter came upstairs, and going to Lei Ming, said, “Oh sir, I have wronged you. When I saw you with the sword, I was frightened. I dropped the tray and ruined the food.”

“Never mind,” Lei Ming said. “In a little while I will come down and pay for it anyway, so that you will not lose anything. It was because I thought I heard an enemy of mine speaking below that I drew my sword and started downstairs. I did not hate you. Just let us keep this between ourselves.”

Looking again at the monk, Lei Ming saw that he seemed to be only paying attention to Chen Liang as they talked and did not look over his way. Without warning, he again drew his sword and came at the monk as if he were about to kill him. The monk pointed and again stopped Lei Ming so that he was motionless. The monk then slapped the table and laughed loudly. “My good robber, you really want to kill the monk!” Then he called downstairs. “Will the two headmen come quickly and take the robber? There is a robber upstairs.”

Below, in the private dining room, everyone heard. Chai Yuanlo and She Jenying said, “You two travelers’ guards can assist us. There is a robber upstairs.”

The two headmen took their iron-tipped staves and dashed out of the room toward the stairs. Chen Xiao had no sword, only an axe handle with an iron socket into which an axe could be fitted. Yang Meng was also without a sword, but looking around as he came out, he saw a length of water pipe that the manager was holding. Yang Meng seized it from him and rushed to the stairs. Other guests had crowded around the foot of the stairs in a disorderly fashion. When the two headmen came upstairs with Chen Xiao and Yang Meng, they saw the monk sitting down between a handsome, refined-looking young man and another man with a bluish face, red hair, and staring eyes, who was holding a sword. The waiter stood beside them. Otherwise there was no one else.

Headman Chai asked, “Holy monk, where is the robber?”

The monk replied, “As soon as I called, the robber fled. These are my two followers. Let me introduce them to you.” Pointing toward Chen Liang, he said, “This is my son Liang.”

Headman Chai politely said, “Master Liang.”

Chen Liang said, “My surname is Chen.”

Headman Chai corrected himself, “Oh, then it is Master Chen Liang.”

The monk then pointed to Lei Ming, saying, “This is also my follower, my son Ming.”

At this time Lei Ming was also able to move, but his heart was pounding. The two headmen approached him and said, “Master Ming.”

Lei Ming said, “My surname is Lei.”

“Ah, Master Lei Ming,” the two headmen said.

The monk then introduced the two headmen by name and told them, “You four men may now go down and wait for me in the private room.” There was nothing else the four could do.

As they came down, the manager took Yang Meng aside, saying, “I did not provoke you, sir, but when you took that pipe away from me with your flying somersault, you knocked my tooth out.”

Chen Xiao immediately apologized on his friend’s behalf with a great many words, then the four went into the private dining room and sat down.

When Lei Ming saw the four men go back downstairs, he replaced his sword in his scabbard, thinking, “This monk is hard to provoke. I will never manage it openly. I must think of some secret plan to take his life.” Then he stood up and started downstairs. Below, he asked the waiter: “How much is our bill? Include the food and wine for the private room and add in the dishes you broke. How much will it be altogether?”

The waiter went to the office and added up the bill. Lei Ming took out some silver and paid. Then he requested a bottle of wine and asked the waiter to wrap up a pair of roast chickens, saying, “In a little while we will take them away with us.”

Again the waiter went to the office. This time he asked for a bottle that he filled with wine. He wrapped up the roast chickens and gave them to Lei Ming as well. Lei Ming took out of his pocket a packet of the powder called Mongolian sweat and poured it into the wine.

Now Lei Ming had not prepared this Mongolian sweat drug. After he had left Zhenjiang prefecture and while he was on the road, he met a man named Liu Feng. Liu Feng had once been a servant to the men of the Greenwood, and he had served both Chen Liang and Lei Ming, but had been dismissed because he constantly gambled, bullied other servants, and acted as if he were a law unto himself. More than two years had passed since Lei Ming and Liu Feng had seen each other.

On this day when he met Lei Ming, Liu Feng was wearing fine new clothes and riding a horse. As soon as he saw Lei Ming, he got down from his horse and greeted Lei Ming respectfully. Lei Ming asked Liu Feng, “Where have you been all this time, and what have you been doing?”

“I have opened a thug’s inn,” replied Liu Feng. “When a solitary traveler with much baggage comes to us, I simply kill him. I have just been to the Compassionate Cloud Shrine and bought ten ounces of the Mongolian sweat powder.” He explained that in Mongolia the drug was actually used in minute quantities to cause sweating and cure fever. A slightly larger dose could cause a long period of unconsciousness. More would cause death.

“And how many people could your ten ounces of Mongolian sweat powder kill?” asked Lei Ming.

“It is enough to kill a hundred men,” answered Liu Feng.

“Take it out and let me look at it,” said Lei Ming.

Liu Feng took out a small bag from his pocket and handed it to Lei Ming.

Lei Ming said, “Look! Someone is coming.” As soon as Liu Feng turned his head, with one thrust of his knife Lei Ming finished him off. Then he took the corpse and disposed of it under the surface of a mountain stream. He then made off with the drug.

Lei Ming now took some of this drug and put it into the wine bottle. He then immediately went upstairs and said to Ji Gong, “Teacher, I think you could teach me something that is not clear to me, but there are now too many people upstairs for us to talk conveniently. Could the teacher come with us to a place where there are no people about so that we could talk in detail?”

Chen Liang called for someone to come and add up the bill, but Ji Gong said, “Never mind. Someone has already paid. Let us go.”

The three went downstairs and the monk said to Lei Ming, “After you get those things, we will leave.”

Lei Ming agreed, and carrying the wine bottle and the roasted chickens, they left the restaurant. They walked straight north until they arrived at a place about one or two li outside the entrance to the village. Ahead was a grove of pine trees with a clearing, in the center of which there was a stone table. As the three reached the table, Lei Ming put down the bottle and said, “I asked you here to instruct me, sir, and for no other reason. I would like to ask you about one thing. You are a monk who has left the world and you do not need to concern yourself with the world’s business. Although it is said that Cloud Dragon Hua is an outlaw and that he stole from the prime minister’s residence, still he did not go to your temple and take any of the hangings or the five vessels from the surrounding altars. Then why must you concern yourself with him, Teacher?’

Ji Gong replied, “You have not put it correctly. Speaking as a monk, if he had not gone into a Buddhist temple, then I would not be coming to take him—if he had not gone into one of our temples and done the most unendurable things.”

Chen Liang said, “Teacher, he has not really gone into one of your temples.”

The monk answered, “Not into one of my temples, but he has gone into a nunnery and destroyed the peace of a quiet Buddhist place—therefore I will take him.”

“You need not mention those idle tales, teacher,” said Lei Ming. “There is some wine here among the things I have prepared. Won’t you just have a drink?”

The monk picked up the bottle and set it down again. Lei Ming unwrapped the roasted chicken, saying, “Please, Teacher, eat something.”

Ji Gong said, “I cannot drink this wine. If the host will not eat, the guest will not drink. Chen Liang, you drink first.”

Chen Liang picked up the bottle and was about to drink. Lei Ming reached out and snatched it away. “That was prepared for our teacher—don’t be greedy,” he said.

Chen Liang did not understand the reason why, but he said, “Then drink, Teacher.”

Ji Gong lifted up the bottle and said, “Chen Liang, you are my follower. I am your teacher. Teacher and follower are like father and son. If someone killed me, what would you do?”

“I would avenge you,” answered Chen Liang.

The monk asked, “Is what you said true?”

“Of course!” said Chen Liang.

The monk went on speaking until Chen Liang said, “Teacher goes on about his worries too much. Do not worry. If anyone were to injure you, of course I would avenge you.”

“So you would,” said Ji Gong. He picked up the wine bottle and waved it back and forth as if toasting the other two. He then took a dozen or so swallows, and turning about, fell to the ground.

Lei Ming laughed a great laugh.