CHAPTER 43

Wang Gui prepares his revenge; three friends meet in New Moon Village

WHEN the waiter had locked the east building and finally opened the gate, he saw that the monk had two men with him and that the three were carrying the bundle among them. “Give us a hand with this bundle,” said the monk.

The waiter tried to lift it but failed. “Help, you two,” said the monk to the headmen, and between them they carried it to the north building.

“This must be something valuable,” said the waiter to himself. “I don’t know how the three of them carried it.”

As they came into the room the monk asked, “And what is Waiter Ji’s name?”

“You know my name is Ji. Why do you ask?” asked the waiter in return.

“I looked at you and you were the sort of person who would be named Ji. I just guessed at it.”

“And what would the great teacher like to eat?” asked the waiter.

“What do you have?” the monk asked.

“Whatever you like,” replied the waiter.

“I like fried bean curd, boiled bean curd, dried bean curd, and bean-curd shreds,” said the monk. “You said there was a party and everything was taken there, even the cooking utensils—but as you said, you do have two chickens that aren’t cooked yet. Isn’t that right?”

“Strange,” thought the waiter. “That’s what I said to the other two fellows just now.” Then he asked the monk how he knew.

“I heard you say it,” said the monk.

“No,” said the waiter. “I said we have whatever you want.”

“Bring some wine and some freshly brewed tea,” ordered the monk.

The waiter called out to the kitchen, “Three pots of the Forgetful Sea brand.”

“Right, the Forgetful Sea brand,” the monk repeated. “Three pots.”

The waiter was shocked. “Did the monk understand?” he wondered. “Why did you repeat the name Forgetful Sea, Monk?” asked the waiter.

“Why do you go on asking questions back and forth?” asked the monk. “But I will ask you, what is this Forgetful Sea brand?”

The waiter thought the question over and replied. “No, I told him not to forget to see if we had some good brand.”

“I do want some good wine,” said the monk.

The waiter brought some food with the wine and tea. The monk looked at the wine for some time and then said, “Waiter, you have a drink.”

“I don’t drink,” the waiter said.

“Well, you two go ahead and drink it, Chai and She,” said the monk. The three drank and immediately fell down senseless.

The waiter then went and told Wang Gui that the three were all down. “Good!” exclaimed Wang Gui. “First, I will take my revenge and kill Lei Ming and Chen Liang, and afterward we will all get rich.”

They took knives and went toward the east building. When they arrived there, Wang Gui could not find the door. “Waiter, why can’t I find the door?”

“I can’t find the way to the door either. This is strange,” answered the waiter.

Wang Gui was becoming impatient. “Let us go first into the north building and kill the monk we have there.” The two men with the servants and other waiters then went to the north building.

“I will do it,” said the servant. With that he went into the western section of the building. As soon as the man lifted the knife, the monk showed his teeth in a grin that frightened the servant. He stood there unable to move. Wang Gui looked in from the outside and saw the servant with the knife uplifted, but not using it to kill the monk.

Wang Gui’s anger rose. “I told you to kill him,” he exclaimed. “You have your knife but you’re too afraid to use it!” Then Wang Gui went inside with a knife to kill the monk himself. Just as he raised his knife, the monk pointed with his finger and used his hypnotic power to paralyze Wang Gui.

“You are a good thing!” said the monk sarcastically. “You wanted to kill the monk, did you? I want you to realize my power.” With that he pointed again, and the waiters and servants standing outside were all unable to move.

The monk then went to the east building to revive Lei Ming and Chen Liang. Putting a piece of medicine in some boiling water, he gave some to each of them, and in a little while both were revived. When he opened his eyes and saw Ji Gong standing there, Lei Ming quickly knelt and kowtowed. “Your disciple knew nothing,” he said. “I tried to kill you. Not only did you not take revenge, but also you came to rescue me with your great kindness. I wish to do penance.”

“There will be no penance,” the monk said, “but there are two head-men with me that someone poisoned with Mongolian mandrake. They are both in the north building. I will give you two pieces of medicine and you two may go ahead and revive them. If they ask you any questions, tell them …” —and the monk whispered something to the two.

The monk then went back into the north building and pretended to go to sleep. Chen Liang and Lei Meng went in and revived headmen Chai and She. The two headmen opened their eyes and one said, “Oh, so Master Lei and Master Chen are here. Where did you come from?”

“We came from the Village of a Thousand Gates. We came here to spend the night at the inn. When no one answered our knock, we climbed in over the wall. We could see that the people of the inn were planning to kill you, so we quieted them down and came to your rescue.”

When Headman Chai and Headman She saw that Ji Gong was still sleeping, they became quite angry. Headman Chai said, “This monk is now learning about pickpocketing, so he brought us here to this den of robbers. If it weren’t for you two, we would have lost our lives. You two had better get some more medicine ready and save this monk. After that, ask him about all this.”

Chen Liang said,”There’s no more medicine.”

“It’s in my shoe, idiot,” said the monk. “Shake it out and put some of it between my lips. I’m not done for.”

Lei Ming and the rest began to laugh. Just then, the whole inn seemed to be in flames. A fire had started in the kitchen while it was unattended and was spreading to the other buildings.

“Get those men out of here,” ordered the monk. They got the dazed robbers out into the street and left them with their wrists bound under the guard of the two headmen. Ji Gong called, “Save me! Save me!”

Chen Liang and Lei Ming dashed back in and saw the monk standing in the flames. “I’m all right, but you will have to carry me,” he told them.

Lei Ming got the monk on his back and Chen Liang helped hold up his feet, but the gate was now blocked by burning and falling timber. “We will have to go over the wall,” said Chen Liang.

With great difficulty they managed to get the monk up on a corner shed and lower him down from the wall. Once on the ground he said, “I seem to be all right now. Headman Chai and Headman She can take those robbers to the local yamen. They have the authority and will be believed. We three had better get out of here or someone may think we started the fire.”

After they had walked for some time, Chen Liang pulled at Lei Ming’s sleeve and the two fell back behind the monk. “Should we be walking with our teacher, or should we be walking separately?” asked Chen Liang.

“What difference would it make?’ asked Lei Ming.

“Brother, have you no eyes?” countered Chen Liang. “Why do you think he has been traveling with those two headmen? You are stronger than I am and more skillful with weapons. Yet you don’t seem to think about what’s going on. I think that the monk has brought those two head-men to help him take Cloud Dragon Hua. If we go with Teacher, then when we meet Cloud Dragon, shall we help Teacher to take him, or shall we help our brother Hua if he moves against our teacher?”

Lei Ming thought about the matter. “Right. What shall we do?”

“We must help him find Cloud Dragon, but then we must tell Cloud Dragon that the monk is trying to take him. That way we cannot go wrong,” said Chen Liang.

“Good!” said Lei Ming. “Your ideas are always clearer than mine. This is the right idea.”

Having finished their discussion, they caught up with Ji Gong. “Have you two talked everything over?” asked the monk.

“We haved decided to help our teacher find Cloud Dragon Hua,” said Chen Liang.

“Right,” the monk said, “and when you see this Hua, you will tell him that I want to catch him and that he had better be off quickly. Then you two will not be in the wrong. Isn’t that right?”

“No, that isn’t right,” contradicted Chen Liang. “We will help him, but we must tell you.” Having said that, the two started to leave.

“But where shall we meet?” asked the monk.

“Wherever our teacher says,” answered Chen Liang.

“Let us meet in Longyou in the New Moon Village,” the monk told them. Then he went off to meet the two headmen by himself.

Chen Liang began to think about the monk’s having chosen New Moon Village. He thought to himself: “That’s no good. There are some friends of the Greenwood in New Moon Village. Cloud Dragon is likely to be there.” He told his fears to Lei Ming.

But it was getting late and Longyou was still ten miles away. They stopped at an inn along the way and the next morning they arrived at New Moon Village. Approaching them from the opposite direction was a rather elegantly dressed young man wearing a cap with six sections. They immediately recognized the pale complexion and the heavy eyebrows and lashes that made one notice his lively, mocking eyes hinting at the desperate schemes running through the brain behind them. From one hand there dangled a bundle of freshly cut Chinese celery cabbage, and from the other a still slightly struggling fish. It was none other than Cloud Dragon Hua.