The Fall of Daigo
Book 3 of the Dororo Novel Series
Toriumi Jinzō
Part 5 - Mental Warfare
Chapter 1
Some days passed after Nomitadani Fortress was destroyed. The last light of the evening sun bathed Eguri Valley in dim illumination. It was early spring, and the leaves on the trees were just starting to bud. Two horses drank cool water from the river and frolicked in the gentle breeze. Hell had touched down to earth at Nomitadani Fortress, but the natural world hadn't felt that disturbance at all.
Dororo and Hyakkimaru climbed the rocks along the side of the valley near the riverbank, finding a place to sit and take in the peaceful view. They were upstream from the fortress, so not even the smell of blood reached them here. The water of the river was clear and sparkling clean. Hyakkimaru tried to enjoy the quiet, but he found it very difficult to remain still. He and Dororo had escaped from the fortress, but there was no sign of Daigo Kagemitsu's body anywhere. He had likely escaped as well. He might be anywhere by now.
Ochika and her bandits were still retrieving their own dead for burial. They kept an eye out for Kagemitsu's corpse, but no one had found him yet. The night of the landslide, Hyakkimaru and the bandits had doubled back to retrieve their fallen comrades after the disaster was mostly over, but there were so many bodies that finding Daigo Kagemitsu's among them was an impossible task.
Hōichi had also returned to Eguri Valley late in the evening after the dragon's defeat. "The most important thing is that we're all safe now," he'd said. He had still been close to the cliffs when they'd collapsed in the landslide, but fortunately, he'd been running over them toward the valley, not toward the fortress. Like Hyakkimaru, Dororo, Ochika, Saruyoshi, and many of the bandits, he'd managed to get away.
It seemed that Daigo Kagemitsu had managed to escape as well. Hyakkimaru didn't think that he was dead. The Hall of Hell demons wouldn't allow him to die in a trap of their own devising. The fortress had belonged to the Daigo Clan, so Hyakkimaru was certain that Kagemitsu knew all its secrets. He had probably taken advantage of the chaotic dragon battle to slip through a hidden exit. After that, Hyakkimaru had no idea where he might go.
Dororo splashed his legs in the cold water of the river. "The demons took him away somewhere, didn't they?" he muttered.
Hyakkimaru assumed so, but he didn't want to stop searching yet. There was still a chance that Kagemitsu hadn't fled in time, or that his demon allies had abandoned him. If Tarao Tenzen was still alive, Daigo Kagemitsu probably was, too—demons or no demons. The likeliest explanation was that the demons had led Kagemitsu and his allies to a safe location to regroup.
The Hall of Hell demons had challenged Hyakkimaru directly after his defeat of the maimai moth demon at Hino Village, but they hadn't emerged from hiding this time. He had lost his chance to defeat them, and to find answers for himself. No wonder he felt so restless.
One thing was certain, though: the demons were Daigo Kagemitsu's allies. They had interfered in Hyakkimaru's battle with Tarao Tenzen, allowing him and Kagemitsu to flee from the study. Kagemitsu had not done Hyakkimaru the courtesy of confirming his parentage, but Hyakkimaru felt safe making at least a few assumptions.
Hyakkimaru had also learned what kind of man Daigo Kagemitsu was. From the outside, he appeared to be like any other samurai general—power-hungry and violent perhaps, but human. On the inside, he was as monstrous as Hyakkimaru had imagined, which was comforting, in its way. Surface impressions were not to be trusted, but he had been right to assume that Daigo Kagemitsu was a monster. He presented the mask of a loving father and husband, but he'd also targeted the life of his own son, twice.
He also understood what had motivated Kagemitsu to sacrifice him to the demons. Kagemitsu wanted power for himself, yes, but it seemed that he also valued peace and stability for the rest of his family. Hyakkimaru felt a sense of indescribable loneliness. He alone was singled out for specific cruelty in Kagemitsu's designs. What had he ever done to deserve such treatment?
Hyakkimaru sought an emotional foothold between despair and rage, and found himself unsure of where he stood. He didn't even know where he should go next. He felt as trapped as when he'd been limbless.
***
By the time Dororo and Hyakkimaru returned to the bandit camp in the valley, Ochika and the others had returned. The camp had a visitor. Ochika and Hōichi approached him together, warily. No one should know about the hidden camp except for people who knew Ochika well.
The visitor was an old man from Noto Province named Kahei. He was a devout believer in True Pure Land Buddhism. Like the rest of his squad, he was a warrior, but he'd been separated from them during the attack on Nomitadani Fortress.
There were many men like Kahei in the mountain temples to the east of Kyōto and in the northern provinces. It was a time of great unrest, and Buddhist disciples were motivated to protect themselves and punish their warlike oppressors.
The previous year, in 1468, many True Pure Land Sect disciples had been violently repelled from Kaga Province and were now scattered all over. Their leader, Rennyo, had lost the sect's original temple, Hogan, to an attack by the Tendai Sect and had relocated to Kaga Province. Shortly after he'd settled among a new congregation, the Katada, Tendai Sect monks attacked Kaga Province, forcing Rennyo to go into hiding once more.
However, as Rennyo drew more followers, including lower-ranking samurai, he became embroiled in the power-struggle between Togashi Masachika and his younger brother, Kochiyo. Rennyo would eventually choose to rebuild his base of power in Ezichen Province, but that was some years in the future. At the moment, the Buddhist disciples of the True Pure Land Sect were swept up in the province's larger conflicts and scattered to the wind.
Separated from his squad and his congregation, Kahei had sought out Ochika, whom he knew by reputation. She was known to be knowledgeable, devout, and the leader of a strong force in Kaga Province. Hōichi had spent some time traveling with Rennyo's congregation and knew that Kahei was telling the truth.
Kahei's home village of Unotani in Noto Province was near the base of Mount Hōdatsu, the highest peak on Noto Peninsula. He was very far from home and friends, and proved to be quite talkative. He told Ochika and the bandits that there was an army camp to the south near Mount Dankun. He'd been asking around at the village near the mountain when the entire ground suddenly shook, as if from a thunderstrike. He'd heard from the villagers that such earthquakes were a common occurrence lately.
Hōichi's ears perked up. "I'd like to learn more about this mountain," he said.
Kahei was a bit intimidated by Hōichi's serious, eyeless stare. He took a step back.
"I only want to hear about Mount Dankun," Hōichi said. "Please wait a moment."
Hōichi called Dororo and Hyakkimaru over to listen to what Kahei had to say. "Hyakkimaru," Hōichi said, "it seems that this man's been to a village near here that's suffering from sudden earthquakes. Earthquakes that make a sound like thunder."
Dororo and Hyakkimaru exchanged glances.
"There are a lot of thunderstorms along the Hokuriku Road," Hyakkimaru said. "Are you saying that this village has localized storms—thunder without lightning or rain? Are you certain it's not just earthquakes?"
Hōichi gestured for Kahei to speak.
"The people of the village believe in the wrath of a terrible thunder god that lives in the mountain," Kahei said. "They hold festivals and make sacrifices to appease the god, but it seems like their efforts aren't very effective." Gods of nature, like water gods and thunder gods, were believed to cause natural disasters.
Hōichi leaned forward. "I've heard there are many ancient burial mounds around Mount Dakun," he said. "Is that true?"
"You seem to know a lot about the place," Kahei said. "I also heard that there are quite a lot of mounds and graves around the village, though I didn't visit any of them."
Hōichi had traveled the length and breadth of Japan during his long lifetime, playing music and collecting stories and histories for his own compositions. It was his habit to stay in a place for a while and ask a lot of questions about it.
"Mount Dankun seems like a really weird name for a mountain," Dororo muttered.
Hōichi directed his eyes toward the ceiling of Ochika's hut and was silent for a few moments, thinking. "You spell it with the ‘dan' from ‘danotsu,' meaning alms-giver, and the ‘kun' from ‘kunshi,' meaning ‘gentleman.'1 The name has a Korean flavor to it, don't you think? The first king of Korea, some four thousand years ago, was supposedly named Dankun, though who knows if that's actually true. I've heard that he was deified as a thunder god. You'll still find people who worship the god, here and there."
Dororo blinked at Hōichi's bizarrely specific knowledge. "Are the burial mounds from four thousand years ago, then? Are they all Korean or something?"
"Not all," Hōichi said. "Many of the dead are from northern Noto Province. They date from the days when Noto was still seeking out safe routes to Korea and China over the Sea of Japan. Many Korean kings and nobles traveled over the sea to settle here during that time, too. The largest burial mound, near the center of the others, belongs to an ancient Korean king, though his spirit has slept for a long time. There's a mountain's worth of spirits near Mount Dankun."
"Why would people make so many burial mounds there?" Dororo asked. "It doesn't make sense."
"I suspect the Korean nobles and royalty who settled here thought the mountain sacred," Hōichi said.
Hyakkimaru fixed his gaze on Hōichi. "You think that the Hall of Hell demons have awakened the onryō2 of the sleeping king—the one who's supposed to be a thunder god. Isn't that right?"
Hōichi tilted his head slightly. "It is certainly a habit of the Hall of Hell demons to use lightning to their advantage, but what I suspect is something more sinister than simply awakening another onryō," Hōichi said. "I believe the Hall of Hell demons are attempting a distraction. The key to defeating them is to discover Daigo Kagemitsu's whereabouts."
It was pointless to say that they'd already searched everywhere for Kagemitsu and found nothing. That fact supported the idea that the Hall of Hell demons were protecting him somehow.
"I still believe Mount Dankun is our best lead for where the Hall of Hell demons might be," Hōichi said. "We might consider going there next, and investigating exposed veins in the earth there."
"Veins in the earth?" Dororo asked. He looked very confused.
Ochika pursed her lips. "It's a way of reading the earth to see if the place is lucky or unlucky," she said. "I had no idea you were a feng shui master, Hōichi."
Hōichi smiled a mysterious smile and cast his white eyes down. Feng shui was an ancient Chinese art that was more than four thousand years old. Master practitioners could determine the auspiciousness of a site by referencing local features such as bodies of water, stars, or the compass. It was often used to select good places for burial mounds and graves, though it could be used to select lucky or sacred places for almost anything.
Feng shui started being practiced in Korea during its Three Kingdoms Period (300s-600s). When a terrible flood was about to wash away a village, a child sensed the dangerous energy in the air and managed to warn the villagers to get to safety.
Hōichi didn't reveal where he'd learned feng shui. It was possible that he'd never studied it formally, and that his ability to sense energies and disturbances in the earth came from his inborn psychokinesis.
"When are you returning to your village?" Hōichi asked.
"Tomorrow morning," Kahei said.
"I'd like to go Mount Dankun," Hōichi said. "Will you guide me?"
"I can have my son-in-law guide you after I get home," he said.
"You have my thanks," Hōichi said, politely bowing his head.
"I'll go with you," Hyakkimaru said.
"Me too," Dororo said.
Hōichi made a cutting gesture, unwilling to draw Dororo into a situation that could potentially be very dangerous. "I'll go alone," he said. "I need to investigate the situation first. It's better for you both to stay here for the time being. I expect Jukai will arrive soon, and then he'll hear about the fortress' fall. Someone should remain nearby to give him the news."
Hyakkimaru nodded. Dororo snapped his mouth shut.
"I'll return here by way of the Sea of Japan, from the north," Hōichi said. He intended to seek out Jukai on the northern seas and in Noto Province. Jukai had gotten off-course somewhere, but Namitarō and his pirate ships might be there. Hōichi knew that Jukai had originally hoped to travel with Namitarō to Kaga Province. He also knew that Jukai had sent to Namitarō with a request for gunpowder and explosives.
"We don't have much gunpowder left," Dororo said. "I sure hope taifu Jukai or his friends bring some."
"All we can do is make the best use of what we have left," Hōichi said.
Hōichi left the bandit camp with Kahei the next morning. Ochika sent Saruyoshi with them as a guide to Noto Province.
***
Hōichi, Saruyoshi, and Kahei traveled to the base of Mount Hōdatsu, then went north through Kanazawa and Tsubata. After five days of travel, they reached Unotani Village. The village was near the border of Noto Province. It was frequently caught up in the struggles of the Hatakeyama Clan, since half the clan supported the Eastern Army and the other half supported the Western Army. News of Nomitadani Fortress' fall spread to the nearby provinces, including Ezichen, Etchū, Hida, and Mino. Most of Noto Province was under the protection of Hatakeyama Yoshimoto and the Western Army, but that force was currently in Kyōto. The small force that was left behind spread out, searching for Daigo Kagemitsu and survivors from Nomitadani Fortress. The Eastern Army's spies also learned of Daigo Kagemitsu's betrayal. The Togashi Clan sent out assassins and bounty hunters to claim his head.
Kahei was worried about running into one or the other of the armies during their journey, but Hōichi had sharp ears and helped guide them safely away from danger. While both he and Saruyoshi were skilled fighters, there wasn't much the two of them could do against an army. Kahei and Saruyoshi were awed by Hōichi's seemingly supernatural perceptive abilities.
Late on the fifth day since leaving the bandit camp, Kahei brought Hōichi and Saruyoshi to the home of his daughter and son-in-law in Unotani Village. Kahei's son-in law and brother-in-law were inside the house when they entered.
"Is Jiraiya still cursing us?" Kahei's brother-in-law asked. His name was Chōsuke.
"Not this again." Kahei's son-in-law, Chōtarō, smiled. "That's just a legend."
"It's impossible to say if it's just a legend or not," Chōsuke said. "Old lady Hakui disturbed one of the burial mounds last spring while picking wild vegetables in the mountains. Do you doubt what she saw?"
"She is old and her mind wanders," Chōtarō said.
"No one climbs up Mount Dankun more often than her," Chōsuke insisted.
"Who is Jiraiya?" Kahei asked. "I've never heard of them before."
"I would like to hear more as well," Hōichi said.
Chōsuke shrugged, then said, "It's an old tale, aye. A thousand years ago, a brutal warlord named Jiraiya walked these lands. His memory has been kept alive for all this time because of his terrible reputation. If you believe the legend, he was at least eight feet tall, covered head to toe in thick, coarse hair. He was absolutely hideous, inside and out. He never met a man he didn't want to kill, or a woman he didn't want to rape." Chōsuke frowned. "He had eyes granted to him by demonic forces that had the power to burn whatever he focused his gaze on—houses, stone, earth, water: everything he looked upon would burn. He could call lightning down from the sky and burn villages to a crisp as easy as blinking. And that's not all. There are stories of him vanishing beneath the ground like a mole whenever he's threatened. He's supposed to be impossible to find when he's underground."
"That... is an interesting kind of monster," Saruyoshi said, chuckling a little.
"He wasn't a monster, he was human," Chōsuke said irritably. "He actually existed, though it was a very long time ago."
Hōichi fixed his white eyes on Chōsuke. "If he was human, that must mean he died at some point, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, that's right," Chōsuke said. "He lived to be a hundred and twenty years old. The people of the village were terrified of him, even in death, and sealed him away in one of the burial mounds."
"Do you know where he was buried?" Hōichi asked.
"No," Chōsuke said. "That's not part of the legend that was passed down, and even if it was, there are so many burial mounds around the village that it's impossible to pick out a single one from the others."
Hōichi was keenly interested in Jiraiya. He sounded like an ancient user of psychokinesis—an evil one.
"Are you sure you want to head up the mountain, Mr. Monk?" Saruyoshi asked. "Seems like it could be dangerous."
"I wish to meet this Jiraiya," Hōichi said. "Assuming he's there, of course."
Kahei and Saruyoshi exchanged glances.
"It's just a legend, like I said," Chōtarō said with a sigh. "But I can guide you up Mount Dankun, if you wish." He turned toward Kahei. "Care to keep my dad company while I'm gone?"
Chōsuke's eyes flicked between his son and his brother-in-law. He said nothing else.
＊＊＊
Chōsuke led Hōichi and Saruyoshi up Mount Dankun early the next day. They left Unotani Village along the line of a small stream that flowed to the east. They were scarcely out of the village before the burial mounds that Kahei and his family had spoken of became visible. Mount Dankun was an odd sort of place: it didn't have a steep peak, but sheer cliffs dropped off to either side of it, with burial mounds dotting the relatively flat strip of land between the cliff faces. Everything was quiet and still. The burial mounds were very old, and both looked and felt that way. Aside from Hikui, the oldest woman in the village, no one ever came here on a regular basis.
There were animal tracks along a narrow trail leading farther up the mountain. The trail was thin and very steep. It looked like a river had once flowed this way, cutting a narrow recess in the mountain's granite. There was no stable footing, even on the path, so Chōsuke picked his way to the mountain's summit with great care.
The summit was covered in a thick haze. Even Mount Hōdatsu, which was enormous and quite close, was only barely visible.
"I climbed up here once when I was a kid," Chōsuke said, "but it wasn't anything like this. On clear days, you can see the Sea of Japan from here."
Saruyoshi squinted at Mount Hōdatsu. "Why is the mountain called Hōdatsu? Is there treasure there?"3
"People found gold there a long time ago," Chōsuke said. "Why? Do you plan to go gold digging?"
"I'm too tired for that now," Saruyoshi said thoughtfully, "but it's always good to know where some treasure could be buried. Thanks for the information."
Hōichi seemed not to hear their conversation. He stood on the highest point of Mount Dankun, turning slowly in a circle, sensing energies. The wind blew gently against his face.
"The Black Tortoise is to the north, the Blue Dragon is to the east, and the White Tiger is to the west. I see three mountains in those directions...we must be on the southern mountain. The mountain of the Vermilion Bird."4
Chōsuke blinked. "It's true that we're on the southern mountain here, if we take the three closest mountains as a group with this one," he said, "but what does that mean?"
"It's an auspicious place," Hōichi said. "Good for the propagation of descendants..."
"This mountain?" Chōsuke appeared skeptical. "It's not like this place is very overpopulated or anything."
Hōichi's sightless eyes trailed downward, toward the foot of Mount Dankun. "There should be a river flowing between the Blue Dragon and the White Tiger," he said. "Is there?"
"There is," Chōsuke said, pointing. "It's hard to see right now, but that's called the Kishi River. I don't know how it's spelled, so I don't know if the name means anything significant or not."
"I know the spelling." Hōichi carved the letters into the ground with his cane. "Place ‘bamboo' over ‘foundation' for ‘ki,' then use the kanji for child to represent ‘shi.'5 I suspect this is the true name of the Korean king who traveled here very long ago."
According to legends, Kishi was a Chinese sage that ruled Korea in the 11th century BCE. Early Chinese records described him as a virtuous relative of the last Emperor of the Shang Dynasty who was punished for protesting against the government. After the Shang Dynasty was overthrown by the Zhou Dynasty in the 1040s BCE, Kishi gave political advice to Emperor Wu, the first Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty. Chinese texts from the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) onwards claimed that Emperor Wu made Kishi the ruler of Korea.
"The river was named after someone as grand as all that?" Chōsuke asked.
"This is a very sacred place," Hōichi said. "The Korean royalty and nobles that came here realized that this mountain conformed to the strictest principles of feng shui. They settled here, and their spirits still sleep in all those burial mounds."
The cloud cover overhead became thicker. Lightning flashed on Mount Hōdatsu.
Hōichi titled his head slightly as if he were listening for thunder. He pointed his cane toward the foot of the mountain, then began a strange chant.
Saruyoshi and Chōsuke came closer to Hōichi, sensing some kind of danger. Red light shot from Hōichi's cane toward the bottom of the mountain.
Saruyoshi gasped. Chōsuke shielded his eyes. The red light was very bright and moved as smoothly as a snake as it descended.
When Hōichi completed his chant, the red light completely disappeared.
"It's like I expected," Hōichi said. "A great deal of power is stored in the earth here. Something very like the dragon we saw is awake, stitched together by various spirits and natural forces." He leaned on his cane. "I suggest we make our way down the mountain. If we don't find a cave soon, we'll be soaked by the rain."
It started drizzling just after Hōichi stopped speaking. Chōsuke hurried to get them under tree cover so that they could stay dry. Lightning flashed in the sky above their heads. The first cave they came to was very close to some of the burial mounds and showed signs of use: an old fire, dried wood, and a tattered were all inside. Perhaps this was one of Hikui's camping places.
While many of the burial mounds visible from the cave were completely intact, some showed signs of disturbance. Stones had come loose from the sides or top of the mounds and littered the ground. Hōichi guessed that the spirits whose graves were disturbed had been awakened and were loose in the world. The wind carried a strange smell to his nose that was difficult for him to identify.
"There are holes in the earth here," Hōichi said.
"Holes?" Saruyoshi wiped water off his face. "What do you mean? That word means ass, rear end, pit, or hole. Be specific."6
What Hōichi was referring to was gaps in the psychokinetic energy that he was sensing. It wasn't evenly distributed. He was also getting a better sense for it, now that he was closer. The burial mounds were here because the place was auspicious: he'd confirmed that on the mountain. The people who had first settled here had chosen this place so that their descendants would voluntarily choose to remain there. It was a way of ensuring that a family's legacy would endure forever.
The drizzling rain became a deluge. Lightning set the mountain forest ablaze just outside the cave. Saruyoshi stifled a scream.
"This way!" Chōsuke called out. If the fire trapped them inside, they would die of smoke inhalation. He sprinted toward the steep cliffs that slanted down from the mountain, soaking wet in seconds. The caves in the cliffs were shallow and narrow, eroded by water over time, and there were no trees near them. It would be much more difficult for the storm to reach them there.
Hōichi didn't run after Chōsuke and Saruyoshi. He drew his thin sword from his cane and stood at the lip of the cave, facing the fire. "On abira un kashal..."
Chōsuke turned when he heard Hōichi's voice. "What are you doing?! Get out of there!"
Lightning struck the cave right over Hōichi's head, flashing off his blade. Hōichi didn't move, even when thunder shook the earth all around him.
Chōsuke and Saruyoshi gaped at Hōichi in wide-eyed amazement, completely forgetting the rain. Lightning struck Hōichi again, but his sword absorbed the flash of light in an instant. Hōichi didn't even blink.
Hōichi had expected something like this since hearing about the thunder god from Kahei, but he hadn't understood the relationship between thunder and the spirits here until now. Hyakkimaru's initial guess was near the mark: a powerful spirit here was being manipulated by the Hall of Hell demons.
It was good that Hyakkimaru had not come. Hōichi still had much to discover here. He sent Saruyoshi back to Eguri Valley to tell Hyakkimaru and Dororo what awaited them on Mount Dankun.
Translator's Notes:
1 Mount Dankun's kanji are 檀君山. 檀越 and 君子
are the kanji spellings of "almsgiver" and "gentleman," respectively.↩
2 In Japanese traditional beliefs and
literature, an onryō (literally "vengeful spirit", sometimes rendered
"wrathful spirit") refers to a ghost believed to be capable of causing harm
in the world of the living, injuring or killing enemies, or even causing
natural disasters to exact vengeance to redress the wrongs it received while
alive, then taking their spirits from their dying bodies.↩
3 Mount Hōdatsu (Japanese: 宝達山) contains
the kanji character meaning "treasure," 宝.↩
4 These directions and animals correspond to
Chinese cosmology. Tokuyūbō, the the chief priest of the Ryōgon Temple on
the eastern side of Mount Monju, explains all of this in more detail in
Demon Sword Dance. ↩
5 The Kishi River's name, spelled in kanji,
is箕子川.↩
6 Saruyoshi is correct: the word Hōichi uses
for "hole," ketsu, has all of these potential meanings. Without the kanji
spelling, it would be impossible to understand Hōichi's meaning.↩
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