The Sorceress' Revolt
Author: Toriumi Jinzō
Translator: Ainikki the Archivist
Ko Biji's Story
Part Six: Master of Daoism
Chapter 1
The Daoist believer Kai Hei was let through the guardhouse by Sei Koko's attendant. He came bearing a letter from Yang Chun. Kai Hei was not allowed into the hall where the Heavenly Book was being translated, but there were times when Sei Koko would meet him in the study downstairs. Sei Koko trusted him a great deal: only Kai Hei and Yang Chun were given this privilege. For his part, Kei Hai considered himself the most devoted of all Daoist believers, and he was willing to sacrifice his very life for Sei Koko's sake.
The letter that Kai Hei carried was only from Yang Chun by proxy; it was a collection of requests from various believers for Sei Koko to hold another worship service in her shrine. Yang Chun had added his own wishes to those of the imploring believers: he, too, wanted her to conduct another worship service. Yang Chun acknowledged that she was busy with creating special prayers for the new temple, but the new temple's construction was not fully funded yet and he wanted to use the new worship service to collect donations.
Sei Koko wrote out her reply and had her attendant deliver it when he returned from his duties. She agreed to Yang Chun's request, of course.
On the day of the worship service, Sei Koko left Tanshi and Ko Biji alone and returned to her shrine. Ko Biji was happy that her mother had left for awhile; the tension in the house between her and Tanshi was palpable. She went about her kitchen chores with something of her natural cheerfulness that morning. She'd never wanted to study Daoism with any seriousness. She found the rules and the uniform stifling.
For the moment, though, she was happy to get some time with Tanshi alone. She stood by the window and looked out at the melting snow outside. "Spring must be coming to Yunmeng Mountain too. I miss it... life there was more fun."
The horrors of Hakūn-do Cave that she had heard about from Tanshi now seemed like a dream of the past.
Tanshi looked up from working and said, "Don't say that. I still have nightmares about that place."
"It's heaven compared to here. We were free."
Hakūn-do Cave had been terrifying, yes, but life on Yunmeng Mountain hadn't been so bad, really. Tanshi thought back to that time and realized that those days of recovering and getting to know Ko Biji were ones he would never forget. Ko Biji seemed to feel the same way.
Ko Biji turned to face him. "What will you do once the deciphering is complete?" she asked.
"Well, I'll have to learn to use the knowledge. I'm sure if your mother helps guide me, I'll master the Way of Shattering Earth."
"You can't learn it alone?"
"I think it would be faster if Sei Koko taught me."
Ko Biji muttered to herself, looking perturbed. "What's your hurry?"
"Learning always takes time," Tanshi said. "It can't be helped."
Ko Biji looked back outside again.
Tanshi knew that Ko Biji was bored. She behaved in a stiff, unnatural way in front of her mother and was stifled by all the rules and strict schedules she and Tanshi had to stick to. Tanshi understood what she was feeling, but he didn't see any path forward except finishing the transcription. After that, there might be more options for them.
"I had a dream that you and me became farmers," Ko Biji said. "We were in the middle of the mountains, and there was no one else there. But the scenery was amazing, with flowers blooming all over the mountain and a beautiful stream flowing... We were growing fruit trees."
Ko Biji knelt down in front of Tanshi and said, "We had peaches, apricots, pears and persimmons. We had friends: foxes and raccoons, deer and goats. They were so cute... The house was just like the hut we had on Yunmeng Mountain."
Tanshi raised an eyebrow at her. "Ko Biji, can you be quiet for a few minutes?"
"What? Why?"
"You're distracting me."
Ko Biji's eyes filled with tears. Her sweet dream was ignored, and she was overcome with a crushing sadness.
Tanshi realized his mistake, but it was too late to fix things; Ko Biji had already fled the room in tears.
"Ko Biji..." Tanshi sighed. Ko Biji never asked for anything from him. He regretted telling her to stop relating her dream. Sei Koko was gone at the moment; there was no need for Tanshi to be strict with Ko Biji like her mother was.
Perhaps life at the foot of Mount Yunmeng would suit Ko Biji better. A purer and more beautiful place than the ordinary human world, which was full of desires... and distractions. Yes, Yunmeng Mountain was a good place for Ko Biji, and Tanshi had sullied that for her. He apologized internally: I'm sorry, Ko Biji. I was only thinking about myself...
Sei Koko's method of mental concentration involved fasting and taking a bath every morning, making offerings at the shrine's altar, and chanting various mantras: "purify your mouth," "clean your body," "purify your world," "peace on earth," and "peace to the soul." After all that, he'd have to inhale sacred air from the east and chant the mantra "connect with the spirits." This process was one of the Daoist methods of increasing mental concentration, and Sei Koko told Tanshi and Ko Biji to attempt it as often as possible. She performed all the steps of this method each day, losing herself in a mystical atmosphere.
Daoists believed that by concentrating one's mind, humans could become aware of qi. All things existed through qi. Humans could understand the will of the universe through the flow of qi. For example, if someone wished to call forth the clouds, they would visualize the appearance of the clouds with a clear mind, and then yin qi would fill the whole body with cloudy air. The qi would build up in the body and then gush out into the heavens and the earth; only then would the miracle take place. Similarly, if someone wanted to call forth lightning, they would visualize lightning, and yang qi would gather in the core of the body and overflow into the surrounding environment. With the proper training and proficiency, people could naturally acquire the divine energy required to create the full effect of these miracles.
***
Sei Koko's shrine was packed full of believers. Many were so moved by the sight of her chanting prayers that they burst into to tears. Sei Koko's popularity as a living saint hadn't waned in the slightest, but was spreading far and wide into the neighboring provinces.
Behind the believers, two men stood looking on the spectacle with curiosity, not devotion. Judging from their clothes, they were government soldiers. These were the kappa man and the bear-sized guard that Tanshi and Ko Biji had encountered when they'd stopped in Sanmenxia.
Of course, their names weren't "kappa man" and "bear-sized guard man." The thin man was named Ba Mou and the larger man was named Chin Khen. Their presence in Sei Koko's shrine was no coincidence. Tanshi and Ko Biji had lied about their destination when questioned at Sanmenxia, but the two guards hadn't believed them at all. They were here on orders from their superiors to make the rounds of all the temples in the province, searching for the monk who'd attacked them. They'd heard many rumors of Sei Koko and had come here before any of the other nearby temples.
Tanshi's crimes were not limited to breaking through a checkpoint; he'd also killed the magistrate and a high-ranking central government official during the battle with the salt smugglers. The guards wanted to trace the current whereabouts of the salt smugglers by using Tanshi. It was known that Tanshi was well-acquainted with Ryū Gen. The guards had questioned the survivors of the salt smugglers' battle to find out as much as they could, and the investigation had caught the attention of the provincial police office. They knew that Tanshi had come from a temple in Sicheng.
Ryū Gen was elusive. He kept appearing out of nowhere: first in the Xingyuan Prefecture of the Imperial Court, and then in Jingzhao Prefecture, Xiangzhou (Hubei Province), and Fangzhou (Anhui Province). He was a formidable enemy of the imperial government. Ryū Gen and his band recovered illegal salt that the government had confiscated as contraband and attacked local government offices for their salt stores. At the end of the previous year, the Imperial Court had issued strict orders to all prefectures and counties across the nation to arrest Ryū Gen. The order had been issued by the eunuch Rai Ingyō, who was the central figure in charge of eradicating the salt smugglers.
Ba Mou and Chin Khen didn't think they would find Tanshi in the shrine, but rumors of a living saint would draw anyone's notice. They wanted to see Sei Koko for themselves. Why? Well, they'd both been reprimanded harshly for letting Tanshi escape, and their wages had been docked to cover damages. They wanted to pray to Sei Koko, have their fortunes read, and receive a blessing so that they would have better luck.
The two of them put their hands together just for show. An attendant came over to them and bowed.
"Thank you for coming today."
Ba Mou snorted. "You can't be so stupid. There are so many believers gathered here. Why bother us for money?"
"Well, yes, I suppose there are many people here..." The attendant gave them an uncertain smile.
"What is she doing up there by herself, that old lady?" Chin Khen asked. "It's not like we're gonna give her anything. He's a cheapskate, and I'm tryin' to figure out what she can do."
The two guards expressed no awe or devotion, and they didn't hesitate to insult Sei Koko--and each other. The shrine attendant was most displeased.
"She's not alone," the attendant said.
"Oh, is her old man up there, too?"
The attendant became angry. "Sei Koko is not an old woman. She has a young daughter."
Chin Khen tilted his head thoughtfully. "A daughter, eh. What's she like?"
"She's very beautiful."
"Is she? Where is she, then?" Chin Khen looked out at all the believers.
"She is not here. She's at the new temple that's being built on the eastern side of Mount Hua."
The guards exchanged a look of commiseration. "How old is she?" Ba Mou asked.
"Seventeen."
Chin Khen leered. "I'd rather see the pretty daughter than the living saint."
"Does she have a guard with her? A young man, kind of like a bodyguard?" Ba Mou asked. He sounded vaguely jealous of Tanshi. Indeed, he had been jealous when he'd seen Tanshi accompanying Ko Biji in Sanmenxia.
"He might be a Daoist monk," Chin Khen put in.
"He was originally a monk," the attendant said.
"What's his name?"
The attendant was irked by the guards' rudeness, but it was the duty of attendants like him to assist the ignorant, and the question seemed innocent enough. "Danshi, or something like that."
The two guards looked at one another in surprise.
"Are you sure it wasn't Tanshi?" Ba Mou asked.
"No, I am quite certain it was Danshi," the attendant said.
"The name is similar," Chin Khen muttered to himself.
"Um, is there something wrong?" the attendant asked.
"No, nothing," Ba Mou said. "I guess there are a lot of monks out there with similar names."
The guards moved to leave.
Having answered their questions quite politely, the attendant moved to keep them in place. "Neither of you will be going outside until the service is over, I trust? You must pray for something special."
"Well... you certainly do your job well," Ba Mou said.
"Yes, I'm impressed by your hard work," Chin Khen added.
As soon as Ba Mou and Chin Khen worshipped Sei Koko, they witnessed the appearance of the bodhisattva of universal compassion and received a miraculous revelation. That night, the two guards made a cursory search of the new temple on the eastern side of Mount Hua, then hurried straight to the province's main government office.
Translator's Note
Sei Koko's mental concentration exercises are based on a Seven-Point Tibetan Daoist method for cultivating the mind and heart. The method emphasizes the following:
-Transforming circumstances
-Cultivating/cherishing others
- Reexamining relationships
-Gradually transforming responses to life
-Recognizing opportunities and potential
-Being effective and not getting sidetracked
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