The Sorceress' Revolt -
Ko Eiji's Story
Author: Toriumi Jinzō
Translator: Ainikki the Archivist
Part Four: The Way of the Dragon Slayer
The blue light in Sei Koko’s eyes faded away. Her face was pale and pinched with fatigue. The Way of the Dragon Slayer was a powerful weapon and difficult to use, even for Sei Koko.
Ko Eiji approached Sei Koko with hesitant steps. “Are you all right, Sei Koko?”
Sei Koko practically fell into Ko Eiji’s arms. “I will be well soon. I am sorry if I frightened you, Ko Eiji.”
Ko Eiji looked away. “I’m afraid I’m still a little overwhelmed.”
“Don’t be. Tanshi can’t come after you anymore. You’re safe.”
“He seemed to remember me.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“But…” Ko Eiji looked like she wanted to say more, but ultimately decided against it.
“So,” Jin Sen interjected. “Is Tanshi in hell now?”
“Probably. He uses sorcery, the same as we do. Even if he is lucky enough to escape, he will have learned his lesson and will never bother us again.”
There was a rustle from some nearby bushes. Jin Sen stepped closer to the bushes and called out, “Who’s there? Show yourself!”
Ou Soku rose slowly from a kneeling position and bowed low to Sei Koko. “Please allow me to join your side,” he said.
“And who are you?” Jin Sen asked, pointing his shadow sword at Ou Soku. “Are you one of Tanshi’s allies?”
“That monk? No. Besides, he’s dead.”
“You saw it done?” Sei Koko asked in a voice pitched to carry.
“Yes! It was a magnificent show of sorcery.”
Sei Koko’s eyes narrowed. “Name yourself.”
“My name is Ou Soku.”
“Kill him,” Sei Koko said.
A chill ran down Ou Soku’s spine as Jin Sen lifted his shadow sword and prepared to strike.
“Stop!” Ko Eiji yelled, putting herself between Ou Soku and Jin Sen.
Sei Koko gave her reincarnated daughter a quizzical look. “Why are you interfering?”
“It is cowardly to murder a defenseless man. I would not be ashamed of what we do.”
Ko Eiji rarely spoke out against Sei Koko. This act of mild defiance interested Sei Koko enough for her to ask Ko Eiji to clarify her position more. “You believe we act out of cowardice?”
Sei Koko looked closely at Ko Eiji, remembering Ko Biji’s first act of rebellion. Sei Koko had ordered Tanshi to go back to Hakūn-do Cave to retrieve the rest of the Heavenly Book. Ko Biji had told him in no uncertain terms not to go back, since going back would be suicide. When Sei Koko had commanded Tanshi to go anyway, Ko Biji had openly defied her mother for the first time in her life.
Well, Ko Eiji is her reincarnation. I should have expected to find a stubborn streak somewhere, since she and Ko Biji share a personality, Sei Koko thought. She believed she’d just seen proof of her daughter’s reincarnation, which put her in a good mood. Tanshi being obliterated helped with that, too.
Ou Soku stared openly at Ko Eiji in supplication.
Jin Sen shrugged. “It is our way to eliminate anyone who poses a danger to us. This man might be lying. Like Tanshi, he could be an enemy. It is safer to dispose of him now.”
“But if he’s not an enemy, you would have killed an innocent man for no reason,” Ko Eiji said.
Jin Sen looked to Sei Koko. “The decision is yours, of course, our sainted leader. What is to be done with this man?”
“For now, I will grant Ko Eiji’s wish and spare him. If he proves to be our enemy, we can kill him then.”
Jin Sen nodded assent. Then he faced Ou Soku and said in a voice like thunder, “If I ever see you again, I will kill you. Go!” He kicked Ou Soku in the shoulder.
Ou Soku rolled over, then got up and nodded to Ko Eiji, who signaled to him to run away quickly.
Ou Soku stepped onto the scorched earth and disappeared into the mountain forest.
Ko Eiji watched him go until he was out of sight. “He came all the way up here, knowing the danger—why do you think he did that?” she asked.
Sei Koko didn’t answer. She turned to Jin Sen and said, “We have no more time to waste.”
Jin Sen bowed. “I shall gather the others.”
Sei Koko nodded, her face full of determination.
***
Ou Soku had failed. He’d been too naïve. Sei Koko was more powerful than he’d ever imagined, and her sorcerers were a formidable obstacle. He might never be able to get close to her again.
He found Sei Koko’s strength and power attractive.
After reaching the foot of Mt. Zixia, Ou Soku shifted his gaze to the mountain summit. The sun had already set. White clouds dyed in the setting sun floated calmly along the horizon.
Ko Eiji… they say she’s a reincarnation. Was she always so beautiful? Ou Soku was so captivated by the memory of Ko Eiji that he forgot to be terrified of Jin Sen or Sei Koko.
With Mt. Zixia behind him, Ou Soku left Wenshui.
***
A few days later the sorcerers, including Sei Koko, packed up and left Mt. Zixia. They resurfaced again in Beizhou in Hebei Province at the end of November with the New Year fast approaching.
The city of Beizhou was surrounded by high walls. It was a large trading city with a thriving commercial economy, but it also had many poor farmers living on its outskirts. It was originally a place with many believers in Maitreya Buddha, but recently a new religion had taken hold.1
The governor, Zhang Deyi, was a greedy and ruthless man. Since taking up his post, he had been buying silk fabrics and luxury furniture from merchants, saying, “I’ll pay you back someday.”
But he never paid a single penny. He took an exorbitant amount of rice from farmers and exploited the local people by imposing high taxes. Those who resisted were secretly tied up in straw mats weighed down with rocks and tossed into the bottom of the city’s deepest canal.
According to the laws of the time, even the governor of a prefecture couldn’t sentence anyone to the death penalty. Serious criminals were sent from prefecture to prefecture and couldn’t be executed without the permission of the Imperial Government. Despite the laws, secret murders were frequent. The dead could not speak and were buried in obscurity.
There was not a single person in Beizhou who did not hate and curse Zhang Deyi, with the possible exception of himself.
Most people’s only recourse was to pray. The religions that exploited this weakness benefited from keeping people complacent. Several religious leaders in Beizhou received bribes from Zhang Deyi.
But then Sei Koko started the Divine Immortal Spiritual Religion—and she would not be bribed.
Ko Eiji became a shining figurehead of the religion. She stood on a high stage dressed in an outfit made of cloth-of-gold that Sei Koko had given her. Sei Koko wore a Daoist hat and a strange mask. No one knew who she was. She and her sorcerers were either shunned or ignored at first, since it was obvious that they used heretical magic.
That state of affairs didn’t last long, once it was known that Sei Koko was Ko Eiji’s prophetess and speaker. Sei Koko handled preaching and gathering people, but Ko Eiji was the real draw. Her beautiful clothes, a golden crown decorated with jewels, and her natural beauty captivated men and women of all ages. Her popularity spread instantly, and she was flooded with followers. There was no end to the number of people who cast aside the religion that they’d believed in since birth and converted to the Divine Immortal Spiritual Religion.
Previously, Sei Koko had found minor success as the kept priestess of Yang Chun, a wealthy philanthropist. Sei Koko put that experience to use now, creating illusions of Bodhisattvas and sorcerous miracles. She made it so that it looked like Ko Eiji performed all these marvelous deeds.
Once, the spirit of Empress Wu Zetian appeared on the stage next to the altar and completely cured a crippled man. The wealthy believer was amazed and offered a large sum of money for the miracle cure.
That crippled man was far from Sei Koko’s only donor. Weak sorcerers pretended ailments that Ko Eiji then pretended to cure. This pageantry drew even more followers.
Ko Eiji had little by way of sorcerous power. Everything was arranged by Sei Koko as an elaborate con. Sei Koko was called a living saint and Ko Eiji was called Eiki, “eternal queen.” It didn’t take much time for Sei Koko to bamboozle wealthy merchants into giving her and members of her religion alms. She also made them provide rice and money to the poor and give medicine to the sick. Within weeks, the Divine Immortal Spiritual Religion was hugely popular in Beizhou.
Some poor old people complained directly to Ko Eiji about their suffering under Zhang Deyi. Ko Eiji grew to hate Zhang Deyi and decided to appeal for justice to the Imperial Court.
If Wu Zetian’s will were to emerge within me, I would be able to save these suffering people, Ko Eiji thought.
“The other religions are not helping people in Beizhou,” Sei Koko said when presented with the suffering poor. “Their gods shall surely punish them.”
To Ko Eiji, Sei Koko said, “The Divine Immortal Spiritual Religion is an ally of all those who are troubled. If you believe in Wu Zetian, you will be able to become an immortal. Then you will be able to watch over and protect these people for all time.”
Sei Koko’s prediction that the gods would punish other religious leaders in the city proved true. Rival religious leaders died in mysterious accidents and many of their temples were razed or abandoned. Truthfully, no gods needed to intervene: Sei Koko sent her sorcerers to deal with troublesome people, and her sorcerers sent those troublemakers to hell without much fuss.
Everyone wanted to be able to do magic and live forever. Sei Koko’s rhetoric found the pulse of Beizhou, and nearly everyone was drawn to her and Ko Eiji.
“The Divine Immortal Spiritual Religion will create a peaceful and prosperous world! Our founder, Eiki, will pray for the happiness of all people.” Cheers from the believers echoed throughout a Daoist temple Sei Koko had co-opted as her own.
Ko Eiji stood on the stage, shining bright as the North Star.
Translator's Note
1 弥勒菩薩: Matreiya is a Bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddha in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha. In some Buddhist literature, he is referred to as Ajitā (Invincible, Unconquerable). In Tibetan Buddhism he is known as the “Lord of Love” or the “Noble Loving One.” The root of his name is the Sanskrit word maitrī (Pali: metta; meaning friendliness, loving-kindness). In all branches of Buddhism, Maitreya is viewed as the direct successor of Gautama Buddha (the first Buddha, known as Shakyamuni Buddha in Japanese).↩
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