The Sorceress' Revolt -
Ko Eiji's Story
Author: Toriumi Jinzō
Translator: Ainikki the Archivist
Part Five: Ko Eiji
Where had last night’s moon disappeared to? Thick clouds now covered the entire sky.
Ou Soku left his lodgings, then looked up at the sky as he headed toward the East Barracks. “It’s a nice night for plotting,” Ou Soku said to himself.
In Beizhou, there were two barracks, one on the east side and one on the west side of the city. Each barracks could house at least six thousand soldiers.
In Sun Tzu’s chapter on strategy, he wrote, “To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”
That was the art of war. It was also what Ou Soku believed to be true.
He had to hurry if he wanted to succeed. If the sorcerers beat him to his objective, everything would become more difficult from here on out.
As Ou Soku passed the front gate of the East Barracks, he saw a soldier casually patrolling the street.
He had a premonition that something bad would happen, but even so, he couldn’t duck out now. He set his shoulders in determination and continued with the plan.
When Ou Soku went around to the back gate of the East Barracks, he saw a figure moving in the shadow of a few willow trees.
“Ou Soku?” It was Lieutenant Rou.
“Yes.”
Rou came over with a spear in his hand and whispered, “There are wild dogs wandering around, but I didn’t see any particularly evil ones. Come this way.”
Rou showed Ou Soku around. Part of the high brick wall around the barracks had collapsed, creating a hole wide enough for a person to pass through. It was hard to see because of the willow trees. They sneaked inside through the gap. This must be a secret entrance for the soldiers.
Several large, lighted buildings were lined up around a paved courtyard. In the back were the private residences of government officials and wealthier soldiers. There was also a building that looked like a warehouse or a storage facility.
Rou led Ou Soku into his platoon’s barracks. They went deep inside, hugging the wall, and entered a new area through an emergency exit. As Ou Soku entered the new area, the damp smell of mold assailed his nose.
“The barracks commander and other officers from the West Barracks have also been called,” Lieutenant Rou said. His arrangements for the evening were flawless. His careful planning was proof that he trusted Ou Soku and wanted his plan to succeed.
A dim torch lit the cold corridor they walked through. It must have been dark here even during the day. Ou Soku felt pity for the soldiers living in the barracks, which were like a polluted prison. Normally he hated imperial soldiers, but his contact with them over the past few days had made him view them as unfortunate people like himself.
Ou Soku felt a surge of anger towards Zhang Deyi. He had known brutal soldiers who’d beaten him along with the sick and the old. Was the soldiers’ brutal behavior caused by their thwarted resentment towards Beizhou’s governor?
Rou brought Ou Soku to a room at the very end of the barracks. It was quite spacious, but bleak like a prison cell. As a precaution against discovery, there was only one candlestick, making the room dimly lit even in the center. Ou Soku could only make out the vague outlines of faces, but he noticed that many of the soldiers he saw were older. Senior officers. Several of them had weapons in hand.
Everyone was looking at Ou Soku. Rou had likely explained the gist of the mission beforehand. Expectation was in the air.
Urged by Rou, Ou Soku stepped onto a high wooden box that served as a podium.
The senior soldiers focused their tense gazes on him.
Rou introduced him to the group. “This is a war tactician. His name is Ou Soku.”
Ou Soku was surprised at being introduced as a tactician. He bowed his head respectfully to the gathered soldiers. He was nervous. He’d never given a speech in front of so many people before.
“As this is an urgent and confidential matter, I will skip past the pleasantries and get straight to the point,” Ou Soku said. He spoke quietly, but his voice echoed in the confined space. No one had any trouble hearing him.
“I’m sure you know that the First Emperor and the Second Emperor of Qin imposed harsh labor on soldiers and common people for the sake of extravagant and foolish construction projects. These were major construction projects such as the Qinzhi Ancient Road, the Great Wall, and the Grand Canal. There is a folk song from that time that goes:
If a boy is born, don’t take him away.
If a girl is born, let her drink milk.
Don’t you see the corpses
standing like pillars beneath the Great Wall?
“Most of the great constructions are for the enjoyment of the Imperial Court, not for the country or the people. To build his own tomb, the First Emperor conscripted seven hundred thousand people, turning them into prisoners.1 When that was not enough, he forced two million people from across the country to work. And when there was a shortage of men, they even conscripted women and children.
“What a cruel and wicked act! Unable to endure the harsh labor, tens of thousands of people hanged themselves from trees by the roadside. It is a tragedy beyond words.”
Ou Soku’s words, now heated with anger, kicked the air out of his lungs. “The punishment for shirking work was brutal. The person might be executed or killed on the spot, and their families would not escape punishment, either.
“The story of the forced conscription of a thousand poor peasants to protect Beijing is well known to everyone…”
In July 209 BCE, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang led a group of one thousand peasants who’d been conscripted to military posts in Beijing. On the way, they encountered a storm and were unable to reach their destination on time. According to the Qin law, anyone who was late for military service was executed. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang discussed the matter.
“Rather than waiting for death, let’s find a way to live,” Chen Sheng appealed to everyone. “Even if we escape the death penalty, we will not survive long protecting the city from invasion. If we’re going to die anyway, we should die gloriously—die like men!”
The group elected Chen Sheng as their commander and started a rebellion. Their starting strength was so great that they soon gathered a force of seven hundred chariots, one thousand cavalry troops and tens of thousands of infantry. They occupied Henan Province and gathered people to them in droves. “Destroy the inhumane and punish the violent Qin!” was their rallying cry.
Chen Sheng was elected king and named his country Zhangchu.
Peasants from all over the country rushed to join the rebellion. By the time the rebel army advanced on the Qin army, their numbers had swelled to one thousand chariots and hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Ou Soku’s recounting of the true story of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang’s rebellion moved and excited the soldiers. Many of the soldiers were from peasant backgrounds. A low murmuring echoed in the otherwise quiet room.
“The uprising of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, who were born as common farmers, inspired Liu Bang, who built the foundation for the Han Dynasty which lasted for five hundred years!” Liu Bang had been a farmer, and Ou Soku had started life as a farmer, too; Ou Soku figured that there must be many soldiers with common origins. Zhang Deyi’s tyranny was the same as the First Emperor’s in kind if not in scale.
“Political corruption is rot. We must be as courageous as Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. If we cannot escape our enemies, we must face them bravely and remove their corruption from the world by the roots. We must overthrow the Imperial Court that allows corruption to spread unchecked and rebuild a healthier nation!”
As Ou Soku became more and more excited by what he was saying, his voice became rougher and louder.
There was a moment of silence.
Then a cry went up around the room: shouts and cheers.
“Let us pioneer the creation of a more just and peaceful world!” Ou Soku called out.
More answering shouts and cries of “Fix it!” and “End corruption!”
But then there was a terrible scream near the door leading into the room. One of the soldiers collapsed, his face red with blood. Akurai’s wild dogs had arrived with their weapons drawn and scowls on their faces. The soldiers, engrossed in Ou Soku’s speech, hadn’t even noticed that their enemies were sneaking up on them.
The shouts of the soldiers died away as they drew their weapons and sought greater defensive positions near the walls. Shocked by the sudden intrusion, they fell into their usual patterns of discipline and obedience. They were armed, but few had the courage to fight Akurai’s wild dogs.
The wild dogs threatened the soldiers with their swords.
“You will all be punished,” one of the wild dogs said. He approached Ou Soku with his sword drawn and raised above his head. “You didn’t tell the rest of the story, young man. Both Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were killed in the middle of their rebellions. By their own men.”
The soldiers looked on in horror.
“You, too, will suffer the same fate.”
The wild dogs sneered, looking forward to the instigator’s death.
One of the wild dogs stepped forward to attack Ou Soku.
The wind howled, and then an iron ball flew through the air, hitting the wild dog firmly on the side of the head. The man collapsed, spitting blood, and quickly fell unconscious.
“Nobody move!” Lieutenant Rou shouted.
The wild dogs froze. No one had expected that Ou Soku could fight.
After a moment’s hesitation, the leader of the wild dogs stepped in front of his men and yelled, “Kill him!”
“Sir!”
The soldiers responded to this renewed threat against Ou Soku by raising their spears and rushing at the wild dogs. Ou Soku’s projectiles killed the wild dogs that came too close to him.
The soldiers’ anger exploded into outrage. The army of wild dogs sent against Ou Soku and the rebellious soldiers was quite large—more than a platoon’s worth—but numbers didn’t save them. The losers were stabbed to death and rolled to the floor.
Ou Soku had killed a man for the first time.
His first reaction was shock. He wasn’t as skilled at using ranged weapons as Ri Shun, whom he’d learned from, but his technique was sufficient to put down a dozen or more trained soldiers.
Is it really this easy to kill someone? Ou Soku thought. He gulped. If he hadn’t used his projectiles when he had, he would be dead. He was as easy to kill as everyone else.
The East and West Barracks devolved into chaos and violence as senior officers who supported Zhang Deyi were executed by rebellious soldiers. Thousands of soldiers rallied to Ou Soku. He was immediately recommended as the commander of a new army.
Ou Soku graciously accepted leadership and immediately appointed Rou as his second-in-command. He reorganized the ranks of Beizhou’s army and saw to it that every soldier was equipped and armed out of the city armory.
Before long, the area was completely occupied by Ou Soku’s troops and strict security measures were put in place. The four city gates were closed and key points in the city were fortified by Ou Soku’s troops. They had to prepare for a counterattack from the imperial government. People in the city might riot if they weren’t careful about their activities.
The army was organized and deployed with astonishing speed thanks to the soldiers’ desire for freedom and Ou Soku’s swift grasp of what he needed to do to command them. Although the plan had been worked out beforehand, everything proceeded far more smoothly than he’d anticipated.
But Ou Soku wasn’t done, and for his next step, he had to move quickly.
Ou Soku selected a thousand strong soldiers and personally led them to the nearby government office where Zhang Deyi conducted most of his business. The soldiers were to seize vehicles, horses and supplies from the building.
***
The government office that Ou Soku targeted was located on a large plot of land surrounded by thick stone walls. The office included a formal court, a police station, holding cells, guard barracks, an armory, storehouses and stables. Some local officials had built their homes within the walls.
The security forces protecting the government office numbered in the hundreds. Zhang Deyi’s private residence was guarded by an additional hundred private soldiers. Those soldiers were commanded by Akurai—Ta Sai.
Upon receiving the report of the soldiers’ rebellion, Zhang Deyi ordered the prefect’s judge to convey the information to the Imperial Court, but all his messages were intercepted. Ou Soku’s forces were blocked from further action by the forces commanded by Ta Sai and were left at a standstill, with neither side seizing the upper hand.
***
Just before dawn, a strange wind began to blow.
“They’re here,” Ou Soku said under his breath.
A dozen or more huge black bats swooped down and landed on the roof of the government office. It was the same as in Zhengzhou. Ou Soku spotted several shadows descending from between the clouds.
Rou came running up to him. “Monsters!” he shouted, pointing to the roof.
“They’re not,” Ou Soku said.
“They’re too big to be crows or bats. What are they?” Lieutenant Rou started to panic. He’d heard rumors about sorcerers massacring people in the countryside—and most recently in Zhengzhou. “Have they come to support the enemy?”
“No, they’re going to storm the government office.”
“So they’re on our side?”
Ou Soku looked up and chuckled. “Not exactly, but they’re about to save us a lot of trouble.”
Entirely unruffled, Ou Soku surveyed the government office with an expression of satisfaction. Jin Sen had threatened him with his shadow blade and he’d barely escaped arrest or worse at Zhengzhou, but his position now was completely different. He had more than six thousand soldiers under his command. The sorcerers numbered only a few dozen. Sei Koko could not risk losing them all and was unlikely to make any rash moves.
That was what Ou Soku was counting on. His plan had been so successful so far that he was starting to get over-confident.
The inside of the government office became organized hell as Ta Sai’s men stood up to defend themselves and were cut down by magic at a distance. The black-clad sorcerers conjured rain, then set it on fire. The few unfortunate guards in range ran screaming with their heads aflame.
Both armies were astonished at the sight of this magic, but Ou Soku only smiled cynically. It was not a particularly surprising trick. The sorcerers had scattered oil from containers carried in their wings, and then set the place on fire. It was easy. There wasn’t anything magical or sorcerous about it.
Jin Sen was in charge and led from the front. Zhang Deyi made an appearance for the morale of his men. As fire rained down on the government office, Ou Soku and his army stood at a distance and watched.
The sudden appearance of sorcerers terrified Zhang Deyi’s guards. The area around Zhang Deyi’s private residence also caught fire, with flames rising in several places. The stage for the coming conflict would be brightly lit.
The sorcerers landed and attacked all at once, shedding their wings and charging toward Zhang Deyi’s guards.
Ta Sai, nicknamed Akurai, planted himself at the head of his force with a huge naginata held out in front of him. He waited for the sorcerers to get close before giving the order to attack. Several weak sorcerers were cut down like idiot dragonflies. 2
“Die, you demons!” Ta Sai shouted at the top of his voice. His large naginata ripped through the air, tearing through a sorcerer’s guts in moments.
But the sorcerer didn’t die.
Ta Sai and his men watched as the sorcerer split into seven copies of himself, all with their guts hanging out, all grinning fiercely with blood in their mouths.
This was Boku Kichi’s multi-body technique. He was no weak sorcerer, and a single blow from Ta Sai’s naginata was not enough to kill him.
“Don’t just stand there,” Ta Sai shouted. “Cut him down! All seven of him!”
***
Flames encroached on Zhang Deyi’s private residence. Servants jumped out of windows and fled. The governor, along with his wife and daughter, had been hiding during most of the battle. Sensing danger, they came out into the garden. Zhang Deyi stood in front of his family in a pose of protection.
Zhang Deyi’s wife and daughter trembled with fear. “What is the cause of this terrible rebellion?” his wife asked. “Evil spirits? Fools who do not fear the authority of the Imperial Court or the gods?”
But Zhang Deyi didn’t know the full details of the rebellion. He knew that Ou Soku was a troublemaker and had assumed that Ta Sai and his army would take care of the problem before it got out of control. He was mostly concerned with his own affairs and paid little attention to the suffering poor that he exploited.
On edge and trying to hide it, Zhang Deyi told himself that the situation would be resolved soon.
“Ta Sai, where are you?” Zhang Deyi asked the empty air.
“He’s waiting for you in hell, you greedy, ignorant buffoon.” Chō Ki drew in a deep breath and released it as an enormous ball of fire that engulfed Zhang Deyi in flames.
Zhang Deyi’s wife and daughter fled: the daughter into the house, the wife to the opposite side of the garden. A short time later, an oxcart carrying the lady of the house and various sundries emerged from the stables.
Chō Ki snorted, then shot a lump of fire at the the oxcart out of his mouth. It burned even faster than he’d expected. The startled oxen began to run wild. The cart came loose, throwing the driver out of the way, and the oxen ran around like mad. Screams rang out from inside the cart and then ceased.
The families of other government officials had also been brutally murdered by Sei Koko’s sorcerers before this. Zhang Deyi was just the latest victim.
Go Saburō ran straight to the room of Zhang Deyi’s daughter. Smoke was creeping into the room from the fires outside. He had heard rumors of the girl’s beauty before her marriage and thought to get a glimpse of her.
The girl was hiding under the bed.
“I’m a bit impatient for the wedding night part of all this…”
Go Saburō took off his hood. He was naked from the waist down. He slid onto the floor near the young woman.
He jumped up and away, startled.
The girl had been stabbed in the throat with a dagger and was already dead.
“So wasteful,” Go Saburō grumbled. He stripped the lower half of her body. She had just died, so her body was still warm and pliant as if she were alive. The hair on her head and her private areas shone in the light of the fire.
Go Saburō plunged his throbbing member into her in one thrust.
***
The morning sun broke over the government office, shining down pitiless on the the corpses of Ta Sai’s soldiers and Sei Koko’s weak sorcerers.
Ta Sai had survived the night. He was covered in blood and in a terrible state, but he still faced down Jin Sen without flinching. Jin Sen had created two blades out of shadow. They hung in the air to either side of him as he squared off against Ta Sai.
Both sides knew that Zhang Deyi was already dead, but they were fighting men and had their pride. They were not going to retreat while the battle was ongoing.
Ta Sai swung his huge naginata down.
Jin Sen blocked the blow with the shadow blade to his left, but the recoil caused the shadow blade on his right side to fly away into the air.
Ta Sai sneered in contempt. He hadn’t thought he’d be able to settle this encounter with a single blow.
Jin Sen retrieved his left shadow blade and held it defensively in front of him. As Ta Sai lifted his huge weapon, the right shadow blade cut through the air behind Ta Sai and spun. Jin Sen beckoned to the shadow blade, which caused it to surge forward and stab Ta Sai in the neck. There was a sickening splintering noise, and then Ta Sai’s head rolled off. His body sank into a sea of his own blood.
The prefecture’s judge managed to escape the massacre with the governor’s seal in hand. He’d climbed over the high wall of the government office during the attack, while everyone was distracted. Most of the governor’s private residence was a burned-out ruin.
Sei Koko’s surviving sorcerers stood in front of a government warehouse in a line. They weren’t wearing their hoods anymore. Occupying the government office was tantamount to occupying Beizhou Castle. There was no doubt that the people of Beizhou had been liberated from oppression. Even if the sorcerers were not supporters of the True Divine Immortal Spiritual Religion, which was hugely popular, they would have been greeted as liberators by the common people of the city. There was no need to hide their faces with hoods any longer.
Translator's Notes
1 弥勒菩薩: The First Emperor of Qin's tomb is known for its vast army of terra cotta warriors, many of which survive intact to this day. The tomb was completed in 210 BCE and took decades of forced labor to build. ↩
2 In Japanese, dragonflies are sometimes caused samurai insects because they can only go forward and cannot back up or retreat. The image here is of the weak sorcerers pitching themselves headlong at a trained army and getting swiftly slaughtered.↩
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