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, Kai Hei
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 governor 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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