The Sorceress' Revolt
Author: Toriumi Jinzō
Translator: Ainikki the Archivist
Ko Biji's Story
Part Three: Ko Biji
After about a month, Tanshi was able to stand and
walk with the help of his pewter staff. This was the result of Ko
Biji's careful nursing. He went out into the forest around the hut
with Ko Biji under a crisp autumn blue sky. The mountain forest wore
its brightest colors, and the peace all around made Hakūn-do Cave seem
like nothing but a terrifying dream.
Tanshi turned his sights on Mount Yunmeng, but it
wasn't visible from here. Another peak blocked the mountain from his
sight.
En Kō must be the guardian of the
Heavenly Book. He said that he would kill anyone who entered Hakūn-do
Cave. Did someone else order him to do that? En Kō is... some kind of
monster. An ancient monster. How old is he? He said that he struck
down a servant of the First Emperor, thirteen hundred years ago...
En Kō had called the Heavenly Book "Iwakagami."
That was what he'd said. The First Emperor had heard rumors of the
book and sent people to retrieve it. Hakūn-do Cave was a real place;
Tanshi was still getting used to that idea.
Ko Biji ran through the trees, carrying a long
wooden stick. Her movements were smooth and precise; Tanshi found it
difficult not to stare. Ko Biji's educated speech meant that she must
have spent some time in the cities, but that was difficult to imagine
as she ran hither and yon all over the mountain, clearly enjoying
herself. She had a wealth of knowledge about the mountain's edible
plants and medicines.
I've never seen a person run like this... but the fox near Chō Kin's
home moved like that, Tanshi thought.
Wielding her wooden stick, Ko Biji chased a hare
out of a bush. The stick flew from her hands and impaled the hare
straight through.
Tanshi stood there, stunned.
***
One day, when Tanshi was able to
walk freely without relying on a cane, the two went down to the
valley to catch fish. The setting sun shone brightly behind the
mountain, casting its edges in a golden glow. Ko Biji cooked their
fish over a fire.
Tanshi wasn't very used to eating
fish, but he was getting used to the smell. Fish was good for his
recovery, and he ate it without complaint.
Tanshi rolled up the sleeves
of his robe, went into the water, and stretched out his hands.
The cool water felt good on his overheated skin. When he felt
movement about his hands, he pulled.
"I caught one! It's... a carp!"
Tanshi called out.
Ko Biji heard him call out and rushed
to the side of the river, half-hidden in the shadows of sunset. She
was naked, running at top speed.
"Ah!" Tanshi closed his eyes. He'd
never seen Ko Biji naked before. He could hear her moving, but did not
open his eyes.
He couldn't stay blind forever.
Tanshi opened his eyes and turned around in a circle. Ko Biji was
nowhere to be found. "Where did she go?"
When he turned around again, Ko Biji
was waving at him from a bamboo grove. He couldn't see her clearly,
but she was still at least half-naked. She laughed.
***
The mystery surrounding Ko Biji
haunted Tanshi's thoughts. His health was recovered, and he should be
able to go down the mountain again, but Ko Biji never mentioned him
leaving. Tanshi enjoyed many things about his current situation, but
there were times when he became downhearted, since he was stuck and
had made no progress on his quest. As the days passed, however, he
gave himself over to enjoyment and peace, and was contented.
In contrast, the happier Tanshi
became, the more depressed Ko Biji seemed to be. She talked less, and
only when she had to, and she spoke to him as she would a stranger.
Tanshi was aware of these changes, but he did not understand
them.
This unnatural attitude between them
could not last. Tanshi and Ko Biji had lived together in isolation on
the mountain for over a month. If they weren't yet friends, they did
at least share a sense of mutual respect.
One night, the wind howled outside
the hut, making the sea of trees around it rustle like waves on a
perturbed sea. Tanshi and Ko Biji shared a meal in silence, warming
themselves by the fire. The fire had burned down quite a bit, but
neither of them moved to add more wood.
Tanshi steeled himself and faced Ko
Biji squarely. "Um..." He tried to say more, but nothing came
out.
"What is it?" Ko Biji asked. She
smiled at him.
It had been a few days since Tanshi
had last seen Ko Biji smile. The sight gave him the courage to try
again. "Don't take this the wrong way, but... who are you,
really?"
"What a question," Ko Biji said.
"What do you mean?"
"You're not a normal woman. You can
see, even in total darkness."
"I told you that I was born from a
fox," Ko Biji said.
"Be serious," Tanshi said. "Tell me
the actual truth."
"I did," Ko Biji said gravely.
"You know a great deal about herbal
medicine," Tanshi said.
"Because I live in the
mountains."
"You can fight."
"I must protect myself."
"You know about Daoism."
"Everyone knows a little about
that."
"Where did you train?"
Ko Biji didn't answer. Her face went
pale, and she regarded him with sad eyes.
Tanshi was lost in questions, in
mystery. "Ko Biji..."
Still she said nothing. She tried to
pacify him with silence and gestures, but now that his curiosity was
fully awakened, he could not be deflected.
"Ko Biji, please. Give me a real
answer." His voice was stern and forbidding.
"I am... a terrible person," Ko Biji
said.
"Terrible? You?" Tanshi looked at
her, incredulous. "There's nothing terrible about you."
Ko Biji looked at him with
frustration in her gaze.
"If you don't tell me, I'll never
understand," Tanshi said, stern again.
Ko Biji nodded to herself as if she'd
just had a profound thought. "Please don't return to Yunmeng
Mountain."
This was a non sequitur. What did
Yunmeng Mountain have to do with Ko Biji being a terrible
person?
"Do not go back to Hakūn-do Cave," Ko
Biji said.
Tanshi stared at her. He hadn't
spoken to her about his intention to return to the cave. "I still
don't understand. What does Hakūn-do Cave have to do with you?
Nothing."
"Something," Ko Biji
said.
"What?"
"If you go back there, you'll die,"
Ko Biji said.
"Are you staying here and keeping an
eye on me so that I won't go?"
No answer.
"What does Hakūn-do Cave have to do
with you?"
"Tanshi, stop." She threw herself
down onto the floor of woven rushes and lowered her head to avoid
Tanshi's gaze.
There was a silence: awkward,
lengthy.
Tanshi couldn't ignore or dismiss Ko Biji. Not easily. She'd saved
him from the brink of death. In an attempt to calm himself, Tanshi
retrieved more wood for the fire and watched it burn.
In a voice barely heard, Tanshi said,
"I am searching for the Heavenly Book, and the Way of Shattering
Earth. I've seen it--it is carved into a rock inside the cave. I must
have it. It's... my entire life's purpose is for that book."
Ko Biji looked up at him. Her lower
lip trembled, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "You will not
return alive," she said.
"Ko Biji."
She was trembling. To her, Tanshi
seemed like a proud and vainglorious child, impervious to
reason.
"I hear you," Tanshi said. "I'll be
careful. I'll approach the cave from a different direction this
time."
"The rock bridge is the only way to
the cave." She seemed familiar with
the environs of Yunmeng Mountain. Perhaps she'd explored it like a
wild fox, but now didn't seem like the right time to ask her about
that. "Will you still go?" she asked. A tear fell down her
cheek.
"I will," Tanshi said without
hesitation. "But I know what I'm doing this time. Please don't worry
about me." He reached out to wipe her tears away.
"Tanshi..." She pulled him into a
tight hug. When she drew back a little, she looked him in the eyes and
kissed him.
Ko Biji was still a mystery, and
Tanshi was resolved to return to Hakūn-do Cave. Nothing had changed,
but love unexpressed would be a regret if Tanshi never returned.
Tanshi placed his hand over Ko Biji's
heart. She looked up at him briefly, then cast aside her garment,
leaving her chest bare. Her skin was a dazzling white; Tanshi was
enraptured by the sight of her, as he had been when she'd run naked
through the woods.
Ko Biji pulled him to her again, and
he buried his face in her neck, then lower, losing himself in the
warmth and softness of her breasts. He exhaled on a long sigh, making
a sound he'd never made before. His hands moved to her back, skimming
up and down until her arms wrapped around his waist. He mimicked her,
right hand descending from the top of her shoulders to her bare
hip.
They rolled together, near the fire,
as Tanshi sank into her, warm and wet and feeling like a secret
revealed.
They spoke, wordless, but
communicating everything.
"Tanshi..."
"Ko Biji..."
The fire burned hotter, brighter as
the wind howled like the damned outside.
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