Vol 2 Chapter 4 (1/2)
Ji Jiang IV
The city of Linzi bustled with activity. Reed pipes blasted and harps struck songs, and lutes resounded brilliantly. c.o.c.kfights, hunting hounds, liubo, cuju[1]... there was every kind of entertainment. The black-robed man watched it all through the thin curtain of yellow gauze as the carriage procession made its way through the crowds, melancholy creeping into his gaze.
On the roads outside of the city, a group of riders galloped forth like lightning. Hooves struck rapid drumbeats against the earth, sending a yellow dragon of dust flying in their wake.
Ji Jiang yelled: “Your Highness, why are you in such a hurry?”
Ahead of her, the King of Qi replied without turning his head: “That trick of luring the tiger away from its mountain won’t last long. He’ll soon realize. We have to stay ahead of him.”
His words did nothing to resolve Ji Jiang’s puzzlement. The King of Qi said nothing else, only whipped his horse on faster.
In Linzi, amidst the rumble of carts and the clamor of voices, someone suddenly shouted: “Mad Kuai is here, Mad Kuai is here!”
The crowds parted, allowing a disheveled man with an erratic gait to pa.s.s. He was gleefully singing something strange and off-key; a swarm of children followed him, singing along, although it was clear that none of them understood the lyrics.
In the carriage, the black-robed man stiffened in recognition. He knew that old song: “O phoenix, o phoenix! Why does your virtue fade? What’s pa.s.sed cannot be stopped, oh, but what’s to come can yet be chased...”[2]
Suddenly, the madman rushed to the King of Qi’s carriage and leapt against the window. “Your Highness,” he said quietly. “I’m not mad, but you are, and I don’t want to be buried with you. How else can I save myself besides feigning insanity? Your Highness, how I long for the king you used to be. Ai, you were so brilliant, so resolute...” Deep in thought, the black-robed man watched his guards pull the madman away.
Kuai Che laughed skyward, shoving aside the guards, and sang on. “Enough! Enough! Today’s governing men beware! Haha--” Laughing and singing, he left. The children followed, clapping and imitating him: “Enough! Enough! Today’s governing men beware...”
The carriage proceeded for a little longer before the black-robed man’s expression suddenly darkened. He jumped up, shoved aside the carriage door, and seized the nearest guard by the lapels. “Where’s your king? Where did he go?”
At last, they arrived at the foot of Zhifu mountain, at the edge of the sea.
The riders dismounted, exhausted and soaked with sweat. Ji Jiang, too, was tired, but foremostly excited. She stood at the sea’s edge, spread her arms wide, and welcomed the winds that blew in from the sea. She took deep breaths of that familiar, salt-tinged air, her heart filled with boundless joy.
A few white clouds drifted along the sky; seabirds wheeled above the waters, calling to one another. Ji Jiang sighed. “Ai, I’d never appreciated the sea back when I lived on the coast. It took long years in Linzi to realized how much I missed it.”
The King of Qi was busy at her side. “Can you check the winds for me?”
Surprised, Ji Jiang said: “Check the winds? Your Highness, what...” Turning, she saw that the King of Qi had unbound the wooden case he’d brought with him. It lay on the ground, open, revealing three dark, awl-shaped objects placed side by side. They shone like metal, but she couldn’t tell what metal they were made of. A few strangely-shaped components lay beside them, baffling to the eye.
The King of Qi took out one of the awl-shaped objects and began to a.s.semble it with efficient movements. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how to read the wind direction.”
“Of course not,” said Ji Jiang. “But...”
“Then do it for me,” said the King of Qi. “What’s the wind speed and direction? Will it change within the hour?” The King of Qi’s hands continued their work without pause.
Ji Jiang looked at the King of Qi, puzzled. She raised her head and watched at the movement of the clouds for a while, then squinted at the height of the waves. “Your Highness, are you going out to sea? With today’s wind, I don’t think you can go very fast even with sails unfurled all the way. It’s a west wind, with a little bit of a northern slant, very weak. It won’t change anytime in the next six hours.”
“Very good,” the King of Qi said. “Move to the side a little.” The King of Qi had finished erecting the strange, dark object so that it pointed toward the sky above the sea.
Ji Jiang said: “Your Highness, what is this?”
The King of Qi said: “The Trace-Dragging sword.” He gestured towards Ji Jiang. “Stand a little further away, a little further, right, like that. Tell the guards to stand there too. Tell them to watch the road. If they see the Guest of Canghai, intercept him. Don’t let him near me.”
Ji Jiang said: “The Guest of Canghai? That black-robed man? Didn’t you arrange for him to tour Linzi? Why would he be here?”
“He’ll come,” the King of Qi said. “He’s not particularly smart, but he’s lived through too much. He has sharper intuition than most. If I’ve guessed correctly, he’s not far from here by now...”
The more Ji Jiang heard, the more puzzled she grew. Suddenly, she startled-- hoofbeats sounded in the distance! In that direction, she indeed spotted a lone rider galloping closer. The breath in her lungs turned to ice-- despite the distance, she could see that the man on the horse wore black robes. Ji Jiang turned to look uncertainly at the King of Qi, but he didn’t seem to have noticed. He still knelt on the ground, making final, minute adjustments to the “Trace-Dragging Sword.”
The hoofbeats sounded crisper and crisper, closer and closer. She could see the black-robed man’s face now, the face of the Guest of Canghai.
The King of Qi continued working. The black-robed man, riding at full gallop, was at last close enough to see what the King of Qi was doing, and his expression contorted in shock. “What are you doing? Stop! Stop right now!”
The King of Qi didn’t even raise his head. “Shoot his horse!” he growled.
The guards raised their bows and nocked their arrows.
“Stop!” The black-robed man called. “Sto--”
With a flurry of whistling noises, ten arrows. .h.i.t the horse beneath him in unison. The horse screamed, bucked, threw the black-robed man to the ground. It struggled, then collapsed.
Ji Jiang didn’t have the time to recover from her surprise before she heard a low, sudden roar. The ground shook beneath her feet. She spun around, and saw that the sleek, dark Trace-Dragging sword had flown into the air, trailing white behind it, soaring across the sea.
Ji Jiang and the guards watched, stunned. Behind them, the black-robed man cried: “No!” He crawled up from the ground and rushed toward the King of Qi. The guards, recovering, hurried to block him.
The black-robed man struggled furiously, unable to free himself. “Are you mad? Do you realize what you’re doing?”
The first Trace-Dragging sword soon disappeared into the distance. The King of Qi peered in its direction for a while, then began to a.s.semble the second one. His hands worked faster than before with the speed of practice.
Straining, the black-robed man screamed: “Stop! Hurry and stop! You madman! Do you wish to die?”
Ji Jiang looked at the black-robed man, his formerly cold face now filled with fear and rage, his eyes bulging and frantic. He looked like an utterly different person from before. She laughed humorlessly. “Madman? You’re the one who looks like a madman here.”
The black-robed man hurriedly turned towards her. “You don’t know what your master is doing! He’s seeking death! Hurry and stop him! Stop him!”
“I don’t know what His Highness is doing,” Ji Jiang said coldly, “but I believe that whatever he’s doing is correct.”
The black-robed man, enraged and frantic, said: “No! No! He’s wrong, wrong! You saw the power of that Trace-Dragging Sword, didn’t you? That wasn’t made by the hands of men. A G.o.d granted it to him. And he’s using it to--”
A second Trace-Dragging Sword rose into the air, flying in the same direction as the first.
“Ah!” the black-robed man shouted in despair. “No!” The guards gripped his arms like iron. He could only look at Ji Jiang, pleading desperately: “Stop your master! Hurry and stop him! Stopping him is saving him, he has no idea what he’s doing, he’s mad! Hurry and stop him! Hurry and save him!”
The King of Qi began to a.s.semble the third Trace-Dragging Sword.
Ji Jiang looked at the King of Qi, and shook her head determinedly. “No matter what he does, he must have his reason for it. It’s just like his battles-- he always arranges things beforehand in ways that other people don’t understand, but the results always prove him right in the end.”
The black-robed man said: “But this time, he’s absolutely wrong! If you don’t stop him, you’ll regret it! You’ll regret it for all your life! Believe me! Stop him! Hurry and stop him!” Ji Jiang didn’t move.
The third Trace-Dragging Sword rose into the air.
The black-robed man suddenly stilled, fell silent. He raised his head and calmly watched the Trace-Dragging Sword fly into the distance.
The Trace-Dragging Sword flew further and further, appeared smaller and smaller, until it finally disappeared beyond the horizon.
The seabirds returned to their graceful flight above the waters; the waves gently lapped at the rocky sh.o.r.eline as before. The sea was still and perfectly normal, as if nothing had happened.
The black-robed man murmured: “I told you you were seeking death. Did you really think that no one had tried to destroy him in all those years? But he’s a G.o.d! Doom is certain to all who choose to oppose him. No one will ever succeed.”
The King of Qi watched the sea. “I doubt it! Here, I’m not using the power of mere mortals to confront him, but his own power.”
The sea was as calm as before.
“Fool!” said the black-robed man. If he can make the spear, he can make the s.h.i.+eld, too. Did you think your little ploy could harm him?”
Suddenly, the corners of the King of Qi’s mouth lifted. In the distance, where sky met sea, a wisp of something shadowy and insubstantial rose. At first, it was so faint that it strained the eye to see. But that wisp of black gradually grew, spread, until it stained that patch of sky to ashen gray. The others followed the King of Qi’s line of sight, surprised but puzzled. Then a low, continuous growl like thunder emanated from that direction. Ji Jiang heard, and her heart lurched.
The King of Qi exhaled slowly, the tension completely gone from his face. He turned to the black-robed man and waved at his guards. “Let him go-- did you think I used the Trace-Dragging Swords directly against his snug hideout? I used them on the island itself!”
The black-robed man said: “What... what did you say?”
The corner of the King of Qi’s mouth lifted further. “Three Trace-Dragging Swords can’t destroy a normal island, but this is a volcanic island.”
Another series of roiling noises. Ji Jiang turned her gaze toward the sea.
The muscles in the black-robed man’s face contorted terribly. “You... you...”
The King of Qi said: “I’ve never liked to pit myself against an enemy’s strong point in battles. I like to borrow outside help, and the power of heaven and earth is the mightiest outside help of all. Once they activate, they can destroy anything from men to G.o.ds.”
The black-robed man roared in rage and leapt forward like a wild beast. He hit the King of Qi’s face, hard. The King of Qi staggered backwards, several steps, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His startled guards rushed forth to seize the black-robed man.
Struggling, the black-robed man roared: “You’re not human! You’re an animal! A demon! You’ll pay for biting the hand that fed you!”
The King of Qi wiped the blood from his mouth. “I apologize,” he said calmly, “for destroying your home. But I think I did right by you. I tried to keep you in Linzi so you wouldn’t return to the island and meet the same fate as that thing.”
“Did right by me?” the black-robed man hissed, exhausted. “You call this doing right by me? Did I ask for you to ‘do right by me’ thus?”
The King of Qi said: “You’re a human being. It isn’t. I didn’t want you to meet the same fate as it.”
The black-robed man said: “Absurd! Absurd...”
The King of Qi sighed. “You followed it all these years. Did you really not realize at all? Very well, then, I ask you, in these eighteen hundred years, has it ever allowed you to see its body underneath those white robes?”
The black-robed man said: “That has nothing to do with you! I know he was born with a body different from ours! He’s a G.o.d. Of course he’s different from us--”
The King of Qi said: “No, it wasn’t a G.o.d. It was a creature of a cla.s.s far different from ours, and far more powerful. Did you notice, when it walked...”
The black-robed man said: “Bulls.h.i.+t! Nonsense! You’re a madman! You think yourself clever--”
Ji Jiang suddenly gave a little scream. “Be quiet, everyone!”
The two of them, surprised, turned to look at her.
“You all...” Ji Jiang’s voice shook. “Do you smell that?”
“Smell what?” the King of Qi asked.
Ji Jiang said frantically: “That stench of fis.h.!.+”
Once she mentioned it, the others quickly realized that the wind from the sea now reeked of something salty and harsh and almost imperceptibly sulfurous.
Ji Jiang looked at the sea, and her expression slowly changed to one of horror.
The sea was calm like before-- perhaps too calm. The seabirds from before had disappeared, every one of them, leaving the sky eerily empty. At the horizon, a thin, white band had appeared, and it was getting closer, getting taller
Something changed in the black-robed man’s expression. “What’s going on? Why is the tide coming in now, of all times?”
Ji Jiang murmured: “It’s not a tide--” She suddenly raised her voice: “Tsunami! It’s a tsunami!”
The others could now see it too, as that white line thickened further, and revealed itself to be a long, rus.h.i.+ng wall of waves. Their expressions changed to one of fear; even the black-robed man and the King of Qi forgot their earlier argument.
Suddenly, someone yelled: “Hurry! Run away!” Several men rushed toward their horses.
“No!” Ji Jiang called. “We can’t outrun a tsunami! Hurry and climb the mountain! Climb Zhifu mountain!” Alerted by her words, the others rushed towards the mountain.
Along this region, the flanks of Zhifu Mountain rose steep and hostile. The group had abandoned all their unnecessary belongings, but they still strained for breath as they climbed. Their hearts raced, partly from the strenuous activity, mostly out of fear, but no one spoke. The thickening salt-stench in the sea wind sent them s.h.i.+vering
Gradually, the wind began to carry something else: a low rumble, as if demons in the depth of the sea were beating countless oxhide drums in unison. The sound shook their hearts yet further. Someone turned to look, and cried out in surprise. The white band from before had turned into a towering wall of water, stretching from horizon to horizon like a giant serpent cutting across the surface of the sea.
“Don’t look,” the King of Qi growled. “Hurry and climb!”
Ji Jiang had slowly fallen toward the back of the pack, but she gritted her teeth and kept silent, scrambling upward. Suddenly, a wind-worn rock broke off beneath her feet, and she was stepping on air. She cried out. Swift of eye and hand, the King of Qi grabbed her wrist and pulled her up. Broken bits of rock skittered off the edge, but the King of Qi didn’t bother to look. Wordlessly, he pulled her in front of himself and pushed her on.
A third of the way from the mountaintop, the roar of the waves already sounded as if they came from terrifyingly close by. Someone couldn’t resist turning for another look, and saw that the wall of waves was already ten feet high, advancing so quickly that the waves barely tilted forward, refusing to collapse.
The wall of waves grew in height yard by yard, encroached upon the sh.o.r.e li by li.
Seventy li, sixty, fifty... twenty, ten, five...
At last, when the waves were barely three or four li from sh.o.r.e, the group reached the mountaintop. Breathing sighs of relief, they stood or sat, exhausted, watching the sea.
The sea had become a sinister scene: that arcing wall of water was now tens of feet high, a bird of impossible scale diving toward them with wings spread wide. The roar of the sea, too, now deafened the ears, greater than the thunder of ten thousand cavalry.
With a mighty roar, the terrible bird engulfed the entire coast, threw itself against the bulk of Zhifu Mountain...
A very, very long time later, the tsunami began to fade. The group felt as if their ears still resounded with the endless roar, unable to tell the real thing apart from the ringing of their ears. The foot of the mountain was surrounded by endless waters.
“I’ve never seen a tsunami so terrible.” Ji Jiang had slumped to the ground. “Thankfully, Zhifu Mountain was still tall enough.”
The King of Qi walked over to her and crouched down. He patted her hand gently. “Good work, Ji Jiang. Your quick thinking saved us all.”
Ji Jiang suddenly flung herself against his shoulder, sobbing. “Your Highness, what just happened, exactly? What’s going on?”