Chapter 189 The Ming Dynasty Murong Hai (1/2)
As soon as the words escaped from the man who was carrying his child, the Taoist priest and I were immediately stunned. Redeem your children?! ”What do you mean?” The puzzled Taoist priest sputtered, and the man began disclosing the truth.
War was ravaging the lands and the hundreds of thousands of Ming soldiers who were powerless to repel the Northern barbarians and rebels had instead taken to torturing the common people. The wretched armies, instead of protecting the people, had come to rob and plunder and had taken the children of Wu Zhong County with them when they retreated to Fengrun District. Then they delivered letters of demand to the parents of the children, demanding ransom. Worse, the children would be slaughtered if the parents were late in delivering the ransom. Those that I saw leaving the city with sullen looks on their faces were those who were on their way to Fengrun to redeem their children. Those whom I saw on their way back, but with empty wagons or baskets, were those who had failed to amass enough money or those whose children had been brutally slain because of being late. It was pitiful that these poor peasants had to give up and scrounge for every ounce of gold and silver that they could to reclaim their offsprings.
As they spoke, I listened and heard the man saying, ”The end is not long ahead for the Ming Empire. It will fall anytime soon...” ”I see, so this is somewhere near 1640,” I finally realized the time. That would mean this was somewhere during Li Zicheng's siege of Beijing. Wait, so this was also when Bian Dashou was secretly decreed to destroy Li Zicheng's dragon leys! It was the eventide of Chongzhen Emperor's reign at the eventide of the once-glorious Ming Dynasty where the Emperor's rule was marred with long years of war and turmoil, and the corruption and decadence found rife in the Ming Court was definitely not helping! In the end, the imperial government had wantonly lost what dignity and prestige it once held, and resorted to the depraved measures of robbing the people!
A vein throbbed on the Taoist priest's forehead as he listened to the man's plight. Despite his best attempts to repress any emotions, his eyes flared with fury and the intent to shed blood! The air of sternness and restraint percolated from his very person that just by standing beside him, I could feel his powers and rage churning inside him! ”Who is he?!” I asked myself curiously.
But just when I still wondering about him, the Taoist priest gave a bow to the man, turned, and left. I scampered at his heels but I found that I was having a hard time keeping up to him. His brisk, long strides, although looking ordinary like how Zhu Mei normally walked, was forceful and strong! He retreated quickly into the depths of the forest and rose into the sky, surrounded by the iridescent clouds swirling around him. With him, the drowning mood of pressure and sternness went with him. But seeing him fly made me anxious. But just when I tried to keep up with him, I flew! With just a simple urge in my mind, I could fly! And so, I took into the air after the priest, following close at the rear of the tendrils of colorful opalescence roiling behind him.
”Oh my God! So this is what flying is!” I almost screamed. In truth, I had once before experienced flying, but the ordeal was hardly as enjoyable and gratifying as this!
We pressed North for Heaven knew how long and I finally saw with my own eyes how pathetic and tragic was life for the common folk caught up in the turmoil of war and chaos! The mass of iridescence stopped in mid-air before me; the Taoist mage was pausing for a look. Then I looked down to see what interested him. It was a battle between two armies. From the liveries and raiments, one of them was the army of the Ming Empire while the other was the northerners dressed in furry wraps: the bannermen of the future Qing Empire! But instead of having the size of a detachment from a formal army, the latter looked more like a band of brigand or highwaymen. Anyway, before I could make sense of it, the Taoist mage, still shrouded in his vividly-hued luminescence, tore off towards West.
I chased after him and we continued flying for some time. For one of the many times since I saw him, I could feel that the Taoist mage noticed my presence. But instead of warding me off, he seemed to be leading me somewhere as if intent on showing me something.
Then he stopped and landed and so did I. It was already morning after a few days of flying. The iridescent clouds descended and the Taoist mage reassumed his human form. His appearance was still the same, although his clothing was completely different. This time, he was richly-dressed in the outfit of a nobleman or a wealthy merchant. Then I noticed that we had landed in a remote spot somewhere in the corner of a town and there was no one else around. The priest looked around and he began walking out into the open, moving towards the town's market.
The priest sauntered about idly across the market square, wandering around listlessly until he finally stopped after so many rounds in front of a local tavern. ”What's this? Is he hungry?” He went in before I realized it and went up to the second floor. A waiter came to him and addressed him warmly, ”This way please, sir...” But the priest cut him off wordlessly, pointing instead to a room that looked like a private lounge. The waiter respectfully withdrew and the priest quietly moved towards the lounge.
He stretched an arm towards the door and rapped it thrice. Then a male voice came from the other side, ”Yes.” It was just a curt reply, with nothing more. But the simple, one-syllable word that came from the other side of the door almost made me faint! It was a voice that I had heard for decades, a voice that I could never be any more familiar with. A voice that could only belong to Father!