Chapter 37
The White Ape God Prays to the Mystery Girl The Little Fox Witch's Flying Millstone Strikes at the Old Bard

Now, Viceroy Wen thought about that heroine's warning to him of great danger. He only feared that sorcerer agents had infiltrated his camp. And so he ordered a precautionary state of high vigilance and gave his assault troops a few days off, and when three days had uneventfully passed he ordered another attack.

Now, let us take up another matter. As we know, a cult of sorcerers had been holed up in Beizhou City with their gods and ghost troops, practicing their craft with no regard for the limits of mortal time. The evil stench of sorcery finally reached the Palace of Heaven, alarming the Lord of the Universe, the Jade Emperor, who dispatched the Lord of Venus, Morningstar Li to investigate. The starlord then memorialized the Jade Emperor with the entire story of Wang Ze and his circle of sorcerers and others and the history of their revolt.

"The secret writings of Heaven are in White Cloud Cave where there is a White Ape God as guard," replied the Jade Emperor. "The theft of the codes by some mortal has resulted in an incident that has harmed the people, and so collective punishment of all involved is proper and fitting."

"Your servant has learnt that it was not entirely of the sorcerers' doing," answered Starlord Li in a return memorial. "The Emperor Zhenzong of the Zhao family's Song Dynasty had been seduced by the treacherous official Wang Qinruo into accepting three forged "Books of Heaven", causing false claims and accusations against Heaven and hoodwinking the people. Thus did sorcerers and witches compete for support among the people, brewing into a sorcerers' feud. And then there was the strange appearance and death of a sorceress fox deep inside the palace, which definitely augured revolt and chaos in the world. Our Board of Astronomy failed to predict that the heavenly writings of White Cloud Cave would come to light and that the resulting sorcery would spread down to the present day, emboldening that fox's party to bring about this catastrophe. It was all enumerated by Fate and none of the fault lies with the White Ape God. The writings of Heaven were actually stolen by one Bonze Dan, the 'dan' meaning egg. He took the oath required of one fated to receive the laws and the White Ape God is not guilty of anything."

"Who is this 'Bonze Dan' anyway?" asked the Lord of Heaven.

"Many years ago a fine girl of twelve began a life of cultivation as a nun," continued Starlord Li. "For thirty years she had not broken her vows when suddenly she met a beautiful drake by a lotus pond. His mating dance aroused her desire for the beast and she became pregnant as a result. Thirteen months passed without giving birth. Then one day while she was passing by Mt Yinghui she suddenly felt an itching in her belly and laid a huge egg right there and then. She threw it into the Yinghui temple pond, where a monk picked it up and gave it to a hen to sit on until it hatched into a little boy. Since his tender years he was only trained, dressed and shaved as a monk and got that name of his. He grew into a brave man with fierce sense of justice, eager to cultivate good and wipre out evil. But he also loved Dao with all his heart and after hearing that White Cloud Cave had the secret laws of Heaven written in it he journeyed there and after three bitter years managed to copy the seventy-two lines of code of Earth's deepest secrets. Then he begged an old fox spirit hag by the name of Holy Auntie to explain the meaning of it all to him, and as a result he joined her and her son in conducting alchemy Now, the fox girl Hu Yong'r had been predestined to marry Wang Ze in that reincarnation and together with her cabal of sorcerers to aid in his revolt. When Bonze Dan saw the secrets of Heaven being put to such use he remembered his oath and stopped participating at once."

The Jade Emperor nodded. He then ordered the Lord of the Planet Venus to get together with the Lords of the Stars of Happiness, Rewards and Longevity and conduct a thorough audit of Wang Ze's destiny and deeds and submit the results to the Lord of Good and Evil. Now, come to think of it we have all told our share of lies, and human beings are as numerous as grains of sand on a river bottom. If the book keeper of Heaven fills his account ledgers with all of our lives' deeds over all of our years can you imagine how many rooms they would all take up? Every day so many are born and so many die, being added or stricken off; while millions of clerks working feverishly can never keep up with all the suffering, the Lords of the Three Lucky Stars are not busy at all. Why, in one day of one person's life there are hundreds of good and bad deeds. How can the Lord of Good and Evil ever deal with so much information? Well, dear reader, there are some things you can never know. For example, the generations of common folk with ordinary Fates and no position number in the millions. The sum of the sufferings and misfortunes, large and small, of the accumulated lives of all the people who have ever lived through peace and chaos, good harvests and bad is as inestimable as the weight of a mountain. And yet even the lowest and poorest person in a former life has his case reviewed in Highest Heaven and his Fate consequently directed upwards or downwards according to his deeds. And the cases of extremely fine or evil people are recorded there as well, their names being entered in a special ledger of good and evil. Accordingly, the Fate of our hayseed "Emperor" was shortened, for as vast as the world appears or as minute as one life might seem, how can the Palace of Heaven not have a record of him? God knows everything, and that's that.

Now, Wang Ze had originally been destined by the complex workings of Fate for rebirth in China as a devil king every five hundred years, as either man or woman, with an appetite for lewdness, killing and inciting others to carry out evil. After finding fault with some bad official he would stir up a revolt and disturb the balance of the cosmos. Such a devil can only be restrained by a truly enlightened leader. Those forged books of Emperor Zhenzong's time had mocked Heaven with ghost tales and fermented all sorts of disorders, planting the roots of sorcery, causing the birth of Wang Ze and bringing together the constituent actors in his destiny. Fortunately, though, it was the fairy named Barefoot in disguise who was ruling the empire then and he was assisted by the stars regardless of the crookedness of his civil and military officials, and so no great harm came of it. Now, Wang Ze's previous incarnation was as old Queen Wu Zetian, who received really excessive blessings of success and longevity. Although this time around he was a male, everything he did was to be destroyed and after a reign of thirteen years his life was to be ended by the Lord of the Star of Longevity at the age of forty. And just who was the Lord of the Star of Longevity? Why, none other than Viceroy Wen Yanbo himself! In his former existance during the Tang his name had been Zhang Jianzhi, and he had possessed consumate literary and martial talents. He had no chance to serve until Di Renjie, the Duke of Liang, recommended him for office as Prime Minister. He then ordered the palace guards to wipe out Wu Zetian and restore the Li family to the throne, but later died under censure after Emperor Zhongzong had abdicated.

Now, the Lord in Heaven took pity on him and appointed his soul as the Lord of the Star of Longevity, to enjoy great wealth, admiration and long life in successive worldly posts. During the Five Dynasties he returned to earth as Feng Yingwang, and and in the Song as Wen Yanbo. All three were public servants of the highest stature who each lived to a hundred years of age. It was he who put down Wu Zetian's usurpation, and now Wang Ze's rebellion called for another of his accomplishments. There is no avoiding the ordinances of Heaven!

Now as we have learnt Wang Ze had been destined to rule for thirteen years. Having already been on his throne for over five years his time was now nearly half up. However, during his reign the living souls he had murdered numbered in the hundreds of thousands, many husbands and wives had been torn apart and a heroine had been driven to suicide, and so because his record of evil deeds had become so serious the Minister of Good and Evil cut his remaining time in half. But within three months he began terrorizing the population with executions for state crimes. Starlord Li then consulted with the staff of Heaven and the other Lords and Ministers to memorialize the Jade Emperor.

"It is most fitting to dispose of Wang Ze," said the Lord of the Universe. "But I'm only afraid that Wen Yanbo might not be able to handle the sorcerers!"

"Sorcery has previously been based on bits and pieces of the laws of change," replied Starlord Li. "But now the Secret Book of Heaven is at their disposal and its seventy-two transformations are unlimited. As they were originally stolen from the White Ape God in White Cloud Cave, I await your command to go there and entrust him with the mission of reining in the sorcerers to redeem himself for having leaked the laws."

The Jade Emperor granted the memorial. Starlord Li received the jade credentials and departed Heaven's gate. Pushing aside the tops of the clouds he gazed down on the joss smoke from the white jade incense burner and descended. Now, Yuan Gong was just sitting in his cave cultivating and improving his true self and nature when what should he suddenly see but old Li Taibo himself, down from the planet Venus!

"Starlord!" he exclaimed in great fright, "What brings you to my worldly cave?"

Starlord Li clasped his hands in greeting. "On behalf of the Lord in Heaven," he began, I bear a great task for you to carry out."

"Forgive my ignorance, Excellency, but what might that great task be?"

Starlord Li then told him all about the Beizhou affair. "That circle of sorcerers," he explained, "cast spells with magic heretical charms, all transmitted from the walls of White Cloud Cave. The Jade Emperor wanted you to answer for laxness in guarding them, but I successfully asked him to allow you to redeem yourself by subduing the sorcerers."

Yuan Gong's hands and feet began trembling. "I'm not very good with a sword at all and I surely haven't got the strength to defeat sorcerers and demons. I'm afraid I'd fail at such an important thing!"

"There's a way out of that problem," said the starlord. "You must call for the Mystery Girl, Xuan Nyu, Queen of Ninth Heaven and then you'll find the solution."

Yuan Gong kowtowed in grateful apppreciation and saw the starlord off. He then lit some of the old study hall incense that she had left him to signal her with, gazed up into the sky and began worshipping, crying out three times without pause for Ninth Heaven's Mystery Girl, Queen Xuan Nyu.

He then saw only brightly glittering banners trimmed with rich and varied feathers, and Her Holiness appeared to just stop in the middle of the sky. Now, the Queen was the originator of all the secrets of Dao of Ninth Heaven. She had bestowed that special incense upon all of her disciples and whenever they burned it she would come at once, no matter how great the difficulty or short the notice. Yuan Gong kowtowed in the presence of the Queen and told her all about that Imperial command that had been relayed by Morningstar Li. He then prayed earnestly for her dinine sagacity and power to help him prevail,

"Well," she laughed, "it's like this. Viceroy Wen and I are like family, so it's fitting and proper for me to help him succeed in this. But the entire affair began with Bonze Dan taking the secrets and so his help is needed too. He's now living in a hut on Mt Cijin in Daming Fu, Hebei, not far from the rebellion. Let's go over together to see him. You can bring him out to meet me."

That said, she soared off in her cloud chariot with Yuan Gong following, and they quickly arrived on the highest peak of Mt Cijin. Now, that mountain had been a place where fairy jade girls cultivated themselves in antiquity, and it was made entirely of jadeite without a trace of ordinary dirt to be seen. Bonze Dan had fallen in love with its gentle beauty, left the Sweetsprings Temple and went there to construct a dwelling to live in. It was really like this:

Bonze Dan was idly enjoying himself in front of his dwelling when he suddenly lifted his eyes to see an old man, the same hermit who had directed him to White Cloud Cave many years before.

"Old man," he said, " you once helped me when I was lost and confused. I still can't thank you enough! Now that we're lucky enough to have met again, why not come into my hut for a little chat?"

"I've got something to tell you," began the old hermit. "I was the White Ape God all along. I'd been ordered by the Jade Emperor to guard the stone walls of White Cloud Cave and I didn't dare take the job lightly. But when I saw how you came begging those three times and how sincerely you swore the oath I took pity, and so I assisted you a bit in rubbing a copy of the laws. Who could have ever guessed that an old fox spirit would dupe you and create such vast transformations, aiding Wang Ze in rebelling and crowning himself king and then killing hundreds of thousands of people? The stench of sorcery finally rose to Heaven and the Jade Emperor was able to determine that it all came from those stolen laws. Now he has ordered us to take responsibility for punishing the criminals. God's judgement is inescapable, so what else can we do?"

In the end it was clearly going to be Bonze Dan's duty and his heart raced in terror. "If I may ask, old man, where can we turn for help?"

"I've already summoned the holy presence of Xuan Nyu, Queen of Ninth Heaven. If you come together with me to beg of her, such assistance as we need can be arranged."

The bonze's fears changed to a feeling of delight and he clasped his hands gratefully in front of him. "I put my trust entirely in you, old man!" he replied, and together they started climbing to the summit.

Bonze Dan fell to his knees worshipfully upon meeting the Queen. "Though I was honoured with a destiny in faith to encounter the secret writings of Heaven from the left wall of White Cloud Cave," he pleaded, "I did not deceive Heaven by reneging on my oath about causing trouble or harming the people. I've heard that the Lord in Heaven has been shocked and angered and I beg you to save me!",

The Mystery Girl then told Yuan Gong to rise. "On the right wall of the cave are inscribed the orthodox, good and upright secret laws and properties of Heaven's dry solar winds," she began, "while on the left wall are written the heterodox, evil and bent laws of wet cold earth. The sorcerer foxes have been relying on this later set of properties to make trouble and hurt people. We don't have to look too deeply into how those secret charms came into their hands to see that you two are not blameless. Anyway, Viceroy Wen is now commanding a grand army to put them down. If you could only assist the upright and righteous in defeating the bent and evil, such an achievement would more than cover your past crime. It would bring you a full world of blessings!"

"I was in it with them from the very beginning and my powers are only about the same as theirs," replied Bonze Dan. "How can I defeat them?"

"I'll pass you the laws of Heaven's winds, which overpower those of evil. Then they won't be able to carry out their heterodox craft. Even so, those seductive foxes have been around for ages and the tricks they can perform with that evil Dao of theirs are unlimited. As we won't be able to stop them right off we'll have to ask Heaven for its Mirror of Sorcery to reflect their original manifestations before we can have the situation in hand."

Bonze Dan then worshipfully acknowledged Queen Xuan Nyu as his teacher and she taught him Heaven's upright solar wind charms for the defeat of the twisted and evil.

"You are now bound for Beizhou," said the Queen. "Do you wish to reside inside or outside of the city?"

"I've seen how inhumane Wang Ze can be," said Bonze Dan. "I'd like to live in the Sweetsprings Temple outside of Beizhou, without setting foot in the city."

"You are indeed going to reside in the Sweetsprings Temple. I'll personally tell Viceroy Wen to come and see you, so as to begin this three Sui undertaking."

Now, Bonze Dan had no idea what "three Sui" meant and didn't dare ask. He accepted the secret charms and his orders, said farewell, descended the mountain and returned to Beizhou.

"When I lived in the temple before," thought Bonze Dan as he walked, "the other monks all talked about me as one of the sorcerers' cult. I'd better avoid such ugliness this time." He suddenly recalled that that an elderly monk named Zhuge Suizhi had gone off on a pilgrimage to a holy mountain some years before and no more had been heard of him since. The monks all took him for dead and set out a spirit tablet in his place at worship.

"I've seen the little likeness of him that they hung up," he thought. "From his year of birth I reckon he's about seventy-one. Why don't I take his face and mannerisms, and his body too while I'm at it?" He couldn't avoid using a shape-changing charm from those evil seventy-two earth transformations to do it, but after reciting the magic words and rubbing his face he changed into old Bonze Zhuge. As soon as he entered the temple all the monks welcomed him, and when they saw who he now was they were delighted. Young and old pressed in around him, voicing concern about his comfort and asking where he'd been. Bonze Dan answered one after another and his eyes opened wide as the monks swept his room, set out bedding and presented him with welcoming tea and a banquet. He received their expressions of reverence with ease. From then on Bonze Dan lived at Sweetsprings Temple as the old monk Zhuge Suizhi.

Now, Queen Xuan Nyu took Yuan Gong up to the Palace of Heaven to meet the Jade Emperor and apologize for his crime. She then requested and received the Mirror of Sorcery and descended to earth with Yuan Gong, arriving within the borders of Hebei to take up a wandering life among the clouds, just awaiting the time for the crushing of sorcery and quelling of the revolt.

Now let us take up another matter. Recall how the government forces attacked the Beizhou city wall for three days with assault ladders, catapults, scaffolding and rockets. Although they didn't take the city, it wasn't for a lack of effort! When it appeared that the government forces might succeed, the defector Tao Bixian and his trusted confidants met to discuss the danger they would face in the event that the city fell. They plotted to redeem themselves by opening the south gate. They wrote a secret note of their intent to collaborate and tied it to the head of a rocket, waiting until morning to launch it, but the timing was off; it was the fourth day and Viceroy Wen had pulled his army back. Seeing this, some of Tao's co-conspirators broke ranks and sought to curry favour with Wang Ze, taking that note and presenting it to him. Wang was furious and immediately seized Tao Bixian and his circle, tied them up and beheaded them, displaying their heads atop the wall for all to see. The soldiers who had come forth with the note were each granted positons of authority over thousands of households, and later folks have long had this poem about it:

And here's another poem that deals only with the soldiers who conspired when they sensed defeat, then came forth to denounce their fellows upon the enemy's retreat:

When Wang Ze saw how quickly human emotions and loyalties could change he was even more panic stricken. He called Zuo Chu and his wife Hu Yong'r down to the drill ground for a round of discussion.

"King!" said Hu Yong'r. "You needn't worry so because I've got a plan. We simply arrange for Viceroy Wen to die in failure outside of the city. Without their commander those hundred thousand troops will all desert and ride off. How is that?"

"Does my wise Queen work miracles or what?" said Wang Ze. "Arranging his death, scattering his grand cavalry and breaking the seige of our beloved Beizhou, why, what could be better?"

"Is that good enough for you?" Hu Yong'r whispered into Zuo Chu's ear.

"That sure is the best way to disperse the government troops!" laughed Zuo Chu, hands clasped in front of his chest. He then ordered his men to go into the millhouse and bring back the milling wheel. In a little while what should appear but ten men arriving in front of the hall with a large round grindstone! Hu Yong'r ran out and wrote a charm on top of it with a cinnabar brush. Then with a sword in her left hand and a monk's almsbowl in her right she mumbled a charm of secret law through a mouthful of water that she next spit out, shouting "Live!" as she watched it splash atop the wheel. The giant wheel then began whirling left and right, suddenly rising off of the ground in an agitated way and soaring up into the sky just like a little paper kite, taking the wind and streaking out of the city in its course of flight. As Wang Ze and the crowds of people looked up they couldn't help but gasp. And they couldn't help but think...why, whoever even brushed the edge of that giant millstone would perhaps be less a layer of skin. Just imagine what it could do upon falling to earth on somebody; not the smallest bit of a limb would be intact. Needless to say, eighty-year-old Viceroy Wen and his sturdy young lieutenants and maybe ten others would most certainly end up as ground meat cakes at best and the day would be won. "Victory must now be ours!" they thought. And so we leave them standing dumbly, having made sudden use of sorcery and awaiting the sound of success.

And so Viceroy Wen raised his banners and summoned Deputy Cao Wei, Administrative Officer Wang Xin, Vanguard Leader Sun Fu and others to gather and discuss their strategy for the next assault on the city. As they paraded forth a sudden wild wind arose and a giant saucer-shaped object could be seen in the sky, and as they watched in horror it came down and landed right on top of Viceroy Wen's party. A crack of thunder shook Heaven and Earth and everybody looked ashen faced, only thinking that the Viceroy had been killed. But as it happened he had been sitting in his armchair when a man grabbed him around his chest, sheltering and pulling him to safety several paces away. When that millstone came down it smashed the armchair to bits, making an impression in the earth a couple of feet deep. Everyone was now relieved and delighted to see Viceroy Wen unharmed. Of course he had received no small fright, but nevertheless he simply sat in another armchair.

"Who protected me a moment ago?" asked Viceroy Wen. In the silence that followed he saw a man saluting him. He was tall, with a loathsome face and rough manner and nobody recognized him. He wasn't part of the official retinue nor was he one of the standardbearers up front.

"You there who saved my life!" shouted the Viceroy, "Could you tell me something about yourself so that I can reward you?"

"I am not one of your troops," said the man. "Wang Ze of Beizhou sent that stone wheel of law to crush your excellency and so I came just to save your life. It was a convenient opportunity to repay a small favour from the old days."

Viceroy Wen looked on in delight. "Thank you for rescuing me," he said. "I don't remember having granted you a favour, let alone one worth saving my life in return, so may I ask your name?"

The man then told his name and it is not to be found in any of the hundred novels, nor is there any mention of this affair in the twenty-one histories. It was like this:

As for who that man might be, just read on and you will see.

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