Chapter 2

Ascending Mount Emei, Mist and Rain Locked in Haze

The story goes¹ that Li Ning and his daughter, along with Zhou Chun, bid farewell to the villagers and headed into the mountains. Aside from Yingqiong, who was anxious to get there early so she could start learning the sword, the others had no hangups and were enjoying the scenery along the road, taking their time, walking until the sun was setting in the west before finally reaching Mount Emei. There inns stood in great number and there were many pilgrims lodged there. It seemed really lively. The three of them found an inn and prepared to buy some odds and ends in the morning, then ascend the mountain and settle in for a prolonged stay. The night was uneventful.

The next day, they talked and got everything in order. Li Ning was in charge of buying the daily use items like oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, rice, flour, wine, meat, etc. Zhou Chun was responsible for buying books, brush and ink, and pots and pans, water pails, and other kitchen supplies. Finally, he went and bought several long lengths of hempen rope. Yingqiong said, “What’s that for?”

Zhou Chun said, “You’ll know when we get there. There’s a lot of uses for this.” Though their luggage capacity was limited, they still added quite a few items. Later they hired some good porters and all loaded up their things and headed up the mountain.

The travelers on pilgrimage along the road saw them thought them strange. They paid no heed carried on on their own up the mountain. At first, although there were several cramped, narrow spots along the trail, it was not hard going. Later, the trail became more treacherous and the scenery more curious, sheets of white cloud soaring back and forth overhead so that at times they couldn’t see each other. Yingqiong yelled out how fascinating it was.

Zhou Chun said, “Up in the mountains when it’s not raining but there is such much cloud and mist like this, it means that it’s raining down below. We must be careful walking through this fog. One slip and the fall will smash you to pieces.”

Half a mile or so more and they came to Sacrifice Cliff. Looking back down the mountain, it was just a murky haze, they couldn’t see anyone. Even the monasteries and temples were obscured in the mist. Above them the sun was a red wheel shining on the clouds and mist, reflecting rosy rays of radiant splendor. It was a marvelous sight. Yingqiong was spellbound watching it. She heard a porter say, “Sirs, we’ve reached Sacrifice Cliff. From here on even ghosts would get anxious. There’s no paths, we can’t go on any further. By the look of the clouds it’s raining heavily further down. We can’t go back down today, which will cost us a day’s work tomorrow. Sirs, do us a favor why doncha?”

Zhou Chun said, “We had originally only planned to hire you to take us here anyway. Just wait a bit here until we get to the top and haul out luggage up and I will add some more drinking money, what do you say?” With that, he leapt up into a towering ancient cypress tree and climbed up it and then onto the top of the mountain. He took the hempen rope they had brought and pulled the luggage up one by one. Then he let down the rope and hauled Yingqiong up. As she was midway up, Yingqiong looked and saw this place was precipitous indeed, a solitary peak pared away like the tip of a brush, and below a huge drop into a deep pool. She was brave, but the sight still made her head spin.

After Yingqiong was up, Li Ning gave the porters a tael of silver for drinking money and then jumped up himself. They then talked about how to carry the luggage over.

Zhou Chun said, “I’ve been here many times and am quite familiar with it. I’ll take you two to the cave, then I’ll come back for our things.”

Li Ning didn’t argue since he didn’t know the way. Each of them took a few light items and surmounted several jagged cliffs and around three miles later they reached the entrance to the cavern. On the cave wall was written in large characters: “Scoured Stone Perched Among the Clouds”. They entered the cave; there were four stone chambers, three for use as bedrooms and one with good lighting for everyone to use as a study and meditation room. Zhou Chun made three trips to collect all their things. By the time they were unpacked the setting sun was concealed behind the mountain. They hurried ate some dried salted meat and used a stone to seal the entrance and went to bed.

Early the next morning, Li Ning and Yingqiong drew up their training itinerary. He would first teach her how to refine her qi and focus her mind, as well as several kinds of internal skills. Yingqiong was naturally intelligent, and in only a few days she was able to do each of these soft skills. But because she was impatient by nature, every day she would pester Li and Zhou to teach her swordplay. Zhou Chun thought she was ready to begin since she had progressed so rapidly. Only Li Ning stubbornly resisted, only saying it was not yet time.

One day, Zhou Chun interceded on Yingqiong’s behalf. Li Ning said, “Dear brother, you only know part of the reason. You think I don’t know she is already ready to start learning the sword? You have to realize, the more naturally gifted a person is, the stronger their foundation must be. With Qiong’er’s gifts, I’m not qualified to be her teacher, so I’ve set my mind on getting her foundation stable and firm. When her day comes and she meets a great master, she will be outstanding. If I’m careless now and pass down everything I’ve learned to her, it still wouldn’t make her an unmatched talent. Besides, she has too sharp a temper and won’t yield to others. There are so many heroes out there as strong as those of my generation, if she runs into one of them, how could she not get the worst of it? What I mean is, if she doesn’t learn then fine, but if she does then her training has to be the best. Even if she can’t be like those sword immortals of old who transcended the mundane, she can at least reach the point where no mortal is her equal. I didn’t want to teach her in the first place all because of her intelligence and impatience and my limited skill.”

Zhou Chun couldn’t say much in response to that. Only how could Yingqiong stand that with her fiery impatience? Though mountain scenery is picturesque, there is one flaw, which is that a water source is far away. Luckily there was a waterfall a mile or so down the mountain that flowed into a small stream. The water was so clear you could see down to the bottom, and the spring water was sweet and clean. Every other day Li and Zhou would take turns going to the stream to fetch water. Lest they get out of shape, Li and Zhou practiced swordplay and hand-to-hand fighting in front of the cave every day. Since they refused to teach her, Yingqiong watched them quietly and diligently off to the side, and when they weren’t around she would practice by herself.

There are many apes and monkeys on Mount Emei. One day Yingqiong saw a monkey running along a cliff, as fleet-footed and nimble as if it were flying, and it sparked in her the notion of practicing lightness skill. Early every morning she got up and took two lengths of the rope they had brought and tied each end to a tree and she practiced walking on the ropes. And she forced Zhou and Li to teach her various lightness skill techniques. She was born with extraordinary strength, and under the guidance of these two instructors, she not only got to the point that she was as light as a swallow, she also became unusually strong.

Every month, Zhou Chun had to go check in on Yan’er and teach him martial arts. On the day he was set to go down the mountain to see him, by the time he reached Sacrifice Cliff he saw none other than Yan’er running toward him holding a letter. Zhou Chun opened it and read it. It had been written by the tutor Ma Xiang. It said:

“Three days ago a ferocious-looking monk came by shouldering a metal fish block² that weighed probably three or four hundred catties. He came to the village to beg for alms. He said he was a monk from Mount Wutai and was called Subtle Perception, said he was traveling the world looking for friend by the surname Zhou. Even though he looked so menacing, the villagers took at as a result of his circumstances, and he didn’t commit any transgressions, so they let him be. Because there was no one in the village named Zhou, he was going go leave yesterday, when suddenly a careless villager mentioned you, Mr. Zhou, and he then asked about this gentleman’s name and appearance. Then he said, ‘It’s definitely him. I never imagined that I would get another chance in this life to see Soaring Crane Among the Clouds Zhou the Third again!’ He had an ugly look on his face when he said this.

“I had just come out along with Yan’er when he asked about your whereabouts, and that careless villager said he should ask us. So the monk did. I knew he was up to no good, so I told him that Mr. Zhou had gone to Chengdu to serve as a private tutor. I didn’t tell him that you were staying on Mount Emei. He’s already left the village, presumably headed for Chengdu to look for you. In my opinion, this monk is really up to no good, so I’m sending this message to you so you can be prepared.”

Zhou Chun was shocked at this revelation. He said to Yan’er, “Come up the mountain with me and we’ll talk.” He hastily grabbed Yan’er and bounded him up the precipitous cliff and went to the cave.

Yan’er greeted Li Ning and his daughter, then said to Zhou Chun, “When Teacher Ma said that monk was no good, I went that night to the inn the monk was staying at to scout out what kind of person he was. I got there at the third watch³ and climbed up to the roof and hung upside down so I could peer into his room. I only saw the monk sitting there meditating. He meditated for a while before getting up and taking two dried up fingers out of the metal fish block and looked them over. Then he put his right hand out and compared it. Turns out his right hand only had three fingers on it. The two past the ring finger looked like that had been cut off by some bladed weapon.

“Then I saw him take out a small bundle and remove a clay sculpture from it. The face of the figurine looked just like Teacher, and it was also dressed in white and wearing a sword, only there was like these two things that looked like wings on its back. When the monk looked at the figurine’s face, he gnashed his teeth loudly like he was full of hate, then he slapped the figurine and cursed it out over and over. I couldn’t help getting mad, and I was about to go in there and ask him what grudge he had with Teacher that would make him curse him behind his back. And if he wasn’t reasonable then I would beat him half to death.

“But just as I was about to drop down, someone pinched my back and I couldn’t utter a sound, then I suddenly felt myself being lifted up into the air. When I was set down on the ground I found myself at Three Officials Temple. Scared me to death. I had snuck out and was afraid my mother would come looking for me when she woke up, so I decided to head back first. When I got back home, my mother was still asleep, but I saw a piece of paper on the table that was written in a very skilled hand. It read: ‘Yan’er has a lot of nerve to take such a risk behind his mother’s back. Tomorrow morning, hurry to Mount Emei and send this letter to your teacher and don’t delay.’ When I saw this note I thought, I have my mom at home, I shouldn’t have taken such a risk. By the tone of the note that monk must be quite skilled. No way am I his match. I figured the person who suddenly picked me up off the roof was the same one who wrote the note.

“I thought about it all night, and the next day I told my mom. Mom told me to quickly send the letter to Teacher. I have my monthly exam coming up and was afraid that Teacher Ma wouldn’t let me come. But when I got to school, before I even opened my mouth, Teacher Ma took me to a private spot and ordered me to send the letter to Teacher. And he gave me three-tenths of a tael of silver for traveling expenses. So I set off right away. I had only gone ten miles or so when I saw two people up ahead quarreling. I took a good look and saw it was that monk and a Daoist and I was scared out of my wits. Good thing they were far off from the road so they didn’t notice me. I was on the main road leading to Sacrifice Cliff. I bounded over the slope, and headed up the mountain trail. Teacher, do you know who that monk is?”

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Notes

Another one of those classic novel phrases.
A “wooden fish” is a block of wood shaped like a fish that monks use to knock out a steady beat when reciting sutras or during other rituals. This one is made of metal, and judging by its weight, and the fact the monk is carrying it on his back, it must be rather large.
The third of the five night watches. Each is a double-hour; the third watch is from 23:00 to 1:00.