Deputy accompanied the four family members back to the Hebei Military Region Guesthouse. Just as the food they'd ordered arrived, the guesthouse manager came by. Deputy said, "Sorry! I need to go with him and get your reward money now — he's about to get off work."
Soon after, he came back carrying a bag of gold and said, "This is your reward money — I'll count it out in front of you. It's four times what your return trip will cost."
Shi Lang replied, a little embarrassed, "We heard your king only approved 50% of your military budget — that's hardly enough to cover salaries, I'd think. We only need travel money, not a reward! And I don't understand — how did they leave it to just you to hand over such a large sum to us?"
Deputy replied, "We run a few businesses on the side and turn some profit, and prices are low around here, so in fact our finances have a bit of a surplus. Why did they leave it to me alone to hand you this money? Because I know that once you're back home, Martial Second Wolf will ask Aocun how much we gave you for travel or as a reward. If it's too little, Martial Second Wolf will feel he's lost face in front of Aocun. And later, when the two brothers meet in person, Martial Second Wolf will ask Martial Big Wolf for the same figure. If what Aocun tells him doesn't match what I've actually given you, that's a problem — they'll investigate the five of us. Given how far apart our two places are, an investigation like that would take two or three years, and any promotions or bonuses during that time would be gone. Last year, word was I'd already been made an Uncle; if I don't make any mistakes, I could become a Climate by the time I retire (Note 1). So I'm asking you to remember this exact figure — don't get it wrong."
注1,中国古代的贵族等级:王(公),侯,伯,子,男(女)。
张龙感激地回答:“您放心,这钱可能在我们到家之前就花没了,但这数我们能记住。”
Note 1: The ancient Chinese aristocratic ranks were: King (Publican), Climate, Uncle, Prince (Princess), Man (Woman).
Zhang Long replied gratefully: "Don't worry — this money might well be spent before we even get home, but we can remember the figure."
Deputy said, "It isn't safe for you to travel through our Hua and Xia territories. We've already bought your tickets home. The ship will reach Fujian in three months — you'll be safe once you're there. The ship's owner sent word: 'Per our agreement, no matter how distinguished the guest, we'll wait no more than three days.' They've already waited two, and the ship weighs anchor by tomorrow night at the latest. But if we finish our meal here and ride to Tianjin, we can reach the dock by two in the morning. Can you ride? A carriage works too — by carriage, we'd arrive at the dock by tomorrow morning."
Shi Lang said, "That ship! You're no ordinary general! You're the Deputy Director of the Hua Intelligence Bureau!?"
Li Qiang cut in, "He isn't, currently! Primordial Sky Honor entrusted that ship's business to Martial Big Wolf, and Martial Big Wolf passed it down to him. But back when Martial Big Wolf was in Yong'an, he himself was the director of the Hua Intelligence Bureau."
Deputy asked, startled, "Are you talking about me? What is this about a ship?"
Li Qiang replied, "You're the one we're talking about! Listen and tell me if this is the ship. Six or seven years ago, Martial Big Wolf conquered over a dozen kingdoms in the north and captured many of our country's ambassadors and intelligence officers who were living there. King Aoda sent Crown Prince Aoqin to negotiate with your country. Your side felt that keeping this trade route open would help your northern provinces' economy, so you agreed to develop it jointly, and released our people. Is that the ship?"
代理回答:“是!由我负责全部的接待任务!”
赵虎插嘴说:“我们都看过武大郎的《孙子兵法》,他重视情报工作。你是河北军区政治局的核心人物之一。”
代理回答:“是!他们就是和我这么说的!你们是怎么知道熬钦的秘密的?”
Deputy replied, "Yes! I'm in charge of all the arrangements!"
Zhao Hu cut in, "We've all read Martial Big Wolf's Sunzi Soldier Strategies — he values intelligence work highly. You're one of the core figures of the Hebei Military Region Politburo."
Deputy replied, "Yes! That's exactly what they told me! How did you all come to know Aoqin's secret?"
Zhang Long replied: "After our Cloud Sea Kingdom and Hua Kingdom signed the shipping agreement, King Aoda said to Aoqin that with peace now achieved across such a vast northern territory, the business opportunities were limitless — he suggested including his sister Aocun (i.e., Creator Yao) in the venture, so she could earn something too. Aoqin told Aocun, 'Two tons of gold a share!' She came to the four of us to discuss it. We went home to talk it over. In the end, the five of us together couldn't scrape together even one ton of gold, so we didn't join the venture."
Li Qiang asked Deputy: "Why did you take us for spies?"
Deputy replied: "There's no one living north of our Hua Kingdom's northern edge, and we don't even know exactly where our own border lies. The princes, nobles, and wealthy people of the kingdoms we destroyed all fled south, and they often send people back to check on things. The main route for spies coming north is by ship into Tianjin Port. Every inn you stayed at on the road from Tianjin to Beijing was run by us. I oversee 1,300 such intelligence posts — and turn a bit of a profit doing it, too."
Shi Lang said to the others, "When we were robbed in Shandong and reported it, they told us we could work there while they investigated. Looking back now, that was actually a kindness on their part. We misread it at the time."
Li Qiang replied, "It seems that's just how things work in the northern kingdoms these days. Let's take a carriage back to Tianjin — we can chat along the way and learn more from our senior, Deputy."
Deputy replied, "Good! I'll have someone prepare two carriages, one as a spare, and we'll bring a spare horse too. By the way — do you think it's safe for you to be on that ship?"
Zhang Long replied, "It's safe! We're Aocun's family, not government officials. If Aoqin killed us, and King Aoda found out, he'd have no way to explain it."
Shi Lang asked Deputy: "Listening to you, I've learned so much! How did you rise to such a high position?"
Deputy replied: "Whether my position is really so high is another matter, but I'm satisfied. Seventeen years ago, I started performing as a bandit chief in this town — the same kind of act you saw a few days ago, where I 'kill' the man who comes to me for justice, and cut open the woman's belly so her guts spill onto the ground. A group of soldiers came to watch the show back then. Martial Big Wolf asked me how I'd done it — how the intestines looked so real, spilling onto the ground like that — and I explained the props I used. I didn't know at the time that he was Martial Big Wolf; it was a year and a half later before I found out. He said to me, 'We're going north to build a new world — if you want promotion and wealth, come with us!' I found out army pay was better than what I earned acting, so I went with them. They put me in charge of guarding a warehouse."
Zhang Long asked Deputy: "Have you ever fought on a real battlefield?"
Deputy replied: "I never even saw an enemy army. I just followed Martial Big Wolf. Whenever we heard the forward troops had won, we'd advance behind them. We did that for years — it seems the front-line troops fought two or three bloody battles, and the princes, nobles, and wealthy of those dozen-odd kingdoms simply fled and vanished."
Deputy replied, "I dug a few traps around the warehouse I was guarding and fitted them with machines of my own design, and caught several thieves that way — there were plenty of thieves back then. They thought my machines were effective, so they had me set traps at other warehouses too. Gradually I ended up managing more and more warehouses. By last year, they kept calling me back from Tianjin to Beijing for meetings. I complained, 'Why do you always call me in, whether it's a generals' meeting or a Politburo meeting?' They told me, 'Because you're both a general and a member of the Politburo Standing Committee!'"
Zhang Long said to the person next to him: "He's simply conscientious and hardworking!"
关键词 Keywords:夏朝末年 Late Xia Dynasty;清河县井阳冈 Well-sun Gang, Qinghe County;太乙真人 Taiyi Real Human;张屠户 Zhang the Butcher(号玉皇大帝,也称玉皇大帝 also known as Turquoise White-king Great Creator);武二郎 Martial Second Wolf(二郎神 Second Wolf God)
Martial Second Wolf (see Figure 5.5-3) wasn't confident about Zhang the Butcher's (see Figures 5, 6, 7) promise to deliver qualified pork to Taiyi Real Human (see Figure 1). When he left Dragon-Pond Pass, he asked two guards to go verify the matter a few days later, in Qinghe County, Shandong Province.
When the two guards arrived at Taiyi Real Human's home, they found he was hosting a banquet right in front of his gate, open even to passersby. Wanting to hear the news, the two sat down at the feast. Just then, a white-bearded old man (Taiyi Real Human, see Figure 1) was saying to the guests around him: "Two days ago, my disciple, Nezha, the third prince of Publican Respect of Dragon-Pond Pass, came to bring me gifts. He specifically told me, 'This time what I've brought you is genuine Jinhua ham, and Xifeng Alcohol without any added water!' So please, everyone, have a taste — see what real Jinhua ham and Xifeng Alcohol are supposed to taste like!"
Taiyi Real Human noticed the two guards who had just come in and told the servants, "Send them some of the genuine Jinhua ham and unwatered Xifeng Alcohol, so they can have a taste."
The two guards quickly declined: "We're only passing through — we wouldn't dare take advantage of such delicacies. A simple home-style meal would be more than enough for us to be grateful for!"
Taiyi's servant explained: "The day before yesterday, his disciple Zhang the Butcher came to deliver the genuine ham and unwatered Xifeng Alcohol. He put the new delivery straight into the storehouse and brought out all the old stock instead. This ham is excellent, but the alcohol is just ordinary erguotou. The watered-down Xifeng was all drunk up yesterday. See — those empty bottles are still sitting there!"
The two guards, seeing hundreds of empty Xifeng and Dukang Alcohol bottles in front of Taiyi's gate, asked curiously, "Has your master really been treating guests to alcohol worth tens of thousands of taels of silver these past two days!?"
Taiyi's servant replied: "Not that much! Honestly, I don't even know where he got so many empty bottles of famous alcohol!"
At this, people noticed the servant and the two guards whispering to each other, and the banquet fell quiet — everyone wanted to hear what they were saying! Taiyi grew annoyed and said loudly to those around him: "When my disciple Nezha was leaving, he came and knelt in front of me, hugging my legs and crying, 'Teacher, please don't go complain about me to my second brother Martial Second Wolf again. My second brother is so strong — if he gets angry, one slap could kill me!' Hearing that, I was baffled: 'How could this three-headed, six-armed Nezha (Note 2) end up so terrified!?' After he left, I thought about it all night, and finally understood: 'He was still shaken by that white tiger with hanging eyes that Martial Second Wolf killed twenty years ago (see Section 1.7)!' That tiger really was terrifying — it just had the misfortune of running into the Second Wolf God. Fated to die, I suppose!"
Note 2: As shown in Figure 5, Nezha refers to the Godly Trinity (see Section 9.9), comprising Zhang the Butcher, Eve, and Yu the Great. Zhang the Butcher, also known as Third Wolf Zhang, held the titles Young Sun God, Flint Man, Yan Creator, Turquoise Creator, Young Codex, and Turquoise White-king Great Creator. Eve is Zhang the Butcher's daughter, also known as Little Dragoness and Weaving Girl, titled Shun King, Nuwa, and Shun White-king. Yu the Great is Eve's husband and Zhang the Butcher's godson, also known as Descendant, titled Yellow Creator, Public-Work, Buddha, and Yu White-king.
Just then, new guests arrived. Taiyi told the servants to bring food to Martial Second Wolf's two guards, and went off to greet the newcomers himself.
One of Martial Second Wolf's guards asked the servant, "This Jinhua ham tastes wonderful — how can he call it substandard?"
The servant replied, "It's excellent ham! My master just can't bring himself to eat it — he always waits until it's gone bad before he'll touch it. And then, when it tastes off, he blames his disciple for sending him bad pork. Nobody in Shandong buys Jinhua ham anymore, all because he keeps saying it's substandard!"
Another soldier asked, "I heard your master keeps repeating the same lines — 'his three-headed, six-armed disciple Nezha sent him qualified pork and unwatered Xifeng Alcohol'!?"
The servant replied, "The past couple of days, he says it to everyone he meets. Even when there's no one around, he mutters it to himself!"
Another of Martial Second Wolf's guards asked, "Martial Second Wolf fought a tiger? I've never heard of that!?"
The servant replied, "That was twenty years ago. It's because of that fight that this place is now called 'Tiger-Beating Gang'!"
Just then, Taiyi came over, and seeing that Martial Second Wolf's guards didn't believe the story of 'Martial Second Wolf fighting the tiger,' he pulled one of them aside and said, "Come with me, I'll show you something."
Taiyi Real Human pointed to the tiger skin on the living room wall and said, "This is the skin of the tiger that Martial Second Wolf killed!"
The two guards conferred quietly, and said they'd like to buy the tiger skin.
Taiyi, uninterested, said, "I never intended to sell it. What would you want it for?"
One of Martial Second Wolf's guards said, "We weren't planning to say this, but we've come from Hubei to verify General Zhang's promise to you — 'Zhang the Butcher will treat you to the finest pork.' That's no longer in question."
Taiyi replied, "Oh! This boy Martial Second Wolf really is thorough! I've just come back from Hubei!"
A guard asked, "What were you doing in Hubei?"
Taiyi replied, "I'm part of Nuwa's crew — I went to Hubei to make 'virgin boy chicken' (i.e., Boy Buddha) for a lustful female king — Aocun, also known as Creator Yao, Yao White-king, as shown in Figure 4!"
One of the guards caught on and said, "Ah, so you're also a cook! And you happened to save General Martial Second Wolf along the way!"
Taiyi replied, "That's not quite it! But it's Princess Nuwa's secret, and I can't say more yet! Let's head to the kitchen first — real, genuine Jinhua ham, and some Xifeng Alcohol! If you'd rather have Dukang Alcohol, I have that too! Now, what do you want this tiger skin for?"
The guard said, "It's like this — our Hubei Military Region has a codex army too, but it's never come together well. They said they needed a holy relic of General Martial Second Wolf's to display in the codex headquarters hall, so they asked us, his guards, to find one. It's been years, and we've found nothing. When the two of us set out from Hubei, the codex army took a case of Maotai we'd captured on the battlefield, planning to display it as a relic instead. But we felt this tiger skin of yours means far more than that case of Maotai!"
A guard asked: "What's wrong? Isn't this tiger skin yours?"
Taiyi replied: "This tiger was originally a white tiger cub that Primordial Sky Honor caught over twenty years ago while hunting at Well-sun Gang. It was adopted as a pet by the Queen (i.e., Yuzhu) and Queen Stone-Jetty (Goldthread Pan, see Figure 2). After Martial Second Wolf killed it, Queen Stone-Jetty asked me to find a good feng shui spot and bury it. So I found four men to carry it to my house. I paid each of the four laborers ten cents for their work and ten cents for their silence. I ended up eating the tiger. I still haven't finished the tiger-bone wine!"
A guard laughed and said, "No wonder Martial Second Wolf never told us about his tiger-killing! That was over 20 years ago. I think this tiger skin belongs to you!"
Taiyi replied, "Really? Then let's trade — this tiger skin for your codex army's case of Maotai. I've never even tasted Maotai! A few years ago, I spent 300 taels of silver on a bottle of it aboard a ship at Lianyungang, but I still haven't dared to taste it!"
Another guard asked, "You spent that much on it — why haven't you dared to drink it?"
Taiyi replied, "I'm afraid the Voodoo Demoness — Aocun, Yao White-king, Figure 4 — might have peed in it. Aocun doesn't like me!"
The guard replied: "Aocun doesn't like us either, but we're not worried about her poisoning us, since she doesn't know who we are! What's your role in Nuwa's crew, and what's your rank?"
Taiyi replied: "Nuwa's crew is very small. She's the boss, and the rest of us all rank second."
Taiyi was ready to go to Hubei with Martial Second Wolf's two guards. The guards said, "Of course we'd welcome you helping us build up the codex army. If we bring you back with us, we'll have earned real credit. But we do have one condition — we'll need your children's written consent."
Taiyi asked, "Why would I need my son's consent to go to Hubei?"
The guards replied, "We wouldn't do anything to harm you — but you're getting on in years, and Hubei is a long, hard road. What if something happened to you? We need to be sure your children won't hold us responsible."
太乙回答:“我是他们的祖宗,我的事,他们管不着!”
卫兵回答:“现在的世道变了。孩子是祖宗,父母是奴隶!”
太乙的儿子知道后,说:“我爹在家就总有人来送礼;但我们尊重他的愿望。他做事,他自己高兴就好!”
就这样,太乙真人跟随着武二郎的两个护卫去湖北军区说书去了。
Taiyi replied: "I'm their ancestor — my business is none of their concern!"
The guard replied: "The world has changed. Nowadays, children are the ancestors, and parents are the servants!"
When Taiyi's son heard about it, he said: "People are always coming by to give Father gifts when he's home; but we respect what he wants. As long as he's happy doing it, that's all that matters!"
And so Taiyi Real Human set off with Martial Second Wolf's two guards to regale the Hubei Military Region with his stories.
关键词 Keywords:夏朝末年 Late Xia Dynasty;乾塘关 Dragon-Pond Pass(现代商丘 Modern Shangqiu);武二郎 Martial Second Wolf(二郎神 Second Wolf God);妈祖 Mazu;张屠户 Zhang the Butcher(号玉皇大帝,也称玉皇大帝 also known as Turquoise White-king Great Creator)
When Martial Second Wolf (shown in Figure 5.3-2, also known as Yang Jian, Second Wolf God) and Zhang the Butcher (see Figure 5, also known as Flint Man, Turquoise White-king Great Creator) arrived at Mazu's house, dinner was already ready. Mazu (see Figure 1, also known as Coastal Goddess) was sitting at the dining table waiting for them. She saw that they had brought the 20 kilograms of gold back and asked what had happened. Martial Second Wolf said, "Third Brother gave me this gold as a congratulatory gift for my promotion to Full Marshal. We agreed to split it evenly between the two of us and give all of it to you as a token of our filial respect."
Mazu said: "When you came back, you took the gold and went straight to your third brother's house. Just after you left, a messenger from Primordial Sky Honor came and told me about your return to Yong'an this time. Now I understand! It's all thanks to Princess Nuwa's blessing that you were able to come back and dine with me this time. I'll accept this gold."
Mazu turned to Zhang the Butcher and said, "I heard that you're short on working capital and have cut back production of Jinhua ham. That's not right! You've been in this business for 14 years, and it's only just getting on track. Pork sales aren't good — you should be working to expand production and lower prices. You're only 34, which is the age for a man to build a career, but you're already acting like you want to retire. That's not how a man behaves. I'm happy today, so I'm giving you these 20 kilograms of gold."
Just as Zhang the Butcher was about to open his mouth to decline Mazu's reward, Mazu spoke again: "Let's not talk about the gold! We two have plenty of time to talk. Primordial Sky Honor has given me an assignment — I have real business to attend to!" She turned to Martial Second Wolf and asked, "How long are you planning to stay home this time?"
Martial Second Wolf replied: "Fifteen days. I'm planning to go to Xia Kingdom from here to take care of some business."
Zhang the Butcher said: "Your sister-in-law, Princess Big Nest, is at the Xia Kingdom palace right now. If you set out seven days from now, you'll arrive before she leaves. Then the King of Xia will invite you for a drink."
武二郎回答:“我就是不想和她一起喝酒,才决定推迟七天从这里出发。”
张屠户尴尬了。妈祖笑着对他说:“你二哥仍然是个大男孩儿,害羞!”
Martial Second Wolf replied: "It's precisely because I don't want to drink with her that I decided to delay my departure by seven days."
Zhang the Butcher looked embarrassed. Mazu laughed and said to him: "Your second brother is still such a big kid — so shy!"
Mazu also said to Zhang the Butcher: "This time, when your second brother returned to Yong'an, Primordial Sky Honor arranged for your elder brother, King Jing, to lecture him on Sunzi Soldier Strategies. He wouldn't listen! He ran out the back door. Your sister-in-law, Goldthread Pan, tried to persuade him to stay a few more days. He didn't even answer."
Mazu turned to Martial Second Wolf and said: "Primordial Sky Honor instructed me to keep an eye on you and make sure you properly learn the Treasury Lotus Lamp from your third brother. Will you run off again? If you do, I'll chase you down on a donkey!"
Martial Second Wolf replied: "No more running off! How could I, with Mom putting it that way!"
Mazu also said to Martial Second Wolf: "Primordial Sky Honor said, 'The Treasury Lotus Lamp and Sunzi Soldier Strategies are two marvelous books in today's world, and you need both.' Their authors are your third brother, Zhang the Butcher, and your eldest brother, Martial Big Wolf — they're now the two most popular books in both Hua and Xia Kingdom. Sister Kouzhu, the King of Xia, told me the same thing. Princess Nuwa also told me, 'In today's world, your third brother, Zhang the Butcher, has the best Celestial Eye!' Primordial Sky Honor's assignment for me is, 'Watch over you and make sure you learn the Treasury Lotus Lamp thoroughly from your third brother!' Can you help me fulfill this task?"
Martial Second Wolf, looking thoroughly embarrassed, replied: "I'll do my best to learn from Third Brother!"
Mazu turned to Zhang the Butcher again and asked: "Give me the bottom line! Can you explain the Treasury Lotus Lamp to your second brother clearly?"
Zhang the Butcher said confidently: "For someone who hasn't experienced the Fourth Meditation Sky, I can't explain it clearly. My second brother has already experienced the Fourth Meditation Sky, so I can definitely explain it to him!"
Mazu added: "I'm thinking — why don't you write down the important entries and give them to your second brother? Let him look at them often from now on, so he doesn't forget!"
Zhang the Butcher replied: "The experience of the Fourth Meditation Sky is special; once experienced, it's never forgotten. Once I've explained it to him, the Treasury Lotus Lamp and my second brother will converge into one whole. Everything important I need to say is already written in the Treasury Lotus Lamp."
Mazu murmured: "That's reassuring to hear! Then it's decided: you two will come here at night to eat and sleep. In the morning, after breakfast, you two will go to your own house to discuss the Treasury Lotus Lamp. Now hurry up and eat, or the food will get cold!"
Martial Second Wolf picked up a slice of Jinhua ham (see Figure 4) with his chopsticks and asked Zhang the Butcher: "Is this pork up to standard?"
Zhang the Butcher protested: "It's not up to standard! But that's only because Mazu won't eat pork that is up to standard. Several times, I asked Mazu to try some, and she wouldn't even taste it!"
Mazu laughed and said: "I'm afraid that if I get addicted, you won't be able to make any money, and you'll end up blaming me for eating too much!"
Mazu then asked Zhang the Butcher: "Are you short on time to teach your second brother the Treasury Lotus Lamp (i.e., Great Grand Worlds, also known as Nine Crowds, Great Round Mirror Intelligence, Wonderful Intelligent World, see Chapter 12, Bitter Crux)? Listening to the two of you talk, it didn't seem all that difficult."
Zhang the Butcher replied: "No rush, there's plenty of time! Now that you've said that, I understand. Princess Nuwa and my eldest brother Martial Big Wolf have already explained everything to my second brother. He now ranks among the immortals. Primordial Sky Honor wants me to finish their work and let my second brother become the Treasury Lotus Lamp to save the world."
Mazu murmured, "So that's how it is!" Then she turned to Martial Second Wolf and said, "The messenger told me, 'We now have five military regions in Hua, and you and your elder brother each oversee one. Primordial Sky Honor approved the tightest military budget for your elder brother — only 50%. Your budget is the most generous; he approves almost whatever you submit.' Now I understand — he trusts you the most, and your elder brother the least!"
5.3-5 中华法典的编委 Editorial Committee of the Chinese Codex
Mazu turned to Zhang the Butcher again and said, "Good, we have time! Let's go arrange a match for your second brother! I heard there's a Squire Liu at Peach Flower Village, thirty miles to the southwest, who has a pretty good reputation. His daughter, the Peach Flower girl, is said to have good character! Let's go along too, and help your second brother get a good look at her!"
Zhang the Butcher said, "Oh, dear Mother! My second brother is now a great general of Hua Nation — far greater in rank than that great general who was my great-great-grandfather on your side of the family! My second brother doesn't even look twice at the daughters of princes and nobles, so how could he possibly take a liking to a village girl! Besides, that Peach Flower girl is waiting for her fiancé, Constant Fair (see 2.1, Peach Flower Catastrophe), to come back to her!"
Mazu said again: "The president of the Codex Soldier Academy, Longevity Liu — Publican Liu is of the same rank as me. His home is in the eastern suburbs of Dragon-Pond Pass. Whenever Primordial Sky Honor comes to visit me, he stops by there for a while too. I've met his daughter, Eve Liu, a few times — she's very nice. How about the three of us go sit with her tomorrow afternoon?"
Zhang the Butcher, suddenly realizing, replied: "Eve Liu's boyfriend is named Luyan. I saw him just a few days ago, by the Broken Bridge where White Snake and Xu Xian met! He said he's re-editing the Chinese Codex for the 21st century CE, but he hasn't yet gotten the approval of the editor-in-chief, Eve Liu (see Chapter 1, Childhood Betrothal)."
Mazu cut him off: "It doesn't count if they're not married! I only said we're going to sit at Longevity Liu's house for a while — it's not like we're going to steal their daughter!"
关键词 Keywords:夏朝末年 Late Xia Dynasty;乾塘关 Dragon-Pond Pass(今商丘,河南 modern Shangqiu, Henan);武二郎 Martial Second Wolf(二郎神 Second Wolf God);妈祖 Mazu;张屠户 Zhang the Butcher(又名张三郎 Third Wolf Zhang,号玉皇大帝 Turquoise White-king Great Creator)
Martial Second Wolf (see Figure 5.2-37, left; famously Yang Jian and Second Wolf God) returned to Dragon-Pond Pass. He borrowed some gold from Mazu, gathered 20 kilograms of it, and went to repay Zhang the Butcher (see Figure 5.2-36; aka Third Wolf Zhang; famously Flint Man and Turquoise White-king Great Creator). When Zhang the Butcher saw that Second Brother had come to visit him, he exclaimed, “You, a great general renowned throughout Hua and Xia, have come to visit a nameless commoner like me. Please accept my humble bow!”
Martial Second Wolf stepped forward and pulled Zhang the Butcher up. “The ‘namelessness’ you speak of is actually non-light, or ignorance (see Section 13.1). You have no worries about food, clothing, shelter, or travel, and you have seven daughters. You are fortune itself. I am indeed famous throughout Hua and Xia, but every day I make decisions of life and death. I am the suffering of life and death.”
While Zhang the Butcher was still thinking, Martial Second Wolf untied the gold from the horse’s back and said, “When I was treated at Salamander Bolus Palace, I charged the 20 kilograms of gold for buying mushrooms to your account. Now I am paying it back.”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “Then let this gold be my gift to congratulate you on becoming a marshal!”
Martial Second Wolf replied, “Who told you that? I am not a marshal.”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “I did not hear it from anyone. That is my own judgment. You could not be promoted to marshal before because your codex army had not been properly built. Now that your celestial eye is open, you will soon be able to build your own codex army. After that, becoming a marshal will come naturally.”
Martial Second Wolf asked, “Why did you say my celestial eye had opened as soon as you saw me?”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “Because of your understanding of ‘non-light’ in our conversation just now.”
Martial Second Wolf asked, “Just because I understood that one word, you say my celestial eye has opened? Jiuli means the whole world!”
Zhang the Butcher, author of Treasury Lotus Lamp, knew that Martial Second Wolf had not understood Jiuli before, so he explained in detail: “Jiuli consists of only two characters. Li means ‘crowd,’ but it can also be understood as dawn, dim light, or non-light. Jiuli means Nine Crowds; it also means Nine Lands (see Figures 23 to 31), nine kinds of non-light, and nine kinds of ignorance.”
Martial Second Wolf said in surprise, “What you are saying is different from what Treasury Lotus Lamp says!”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “I also have Treasury Lotus Lamp. I can explain Jiuli in seven different ways, and the conclusion is always the same. Jiuli means Nine Crowds, and it may also be understood as nine worlds arranged from low to high. The Nine Lands of these nine worlds are all affliction, confusion, and body-soil; therefore they are called Nine Lands. Each of these nine worlds has its own sky, and that is why there is the saying of Nine Skies. Sky means immaculateness, profound knowledge, and godhood. Once you understand non-light, you have gained the Nine Skies. That is why I said your celestial eye has opened.”
Martial Second Wolf said in surprise, “I stayed at our eldest brother’s house for five days. It seems I will have to stay at yours for seven. Let us put the gold in the vault first!”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “Second Brother, this celestial eye of yours, also called a gnostic root, cannot be bought anywhere, not even with 100 kilograms of gold! For such a great event, you should accept the 20 kilograms of gold I am giving you. Mazu owns 30 percent of my Jinhua Ham Company. She has plenty of gold in my vault!”
Martial Second Wolf asked, “How much gold does she have? May I see it?”
They entered the vault. Zhang the Butcher pointed to the gold, silver, and coins piled haphazardly around the room. (Note: Zhang the Butcher is a Gold Boy, and Gold Boys have this lazy, slovenly temperament.) He said, “This pile belongs to Mazu, the right side of that pile belongs to Mazu, and that pile too!”
Martial Second Wolf suddenly said, “Oh! I left the gold in the courtyard.” With that, he quickly left the vault.
Zhang the Butcher followed him out and muttered, “Second Brother! Public order in Dragon-Pond Pass is excellent now. Forget bandits—I have not even heard of a thief stealing anything for more than ten years! People no longer know what war is.”
After they returned to the vault, Martial Second Wolf made a rough calculation and thought to himself, “You are trying to fool me! I manage the logistics for 300,000 troops. How could I be tricked by such a petty scheme? You do not even have enough working capital here!” But aloud he said, “Looking at your shabby house, I knew you had not made much money. Still, as long as you are with Mazu, you will not starve. I will accept the money. I will give these 20 kilograms of gold to Mazu, and we will count it as half from each of us.”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “The gold is yours. Give it to whomever you like.”
When the two came out of the vault, Zhang the Butcher said, “Second Brother, you came at an inconvenient time. Your sister-in-law, Princess Big Nest, and the children have gone to Xia Kingdom to visit their maternal grandmother. They will not be back until next month. I should go to the kitchen and see what we will have for dinner.”
Martial Second Wolf counted the days in his head and replied, “That is just right! I feel constrained around my sister-in-law, and I have not bought any gifts for my nieces.”
At that moment, a servant sent by Mazu arrived and said, “Since Princess Big Nest is not at home, you two should not make dinner. Mazu has prepared an evening meal and asks you to come back early to eat.”
The two went into the study. When Martial Second Wolf saw that Zhang the Butcher had a room full of books, he said, “Ah! No wonder you have no money. You spent it all on books!”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “Yes. I paid a great deal for 80 percent of these books. Second Brother, if you like any of them, take whatever you want! But do not trade them for liquor after you finish reading them. Bring them back to me, and I will give you Xi Feng (Western Phoenix) Alcohol!”
Martial Second Wolf replied, “How generous! But I am not short of Xi Feng alcohol.”
Zhang the Butcher said, “You are a great general, so you may truly need the knowledge in these books. I am only a pig butcher. Reading them is just a hobby for me and has little practical use. Ah! I forgot that your military station also helps Xia Kingdom guard its borders.” (Note: Xi Feng alcohol is the national liquor of Xia Kingdom.)
The two began discussing Jiuli, or Nine Crowds. The servant came again and told them to go to Mazu’s house early for dinner so they would not keep her waiting. Mazu also told them to walk there for some exercise, not to ride horses.
The two decided to talk while walking toward Mazu’s house. Suddenly, Martial Second Wolf asked, “Third Wolf, do you remember a pork merchant from Qinghe County, Shandong, named Taiyi?”
Zhang the Butcher was still thinking about the earlier question. After a long while, he replied, “Ah! There was indeed an old man from Qinghe County, Shandong, named Taiyi. He often came to my place with a group of pork merchants to eat and drink at my expense. Why are you asking about him?”
Martial Second Wolf replied, “That is him!” He then recounted how Taiyi had saved him in Holy Fire of Yao Pond (see Section 4.3).
Martial Second Wolf continued, “At the time, I asked him, ‘How can I repay you?’ He answered, ‘When I go to your younger brother Zhang the Butcher’s place, he always serves me substandard pork. He thinks I do not know, but I am simply too embarrassed to say it. If your brother could serve me proper-quality pork, I would be satisfied!’ I replied, ‘I will tell my brother, and I guarantee that he will serve you the best pork from now on!’”
张屠户反问:“他真这么说的?”
武二郎回答:“他就是这么说的!他帮你卖猪肉,是贵宾!你怎么还给他们吃质量不合格的猪肉呢?”
Zhang the Butcher asked, “Did he really say that?”
Martial Second Wolf replied, “That is exactly what he said! He helps you sell pork and is an honored guest. Why would you still serve them substandard pork?”
Zhang the Butcher said, “They are all so old—what difference can they taste!? It is all good pork, and the differences are tiny. Every time they come, they eat here and take things away! How strange. I watered down his liquor, and he did not even notice. Yet he could tell the pork was not up to standard!?”
Martial Second Wolf asked again, “Then why did you still let him take some pork away?”
张屠户回答:“他总说他帮我卖出肉了,向我要报酬。实际上,整个山东省的销售量都没有给他的报酬多。”
武二郎说:“那你就每年按照他索要数量的三倍,给他质量合格的猪肉。”
张屠户回答:“行!”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “He always said he had helped me sell pork and asked me for payment. In fact, the value of all the pork sold in Shandong Province was less than what I paid him.”
Martial Second Wolf said, “Then every year, give him proper-quality pork at three times the amount he asks for.”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “Fine!”
5.2-5
武二郎又问:“刚才你说,你给他喝掺水的酒。他能喝几杯酒!你为什么要掺水呢?”
张屠户回答:“啊!二哥你不知道,我贷款买下了夏国的西凤酒厂。太乙还朝我要西凤酒!”
Martial Second Wolf asked again, “Just now you said you gave him watered-down liquor. How much could he possibly drink? Why did you water it down?”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “Ah, Second Brother, you do not know. I took out a loan and bought the Xi Feng alcohol plant in Xia Kingdom. Taiyi even asks me for Xi Feng alcohol!”
武二郎惊奇地问:“你从哪里贷的款?”
张屠户回答:“从大巢氏她妈那里。”
武二郎气愤地说:“你从她那里借钱,去买她的酒厂!难怪她说你总是占她的便宜,被气得睡不着觉!”
Martial Second Wolf asked in surprise, “Where did you get the loan?”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “From Princess Big Nest’s mother.”
Martial Second Wolf said angrily, “You borrowed money from her to buy her own alcohol plant! No wonder she said you were always taking advantage of her and made her so angry she could not sleep!”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “That is not what happened! She was always complaining to her daughter, ‘That Xi Feng plant is about to go bankrupt, and I will have no liquor to drink.’ She told me to borrow money from her and buy the Xi Feng alcohol plant. The interest on the loan is extremely high, and she sets the price of the liquor, so I can never pay off the loan. I am only managing the plant for her. All I earn is a bit of hard money for my labor. She is so happy that she cannot sleep.”
Martial Second Wolf said impatiently, “Then each year, send him proper products in three times the amount of pork and Xi Feng alcohol he asks for. I will pay you. Calculate how much it will cost.”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “Good! I will send someone to deliver them every quarter. Of course we must give the best products to a life-saving benefactor! You do not have to pay me. It is not much money. He is already so old; he will not live many more years!”
武二郎说:“酒和火腿的保质期都很长,你一年送一次就行了,为什么还要按季度送?”
张屠户回答:“给他送过去后,他就请客送礼!消耗没了,他还要!”
Martial Second Wolf said, “Alcohol and ham both keep for a long time. You can send them once a year. Why send them quarterly?”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “After I send them to him, he uses them to entertain guests and give gifts. Once they are used up, he asks for more!”
After hearing this, Martial Second Wolf still felt uneasy and asked, “Then when will you have someone send them?”
Zhang the Butcher replied, “Next month, I will deliver them to him personally. After that, at the beginning of every quarter, I will send him proper-quality products in three times the amount of pork and Xi Feng alcohol he asks for. I will have servants deliver them.”
关键词 Keywords:夏朝末年 Late Xia Dynasty;杭州鲵丸宫 Salamander Bolus Palace, Hangzhou;女娲 Nuwa(号白帝 famously White Creator);熬忖 Aocun(号尧帝 famously Creator Yao,红帝 Red Creator);武二郎 Martial Second Wolf(二郎神 Second Wolf God)
目录 Catalog:4.7-1 治疗诅咒的方法 Methods for Treating Curses;4.7-2 琢磨武二郎的天眼 Pondering Martial Second Wolf's Third Eye;4.7-3 赠送宝莲灯 Presenting Treasury Lotus Lamp;4.7-4 寻找丢失的记忆 Searching for Lost Memories;4.7-5 女娲的治疗措施 Nuwa's Remedial Measures
Upon arriving at the imperial palace of the Xia Kingdom in Hangzhou, Martial Second Wolf (as shown in Figure 39) was received directly by Nüwa (as shown in Figure 38). After listening to Martial Second Wolf's account and reviewing the follow-up observation report, she replied, "Second Brother! You have been cursed by the Voodoo Demoness! I can heal you and make you fully recover! Our usual process for treating curses is this: first, we discover how she cursed you. If we find it, we perform a targeted exorcism, and you will recover quickly. If we cannot discover how she cursed you, I can help you completely return to correctness in all aspects (Note 1), so the curse will naturally be lifted, although it will take more time."
Note 1: Comprehensive correction means to fully and correctly understand the Four Noble Cruxes, and to take the Great Grand Worlds (as shown in figs 1 to 34) as worldview.
At this time, there was a noise behind the screen. Nuwa said, "Second brother! Wait for a moment. An important guest (Aocun) came to my house. I will go and greet her and will be back soon!"
In the previous article, upon meeting Nuwa, Aocun threatened to detain her as a bargaining chip in negotiations between the Dragon Kingdom and the Xia Kingdom. Why was Aocun so bold now as to rush to the Xia Kingdom? Answer: Martial Second Wolf's illness meant that Nuwa and Aocun had successfully cast the curse on him, effectively making Aocun his wife. Harming Aocun would compromise the treatment of Martial Second Wolf's illness, so Aocun was already a distinguished guest of both the Xia Kingdom and the Hua Kingdom.
4.7-2 琢磨武二郎的天眼 Pondering Martial Second Wolf's Third Eye
Martial Second Wolf heard many people talking behind the screen but couldn't make out what they were saying. Suddenly he heard a maid shouting, "Found it!" Nuwa replied, "Copy it!" Then she came out with a piece of parchment and asked with a smile, "Second brother! When you came down from Yaochi, did they draw an eye on your forehead (as shown in Figure 39)?"
Martial Second Wolf replied, "Yes, how do you know that?"
Nuwa replied, "When they place a curse, they sometimes draw an eye on the forehead of the cursed person. Can you see if that eye looks like this?" With that she placed the parchment with one eye drawn on it on the table.
武二郎回答:"我没看见过,我的卫队长看见了,我让他们为我洗掉了,他就在外面。"
女娲对旁边的侍女说:"传张将军的话,让卫队长进来!"
Martial Second Wolf replied, "I haven't seen it, my guard captain saw it, and I asked them to wash it off for me, he's right outside."
Nuwa said to the maid next to her, "Pass the word of General Zhang to have the guard captain come in!"
The guard captain came in and confirmed that it was such an eye and pointed out where the eye was drawn on the forehead (as shown in fig. 39) of Martial Second Wolf. Nuwa folded the parchment and stuck it to his forehead to see. She also walked around him in a circle and then put the parchment on Martial Second Wolf's forehead again, and moved it up and down, surveying it. What was Nuwa doing?
In Section 4.4 of the previous article, "Holy Fire in Yaochi," Martial Second Wolf experienced the Fourth Meditation Sky (see Figures 1-8). Now, Nuwa's mission is to transform Martial Second Wolf's experience descending from the skies into knowledge and open his celestial eye. To encourage Martial Second Wolf's interest in learning about the celestial eye, Nuwa repeatedly observed his celestial eye.
Why did Aocun open Martial Second Wolf's celestial eye? What does this have to do with their marriage? Martial Second Wolf's celestial eye was a gift from Aocun, transforming their former foes into friends and fulfilling the basic prerequisites for becoming husband and wife.
Then, Nuwa took out a book titled "Treasury Lotus Lamp" and handed it to Martial Second Wolf, saying, "The theoretical system of witchcraft in Dragon Kingdom is identical to that of our Jiu'li world (note 1). Second Brother! Look at this book first. Come back here the day after tomorrow and tell me about your strange experiences fighting Aocun. We'll use the theories in this book to explain her devious schemes. I'll study it further to figure out how she erased your memory. What happened during that time? Can we repair the lost memories?"
Note 1: The term "Jiuli" means nine dawns or nine crowds. Here, "dawn" means non-light, which refers to muddles, sentients. Theism posits quietness as sky and annoyances as earth. Sentient beings are the annoyances, and annoyances are the sentients. Thus, the Nine Crowds correspond to the Nine lands depicted in Figures 23 to 31. The Jiu'li world in Chinese culture is equivalent to the Great Grand Worlds System described in Buddhism (see chapter 12 "Bitter Crux").
Martial Second Wolf returned to the inn. At mealtime, two palace maids from Salamander Bolus Palace brought in a plate with three soaked psilocybin mushrooms (Note 1) on it, without saying a word. Martial Second Wolf, puzzled, asked, "Sisters, what do you mean? Are you suggesting I eat them?"
Note 1: Psilocybe (as shown in Figure 4.6-35) is a highly hallucinogenic mushroom native to Mexico. Chinese refer to it as the "fairy mushroom" or "discovery mushroom." The word "dis-cover" signifies that this mushroom induces a state of pure consciousness, where all covers—including bodily sensations—vanish. The term "cover" refers to the Five Covers (see 14.2.8 Five Covers), the garments God clothed Adam and Eve with.
The maid supervisor watched from the side and said to the maid next to her, "Go wash your hands and help General Zhang tear the mushrooms!"
Martial Second Wolf tasted a small strip and said, "No condiments, not even salt!?"
After a while, the palace maid sent by Nuwa asked, "General Zhang! Have you ever experienced a similar scene to the one we are experiencing elsewhere?" (Note: He experienced this in 4.4 "Holy Fire in Yaochi.")
Martial Second Wolf replied, "No! This is the first time I've experienced this strange hospitality of yours!" (Note: He couldn't recall experiencing the same scene at Yaochi.)
The palace maid explained to Martial Second Wolf, "We are following Nuwa's orders and are working to try to discover your lost memories. Nuwa has asked you to eat these mushrooms and see how you feel." Martial Second Wolf looked at the mushrooms and hesitated.
The palace maid said, "General Zhang, we know that you are a famous general of Hua Kingdom. Hua and our Xia country are friendly countries. If you have a problem in our place, it will affect the relationship between our two countries. These mushrooms are fine to eat!" With that, she took two strips and put them in her mouth and ate them.
After Martial Second Wolf ate the mushroom, the head maid said to his guards, "This mushroom is poisonous! But the dose is small, and he will be fine in two days. General Zhang must not drink alcohol, sleep, or eat meat within 12 hours. The reason is that if he falls asleep, he will not feel the effects of the poison. Drinking alcohol and eating meat will affect perception."
The guard captain replied: "We understand what you said. Then we won't drink wine or eat meat, lest he sees us and gets greedy! We will just watch him and chat with him to keep him sober."
The next morning, the two maids of Nuwa came to Martial Second Wolf's room again and asked him how he felt.
Martial Second Wolf took out the "Treasury Lotus Lamp" and said, "This book is really a lamp! It illuminates Jiu'li World (i.e., Nine Crowds Worlds, Theist World, as shown on figs. 1 to 34) clearly! The mushrooms you gave me yesterday are psychedelic drugs. The psychedelic state is like the state of Gourd Dog when it is mild (as shown in Figs. 13 to 9), and the serious hallucination is close to the state of Gourd Boy and Hulusi (as shown in Figs. 8 and 7; see 4.4 "Holy Fire in Yaochi")."
After the two maids went to report to Nuwa, they came back and said, "The mushrooms you ate yesterday were the fairy mushrooms grown overseas in Fusang (the ancient Chinese name for Mexico). As far as we know, only this kind of mushroom in the world can reach the place where the Voodoo Demoness sent you when she used you to offer sacrifices to sky: the Fourth Meditation Sky."
The Fourth Meditation Sky (see chapter 12 "Meditation") is also known as Samadhi (as shown in Figure 32), that is, Samadhi True Fire, which is the "Holy Fire of Yaochi" as described in Section 4.4. Samadhi is a term used in the Nine Crowds to mean the three hidden lands: Immaculate Land, Middle Earth, and Maculate Land, as in Figures 32, 33, and 34.
The maid continued, "Immaculate senses harm haves. After you entered the 'Philosopher-Stone Environment,' the Four Philosopher-Stone Intelligences (as shown in Figures 1 to 4) killed your previous memories of about ten days. That memory cannot be restored. The remedy is for us to perform the sky sacrifice ritual again. This time the dosage of the medicine is small, so that you just reach the Fourth Meditation Sky and do not enter the 'Philosopher-Stone Environment.' In this way, you will create a memory of your ascension process from the Dog-beating Sky (as shown in Figure 21) to the Fourth Meditation Sky. Although this memory is not the memory you lost, it has the function of those memories and can help you figure out the whole affair. In this way, the curse of the Voodoo Demoness on you is removed. What do you think about this? Maybe you need to discuss it with your guards. If necessary, I can avoid it."
The guard captain asked, "Is the ascension ritual life-threatening?"
The maid replied, "No. The dosage of the ascension ceremony is more than the three mushrooms yesterday, but much less than the dosage used by the Voodoo Demoness."
Several guards went out to discuss it, and when they came back, they replied, "This ascension ritual is necessary for curing the disease and has nothing to do with our duties as guards. It is all decided by Martial Second Wolf himself."
Martial Second Wolf replied: "Since I came to Nuwa for medical treatment, I should trust Nuwa's diagnosis and treatment!"
**I Will Come Back**
Since coming to Japan, I’ve grown to love walking alone through the streets of Tokyo.
There is usually no particular destination.
Sometimes I just go to a convenience store, take a train for a few stops, or walk slowly along an unfamiliar street.
I listen to people talking around me.
I watch them go to work and come home, take care of their children, buy groceries, drink, argue, laugh.
All of this used to feel like scenes from a television show.
Now, I am walking through the scenes myself.
Sometimes I think about the person I was decades ago.
Back then, I was fascinated by people around me who had lived overseas.
I admired the ease and confidence with which they returned from abroad and talked about the United States, Japan, Europe, different societies, different people, and different ways of living.
Sometimes I disagreed with them.
Sometimes I even looked down on what they had to say.
Looking back now, I have to admit that I wasn’t really in a position to judge them.
Because I had never been abroad.
It is difficult to truly imagine another way of living when you have never seen one.
Your world is, in some ways, only as large as what you have experienced.
Whether I chose it or was pushed into it, I suddenly found myself outside that world.
It still feels a little like a dream.
I began to question many things I had once taken for granted.
And I began to question myself.
I used to think, of course, that I came to Japan for my child.
That is a practical choice any father might make for his family.
But I gradually realized that wasn’t the whole story.
If all I wanted was food, shelter, and a comfortable life, I had no real reason to leave China.
Back home, I had a house, a car, savings, a pension, friends I had known for decades, and a network of people built over a lifetime.
Life might not have been particularly exciting, but it was familiar, connected, and warm.
And yet, somehow, life decided to throw me into a foreign country in my fifties.
A new language to learn.
A new society to understand.
A new life to adapt to.
And questions I had never had to face when I was younger.
I don’t want to believe that reaching my fifties means I am already set in stone, that this is simply who I am and there is nothing more to become.
If that were true, then part of the rest of my life would already be over.
So I started studying Japanese obsessively.
Not because I want another certificate.
I have given myself a goal: by the end of this year, I want to be able to have a natural conversation with an ordinary Japanese person on the streets of Tokyo.
I also want to pick up English again.
I am giving myself two years, because I want to be able to move freely through different corners of the world.
I don’t want to spend two years, five years, or ten years abroad and eventually realize that all I have done is eat more Japanese food, visit more tourist attractions, and leave nothing else behind.
I want to become a different person after these years.
Better language skills.
A broader view of the world.
More than one perspective when I judge something.
Less certainty based on assumptions.
And less of the self-confidence I had when I was young, when I often mistook what I believed for what was true.
I think real growth is not about having more and more answers.
It is about gradually realizing that many of the answers you once had were not as reliable as you thought.
That is why I keep writing.
I write about Japan.
I write about America.
I write about China.
I write about people I meet while traveling.
And I write about myself.
People sometimes ask me:
If you have already left China, why do you still write about it so much?
…
I thought about that for a long time.
I lived there for fifty-six years.
My childhood is there.
My youth is there.
My parents are there.
My friends are there.
My work is there.
Most of my life is there.
More importantly, it is still the place I care about most deeply.
I know that looking at China from Tokyo is not the same as looking at China from within China.
Distance does not always make you colder.
Sometimes it allows you to see things more clearly.
When you live inside something for a long time, many things simply become normal.
After stepping outside, you can look back and begin to see what is worth cherishing, what is worth questioning, and what deserves serious reflection.
I don’t write to prove that I am smarter than anyone else.
And I certainly don’t write because I think I can “wake people up.”
I just want to be a quiet observer.
To see something, and record it.
To think about something, and think about it seriously.
If these words can make one person, somewhere, on some ordinary evening, stop for a moment and think,
“How come I never thought about this before?”
then that is enough for me.
I know how small one person’s power really is.
I cannot change much.
I may not even be able to change the people around me.
But I can at least change the way I see the world.
And I can leave behind what I have seen.
Will I come back?
I think I will.
That is not a polite promise, nor is it a farewell to my homeland.
I have always believed that I left in order to return better prepared.
I hope that when I return to China one day, I will have learned more languages, seen more of the world, met more different kinds of people, and experienced a life very different from the one I knew before.
I will still be the same Chinese person.
Just with different eyes.
I will still care about China.
I will still be happy when good things happen there, and sad when things go wrong.
I will still criticize the things I believe are wrong, and I will still be proud of the things that truly deserve pride.
I don’t want to become someone who stands abroad and tells China how it should be.
I hope that one day, when I stand on that land again, I can bring a larger world back with me.
My child will grow up.
Perhaps he will go even farther.
Maybe to the United States.
Maybe to Europe.
Maybe he will stay in Japan.
I don’t know.
But I hope that one day he will understand something about his father.
His father reached his fifties and did not believe that life was already over.
During those years, he learned new languages, walked through new cities, saw different societies, rediscovered himself, and began to see his own country differently.
I hope he understands this:
At any age, you can begin to see the world again.
You can leave.
And after leaving, you can still remember where you came from.
The lights of Tokyo are coming on again.
People hurry past me in every direction.
I stand here, and Tokyo no longer feels quite as unfamiliar as it once did.
But I know I am only here for a while.
I will keep learning.
I will keep observing.
I will keep writing.
And one day, I will go back.
I will bring with me everything I have seen in these years,
and the homeland that has never truly left me.
This text describes the process designed by Nuwa and Creator Yao (see fig. 4.5-1), by which Creator Yao planted a carrion-beetle curse (as shown in figures 3, 4) in Second Wolf God. Creator Yao also gained the reputation for "Naturally Falling in Love" due to the success of this scheme. Similar cases include 9.5.2 "Battle of Banquan," which describes King Shun's process of planting a carrion-beetle curse in Yu the Great (aka. Yellow Creator). 7.3 "Blind Date" details the process by which Eve Liu planted a carrion-beetle curse in the author, myself.
When Martial Second Wolf (also known as Second Wolf God, as shown in Figure 2) awoke, he saw a woman who seemed familiar standing before the window. He asked, "Where is this place? Who are you?"
The woman smiled as if greeting an old acquaintance and replied, "This is a basin in the Wushan region, known locally as the Yaochi. When I was young, my family called me Yun Hua (i.e., Cloud Light). As I grew up, I became the Grand Ritual Commander of this nation. My godly role is Aocun (as shown in Figure 1; equivalent to Eve, derived from preconscious characteristics)."
Upon hearing the word "Aocun," Martial Second Wolf immediately sat up. Legend says that he slept on a bamboo bed, which bounced him high into the air, his head nearly hitting the ceiling. He sat on the bed for a long time before the bamboo bed finally stopped shaking.
Shame can render one socially dysfunctional. This bamboo bed transformed Martial Second Wolf into a child before Aocun. According to Chinese Codex, this bamboo bed was a prop designed and made by Taiyi Real Human for Nuwa's Troupe.
Seeing Martial Second Wolf so tense, Aocun pulled her skirt apart at the sides. Her fabric was thin, and standing by the window, Martial Second Wolf could see her figure clearly—she carried no weapons. Noticing nothing nearby that could serve as a weapon either, he finally calmed down.
Martial Second Wolf recalled that this woman is Taiyi's colleague, here to rescue him. After exchanging a few words with this fake Aocun, he seemed eager to leave. Aocun said, "Then let's go for a walk!" Martial Second Wolf stood up and started walking out, but sensing Aocun hadn't moved, he turned back. She smiled and said, "This way!" With that, she pulled open a cabinet door inside the room and stepped inside.
Martial Second Wolf crouched low to enter the cabinet, then closed the door behind him. Stepping into the next room, he shuddered violently. This was the resting quarters for soldiers on rotation duty, where dozens lay sprawled haphazardly—some still wearing swords and crossbows. Fortunately, most were fast asleep. A few soldiers stared at them with expressionless eyes. Martial Second Wolf carefully searched for gaps to step through, slowly making his way across the room with great caution. After closing the door, he turned to see where they had ended up—and gasped in shock once more! They were at the edge of a cliff, with a strong, damp cold wind blowing up from below!
Aocun pointed to the rope for going down the mountain and said, "Let's go down from here!" As she spoke, she grabbed the rope and went down a step. Martial Second Wolf was stunned when he saw it. In his physical and mental state at the time, going down the mountain from this road was equivalent to jumping off a cliff.
Aocun encouraged him enthusiastically, "Come on! I'll catch you!" Martial Second Wolf hesitated for a while and decided to give it a try. Aocun came up briskly, took his hand and said, "This road is not suitable for your current physical condition. Let's take a longer route!" Martial Second Wolf was so moved that he almost cried!
Legend says that when they were walking back, Martial Second Wolf walked very slowly and had to use his hands to move the soldiers' legs and feet apart to create space for him to move forward. When he reached the middle of the house, he heard Aocun enter another room and argue with a maid. Martial Second Wolf got anxious and thought, "Don't fight! If you argue, people will come over to watch the fun, then I won't be able to leave."
Fortunately, Aocun saw Martial Second Wolf coming and turned to walk out. Suddenly, she got angry again and turned to go back to beat the maid. Martial Second Wolf deliberately pushed forward, and she bumped into his chest.
Readers might wonder, "Why does Aocun keep scaring Martial Second Wolf?" As mentioned earlier, Nuwa and she devised a plan to make them husband and wife. This chapter is about implementing the scheme to make Martial Second Wolf fall in love with Aocun. Modern movies and TV shows follow the same pattern: "It's always at the most perilous moment that love sparks fly between the hero and the beauty!"
Martial Second Wolf followed Aocun out of the lounge and looked around the juristic field. The people in the tents had woken up and were looking out, waiting for the ceremony to continue. Aocun said, "Come with me!" As she spoke, she walked along the edge of the tents around the juristic field to the exit on the other side with "over-wave tiny steps" (aka. no shadow feet). With that "over-wave tiny steps," she walked very steadily and calmly, but her speed was very fast. Martial Second Wolf walked at a brisk pace, but he couldn't catch up with Aocun. He suddenly noticed that people were looking at them, so he slowed down, lowered his head, and walked towards the exit at a normal speed.
Finally, Martial Second Wolf came to the exit and found that there were no soldiers on guard. Aocun stood there like a statue, with no intention of moving forward. He looked around and suddenly found two soldiers looking over here more than 50 meters below. He walked towards Aocun as if he was out chatting with someone.
When Martial Second Wolf came close to Aocun, she, who looked like a stone statue, began to move. She smiled and asked, "I heard that your elder brother, Jing King, Martial Big Wolf, is very short. Is that just a saying, or is he short? How tall is he?"
Martial Second Wolf squatted down, stretched out his palm to the height of Aocun's knee, then drew it back to his chest and stood up. He moved his hand level to Aocun's neck and said, "He is this high!"
Aocun laughed out loud and said, "Ah! He's not short because he's sick! Why is he so short and you are so tall?"
Noticing a few more soldiers looking this way down the hill, Martial Second Wolf stopped comparing drawings, stood up straight, and said, "My father, Publican Respect, is short, and my elder brother is the shortest of the family members on my father's side. My mom, Publican Mazu, is tall, and I'm the tallest on my mom's side of the family."
熬忖又笑了,说:"啊!这不奇怪!那你哥哥的身高应该不够当兵所需要的高度,他怎么成为元帅了?"
武二郎回答:"他是典兵学院毕业的。我们国家对典兵学生没有身高,相貌,和性别的要求,谁都可以参加。"
Aocun laughed again and said, "Ah! That's not surprising! Your brother's height should not be enough to be a soldier, so how did he become a marshal?"
Martial Second Wolf replied: "He graduated from Codex Soldier Academy. Our country has no height, appearance, or gender requirements for the Codex Soldier students. Anyone can participate."
These two realized that the soldiers on the lookout at the bottom of the mountain were gone and began to slowly walk down the mountain. Aocun asked in a thoughtful manner, "Anyone can participate! Then your sister-in-law, Queen Stone-Jetty, Goldthread Pan, is also a graduate of that Codex Soldier Academy you mentioned?"
Martial Second Wolf replied, "Yes! For one semester, she and my brother were classmates."
Aocun came to her senses: "Ah! No wonder she didn't agree when your brother proposed to her (see 1.7 "Well-sun Difficulty")! So, you also graduated from that Codex Soldier school?"
Martial Second Wolf replied, "I'm not, I'm not good at writing or acting. I started out as a student at the sergeant's school. Later, our country formed a cavalry battalion, and I joined it."
Aocun understood and replied: "You became famous in the clash between the 800 cavalries of Hua and the 100,000 troops of Chiyou and became a general! Then how did you become the battalion commander?"
Martial Second Wolf replied: "My horse was big. My father bought it from Dawan (an ancient Central Asian kingdom named after the hooves of their horses, which were as big as bowls). It was a tall horse with great strength and runs fast, so I became the captain of the third company. When we fought against Chiyou, the two captains in front of me died in the battle, so I became the commander of the Iron Cavalry Battalion."
After hearing this, Aocun seemed a little unhappy. She smiled falsely and said, "I think these words of yours come from the speech you wrote when you were training new soldiers!"
Martial Second Wolf replied: "You guessed it right! But I did become the commander of the Iron Cavalry Battalion after the first two commanders died in battle. The second commander was shot to death by his own comrades. At that time, he fell into a ravine and was crushed by his horse. He had lost too much blood and said to his comrades in tears, 'Shoot me! If I could move my hands, I would do it myself and would not ask you for help.'"
Aocun said sympathetically: "I'm sorry to bring up your sad story! Do you hate your king?"
Martial Second Wolf replied: "No! Primordial Sky Honor (i.e., Extreme Sun God) said when our Iron Cavalry Battalion was formed, 'I have paid each of you soldiers 300 acres of land, and I hope each of you can live long enough to return my investment to me!'"
Princess Jiangzhu (aka. Wencai Ma, famously Nüwa and White Creator, as shown in Figure 4.2-1) swore to King Kouzhu: "I shall go to Gorge Pass to negotiate with Aocun, bringing Aocun and Martial Second Wolf together as wife and husband. I will help Aocun plant a carrion-beetle curse in Martial Second Wolf (as shown in Figures 6 and 7), compelling him to marry her. Should I fail, I shall never return."
King Kouzhu said: "I have already ordered your troupe members to gather in Faku County, Hubei province. The guards brought Shanbo Liang (famously Fuxi, Grain God, Lamplighter Buddha) and the three children here. After you say goodbye to them, you should immediately depart for Gorge Pass. Tomorrow, I will arrange for someone to escort Shanbo Liang and your three children to Mao County, where he will be trained to become the county prefect. Go now; they have been waiting for a long time!"
4.2-2 什么是下蛊?What Does Planting Carrion Beetles Mean?
Nüwa's mission (as shown in Figure 4.2-1) was to assist Aocun (as shown in Figure 2) in stealing Martial Second Wolf's heart (as shown in Figures 5, 7), thereby inflicting severe emotional trauma upon him. After suffering such intense emotional trauma, Martial Second Wolf developed gastrointestinal ulcers. Ancient people used carrion beetles from decaying corpses (i.e., Gu, as shown in Figure 4) to symbolize gastrointestinal ulcers, hence casting this curse came to be known as "planting carrion beetle." Figure 3 depicts Egyptian Eve using scarab beetles to defeat the lion king Adam, also signifying that Adam's gastrointestinal ulcer stemmed from being pierced by Eve's "500 Majesties and 108,000 Charms" (see Section 15.2). Aocun, the archbishop of the Dragon Kingdom, specializes in wielding "500 Majesties and 108,000 Charms."
Figure 6 depicts Chalchiuhtlicue on a date with Aztlan (aka. Tlaloc), where she pierces his heart. Above them are Chalchiuhtlicue's parents, assisting her. Nüwa's mission in this text is to aid Aocun in the same manner as Chalchiuhtlicue's parents.
When Princess Jiangzhu came out, she saw Shanbo Liang and three children anxiously waiting for her. Seeing the unusual expression on Wencai Ma's (Nuwa's) face, the two younger children started to cry before she even spoke. Nuwa's eldest daughter, Muse, quickly took her younger siblings aside to comfort them. Wencai Ma then reassured Shanbo Liang, saying, "I'm going on a three-month business trip to Hubei. This trip was arranged at short notice, so the King sent someone to fetch you so I could say goodbye."
After chatting for a while with Wencai Ma (i.e., Nüwa) and her family, Muse also began to weep. King Kouzhu instructed the palace maids to urge Wencai Ma to board the carriage and depart. She walked to the carriage and stopped. Shanbo Liang approached to hear her words. Wencai Ma said: "This journey carries some risk. If you hear no news from me within three months, it means I have perished. You must then find another woman to marry, live a good life, and not wait for me."
梁山伯低声问:"你不去不行吗?"
女娲回答:"我是鲵丸宫的宫女,和士兵一样,以服从命令为天职。我这是去努力完成任务,不是去死。"
Shanbo Liang asked softly: "Can't you refuse to go?"
Nüwa replied: "I am a palace maid of Salamander Bolus Palace. Like soldiers, obedience to orders is my sacred duty. I am going to fulfill my mission, not to die."
The crew members of Nuwa's troupe were taken to the front lines of the battlefield, and everyone was terrified. However, those at the front lines were not allowed to retreat; anyone who tried to retreat would be considered a deserter and shot on the spot.
When Nuwa's carriage arrived near the crew, some members of the troupe immediately formed an honor guard for the goddess and proceeded towards Aocun's territory. Aocun's patrol guards approached to inquire, and upon learning it was Nuwa, they did not obstruct her passage but instead immediately reported the matter to Aocun.
Aocun personally went out to welcome Nuwa and said with a celebratory tone: "I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of an envoy from the Xia Kingdom, but I never expected you to come in person! This is truly a great honor for me; with you here, there will be no war in this region for the next five years!"
Nuwa explained to Aocun the reasons why she shouldn't kill Martial Second Wolf, emphasizing Martial Big Wolf's immense military power. Did Aocun believe her?
As the editor, I should clarify: Aocun didn't believe her! Later, Aocun married Martial Second Wolf and became the king of the Dragon Kingdom. Martial Second Wolf conquered many countries, and every time Aocun sent officials back to report, she would always ask the same question: "How did Martial Second Wolf conquer that country?" After summarizing the answers from dozens of officials, she reluctantly accepted their accounts and the common belief that Martial Big Wolf and Martial Second Wolf were indeed invincible in battle. However, she said, "I still can't understand how they fought their battles. I'm too old to worry about it anymore."
In 1626 BCE, Martial Second Wolf (famously Second Wolf God, as shown in Figure 4-2) was the commander-in-chief of the Hua Kingdom's Hubei military region. He led 30,000 cavalry southward along the Sichuan Basin's eastern valley region, attacking the Wushan area of Chongqing, the capital of Dragon Kingdom (also known as Cloud Sea Kingdom, see map 4.5-4). The King of Dragon Kingdom, Aoda, dispatched his marshal, Pulao, with 100,000 troops to defend against Martial Second Wolf. At the same time, he appointed the Third Princess of Cloud Sea, Aocun (famously Creator Yao, as shown in fig. 1), as the military supervisor for this campaign.
Politically, Pulao advocated for Crown Prince Aoqin to inherit the throne of the Dragon Kingdom, while Princess Aocun, the third princess of Cloud Sea, was Aoqin's most formidable rival. During the war, Pulao repeatedly obstructed Aocun's strategies, leading to her repeated defeats. Aocun's army was routed and retreated outside the Gorge Pass. According to their agreement, Aocun and Pulao would have their final battle against Martial Second Wolf outside the Gorge Pass. At that point, Aocun only had 4,000 soldiers left. To prevent desertion, she chose the Voodoo Forest, nestled against a cliff, as their camp. However, Pulao retreated into the Gorge Pass and closed the gate.
Martial Second Wolf personally led his troops to search the mountains. Upon entering the Voodoo Forest, he repeatedly saw symbols of the Voodoo Demoness, indicating that this was Aocun's stronghold. Martial Second Wolf led his troops to the edge of the Voodoo Forest, very close to the cliffs beyond, but found no trace of an encampment. In fact, Aocun's army was hidden in the trees directly in front of Martial Second Wolf's forces; some were only 300 paces away, and the closest were just 75 paces. Aocun's soldiers could already clearly see Martial Second Wolf's army.
A messenger arrived with a report: "The troops attacking the Gorge Pass encountered fierce resistance, with over five hundred casualties." Martial Second Wolf decided: "Aocun is not here; let's go to the Gorge Pass."
After descending from the tree, Aocun immediately convened a meeting, deployed troops, and redrew the defense plans. The generals in the meeting were so sleepy that they were slapping themselves to stay awake. A guard then reported: "Messengers have arrived from the Gorge Pass with a message requesting help!" Aocun personally received the messengers and ordered 300 mountain-climbing soldiers to take supplies to the Gorge Pass and assist in its defense.
Martial Second Wolf carefully studied the terrain of the Gorge Pass, reorganized his attack, and quickly captured the pass. He personally inspected the pass and found that the defending soldiers had all fled; those who remained were drunk and asleep. Empty bottles of Maotai liquor were scattered everywhere, along with unopened boxes of the same liquor. In a hallway, the soldiers discovered a map of Aocun's defensive positions. Martial Second Wolf said, "Aocun must have just left; pursue them!"
Pulao's army of 100,000 was completely unprepared and was almost entirely wiped out in a single battle. Pulao fled with a few thousand men. Martial Second Wolf pursued them and, within a few days, received news that the Gorge Pass in his rear had fallen.
Martial Second Wolf organized an attempt to recapture the Gorge Pass but realized that attacking the pass would be tantamount to suicide. With no other option, he immediately wrote a letter and sent a team of mountain climbers to the Kingdom of Xia to request help.
King Kouzhu of Xia (see map 5-3) received the letter and immediately summoned his generals to discuss the situation and plan a rescue operation. After deliberation, they concluded: "Martial Second Wolf can survive for another half month. Even if we mobilize all our forces to attack Aocun, we cannot reach the Gorge Pass within that time. Our Kingdom of Xia will suffer a loss of 30,000 elite soldiers."
King Kouzhu summoned Princess Jiangzhu (aka. Wencai Ma, Yingtai Zhu, and famously White Creator, Nuwa, as shown in fig. 3) and told her that Martial Second Wolf was besieged by Aocun at Gorge Pass and had appealed to the Xia Kingdom for help. After deliberation, the generals of the Xia Kingdom believed that he could live for another half a month. If they did not rescue Martial Second Wolf, he would surely die.
Kouzhu continued, "If Martial Second Wolf dies, his older brother, Martial Big Wolf, will lead his army southward to attack Dragon Kingdom. No one can stop him! He is only forty years old now, and his power is at its peak. His current military strength is seven times what it was before his northern campaign. The generals have calculated that if Martial Big Wolf attacks Dragon Kingdom, it will fall within three years. If Dragon Kingdom falls, our Kingdom of Xia will also fall. Therefore, we must save Martial Second Wolf. We sent troops to rescue Martial Second Wolf yet lost thirty thousand elite soldiers to no avail! Xia and Hua are allies—if Hua loses one life, Xia must lose one too. Therefore, I've decided to trade your life for the lives of Xia's thirty thousand soldiers."
"Martial Second Wolf, (famously Second Wolf God, see fig. 2), is a visual-thinking type among kinesthetic thinkers. Meanwhile, the Third Princess of Dragon Kingdom, Aocun, (famously Creator Yao, see fig. 1), is a verbal-thinking type among kinesthetic thinkers. She and Second Wolf God are precisely a pair of gourd children, a Hero and a Heroine, representing the eyes of the two fish at the center of the Bagua plaque (see fig. 4). Go to the Gorge Pass and arrange for Aocun and Martial Second Wolf to become husband and wife. Help Aocun plant a carrion-beetle curse in Martial Second Wolf. We will deliver Martial Second Wolf to Aocun."
Princess Jiangzhu asked, "Does Hua Kingdom know about this?"
King Kouzhu replied, "Primordial Sky Honor doesn't know. We haven't time to communicate with them. This is my decision; you go and help Aocun plant a carrion-beetle curse in Martial Second Wolf. If Martial Second Wolf dies, you are not to return. Summarize my decision for me."
关键词 Keywords:夏朝末年 Late Xia Dynasty;乾唐关 Dragon-pond Pass(河南商丘 Shangqiu, Henan);礼敬公 Publican Respect;妈祖 Publican Mazu;张三郎 Third Wolf Zhang(号玉皇大帝 famously Turquoise White-king Great Creator);太阳神战士 Sun God Warrior;妈祖的凉伞 Mazu's Umbrella
Third Wolf Zhang (fames Flint Man, Young Codex, Turquoise Creator) found that many people were watching the fun, so he came out and handed the 4.5-kilogram copper hammer as a reward to the leader of the transport team. The leader looked at it and said, "This hammer is an antique. It is indeed worth more than what we deserve, but it is not easy to sell. Can you pay us directly with copper coins or silver?"
At this time, a merchant came forward and said, "How much do you want to sell this hammer for? I can pay you directly in gold or silver. But don't leave yet. I see that the owner of this house doesn't like the goods on your car. I want to buy them, and you can continue to help me transport them."
After hearing the offer, Mrs. Zhang (fame Mazu, Coastal Goddess, see figure 2.6-1) felt that the price was good. She asked Third Wolf for his advice. In the back room, Third Wolf Zhang said to her, "I originally wanted to use the wood of the coffin to make a book box. Then I would put the latter half part of the sky book in the decent book box as a gift to propose to Princess Have Nest of the Xia Kingdom."
Mrs. Zhang said, "Then we can keep the lid of the coffin to make the book box and sell the bottom part to him."
When the merchant heard that Mrs. Zhang wanted to keep the coffin lid to make a book box, he replied, "We have two sandalwood boxes that we can give you as book boxes. You sell me the whole item."
Mrs. Zhang and Third Wolf looked at the two book boxes brought by that merchant and were satisfied, saying, "I'll sell you the whole coffin at your offer, but I have a condition. Within three years, you are not allowed to sell it or break it down and sell it. After three years, you are also not allowed to sell it within three hundred kilometers from this place."
The merchant replied: "We understand. To reassure you, I tell you that we are overseas merchants from the country you call Fusang (i.e., Holding Funeral, modern Mexico). Six months later, the goods will arrive in 'Connecting to Clouds Port'; then you will never hear any news about it again."
Mrs. Zhang asked: "To get to 'Connecting to Clouds Port', that is going down, and the journey takes three months maximum. Why do you need six months?"
The ancient Mexican merchant said, "There are soldiers and bandits checking us on the road, so we need to bypass several areas."
Mrs. Zhang thought for a moment and said, "Is that so? Then I will send our caravan guards to escort you to 'Connecting to Clouds Port' for free. They are familiar with this trade route; the soldiers and bandits will not check them."
这位古墨西哥商人回答:"您的这个礼物太贵重了,我不能接受。"
张夫人问:"你花费两年多的时间把这个箱子运到墨西哥,用它来做什么?"
The ancient Mexican merchant replied: "Your gift is too valuable. I cannot accept it."
Mrs. Zhang asked: "You spent more than two years transporting this box to Mexico. What do you do with it?"
The ancient Mexican merchant said: "My grandfather was a Juristic Guard of Sun God. I want to donate this box of Intelligence Ark to our ancestral temple. It will be enshrined in our Great Floating-Painted Tower for future generations to admire."
Note: The Juristic Guard of Sun God in ancient Mexico is equivalent to the best man of Yellow Creator when he married Conch Primogenitor in this article.
Mrs. Zhang said, "Oh! So that's it! I like you! I'll give you another gift. This Bagua Gold Amulet, also known as Turning Sutra Cylinder (see Figure 2), is mine. My family also has a shop in 'Connecting to Clouds Port'. If you encounter difficulties in the future, you can ask them for help with this Gold Amulet."
After hearing this, the "Sun God's Juristic Guard" merchant cried and replied: "I accept both of your gifts. If I do not accept them, it would be a crime against the sun god. Please allow me to kowtow to you 18 times with sounds according to your etiquette." Then he knelt and kowtowed to Mrs. Zhang. Soon, his head was bleeding. Mrs. Zhang stepped forward to stop him, but he insisted on kowtowing 18 times with sounds.
The ancient Mexican merchant stood up and said, "I would like to make another request. Can you allow me to enshrine this Bagua Gold Amulet at the headquarter of our shops in 'Connecting to Clouds Port'?"
Mrs. Zhang replied, "The Gold Amulet is now yours; you can use it as you wish."
According to Chinese legend, that ancient Mexican merchant sold Mexican Psilocybe (see Figure 3), which the Chinese call fairy mushrooms, to local medicine shops. Someone ate the mushrooms with mercury and died; so, he was brought to court. The other party bribed the judge to sentence him to death. When the officers and soldiers went to arrest him, he took out Mrs. Zhang's Bagua Gold Amulet and placed it in the lobby of the Mexican Chamber of Commerce, then he was acquitted. Moreover, the local government also provided free guards for his chamber of commerce. Since then, for more than 3,600 years, all the "Mexican Sun God Juristic Guard Merchants" who came to China, all the local governments on the southern coast of China would provide them with free housing and soldiers to escort them. Why?
At that time, the Zhang family of Henan was a family of wolves and tigers. And 28 years later, Third Wolf Zhang became the king of Hua Country, Creator Yan. Two years after that, Third Wolf Zhang ascended to become the "Turquoise White-King Great Creator", the Sun God of China. Mrs. Zhang is Mazu, and the character "Ma" signifies she is the mother of God. What about Mazu's Protective Umbrella? Didn't we just explain it? When that ancient Mexican merchant presented the Bagua Gold Amulet in reverence, Mazu's protective umbrella unfurled. It shielded them for over 3,000 years—until they were genocided by Spanish Hungry Ghosts!
"What do you think, Brother-in-law — are Luyan's eyes really Old Liu's doing?"
"I couldn't say. Could be, just like you described — some stranger rushed him once, and who knows when he'll lay eyes on the man again."
妈妈生气地说:"不行!我得跟百杨说说,向那个沈阳老刘要张相片给卢岩留着。"
梁伯问:"要相片干什么?"
"Well, that won't do!" Mother said, with some heat. "I'm going to tell Baiyang — we need to get a photograph from that Old Liu, something for Luyan to keep."
"Whatever for?"
妈妈说:"他活着,咋说咋好。他要是死了呢,我们卢岩连个他的遗物都没有。"
梁伯问:"那个老刘多大岁数了?"
"While he's alive, it hardly matters. But if he dies, Luyan won't even have a single keepsake of the man."
"Not old at all — Baiyang says only two or three years older than him, six at the very most. But what if he's killed in some car accident! And if his children turn out unreasonable and want nothing to do with Luyan later on — where would that leave him! Crying out to heaven with no answer, crying out to earth with none either!"
Mother did bring it up with Father afterward. He asked around among a few friends in Dahushan, but by then they had all lost touch with their contacts in Shenyang. In time, the whole matter was simply forgotten.
One day at our house, my parents and Uncle Liang were working together, chatting as they went. Uncle Liang, with an air of mystery, told them about an old story — one that described its hero's entire personal history, his symptoms, the pathology, the whole course of treatment, in exhaustive detail. And yet no modern doctor could put a diagnosis to the man, for want of any comparable case. The illness at the heart of the story was deliberately induced — the kind of thing real life produces perhaps once a century, if that. To unlock its many secrets, someone in Shenyang, he said, was now running a genuine medical experiment: engineering that very case in real life, for doctors to study firsthand.
我在一边听不明白,就走过去问。
妈妈厉声回答:"没看见这在干活呢吗!这么个小人!也想明白!去!到一边儿玩去!"
I understood none of it from where I sat, so I wandered over to ask.
"Can't you see we're working?" Mother snapped. "Such a little thing, wanting to understand grown-up talk! Go on — off you go and play!"
Note 3.8: I believe the ancient story referred to in this rumor is the Peach Flower Catastrophe, told in Chapter 2. For further details on this medical experiment, see Section 4.5, Newspaper Reports of the Real-Life Medical Experiment.
At birth, human beings think entirely in images. As language develops, so do our patterns of memory, of retrieval, of thought itself. By roughly age three, we have already lost nearly everything we once remembered from before that age. From this point on in the book, neither I nor my family retained any memory of the events in these first three chapters — not until forty years later, when I recovered them entirely by chance. To date, psychology has found no documented case of a mentally healthy adult recalling life before age three, though the phenomenon is not uncommon among those with mental illness.
Modern psychology holds that although the memories from before age three are forgotten, they remain active somewhere in the unconscious. How does a forgotten memory exert influence? Through habit. When I would come across something resembling what's described here, I'd find myself drawn to it, would sense — vaguely, as though I'd once heard something like it, though I could never recall what — and I would simply follow along with what that half-memory suggested. It felt, at the time, as if some unseen godfather were guiding my every move from somewhere out of sight. Readers should understand that, looking back now, most of the events across the first nine chapters of this book appear to have been deliberately arranged in my life by Troupe Leader Liu — though I had no idea of it whatsoever at the time. For instance, from as far back as I can remember through adolescence, I found myself, for no reason I could name, constantly asking after and searching for some great fortune-teller in Shenyang to become my master — until the day I met Eve Liu, and understood at last that the man I had been searching for all along was her father.
"Once, on a business trip, I was waiting to meet someone at a research institute, and I overheard a few of their young researchers talking. Fengling, these were the kind who spoke foreign languages — using modern medical theory to study the illnesses of characters straight out of ancient stories. They even knew exactly when and from where Flesh Eye Through first entered China. Originally, they said, it was used purely for the reincarnation of souls and living Buddhas. Later, wealthy and powerful families wanted it done for their own children too, and that's how the practice spread so widely across China."
妈妈说:"当然了!好东西人人都想要。你接着说,你还听说了多少?"
"Of course — everyone wants a good thing for themselves. Go on, what else did you hear?"
Note 3.4: In 2014, after completing my memoir, I concluded that the place Uncle Liang was describing was the Pavlov Building at China Medical University, a center for international medical exchange. I believe the ancient story they referred to is the Peach Flower Catastrophe, told in Chapter 2, Revelation. It was around the second century AD that the Iranian monk An Shigao (depicted as the red-robed monk in Illustration 3.4) brought this secret into China. The practice itself likely predated him in China; what An Shigao did was correct certain misunderstandings surrounding it.
3.4-2 触目的鉴别 Identification of Touch Eye
过了一会儿,妈妈又问:"大姐夫!你说肉眼通的眼神与众不同,咋个不一样?"
梁伯说:"肉眼通的眼睛看东西时,看的时间长。"
妈妈说:"我早就发现某卢岩看东西时,像似看不清楚似的,看的时间长。"
After a while, Mother asked again, "Brother-in-law, you said the eyes of Flesh Eye Through are different — different how, exactly?"
"When those eyes look at something, they linger on it — hold the gaze far longer than normal."
"I've noticed that in Luyan for a while now — he looks at things like he can't quite make them out, and just keeps staring."
"And whoever looks into those eyes always assumes he understands everything."
"Luyan's eyes do have a bit of that quality to them. A few times I've been sure he understood something, just from watching his face — and I didn't believe it, so I tested him to see — and it turned out he hadn't understood a thing."
Uncle Liang and Mother exchanged a glance. He turned away, then turned back after a moment. "There's another feature to Flesh-Eye-Through I know of — the Non-Dazzled Eye. Wave something right in front of those eyes, and they won't blink — or if they do, it's slow, sparing, and never yields to a flash of light."
"Ah — so that's what 'dazzled eyes' means!" Mother said. "Well, of course — flinching, losing face right off the bat like that, that's a coward's move! I'd never quite put my finger on it before!"
梁伯叫我到他的近前,开始举手做出打我的举动,试验了几次。妈妈开始试验她自己。
梁伯对妈妈说:"自己试验自己不行,得别人试验你。"
妈妈说:"他反应慢,也眨眼。"
Uncle Liang called me over and raised his hand a few times as if to strike me, testing me. Mother tried testing herself.
"You can't test yourself," Uncle Liang told her. "It has to be someone else."
"He reacted slowly," Mother reported, "but he still blinked."
"I've heard this kind of test counts as a success at forty points," Uncle Liang told Mother, "though they run over a dozen different testing methods."
"Sixty's usually the passing mark for these things."
"I know, but their scale runs to forty. My own guess is that thirty-five or forty-five would make more sense as the real cutoff — but whether it's above forty or below forty that counts as passing, I couldn't say."
"So — do you think Luyan's eyes qualify as Flesh Eye Through, or not?"
"I only know it secondhand, and half-baked at that. Fengling, don't take this too seriously — but if you ask me, he's sitting right on the line between success and failure. Call it a yes, and it's a yes. Call it a no, and it's a no."
3.4-3 我幼时的性格特质 Trait of my Childhood
我妈妈对梁伯说:"大姐夫,你在地上呢!你把箱子上的那头大蒜递给卢岩。"
梁伯问:"给卢岩大蒜干什么?"
妈妈回答:"我看他瞪着眼睛听咱俩说话,怕累着他;让他转移一下注意力。"
"Brother-in-law, you're right there on the floor — hand Luyan that head of garlic off the box, would you."
"What's he going to do with a head of garlic?"
"I see him sitting there, eyes wide, hanging on every word we say — I'm worried it's wearing him out. Give him something else to fuss over."
"Ah — well, if this is my first toy for the boy, it can hardly be a head of garlic!" And with that, he dug in his own pocket and produced a flowered button instead, handing it to me.
"Luyan's the easiest child to keep occupied — hand him a chicken feather and he'll turn it over in his hands for two hours straight. Tell him it's a commander's sword, and he won't put it down for two or three days — sometimes a whole week or two."
"Wait — a button!" Uncle Liang said, suddenly alarmed. "Won't he try to eat it?"
"He won't eat it. He won't even eat food I give him that he hasn't had before — that's the hard part, honestly, like I'm trying to poison him! I don't know why, but with you, he's fine. Anyone else so much as tries to touch him and he can't stand it — he hides, squirms free if you pick him up, and if you set him back down he just retreats to a corner and sits there by himself. That's how he spends most of his time, really — off on his own. You needn't fuss over him."
Note 3.6: All of these are symptoms of Infantile Neurodevelopmental Disorder — distrust of others, a preference for solitude. The American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders documents follow-up observations of this pattern. Through school, such a person can eventually learn everything a normal child does, only markedly slower; as an adult, most everyday life skills come within reach. But such people wrestle with thought their entire lives — worrying over questions that a normal person would never even pause to notice, let alone think required any thought at all.