On the following night, after Rong Chen Zi had led his disciples through the evening lessons and retired to sleep, a strange disturbance suddenly appeared before him. He snapped his eyes open, made a hand seal with his right hand, and was about to press it to the intruder’s forehead — when he stopped himself.
He slept without a lamp, and the bedchamber was completely dark. The creature before him was very close; warm, soft breath puffed against his face, faintly ticklish. He reached out his hand, felt the gauze hem of her garment, and knew at once — this creature had woken up.
Rong Chen Zi was a man of propriety through and through, entirely ill-at-ease in the company of women. He did not know what tone to adopt when speaking with her, and so, at a loss, he asked the obvious: “You’ve woken up?”
The woman buried her face against his neck and drew in a long, deep breath, like a greedy cat that had just caught sight of the most delicious fish imaginable: “You smell wonderful!”
Her entire body was draped over him. Rong Chen Zi pushed her away: “Hungry? What would you like to eat?”
Her saliva had already dripped into the tightly fastened collar of his robe. She answered with complete candor and not the slightest hesitation: “You!”
Rong Chen Zi pushed her aside, rose, and headed to the kitchen. Pausing on the way to think it over, he added a reassurance: “I’ll be right back. Don’t wander off.”
In the darkness, a hand seized the sleeve of his inner robe: “I’ll go with you.”
Rong Chen Zi refused: “It’s this late at night — a man and a woman alone together invites gossip.”
“What? Then light the lamp — I’m afraid of the dark!”
…
A short while later, a lamp was lit in Rong Chen Zi’s chamber. Two disciples, Qingxuan and Qingsu, followed him in carrying two plates of pastries and an assortment of plain fruits. Rong Chen Zi sat down at the round table, clearly intending to have a proper conversation with her: “This humble Daoist’s Daoist title is Rong Chen Zi. What is your name?”
The creature sat down across from him and wolfed everything down, only pausing long enough at last to say: “You can call me the Sea Emperor — or Your Majesty. Was it your people who brought me here from the Sea Clan’s imperial palace?”
Rong Chen Zi’s expression darkened: “Less nonsense. Your name!”
After spitting out a fruit pit, the creature finally answered: “Hmph. Petty lowlifes who have already insulted this Sovereign deserve to be struck down by heaven — and yet you dare to ask for this Sovereign’s true name?!”
She delivered this with great imposing authority — though naturally it would have carried rather more weight if she hadn’t had a steamed bun and an apple stuffed in her mouth at the time, with a pile of fruit pits heaped in front of her. In her current state, with both cheeks puffed out like dumplings, all authority was lost — while the comedic effect was undeniable.
Qingsu covered his mouth to hide a laugh. Qingxuan, the more composed of the two, merely curved the corners of his lips. Both had followed Rong Chen Zi since they were small and were his most trusted attendants; they didn’t bother concealing anything from him.
Rong Chen Zi gave a light cough. This creature was indeed the Sea Emperor he had dug out of the sea off Lingxia Mountain. For the past few years, the Sea Clan had kept largely to themselves and rarely caused trouble on land — they and Daozong had maintained a mutual non-interference policy, like well water that never disturbs river water.
But for the past two years or so, something had gone wrong. They had stirred up trouble repeatedly. In the waters around Lingxia Mountain, fishing boats had capsized and sunk in numbers too great to count. The fishermen, at their wits’ end, had pooled their money and commissioned Daozong to expel the demons.
Daozong, recognizing the gravity of the situation, had mounted a unified campaign. And the Sea Clan, ordinarily so vigilant, had appeared to be in a state of complete disarray. Daozong’s people had taken the Sea Emperor’s Palace with startling ease. Some had been overcome by greed and plundered vast quantities of pearls and porcelain. But when all was said and done, what mattered most was the Sea Emperor.
Human hearts are rarely satisfied, and when something is won too easily, there will always be those who feel the reward is not enough. The Sea Emperor was the spiritual leader of the Sea Clan in the waters around Lingxia Mountain. To control her would mean controlling the entire Sea Clan of that sea.
Rong Chen Zi had harbored no real intention of controlling the Sea Clan. But among Daozong’s people, character varied wildly — once the Sea Emperor fell into Daozong’s hands, a power struggle would inevitably follow, and it would mark the beginning of yet another calamity for the Daoist world. This assault on the Sea Clan had not, in itself, resulted in heavy casualties. But the infighting that broke out during the plunder of the Sea Clan’s treasures had produced a death toll that actually exceeded the battle losses.
Moreover, this sudden upheaval among the Sea Clan almost certainly had some deeper cause. And so, while everyone else scrambled to seize coral and pearls, he had moved first to find the Sea Emperor’s sleeping chambers and had smuggled her away, secretly bringing her back to Qingxu Temple.
Only… was this creature truly the Sea Emperor?
Rong Chen Zi absently collected the fruit pits and deposited them in a basket, then watched the creature across the table sweep the food away like a gale, feeling a degree of puzzlement: “The Sea Clan and Daozong have always left each other well alone. What has caused all this turmoil in recent years?”
Pastry crumbs flew in all directions around her. Rong Chen Zi frowned faintly, while the person across from him seemed entirely oblivious: “The food on land — this Sovereign hasn’t tasted it in many years, and it’s still just as delicious as before. Mm-mm. Though it would be even better if there were more sugar in these cakes! This fruit is also quite nice, mm-mm, though if you’d waited a couple more days before picking it the flavor would probably be even better…”
“…” It was clearly impossible to get any useful information out of her before she was full. Rong Chen Zi watched the two plates of pastries on the table growing progressively more desolate and steeled himself — he gestured to his two disciples: “Go see what’s left in the kitchen and bring it all out.”
Before long, Qingxuan and Qingsu had hauled over steamed buns, flower rolls, and vegetarian-filled buns as well. The creature ate until her belly was round as a drum, then finally wiped her mouth and slowed her pace somewhat. Rong Chen Zi coughed once more: “The Sea Clan—”
He had barely gotten the words out when the creature took offense. With one hand picking her teeth and the other still holding a pastry, she said: “What in the immortal ancestors’ name! This Sovereign, the great Sea Emperor, is sitting right here, and you — not once do you ask if this Sovereign has had enough to eat, not once do you ask if this Sovereign is dressed warmly enough — you just single-mindedly pry about the Sea Clan! Sea Clan, Sea Clan, Sea Clan is all that comes out of your mouth. Who belongs to the Sea Clan — you, or my Sea Clan?”
Rong Chen Zi was stung into a flash of temper: “So you know you belong to the Sea Clan! You, as the ruler of an entire people, give no thought to your clan’s rise or fall, but instead allow lesser demons to stir up chaos! These past years—”
He enumerated the Sea Clan’s offenses at length, then fell silent.
Looking closely, he saw that the creature in the chair across from him had leaned back against the seat and was fast asleep, drooling.
Qingxuan and Qingsu were equally dumbfounded. This… this… with a Sea Emperor like this, it’s the Sea Clan’s people who deserve sympathy. Could this sort of Sea Emperor truly manage to avoid being overthrown?
The following day, Rong Chen Zi rose before dawn and led his disciples through the morning lessons. When he returned, the creature was still asleep. He shook his head and instructed the young acolytes not to enter his chamber without permission, then went to the altar hall. Qingxu Temple had taken in about a dozen orphans with nowhere to go, and whenever Rong Chen Zi had a spare moment, he would teach them to read and write.
After two lessons, when he returned to the room, the creature was still slumped in the chair, fast asleep. He had half a mind to wake her, but in the end, propriety between men and women held him back, and he refrained. Not long after, two worshippers arrived at the temple expressly seeking Rong Chen Zi for blessing talismans. By the time Rong Chen Zi had dealt with them, it was already time for the midday meal.
When he returned to the room, he found that the creature had finally woken.
“You—” Rong Chen Zi opened his mouth to speak, but the creature was immediately impatient: “Oh, here we go again. Are you ever going to stop? Fine, fine. For the past several years the Sea Clan was doing quite well. Then the sea-turtle priest died of old age and was replaced by a new one named Chunyu Lin. This Sovereign treated that fellow with great generosity and the utmost courtesy. Yet that scoundrel turned around and placed this Sovereign under house arrest within the Sea Emperor’s Palace, and declared he was staging a rebellion!”
Rong Chen Zi, sensing the conversation was finally getting to the heart of the matter, let out a faint breath of relief: “It seems this priest has been behind the Sea Clan’s strange behavior all these years.”
“Obviously! Ow-ow, I’m hungry. Is this how you Daoists treat guests?! Where is this Sovereign’s midday meal?!”
“…” Rong Chen Zi had no way of letting her out, so he had no choice but to order two disciples to bring food again — and having others present would serve as a form of decorum.
Qingxuan and Qingsu carried over a full table of vegetarian dishes from the dining hall. Rong Chen Zi also sat down at the table. He had barely raised his chopsticks when the creature had already emptied the two plates in front of him. Rong Chen Zi picked up a single bite of tofu: “Given the situation, what does the Sea Emperor intend to do?”
The creature had already swept another two plates bare, and squeezed in a single reply between mouthfuls: “Eat first!”
All eight dishes on the table were soon spotlessly empty. Rong Chen Zi set down his chopsticks with a sharp clack: “Sea Emperor, Your Majesty — your people are now suffering in misery and hardship, and yet you…”
His lecture had not even left his mouth before the creature pointed at the white rice in his bowl: “You’re not hungry?” She reached across, scooped his bowl into her own, and dipped it into the leftover sauce from the dishes, then resumed eating with great ferocity.
When the last of the rice was gone, she set down her bowl, and for the first time showed a faint trace of genuine sorrow: “Ah, well, you do make a fair point. The Sea Clan is short on talent, and now wicked men hold power. This Sovereign can barely get food down the throat, actually — ah, even my appetite has shrunk considerably.”
“#·¥%…#·#·” Rong Chen Zi slammed the door and left. Qingxuan and Qingsu set about clearing the carnage of cups and dishes. The Sea Emperor, meanwhile, crawled onto Rong Chen Zi’s arhat couch, wrapped the quilt around herself, and with a melancholy sigh — fell asleep.
Qingxuan wiped the table clean, and pausing at the door, cast a look at the creature snoring away on the bed. His expression was one of deep contemplation: “I think I finally understand why the Sea Clan’s priest decided to rebel…”