It was now deep in the night, the hour of the pig. The crescent moon hung overhead; below the Mogao Caves light and shadow intertwined, dim and uncertain. From outside the Shengjiao Temple came a measured tramping of footsteps and the clashing of armor plates. A covered litter emerged from the darkness and moved at a slow pace through the cold moonlight.
The litter had four corner poles supporting a round canopy top, with black curtains hanging all around, closed tight on every side. The four bearers were soldiers of imposing build, clad from head to toe in Mingguang armor! Their helmets were on their heads, face guards lowered, revealing only savage beast-face visors — their true faces hidden. Their upper bodies were encased in chest plates and back plates, their lower bodies in armored skirts, legs wrapped in greave armor, even their feet shod in iron boots. The two round disc-shaped breast guards on their chests were polished to a gleaming shine and blazed in the moonlight, as if the guardian warrior deities of the stone grottos had come back to life.
What was uncanny was that from all around the litter poured a dense, viscous black smoke, drifting out in wisps and tendrils, wreathing the four soldiers as well, so that they appeared and disappeared within it, as if treading upon the black mist as they walked. Yet with each fall of an iron boot on the ground came a firm “clack clack,” unmistakably the sound of feet planted on earth.
The litter reached the gate of the Boundless Yard. A patrol of constables came riding by on their circuit and found themselves face to face with this uncanny litter.
County patrols used mounted constables, who began their circuits of the streets after the curfew to detect and arrest lawbreakers. They nominally fell under the authority of the Jingu Guards, but in local counties they were actually supervised by the county constabulary. Tonight, given the large number of people at the Mogao Caves auction — including several high officials and great aristocratic families — the county constable had specially deployed a company of mounted patrolmen.
The lead patrol officer raised his hand and shouted: “You there — stop where you are and show your travel documents!”
The four soldiers took no notice, moving in silence, carrying the litter at a steady pace, steps precise and even, unhurried. The constables immediately felt their hair stand on end. They drew their sabers, shouting: “Stop immediately or you will be arrested on the spot!”
The four soldiers, still carrying the litter, continued their march as if they were four walking corpses. They finally halted only when they reached the temple gate. The four men set down the litter and stood around it, wooden-faced, as if awaiting a command.
The patrol officer could not suppress a shudder. With a wave of his hand, one constable raised his saber, spurred his horse forward, and charged. Drawing up alongside one of the soldiers, the constable let out a battle cry and brought his saber slashing down with the force of the horse behind him. The soldier spun around abruptly and drove his fist into the horse’s head. The warhorse let out a shriek and toppled on the spot, four hooves going down, pinning the constable beneath it.
The soldier walked forward expressionlessly, seized the constable with one hand, and hurled him bodily at the temple gate!
With a thunderous boom, the five-inch-thick gate shuddered several times and nearly collapsed. The constable’s bones shattered; he tumbled to the ground. The surrounding constables stood briefly stunned, as if confronted by supernatural beings. While they were still in a daze, the four soldiers each pulled a battle blade from the litter poles and advanced with heavy strides.
The patrol officer snapped back to his senses and roared: “Kill the enemy!”
The remaining five constables knew they faced destruction, but the blood-courage in their chests would not let them retreat. With a battle cry they spurred their horses forward, swords swinging. The four soldiers arrayed in a line. Their twenty-jin battle blades swept up and down with the force of gods and demons descending from on high. Men fell where men were struck; horses fell where horses were struck. In moments the five constables lay in a pool of blood, horses and men shattered.
The soldiers seized the constables’ corpses and flung them against the temple gate. One tremendous boom after another resounded as bodies struck the gate and tore through their broken husks, blood spraying in all directions. Finally, the temple gate, unable to withstand the battering, collapsed inward.
Shattered walls, swirling dust, cold moonlight, blood: the four soldiers stood in silence amid the settling dust, seemingly awaiting something. Then from inside the litter rose a low, rumbling growl. The four soldiers turned wordlessly back, lifted the litter, stepped over the heaped bodies on the ground, and walked into the Boundless Yard.
The auction was being held in the second courtyard. The assembled company still did not know about the killing outside, and were not particularly alarmed. When they saw the four soldiers carrying the litter approach, they actually parted to make way, as if watching a spectacle. The four soldiers walked directly to the center of the courtyard, halting at the foot of the main hall’s steps. They stood absolutely still, without moving.
Xuanzang, Li Chan, Zhai Chang, Abbot Zhai Faran, Linghu Demao, Sun Chalie, and the others all rose and came to the front of the main hall, looking at this uncanny litter.
Sun Chalie called out loudly: “Who are you people? How dare you force your way into the Shengjiao Temple!”
From within the litter came a flat voice: “I have come to bid on the Heavenly Garment!”
The crowd immediately erupted. Mi Kangli rushed to the edge of the hall, staring at the churning black mist. “If you want to bid on the Heavenly Garment, why don’t you step out from the litter and bid in a proper, upright manner?”
“You want to know who I am?”
From within the litter came the voice. “That is unnecessary. The one who ambushed and massacred your father’s caravan in the White Dragon Heap desert — that was me.”
“I’ll kill you!”
Mi Kangli roared, drawing a curved blade and charging off the steps of the hall.
The four soldiers stood in place, making no move to stop him. The litter was rather high; Mi Kangli stepped up onto a rope chair, leaped into the air, and lunged toward the litter with his blade slashing down.
The viscous mist still churned around the litter. A wind blew, setting the jade rings and bronze ornaments on the litter’s curtains chiming faintly. Mi Kangli’s figure plunged into the litter — and was swallowed by the mist, soundlessly, the entire person vanishing without a trace.
The assembled company stared with bewilderment, waited a long while, and heard no sound at all, as if Mi Kangli had dissolved into smoke and disappeared. In the deathly silence all around, there came the sound of teeth and bone, as if some animal were gnawing at something hard with a faint rasping and crunching.
“Blood—”
Someone in the crowd of onlookers cried out with sharp eyes in alarm.
Only then did everyone notice: drops of blood were falling steadily from beneath the litter.
The curtains of the litter suddenly drew back. The assembled company stared with wide eyes. The black mist slowly dissipated, revealing the scene upon the litter — crouching upon it was an enormous wolf, devouring Mi Kangli’s corpse in great mouthfuls!
The Boundless Yard erupted in chaos. Everyone fell into a panic and backed away. Even the high officials and grandees in the main hall were frozen with shock. Someone cried out immediately: “It’s that demon wolf! The demon wolf that’s seized Yumen Pass!”
Xuanzang suddenly remembered the demon wolf that had called itself Kui the Wolf, which Wang Junke had described at the Prefectural Post Station — and he had not expected to lay eyes on the creature himself this very night! Xuanzang glanced at the people around him and was briefly struck: unlike everyone else, who showed expressions of terror and panic, Zhai Chang and Linghu Demao exchanged a look, and on their faces was not a trace of fear — only a cold contempt, a hint of satisfaction, and a note of hatred.
“Ha ha ha—”
Kui the Wolf let out a deep, rolling laugh, tossed aside the corpse in its grasp, and spoke in a human voice. “Has this lord actually frightened all of you so badly?”
“You demon creature, someone seize it!”
Sun Chalie shouted.
Yet the only personnel present were the white-robe runners from the Dunhuang county offices, there originally only to maintain order. They did not dare square off against the demon wolf that had terrorized Dunhuang. No matter how Sun Chalie shouted, everyone shrank back, not daring to advance.
Kui the Wolf sprang lightly down from the litter, landed on all four feet, and strolled toward the main hall in a leisurely posture. Xuanzang studied it carefully. Kui the Wolf was enormous, its entire body covered in silver-white wolf fur, but the face was bare — the fur stripped clean from the facial bones, leaving the bones exposed: like a skull. In the eye sockets burned a faint, ghostly fire.
As Kui the Wolf moved it laughed, its front and back paws clattering against the ground with a metallic ring as they struck the stone slabs. “You ordinary mortals — this lord is a heavenly deity who has descended to the earthly realm. Why do you call me a demon creature? I have come to this place tonight only to obtain that Heavenly Garment. Offer it to me willingly, and I shall leave of my own accord.”
Linghu Demao laughed loudly. “Demon wolf — do you still remember me?”
Kui the Wolf suddenly stiffened. Its “face” showed a fierce surge of hatred. “Linghu, you old wretch — are you forcing this lord to slaughter everyone here?”
“Slaughter everyone? You dare!”
Linghu Demao produced a double-reed flute, put it to his lips, and blew a long, desolate, high-pitched note that carried far into the distance.
Suddenly a dense, pattering rush of footsteps thundered. From the meditation rooms of the Shengjiao Temple there burst a column after column of iron-armored troops, who fanned out along the prepared ladders and swarmed up onto the walls and rooftops, bows drawn and arrows nocked. Outside the walls on either side of the Boundless Yard, more troops were deployed and came pouring in through the gate in mass formation, separating the onlookers from the target and surrounding Kui the Wolf from all four sides — strong bows and crossbows, spears and solid armor, the net drawn tight.
West Pass Garrison Commander Linghu Zhan strode into the courtyard, surrounded by four elders, and bellowed: “West Pass Garrison Commander Linghu Zhan, leading an army to hunt the demon wolf! All irrelevant persons withdraw at once!”
The civilians who had come to attend the auction did not dare linger, filing out through the lane the soldiers had opened. Xuanzang suddenly noticed that among the elders following Linghu Zhan was a figure he recognized — the diviner Suo Yi!
Suo Yi also spotted Xuanzang and gave a slight smile, his face suffused with a desolation that was impossible to conceal.
Sun Chalie said in a low voice: “Lord Demao, was deploying troops tonight arranged in advance?”
Linghu Demao smiled. “Exactly. The auction of the Heavenly Garment was bait to lure the demon wolf into the trap. After tonight, the demon wolf plague that has tormented Dunhuang for three years will be put to rest.”
The demon wolf showed a “contemptuous smile” as it sprang back onto the litter and settled there in a great-lord posture, surveying all present with disdain. The four soldiers also stood absolutely motionless, silent and still.
Linghu Demao waited for a moment and then frowned. “Sir Zhai, where are Zhai Shu’s garrison troops? Why have they not arrived?”
Zhai Chang was also puzzled. “Could something have delayed them? Someone — go and find out where my son Shu’s troops have got to!”
One of the Zhai family’s attendants acknowledged the order and sprinted away.
“Demon wolf!”
Linghu Zhan called out loudly. “Last chance: where is Zhai Wen? Is she alive or dead?”
Kui the Wolf laughed loudly. “Your new bride has long since been reduced to dry bones; her soul is imprisoned in the eighteenth level of Ni Li Prison, suffering day and night. When her suffering reaches the end of its appointed kalpas, she will be sent back into the cycle of rebirth — to be born a pig, to be born a dog!”
“I will grind you to dust!”
Linghu Zhan’s eyes blazed with fury.
Kui the Wolf showed only contempt. “Linghu Zhan, you and I have fought for three years — seven battles — and when have you ever won? Heh heh heh — your new bride’s flesh was truly delicious: white and tender, fragrant and sweet. A pity that all these years this lord has never again tasted such savory human flesh. It seems your taste is quite good. Why not marry another? I’ll take her away and eat her too.”
Xuanzang was somewhat startled and turned to ask Abbot Zhai Faran: “There seems to be some grievance between them?”
Abbot Zhai Faran sighed. “A bitter fate! In the ninth year of Wude, our Zhai clan and the Linghu clan formed a marriage alliance: Zhai Chang’s eldest daughter, Zhai Wen, was to marry Demao’s eldest son — this very West Pass Garrison Commander, Linghu Zhan. Yet a happy union it could not be; on the very evening of the wedding procession, the bride was abducted by this demon wolf, and her life or death has remained unknown to this day.”
“Such a thing happened!”
Xuanzang was deeply shocked.
“This matter has become a shame shared by both our Zhai clan and the Linghu clan.”
Abbot Zhai Faran touched his prayer beads in sorrow. “Both families have worked painstakingly over the years to hunt down the demon wolf, but have never been able to succeed.”
At this moment Linghu Zhan let out a cry of wild fury: “Monster! Tonight I will leave you without a place to be buried! Fire!”
The soldiers on the walls and rooftops loosed their bows and crossbows in a simultaneous volley. Hundreds of arrows rained down like a violent storm. Kui the Wolf gave a cold laugh as the thick black mist upon the litter suddenly billowed and churned, the curtains dropping to envelop it within. Countless arrows penetrated the black mist and riddled the litter with shafts; the curtains were pierced into a mesh of holes. Yet most of the arrows passed straight out the other side, as if the litter were completely empty.
Other arrows struck the four soldiers. The border army infantry were mostly equipped with horn-and-sinew crossbows of considerable power, with a range of two hundred paces. At a distance of only fifty paces, even Mingguang armor could be pierced. The clanging and clattering rang out as the soldiers’ armor was instantly studded with arrows.
Then the courtyard fell silent. The four soldiers showed no reaction whatsoever — not even a drop of blood flowed from their bodies. The troops stared in disbelief, lowering their bows and crossbows one after another.
Linghu Zhan gritted his teeth. “These are the Fifteen Star Generals — they can be killed, but not easily. The demon wolf commands only fifteen of them; with each one killed, there is one fewer. Fire again!”
The bowmen were about to fire again when a piercing howl rose from within the black mist. The four soldiers lurched into motion — heedless of the arrows bristling from their bodies — and raised their battle blades in a charge toward the main hall.
Linghu Zhan gave a cold smile. “Battle blade formation — advance!”
The troops arranged in squads of ten, in tight formation, swept forward like a wall from all four sides, battle blades raised. The four soldiers divided into four directions to meet them; the moment the two sides made contact the fighting became brutal. Both sides wielded regulation battle blades, weighing twenty jin, swinging from the waist with twisting power, heavy and devastating. The clash of contact was ear-splitting.
Yet the soldiers’ strength was beyond all reason, nothing like that of ordinary humans. With a few clanging impacts the troops’ arms went numb, their grip on their blades failing. A single rotating slash from a soldier cut a troop in two. Yet Linghu Zhan had staked everything on this engagement; the entire West Pass Garrison had been emptied out. Three companies of garrison troops — three hundred men — surged forward wave after wave under their platoon commanders, falling before the blades but also hacking relentlessly at the soldiers, staggering them with damage to their armor, forcing them step by step into retreat. The sounds of slaughter, screaming, and moaning filled the courtyard from end to end.
The Tang military code was strict and the troops fought with their lives, step by step driving the soldiers back, slowly compressing the space around the litter. Then suddenly a flash of steel — a blade landed clean against one soldier’s neck guard, the heavy edge smashing through the guard and severing the head. The headless body of the soldier toppled to the ground.
The troops saw that these monsters could actually be killed, and cheered. At this rate, no matter what these soldiers were, a few more moments would see them all hacked down.
Linghu Zhan watched the battle with cold eyes. Seeing that Kui the Wolf and the soldiers had been separated from one another, he gave the order: “Formation ritual!”
Suo Yi and three other ritual masters stepped out and took up positions on three sides of Kui the Wolf.
Kui the Wolf surveyed the four from a height of contempt, then turned its face toward Suo Yi. “You ritual masters again! There are three unfamiliar faces here — of those who besieged this lord a year ago, I suppose only you are left?”
Suo Yi’s expression was impassive. He commanded in a shout: “Attend me, O Charm Officers, Local Gods, and Spirit Messengers — heed my command! By imperial decree I hold the power of life and death over thunder and lightning, and pass judgment on matters of ghost and demon harassment. Where my command falls it is swift as a shooting star; the divine law moves fast as wind and thunder. No delay is permitted; consequences will be clearly demonstrated. If demon or ghost intrudes upon the altar or stands in the path, the official document of summons is received. Those who falsely transmit divine communications — I will deliver them to be beheaded at the Five Elements. I act in accordance with the supreme Lord Lao’s most urgent decree. Open the altar—”
A finger drawn along the peach-wood sword — from its tip shot a ball of flame. The tip pointed downward, and with a thunderous crack the ground erupted with a tongue of flame. The flame wound and darted in all directions like a swimming serpent, crossing and weaving, and in moments a vast talisman blazed across the ground around Kui the Wolf!
The entire floor had become a ritual altar!
“Cover your nose and mouth.”
Xuanzang said while soaking a corner of his sleeve in wine and holding it over his face.
Li Chan did not understand. “What?”
Xuanzang said quietly: “This altar itself is nothing unusual, but look at the color of the flames — the fuel must contain many unusual substances, to confuse the mind and ensnare the spirit. Unless I am wrong, each of these four individuals specializes in a different method, and they are combining their ritual techniques to amplify the formation’s power layer by layer. Even at this distance, we may not be fully protected — be very careful.”
Li Chan looked carefully, and indeed the flames of the formation were faintly tinged with green. He quickly soaked a corner of his own sleeve in wine and held it over his nose and mouth.
Kui the Wolf crouched on the litter, looking down on the burning formation with contempt. “Child’s play!”
One of the ritual masters rubbed his hands together and shouted: “Thunder — come!”
Suddenly a tremendous crack resounded through the courtyard. With several booming crashes, beams of orange light flashed; nearby soldiers were flung about in all directions, shaken and terrified.
Kui the Wolf merely covered its ears with its wolf claws with an expression of irritation and waved its paw in dismissal. “Go back!”
But the ritual master’s own head was suddenly rocked by several thunderclaps — dull orange explosions detonated right in front of his face. The ritual master’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed immediately. The ritual master beside him was caught in the crossfire without even having acted and also fell to the ground.
“Master,”
Li Chan asked quietly, “why did the heavenly lightning strike and kill its own user?”
“Those two are not dead.”
Xuanzang kept both eyes fixed on the battlefield. “When that ritual master was rubbing his hands, he was casting some spherical objects. They must be what Sun Simiao’s The Classic of the Inner Esoteric Sulfur Calcination Method calls subdued fire — sulfur, saltpeter, and similar materials ground into powder together, which can burn in an explosive flash. If sealed inside a bamboo tube or stone jar and ignited, the explosion sounds like thunder. Kui the Wolf simply deflected what he threw back at him.”
Li Chan was speechless.
Kui the Wolf said flatly: “I will give you two one chance to act.”
Suo Yi and the other remaining ritual master exchanged a glance. The other master suddenly let out a long cry toward the sky and exhaled a stream of black smoke. The smoke formed a thin spiraling vortex and, bypassing the burning talisman formation, flew directly at Kui the Wolf.
Kui the Wolf seemed to think for a moment, then abruptly inhaled. A thread of flame was drawn from the formation’s fire into its mouth. Kui the Wolf opened its mouth again and expelled it — and the thread of flame shot like an arrow into the black vortex. The vortex ignited in a hissing blaze, disintegrating into countless particles of dust that drifted and settled to the ground.
The flame-arrow’s momentum did not falter and shot directly into the ritual master’s face. The master cried out and fell, rolling on the ground.
“Master, what was that?”
Li Chan asked with great interest.
Xuanzang hesitated for a moment. “That ritual master appears to be a Gu sorcerer—”
Before he finished speaking, Kui the Wolf gave a word of praise: “That gu-worm was remarkable — if not for the assist of that flame, there would have been more trouble. Now then, you — the one named Suo — your turn!”
Suo Yi’s expression grew grave. He suddenly swept back his robe sleeve and gave a great shout: “Seal—!”
A ray of brilliance flashed, and suddenly in the night sky appeared an enormous talisman. The talisman seemed to be formed of flame, yet it had no heat — it shone with a cold and ghostly radiance. As it descended, spreading over Kui the Wolf from above, it broke apart into countless tiny spiraling shapes, like one butterfly after another taking flight, a host of shimmering wings.
“Sss—”
The “expression” on Kui the Wolf’s face grew grave for the first time. It darted to one side, slipping out from beneath the settling range of the butterflies.
One of the soldiers seemed to hear a summons. It broke swiftly free from the surrounding troops and charged into the formation, swinging its battle blade and cutting at the butterflies floating in the air. One butterfly landed on its armor and immediately gave off a sizzling sound, burning a small hole in the armor as if dissolving it. Countless butterflies fell upon it, and the smoke of corrosion rose from the armor on all sides.
“Ahh—”
The soldier let out a wretched howl, dropped its battle blade, and clawed at its own body in agony, but could not stop the cold-fire butterflies from their burning. Moments later the helmet was burned through as well, the flame penetrating directly into the skull. The soldier instantly fell dead.
Those on the battlefield were also dumbstruck, and the sounds of fighting subsided considerably.
“Master—”
Li Chan was burning with curiosity.
Xuanzang shook his head. “This cold flame is extremely powerful. How it is produced, I cannot fully say — I only know it is a type of pigment, used for writing on talismans.”
Kui the Wolf walked in silence into the formation, gazing absently at the cold-flame butterflies cascading from above. It suddenly exhaled a breath of air; a coil of black mist rolled into the swarm of butterflies. The butterflies immediately grew heavier, sinking rapidly toward the ground, and wherever they touched the stone surface they burned pockmarks and holes into it.
Kui the Wolf’s figure flickered, and in an instant it was before Suo Yi. Its cold claws closed around his throat, and it said: “Where did you obtain the pigment for writing these talismans?”
Suo Yi’s expression was bleak; he dared not move. “I commissioned someone to acquire two qian of it from the Incantation Bureau in Chang’an. Writing this talisman used up every last bit.”
Kui the Wolf gave a start. “The Incantation Bureau? So the mortal world has indeed succeeded in producing this substance. And it can even be transported over such long distances?”
It shook its arm and flung Suo Yi aside. “This lord spares your life — obtain another two qian for me!”
Suo Yi picked himself up from the ground with a bitter smile.
Linghu Demao and Zhai Chang watched from the main hall. Having witnessed the four ritual masters’ defeat, they remained expressionless. At that moment an attendant hurried up to the main hall and said in a low voice: “Master, we have intercepted the messenger. The eldest young master’s garrison troops did not march!”
“What?”
Zhai Chang was stunned. “Why? What did my son Shu say?”
“The eldest young master ordered the camp gates locked and refused to see him.”
The attendant said with a rueful smile.
“Good! Very good!”
Linghu Demao’s facial muscles contorted, staring at Zhai Chang with a savage smile. “Both families agreed to send out troops, and yet your Zhai clan stands inactive! Well done! The world says Zhai Shu has the bearing of a great general — steady and measured. You have taught your son admirably, Lord Zhai!”
“Lord Linghu, you wrong me—”
Zhai Chang said heatedly, just as he was about to explain when suddenly something went wrong.
“Awoo—”
From within the black mist came an unbroken succession of wolf howls.
Then from outside the Shengjiao Temple arose a tumult of screams and cries. The hundreds of people who had just left came streaming back from all directions, covered in blood and in a miserable state.
“What is happening?”
Linghu Demao shouted.
“Lord Demao,”
Guild Master Zhao, drenched in blood, came running at the front, crying out, “Wolves! There are wolves everywhere! In the temple, by the river — wolves everywhere!”
Before his words were finished, countless grey wolves came leaping through the air, chasing the crowd and tearing at them. These wolves seemed well-trained — they went straight for the throat, and once they bit down they ripped it open, sending blood spraying from the neck, then moved on to the next target without pause.
Several hundred people and several hundred wolves surged in together; the courtyard fell into complete chaos in an instant. The troops’ formation was swept apart in moments. The wolf pack, using the cover of the ordinary civilians, charged into the military lines and bit and tore at the soldiers, who were caught off guard and suffered more than a dozen casualties in no time. More wolves leaped onto the walls and rooftops to hunt.
In a single moment the entire courtyard was filled with screaming, bodies covering the ground.
“Father!”
Linghu Zhan grabbed Linghu Demao by the arm. “Let me escort you out first!”
Linghu Demao was not flustered. “Ninth Boy, deploy a company of troops to escort Abbot Zhai, Administrator Sun, and the others to safety.”
Linghu Zhan quickly ordered one of his subordinate officers to marshal the men. Just then a cold laugh rang across the courtyard, and the flame formation suddenly went out; the lines of the array sent up billows of smoke. A massive wolf-shadow burst from the black mist, leaping through the air toward the main hall. Several soldiers shouted and charged to intercept with their sabers, but Kui the Wolf’s silhouette flickered and its claws slashed, and three soldiers fell clutching their throats.
“Monster!”
Linghu Zhan was driven to fury. He led several officers in surrounding Kui the Wolf, and both sides clashed in fierce combat.
By this point several wolves had already rushed the main hall, and the hall erupted in chaos. Li Chan snatched up a saber from the ground and fought while retreating, shielding Xuanzang, the two of them moving along the wall — when suddenly a hand reached up from the ground and seized Xuanzang by the ankle.
Li Chan was startled and was about to slash downward when the figure on the ground moaned: “Dharma master—”
Xuanzang looked closely. It was the temple administrator Ding Shouzhong. He was covered in blood and riddled with wounds, unable to rise. Beside him lay the corpse of one of the Western Region girls.
“Administrator Ding, how are you? This humble monk will carry you on his back!”
Xuanzang crouched down and helped Ding Shouzhong up.
Ding Shouzhong coughed out a mouthful of blood. “Dharma master, I am done for! Take—”
Ding Shouzhong raised his arm with trembling effort and held a jade box out before Xuanzang. It was the jade box containing the Heavenly Garment.
“Administrator Ding, this humble monk will be able to carry you out.”
Xuanzang said. “Hold on to that jade box yourself.”
“Dharma master, hold out your arm.”
Ding Shouzhong said.
Not understanding, Xuanzang held out his arm. Ding Shouzhong pulled his left sleeve up to the elbow, baring the skin, then opened the jade box.
Inside the jade box was indeed the remnant of the Heavenly Garment.
Ding Shouzhong suddenly flipped the jade box upside down and pressed it against Xuanzang’s arm. Xuanzang started; he felt a cold sensation sweep across his arm, and an indescribable shiver instantly spread through his entire left arm. Ding Shouzhong lifted the jade box away. Xuanzang discovered with astonishment that the jade box was completely empty.
He stared in bewilderment at his own arm. The area where the box had been pressed was flushed red; a moment later the redness and swelling subsided and the skin returned to its normal appearance.
“Dharma master, feel it for yourself.”
Ding Shouzhong said, managing a weak smile.
Xuanzang stretched out his right hand to touch his left arm — and suddenly his right hand felt as if it had been stabbed by a red-hot needle, a bone-piercing pain. He looked again: on his fingers, several tiny red dots, no bigger than pinpricks, had appeared.
“What… what is this?”
Xuanzang was greatly alarmed.
“Wearing the Heavenly Garment, one is free of suffering through a hundred kalpas, all impure spirits retreating on their own.”
Ding Shouzhong murmured. “This half of the Heavenly Garment cannot keep you from sinking into the lower realms or from falling into hell, but it can keep you safe from the disaster of tigers and wolves, and let you escape to safety. Dharma master — you are a thousand-li colt of the Buddhist order; you must live—”
A thread of blood trickled from the corner of Ding Shouzhong’s mouth, and his body slowly went limp.
“Administrator Ding—”
Xuanzang’s eyes were red. He gently laid the body flat on the ground, and was about to press his palms together to recite a sutra when his right hand gave a sharp pain — and he caught himself.
“Master, we’re in the middle of all this and you’re still going to recite sutras! Hurry, let’s go! Ahh—”
At that very moment Li Chan yanked him to his feet by his left arm, and the instant he touched Xuanzang’s left arm there came a sharp, stinging pain in his hand. He jerked it back immediately. “This…”
Xuanzang looked around in a daze. The courtyard had become a scene of carnage — human corpses and wolf carcasses lay scattered together, blood pooling everywhere. On the main hall platform, Kui the Wolf had already defeated Linghu Zhan; the latter was disheveled, his armor cracked and broken, retreating in haste with several soldiers protecting Zhai Chang and Linghu Demao.
Sun Chalie and Abbot Zhai Faran had already disappeared — dead or alive was unknown.
A great wave of sorrow welled up in Xuanzang’s heart. He sprang to his feet and ran toward the platform. Li Chan grabbed the back of his robe in alarm. “Master, what are you doing?”
Xuanzang tore free, his eyes now bright red, his face blazing with the fury of a guardian deity. He shouted: “Innocent people are being slaughtered before my eyes — am I supposed to do nothing but recite sutras over their bodies?”
Li Chan stood frozen for a moment. Xuanzang had already run up to the platform, tore back his sleeve, raised his left arm high, and cried out: “Kui the Wolf — stop harming the innocent! The Heavenly Garment is here!”
The courtyard fell instantly still. Kui the Wolf crouched among the bodies, its gaze turning toward Xuanzang. The skull-bare nasal bones twitched several times, and then it abruptly launched itself in a leap — straight toward Xuanzang.
“Monk!”
Kui the Wolf did not attack immediately, but spoke in a cold, sinister tone. “This lord is a righteous deity of the heavens and has no wish to kill a monk. Put down the Heavenly Garment and leave at once!”
Xuanzang was about to press his palms together, then suddenly remembered and quickly pulled his hand back.
Xuanzang met its gaze. “The Heavenly Garment, however, cannot be given to you.”
“Do you want to die?”
Kui the Wolf was furious. The skull’s jaws parted, releasing a breath of putrid, bloody air. Dangling between its sharp teeth was a shred of human flesh.
“Though this humble monk pursues the supreme bliss of nirvana, he has no wish to die too soon.”
Xuanzang said, perfectly honest. “But the Heavenly Garment has already fused into my left arm and cannot be taken out.”
Kui the Wolf seemed to “freeze.” Though that skull-face bore no expression, it was quite capable of conveying the creature’s current state of mind — it was beside itself with rage. It took one leap and casually batted Li Chan aside, then came to stand before Xuanzang. Kui the Wolf reached out a forepaw to touch Xuanzang’s left arm, and immediately let out a wretched howl and retreated in pain several steps.
“Unacceptable! Unacceptable!”
Kui the Wolf was on the verge of madness with rage, chasing its own tail in circles, muttering to itself: “Finished! My Heavenly Garment… my dream in the mortal world…”
It snapped its head around, roaring: “Xuanzang, you have ruined me!”
Xuanzang was taken aback. “You know my name?”
“Does that matter?”
Kui the Wolf was nearly consumed with fury. “Xuanzang — this lord, though it means incurring those five gravest crimes and being struck down by heaven’s thunder, will eat you to satisfy the hatred in its heart!”
Kui the Wolf howled and lunged ferociously. Li Chan held his saber and slashed straight at Kui the Wolf.
Kui the Wolf raised a forepaw mid-air and struck the blade. With a tremendous clang, sparks flew. Then the two bodies collided and both were flung apart.
“Master, run!”
Li Chan scrambled up from the ground and grabbed Xuanzang, and the two bolted.
The two ran out of the Boundless Yard. Outside the temple there were people and wolves everywhere, cries and screams echoing throughout. Xuanzang immediately changed direction and ran toward a more secluded area. Kui the Wolf let out a howl, and the wolves abandoned the crowd and turned to pursue the two men. In moments a surging wave of wolves had gathered on their heels.
“Of all the misfortune.”
Li Chan groaned.
Xuanzang glanced back as he ran and saw that most of the civilians had rushed into the gate of a nearby temple. He breathed a small sigh of relief and murmured: “That is the sutra this humble monk wished to recite!”
Li Chan said without humor: “You can recite sutras all you want once we’re still alive — run!”
The two ran with all their strength. The wolf pack was gaining with every second when close by they heard a low voice: “To the Mogao Caves!”
Both men exchanged a glance — they had both heard it clearly, but looking around they saw no one. With Kui the Wolf in relentless pursuit, sweeping along the courtyard wall at a flying gallop, there was no time to think. The two ran headlong toward the Mogao Caves.
Kui the Wolf led dozens of wolves howling in pursuit. The two ran with desperate speed, charging up the walkways between the stone grottos. The wolves came flooding onto the walkways like a tide, catching up in moments. Several wolves leaped through the air and lunged to bite.
Suddenly — “twang twang” — two bowstring releases rang out, and two arrows pierced through two of the wolves, each drawing a spray of blood.
The two wolves fell from the walkway and dropped dead below.
Xuanzang looked up. On a higher tier of the walkway, in the pale light of the moon, a slender figure stood balancing on the railing, holding a long bow. On her back hung a quiver. Her left arm was steady and unmoving; her right hand drew and nocked arrows with the grace of a flower-weaver. Before one arrow had landed, another was already on its way. One person alone at the bow, yet arrows filled the sky in an unbroken stream. The pursuing wolves were struck one after another; on the narrow walkway wolf carcasses formed a wall — a line of death!
“Master, it’s a woman!”
Li Chan said in shock.
The figure’s silhouette was slender, making it easy to see this was a woman. She was crouching on the walkway; the long bow she carried seemed larger than she was, yet she drew it with effortless ease, her bearing calm and composed, as if embroidering a pattern. With each snap of her fingers, a wolf fell dead — every arrow found its mark!
Li Chan watched the figure with a dazed expression and murmured: “Seen from afar, she is radiant as the sun rising through morning rosy clouds. Approached more closely, she dazzles like a lotus blossom rising from clear water…”
“Move!”
Xuanzang yanked him sharply, and Li Chan looked back — his soul nearly left his body with fright.
Kui the Wolf was running at full speed along the eaves of the upper grottos, clearing one set of eaves with a single bound. The woman loosed several arrows directly at it; her bow was hard — from the sound of the string one could tell it was at least two stone of draw weight — and the arrows flew with the speed of shooting stars, stopping at nothing. Yet as the arrows neared, Kui the Wolf’s form blurred and twisted, and the shafts passed straight through without reducing its speed in the slightest. In an instant it was before the woman and lunged down.
The woman saw the danger and without hesitation turned and ran.
Kui the Wolf did not chase the woman. With a thunderous crash it smashed through the railing and landed on the walkway level where Xuanzang and Li Chan were.
“No, no, no—”
Li Chan had not expected the woman to run so decisively and promptly. He was immediately thrown into a panic.
“Up here!”
The woman’s voice called out.
Xuanzang and Li Chan ran at full speed up the steps to the upper walkway, passing the woman as they went. The woman stood on the walkway holding her bow and arrows, still and waiting. Kui the Wolf came running along the walkway in pursuit, howling.
Without warning, the woman kicked a block of wood free from the walkway railing.
With a “bang,” a mechanism was triggered. From the walkway a rope net suddenly sprang forward. The upper end was attached to the eaves of a grotto above; the lower end was weighted, and it swept along the walkway floor toward Kui the Wolf like a scooping motion.
Kui the Wolf was caught off guard. The rope net enveloped it. The ropes swung upward and hoisted Kui the Wolf into mid-air. The woman slotted her long bow into the bow case, reached out and snatched a massive battle blade from the railing, sprinted forward, planted a foot on the railing, vaulted into the air, and swung the great battle blade straight down at Kui the Wolf.
The sequence of actions was clean and decisive, with a beauty to it that was impossible to look away from. Li Chan stared open-mouthed, murmuring: “Full and slender in just the right degree, neither too tall nor too short. Shoulders carved as if from white jade, waist bound as if with fine silk. The neck gracefully extended, the skin white and radiant…”
He was babbling away when a dense, viscous black mist suddenly burst from within the rope net, closing around Kui the Wolf.
The woman’s blade slashed into the black mist — and found nothing. Half the rope net was severed by the blade and fluttered to the ground. Inside the net was completely empty.
The woman was startled; as her body began to fall she grabbed a rope and hung there in mid-air, scanning all around her.
“Watch above!”
Xuanzang and Li Chan shouted simultaneously.
The woman looked up. Kui the Wolf was crouching on the grotto eave above, the ghostly fire in its eyes fixed upon her with a cold gaze.
She was horror-struck and had no time to react. Kui the Wolf dropped directly down, both hind legs crashing down onto her body. The woman let out a shriek and fell through the air.
Li Chan cried out and sprinted to try to catch her. But a flash of the blade swept past before his eyes, the great battle blade driving into the walkway with a heavy thud. Li Chan startled, still not having processed what was happening when a shadow fell from above. Li Chan threw himself forward — there was a “thud” and the woman crashed into him. Then a “boom” — the walkway floor, already split by the battle blade, could not bear the weight of two people and gave way. The two fell through, tumbling together onto the sandy ground at the very bottom level of the Mogao Caves, unable to rise immediately.
Xuanzang was greatly alarmed and immediately jumped down through the broken hole in the walkway — landing with a thud beside the two of them. He looked up: through the hole in the upper walkway, on the eave above, Kui the Wolf stared down at them with its cold, ghostly gaze.
Xuanzang grabbed one arm of each and dragged them backward with all his strength.
“Ow—”
Li Chan howled. “Master, don’t pull me — it hurts—”
It turned out Xuanzang had grabbed Li Chan with his left hand, and the Heavenly Garment fused into his skin stabbed at Li Chan unbearably the moment he was touched.
Xuanzang quickly let go. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Kui the Wolf leaped down from the eave, landing without a sound on the earth below, then ambled forward in an unhurried pace, its eyes glowing with ghostly fire. “Amusing — a mere mortal, opposing this lord again and again. In this past year you have hunted and killed three of my followers. This lord long found it beneath notice to deal with you, yet you come back one time after another.”
The woman strained to stand, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. “And there will be a fourth time! As long as I live, I will come for you without end!”
“This lord has no quarrel with you. Why do you oppose me?”
Kui the Wolf had closed to within reach of the three; its fangs trailing threads of blood needed only the slightest snap to sever all three throats. The wolf pack had silently closed in from all directions, their predatory eyes glinting in the dark.
“You tell me where one person is, and I will stop.”
The woman said, without the faintest trace of fear.
“Who?”
Kui the Wolf asked.
“Lv Sheng!”
The woman said, word by word.
Xuanzang immediately turned to stare at the woman in astonishment. The woman, however, kept her eyes fixed on Kui the Wolf.
Kui the Wolf’s skull expression seemed somehow taken by surprise. “Lv Sheng? Why do you ask this lord for that person’s whereabouts?”
“In the East Market of Dunhuang there is a private bookshop that does woodblock carving and prints all types of Buddhist scriptures. Last spring, someone came and commissioned them to carve printing blocks for the Three Discourses.”
The woman launched into something that seemed to bear no relation to the matter at hand.
“What are the Three Discourses?”
Li Chan asked with curiosity.
“You be quiet!”
The woman said sharply.
Xuanzang explained to him in a low voice: “Lv Sheng once wrote three essays — the Discourse on Fate, the Discourse on the Classic of Dwellings, and the Discourse on the Book of Burial — collectively called the Three Discourses.”
The woman glanced at him in surprise. “You, monk — you know quite a lot. That is correct. The Three Discourses were composed by Lv Sheng, and what that person brought to the bookshop was Lv Sheng’s own manuscript.”
Kui the Wolf flared with anger. “So — it was you who killed that follower of mine? And seized the manuscript as well?”
“Of course!”
The woman said proudly. “I took him down and forced him to talk — that is how I learned he was one of your followers. He had slipped into Dunhuang specifically from Yumen Pass, for the sole purpose of printing the Three Discourses. Demon wolf — why do you have Lv Sheng’s manuscripts? Is Lv Sheng alive or dead right now? Tell me the truth, and I will let you leave!”
“Let me leave? Such bold words!”
Kui the Wolf gave no answer, only laughed coldly. “You killed my follower — today I will not let you leave!”
“Then I want to see who gets to leave alive today!”
Suddenly the scene before them was blazing with torchlight. A tall figure walked below the Mogao Caves and pulled the battle blade out of the ground, laughing quietly.
The three turned. It was Wang Junke. Behind him, a company of armored soldiers stood in silent, dense formation, their spears and halberds rising like a forest. Linghu Zhan followed with his garrison troops, drenched in blood, his expression rather uncomfortable.
“Father!”
The woman called out. “How did you come here?”
“If I hadn’t come, could you have made it home tonight?”
Wang Junke’s face was full of anger, but he gave Xuanzang and Li Chan a glance and nodded slightly. Wang Junke was also helpless — he had known about the Linghu and Zhai clan’s plan all along and had not wished to get involved. But Wang Yuzao had secretly taken his own hard bow and battle blade and gone to hunt Kui the Wolf, and he could sit still no longer. He had immediately mobilized his troops and hurried over.
On the road he had encountered Li Yan. Li Yan, having learned that tonight’s Mogao Caves held danger, was worried about Li Chan and Xuanzang and wanted to go protect them. Wang Junke did the good deed all the way through and persuaded Li Yan to return to Dunhuang City, guaranteeing Li Chan’s safety himself before finally managing to turn the Prince back. Now seeing Li Chan unharmed, he felt some relief.
“That is not how you use this battle blade.”
Wang Junke dragged the blade over and walked forward, letting the three step behind him before he stood facing Kui the Wolf with a cold smile. “Terrorizing Dunhuang for three years — this is our first meeting, and our last. Since you have come, stay.”
A grave expression appeared on Kui the Wolf’s “face.” “The martial prowess of Magistrate Wang is renowned throughout Dunhuang — yet you are still a mere mortal. Thinking to keep this lord here is nothing but the talk of a fool in a dream.”
Wang Junke laughed. “Monster — let me show you how a mortal slays a deity!”
Kui the Wolf let out a howl, and the wolves behind it lunged and snarled forward. Wang Junke’s right arm flicked, using the momentum to swing the battle blade up; he gripped the handle with both hands and with a twist of the waist let out a shout, chopping into one of the wolves. A blaze of blade-light, a spray of viscous blood — the wolf was split in two.
Following the blade’s momentum, another twist of the waist; the thirty-jin heavy blade swept back, skimming past the neck of another wolf, and the enormous wolf-head thumped to the ground. Two or three dozen hungry wolves howled as they pounced from all sides, burying Wang Junke in their midst.
Wang Junke’s figure flickered in and out among the wolf pack, his steps unhurried, his blade-light relentless. Wolves died wherever they touched him; in a moment more than twenty wolves lay dead.
Wang Junke stood in the midst of the wolf carcasses, covered from head to foot in wolf blood, leaning on his blade — the image of a killing god.
Kui the Wolf showed no expression. “Kui Three! Kui Ten!”
From the alley came the iron “clack clack” of boots: two soldiers walked forward, each holding a battle blade. The two soldiers came before Wang Junke in silence, raised their battle blades, and brought them crashing straight down. Wang Junke stepped aside to dodge Kui Ten, flung his blade to deflect Kui Three’s blow with a tremendous clang. Wang Junke and Kui Three each retreated one step — their strength was evenly matched.
“Your strength is impressive enough, but this blade technique is somewhat lacking in subtlety.”
Wang Junke gave a light smile. “Three exchanges — and I will take your head!”
Kui Three’s throat emitted a dull sound, seemingly sneering. He raised the battle blade and advanced with heavy strides, joining Kui Ten in a two-on-one attack against Wang Junke. The three of them fought at close quarters with their great battle blades, the danger even more intense — the blades constantly grazed the cliff face nearby, sending sand and earth flying. Occasionally when blades clashed, a deafening ring was produced. Three men fighting, yet the carnage had the ferocity of ten thousand soldiers in battle.
“Magistrate Wang truly lives up to his reputation as the Great Blade of Wagang.”
Li Chan said admiringly.
Yuzao glanced at him sideways with a cold smile. “What do you know? At Wagang, Uncle Shubao, Uncle Xiongxin, and Uncle Zhijie all used cavalry lances. Among those who used blades, my father was first. In this world, when it comes to the battle blade, no one surpasses my father.”
Li Chan smiled as he gazed at her profile, liking what he saw more with every look. “You grew up at Wagang?”
Yuzao rolled her eyes and ignored him, turning her attention back to the combat.
Wang Junke was advancing steadily, his blade-light like a ribbon of white. Kui Three and Kui Ten fell back step by step. “Clang clang clang clang” rang out without pause, and then came a muffled sound — in a flash of blade-light, one stroke severed Kui Three’s arm. Strangely, not a drop of blood flowed from the stump.
Kui Three was fierce and unyielding; with one remaining arm he swung the battle blade without flinching. Wang Junke gave a cold smile — for a master of this caliber, brute ferocity counted for nothing. Missing an arm, the body was riddled with openings.
“If your mind were not being controlled, you might have been a fine warrior. Go, then.”
Wang Junke let out a shout. His battle blade swung in a rotating arc; the blade-light slid across Kui Three’s neck, and the heavy edge ripped through the neck guard and severed the head.
Kui Three’s headless body crashed to the ground. From the first exchange to Kui Three’s death — exactly three moves.
With only Kui Ten remaining, the resistance was even less able to hold up. In a few more exchanges, it too was cut down.
Silence fell below the Mogao Caves.
Kui the Wolf fixed its gaze on Wang Junke, and its massive wolf-head gave a single nod. “Truly worthy of the name: Great Blade Wang Junke. My Star Generals were the spiritual bodies of subordinates who followed me from the heavens, descended into mortal shells. Though they occupy human bodies, they are not so easily resisted.”
Wang Junke smiled and leveled his blade. “Your turn.”
“You are formidable, yet this lord commands fifteen Star Generals. Four have fallen tonight, but eleven remain, and all of them are now inside Dunhuang City.”
Kui the Wolf said. “If they were to come all at once, could you withstand them?”
Wang Junke frowned. These Star Generals were genuinely troublesome — reportedly even arrows could not kill them, and only a great master like himself could cut off a head in a single blow. If eleven were to come at once, he would certainly not be able to cope.
“This lord came tonight only to take the Heavenly Garment. Since the Heavenly Garment is destroyed, what meaning is there in fighting to a conclusion with you?”
Kui the Wolf said. “Magistrate Wang, this lord will come to pay a visit again in the future.”
“Leave? You think you can?”
Wang Junke snarled.
Kui the Wolf laughed loudly. “Of my fifteen Star Generals, I brought only four tonight. The other eleven: one is at your Magistrate’s residence, one is at Changle Temple, one is at the Grand Director of the Board of Merit’s residence, and the remaining eight have gone to the residences of the eight great aristocratic families. Do you truly want to hold me here?”
Wang Junke’s expression changed. These Star Generals had staggering destructive power; if they were to suddenly turn violent, the number of high officials and aristocratic clan members who would perish throughout West Shazhou was impossible to calculate — it would be a catastrophe shaking the entire court.
Kui the Wolf’s “face” wore a mocking smile. With a light bound it leaped onto the walkway, springing between the eaves of the cliff grottos, and in moments reached the summit of the Mogao Caves. It seemed to gather itself, then gave a long, desolate wolf howl — and in a single leap vaulted into the empty air!
The assembled company looked upward, every one of them gaping. Kui the Wolf was treading upon emptiness itself, and there beneath the bright moon and against the boundless mountain summit, it strode into the void and vanished!
Xuanzang felt a sudden impulse in his heart and quickly picked up Kui Three’s severed arm from the ground to examine it closely. In the torchlight, the arm had the pallor of dry wood; the skin and muscle looked as if the water had been drained from them — dry, withered, tough. Pressing a knuckle against it produced the sound of rapping on hard timber. From the cross-section where the blade had severed it, the blood vessels and muscle also appeared wind-dried, still containing some blood but extremely viscous, dark black in color.
“Dharma master, look no more.”
Wang Junke shook his head. “Before this, I hunted and killed Star Generals on several occasions; a coroner performed dissections on them. These Star Generals are no longer anything like human beings.”
Xuanzang rose and put down the arm. “This Kui the Wolf can traverse the air!”
“It claims to be a deity descended to the mortal world. That it can perform a few divine feats is not surprising.”
Wang Junke said.
Xuanzang looked at him deeply. “Magistrate, you truly have the courage to pit yourself against a deity!”
Wang Junke laughed. “Though I am a mortal, I am one who fought his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Even if it truly were a heavenly deity, now that it has descended to the mortal realm it is nothing but a demon creature. Why fear it?”
“Father, are you going to let it just walk away like that?”
Yuzao said with resentment.
Wang Junke cast her a glance. “Letting it go is not necessarily wrong. This business was never mine to get involved in, to begin with. If you hadn’t secretly taken the bow and blade and come here to meddle, why would I have needed to wade into it at all?”
Wang Junke’s expression was cold as he tossed the battle blade to Yuzao.
Linghu Zhan quickly bowed in salute. “This subordinate reports to the Magistrate!”
Though the Magistrate was a civil position, he held authority over military affairs throughout the prefecture. Linghu Zhan’s aristocratic background was powerful, but he still had to take orders from his superior.
Wang Junke’s official position was Magistrate of West Shazhou; his assignment was “Appointed Envoy Commanding All Military Affairs of West Shazhou,” with authority over the prefecture’s standing troops. West Shazhou’s府 troops belonged to the Left Wuwei Guard, and so his military rank was General of the Left Wuwei Guard; after summoning the府 troops he could command the troops of three military headquarters.
Li Yan supervised the combined military affairs of Gua, Sha, and Su prefectures, and so in military matters could exercise authority over Wang Junke, though he had no authority over civilian governance. This was precisely Li Yan’s awkward position — without civilian governing authority, his foundation had always been unstable.
Wang Junke fixed a cold eye on Linghu Zhan, his gaze so oppressive that Linghu Zhan stood bowed and uneasy, not daring to raise his head.
“Arrest him!”
Wang Junke gave the order in a cold voice. Immediately soldiers stepped forward and took Linghu Zhan into custody. Linghu Zhan smiled bitterly and did not resist. The three West Pass Garrison platoon commanders who had come with him were detained along with him.
Xuanzang looked upward. Above the Mogao Caves, the blue sky and the moonlight had long since cleared back to an unmarked stillness.