With Lang Jiuchuan playing the role of oracle up front, Gong Qi spent the walk into the city drawing out Ma Qiao in conversation — asking about the stone pillar: when had it been erected, and why? And why was it so important that no one was permitted to cause trouble before it?
Ma Qiao had just welcomed the birth of his son, and the divine prophetess Lang Jiuchuan had spoken such favorable words over him. His mood was excellent. When he saw Gong Qi asking, he made no effort to conceal anything: “You wouldn’t know this, but that Heroes’ Monument pillar is something of a landmark and waymarker for our Eight Trigrams City. The moment you see the Heroes’ Monument, you know you’ve arrived at Eight Trigrams City. Oh, you ask how long it’s been here — that’s a long time indeed. It existed in my great-great-grandfather’s day, at the very least. In any case, it was built when Eight Trigrams City was rebuilt. As for why it is so revered — beyond being a monument dedicated to honoring the fallen, it is also a feng shui pillar for Eight Trigrams City.”
Gong Qi’s eyelids twitched. So it really has existed for all these years.
Ma Qiao continued: “Why is it called a feng shui pillar? According to the elders, this place — the Chiyang Pass — has always been a critical military stronghold, both in previous dynasties and today. It is an essential line of border defense that the western barbarians have long sought to breach. During the age of chaos, this place saw so many battles, so many deaths — countless beyond all reckoning. They say that in the final defeat of the former Liang dynasty, when the Chiyang Pass fell, over a hundred thousand soldiers perished.”
He sighed. “So many dead, so much resentment. And since they died defending their homeland, when the Great Dan dynasty was founded and Eight Trigrams City was rebuilt, the city was intentionally designed in the Eight Trigrams pattern. Then a stone pillar was erected — both to honor the fallen heroes and dissolve their grievances, and in the hope that their heroic spirits watching over the heavens above might protect the people of the border, so they would no longer suffer the ravages of war or the invasions of foreign peoples. And so it became a feng shui pillar.”
He glanced at Gong Qi and the others, a somewhat sardonic edge creeping into his tone: “People like you, who grew up in Wu Jing enjoying a life of peace, could never understand the suffering of those living on the border. Yes, after the Great Dan dynasty was founded, ten thousand kingdoms came to pay tribute — but that was a hundred years ago. At the dynasty’s founding, everything was in ruins. To make a city that had been burned and devastated flourish again, to bring peace to its people — how much effort did that require? In those years, there may have been no large-scale wars, but there were frequent small raids and skirmishes — enough to keep people’s hearts in a constant state of dread.”
The idea of foreign peoples submitting was always contingent on the times. When Great Dan was strong, the outer tribes could only endure and bide their time, while also developing their own strength, slowly growing more powerful — and naturally, as they grew stronger, their ambitions grew, too. With no great war, the moment winter came and the cold set in, raiding for grain, goods, and people — that was a very real occurrence. After all, out on the great steppes, without food, without warmth, without clothing, could they just lie down and play dead?
Better to die on your feet than on your knees.
And the existence of Eight Trigrams City and its pillar constituted an enormous feng shui formation — carrying the intention of having the spirits of the fallen protect the border people from the fires of war. This was why its importance never needed to be spoken aloud.
So important was it, in fact, that every year the city lord led the people in a ceremony of ritual sacrifice at the monument. No disrespect toward the Heroes’ Monument would ever be tolerated, lest the feng shui be disrupted and great catastrophe return. To that end, a reward was offered for reporting anyone who showed disrespect to the monument.
Gong Qi understood now. No wonder that simple-looking man had stopped being so simple — he had been chasing the silver.
But Lang Jiuchuan asked: “So this Eight Trigrams City and its stone pillar is a feng shui formation — publicly known to be here for the protection and blessing of the people?”
“That’s exactly right. Even an ordinary home has rules around feng shui placement. A whole city, properly planned and laid out, can bring peace and prosperity to all the people within its territory, can it not?” Ma Qiao said. “My family has been a military household for generations. We pray above all else for peace and stability, and for an end to war.”
Lang Jiuchuan and Gong Qi exchanged a glance, their expressions subtly hardening.
Was it truly a feng shui formation — or had the pretense of a feng shui formation been used as a cover, to keep people from touching the pillar that anchored the true formation? With the cover in place and no one daring to move it, the pillar would never be destroyed and the formation would never break. In either case, the result was the same.
“Has this pillar truly never fallen, not once, since the day it was erected?” Gong Qi asked Ma Qiao.
Ma Qiao said: “It’s ritually maintained every year. Even if it were to lean, there would be a report up the chain, and it would be straightened.”
Gong Qi furrowed his brow.
They entered the city. The two politely declined Ma Qiao’s invitation to stay at his home, and found an inn to settle into for the time being.
The moment the door was shut, Gong Qi asked with barely contained urgency: “Do you think what he told us is true or false?”
“What he believes is true. But what is actually the case — that is what we must investigate.” Lang Jiuchuan said. “What is clear right now is that everyone has accepted the story of the feng shui formation blessing the people of Eight Trigrams City. Naturally, no one would look more closely to determine whether it is truly a feng shui formation — or a formation designed to trap and imprison souls.”
Gong Qi frowned and said: “If a feng shui formation is real here, why would it require soul-suppression and soul-imprisonment? That pillar is obviously serving the function of suppressing and anchoring souls. So what exactly is the purpose of trapping those soldiers?”
A flash of thought crossed his mind. “Wait — what if we’ve been thinking about this wrong? Is it possible that there are malevolent spirits in this area, and the formation was set up precisely to deal with them — using the killing energy and heroic spirits of the fallen soldiers as the formation’s core, forming a killing array to suppress those things, the way you’d suppress a demon? In that case, the pillar is actually the formation’s eye — the anchor point?”
Lang Jiuchuan looked at him. Since returning from the clan, his mind had sharpened considerably. But even so…
“That’s unlikely.” Fuqi floated out from within the tower again, unwilling to stay silent. “If that were the case, the generals of the Fuji Army and I would gladly offer ourselves — we would be willing to have our souls dissipate and scatter if it meant eliminating evil.”
“General…” Gong Qi’s eyes filled with reverence.
Fuqi said: “If the pillar were a formation eye designed for suppressing evil spirits, I would not feel revulsion or have my spirit damaged upon drawing near. That pillar does not feel like something intended to suppress evil — it feels like something intended to suppress heroic spirits.”
Lang Jiuchuan nodded in agreement: “At the top of the pillar, a stone tablet is used to press down upon the White Tiger. The White Tiger is the star of generals — so suppressing the White Tiger carries the meaning of suppressing heroic spirits. But most importantly: if this Eight Trigrams City and its pillar truly existed to suppress some evil force — even if the heroic spirits were used in the process — would your Xuan Clan’s founding ancestors have left absolutely no record of it when the city was built?”
Gong Qi was vexed. He had been overthinking it again. She was right — if the Xuan Clan had truly suppressed a malevolent entity two hundred years ago, there would certainly be records made to inform future generations. But he had never heard of any such thing. Which meant either it had never happened — or they had been too ashamed to record it.
After all, using heroic spirits as a formation’s anchor was something not entirely in keeping with the way of heaven. It carried a certain spiritual debt.
“If we truly want to investigate, we will eventually find the truth — idle speculation accomplishes nothing. We need to act. We should walk the positions of the nine palaces and eight trigrams to determine whether this is a living formation or a dead one. Tonight, we also need to return to the pillar and probe further — perhaps there is more to discover. Additionally, we still need access to Eight Trigrams City’s historical records from when the city was first built, and check whether the Xuan Clan holds any relevant documents.” Lang Jiuchuan said. “The Nine Palace Eight Trigrams formation must exist — of that I have no doubt. What I cannot determine is this: why are the soldiers of the Fuji Army being made to relive the day of the fire over and over? Until we understand that, we cannot guide them to Wangsheng.”
Unless she disregarded cause and effect entirely and acted purely for the sake of guiding them onward — even if it meant harming innocent parties. But that was not how she operated.
Her fingers tapped lightly on the table as she half-closed her eyes. Fire consuming the body. A soul ablaze. What possible use could that serve?