by Peter Fang
Ansen heard a knock downstairs. He froze. He thought he was hearing things, but soon, there it was again. Ansen pulled out his handgun and quietly snuck out of the bathroom. He trained his gun in front as he got out of the master bedroom, then waited until he was sure there was no movement in the room. He passed the bedroom door and reached the top of the stairs; then carefully, he peeked over the ledge at the front door entrance. He saw Joey sitting a few feet away from the door, staring at the door knob. He waited, but the knocking stopped.
“Who was it, Joey?” Ansen whispered. He walked down the stairs, checking his corners and then slowly eased up to the front door and looked out the peephole. There was no one there. Ansen opened the door and had his gun at the ready. He looked out the front door and saw no one. He got out of the house and checked the corners around the door. No one. He went back into the apartment and shut the door. “Shit, I swear…” He looked back at Joey and saw the attaché bag was near his feet. “What the…how did you know I needed that?” Ansen was lost for words. “You can't wait for me to get back to Mommy, can you?”
On his way back to the hospital, he saw no one behind him in the rear-view mirror, but he knew someone was watching him. After walking back into Maria’s room, he put down the attaché and pulled the laptop out for her.
Maria sat up. “How is Joey? Did you feed him and let him out to go potty?”
Ansen sighed. “Oh shit, I forgot about it. He was acting weird, though.”
“How so?”
“I don't know. He was just acting different.”
Maria saw the attaché on Ansen's shoulder and she smiled. “Ah, thanks for bringing me the computer. I promise I'll do this fast.” Maria pulled out the computer and logged in. A few minutes later, she cringed. “Shit, my computer is so slow. I don't know what's going on with it. Time to trade up for a different model. I can't stand this laptop anymore.”
Ansen just hoped that the virus he planted in there did its job and didn't trigger any alarms in the system.
A few minutes later, she shut the computer down. “Done! Looks like I will be stuck at home for a few days. By the way, I just saved you from more visitors. My boss was going to stop by and check on me, but I politely declined the goodwill gesture.”
The nurse walked into the room with a bouquet of flowers. “You need to either put that away, or I have to take it away from you. By the way, this bouquet is a compliment of your employer.” She put the blossoms down next to the coffee table and carefully centered it so the right side faced Maria. “The good news is, I get to keep you one more day. Your company has great health coverage if I may say so. They don’t come along easy anymore these days. The doctor will want to make sure you are ready to go home, and we’ll put the splint on for you tomorrow before you head out.” The nurse turned to face Ansen. “You, Mr. Boyfriend, can help her with the crutches, and obey all of her demands.”
“Roger that,” Ansen replied. “Trust me, I would like her to be home as soon as possible.”
The nurse winked and walked away.
26
Temple of Ashes
“It is very grave,” Gretchen said to herself. “That sewing machine is bad luck!” After Gretchen saw the antique, she went back and started to do research. She recalled seeing the antique before, but could not remember where. She called around and found no information on the guy named Manfred. She wanted to get someone to look at what was inside the key box, and she suspected that it was not going to be a music doll.
She recalled when she was growing up in China she once ran into a street cripple in Guizhou province. The man clinched her with his leathery hands and confided to her a secret. He said there once was a local witch who had a taste for the village kids. After several farmers’ kids went missing, the local people banded together and killed the witch by burning her on a stake. To prevent the witch’s soul from haunting the village, local monks put a spell on her ashes and locked it away inside their temple. The cripple said one of his ancestors was one of the soldiers who captured the witch, but his family tree had died from the witch’s curse. The temple survived to this date, and the locals believed the ashes were still locked away inside the temple.
Gretchen recalled the intricate patterns on the cabinet's lock, and the design didn’t quite match the rest of the sewing machine. She looked at the pictures she took and found one that had two Chinese characters around the keyhole. It was carved into the metal casing. Although very old, she could still make out roughly what the character was saying: 鎮惡1 (zhèn è). There was also a broken yin-yang symbol near the keyhole.
Gretchen sent an email to several of her agents in China to contact the local temples in Guizhou province for leads on the story. Even though she thought the story was wildly exaggerated, anything she could find from the temples could still be of value. She was very intrigued by the antique, and she trusted her instincts. She believed the antique was not only one-of-a-kind, but also contained dark secrets. She attached the pictures she took and gave instructions to her agents to contact the local temples.
One of the agents, Yu, got a tip from a local monk. The monk said the Chinese characters in the picture had the name of another local temple about a hundred miles away, north. After about a day’s traveling via a train, local buses, a boat, and finally a farmer’s cow wagon, the assistance arrived at the foothills of the Yuntai mountain. The area was still a farmers' town, and unlike the large, decorated temples near the city, there were no tourists here. The area was quiet and appeared not to have changed for centuries. There were no signs or flashy entrance, only a winding stone walkway leading up into a dense forest.
Yu labored up the stairs for almost half an hour before reaching the top. He arrived at the main gate of the temple and saw the big wooden door was ajar. He stepped inside and saw a slender young monk sweeping the front yard with a bamboo broom. His movement was methodical, soothing, and meditating. Walking into the front yard, Yu felt a calm settling in, and his racing pulse from climbing the stairs slowed to a murmur.
He shivered as he asked the young monk, “Hi, I was wondering if the headmaster is around? I have an urgent matter to discuss with your headmaster.”
The young monk looked up and gave him a gentle smile. “The headmaster is in his study right now; he cannot be disturbed. But the morning session is almost over.” He then went back to sweeping the yard.
In the distance, Yu could hear the monks chanting; the rhythmic, droning sound of the wooden fish was hypnotic and made Yu a bit dizzy. After about half an hour, the chanting stopped.
“Excuse me, please wait here.” Right on cue, the young monk went inside the temple and moments later, an older monk came out and greeted Yu.
Yu told the monk why he was here and showed him the faxed photos. “Have you received this fax?”
The Monk’s forehead furrowed. He stared at the photo for a good minute, and then turned it in several different angles. Finally, he bowed and said, “Please follow me.”
They arrived at another section of the temple and were greeted by an elderly monk.
“How can we help you? I am the curator and keeper of temple’s history.”
The assistance handed over the fax picture to the monk.
The monk observed the pictures for a while, and his face turned white.
“Please follow me,” the older monk said. He guided the man to yet another room. The younger monk stayed behind. They went into the back and it opened up to a large courtyard. It was quiet and appeared to be deserted, the faint smell of incense in the air. “The actual description of the event was lost, but the story was passed down for generations, and we still have the artifact. Based on the picture you gave me, it may be the missing piece.” They crossed the large courtyard; then the monk turned around and said, “Please forgive me, but you have to stay here. I am not allowed to let visitors to be inside the room.” He then took the picture and disappeared into another set of doors. About twenty minutes later, the monk came out. H
is face was showing concern.
“It does indeed match our missing artifact. May I ask where this piece is?” The monk handed back the picture to Yu.
“My employer in the United States gave me this picture. We don’t know how it got there.”
“United States? Did your employer mention anything about a key?”
“She didn’t say much, but she said it is important to find out where this was from.”
“I see. The story I mentioned to you before is just a story, but I think given the circumstances, I should tell you a little bit more about what it is. You should pass on this information to your employer and be careful with whatever they have. It would be best if you could send it back to this place where it belongs.”
Yu didn’t think his employer was ever going to send him back to this place, but he complied. “Yes, of course. So what is the story around this artifact?” Yu took out a notebook and pen, ready to jot down notes.
“Centuries ago, this area was still a wilderness. The only town around was a farm village. The temple was here as well. One day, a lord from a capital city visited this place on vacation. When the locals told him that the place was suffering from a man-eating tiger, the lord and his troops set out into the forest to hunt the man-eater. They found the tiger’s den; inside was the tigress and her cubs. They hunting party killed them but didn’t find the male tiger. Unknown to them, the tiger was out hunting near the village. The lord’s son snuck out of the house and was out playing near the rice field when the tiger took him. The guards heard the screaming of the child and went after the tiger into the forest. It turned out that the tiger was a witch’s disguise, and the witch revealed herself in her human form when the guards trapped her in the forest. A monk from this temple helped catch the witch. They burned the witch and put her ashes inside a statue and locked it away in this temple, but several days later, someone broke in and stole the ashes. Soon after that, many of the men involved in the killing of the witch died of an unknown illness. The word got out that the village was under the witch’s evil spell, so outsiders avoided the town, and the people here were isolated. Anyone inside the town that tried to flee wound up dead. One night, the entire village was surrounded by the lord’s guards; they burned the whole place down––men, women, and children. They were going to burn down this temple, but the lord suddenly died and his remaining troops scattered.”
“So, you are saying that artifact is malevolent and harbors a bad spirit?”
“According to Daoism, good and evil are both parts of nature; one could not exist without the other. They form the balance in the universe. Good and evil is also a human’s construct. But there are things in the context of humanity that can cause pain and suffering. This artifact is one of those agents.”
“But isn’t that evil? Things that cause pain and suffering are evil.” The young assistant regretted this as soon as the question came out of his mouth. “I mean––I think this artifact is just a story. I’ll be…”
The monk replied, “Pain and suffering is what our body tells us around the surroundings. It is not good or evil; it just is. The concept of good and evil is our interpretation of the nature of things. To you, it may be evil for anything that causes you pain and suffering, but to someone else, it may be a means to a goal that they are willing to endure. It is all within our mind.”
“Thanks for your information; I will pass this on to my boss.” Yu paused and wondered about how the lock and keys worked. Although Gretchen gave him this errand to do, she did not reveal the background of this trip, so this was Yu’s chance to find out more about the query he was after. With something this unique, Yu was not going to pass up the opportunity to ask. “Sorry to ask this, but if the lock and key were both stolen; perhaps the evil spirit already got out, so the artifact is now just an empty shell.”
The monk nodded imperceptibly, as if he anticipated the question was coming. “No one really knows how old this thing is. It could all be just a story. The story goes that the artifact was a lock, and both the key and the lock were under a spell. If you lose the key, or the key was broken, then the spirit will be trapped inside forever.”
“Then why do we have a key in the first place? Why don’t we just throw the key away?” Yu scratched his chin, wondering who would make such a stupid decision in the first place; thus, this whole thing was just a hoax.
“We don’t know why, but I think it is a way to restore the balance. When the time is right, the lock will break and whatever is inside will be back into nature. According to the scripture, the box was under a spell, so the lock can’t be opened even with the key, but no one knows how long the spell will last. Yes, it may just be a story, but it is part of our history, and we respect the history that came before us.”
Yu knew Gretchen well enough that he had to get some proof of the artifact; otherwise, the trip would be considered a waste of time. “Sorry to put you up to this, but can I get some proof that this story is legit? My employer will be very grateful for your cooperation, and she has instructed me to donate to your temple.”
“What kind of proof do you seek?” asked the monk.
“Is it possible for me to take some pictures of the script?” Yu cringed inside, knowing this would likely be turned down instantly.
The monk thought about the request for a long time; his face was withdrawn into deep thought while Yu looked on and tried to read his expression. Finally, the monk agreed reluctantly. “That’s fine, but under one condition: I have to take it for you because I am not allowed to let you inside the room.”
Yu’s face lit up with joy. He gave him his camera and waited outside. Fifteen minutes later, the monk came back and returned the camera. “I think you will be pleased with my photography.”
Yu checked the pictures and saw photos of Chinese scripture that described the event, and then there was a picture of a broken statue. The picture zoomed near the base where there was a piece of a broken yin-yang symbol that matched perfectly with the other half of the yin-yang symbol from Gretchen’s pictures.
“Thank you for your patronage and visit.” The monk bowed down deeply.
On his return trip, Yu found an empty cabin in the train. There were not many people on the train, so Yu was able to enjoy the solitude and take in the beautiful rural scene as the countryside images of farmland and mountain tops blurred across his window. He turned on his phone and sent an email to Gretchen to summarize his trip. Gretchen texted him back immediately to thank him for his extraordinary efforts. She noted, You were the only one who was able to bring proof back to me. The others all came back with only verbal stories. Most of the temples have nothing useful to tell, and one even threatened to sue us if we don’t bring the antique back!
Two days later, Gretchen got a digital copy of the material from China. She was pleasantly surprised to see there were pages’ worth of the content from Yu. Most of the textual material in the photos was written in calligraphy. The pages were stained with yellow pigments and very old, but she could still make out the words. There was a description of the demon that the Dao monk defeated, and then trapped. She skipped through some pages and rested her eyes on a page where there was a series of crude drawings about the demon. It showed a beast from a woman’s mouth that could shoot out poisonous darts and other forms of malevolent agents—some were insect forms, others took on animal forms, and still others were neither insects nor animals. It also showed soldiers were killing each other while the demon was farther out and controlling the attacking soldiers with strings coming out of her fingertips. Some of those soldiers were much larger and taller and had claws coming out of their mouth.
The writing described how the town was under siege by the demon after they captured the witch. In the course of a week, the demon managed to eviscerate half of the warlord’s army and inflicted countless other deaths and sufferings through poison and diseases. During that bloodshed, the warlord himself was killed along with his wife and smallest child. His second in command,
and his oldest son, Bei Lin, decided that enough was enough and ordered the remaining troops to retreat from the town. They surrounded the place and burned it down—nothing was spared. During that final standoff, Bei was able to finally kill off the demon’s host, captured the demonic insect from the witch’s head and burning it down to ashes. To prevent the ashes from reconstituting themselves, they were separated and locked down in a dozen custom iron cast lock boxes. Bei then sent out a dozen horsemen the next day, and gave them orders to reach different parts of China––North, East, South, and West. However, before the plan was carried out, Bei’s trusted advisers told him to keep a part of the demon’s ashes with them, because they could harness the demon’s power in their war against their enemies, so they made a golden box and stored the demon’s ashes inside. They then slowly feed the ashes and brought back part of the demon’s flesh. The flesh wanted to reconstitute itself, but was imprisoned and forced to help Bei’s army in their war games.
Word got out that Bei had specially trained men, or things, that felt no pain and acted like zombies. Once the word got out, everyone tried to avoid Bei and his troops. For over a year, Bei’s army enjoyed expansion of their territories with impunity, but one day their army was ambushed by their enemy’s trap. The enemy found a way to temporarily neutralize Bei’s zombie forces by casting a spell on the golden box. They killed Bei, but the key and the golden box were lost. Without the demon inside the box controlling the armies, the soldiers turned against Bei’s own troops, and internal war ensued. Many of Bei’s top generals were killed, and those who remained, divided up the armies’ force into separate clans. Since then, no one knew the location of the golden box.