by Guo Xiaoting
Chen Liang went up to him, saluted him respectfully, and then asked, “Where are the Zhao Towers? Could you please tell us and point them out to us?”
“You ask about the Zhao Towers,” replied the old man. “This insignificant person is now more than seventy. I have lived here all my life and know every alley, but I have never seen a place called Zhao Towers. Ai yah! But there is a wealthy man named Zhao. People call him the good Zhao Yuanwai, and there is a building with a second story within his place.”
When Chen Liang heard this, he knew that the Zhao family home must be the place they were looking for, and said, “Of course. Someone asked us to take a letter there. They said it was in Youlong and that it had a tower. That meant it was the home of wealthy people. Now I understand.”
“If you want to find the Zhao family home,” said the old man, “go north until you see a store that sells flour and meal, continue walking north, and go into the next alley on the east. At the east end you will see a large tree and a great gate. There is the Zhao family home.”
Chen Liang clearly understood, and decided to go there at night to protect the home against the evil plan of Cloud Dragon Hua.
CHAPTER 52
A thief sees the Spirit of the Night; Chen Liang surveys the Zhao Tower
LATER that night, Chen Liang and Lei Ming waited outside Zhao Towers. But just as they were whispering together, they heard a tiny bit of earth fall from the top of the courtyard wall. Next, they saw the top of a ladder appear. Finally a very small man appeared at the top and descended into the courtyard. Now this man was named Qian, a well-known petty burglar.
Now Chen Liang watched as Qian went into a house on the north side of the street. Peering through a crack in the gate, Chen Liang saw Qian carrying a flexible centipede ladder inside the north building. Chen Liang dropped down into the courtyard. The building on the north side had three sections. The burglar went into the east section and lit a lamp.
Chen Liang went to the latticed window and made a small hole in the paper. Looking inside, he saw that a brick platform bed was opposite the window. On the bed there was a small table and a pile of cotton quilts. Below in front was a square table and a stool with a money drawer. The burglar sat down on the brick bed and took out the purse. He was clearly very happy when he opened it, talking to himself and taking out one piece of silver after another and saying, “With this I will build a house, with this I will buy land, with this I will go into business,” and so on. After talking to himself in this fashion for some time, he put the silver back in the purse and put it in the money drawer, from which he took out one hundred cash. Getting down a wine jug that he had hidden among the rafters, Qian went off through the front gate to get some wine, humming and singing first a verse of a song and then a poem in his happiness, which he could hardly find ways to express.
Arriving at the liquor store, he said, “Draw me a bottle of wine, Manager Wang.” Now, the manager of the liquor store was from the province called the Western Mountains, and so he was known as “Old West.” Some time before this, Qian had gone to get some wine at a time when Old West’s shop was closed. Qian went to a neighboring place and bought a jug of wine there, and then said, “Write it up.” Qian had actually brought two jugs with him, one empty and one filled with water. He kept the one filled with water under his coat. The storekeeper filled the empty jug and handed it to Qian, who secretly put it under his coat and took out the jug filled with water. When he asked for credit, the storekeeper refused, and Qian said, “Pour it back, then.” But Qian had really handed back the jug filled with water. The storekeeper poured the water into his wine jar and Qian gained a jug of wine for nothing.
The next time, Qian did the same thing with Old West. Afterward, some other customers complained that there was water in the wine. This evening Qian again asked for credit, and when it was refused, handed back a jug, saying, “Pour it back then.” But Old West came around the counter and soon discovered the extra jug that Qian was carrying.
Old West said, “Qian, you’re trying to cheat me.”
“I handed you the money first,” Qian replied. There was a row and Qian received a few blows. Old West, however, poured out the water and filled the jug with wine, so Qian returned satisfied. As he entered his gate, however, Chen Liang seized him by the back of the neck with his fingers.
Now, when Qian had gone out to get the wine, Chen Liang went into the room, and opening the money drawer, took out the silver and also nine strings of cash that Qian had been saving from his burglaries. Chen Liang overturned the table and went outside to wait. When Qian came back with his wine, Chen Liang seized him, bound him, and then gagged him. Then he held up the knife and said, “If you cry out, I will have your life.” The burglar did not dare to make a sound. As he left, Chen Liang said, “I am the Spirit of the Night and I watch out for good and evil deeds. You stole, and I have punished you.”
Qian looked around when Chen Liang was gone and saw the overturned table and the empty money drawer. He was upset, but he could not move or make very much noise.
In a little while the night watchmen came by, striking the hour on their little wooden gong. “It’s dark in the alley,” said one.
“Don’t frighten me,” said the other. “I’m not very brave.”
Then they heard a sound. “What was that?” asked one.
“A ghost,” replied the other. Then they looked through the open gate and saw Qian calling out as best he could through his nose and trying to attract attention. The two watchmen soon released him.
“How did you get tied up?” asked one of the night watchmen.
“I have seen the Spirit of the Night,” answered Qian. He showed them the overturned table and the empty money drawer. “I want to report a robbery,” he said, but he did not say how much money was gone.
Meanwhile, Chen Liang had returned to the Liu family home. He placed the silver on one side of the dead body and the nine strings of cash on the other side. He removed the paper with the descriptions of young gentlemen from the tablet and went outside. There he picked up a piece of broken pottery and dashed it against the ground. At the sound, the young wife awakened, rose, and lit the lamp. She saw the silver and the strings of cash and realized that the paper was gone.
Outside, Chen Liang called out, “Tomorrow do not burn incense to us again, nor make such mistakes in the future. We are not gods. We are leaving you forever.” Then he and Lei Ming went on their way.
At the Zhao household there was still no sound of humans to be heard and no suspicious animal cries, but a dim light could be seen through the paper windows. Looking down into other courtyards, they saw one window more brightly lit and heard the sound of the piba guitar and the Mongolian violin. Someone was singing. A voice said, “It’s getting late. We must go to bed.” People were walking through the courtyards here and there and saying good night. The watchers on the roof saw three young women cross a courtyard together, laughing and talking, and go toward a building, evidently their chamber for the night. They were indeed very beautiful.
“Those are the ones we must guard,” said Chen Liang to Lei Ming.
The three young women were going up a stairway into the second story of the large flower-viewing pavilion. This was clearly the tower that Ji Gong had mentioned in his order to them. “There has been a family birthday party, no doubt,” continued Chen Liang. Behind the three young women were two more who appeared to be serving maids, and then another not more then eighteen or nineteen. She was more beautiful than anyone they had ever seen. She seemed almost like a jade statue or an immortal spirit. Then followed a lovely girl of about sixteen and two more serving maids. After everyone was inside, the watchers could hear sounds of conversation and singing. Then all was silent and the lights were dimmed.
From a distant courtyard in the Zhao family estate came the sound of the wooden gong as Chen Liang and Lei Ming heard the watchers strike three times for the third watch.
CHAPTER 53
Seeing lovely ladies arouses wicked thoughts; three outlaws plan an abduction
AS Chen Liang and Lei Ming watched and waited, Chen Liang whispered, “You have seen these beautiful young ladies. It would not surprise me if Cloud Dragon Hua would try to kidnap one.” Then they saw away to the east three black shadows that seemed to be flying across the rooftops. “Brother,” Chen Liang said, “You see those three. The one in the center is Cloud Dragon Hua; the one in the front is from Four Rivers; the other I do not know.”
“I know the one at the back,” said Lei Ming. “He is called the Flying White Lotus Master.” As Chen Liang and Lei Ming spoke, the three arrived at the rooftop on the east side of the courtyard.
Now, after Cloud Dragon Hua had left the home of Ma Jing, he had been followed by Ji Gong throughout the night. So Cloud Dragon Hua returned to Youlong town and at the north gate met two men. One had a somewhat military appearance, and the other looked more like a young gentleman. They were both actually famous Four Rivers robbers who had long been friends and associates in crime with Cloud Dragon Hua. Seeing him today, the two went forward and greeted him. “Brother Hua,” said one, “how are you and what brings you here today?”
“Dear brothers,” said Cloud Dragon Hua, “today I hardly dare show my face to the world.”
“How can you say such a thing?” asked the one who was called Han Xiu.
“Since we parted in Four Rivers,” explained Hua, “I’ve been doing all sorts of things. I”ve been all over the Phoenix Hill section of the capital. I stole the Phoenix Coronet from Prime Minister Qin, killed a couple of women in a nunnery, and also killed a man in a restaurant.” And so from beginning to end he told his story to the two men.
“Well, good!” exclaimed Han Xiu. “All these things our good brother has been doing to startle heaven and shake up the earth in the capital are certainly extraordinary! Where will you be going now?”
“I have no particular place in mind,” replied Cloud Dragon Hua.
“Are you able to work with drugged incense?” asked Han Xiu.
“To do what?” queried Cloud Dragon Hua.
“Let me talk to you, brother,” said Han Xiu. “We have been here in the Grand Hotel at the crossroads for about ten days with nothing to do, just amusing ourselves. There is a wealthy man named Zhao who lives on Xing Liu Street. The estate has a flower garden with a two-story building. One day, we looked through a hole in the window and saw three beautiful young women, truly the prettiest on earth.
“We two had none of that drugged incense, and so we could not abduct them. There are too many people there to do it any other way. We have been thinking about them ever since we saw them that day, but there was nothing we could do. If we had not met you, we would have given up the idea. If you have any of the incense that makes people sleep, we could do something together about these lovely young women.”
As Cloud Dragon Hua heard this, his wicked heart was stirred. “Easily managed,” he said, “but first let us have a few drinks together.” They then went back inside the town to the Meeting Place of the Immortals Inn, ordered food and drink, and happily began to develop their plot. When the three had eaten and drunk to their satisfaction, the waiter added up the amount. The three called for their bill, paid it, and left. When they had first arrived, Chen Liang had seen Cloud Dragon Hua with the other two, but they did not know that Chen Liang and Lei Ming were upstairs.
As the three men left the restaurant, Han Xiu said, “Brother Hua, come back with us to our hotel. There is no need for you to wait in the street.”
“Good,” said Hua.
They went together to the Grand Hotel at the street corner, where the servant greeted them. “Ah, the two gentlemen have returned.”
“We met a friend,” said Han Xiu, “and so we shall not be leaving for another few days. Would you open up the room?” The servant assented and brought them a pot of tea. The three were all a little drunk.
“Since there is nothing to do now, we might as well have a nap,” said Cloud Dragon. The three lay down and slept until after dark. Then they called for food and drink. All three joined in eating a light supper.
At the first watch Han Xiu said, “Shall we go now?”
“You two are in a great hurry,” said Cloud Dragon Hua. “Where do people go this early? Everybody is still awake and we would be caught. How would that be? If you want to go kidnapping, the third watch is the time. Not many people are on the street. People will be sleeping and the sleep-producing incense will do its work.”
The two robbers were so impatient that they could hardly keep still. All three were ready to leave at the third watch. They changed into their suits of darkness and left the room. Everyone in the hotel was asleep and so they went over the wall and on their way, flying over the rooftops.
Arriving at the flower garden, they saw that all was quiet. All seemed deserted. There was no sound of people talking, no barking dogs. One of them threw a pebble and they listened for a response. Then the three robbers immediately approached the pavilion and came to the outside of the windows. Cloud Dragon Hua took out six rolls of material and the three put the drugging incense in place. Cloud Dragon took out a device called the buzzard’s beak and the buzzard’s ribs. He placed the beak in a small hole that he had made in the paper window. The beak was attached to the ribs, which unfolded to make a tube or duct. This he attached to a small box. As soon as the incense was properly lighted, he put out the flame, but the incense continued to smoke. Placed in the box, the smoke and fumes went through the duct and the buzzard’s beak into the room. It was an operation that required a little time and patience. Soon the people inside would be unconscious and know nothing.
All this time Chen Liang and Lei Ming were lying on the roof just above, watching and wondering what would happen and what they should do.
Han Xiu peeped in through a hole he had made in the window and whispered, “Look, Brother Hua, aren’t they beautiful?”
“Of course they’re beautiful,” whispered Cloud Dragon. “We will each take one and we needn’t fight about them.”
“That would be all right—I like them all,” whispered Han Xiu.
“I think the simplest thing to do would be to draw lots for them,” whispered Cloud Dragon, “after we get them away from here. Then we will have no problems.”
“That’s good, too,” said Han Xiu. “Any of the three would be all right with me.”
While the three robbers were filled with excitement at the thought of the success of their plan, the two young men on the roof were growing more and more angry and indignant. Chen Liang was thinking of raising the alarm, but Lei Ming could restrain himself no longer and leapt down among the three men below. Cloud Dragon Hua was still kneeling, tending the poisonous buzzard. Lei Ming struck him a blow to the side of the head and knocked him over. Then he turned and struck Han Xiu and knocked him down as well. But both men were back on their feet in an instant.
Chen Liang could see that the odds of the three older and stronger men against the two of them were hopeless. He stood up on the rooftop and shouted, “Robbers in the flower garden! Come now quickly, everyone, or it will be too late!” As the watchmen began to pound their hollow wooden gongs in another part of the estate, others, waking and thinking it might be a fire, began to beat upon pans and to seize buckets of water. Most, however, came with weapons, knives, clubs, and even heavy soup ladles and pokers.
The three robbers fled over the wall and onto the roofs away to the south, abandoning their buzzard box.
Lei Ming joined Chen Liang, and the two went speedily over the rooftops to the west until they were well away from the clamor. Then they changed into their ordinary clothes. “Brother,” said Chen Liang, “after this, you and I can stop worrying about whether Ji Gong takes Cloud Dragon or not.”
“Right!” said Lei Ming, “just never mind about him. Those three are really detestable villains with no sense of right and wrong, the kind of people that should be beheaded.”
The two rested until morning. As day broke and the red sun appeared in the east, Chen Liang said, “Let us go and find our teacher.”
They started walking slowly forward, talking together. Ahead they saw two men coming toward them, one of whom said to them, “You should see all the excitement just outside the east gate. Some men bought a coffin and were just about to take it away when a ragged monk appeared. The monk asked whether they were going to store clothes in the coffin or keep money in it. Someone said that they would do neither, but instead put a corpse in it. Then the monk wanted to get in the coffin and try it out. They didn’t want him to try it out. Then the monk kicked the coffin and broke it up. Then there was a fight. You should take a look.”
“Brother,” said Chen Liang, “the monk must be Ji Gong. Let’s go and see.”
When the two arrived at the east gate and looked, naturally they saw Ji Gong. Now, after Ji Gong had sent Lei Ming and Chen Liang off with the young graduate Jiang Wenkui, he left the restaurant with the two head-men, Chai and She. “Teacher,” said Headman Chai, “some time ago you said that if we came to the Village of a Thousand Gates, we would catch Cloud Dragon Hua. Yet how are things now?”
“Just come with me to Youlong and prepare to take Cloud Dragon Hua,” said the monk.
The two headmen then walked with Ji Gong to the north gate of You-long. It was already dark, so they found a place to stay the night. They ordered dinner, ate and drank, and asked for quilts.
Before they went to sleep, Chai asked, “Teacher, what about money for food and lodging tomorrow?”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” replied the monk. “It’s all on me.” They slept until the fourth watch. Then the monk awoke and looked around. Out in the courtyard he slapped the window and said, “Headman Chai and Headman She, I will see you in Longyou. I don’t have the money for our food and lodging, and I don’t care. I’m off!”