The Sage, the Swordsman and the Scholars

by Pierre Dimaculangan

  “The Crossbones Killer. Have you heard of his rampage in the northwestern provinces? Prints of his face are on every notice board of every city and town there,” Xin answered. His arms were crossed and his posture was erect.

  “Indeed,” said Tian Qiu. “He was permitted to commit his atrocities for far too long. The Subprefectural and District Magistrates in that region would rather fatten themselves on pastries and politics rather than offer a bounty an experienced tracker would accept.”

  “Or have enough sense to coordinate with the bureaus at the capital to prompt an imperial response,” Shang Jian added.

  “And it’s for such things that our organization exists,” continued Lu Guanying.

  “Nevertheless, the Crossbones Killer is no more,” Sun Xin remarked.

  “How did you do it?” they asked.

  Sun Xin redirected his gaze downward. “I had been tracking him for several days. He didn’t make it difficult. He could not help himself from killing. Persons missing for weeks were turning up dead at every turn with each killing as gruesome as the last. The things he’d make them do to each other and themselves were nothing short of atrocious. He knew I was on his trail and thus led me to an abandoned outpost in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Knowing it was a trap you had naught left to do but spring it,” said Zhen Shu.

  “Naught left to do but spring that trap,” Xin echoed. “That abandoned outpost was a den or a mass grave where many corpses were hanged in display. He thought such a sight would have caught me off guard; he then proceeded to harass me with hit and run tactics. After I had become familiar with his attack pattern I cut him down. Before I landed the killing blow he smiled at me and said ‘b’fore long, your entire world will turn upside-down.’ I thought nothing more of it drove tip of my sword through his throat.”

  “Surely the ramblings of a deranged psychopath,” Lu Guanying remarked. “I am truly impressed with this feat. Tis a great burden that has been lifted from society, but a crying shame for the victims we cannot resurrect.”

  Xin switched topics. “On a more geographically political front, now our troubles with Lin Xuan the Warmonger are over. I tracked him down at an inn near the desert and deceived him into thinking I was one of his henchmen. He and his trusted commanders will no longer be our concern. Word of his death spread rapidly across the region. The Menggu tribe of that region has disbanded their alliance with his men and the people are celebrating his elimination. The nearest army garrison mopped up the remnants of the forces there. The army now occupies his territory and is still clueless as to the cause of his death. Not even the governor of the province was aware of my presence there,” he said as he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed. He paused for a moment.

  “Upon completing my objective I found a map outlining the other nests where many of his followers reside in wait. Your Academicians can raid them to eradicate their presence from that province once and for all.” Sun Xin said plainly as he pointed at the map.

  “Well done, Xin,” Guanying said nodding with satisfaction. The rest of the members of League murmured with excitement and approval of the mission’s success. They have been tracking Lin Xuan for many years and it was Xin who had finally removed him once and for all relieving the Ming Empire from a painful thorn in the flesh.

  The government, however, will never truly figure out who killed him and that is perhaps for the better.

  “That was quite a feat, but we must keep one eye open. The worst may be in the loss of the balance of power upon the death of the desert warlord. The region under his influence has surely been agitated. Get your fill to eat and rest a while,” Lu Guanying said as he tossed Xin a fat sack heavy with coin.

  Though Xin was not a member of the League, he had long earned his place among them. He was even requested to officially lead the Academicians, but better judgment or perhaps even pride prevented him from assimilating into their brotherhood. Still, Lu Guanying felt quite fortunate to have had such a skilled fighter and assassin to carry out the combative causes of the Martial Scholars. They have once said that if the enemy does not sway with words and civilized diplomacy, the sword was but the last tool implemented to enforce justice. Such was the creed of the League of Martial Scholars. Sun Xin’s first encounter with them went back some years ago, when the Academicians led by Shang Jian had been hunting the same target he had been tracking for many weeks. When Xin struck first blood on the target, the Scholars’ attention refocused on him. A professional relationship with the League and their brotherhood of Academicians had begun from that point forward.

  Xin paused for a moment to recall his trek through the woods. “I was making my way through the outer edge of the dominion of the Crimson Moon Sect. During my scuffle with three of their scouts I was wounded by a poisonous arrow. Living alone in the mountain, there was a hermit like the sages of times past, who had nursed me back to health. When the evening had come, the occultists attacked the house and attempted to harass us with their usual terror tactics. The sage, however, claimed that he was under the protection of Heaven and so with one statement alone, the occultists fled into the night as if they had felt a power against which they knew they could not contend. I have never seen such power or authority projected from man before.” Xin and the Scholars stood in silence unsure of what to make of the story.

  Headmaster Guanying broke the silence. “There are stories of a more fantastical nature circulating throughout the Middle Kingdom since time immemorial. Many have merely neglected such news as myth or superstition, but not even I can deny that dark activities have grown frequent of late. I do not find your encounter with the occult nor the resurgence of crime or even rumors of wars too surprising. We must stay vigilant and dutiful to the people within the borders of the empire. But tread carefully, Xin. These days charlatans abound and run to and fro,” he advised to Xin. “Even so, this hermit or sage has made himself a friend of the League.”

  “I sense that something dark is on the horizon for the Ming Empire,” Tian Qiu expressed rather unexpectedly. “All of us, even among the Academicians could sense its approach though they remained largely silent about it.”

  “Explain yourself,” said Xin in a rather commanding tone.

  “Our information network spread throughout the districts and prefectures across the empire has fed the League with vital information that I find is of great concern. Middle Kingdom’s state of affairs grows dire. Our informants indicate increased hostile activity from many criminal groups and underground rebel organizations. Such news was troubling though no one could produce an explanation as to why. You’ve already personally experienced this truth with the Crimson Moon Sect.”

  Shang Jian the strategist stepped in. “The rebel groups and secret societies have grown bold of late. Even the imperial government has grown anxious. We’ve heard that the bureaucrats of the palace in the capital are scrambling for solutions. However, we ourselves are unsure of what their spy agencies in the Eastern and Western Depots already know. Their lackeys in the Imperial Secret Police are largely untrustworthy and corrupt, most being mere pawns of the powerful eunuchs heading the Depots.”

  “The war ministers and officials can do little to initiate military action,” added Zhen Shu. “Most are occupied in defending the northern and western borders from hostile nomad horse tribes, enemies of the Middle Kingdom since ancient times. Furthermore, the rest of the troops have been allocated along the southeastern coasts to defend from marauding pirates from the island nation of Riben across the Yellow Sea. The cities’ prefects were ill-equipped to combat the rebel and bandit raids on the outlying provinces and cities. Military responses were less than satisfactory.”

  Headmaster Guanying rubbed his chin in contemplation. “The League does not officially meddle in the military affairs of the empire and leaves such matters to the emperor and his court. Still, there might be a time when our involvement in war would become inevitable. There are, however, troubling reports from the n
eighboring provinces regarding the arrival of foreigners never before encountered in any of the seas. They’ve congregated in Guangzhou and are treating with high ranking officials who’ve bothered to come all the way from Beijing. The eyes of the League have been set upon them for some time now. I believe we are right to do so…”

  Though their day to day routines have provided them with a feeling of security, recent unfolding events have changed that feeling to anticipation and anxiety.

  Sun Xin did not consider himself to be a part of the cabal, but took pride as a lone agent with an alliance with those who shared his philosophical views of justice, punishment, and national security. The Academy had been a sort of home for a number of years now and was currently the only place where he could find respite and training for his body and mind.

  How he ended up with the League was a long story and he would never forget how Lu Guanying had bailed him out of a great demise while offering him a place amongst their ranks not so long ago. Sun Xin owed the headmaster much and he did his best to repay that debt by fulfilling his missions in the name of their cause and creed. Across the large courtyard, Xin entered a study and rested. To his wonder, the wound on his neck had almost completely healed. Now he felt as he had another new debt to the sage living on that small mountain. Famin Jie’s words and actions on the night he had spent in his home was one he would never forget. Sun Xin remained bewildered and awed at what he had experienced there. He had seen and heard many things, but he never thought he would meet a man whose words held so much power that even the darkest minions fled upon hearing them. In the back of his mind, Xin hoped that one day he would meet the hermit sage again.

  2 MYSTERIOUS FOREIGNERS IN GUANGZHOU

  THERE WAS QUITE A COMMOTION throughout the city as word spread like wildfire concerning the recent arrival of mysterious foreigners from an unknown land. They have harbored in Guangzhou and have already begun establishing relations with the city and the officials who have arrived from Beijing. The League of Martial Scholars, being naturally well-informed, had many allies in the city’s high and low places serving as keen eyes and ears. Consequently, news surrounding the activities of the mysterious foreigners came to them fairly quickly. “They sought to establish long-term trade relations, dealing with medicines, special spices, and knowledge,” Xin recalled in the League’s report.

  Sun Xin made his way through narrow alley ways and corridors deep into the heart of the city to investigate this commotion. The local government headquarters stood in the distance and a crowd was gathering around the complex as a procession of oddly dressed figures made their way through the street. Armed guards kept the crowd at bay as curious onlookers craned their necks to observe the arrival of a foreign embassy. Dozens of them, very tall, wore elaborate garments adorned with ornate accessories and carried with them unfamiliar flags and banners. Xin again took to the rooftops for a fresher perspective of the scene. The procession was accompanied by tall soldiers clad in heavy plate armor of dark metals and silver. Their heads were covered by a helmet of horns and their faces obscured by angular plates of metal. At the fore of the procession was a hooded and cloaked swordsman clad in light armor, abbreviated in form from those worn by the accompanying guards. Underneath the armor he wore robes of red and on his hip hung a long, slightly curved blade with no scabbard.

  The procession was taken as a surprise to Xin and the observers since foreign delegations of this size were hardly ever allowed to leave the harbor premises. The faces of the foreign delegates, however, were in plain view and they walked haughtily under the shade of broad parasols to preserve their pale complexion. To his shock they did not resemble the faces of men. Very pale, they were, with eyebrows high and arching, eyes red as fire, and their ears pointed and curved along their temples. Xin continued to observe them until they entered the government office while the city’s prefects remained posted alongside the government guards. The hooded swordsman turned and unexpectedly directed his gaze towards the rooftop where Xin was perched. He smiled and nodded before returning to join the delegation that proceeded indoors.

  Xin took a breath and left the scene in haste. The arrival of the Foreigners was of great significance and unbeknownst to the people of the Ming; their easy access to their land would have unforeseeable consequences.

  In the academy’s main office and behind locked doors, the Scholars convened concerning the recent events taking place within their own city. “I take it you have seen the parade of Foreigners in the streets leading to the office of the magistrate? I have already heard they are nothing like us,” remarked Lu Guanying.

  “I have seen them. They walk like men and behave like men… but they are not. The people are fearful of them. They carry the stench of treachery,” replied Xin with his arms crossed and head lowered, hat covering his face.

  “After ousting a century-long occupation under Menggu warrior horsemen, the Middle Kingdom receives a new threat from the sea. What is it they want?” Tian Qiu questioned while rubbing his chin.

  Headmaster Guanying continued. “According to my contacts in the prefecture, the foreigners claim to only wish to trade and establish intimate diplomatic relations. In fact they have already won the favor of the governor and magistrate of the province despite the imperial policies concerning the tribute system imposed on foreigners. I have also just received word from our contacts in the capital. Surprisingly our illustrious emperor somehow felt compelled to allow the foreigners to trade on equal terms.”

  Whispers and murmurs echoed in the hall of the Scholars. Many of them considered this imperial decision to be controversial. Such a decision was unthinkable. Has the emperor gone mad? This drastic change in policy was unprecedented in the history of the Middle Kingdom. All other nations arrived as inferior powers to pay tribute to the Emperor as a gift in exchange for trading rights and diplomatic relations. What allowed these barbarians to have the right to negotiate on equal terms was a mystery even to the listening eyes and ears of the Scholars.

  Sun Xin grunted. He was unamused at the prospect of foreigners meddling in the already-complicated situation in the Middle Kingdom. The horsemen continued to raid the North and Wo pirates of Riben plagued the coasts. “If these barbarians become hostile, the empire may not have the immediate resources required for an adequate defense of the empire,” he stated. “I do not trust the snow-skinned foreigners. They carry themselves with an aura of superiority that I find unbecoming.”

  “The citizens, however, can only wait upon the decisions of the authorities. This unexpected leverage the foreigners seemed to so quickly possess over the government was curious indeed. Just how the capital and the emperor will continue to react to their arrival remains to be seen.” Lu Guanying massaged his forehead. “The best we can do is observe these recent changes and be wary of their intentions. Our counterparts at Hanlin Academy close in the capital may be able to provide further insight about the activities of the foreigners in the country. We cannot risk what nearly happened when mere horse nomads sat on the Dragon Throne.” A courier urgently entered the council chamber. His clothes were dusty from a long journey on horseback and he smelled of the noon day sun. With both hands, he presented a sealed document to Lu Guanying. He unsealed the document and began to decipher the encrypted message monogrammed with a symbol that could have only come from Chancellor Wu Chan of the Hanlin Academy— an imperial institution that provided the emperor with secretarial tasks as well as the most intelligent staff to take government duties whenever the need arose.

  Upon reading the letter, Headmaster Guanying paused and sighed. “Well this just answered some of our questions. Our pale guests have made appearances in other cities along the coast. Not all too different from what we are seeing.” He said. “This changes many things. It is vital we know their intentions before it is too late for us to take preventive action.”

  Tian Qiu the polymath was more curious than concerned than the rest of the Scholars. He was fascinated with the arrival of these fo
reigners and was enticed by the wealth of knowledge they could offer in the many disciplines he practiced. “Why do we cloud them with such suspicion? Is there not so much we can benefit from them? They apparently have the means to arrive on our shores from a distant and unknown land. If they are sophisticated enough to have accomplished such a feat then maybe they may not be so indifferent to our ways,” said Tian Qiu with uncharacteristic optimism.

  “Whatever cultural sophistication they may possess could only serve as a greater capacity to wage war against us… greater in comparison to the enemies we already know.” Sun Xin replied.

  Lu Guanying nodded and took a deep breath. “We can only wait…and trust that our government would exercise more vigilance and discretion concerning the foreigners’ intentions than what they have demonstrated thus far.”

  Tian Qiu rubbed his bare chin in thought, still curious about the foreign visitors.

  Shang Jian, a renowned strategist and tactician naturally maintained close ties to key officers within the military. “I have close connections with key commanders stationed in the garrisons along the coastline. Should the foreigners so much as imply hostile behavior, I am confident that imperial forces will be ready to administer judgment on land or on the sea.” Shang Jian was ever at the ready to employ military force whenever necessary to defend the interests of the Empire.

  Late into the afternoon, Sun Xin stood from an elevated balcony on the city’s tallest structures. He extended his spy glass and peered through the lens. A handful of the foreigners’ angular and curvaceous ships laid anchored offshore, sails raised and folded, cannon-like weapons protruding from port and starboard. A curved canopy arched over the deck of the ships acting as a sort of protective barrier. Was it perhaps a shield against the harsh sun of the open seas? The foreigners were pale after all. The ships were large and imposing, especially for being mere vessels of voyage, and were similar in size to some of the largest warships in the Ming Imperial Navy. Some of the foreigners could still be seen moving about the decks in rhythm hauling cargo and supplies of sorts. They moved purposefully and did very little conversing. Even the way they moved seemed almost unhuman and devoid of any sort of expression. Lu Guanying was right. The only thing they can do was be patient and alert. Perched on the highest tier of the city’s pagoda, Sun Xin surveyed the ships until the sun had set. The air grew cold. The autumn season was upon them.