The Tiger and the Demon (Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger Episode 3)

by Thaddeus White

  “Roaming Tiger and the Jade Lion both escaped!” Ximen shouted, jabbing his finger at Ba. “After all that boasting you failed to kill Guan Shi, and your incompetent soldiers even let Guan Song escape! What do you have to say for yourself?”

  The Purple Demon lowered his eyes. “I bear full responsibility for Guan Shi’s survival. Your Excellency is entirely correct that my soldiers were at fault for Guan Song’s escape, so that too is my responsibility.”

  “Do you know what this is?” Ximen asked.

  Ba raised his head to see what the governor was holding. “It’s my ceremonial axe, Your Excellency.”

  Ximen snapped the handle over his knee and tossed the broken halves to the floor. “A failure like you can’t be called a general. You’re demoted to colonel. I’ll have you whipped four hundred times, a hundred times for every criminal your incompetence allowed to escape!”

  The military officers simultaneously fell to their knees, bowed their heads and clasped their hands. “Please, Your Excellency,” Deng Ran, at the head of the officers, said, “Ba Renzhong has failed and deserves punishment, but he has achieved many things in the past. Four hundred lashes will kill him, and demoralise the soldiery. We beg of you to allow your unremitting virtue to show leniency, even though he does not deserve it.”

  Ximen stroked his beard. “You would say that, being his second-in-command. Perhaps I should whip you too. As for that filthy criminal, take him to the provincial jail with the other brutes. You’ll be sent to the border to fight barbarians and bandits. Until then, you can have daily beatings to remind you of your failure. Take him away!”

  Ba was dragged off to prison and placed in a cell by himself. His shackles and cangue were removed, and the food he was given was better than that of other prisoners. At dusk on the first day, the prison’s chief warden entered the cell with two underlings, each carrying a bamboo rod for punishment beatings.

  “Remove your shirt, and stand against the wall,” the chief warden ordered. “His Excellency ordered you be struck fifty times a day. Scream or cry out and we’ll start again from zero.”

  Ba cast off his shirt and assumed the position, back muscles tensing as he awaited the first blow. When it came, the bamboo hit so softly he doubted it would even leave a bruise. Two more ‘blows’ fell before the chief warden called a halt.

  “Come here,” the warden ordered. Ba did so, and the warden stared at his face. “As I thought. You clearly have influenza. It is against regulations to beat a sick man, in case he dies of the beating. We’ll make up the numbers before you go.”

  Ba was so dumbfounded he barely had time to murmur thanks before the warden and his minions had left him alone.

  Many of the jail guards had served under Ba Renzhong and chatted with him over the next few days. There is more than one type of currency in the world, dear reader. As general, the Purple Demon had been strict but fair, punishing the guilty and sparing the innocent, understanding when his soldiers did things wrong by mistake, and when it was because of malice. The guards who knew him were keen to repay his decency, and those who didn’t know him had been paid off by Ba Jiang, his little brother.

  “Your brother’s thrown around money like water,” one of the guards explained. “That’s why the chief warden isn’t enforcing your beatings.”

  Ba sighed. “Won’t Lord Ximen notice?”

  The guard laughed. “If His Excellency knew how to govern a province he would never have thrown the greatest warrior in Tiangjin in prison!”

  On the third day Ba Jiang came to visit. Sometimes brothers are almost the same person, and sometimes they’re utter strangers. Ba Jiang shared the Purple Demon’s sense of honour, but was a different sort of man in every way, slight of figure but with a deft hand at calligraphy, he earnt good money working as a legal scribe, but barely knew one end of a sword from the other.

  “So, they caught you at last, you scurrilous rogue!” Ba Jiang said.

  Ba Renzhong smiled and shook his head. “This is serious, Jiang. How is mother coping with the disgrace?”

  “She made a doll of Ximen, and stuck a needle between its legs,” Jiang said, settling down outside the cell. “How are you doing? It can’t be easy, being locked up in a place like this.”

  “It’d be a lot harder if I didn’t have a loyal brother putting silver into every man’s hands. I eat better food in here than when I was a general, and I’ve not had a single beating.”

  Jiang looked this way and that, then whispered, “Look, I’ve got enough money to get you out of here. We can run away together, leave this rats’ nest and become virtuous outlaws, robbing tax-collectors and staying out of Ximen’s reach until there’s a new emperor, and we can take advantage of the amnesty. What do you say?”

  Ba Renzhong put his head in his hands. “Brother, I’m glad you’ve so much money but I wish you had a bit more sense. This is justice for my failure to carry out my orders. I’m still alive. Don’t throw your life away in foolishness. You need to be in good standing, so you can look after mother when I’m far away.”

  “It’s not your fault, you know. There’s not a man alive who could beat four people of that prowess by themselves.”

  The Purple Demon scowled. “Guan Shi was tied up, and one of them was just a farm girl. Promise me you won’t try and get me broken out of jail.”

  Jiang raised his hands. “Fine, fine, I promise.”

  Ba Renzhong spent another five days in prison, and was then summoned to the square. A silent crowd awaited him, Lord Ximen presiding. The shirt was stripped from the Purple Demon’s back, and, under the eyes of the governor, the guards didn’t dare slacken. Ba was struck time and again, until his skin split and the blood poured. He almost passed out from blood loss before Ximen called a halt.

  “You are exiled to Ganyang, where you can fight bandits and barbarians until one of them ends your miserable life,” Ximen proclaimed. “If you ever set foot in Tiangjin again I’ll have you beheaded.”

  It is tempting to think when life is being cruel and things are going wrong that there is only misfortune in the world. But the wheel is ever turning, and whilst bad times happen to us all, so do good. Many li away, four heroes strolled along the road. Liu’s anger had cooled in time, and every day she learnt new things. Guan Shi continued to instruct her in quarterstaff techniques, Guan Song taught her how to shoot a bow, and Sun the sorceress taught her how to tickle salmon from a stream.

  Li after li passed beneath Liu’s feet, and the journey was so enjoyable she was saddened when, over supper one night, Guan Song said they would reach Fort Silverheart in a few days.

  “This province is under old Governor Rong’s control,” Guan Shi said. “He’s a kind man, but his general is a petty and vindictive sort, so we need to be on good behaviour.”

  Liu frowned. “I’m always on good behaviour.”

  “Wu Jin is my blood brother, and commandant of Fort Silverheart. If we end up breaking the law here, it’ll put him in a very difficult position,” Guan Song said.

  The next morning, the mountains came into sight. Liu’s quarterstaff became her walking stick, and the quartet of heroes wound their way up narrow, rocky paths alongside burbling brooks. After lunch, Liu was washing her feet in the clear water of a stream, when she saw distant figures on the other side. Running barefoot back to her companions, she alerted Guan Shi.

  “They’re probably soldiers on patrol,” Roaming Tiger said, stroking his moustache. “We should introduce ourselves, and they can escort us to the fortress.”

  “What if they’re bandits?” Liu asked.

  Guan Song slapped her on the back. “Even better! We can take their severed heads to Wu Jin and earn merit for our service.”

  Liu led her companions to where she had seen the men. Although there was no sight of them, the distant sound of shouts and clashing metal echoed through the mountains. Guan Song dove into the stream and swam across. The Steel Shadow ate a piece of rice paper upon which she’d scrawled a magic
sign, and walked across the water without even getting her ankles wet. Liu jumped in after the Jade Lion, holding her staff ahead of her and kicking her legs. On the other side, she shook the water from her boots and followed Guan Song over boulders and around trees towards the melody of combat.

  On a rocky outcrop overlooking a road, half a dozen bandit archers were shooting down. Liu shoved the nearest off the edge, whilst her companions attacked the rest. Below her, brigands were fighting imperial soldiers. Wandering Phoenix screamed a war cry and leapt down. Her staff crashed onto a vagabond’s head, and he slumped to the ground. The soldier that had been fighting the criminal nodded thanks, and the pair of them set about the other bandits.

  The soldiers had been hard-pressed, but Liu’s staff broke bones and crushed limbs. Roaming Tiger and Guan Song pummelled men left and right, and Sun’s hook snared those who tried to escape. Within moments of the heroes’ arrival, the bandits were dead or captive.

  “Guan Song!” a soldier wearing a blue sash of rank exclaimed. “You’re timely as rain on newly planted fields. This must be your elder brother.”

  The Jade Lion nodded. “Wu Jin, blood brother, it’s good to see you again. Aye, this is Guan Shi, also called Roaming Tiger.”

  Wu Jin, the One-Horned Goat, fell to his knees and bowed his head, but Guan Shi pulled him to his feet. “No need for that amongst men who’ve shed blood together.”

  Guan Song gestured at Sun and Liu. “This is Sun Yang, the Steel Shadow, and that scrawny girl is Liu Shanshan, also called Wandering Phoenix.”

  Wu Jin bowed his head to Sun and Liu. “It’s an honour to meet the famous sorceress. But aren’t you a little young for an honour name?”

  Liu whirled the staff above her head and jabbed it at Wu Jin, the staff’s butt coming to a halt a finger’s breadth from his neck. “I’m old enough to give you a drubbing!”

  Guan Song pushed down the staff. “Don’t let her age fool you, she’s vicious as a swarm of bees!”

  “Wandering Phoenix, you call her? She’s more like Angry Bustard.”

  Guan Song laughed and hugged Liu tight to stop her doing anything rash. “She rescued my brother from prison. That’s how she earnt her name.”

  Wu Jin bowed. “Forgive me, Wandering Phoenix. I’m a simple soldier, these eyes have no insight. Come, let’s all go back to Fort Silverheart. I’ll throw a fine banquet to celebrate your help capturing these rogues, and you can tell me all about what life is like in Tiangjin.”

  The fort was almost a town, complete with restaurants and blacksmiths, temples and bakers. Once inside, Wu Jin said, “I need to take care of the prisoners and get my men medical attention. Come to the hall at sundown and we’ll feast together!”

  Sun went to buy more calligraphy supplies and Guan Song decided to roam the walls and inspect the battlements.

  “I’m going to send a letter, and some silver, to Chao Ming to thank him for his help,” Guan Shi said. “Anything you want me to add on your behalf?”

  Liu nodded. “Tell him I saved your arse twice now. Do I get a second nickname?”

  “You already have one, Stray Sparrow. See you at the feast.”

  Liu wandered off to the temple to pray for Tong and Meng’s souls. A beggar sat outside the gates, his bowl raised for alms. She slid a single coin off a string of cash and flipped it into his begging bowl.

  “One copper? What kind of charity is that, you skinflint?” the beggar said, eyeing the coin as if it were a lump of poison.

  As you may have noticed, dear reader, Liu Shanshan was not a woman endowed with the patience of a Buddha. The beggar discovered this when her staff smashed his bowl in two and she snatched her coin back.

  “The kind of charity you should be grateful for, you scruffy urchin!” Wandering Phoenix growled. “I’m going to pray, and if you’re still here when I come out I’ll teach you some manners.”

  Liu entered the temple, gave a donation to one of the monks and had him light two votive candles, one each for her brother and father. After she finished praying, she noticed that Tong’s candle had blown out and relit it.

  Outside, the sun was going down and Liu strolled over to the hall in the centre of Fort Silverheart. Inside, she found a pair of long tables laden with food and flanked by benches already groaning beneath the weight of soldiers. More than a few cast hungry eyes at her, but Liu had spotted Guan Song and walked past them, heading for her friend.

  She slid onto the bench beside the Jade Lion and started piling up goose and spicy beef onto her plate.

  Wu Jin said, “I’d thank you to refrain from assaulting beggars in my fortress.”

  “I gave him a coin and he criticised me,” Liu answered. “All I broke was his bowl.”

  Wu shrugged. “Lazy Wang’s never got a good word for anyone. He used to be a good soldier but when he was hit on the head his character changed. Now he skulks around begging, arguing with anyone who gives him money. Don’t hit him again.”

  Liu ripped a chunk from a goose’s leg. “Fine.”

  Roaming Tiger and the Steel Shadow soon arrived. Liu spent most of the feast competing with Guan Song in a ‘stuff your face’ contest whilst the other three chattered. Wandering Phoenix paid attention only to her plate, until the One-Horned Goat started to talk about the local bandits.

  “When I first came here it wasn’t so bad,” Wu said, sipping his wine. “There were robbers, like everywhere, but not many. Anyone got too big, we chopped them down. Then, everything went quiet. For months not even half an egg was stolen. Then the Scarecrow King announced himself. He’d killed the minor leaders and put all the thieves and bandits under his rule, and spent months training them in martial arts. There’s an army, and they know how to fight.”

  Guan Shi raised an eyebrow. “Did you send to Ganyang for reinforcements?”

  Wu laughed bitterly. “Of course. But the general there only cares about the provincial capital and its surroundings. Governor Rong is a good man but he’s old and the general bullies him into submission. But now that you’re all here, we can finally take the fight to the bandits!”

  Guan Song thumped the table; crockery jumped and cups trembled. “Now you’re talking! When do we go?”

  “Tomorrow, after breakfast,” Wu said. “The Scarecrow King’s been building himself a fortress not far from here, but with luck we’ll be able to attack before it’s finished.”

  “Then our arrival was well-timed,” Sun said. “We’ll be glad to help.”

  “My fists are always ready for a fight,” Guan Song agreed.

  Roaming Tiger sighed. “Little brother, we’re going to ensure justice is done in accordance with imperial law and spiritual morality.”

  “Yes. And justice means punching seven bells out of bad guys.”

  Guan Shi got to his feet. “If you’ll excuse us, my apprentice and I have a small matter which requires our attention.”

  “We do?” Liu asked.

  Roaming Tiger raised an eyebrow, and she got to her feet, waved farewell and followed him out of the warm and cosy hall into night’s chill embrace.

  “Brr!” Liu said, putting her hands under her armpits. “It’s frigid as a snowman in a hermitage. What did you want us to come out here for? You’re not annoyed I gave that beggar a fright, are you?”

  Guan said, “You seemed quiet in there. Is something wrong?”

  Liu sucked her teeth, walked this way and that, and then finally said, “Tong’s candle blew out.”

  “Like it did in Father Kui’s temple?”

  She nodded. “Do you think he might be alive? Am I being stupid? I must be, if he were alive, he would have gone to Aunt Na’s place.”

  Roaming Tiger stroked his moustache. “If he were captive, they probably would have sent him to the mines. We could go and see if he’s there, once we’ve cut this Scarecrow Fool down to size.”

  Liu sighed, breath streaming from her lips like a ghostly river. “Do you think it’s worth it? We only just got here.”

 
“They don’t call me Roaming Tiger for nothing. I wasn’t going to stay here for long anyway, so we may as well go somewhere for a reason.”

  “Thanks, Guan.”

  The next day, the One-Horned Goat had breakfast with his four guests and outlined his plan.

  “My archers and twenty musicians will come in from the north,” Wu Jin explained. “Whilst the arrows sting and the drums and gongs demand attention, we will move in from the south. Fifty of my crack soldiers will be with us, and we should be able to get inside whilst the enemy is distracted.”

  Guan Song nodded. “It’s bound to work, blood brother.”

  The moment breakfast was finished, the soldiers and heroes left Fort Silverheart. Although the Scarecrow King’s fortress was not far away, the mountainous roads made progress slow. It was early afternoon by the time Liu clapped eyes on it. The fortifications were tall, but the southern wall still had a gaping hole in it.

  She crept closer, sheltering behind the same rock as Guan Shi. Rock-by-rock, boulder-by-boulder, the elite force of heroes and crack troops approached the unfinished wall without detection.

  Wu Jin peeped out of cover for a moment. “It won’t be long. Everybody ready?” he whispered.

  Liu raised her clenched fist.

  Drums pounded and gongs echoed. Shouts of surprise and anger came from the fortress. Liu did not wait, but leapt over the rock and ran towards the gap in the wall. A sentry came the other way and screamed the alarm. His spear jabbed high, Liu ducked under it, smashed her staff into his stomach and ran inside the fortress.

  Half the bandits had gone chasing the musicians and archers, but the other half ran towards Liu and the others. After months of terrorising the roads and beating up soldiers, the Scarecrow King’s gang had no fear of a fight. They charged forward, but didn’t reckon on the heroes.

  Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger fought side-by-side, breaking bones and cracking skulls, terrifying the bandits like a monster with two heads and four arms. The Jade Lion cut men in two with his halberd, the Steel Shadow’s hook opened throats and snared souls. And, at their head, Wu Jin the One-Horned Goat fought with two hand-axes, taking out months of frustration on his enemies.