The House of Life 3

by Vann Chow

  “What do you mean we cannot go in? Hong Kong is part of China now!” Commander Diptera bellowed.

  “You’re most correct, Supreme Commander, of course it is… it’s just…” The Foreign Minster wiped his forehead beading with sweats under the mid-day sun and explained further. “The British Governor who signed the treaty is coming here right now.”

  “Coming here? From where? Did he rise from his grave just to meddle with our internal affairs again?” Diptera said sarcastically, not knowing that Governor Blake had already arrived on a horse-drawn carriage at the front of the temple. The British man spotting a mustache and in a sharp army uniform with a shiny Victorian cross medal around his neck stepped down from the vehicle.

  “What in Heaven’s name!” Diptera mumbled under his breath. “Governor Blake!” Diptera extended his hand to the man, who shook it rigidly. The look on his face was unreadable. “Where did you travel from?”

  “London, Commander, where I dwelled with my wife and children. Our majesty the Queen is shocked about the news, and she has sent me to investigate and assist where appropriate,” he said. “We took the fastest Celestial Horse Carriages here. The air traffic was terrible over Hong Kong’s air zone…” He waved at the air, frowning, as if to say that he blamed the Diptera for the disarray.

  “As you know, it’s the Chinese Ghost Festival this week. The Hell Gate was opened. And…”

  “And it appears that the local Celestial Court is in as big a trouble as the report described. A vast number of lingering ghosts are hovering the city wreaking havoc and disturbing civil order. We almost got hijacked, can you believe that? A carriage with both Celestial and Royal crests on it?! Luckily I didn’t agree to travel without a convoy, but we have to borrow one from Ceylon since we’re the short of hands these days.” He gestured to the band of Indian soldiers in dirty-green uniforms and dark red turbans standing solemnly in guard by the Governor’s carriage.

  “The Chamber of Life and Nutrition, the current Regional Celestial Court of Hong Kong, as you might have heard, has been raided and their masters captured by a group of Qing Blue Bannermen.”

  “Blue Bannermen?” Governor Henry repeated. “Where are the Blue Bannermen doing in Hong Kong?”

  The Foreign Minister squeezed his lips together then explained. “Based on the information we gleaned from the mouths of those captured, it appears that their leader Wuzha was a Merchant Militant who have migrated South in 1914 during the Siege of Tsingtao. He demands the Book of Life and Death.”

  “Ridiculous!” The Governor said. “How dare they even nurture such a thought! But he has died almost a hundred years ago. What would he want the book for? Everyone he knew is long gone!”

  “Holding the Book of Life and Death is equal to holding ultimate judicial power of the local Celestial Court. We believe his goal is to destroy the current Chamber and takeover the role of local Celestial Judge himself,” Diptera said.

  “What possessed him to be seized by such an idea? That’s high treason!”

  Foreign Minister took the question himself. “Born in to a Blue Banner Manchurian clan, it appears that this Wuzha Sam was once the Major of Jiaozhou before the Germans forced him into submission as their Chinese puppet figurehead. It was told that he even offered his own daughter to appease the colonists. When the Anglo-Japanese forces took over Tsingtao in 1914, he had to run South to Hong Kong and hid in the mountains in New Territories to regroup his forces. That was his second humiliation. And then ten years later, Lord Lugard’s forces wiped them completely out, as they were causing too much troubles to the villagers at the border. That was his third humiliation. A man like this will stop at nothing to return to power, I am afraid. He has Master Siu captured in the Walled City as ransom. His grandson is now inside to negotiate, but it’s unlikely that the boy will willingly give up the Book without being slapped with a crime of collaborating with the treasoners.”

  “Supreme Commander Diptera, what are you going to do about it?” Governor Blake asked. “We can’t let someone like him take over control of Hong Kong.”

  “We are…” Diptera looked anxiously at the Foreign Minister before he continued. “We’re looking at a rescue mission. We’ll have to get Master Siu and Michael Siu out.”

  “In there?!” Governor Blake gestured towards the Walled City. From the look on his face, he knew it would be no easy task. “You’re looking at a suicide mission. We’d be better off blowing up the whole place and wipe them out in one simple move.”

  Diptera was aghast at the Governor’s suggestion and didn’t say anything.

  “Supreme Commander, we have rounded up the dissenters in the main chamber of the temple,” one of his men reported. “And we have found the local Black Commissioner and a Dreamer hiding behind Prince Hau’s statue. And the local White Commissioner demanded to see you immediately, sir.”

  “Don’t you see I am busy here with the Foreign Minister and the Governor?! How dare you let some low-ranked officer interrupt our discussion?”

  “He insisted that he has important intelligence to share.”

  “Intelligence?!” The Foreign Minister snorted. “Of course they have intelligence to share…please don’t forget these men from the Regional Court is also under arrest warrant for what they did in Sichuan.”

  “I heard,” Blake said. “I can’t believe the audacity they have hitting our HMS Imperieus. These men are not worth rescuing, Commander Diptera. Let’s bomb the whole place down and get it over with. I have a plan…”

  “Supreme Commander!” White Commissioner could be seen yelling at Diptera. He was blocked from getting near by a team of tiny flying soldiers, as if they were a swarm of fruit flies. In fact, these soldiers were once exactly that once upon a time until they were awarded with status of Celestial beings. White Commissioner had to control his urge to swat them. “We must stop Wuzha, or you’ll have no soul, no body of our master to bring back to Hell!”

  “Ignore him, Diptera,” the Foreign Minister advised. “Governor Blake, please do proceed with your suggestion…”

  Governor Blake started to recount his past experience when he was dealing with Qing officials, but Diptera was unable to concentrate on anything he had to say. Diptera found his head turning away from the two dignitaries and stared straight at the local White Commissioner.

  “TELL ME,” he said to White telepathically once he caught his eye and returned his gaze to the group. The minister and the governor did not detect his betrayal in the heat of their talks.

  “MY MASTER ASKED ME TO RELATE THIS IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION TO YOU…” White Commissioner paused and with a grim face. “THERE IS A MOLE IN THE CELESTIAL COURT.”

  Truth

  “Elise, Elise!” Wuzha crashed through the doors and found her daughter crouched by the box of toys. Many items had been taken out and now scattered everywhere on the floor around her. There were visible traces of tears on her face.

  “They told me they heard you speaking in German. Did you find him? Did you find Heinrich?” Wuzha rushed over to her side and lifted her up. The man’s grip was strong, despite his intention to be delicate. She flinched from his touch.

  “No, I didn’t,” she replied, and felt the shape of the silver gun in her pocket.

  “What do you mean by ‘No’? Who else could you have been conversing with?”

  “Maxi…” the name fell out from her lips. “He’s lost, in a forest in Russia. The soul reapers are after him.”

  “Maximilian-Werner Gottlieb?!” A wide grin sliced through Wuzha’s face. “He’s still…around? That’s unbelievable. I never once believed that he is man who honor his promise, but he didn’t disappoint me. — Elise, this is excellent news! We must go get him. You and him could speak through telepathic channels, which means we could locate him easily, especially with the help of my best troops. Having the power of both parents can definitely amplify our search signal. We will find Heinrich very soon. Then the family will complete once again.”


  “Why are you doing this?” Elise shook off the feeling of endearment to this stranger who was once her father and took a step away from him and his oppressive breath. “You’re not doing this just to get the family back together…”

  “Elise,” Wuzha said, “Why are you doubting your father? Heinrich is your child and my grandson. I love both of you. No, I love all three of you, Maxi included, even though he was a mere soldier of the lowest order sent to watch out every move and wholly unfit to be the son-in-law from every perspective for the grand Wuzha clan, I love all three of you dearly. We were once separated and now there is hope of us being together again. That’s all I ever want. We can go back to Jiaozhou together once we find Heinrich.”

  “No, father, that’s not the truth, at least not the whole truth. If you are just missing me or your grandson, you could employ more peaceful tactics. You could plead the kind-hearted Master Siu for information. You could arrange diplomatic transport of soul with whichever government’ whose territory Heinrich’s in. There’s no need to employ such radical measures such as kidnappings and murders. You’ve plunged the entire city into chaos and imprisoned one of its highest Celestial Government Officials. I heard the cries outside. You’re also executing innocent people, even after you’ve found me. Why? Why are you doing this? Fierce warrior from Mao’er Mountain, are influence and power the only things you care about?!”

  “The same blood in my veins is also coursing through your veins, my child. Why don’t you understand how I feel?” Wuzha said. “If you’re not powerful enough, then everyone tramples on you. I am your father, a grandfather to Heinrich, but on top of it all, I am the last of our clan, the leader of the last remaining Blue Banners from Mao’er Mountain! Looked what the Japanese, the British, the Portuguese, the Americans and hell, even the Germans who had no colonies elsewhere have done to our grand empire? We were once such a great nation, and now… How many treaties had we been forced to cede in the last hundred years? Shanghai, Tsingtao, Hong Kong, Canton, Macao… the list goes on. I’m going to take this jugged island back for our Emperor and the glory of the Qing Empire!”

  “But the Qing Empire doesn’t exist anymore. Emperor Guangxu is long dead himself, probably already gone through several rounds of reincarnation. You can’t bring the Empire back from the dead. And Hong Kong is not just a jugged island! Hong Kong is now a world-class financial city, a cultural melting pot, a safe haven for immigrants like you and me to live in peace and relative comfort. It’s my home! I won’t allow you to do anything bad to it!”

  “Elise,” Wuzha was surprised by his daughter’s affection for this rotten place where the British colonists had done him in. “I love you and I respect your affection for Maximilian. It’s your personal matters, but on the matters of national importance, you don’t and can’t argue with me. My mind is set. Besides, I have to hold up the end of my deal.”

  “General! Michael Siu is here,” a guard rushed over to inform Wuzha. “He does not have the book with him! Should we kill him?!”

  “NO!” Elise shouted.

  Wuzha held up his hand and said, “Don’t you dare doing such thing. What kind of fool do you take him for? He’s after all a Celestial Magistrate. He must have come with something else. Bring him to me at once.”

  “Michael!” Elise called his name when he emerged from behind two soldiers when the heavy wooden doors to the foyer parted. His hands were bounded behind him. They kicked him on the back of his knees and he dropped to the ground in front of Wuzha, who was now sitting, with Elise next to him.

  “Elise,” Michael lifted his gaze at her and smiled.

  “My men said you’ve come to negotiate but without bringing what we want.” Wuzha said. “You know that for every minute you delay handing over the book, a soul will be destroyed?”

  “I have the book with me,” Michael said, coughing. He seemed to have been kicked and beaten pretty badly by the guards who brought him in. “They took it from me.”

  Wuzha looked inquisitively at the guards. One of them stepped forward immediately and explained, “we have found a book, but it was not the book, General! He’s playing with us. He’s playing with you!”

  “This book is a gift from a spiritual being from Tianzhu (old man for India). I thought you might find it a worthwhile treasure.”

  The guard slapped him hard in the face. “Stop lying to our General! It’s nothing but a useless book of meditation techniques in an unreadable tongue.”

  “Your guard is the one lying to you,” Michael spat out a mouthful of blood and said.

  “Hey!” Wuzha shouted. “Where is this book? Bring it to me!”

  The guard pulled it out of his sleeves and handed it to Wuzha. The man flipped through it really quickly and frowned at it, for he didn’t understand anything from it. Elise, on the other hand, realized suddenly what the importance of the book was. — It was the Mudra Sutra from Gautama Buddha. She focused all her concentration to read what was on the pages as they flashed by, as she realized that Michael didn’t bring the book to Wuzha. It was intended for her instead.

  Wuzha threw it to the side and barked to the two of them. “I’ll confiscate this book. But this is not enough. I need the Book of Life and Death. You’ve sent yourself in here under the threat of death and eternal obscurity without it, I trust that you are not so foolish to come here without a backup plan?”

  Michael nodded, “General Wuzha is a clever man, and smart people understands one another. I know what you really want. It’s not the Book, nor the power to control Hong Kong, but revenge. Revenge for all the years of humiliation. Revenge for the grand Qing Empire. My real bargaining chip is being prepared right now. If you shall release our people, my Master included, I will deliver this big gift to you, and I promise to let you get out of Hong Kong unscathed with your men.”

  “Good! Good! HA HA HA!” Wuzha laughed. “You’re smarter than your younger brother! No wonder Siu Lok Wing appointed you as the heir to the Chamber of Life and Nutrition!”

  Michael’s ear twitched, but he didn’t show any other signs of surprise.

  “Go and fetch him, Mr. White and Mr. Black have already brought them here. They are waiting behind the doors,” Michael said. The guards were alarmed when they heard that Michael could describe what was happening outside of his field of vision. Wuzha on the other hand understood the young man’s power. He simply thrusted his chin at the guard speaking to him and he quickly scrambled over to open the door.

  The British Governor, along with his British Indian Convoy were bounded by a large web of brownish-green material around their waists. All of them writhing uncomfortably not only because of having being squeezed together like a bundle of straws but also by the vomit-inducing smell of the gooey materials.

  “HA HA HA HA!” Wuzh laughed. “You’ve done well! How did you know what I want?”

  “Governor Blake ‘negotiated’ the 99 years lease of New Territories with the Imperial Chinese Government in in 1898 with General Li Hong Zhang. You hated Li, but you hate Blake even more,” Michael said. “We have lured him here and convinced the Supreme Commander of the Hell Guards to assist us in arresting him.”

  Elise tried to suppress her surprise. Michael didn’t seem like the kind of person who would betray an innocent man, but the string of historical events was muddled in her head. Was any one side innocent at war, ever?

  “Brilliant! Very brilliant!” Wuzha said. “That’s how you get a retired British official to come to our territory and walked straight into his death, on the order of the Queen!”

  Wuzha circled Blake and the soldiers in slow steps, enjoying the look of fear on their faces and smiled.

  “Bastard!” Blake yelled. “Your act is against international laws. If your dare so much as touching me, Queen Victoria’s army and her allies’ will be upon you in no time. There’s no hope for any of you!”

  “HA HA HA HA!” Wuzha laughed at his words and picked dirt from his ear with his finger, pretending not to have heard him.


  “Now, may I take my Master and leave?” Michael demanded.

  “He’s in the next room,” Elise said, “together with Chamomile! They are hurt,” she glared at Wuzha when she said that.

  “Go, go get them,” Wuzha waved his hand to gesture his permission. In the commotion, Elise slipped the Mudra Sutra into her other pocket and quietly followed Michael and the pair of Commissioners to the next room.

  Locked

  The fortress had been heavily fortified by heinous magic by the Manchurians and could not be penetrated like regular walls.

  “Master!” Michael dashed over to his grandfather’s side as soon as the door to the cell was unlocked. Elise took a look at the regrettable state of the old man then spotted Chamomile fainted by the side wall where they had once conversed.

  “Michael,” Master Siu uttered his name in a hoarse voice. “You shouldn’t have come here. What did you do?” He thumbed his heart in tears.

  “Nothing. I didn’t give him the Book! Never!” Michael replied trying to assure the injured old man.

  “But you gave him your life!” Just as he finished, a guard quickly pushed the door back into place and it clicked shut. Elise rushed over just in time to catch the guard’s disappearing face laced with a smirk.

  “What are you doing!?” Elise pushed, thumped and kicked the door without eliciting any response. “I’m your Miss! How could you lock me in here?”

  “It’s the General’s order, I am afraid, my lady,” only the faint reply of the guard could be heard from the other side.

  “Elise, stay calm,” Michael said, “There’s healing mudra in the sutra, can you please take a look at what you can do for them?”

  “Stay calm?!” Elise snapped at him. “What in the world have you done!” She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, repeating the question that Master Siu had asked him, too.