Dreaming of Zhou Gong

  Hudan returned to her seat, and Dan was alarmed by her reaction — without even seeing her face he could tell she was harrowed by his confession.

  ‘Do you know something of Lu Chen?’ he ventured.

  Hudan shook her head to the negative.

  ‘You are unwell then?’ Dan was beginning to feel anxious.

  ‘I am perfectly fine.’ She held up a hand to hold him at bay, but her tone did nothing to reassure Dan.

  ‘I have offended —’

  ‘No. Just … drive.’ She bowed her head, and drew deep breaths, still clutching her stomach.

  ‘I should not have mentioned it,’ he concluded, annoyed at his continual quest for answers.

  ‘It explains a lot,’ she commented, so faintly that he barely heard her. Despite wanting to pursue the conversation, for once he reined in his curiosity and bit his tongue.

  There was a reason for everything, and just because that reason was not yet clear was no cause for alarm, Hudan lectured herself.

  The son of the sky who filled her dreams went by the name Lu Chen, she knew that, as she remembered calling him by this name. If Ji Fa was to be one of the sons of the sky, wasn’t it likely that Ji Dan, even more cultured and wise, would be a son of the sky also? Was her divine suitor the same soul now leading her through the Xibo’s guard toward the jinzita with its peak ablaze? The possibility made her feel ill, for how could she then continue to regard Dan as a mere mortal, unworthy of her favour and interest? Hudan so wanted to take the last hour back and do it differently — she envied the Lord of Time his ability.

  With a few deep breaths Hudan ceased feeling sorry for herself and found her equilibrium. There are no accidents. You have discovered this now for a reason … knowledge is power.

  The wall of guards lining the perimeter of the site were facing inward when the Xibo’s party arrived. As Ji Fa and the Wu entered the inner sanctum formed around the jinzita by the human wall, the soldiers turned so that they faced outward and were required to remain thus until the rite was complete — to disobey this order was punishable by death. Only the Xibo and the Wu were permitted to watch the rite from close quarters; the jinzita, from where the rest of the house and local people observed, was too far afield to see the event in any detail. The guardsmen and spectators felt they had already received a good show, as the men who had attacked Jiang Hudan earlier in the day had been caught and thrown onto the pyre prior to the Xibo’s arrival, which served to prove that the fire would incinerate an ordinary moral. Ji Fa’s head guard reported that the men died screaming. If Hudan had known that the men who had attacked her were going to be sacrificed, she would have appealed to Ji Fa for mercy.

  ‘Very good,’ the Xibo commented, in fine spirits, while Dan looked like he was going to be sick.

  The sky above rumbled black as the Xibo and his tigress led the way toward the base of the stepped jinzita. Dan and Hudan followed at several horse lengths distance, while Fen and Nuan followed at the rear. Were it not for the torches held by the guard wall and the huge pyre raging on the artificial mount, the night would have been pitch black. Other torches had been staked into the ground either side of the walkway to the site.

  ‘Jiang Hudan,’ Dan requested permission to speak as they proceeded slowly down the path toward their fiery destination.

  ‘Yes, Ji Dan?’ she replied just as formally.

  ‘Do you value your life?’ he asked.

  ‘I value all life,’ she replied, knowing that the answer was not going to satisfy Dan. ‘But I am perhaps more indifferent to dying than most, because I know that beyond this life my soul has other lives, like the one you have experienced among the sons of the sky.’

  ‘That was just a dream,’ Dan said, sounding sorry he’d mentioned it.

  ‘No, brother Dan, this is the dream,’ Hudan assured him.

  ‘It scares me when you talk that way,’ he replied quietly, and Hudan could hear the fear of loss in his voice.

  ‘There is nothing to fear,’ Hudan replied calmly,. ‘Even if I were to perish, you know as well as I do that your Xibo will prevail over the emperor and our quest will be a success.’

  ‘The quest is not my concern,’ he uttered aside to her. ‘I care that one of the most amazing people I have ever known is about to dance with death, unaware of how devastating her loss would be to those she would leave behind.’

  Waves of shock began radiating through her, but Hudan drew a deep breath and stayed her course. ‘If you would be a true brother to me, you will not distract me with such matters.’

  Hudan could not see his face and was spared the awkward moment as a disruption occurred among the guard wall to the west of them.

  Ji Fa’s head guard immediately ran to investigate and reported back. ‘It is a tiger, my Xibo. A white tiger,’ he advised without turning to face the jinzita, whilst his soldiers struggled to do the same and fend off the encroaching animal.

  Huxin gave a roar, and Hudan spoke up on behalf of her brother. ‘I owe that tiger my virtue,’ Hudan called ahead to Ji Fa, and Dan gave a gasp of shock.

  ‘How?’ Dan queried. He must not have been informed about the attack, which Hudan considered very fortunate, as he was emotionally unstable enough already.

  ‘Let the tiger through,’ the Xibo decreed, whereupon his guard gladly parted, and the large white tiger trotted into the inner sanctum to join the ritual party.

  Huxin went bounding up to greet and challenge the newcomer — just to establish who was in charge — and upon confirming the tiger was male, Huxin became far more accommodating. Once the formality was over, the pair of tigers returned to where Ji Fa stood.

  ‘Welcome, friend,’ the Xibo said, holding out a hand toward the new arrival, who circled and nudged Fa as gently as Huxin did. ‘Two white tigers,’ he murmured in amazement, ‘must be a promising sign.’

  ‘I grant that it is, my lord,’ Fen agreed, as he and Nuan joined the huddle at the base of the structure. Nuan bowed graciously to the Xibo on her way past, and to the male tiger in recognition of his aid, before she proceeded up the jinzita to await Hudan by the pyre at the top. Fen moved to take his place behind a large drum positioned at the base and took the drumming sticks in hand.

  As Hudan made a move toward the stairs Dan turned and faced away from the jinzita.

  ‘You are Wu, you are required to watch,’ Hudan said, removing her hood to speak with him.

  Dan shook his head. ‘Remember how you felt when you thought Fen was to burn.’ He finally looked her in the face, his fear melting into sorrow and moistening his eyes. ‘And you have never even been kissed.’

  Hudan had to smile at his priorities, but she wanted to reassure him if she could. ‘True as that may be, I believe Tian is saving that honour for you, brother Dan.’

  A spark of hope shot through the lord’s expression.

  ‘But not today.’

  Dan forced a smile and nodded in understanding. ‘You toy with me.’

  Obviously, Dan still thought she was going to die and that she was making a prediction that would never be honoured. ‘That would be against our creed,’ she stated confidently, ‘which you know I shall never break.’

  ‘Then —’ Dan frowned, obviously as confused about how the event could happen, as she had been.

  ‘Have more faith in my abilities, for I have foreseen many earthly events that lie beyond this night for me,’ Hudan told him, finally feeling better about her little revelation regarding Dan, and she was about to meet with an entity who might be able to explain the reasons behind the dreams they’d both been having.

  Patently, Dan was still struggling to accept that this rite was fated.

  ‘Use what I have taught you, to calm yourself and focus on the desired outcome,’ she said, giving him her best advice.

  ‘I will,’ he said, but remained facing away from the proceedings, as Hudan went to see Ji Fa.

  ‘Brother Fa.’ She came to a stop before the Xibo.

  ‘Brother Hudan,’
Fa greeted her with a warm smile, before they got down to business.

  The white tiger had been invited to join them for the ceremony and now sat at the side of the path to the jinzita, while Huxin sat on the opposing side, admiring her new friend. Hudan could not continue up the jinzita without thanking her saviour, and moved to crouch before him.

  ‘If not for you I would have been ruined and unable to perform the rite, so I and the land are in your debt.’ She held a hand out to touch the creature and he gently pushed his head into her hand to encourage her. ‘Thank you, you have the lasting gratitude of Hudan.’ She massaged around his ear and then leaned in close to whisper: ‘You take good care of my sister.’ When Hudan leaned back, the tiger’s jaw had dropped open — it seemed he comprehended her words!

  A beat from Fen’s drum urged Hudan to rise and return to Ji Fa and they both regarded each other with more formality now.

  ‘Ji Fa …’ Hudan increased the volume of her voice — the cloud above may have been agitated, but there was not a breath of wind in the hot valley — so the Wu’s voice carried a long way. ‘You have called upon the services of the Wu of Li Shan to break the drought that has plagued your lands.’

  ‘I have,’ he responded, equally loudly.

  ‘Such a request is against the law of the Shang emperor, Zi Shou, and his Wu, Su Daji —’

  There followed a wave of ill will from among the distant audience. ‘Glory to Yi Wu!’ someone shouted, and the crowd repeated his sentiment until the Xibo raised a hand to quieten his people.

  ‘I am well aware of this law, but I cannot watch my people suffer any longer. I accept full responsibility for the imperial ramifications of our actions this night.’

  A cheer from the surrounding guard inspired a corresponding cheer from the crowds beyond.

  ‘Then I, Jiang Hudan of the House of Yi Wu Li Shan and student of the Great Mother, shall seek yin by means of yin. If Tian favours Zhou, heaven will ease the drought that heaven’s displeasure with the Shang caused your lands, and will bring down rain to the glory of Zhou,’ she pronounced boldly, and the crowd hushed. ‘Touch the staff, Taiji, and declare this as your will to heaven!’

  Hudan held out her staff toward Fa, who gripped the sacred treasure just below her hand. Together they raised the staff and then hammered its base into the earth. The crystal in the head of the staff began to glow red, and there was a gasp from the spectators on the jinzita beyond, for the sphere of light emanating from Taiji was so bright it served to blind its holder from the view of everyone.

  Ji Fa released his hand from Taiji and took several steps backward to come to a stop beside Dan, who was still facing in the opposite direction.

  ‘What is happening?’ Dan looked aside to see Fa shielding his sight against the blinding red light.

  Fa looked at Dan, his eyebrows raised sympathetically. ‘Brother Hudan has divested herself of her robe and is moving up the stairs toward the pyre with the staff, Taiji.’

  The mental image in Dan’s head and the sound of Hudan’s beautiful voice rising into the stillness of the hot night, fuelled the slow fire that had been simmering in his chest since the night he’d seen Hudan in the thermal pool with her siblings, and his desire felt like it would burn a hole right through his soul.

  At the end of each beautiful note, Fen pounded his drum twice, and the light in the crystal of Taiji changed colour, moving through the spectrum. She sang five long perfect notes in all.

  ‘She is almost there,’ Fa advised Dan, as the light reflecting on his face changed from green to blue.

  Fen beat his drum twice to conclude the sequence, then continued to pound out a beat to heighten the suspense.

  ‘What now?’ Dan begged to know, as Fen gave a mighty drum roll and when the drums fell silent the distant crowd gasped in terror and awe.

  ‘She is entering the fire …’ Fa uttered, so enthralled by the event that he could not drag his sights from it.

  The suspense was too much: Dan was compelled to turn around.

  By the time Hudan reached Nuan, Taiji glowed brilliant blue, the colour frequency allied to communication, healing, water and yin. The expression on Nuan’s face was very grave for the heat from the furnace above was scorching, even at this distance.

  ‘May Tian protect you,’ she said, kneeling in homage as Hudan passed her, ‘and reward your courage.’

  Hudan appreciated the sentiment, but her mind was in another dimension. Ang-wei, I summon you, lord, to aid me to transmute fire into rain. Hudan held her staff ahead of her and its light deflected the heat to the sides, so she was able to proceed closer to the pyre, which had been constructed carefully to leave an opening into the central furnace. ‘Ang-wei!’ she cried out loud, as she prepared to step into the flames lapping around the entrance. ‘Ang-wei?’

  ‘Jiang Hudan.’ An image of the lord formed inside the central furnace and then turned as blue as the light in her staff as he held his hand out toward her. ‘Come on inside. It’s really quite lovely.’ He grinned in encouragement.

  As Hudan made contact with him, a coolness rushed over her and formed a barrier against the heat, whereupon she was able to step into the huge flaming cone of timber as if it were just an illusion of fire that surrounded her. It was surprising to sit on fresh green lawn beside the lord, who was admiring the inferno raging around them and overhead — a living tent of blazing hues.

  Hudan perceived now that the lord was not himself blue in colour, but had a blueish barrier around him — a blob-like emanation that acted as if it were full-body armour against the heat. A glance at her own arm confirmed that she was wearing one too, and there were several other of these huge entities crowded around them.

  ‘Undines,’ explained the lord. ‘They’re water spirits.’

  She observed the cool spirit-forms interpenetrating her own and could not wipe the smile of wonder from her face. ‘What next?’ she asked, feeling like they were a couple of mischievous children hiding from their parents, as the lord had a boyish playfulness about him.

  ‘Well … I thought we could do a little sightseeing around my realm,’ he suggested winningly, ‘or we could —’

  ‘— make it rain?’ Hudan suggested.

  ‘Ah, yes …’ Avery grabbed the staff she was holding. ‘That’s what the reserves are for.’ He referred to the oversupply of water spirits around them. Guiding her to raise Taiji, they hammered its end back down into the ground, whereupon the excess undines shot up through the top of the pyre.

  There were no screams as Jiang Hudan walked bravely into the sacrificial fire at the top of the jinzita.

  Dan held his breath as the light of Taiji was gobbled up by fire and as the bright blue illumination ebbed, the site plunged back into the shadows of torchlight and flame. ‘Now what?’ he asked his brother, when the fire merely continued to burn.

  ‘Patience …’ Fa encouraged, his eyes fixed on the flaming peak.

  As Dan glanced back to the pyre he got the shock of his life, as did everyone, when a burst of blue light shot forth from the centre of the pyre and into the storm clouds directly above. An almighty clap of thunder sent lightning shooting out across the skies and large droplets began to fall around them; within minutes there was a steady shower of rain.

  The barrage of water felt so amazing after the long dry spell, that all anyone could do was stand there and drink it in. Dan’s euphoric moment ended as he noted the torches being extinguished, and his sights returned to the pyre that Hudan was still beneath. Dan grabbed a dead torch from the ground, determined to knock the remains of the pyre out of the way with it. He sprinted toward the jinzita, ascending the stairs as fast as his legs would allow. Fen and Fa were right behind him.

  ‘No!’ Nuan moved into Dan’s path to stop him. ‘The pyre is enchanted. You must not disturb it before morning!’

  Dan attempted to run round the Wu, but she grabbed hold of his arm.

  ‘You will kill her if you break the spell!’ she implored, waylaying
him long enough for Fa and Fen to catch up.

  ‘She speaks the truth,’ Fen said, and in case Dan had other ideas, both tigers had scaled the jinzita and now stood between Dan and the pyre, growling at him.

  ‘We must come back in the morning,’ Fa advised, and Dan struggled to accept the delay.

  ‘I will not leave.’ He took a seat in the pouring rain to await the dawn.

  ‘The guard will be in place all night,’ Ji Fa said, trying to reason with Dan. ‘Come celebrate our deliverance from the drought with the rest of the family. There is nothing more we can do here.’

  ‘I’m not moving,’ Dan insisted, to Fa’s annoyance.

  ‘Dan,’ Fa was frank, ‘I feel, in this instance, I cannot trust you to adhere to my orders.’

  ‘I shall wait with him,’ Fen volunteered, and took a seat beside Dan.

  ‘Very well, then,’ Fa said, reluctantly, ‘but if one piece of coal has been moved before I arrive tomorrow, I’ll have both your heads.’

  Hearing this, Nuan appealed to Dan. ‘Please, lord, why risk temptation? Come back to the house —’

  ‘I do not need supervision!’ Dan said firmly, standing up. ‘Go, celebrate with your wife-to-be.’ Dan gave Fen a nudge.

  ‘I cannot.’ Fen wouldn’t budge either. ‘Hudan is my brother, sister, parents! I will sit in vigil this night.’

  ‘Suit yourselves,’ Fa decided. ‘I’ll see you both at dawn.’ Fa descended the structure and after she bowed to Dan, He Nuan followed him down the jinzita, and the tigers followed.

  At the base of the jinzita the male tiger split away from Huxin and headed west a few paces, then looked back at her in invitation. Huxin was torn in two: it was her duty to follow Ji Fa, but the male tiger was so very enticing. She gave a roar of frustration, and the Xibo looked back to note her quandary.

  ‘Go!’ He gave her leave and waved her toward her heart’s desire. ‘See you at sunrise.’

  Huxin did not hesitate to bound off after her suitor, and Fa’s head guard ordered his western wall of guards to move and let them depart.

  ‘At least brother Huxin shall be in fine spirits tomorrow,’ Fen commented as they watched the tigers leave the field and darkness fall, broken only by flashes of lightning.