A Xia in Fengdu—Long Zhongke
A Xia in Fengdu
by Long Zhongke
Fengdu, the legendary city of ghosts and where Yama, King of the the Ten Courts, conducts his business.
Tradition has it that in the past, when using silver dollars or copper coins, shops would have a wooden basin at the shop entrance filled with clear water. When a customer made a purchase, the coins were tossed in the water basin. If the coins sank, that was natural. If they floated on the surface, then, that customer was a magically transformed ghost…
Actually, Fengdu City is a real-life city. It is situated in the southeast corner of Sichuan, a mountain city near the left bank of the Yangtze River.
Since it’s a mountain city, its market is not very bustling, but because it’s a transportation city for water and land routes, naturally it’s not desolate.
* * *
A snowy night.
By the side of the government road in the western outskirts of Fengdu City, bodies lay in disarray, reeking of blood.
Patches of reeking blood on the pure white snow, plus twelve corpses of those who died in singularly brutal fashion with heads and arms missing It was a ghastly sight.
Next to this ghastly scene three people stood stupefied—a man around fifty years old dressed in a short-robe and trousers, a man of letters around forty wearing a blue-green robe, and a beautiful woman of twenty dressed in red.
These three people, though differing in sex, age, and dress, they all held swords and were covered with blood.
After a long silence, the elderly man sighed faintly. “Let’s go! First we’ll stop at Fengdu City and offer sacrifices at Five Viscera Temple…”
A cold sneer cut through the air, “No need to waste food, this is your burial place.”
And three unexpected visitors dropped down like swift birds.
They were a beautiful, blossoming woman of twenty-four and two burly men in their thirties.
All three wore black, tight-fitting outfits with a white skull design on them. The contrast between black and white was especially striking, and all the more gave one an eerie, horrible feeling.
The beautiful woman was clearly the leader of the three. Her alluring eyes swept all over the three of them. “You killed all these people?”
The elderly man nodded. “That’s right.”
The beautiful woman said, “How many people in total have you all killed on this journey?”
The elderly man said, “So many, who could keep track…”
The young lass in red gave a winsome smile. “In short, everyone who got in our way was sent back to see their grandma.”
“Excellent!” The beautiful woman smiled icily, “Do you know who this princess is?”
The elderly man said, “Judging by your manner of speaking, I would say you are the third princess of Sectmaster Shangguan Wuji of the White Bone Sect, Shangguan Mei.”
“Correct.” Shangguan Mei fixed her eyes on the blue-clad man of letters. “You must be the descendant of of the Divine Doctor Zhang Simiao of the Han dynasty, the miracle doctor known as ‘Divine Doctor of the Underworld’ Zhang Zifang?”
Zhang Zifang smiled and nodded. “Third Princess flatters me.”
Shangguan Mei’s eyes brushed over the elderly man and the young lass in red. “And you two?”
The elderly man said, “What about us?”
“This princess asked who are you two?”
“This old man and daughter are security guards for Divine Doctor Zhang.”
“No names?”
“People no doubt have names. This old man is Zhu Jie, and this is my little girl, Zhu Xiaofeng.”
Shangguan Mei gave a winning smile. “So it’s the Two Zhu Xias of the ‘Three Swordsmen’. Truly, seeing is better than believing.”
Before they could respond, she said, “You all have been invited to Bai Family Fortress to help cure the fortmaster, Bai Yuntian?”
Zhu Jie nodded. “That’s right.”
“Do you two know that Bai Family Fortress is this sect’s mortal enemy?”
“We know.”
“And do you know that Bai Yuntian was wounded by this sect’s sectmaster and is already on his deathbed?”
“We know. But so long as Divine Doctor Zhang arrives in time, he will certainly snatch his from the jaws of death.”
Shangguan Mei smiled winsomely. “Yes, Divine Doctor Zhang has superhuman healing powers. He can even bring someone who’s already entered the underworld back to life. That’s why he’s celebrated with the name ‘Divine Doctor of the Underworld’…”
Zhu Jie cut her off. “As long as you understand, that’s fine.”
“It’s a pity though that Divine Doctor Zhang will never be able to make it to Bai Yuntian’s side at all, much less ‘in time’ or ‘not in time.’”
“You’re confident you can stop us?”
“The facts will be borne out in full.”
Zhu Xiaofeng cut in with a charming smile, “Yep! We’ve wasted enough breath as it is.”
Shangguan Mei side-eyed Zhu Xiaofeng coldly, then said to Zhu Jie, “Two Zhu Xias, this princess is not finished speaking.”
Zhu Jie said, “You may continue.”
Shangguan Mei’s face turned serious. “Two Zhu Xias, what this princess has to say might not be pleasant to hear, but it’s all the truth, so I first must beg your pardon.”
Zhu Jie said, “Third Princess is too polite. Whatever you have to say, please say it frankly.”
“In that case…” Shangguan Mei fixed her eyes on him. “This princess wonders, within the current martial world, is Bai Family Village the only one that can vie for hegemony with this sect?”
“Yes.”
“Now that Bai Family Fortress’ Fortmaster Bai Yuntian is critically wounded and on his deathbed, Bai Family Fortress’ strength is basically more than half gone. Do you two agree with that assessment?”
“We agree.”
“Currently, this sect’s fame follows its merit and has already become the alliance head of the current martial world. Do you two agree with that as well?”
“We don’t.”
“Because Bai Yuntian is still breathing?”
“Also because us old bastards the ‘Three Swordsmen’ are still living.”
You two think that Bai Family Fortress plus you Three Swordsmen are enough to contend with this sect?”
“What do you think?”
“Alright! Let’s not talk about that issue for now. But I can’t not warn you: A fine bird chooses its tree to roost in; a fine subject chooses its master to serve…”
Zhu Jie cut her off with a laugh. “Third Princess believes that us Three Swordsmen ought to forsake the light and plunge into darkness and serve the White Bone Sect?”
Shangguan Me’s pretty face clouded. “What do you mean forsake the light and plunge into darkness?”
Zhu Xiaofeng cut in first with a charming smile. “I swear! You’ve really got a smart face but a stupid mind. Every waist-high kid in the jianghu knows that Bai Family Fortress Fortmaster Bai Yuntian is a great renowned humane, chivalrous xia, and you White Bone Secters are an evil organization that will stop at nothing to be wicked…”
Shangguan Mei cut her off in fury, “Shut up!”
Zhu Xiaofeng said, “Yes, talk is not as good as action. Now it’s time to act.”
As she was speaking, her figure flashed and she was standing smartly a stave away from Shangguan Mei.
Shangguan Mei was taken aback and asked in amazement, “You want to fight with this princess?”
Zhu Xiaofeng said, “What, I can’t?”
Shangguan Mei smiled icily. “Of course you can. If you want to die, there’s no one else to blame.”
Zhu Xiaofeng said, “Don’t just talk big. Right now it’s hard to say who will win!”
“You are quite conceited.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
Shangguan Mei cocked her pretty brows. “How can you be placed on a par with this princess? Now, I boast that within ten moves this princess will knock you flat.”
Zhu Xiaofeng smiled. “And if you can’t knock me flat in ten moves?”
Shangguan Mei said, “I haven’t considered this issue.”
Zhu Xiaofeng said, “You’re arrogant enough, but in this world, it’s better to be safe than sorry!”
Shangguan Mei said, “If that ‘sorry’ really occurs, then tonight’s matter is dropped, and I won’t get in your way anymore within the Fengdu area…”
“I have to say, you’re not just arrogant enough, you also have plenty of friends.”
“Furthermore… Furthermore, this princess will extend you the courtesy afforded to guests and treat you to dinner at Fengdu City’s Hometown Overlook Terrace.”
“Then I thank you in advance!” Zhu Xiaofeng seemed to suddenly remember something and her pretty face clouded. “You dare tease me?”
Shangguan Mei smiled icily. “This princess dictionary certainly doesn’t have the words “dare not”, but this princess must make it clear that what was just spoken did not contain a bit of teasing.”
“Let me ask you, what restaurant did you just mention?”
“Hometown Overlook Terrace… Oh… that’s what you meant.”
“You telling me that wasn’t teasing me?”
“That doesn’t count, because this Hometown Overlook Terrace is only named that to drum up business, it’s not the Hometown Overlook Terrace of the netherworld.”
“Oh… Then I misspoke.”
It’s alright. Now, this princess might as well let you increase your knowledge a bit. Within Fengdu City, there’s not only a Hometown Overlook Terrace, there’s also an Eighteen Levels of Hell gambling den!”
“Wonderful! I’ll have to go there and take a look shortly.”
“But you must get through my ten moves without being knocked flat first.”
Zhu Xiaofeng smiled winsomely. “I think all that needs to be said has been said.”
Shangguan Mei said, “This princess feels the same.”
Zhu Xiaofeng said, “In that case, let’s fight then…”
Really superb! Zhu Xiaofeng no longer said “then” than she acted, flashing forward and launching a round of incomparably fast attacks.
As her image flashed, she heard Shangguan Mei say with a charming smile, “Girl, are you receiving my ten moves or I am I receiving yours?”
Zhu Xiaofeng said, “It’s all the same…”
They were using their bare hands, the force of their palm strikes rousing violent gusts of wind, causing snow to fly up into the air, filling the air with a haze of icy particles, and they were moving so unbelievably fast that the others looking on not only couldn’t see who was winning, they could barely make the two of them out at all.
Fighting this fast, naturally ten moves were over in no time… ending with an immense quaking “bang”.
And two blurred figures shot out in opposite directions a stave out.
Shangguan Mei hadn’t knocked Zhu Xiaofeng flat, and Zhu Xiaofeng hadn’t done anything to Shangguan Mei either. They both wore a strained smile on their faces.
Presently, Zhu Xiaofeng said with a smile, “Many thanks, Third Princess, for going easy on me.”
Shangguan Mei said flatly, “No need to thank me, this princess did not go easy on you.”
“So then, what now?”
“Now, nothing needs to be said. This princess will respectfully prepare a meager banquet at Hometown Overlook Terrace and respectfully await you three’s arrival…”
Before Shangguan Mei finished speaking she waved her hand and the three of them leapt into the air and took off.
Watching them depart, Zhu Xiaofeng couldn’t help but let out a fain sigh. “Dad! That evil woman is really quite skilled.”
Zhu Jie stroked his beard and smiled. “Now you’ve finally met your match.”
Zhu Xiaofeng arched her kohled eyebrows. “But I’m confident I could beat her within 300 moves.”
Zhu Jie said, “Let’s not talk about that now. Let’s enter the city! We wouldn’t want our worthy host to laugh at us and say we didn’t dare attend her banquet.”
Zhang Zifang frowned. “Brother Zhu, do we really have to attend that evil woman’s dinner party?”
Zhu Jie gave him a look. “Why not go, it’s a free meal!”
Zhang Zifang took the hint and laughed. “And what a free meal. Come on, let’s head to Fengdu City.
* * *
Although “Hometown Overlook Terrace” was a preposterous name, it was the top restaurant in Fengdu City.
Shangguan Mei was actually sincere in inviting them. She booked the entire Hometown Overlook Terrace in order to receive Zhu Jie and the other honored guests.
Booking an entire restaurant was certainly an impressive display, and it also gave them peace and quiet.
But there was one drawback: with only four people, including the host, in such a large restaurant, it looked a bit too deserted.
Fortunately there was good liquor and food, a sumptuous feast to the utmost, and Shangguan Mei as host received her guests warmly, proposing toasts again and again. One could say both guests and host were enjoying themselves thoroughly, talking and laughing merrily, finally reducing the “too deserted” feeling greatly.
When the dinner parting was winding down, Shangguan Mei suddenly smiled mysteriously. “Very sorry, but this princess must temporarily inconvenience you three for a few days as this sect’s distinguished guests.”
Zhu Jie and the others didn’t respond. Their faces didn’t even register it.
Shangguan Mei was taken aback. “You three are certainly composed.
Zhang Zifang’s mouth cracked into a sneer. “If we’re not composed would you let us go?”
Shangguan Mei smiled charmingly. “Don’t make it sound so unpleasant. This princess has not intention of making things difficult for you. You all can be counted as great bodhisattvas and this sect is the perfect great temple. It can certainly accommodate you three xia.”
Zhu Jie smiled flatly. “Many thanks, Third Princess! You think quite highly of us three.”
Shangguan Mei said, “That’s because you three possess the qualities worth thinking highly of.”
Zhu Xiaofeng suddenly tittered and gave a charming smile. “Such a pity. A pity.”
Shangguan Mei asked, “Miss Zhu, what’s a pity?”
“It’s a pity I’m a girl.”
“What’s wrong with being a girl? You can have the stinking men of the world in the palm of your hand.”
“No! That’s not what I mean.”
“Then, what do you mean, Miss Zhu?”
“I think, if I was a man, in this place in this situation, I really hope I would be called to become the son-in-law of the White Bone Sect.”
“Miss Zhu is quite the joker.” Shangguan Mei fixed her eyes on Zhang Zifang. “Divine Doctor Zhang seems to have something he wants to ask?”
Zhang Zifang smiled and nodded. “That’s correct.”
“Then ask!”
“Are all the staff in this restaurant your esteemed sect’s masterhands in disguise?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve already prepared slick poles outside?” (Slick poles were open sedan chairs made of bamboo peculiar to Sichuan.)
“Yes.”
“Alright, let’s go!”
Shangguan Mei seemed surprised at this. “Divine Doctor Zhang doesn’t have anything else to ask?”
Zhang Zifang said, “What does Third Princess think I should ask?”
Shangguan Mei said, “I think, at least you ought to ask how I managed to make you all lose your abilities.”
“I already know. You sprinkled Skill Dispersing Powder on our chairs…”
“Brilliant…”
“is that brilliant? I didn’t notice it and couldn’t guard against it. My reputation as ‘Divine Doctor of the Underworld’ is ruined.”
“By all means, don’t say that. Actually, my reputation as ‘Selling Water by the River’ is just a fluke.”
Zhang Zifang didn’t respond.
Shangguan Mei said, “Your Excellency may not want to ask anything, but I have a question I want to ask.”
Zhang Zifang went “Oh”.
Shangguan Mei said, “Just now, Your Excellency, when you noticed the Skill Dispersing Powder, why didn’t you take some covert actions to rescue yourself from it?”
Zhang Zifang smiled wryly. “Given the situation then, if I had taken measures to save myself, would I have been able to avoid your perceptive notice? Could Third Princess tolerate me taking action to save myself?”
“Good point.” Shangguan Mei smiled. “Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s go…”
Before she finished speaking, a waiter’s voice was heard from outside. “Hey! How… How did you get in here?”
Another clear and crisp voice said, “of course I used my two legs to walk in here!”
The waiter said, “Young master, I already told you, this humble shop has been completely booked by a distinguished guest.”
“I remember.”
“Then… young master, why do you still… still…”
“You mean to say I shouldn’t go in?”
That clear and crisp voice was intimidating, its tone clearly containing an excess of displeasure.
The waiter, terrified, said, “I wouldn’t dare…”
“Get out of my way!”
“No… No you can’t! Young master…”
Whether he could or not, this “young master” had already marched into the main hall.
The honored guests getting ready to leave in the main hall all looked his way.
He was a young man wearing a sheepskin jacket turned inside out, a sword at his waist, and a folding fan in his hand.
This young man was about twenty seven or eight, tall and thin and quite handsome, but owing to his out-of-place attire made him look a bit rustic.
Naturally! On a cold snowy day, wearing a sheepskin jacket was quite normal.
But wearing it inside out was not normal.
Could it be the so-called “inside out sheepskin jacket—playing dumb?”[efn_note]This is a play on words where the word for sheep 羊 is meant to stand in for 佯, which means to play dumb. There’s another play on words here as well. The original word “wear” 穿 has a counterpart in the word for play dumb, which is “裝佯” because 裝 also means “wear”. So wearing a sheepskin jacket inside means to play dumb.[/efn_note]
Also, his face was unusually pale, so pale it was frightening.
Also, on one of the coldest days of the year, why was he holding a fan?
In addition, the cast of his face, though no doubt handsome, it was the kind of face that at times looked unexpectedly ordinary.
* * *
The waiter hurried inside and pulled a long face at Shangguan Mei. “Third Princess, this humble one deserves death, this humble one deserves death…”
Shangguan Mei waved him off. “Go on, it’s none of your concern.”
“Yes yes… many thanks, Third Princess!”
The waiter scurried out, but the young man cupped a hand over his fist in greeting and said to Shangguan Mei, “Third Princess is here, allow me to pay my respects.”
Shangguan Mei stared at him intently. “Who are you?”
The young man said, “I am a traveling scholar passing through.”
Shangguan Mei said, “Where are you from? And where are you headed?”
The young man said, “To be honest, Third Princess, I am all alone in the world, a vagabond one could say. The four seas are my home, so I don’t know where to say I am from, nor do I know where to say I am headed.”
Shangguan Mei suddenly raised a finger in the air and touched him three times. The young man shivered, astonished, and said, “You… You know sorcery?”
“Nonsense!”
“Then, how did those three touches leave me unable to move?”
“Fool, that’s acupoint striking. I just wanted to see whether or not you were a man of the martial world and scale your weight.”[efn_note]Meaning test his ability. See what he’s made of. But I needed to translate this literally in order to make the man’s response make sense.[/efn_note]
The young man said angrily, “Third Princess has gone too far. A man is not a beast to be weighed!”
Those words gave the onlookers, Zhu Jie and Zhang Zifang a knowing smile, while Zhu Xiaofeng tittered to herself.
Shangguan Mei gazed intently at him. “If you are a master hiding his skills, then this performance is quite good.”
“Many thanks, Third Princess, for the compliment!” The young man smiled. “Third Princess has asked enough questions. It’s just a shame that she has omitted the most important one.”
“Which one?”
“My honorable name.”
“Asking now I think is not too late.”
“in that case, make sure you’re sitting down well. I am Lü Shiquan, self-styled the “Perfect Young Master.’”[efn_note]The word for perfect here, 十全, is also his given name, Shiquan.[/efn_note]
As he spoke, he raised a finger and Shangguan Mei became a “wooden beauty”.
The young man’s face quickly morphed and soon returned to Lü Shiquan’s normal ruddy, animated handsome face.
At the same time, Zhang Zifang took out an antidote and gave it to Zhu Jie and Zhu Xiaofeng, who swallowed it.
Shangguan Mei sighed in dejection. “So it really is Lü Shiquan.”
Lü Shiquan gave a carefree grin. “True enough.”
“You… You first used the ‘Tendon Shifting, Acupoint Morphing’ skill?”
If not, wouldn’t I have really become your prisoner?”
“You’ve mastered the ‘Nine-Cycle Hundred Transformations Skill’, so you can transform your appearance at will?”
You are quite insightful.”
Shangguan Mei turned to Zhu Jie. “No wonder you were so calm just now.”
Zhu Jie stroked his beard and smiled. “Too bad you realized it too late.”
Lü Shiquan smiled apologetically. “I arrived a bit too late as well and gave you all a false alarm.”
Zhang Zifang smiled. “Not late, not late. Little Brother, you arrived just in time.”
Shangguan Mei broke in, “Lü Shiquan, what do you plan to do with this princess?”
Lü Shiquan said, “I don’t plan to do anything to you. You know that out aim is to escort Divine Doctor Zhang so he can rush to save Great Xia Bai Yuntian…”
“I know.”
“I also ought to know that when rescuing someone, time is of the essence. In order to reduce unnecessary obstructions, I have to inconvenience you to escort us the rest of the way.”
Shangguan Mei heaved a deep sigh but said nothing.
Lü Shiquan said, “Don’t sigh. Once we pass Yichang, I’ll release you and let you go back with absolutely no harm done…”
Then he suddenly changed the topic and turned to Zhu Jie and the others. “Everyone, there’s no time to waste, let us be on our way…”
Nanyang Business Daily, serialized 1982.10.3 - 1982.10.9, complete in seven installments.
Translator's Commentary
I translated this story blind, meaning I didn't read it first. So I didn't know what to expect. I just wanted a break from working on my wuxia history article, so I decided to translate a short story. This one is by Long Zhongke 隆中客 (original name Yang Kaixiang 楊開湘), whose pen name means "Guest of Longzhong", referring to Zhuge Liang originally. I wonder if he chose this name to go fit with fellow wuxia author Zhuge Qingun 諸葛青雲, who he was a ghostwriter for. Indeed, ghostwriting is primarily what Long Zhongke is known for, though he had several novels and stories published under his own name as well, such as this one. Maybe the guest of Longzhong means the guest of Zhuge [Qingyun]? I dunno.
Well this story is rather middling, not much to recommend it. Nothing much really happens. There is one fight scene, unless you count the acupoint striking at the end as a fight. Other than that it's just a bunch of dialogue. A common problem with wuxia was the overuse of dialogue, characters going on and on, trading barbs back and forth for a long time before finally starting to fight. We see that here too.
On the other hand, because the story is mostly dialogue, that's what gets the most emphasis, and from the dialogue in this story we can see how they talk. There's a lot of terms of address used, as well as a roundabout way of talking where each side pretends to be polite and maintain decorum, all the while secretly harboring other intentions or feelings. Yet there is no deception here; each side knows the other is playacting. This is a social game they are playing. This kind of surface decorum is common in Chinese speech even today, as are terms of address, though the latter less so than in the past.
But every wuxia, pretty much, uses these terms of address because that's how people in the old days talked (and to a lesser extent, still do today). And, at least here in Taiwan, people tend to be not so direct in their speech. Which is not to say they are deceitful. No, they just are just not as candid and blunt as some of us in the West are. I'm a farm boy from Kentucky. Where I come from, people talk frankly and to the point, and this is seen as a sign of intimacy. Decorum is saved for those at a distance from you. Of course, there is playacting there too. "It's none of my business, but..." folks often say before launching into a spate of gossip. Pretending to keep to themselves while jabbering nonstop about their neighbors. That's rural America, at least.
Anyways, my point is there are different ways of speaking. If you're writing wuxia, or anything else set in traditional China or some analogue, then terms of address and surface decorum are things you must pay close attention to. If you have your characters just saying "I" and "you" all the time and speaking bluntly and directly, showing no regard for seniority or position, then they will sound too Western. They won't sound Chinese. And when writing in English, there's a certain amount of "Westernness" that is inevitable and unavoidable because it's a Western language composed of morphemes originating from many other Western languages. So how to make it sound Chinese? Well, paying attention to the way people talk is one way to get closer.
With that in mind, when translating wuxia stories I also try to keep certain aspects of syntax intact when I can. Of course you don't want the sentence to sound awkward, but fortunately English is quite flexible with regard to word order and other issues of syntax, more so than Chinese. A complex sentence (one dependent and one indepenent clause) in Chinese must be written with the dependent clause first. In English we can say "I'm going to the bank tomorrow" or "Tomorrow, I'm going to the bank", but the euivalent in Chinese can only be worded the latter way. If you were to put "tomorrow" at the end of the sentence in Chinese, it wouldn't be grammatical. Naming the person the speaker is talking to before launching into what they want to say is common in wuxia novels. I try to preserve that. Sometimes you have to flip things around so it doesn't sound weird, but these little things I think can help preserve and indicate the original language transformed.
The terms of address used indicate more than just who the person is, but the attitude of the speaker toward the one being spoken to, and vice versa. Shangguan Mei speaks in a rather more refined way that the more direct Zhu Xiaofeng. Yet there are a few moments where Shangguan Mei's demeanor wavers. She refers to herself a lot in the third person, which is not uncommon in Chinese and doesn't sound weird. In English it does, though, so there is some oddness to some of the speech when translated. But that oddness is odd because we're not used to it. It's odd because it's the original "flavor" that people talk about so much in translation being preserved. It's a foreign flavor that might take some time to acquire, but if one simply resorts to paraphrase in translation, substituting words to what is more commonly used in experienced in English, then although you get a nice smooth read, you lose what's left of its "Chineseness". Don't we want to keep that? Personally I think it's boring when you read a translated work and the people just sound like they are from your neck of the woods. I want to know how they think, how they see the world and interact with it. Translation inevitably means losing some of that due to differences between the languages, but there is still much we can keep if we try. My aim in translating is to try.
