The Spindle

Within the Bone Buddha Temple, wails filled the air. Monks and pilgrims alike scrambled to rescue the injured buried beneath the collapsed hall. More people worked frantically to clear the rubble of the fallen temple, hurriedly dragging out the flesh-and-blood bodhisattvas that had been crushed beneath.

Amidst the panicked crowd, no one noticed the black spindle that had rolled into a corner against the wall.

Two bloodstained awls reached down, pinching the forgotten spindle like a pair of chopsticks.

Li Huowang, his brow furrowed, examined the item Zhuge Yuan had given him earlier.

The spindle was made from a single piece of wax-yellow old bone—wide at both ends and narrow in the middle. The scratches on its surface suggested it had seen many years.

Extremely black threads wound tightly around it, forming a dense spool, giving the entire spindle a fittingly hammer-like shape, like a hammerhead without a handle.

“What is this thing?” was the first question that surfaced in Li Huowang’s mind, immediately followed by a second: “Does it have any hidden dangers?”

The memory of Zhuge Yuan’s earlier goodwill surfaced in his mind. If the man who had killed Facai was him, then his strength was likely far beyond Li Huowang’s own. If he had wanted to harm him, Li Huowang would have been helpless to resist.

Li Huowang used the torture awls to hold the bone spindle as he sat down on the steps nearby, beginning to sort out his thoughts from the beginning. “Zhuge Yuan… Zhuge Yuan…”

“First, I can be certain: the way that dead eunuch’s expression changed when he heard Zhuge Yuan’s name—his shock—it shows that Zhuge Yuan must be from some other faction, and a strong one at that, at least stronger than Zhengde Temple or Anci Nunnery.”

“The whole thing started because of the struggle over the Heart-Delusion among the Zuowandao, the Supervisory Heavenly Office, and Zhuge Yuan. The outcome is already known: Zhuge Yuan killed Facai, bypassed the Chief Recorder, and ultimately seized the Heart-Delusion, becoming the victor of this incident.”

Having been in this godforsaken place for so long, Li Huowang understood the weight of the Supervisory Heavenly Office. For an organization of such power to be wary of Zhuge Yuan… he could hardly imagine how strong Zhuge Yuan really was.

And there was also Zhuge Yuan’s ability. Though he was dressed like a scholar, how could an ordinary scholar eliminate Facai, one of the Zuowandao’s ‘Three Yuan’?

Li Huowang recalled the cryptic question the Chief Recorder had asked him earlier.

“I ask you, when you went to the Bone Buddha Temple, did you notice anything peculiar? Did anyone do something absurd yet perfectly logical?”

Those were his exact words. But Li Huowang couldn’t figure out what constituted something ‘absurd yet perfectly logical.’ What did it have to do with Zhuge Yuan? And why had it frightened the Chief Recorder so badly?

Li Huowang closed his eyes, replaying the entire sequence of events at the Bone Buddha Temple in his mind. If anything could be called ‘absurd yet perfectly logical,’ it was when the Heart-Fool suddenly accused him of being a Zuowandao agent.

The Heart-Fool might be petty-minded, but to make a move against him at a time when they were constantly under threat of Zuowandao attack… that was strange no matter how you looked at it.

And earlier, when the Zuowandao impostor pretending to be him had appeared, the Heart-Fool could have easily said that this ‘Li Huowang’ was an accomplice, that the two Zuowandao were putting on a show.

But he hadn’t. Instead, he had behaved like an impulsive hothead, offering no explanation at all, and had simply let it go.

Sitting on the steps, Li Huowang examined each detail inch by inch, but the more he thought, the more suspicious it became.

“Is this Zhuge Yuan’s ability? Can he alter a person’s actions without them noticing? What kind of power is this? Mind control?” Li Huowang guessed wildly.

“Wait. If he can control people, then why didn’t he use it on me earlier?”

If he truly possessed such a special power and had some goal in mind, there was no need to waste words with him. He could have simply controlled him to do whatever he wanted.

“Unless…” Li Huowang’s pupils contracted slightly, his heartbeat quickening by a beat. “Unless he has no goal at all.”

With this thought, he lowered his head again to look at the spindle before him. “Then why did he give me this? Does he have a kind heart? Did he take pity on me and want to help? How is that possible! It doesn’t make sense! There’s no one this good in the world! I don’t believe it! He must want something from me!”

Just then, the hallucination of the monk walked over from beside him, a peculiar expression on his face. “Taoist, you can’t say that. Didn’t I become a monk to do good deeds? And wasn’t Abbess Jingxin a good person?”

Hearing this, Li Huowang stood there for a long time, thinking until his head ached without reaching any conclusion.

He shook his head hard and let out a deep sigh. Long accustomed to malice, Li Huowang now feared kindness more.

He would have preferred if Zhuge Yuan had simply attacked him directly, like everyone else. Whether he lived or died in the end, at least he wouldn’t be trapped in this kind of agonizing uncertainty.

“Namo Amitabha. Greetings, benefactor.”

Li Huowang looked up to see an old monk in a kasaya standing before him, a face of compassion.

“Benefactor, I understand that those who do great things are not bound by trivialities, and I know the lofty ambitions of the Supervisory Heavenly Office. But I beg you, do not add to the slaughter. Because of you all, five of this temple’s Buddhist disciples have already entered nirvana.” The old monk, hands clasped together, knelt before Li Huowang.

Looking at the nine scars on the monk’s scalp from ordination, Li Huowang pushed himself up from his knees, turned, and walked toward the entrance of the Bone Buddha Temple. “Another good person? Maybe. But I still don’t trust it.”

By the time he stepped out of the temple, Li Huowang had already formulated his next plan. “Instead of staying here making wild guesses, it’s better to see what I can pry out of the Chief Recorder. That old eunuch definitely knows what Zhuge Yuan’s background is!”

“Once I figure out who this man is, I can decide what to do with this spindle!”

Li Huowang lowered his head, took the leather pouch that held his torture tools, wrapped the spindle securely inside, and mounted his horse.

Clop, clop, clop…

The iron-shod hooves rose and fell continuously, kicking up and then settling back down into the mud.

Freezing rain pattered against the horse’s back, and against Li Huowang’s face.

He looked up at the gloomy sky overhead, then continued to stare at the increasingly muddy dirt road before him.

When he had come here, he had taken a carriage. It hadn’t rained then; the sky had been clear and cloudless. But now that he was riding back, the heavens seemed to have sprung a leak, not letting up for a moment.

It was already late at night, and it was raining. He shouldn’t have been riding, but stopping to stand still and be soaked by the rain was even worse. Li Huowang needed to find shelter as quickly as possible.

When he saw a flag marked with the character for ‘post’ whipping back and forth in the downpour, his eyes lit up. He pressed his left foot into the saddle, swung himself down from the horse, and barged inside.

The post station was a facility within the Great Liang Empire for transmitting military intelligence and providing lodging and fresh horses for officials on their journeys.

When the yawning stationmaster opened the door with his lantern, he was met with the Supervisory Heavenly Office medallion shoved in his face.

The half-asleep stationmaster snapped fully awake, shuddering.

Not long after, the groom was roused and led Li Huowang’s horse away, treating it like royalty.

The cook was also woken up, and all the best dishes the station could offer were laid out in Li Huowang’s guest room.