The Hunt for Taishan Shi

Li Sui, wearing her human skin, sat on the mossy stone steps of the Bai family compound with her knees pressed together.

She stared at the lard in the small child’s hands, her large eyes filled with pure curiosity. “Is this stuff good to eat?”

The little boy, maybe seven or eight years old, wore a tiger-head hat and tiger-head shoes. Whose child he was in the village, nobody could say, but he couldn't take his eyes off Li Sui’s delicate face.

After a long pause, as if coming back to his senses, he nodded vigorously, took Li Sui’s hand, and hurried her toward his home.

He pulled her into his family’s kitchen and, mimicking his mother’s motions, used chopsticks to dig a large chunk of solidified lard from the oil jar. He tossed it into the clay pot.

Once the big lump had rolled around inside, coating itself in a thick layer of red sand, a piece of lard was ready.

Then the little boy, whose hair was tied up in a little tuft on top of his head, carefully cupped the lard and offered it to Li Sui.

“Tastes good?” Li Sui opened her mouth and swallowed it whole. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “Not bad. Tastes like pig. I like eating pork.”

“But I like bloody meat-bones better. The kind with the soft, white cartilage wrapped around them—those are great to chew. My Second Mother and I both love them.”

Just then, Li Sui suddenly pricked up her ears, listening intently. “My dad is calling me. I have to go back. You treated me today, so next time, I’ll treat you to bloody meat-bones.”

With that, the tentacles under her dress began to writhe rapidly, propelling her back toward the Bai family compound.

“Dad, were you just calling for me?” she asked Li Huowang as he sorted through some turmeric-yellow paper.

“Mn. We’re moving out. Things are about to get busy.” Li Huowang reached over and slung all three swords across his back in one motion.

“Where are we going?” Li Sui asked, already pulling off her human-skin head and placing it into the salt jar nearby.

“There’s a guy called Taishan Shi who’s a huge problem. We need to find him, and then kill him.”

Li Huowang opened his mouth, and as a dense mass of tentacles burrowed back inside him, his neck swelled to an alarming thickness.

Stepping out the door, he saw Bai Lingmiao waiting before him. He addressed the blindfolded girl, “While I’m gone, you hold Niu Xin village with your people. Don’t let them draw us away by attacking here.”

“Okay.” Bai Lingmiao gave a small nod.

Li Huowang gave her a brief hug, then turned and walked swiftly toward the village entrance.

The moment he left, a pair of white shoes appeared at the doorway. “Holy Maiden.”

“…Sigh. Fine. I’ll head to Shangjing City right away. You protect this place well.”

On Li Huowang’s side, there was just him. The Zhengde Temple Abbot and his two senior monks made three. Fo Yulu and her four subordinates made five. For this encirclement of Taishan Shi, they had exactly nine people.

Once everyone was assembled and ready, Fo Yulu spoke up. “If we find this so-called Taishan Shi, don’t act rashly. Let’s figure out his background first. If he’s too strong, I can call for reinforcements from the Office.”

Li Huowang clearly disagreed with her overly cautious tone.

“Enough with the useless chatter. Let’s find the man first. Do you have any leads from the Supervisory Heavenly Office’s informants?” he demanded.

The Sitian Jian, the monks of Zhengde Temple, and himself—all these people just to surround one man.

Li Huowang figured that no matter where this Taishan Shi came from, once they found him, he wouldn't get away. After all, this was Daliang, not Daqi. The Fa Sect didn't have the same popular support here.

Fo Yulu shot him an irritated glare for his borderline insolent tone. “We ride fifty li to Li County first. Our scouts there say Fa Sect followers have been gathering. We grab one for questioning and see if we can trace Taishan Shi from there.”

Without further delay, the group mounted the horses from Niu Xin and galloped toward the county.

As their horses thundered along, Fo Yulu pulled hers up beside Li Huowang.

“Er Jiu! How is my Taixu Sword working for you?” she called out.

“What, you want it back?” Li Huowang didn’t even turn his head.

“Not at all. But since you have such a powerful sword, you wouldn’t be so shameless as to hide in the back if we actually face Taishan Shi, would you?”

“What are you driving at?”

“Heh. Nothing at all. If you don’t dare to fight, that’s fine too. Just return the sword, and I’ll let you watch from a safe distance.” The corner of Fo Yulu’s mouth curled up.

Li Huowang flicked his reins lightly, his horse pressing dangerously close to hers. “Fo Yulu, I don’t care what game you’re playing, but don’t forget: I’m a favored associate of the imperial family now. If you try to stab me in the back on a matter this important, think hard about the consequences.”

These words hit Fo Yulu like a mouthful of flies. It was infuriating that he was flaunting his connection to the throne, treating it as a badge of honor rather than shame.

Sensing the tension, the Abbot of Zhengde Temple rode up between them to break it up. “Amitabha. Dear benefactors, please keep the greater mission in mind. If we truly encounter Taishan Shi, this humble monk will be the first to engage.”

Fo Yulu tugged her reins and backed away from Li Huowang. “May I ask the venerable master’s Buddhist name? As we are all disciples of the Buddha, it feels a bit distant to keep calling you ‘Abbot.’”

“This humble monk’s name is Chan Du.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Master Chan Du. My own name is Yu Se.”

Li Huowang squeezed his horse lightly and came up beside Liu Zongyuan, who was still wearing his mask. “How is this Xin Ji Xiang? Principled?”

“Hey, Brother Er, relax. She knows her limits. She won’t make things hard for you on a mission this big.”

With that reassurance, Li Huowang let his guard down just a little and focused on the journey.

Fifty li sounded like a lot, but on horseback, it wasn’t long before they saw the county gate.

Li Huowang pulled back on his reins. His horse reared up high, stopping right in front of a vast collection of iron pots and earthenware jars.

A black tentacle from Li Sui shot out like a blur, sweeping aside everything in the horse’s path.

Iron pots, boiling water, and stones flew through the air.

When Li Huowang saw the steaming river stones, his hand went straight to his sword hilt.

Outside of the Daqi Fa Sect, no one was stupid enough to boil rock soup.

“Careful. This place might be a trap. I’ll scout ahead!”

Fo Yulu stared at the deathly silent county town. Her body gave a sudden shudder, and several finger-sized golden Buddhas began hopping, one after another, weaving through the forest of pots and jars and into the town.

A stick of incense’s time passed quickly. Just as Li Huowang was about to take matters into his own hands, Fo Yulu pulled out a string of red prayer beads, looped them around the tiger mouths of both hands, formed a Buddhist mudra, and began chanting a bizarre sutra that Li Huowang couldn’t understand at all.

“Vipaśyin’s prince saw the one whose life had ended. The wisest of the wise, numbering eighty thousand, followed Vipaśyin, left home to practice the holy life. The Bhagavān Vipaśyin, preaching the Dharma in the Deer Park, the gods and men of Jambudvīpa…”