At the center of the dining table sat a copper hot pot divided into five compartments: Sichuan-style spicy red oil, three-delicacy white broth, medicinal herb broth, cold-pot fish, and a chrysanthemum hot pot.
Mu Geshen picked up a piece of beef tripe. His mouth was already red from the chili oil.
“I’ve been abroad so long that my mouth has nearly forgotten what real flavor tastes like. Second Brother, your cooking is still incredible. All those days of longing for this food were worth it!”
A smaller table had been set up in the room, laden with meat, vegetables, pots, and bowls. Song Wentong, wearing an apron, was slicing mutton.
“If you can’t finish all that, you might as well swallow the entire table!”
“Sure, sure. Even if you cut up a whole elephant right now, Third Brother and I could still polish it off.”
“After Fifth Brother took human form, his appetite increased so much that he nearly ate the Study into poverty.” Wu Zixu shook his head with a laugh. “The whole reason Second Brother opened this restaurant was that Fifth Brother ate too much. Every day, the scraps from the little kitchen were enough to make several more enormous pots of food. To avoid wasting them, he came up with Ye Shui Zhu Hua.”
“When I left, the little brat was only up to my waist.” Mu Geshen held out a hand to demonstrate. “Second Brother wrote that the Zhu family had taken him back. Have there been any news lately? How is he doing?”
“He wrote a while ago, saying the food at the Zhu family’s place was terrible and he’d gotten so hungry that he’d lost weight.” Wu Zixu laughed. “He’s practically counting the days until he can come back. What are you planning to do?”
“I’m not the one doing the cooking. You should ask Second Brother.” Mu Geshen held his chopsticks in his mouth and spoke indistinctly. “If Fifth Brother starts crying, making a fuss, and threatening to hang himself in his letters, there’s no telling whether Second Brother might take his Red-Licking Saber and go cook for him.”
“The Zhu family keeps itself secluded from the world. The only person who could persuade Xing Suzi to come back would be…” Wu Zixu had not finished speaking when Song Wentong slammed his knife into the chopping board and brought over a plate of mutton.
“Eat.”
“Right away, boss. Much obliged.” Mu Geshen grinned and poured him a cup of wine. “Let’s eat, let’s eat.”
The meal lasted more than an hour. The three of them had been apart for so long that their conversation ranged from one end of the world to the other.
“I went to Germany first, then moved on to the Soviet Union. My final year was spent traveling around Europe as a student…” Mu Geshen gestured drunkenly. “Guess what? The British… even recite Shakespeare when they’re in bed!”
Song Wentong burst out laughing. “Well, well. Did you get a taste of foreign pleasures?”
“Not quite. I know where to draw the line between affection and propriety.” Mu Geshen waved a hand. “I heard it from a classmate in the drama society when I was at Cambridge. We were rowing on the River Cam at the time, and a Chinese student had brought along a violin. Would you believe it? He could actually play the xipi liushui tune!”
“I sang a piece from The Butterfly Lovers, and a girl asked me what it was about.” Mu Geshen laughed as he spoke. “I told her it was the story of Romeo and Juliet, who turned into butterflies after they died.”
“Marvelous!” Taking advantage of the wine, Wu Zixu picked up a tune and began singing leisurely:
“Plum blossoms bloom before the study door;
Today I see my younger brother home once more.”
“Sometimes we meet, sometimes we part;
Flowers bloom and fall, then bloom anew.”
Mu Geshen joined in, tapping his cup to keep the rhythm.
“When parting comes, reunion must follow.”
“Two drunken fools.” Song Wentong shook his head at them, then stood up to clear away the dishes and chopsticks. “He’s only just come home, and you two are already singing Eighteen Farewells.”
After the meal, Mu Geshen got up to take his leave.
“I’m going to find Little Fengzi and have him make me a few long gowns. Second Brother, remember to set up a few more tables tonight. Make it lively and invite everyone to come.”
“Get lost.” Song Wentong waved a hand. “Ye Shui Zhu Hua will close for the evening so we can hold a banquet. You won’t be going hungry.”
Mu Geshen rubbed his belly as he left. Watching his retreating figure, Wu Zixu said, “Fourth Brother is probably going back there.”
“He’s nervous about returning to his hometown, so he came here first to drink for courage. What a coward.” Song Wentong scoffed, then furrowed his brows. “Why did you bring up those things at the table just now?”
“What I said was the truth. Fourth Brother knows it, and so do you.” Wu Zixu sighed. “Back then, when the Zhu family entrusted Xing Suzi to the Master’s care, they officially enrolled him at the Ginkgo Study. But everyone knew that the person they were entrusting him to was the Heaven-Calculating Master.”
“Before the Master died, he made it perfectly clear in front of the Seven Great Schools of the Philosophers that the position of Heaven-Calculating Master would pass to Fourth Brother. Those forty-nine Mountain Ghost Flower Coins—whether he likes it or not, he will have to accept them.”
“If he doesn’t want the position, then he doesn’t have to take it. At worst, we’ll cover for him.” Song Wentong said, “Fourth Brother comes from a military family. He might not want anything to do with the Seven Schools and their endless mess.”
“You’re just one man with one blade, free to say whatever you please.” Wu Zixu sounded exasperated. “But whenever something actually happens, won’t I be the one who has to step in and smooth things over?”
“Third Brother, you’ve worked hard. I’ll treat you to dinner tonight.”
“Forget it.” Wu Zixu waved a hand. “Something’s come up on the Fengdu side. I still have to go down there.”
“Fourth Brother has only just returned.” Song Wentong raised an eyebrow. “Who’s so well-informed?”
“The dead have fewer concerns than the living.” Wu Zixu shook his head. “It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
Mu Geshen first went to have someone take his measurements and ordered several long gowns. Then he changed into a plain white robe, washed his face and hands, and left the city.
White Water Temple. The Ginkgo Study.
After the Master of the Ginkgo Study passed away, the Study no longer held classes or lectures. However, it had not been repurposed for anything else and remained much as it had been in the past. When the young novice monk sweeping the grounds saw Mu Geshen, he bowed and recited a Buddhist prayer.
Mu Geshen knelt before the waterside pavilion and kowtowed three times. Then he entered the incense hall, knelt on a prayer mat, and offered three sticks of incense.
Ginkgo trees filled the windows, their shadows swaying gently. Mu Geshen gazed at the memorial tablet in the hall and spoke softly.
“Master, Geshen has returned.”
Mu Geshen knelt for a long time, until the sun was setting. The incense hall door creaked open. He did not turn around, but smiled.
“I knew you would come.”
A figure entered, kowtowed, and offered incense before saying, “You’ve been kneeling all afternoon.”
“That’s unusual.” Mu Geshen smiled. “Sanjiutian, you actually think I’ve been kneeling too long?”
Chai Shuxin knelt beside him. Four years had passed, yet the other man’s expression remained cool and reserved. There was, however, a little more steadiness and composure about him now, like the cold fragrance of plum blossoms washed away by falling snow. His white robes were unchanged.
“I didn’t see you at lunch, so I thought we’d probably meet at the Study.” Mu Geshen said, “Judging by the look of you, you come here often?”
“The Medicine School is busy. I don’t have much free time. I only come occasionally.” As he spoke, Chai Shuxin bowed toward the memorial tablet. “This unfilial student has failed you.”
“Don’t say that. If someone like you can be called unfilial, then I must be guilty of betraying my teacher and ancestors.”
The two fell silent for a moment before Chai Shuxin spoke again.
“Why didn’t you return when the Master passed away two years ago?”
“I was following his orders. I was not to return.” Mu Geshen said, “Master instructed me not to come back for the funeral after the first seven days had passed. By the time Second Brother’s letter reached Moscow, the seventh day had long since passed. With Master’s abilities, there was no way he could have miscalculated the date. There was only one possibility: the old man simply didn’t want me to return.
“Besides, the Heaven-Calculating Masters of every generation calculate the Mandate of Heaven. After death, their souls are destined to scatter completely, never entering the cycle of reincarnation. The funeral was nothing more than a formality. No matter how much paper money we burned, the old man wouldn’t be crossing the Naihe Bridge. Otherwise, Second Brother would have gone to Fengdu to snatch him back, and we’d have had a grand celebration to welcome him back to life.”
“Your absence back then gave rise to all sorts of speculation.” Chai Shuxin said calmly, “The Master personally passed the position of Heaven-Calculating Master to you. None of the Seven Great Schools of the Philosophers dared to object. You have spent two years idling away overseas, and the Seven Schools have waited long enough. It is time for you to take up the Mountain Ghost Flower Coins.”
“What about my senior brother? He’s more capable than I am. Let him take the position.”
“Brother Lin entered Penglai under the Master’s orders back then, and he agreed to remain there for ten years. He cannot leave the mountain gate during that period. Now that the Master has passed the position to you, according to the rules of the Heaven-Calculating School, he must leave the sect. He is now a disciple of Penglai.”
“…What on earth was Master thinking when he arranged all this?” Mu Geshen was stunned. It took him a long while to speak again. “Is he forcing people into a life they have no choice but to accept?”
“The news of your return has already spread everywhere. When the trees wish for stillness, the wind will not cease. You cannot avoid this.”
“Young men waste their youthful ambitions, only to find the green mountains will not wait for them.” Mu Geshen sighed. “The Seven Great Schools of the Philosophers—hasn’t the seventh school still yet to appear? Why is everyone in such a hurry?”
“The Rakshasa Child is born amid chaos. He is a god of slaughter capable of destroying Heaven and Earth. If the seventh school appears, the other schools will no longer be able to steer the course of events with ease. Instead, they will have to turn the tide and save the world from disaster.” Chai Shuxin said, “It has been several hundred years since the last Rakshasa Child was born. Now that the world is in turmoil, all the schools are worried.”
Of the Seven Great Schools of the Philosophers, six had existed in the world for a long time. The final school was the Rakshasa Child. Like the Heaven-Calculating Master, it had only one member at a time, and that person was born into the world only during times of great upheaval, with slaughter as their destiny.
Although the Rakshasa Child could suppress an age of chaos, they were violent and vicious. Every Rakshasa Child throughout history had been an extreme rebel, utterly uncontrollable. Some had even turned against the other six schools. They were an unpredictable variable that gave everyone a tremendous headache and filled them with apprehension.
“Kill Buddha when you meet Buddha, kill the Patriarch when you meet the Patriarch, kill the Arhat when you meet the Arhat, kill your parents when you meet your parents, and kill your relatives when you meet your relatives. Only then can you attain liberation.”
“Only the Heaven-Calculating Master can restrain the fate of the Rakshasa Child.” Mu Geshen understood. “No wonder. So this is what they’ve been waiting for.”
“The Seven Schools have all received the news. They will gather here within a few days. You should make your preparations soon.”
“Very well. You may withdraw, my esteemed minister.” Mu Geshen stood up. “Oh, right. I heard from Little Fengzi that his father is being treated at your family’s clinic. Please pass along my thanks to you.”
“Healing the sick and saving lives is the Medicine School’s duty.” Chai Shuxin also rose to his feet and looked at Mu Geshen. “What are you smiling about?”
“Nothing.” Mu Geshen smiled and waved a hand. Then he said leisurely, “War is about to break out, and the Seven Schools are in turmoil. I’ve thought things over carefully these past few days, and it seems like everything is tangled up in a thousand threads. But now that I’m actually back, none of it feels like such a big deal. After all, you’re all here.”
The two stood together beneath the covered corridor. Mu Geshen raised his head and gazed at the eaves.
“Do you know? This morning, Third Brother and I performed The Story of the Western Wing together.”
“Mm.”
“I remember that winter when you first stayed at the Study for the New Year. Third Brother played the pipa, and you played the Su flute. We performed all five books and twenty-one scenes of The Story of the Western Wing, singing for the entire night.”
“Back then, I thought we’d do the same every year from then on, singing together for a long, long time. Once Fifth Brother grew up, we’d have him play the fiddle for us.”
“Who knew there would never be another time?” Mu Geshen smiled as he spoke. “The garden was once filled with riotous colors, but now all that beauty has been abandoned to broken wells and crumbling walls. Such beautiful days and scenery—who is there left to sing for?”
Chai Shuxin was silent for a moment before saying, “Sing. I’ll listen.”
“Hm?”
“I’ll listen.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. I spent the entire morning performing with Third Brother. You’ll have to come back tomorrow, sir.”
“In a few days, when the Seven Schools gather, you will be the successor to the position of Heaven-Calculating Master. Even if you make them sit on little stools and listen to you tell stories, no one will object.”
“Ha! That’s a good idea. Why don’t we gather at Guanshan Yue? Let me think of what to perform… Zhang Sheng’s Midnight Revelry?”
“…”
“Don’t look so stern. Look, even Third Brother can go onstage and tell stories now. We can’t keep acting so stiff and proper forever, can we? How about a game of mahjong?”
“There are only six of the Seven Philosophers. Not enough for two tables.”
“Then even if the Rakshasa Child appears, it’s no big deal. With seven schools and two tables, we’d still be one player short.”
“…Stop treating this like a game.”
The two descended the mountain together. Mu Geshen had initially wanted to invite Chai Shuxin to Ye Shui Zhu Hua for a while.
“The war has already begun, and the Medicine School has many complicated matters to attend to. There are also elders at home waiting for me to return and discuss them.”
Chai Shuxin shook his head. “Come by another day. I’ll treat you to yipinguo.”
“Oh, right. I nearly forgot to ask about Sister Chai.” Mu Geshen slapped his forehead. “In your letter, you mentioned that her health had improved. How is she doing lately?”
“Her chronic illness and old ailments cannot be cured overnight.” Chai Shuxin’s expression softened slightly. “But she can be cured.”
“That’s wonderful.” Mu Geshen smiled. “I’ll come over to mooch a meal off you another day. Remember to leave a window open for me.”
Chai Shuxin still remembered the ridiculous things this man used to do, such as climbing through windows at every opportunity. However, he said nothing and merely shook his head. “The formations in the Nine-Turn Corridor have been modified. Be careful when you come in.”
“Don’t worry. That won’t stop me.” Mu Geshen waved a hand carelessly. “I’m off. If I’m any later, Second Brother and the others won’t save me any food. We’ll get together another day.”
Mu Geshen had not yet made it into the city when he spotted a car parked beside the road. Under the moonlight, he caught sight of its license plate, and his expression froze.
The car window was halfway down. A deep male voice came from inside.
“Get in.”
Mu Geshen quickly opened the door and climbed into the car, then drew the curtain closed.
“Weren’t you attending a national defense conference? You’re back so soon?”
The man sitting in the front seat smiled and tossed him a bottle of soda.
“You’ve been studying abroad for years. I didn’t know if your tastes had changed.”
“Then why didn’t you write and ask me?” Mu Geshen caught the bottle and said helplessly, “Dad.”
Author’s Note:
“Kill Buddha when you meet Buddha, kill the Patriarch when you meet the Patriarch, kill the Arhat when you meet the Arhat, kill your parents when you meet your parents, and kill your relatives when you meet your relatives. Only then can you attain liberation.” — The Record of Linji