The Ming Storm

by Yan LeiSheng

  Although visibly upset, he calmed without a fuss because of the very real risk of being engulfed by one of the powerful eddies caused by the sinking ship. Each took an oar and set themselves to the task, their combined efforts allowing them to quickly cover the fifty or so meters to the reef, reaching it even before the others. A loud rush of water could be heard as they set foot on land, and by the time they turned not a single trace of the junk remained on the water’s surface. A shiver which had nothing to do with the wind went through all of them. This was how ships died: first with tragic slowness, then with a frantic impatience in their final moments.

  Despite its three-hundred-meter circumference, Guimen reef was really nothing more than an enormous, lifeless rock protruding from the sea. Without saying a word, Tiexin climbed to its narrow summit, where two or three people at most could stand, while Ye Zongman and the other Celestial Kings waited slightly below on a wide platform that could have held ten times their number. A-Qian and Shao Jun also sat there a little apart from the others. The young woman was filled with despair: she had been so close to her target, but Zhang Yong had escaped her once again, this time with the Precursor box. If Master Yangming were here, he would surely find a way to follow him as quickly as possible, then kill him on his island to finally rebuild the Brotherhood in peace. But he was no longer here, and his pupil was on a reef without fresh water nor a ship able to travel through the storm, with her only ally a sailor she wasn’t supposed to trust.

  “A-Qian, what can we do now?” she asked.

  Just then, Tiexin called the fisherwoman up to his rocky promontory. She rose to join him, then turned towards the former imperial favorite.

  “Don’t worry, big sister, I’m sure my brother has a solution.”

  Shao Jun responded with a bitter smile. She was no fool and wondered if the members of this small band were more outlaws than fisherfolk. While she herself was hunted by the authorities, the idea of working with brigands didn’t make her happy. They hadn’t even said they were prepared to risk following the leader of the Tigers as far as his lair. For some reason, the memory of her anonymous savior near Pingle came to mind. Looking up at Tiexin, she wondered what he could be saying, amazed by the respect and even veneration accorded to him by his men. More than just a leader and a fighter, he must also have some kind of vision to so inspire those around him. Suddenly, his men all let out a fearsome battle cry and bowed with a military discipline that was surprising for a band of pirates. A-Qian then addressed one of them harshly, and he responded by bowing his head as a sign of humility. The wind changed and now Shao Jun could hear their words, but she didn’t understand anything because they were speaking in a dialect unknown to her. A strange noise drew her attention to a corner of the rocky platform: the sailor she had saved from the junk was terrified, prostrate, immobile, and trembling against a wall. His eyes were wide, and his jaw clenched so hard his teeth ground together.

  Tiexin seemed to conclude his discourse in a harsh voice. While his men applauded, his sister rejoined the former imperial favorite. When she spoke, it was hesitantly, which couldn’t bode well from someone who was usually so self-assured.

  “Big sister Jun, um…”

  “What were you talking about, A-Qian?”

  “The two eunuchs fled towards Dai Yu island. But now we’ve attacked them, they will surely have their revenge, so we must act quickly.”

  “The Isle of Demons?”

  “Yes, it’s their lair, shared with the Portuguese man. It’s difficult to access, no one else has ever succeeded in landing there. My brother is prepared to try and risk our lives despite everything, but… big sister, if you don’t want to…”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll come with you.”

  After initially being so reluctant, Shao Jun wasn’t going to complain if Tiexin now felt personally involved in the fight against the Tigers – and never mind if he was a pirate, as A-Qian had just subtly confirmed.

  “Alright, I’ll tell my brother you’ll come with us,” the fisherwoman said, reassured. “But there’s one last thing…”

  “What?”

  “We can’t let him live.”

  She pointed at Yu Dayong’s man who threw himself at the former imperial favorite’s feet.

  “M- Miss,” he stammered hoarsely, “you saved my life. I beg you, don’t let them kill me, I’ll do whatever you want. I’ve already been to the Isle of Demons several times, and I know where to land to avoid wrecking the ship on the reefs surrounding it.”

  “Do you really know the Isle of Demons?” A-Qian asked skeptically.

  “Yes! It’s shaped like a large stone cut in two, and smoke seems to rise from its rocky peak. Miss, without my help, your ship will simply join all the other wrecks scattered around its coast.”

  This description was enough to prove he wasn’t lying, though he still hadn’t mentioned anything about the place’s evil aura and the strange noises that emerged and echoed for lis around, like cries of pain from tormented wild beasts. It was said that demons lived on the cursed isle, but none of the curious people who had gone to investigate had ever returned to speak of their experiences. Determined to kill the eunuchs, Tiexin had decided that he could afford no more mistakes, and therefore to leave no survivors in his wake. It was why he planned not only to kill the sailor from the junk, but also Shao Jun if she had refused to join his expedition. The young woman didn’t suspect anything, while A-Qian was very aware of everything that was at stake when she had offered “big sister Jun” the chance to accompany them. She asked her to wait a moment while she went to plead the sailor’s cause with her brother.

  “How can you prove you really know the Isle of Demons?” the former imperial favorite asked him quietly.

  “I can tell you that Uncle Zhang and Uncle Yu called it Dai Yu.”

  He didn’t need say more to definitively and irrefutably prove that he hadn’t lied. She felt her hope begin to rekindle. She might have a chance of beating Zhang Yong if she found him before he had time to completely replenish his internal energy reserves. Besides, she would have no reason to live if she failed. The thought comforted her, though she didn’t let it show.

  “What is your name?” she asked the sailor.

  “I am the humble Feng Renxiao.”

  “Is that what your parents named you?”

  Embarrassed, he nodded silently. His first name meant “kindness” and “filial piety”, qualities which he certainly hadn’t lived up to by transporting Yu Dayong’s slaves to Lusong Island. But the young woman could see the remorse in his eyes and felt he wasn’t fundamentally bad.

  “I saved you because I couldn’t just leave you to drown. Discerning good and evil is an essential knowledge. If you are ashamed of your actions and you have the courage to repent, I’ll give you the chance. But if you betray me, I swear my sword will end stabbed through your heart.”

  Feng Renxiao was old enough to be her father, but her aura and natural authority inspired deep respect. He already preferred following her orders to following those of Yu Dayong.

  “Yes, miss,” he said simply. “I will follow your instructions.”

  A-Qian and Tiexin arrived to announce that they had agreed to allow the sailor to show them where to go. So, he would live, at least for now.

  “Let’s not delay any further!” Shao Jun declared.

  She wasn’t completely sure she could trust this man, whose terror had surely altered his judgement. Who was to say he wouldn’t turn against her once more once back in the company of the leader of the Tigers and his former master? Until then, they needed his help to land on the island safely.

  “When this business is finished, you’ll return to your village and life an honest life,” she ordered.

  “Yes, I promise…”

  “Don’t go back on your word.”

  Taken aback by the menace in the young woman’s voi
ce, he was only able to utter an almost-inaudible “yes” in response.

  Chapter 19

  “Over there, miss!”

  Fearing that he would be killed by Tiexin and his men at any minute, Feng Renxiao hadn’t left Shao Jun’s side since their departure from Guimen reef two days earlier. But a dark shape finally began to appear on the horizon: their destination was in sight.

  Dai Yu Island.

  The long, ugly mass didn’t resemble the verdant paradise full of fruit-laden trees that the young woman had expected. Master Yangming had told her the legends that made it one of the sacred islands, but she now understood why pirates saw it more as the Isle of Demons. At its center stood a dark mountain on which no plant grew, its peak shrouded in cloud.

  A volcano!

  During her travels in Italy she had seen one known as Vesuvius. Zhu Jiuyuan had told her that it had erupted more than a thousand years earlier, reducing the famous Pompeii and surrounding towns to ash and continuing to belch flaming rocks for centuries after. Apparently, there was also one in China. “In the southern seas lies a volcano where no plant grows, burning day and night”, recounted the Book of Marvels. One day, in Shanxi, a volcano on which a temple had been built erupted, terrifying the monks who had naively believed that the roots of a tree had caught fire underground. Zhu Jiuyuan had warned his pupil of the strange stories invented by the ancients to explain phenomena they didn’t understand and told her of the magma that bubbled under the earth, sometimes escaping through the thinnest sections of the Earth’s crust. The monks, he had added, also believed that the sulfurous emissions from hot parts of the mountain were the breath of a dragon living in its depths. Volcanoes were fascinating but dangerous places: you never knew when they were going to awaken and cause a disaster.

  As they approached the coast of the island under cover of darkness to avoid being spotted too easily, Tiexin addressed Yu Dayong’s former man directly for the first time.

  “Feng Renxiao, are other ships belonging to the Tigers on their way to the island?”

  “No, only the junk should be there. The place is secret, so they limit the number of journeys to it.”

  “Why do you ask?” Shao Jun demanded.

  “Because a ship has been following us for two days but made no attempt to catch us. They sometimes appear on the horizon.”

  Since the Ming empire imposed strict control over its waters, maritime traffic had decreased between seventy and eighty percent, and only pirates like Tiexin, the Japanese, the Koreans, and the Filipinos still dared sail. While possible, it was unlikely that the appearance of an unknown vessel was a coincidence. It would be difficult to do anything about it and as the ship didn’t seem to be aggressive, the mystery could wait for now.

  “Captain Tiexin,” Feng Renxiao continued, “now we are no more than two lis from the island, we can only reach the shore by beating the surface of the water fast and maintaining a good speed to avoid the yuxiao patrolling there.”

  “The yuxiao?”

  “That’s what I heard Zhang Yong say: if intruders venture near the island’s coast, the yuxiao will sink any that survive the reefs.”

  “Those hateful eunuchs domesticated demons?” A-Qian interrupted.

  “I was nothing more than a humble sailor at Uncle Yu’s command… I repeat these words without knowing their meaning.”

  While the surface currents invariably sent boats crashing against the reefs, those which were deeper avoided them. Beating the surface of the water sent the hull of the boat as deep as possible into the water, allowing it to be carried by the subsurface currents. The sailors lowered the sails, equipped themselves with oars, and began to row hard, propelling the boat along invisible paths which meandered between the perils on the island’s shore. They would certainly have been wrecked without Feng Renxiao’s wise counsel.

  “Big brother Tiexin,” Ye Zongman asked, “are there really demons under the water?”

  Tiexin, whose name meant “heart of fire”, preferred to be addressed as “esteemed leader”, but none of his men ever used this title. They had spent their first voyages at sea together and seen many extraordinary sea creatures which might be considered mythological beasts by less experienced sailors, so they were not easily inclined to believe in the existence of demons. Tiexin was not convinced by the story, but he did know the dangers of the reefs and was grateful to Feng Renxiao for advising them to beat the surface of the water.

  One of the Celestial Kings, a well-built young man who was never easily frightened, pulled on his sleeve with a trembling hand.

  “Captain Tiexin,” he stammered, “l- look, over there!”

  A dozen meters away, the last rays of the setting sun showed a human head silently rising above the waves. Despite the growing darkness, there was no doubt: it was no manatee or other sea mammal, but a man who examined his surroundings with wide, staring eyes, seemingly without struggling, swimming, or sinking beneath the surface. Powerful waves sometimes broke over his head, but he ignored them as if they were nothing more than a gentle breeze. He soon reemerged, dripping and impassive, to continue studying the surface. What was this marvel? No ordinary man could remain so still in rough seas.

  “Captain Tiexin,” murmured the frightened Celestial King, “it’s an umi-bozu!”

  The man was convinced he was seeing a drowned sailor, a fantastical creature from Japanese folklore which trapped the oars of unwary boats to overturn them. But umi-bozu were supposed to be bald, and this head had hair.

  “No, big brother,” A-Qian said, “it’s a yuxiao. Whatever you do, don’t stop rowing.”

  It was the second time Shao Jun had heard this word. “Your master was unable to resist the power of my yuxiao”, Zhang Yong had told her after capturing her on the junk. It must refer to the terrible creatures he had managed to create using some ungodly process. Having already seen them at work, she knew these monsters were formidable, and that they would be even more so off solid ground. She had also learnt that they were not as invincible as might be believed from the primal terror they inspired. Their main weakness was undoubtedly that they appeared to be unable to think for themselves. What was the point of such phenomenal strength if it could only be set into motion by external orders? That said, while she had succeeded in killing them before, the young woman couldn’t shake a sense of unease. Their very existence was unnatural.

  Even the reckless and proud Tiexin felt his blood run cold. He had thought that the Eight Tigers were only dangerous due to their high level of kung-fu, but he never imagined that their powers or talents would also allow them to bind supernatural creatures with abilities beyond human comprehension to their service. Now he understood how they had got the better of Taki Choji and his pirates. And out of pure bad luck, the deep current the boat was currently following ran near the demon, which had not let its gaze waver ever since it had set eyes upon them. As they passed it, all the men on board gripped their oars a little tighter and held their breath, but nothing happened. The head remained immobile as a rock protruding from the water.

  Feng Renxiao wiped the sweat that had beaded on his forehead.

  “Miss,” he said quietly, “we have just escaped the first trap.”

  “You doubted we would?”

  “Well… the first time I came here was with Yu Dayong, on board a pedal boat. He ordered us to pedal quickly without stopping, because the yuxiao attacked anyone who stopped among the reefs, without distinguishing between friend or foe. That is why I advised that we move at speed, but really I couldn’t be sure of anything.”

  “Are there other creatures like this on the island?”

  “I don’t know, miss. I normally remain at the dock. Yu Dayong only asked me to enter with him once.”

  Shao Jun found it strange that he spoke of “entering” the island, but before she had a chance to ask for details, the boat was approaching the shore through
waters that were suddenly very calm. One hundred times bigger than Guimen reef, Dai Yu Island had a dock but seemed to have no other human constructions, and no sign of human activity. In the unexpected silence, Tiexin cautiously set foot on land and looked around, searching for any sign of an ambush. But there was nowhere any fighters could have concealed themselves. Could Yu Dayong’s seemingly repentant henchman have lied to them after all? Furious, the pirate was ready to pounce on him when Shao Jun stood in his way.

  “Captain Tiexin,” she demanded, “what are you doing?”

  “There’s no one on this island, this snake lied!”

  “No,” replied the sailor, “I told you the truth, Captain Tiexin. It’s because the entrance to the island is underwater, you must dive to enter.”

  “Underwater?”

  “Yes, you must pull the chain in the middle of the dock to raise the transport, then use it to move under the water.”

  The idea seemed completely fantastical. The sailor who had mistaken the yuxiao for an umi-bozu addressed his captain in a language which the former imperial favorite didn’t understand, the same he had used on Guimen reef. After a brief exchange, they ran towards the dock and there set a winch in action with a terrible grinding. No sailor had paid any attention to it up until then as it was an essential element of any dock, but Feng Renxiao’s claims needed to be verified. And if he had lied, the Celestial Kings would kill him on the spot.

  “For your sake, I hope you told the truth…” Shao Jun said to him.

  “I wouldn’t dare lie, miss. The only time I entered the island was this way, with Yu Dayong. But the mechanism is heavy, very difficult to move. Fortunately, Mr Tiexin and his Japanese friend are strong.”

  “He’s Japanese?”

  “But of course! I’ve spent enough years at sea to learn a few words, to recognize the language and its accent.”

  Ah, so that was it! The young woman had known that Tiexin and his men were involved in some illicit business, but she had never imagined that he would have any Japanese under his command…