The Ming Storm

by Yan LeiSheng

  Did the power and ingenuity of the Eight Tigers know no limit? How could they build such marvels? Where had all the strange materials come from? Shao Jun remembered a story told to her by Ezio Auditore. He had said that in ancient times there were giants of incomparable wisdom and intelligence who erected great monuments and mysterious installations all over the world, before an unprecedented catastrophe destroyed their accomplishments and erased almost every trace of their existence.

  Members of the Brotherhood, including the one who wrote the Record of Blood Spilt for a Righteous Cause, called them… the Precursors. The Italian mentor had seen three vestiges that bore witness to their passage in the world, but the humans who had succeeded them were completely ignorant as to their techniques or even their purpose. And so, Shao Jun had become the keeper of a box from their time, without knowing what it was for or how to use it. Faced with this tangible manifestation of their heritage, she felt the presence of the members of the Society of the Mind. She wasn’t alone.

  At the top of one of the towers Zhang Yong, Yu Dayong, and Pyros stood around an inert man stretched out on a platform, fat and full of needles, his stomach oscillating slightly. The Precursor Box rested on a shelf made from the strange, incomparably strong metal – something between iron and gold – behind the leader of the Tigers. A decade earlier Yu Dayong had discovered the island and its installations, and their ingenuity never ceased to amaze him: boiling the sea water in the metal basin over the lava produced vapor which drove the mechanism in the left tower. It cooled as it reached the ceiling, then fell back down, free of its salt, in the form of potable water, while the system of ropes it set in motion provided the energy to power the cave’s lights and ventilation. When Zhang Yong and Pyros first discovered this place, they realized that it had been made to accommodate the Precursors’ research and spent two whole years transferring all the equipment from the Xifan pavilion after which A-Qiang agreed to hand over the Dai Yu scroll in exchange for her elevation in rank. The Precursor Box had been the final piece they needed to complete their project, and now they had it.

  It was Pyros who told the leader of the Tigers of the object when they first met at court. According to his story, these small boxes with rounded corners could be used to decipher written codes. The Portuguese man had already seen several in various ruins of the Precursors’ civilization, but he had no idea how to procure one which would allow them to fully decipher the scroll in Emperor Zhengde’s possession. Zhang Yong had been forced to deploy considerable means and sacrifice a number of his followers to finally acquire Ezio Auditore’s box, but now he had it, and his and Pyros’ dark designs could finally be realized.

  “My dear governor,” Yu Dayong said, “pass me the scroll.”

  Chen Xijian had provided Shao Jun with some information on the document, but it was very incomplete. An idea grew in the young woman’s mind: what if, instead of offering immortality for oneself, the scroll made it possible to create beings that were immortal? Centuries earlier, Persia had been famous for its army of invincible soldiers, so powerful that they had even overcome the alliance of Greek cities at the battle of Thermopylae. It was the debauched character of its king, Xerxes, that finally brought the kingdom to its knees after defeat by the Romans. Lost during the sack of Ctsiphon, the scroll had then been passed from hand to hand over the generations before eventually reaching Zhengde. Still young, curious, and hungry for power, he threw himself into a quest to discover the unholy science which could turn corpses into immortal fighters. In one sense, the project had clearly been a success, because it was certainly the first of these monsters which destroyed the Xifan pavilion and massacred the scholars and scientists working there. Realizing the horror of the enterprise he had undertaken, the Emperor then closed the pavilion, at least until he found a way to translate the entire scroll. Then after his death, it was Zhang Yong who took up the cursed torch.

  In his youth he had studied medicine and developed a keen interest in acupuncture, supported by access to the imperial libraries granted by his rank. Meanwhile, Pyros was a renowned pharmacist in Portugal, and it was the combination of their respective talents and knowledge which allowed them to create warriors as invincible as the one which devastated the Xifan pavilion, but more docile. The first was born on an island in the Eastern sea, so the leader of the Tigers had named the soldiers after a local maritime deity: Yu Xiao. The human-headed bird, described in the Book of the Seas and Mountains, was often depicted with a bird in each talon reigning supreme over the East China Sea. But for all their destructive power, the yuxiao had a considerable flaw: their very limited lifespan. These monsters owed their semblance of life to a mix of opiates and acupuncture, but they became unusable and rigid as a cadaver after around twelve hours. The precious artifact taken from Wang Yangming, combined with the secrets of Emperor Zhengde’s scroll, should finally resolve this issue and provide Zhang Yong with his immortal army.

  When he manipulated the cover, three sides of the box opened up: it was empty. He dubiously brought it closer to the scroll, but nothing seemed to happen.

  “Pyros,” he demanded “how did the Precursors use these boxes?”

  “Venerable captain,” Pyros answered uncomfortably, “I’ve never seen these boxes in use. I was simply told they made it possible to read the language of the Precursors, in which your document is most probably written.”

  How annoying. Did the box only respond to a specific way of being handled? Was the scroll a fake? Since Pyros clearly was no help, the leader of the Tigers turned to Yu Dayong.

  “Dear governor,” he said, “let’s see if your knowledge of mechanics can be put to good use!”

  Flattered by the attention, the latter advanced slowly. While his knowledge of the mechanical sciences was in reality quite limited, he examined the object carefully. Running his fingers over it, he felt a small indentation on its underside, like some sort of groove, and slipped his nail into it.

  The box startled the eunuch by suddenly emitting a bright light. The glow quickly ceased, but it was still a clear step forward.

  “That’s it!” Zhang Yong cried, taking back the box.

  He unscrewed the cap of the small bamboo tube he kept against his chest and withdrew a small silver knife which he used to remove the thin layer of dried dust covering the shelf on which it had sat moments before. This feature, made from the same metal as the door and basin, had several curious protuberances on its otherwise smooth surface which had always intrigued him. Over time, the dust in the environment had stuck to these reliefs which, it seemed to him, might be essential for their purposes. When they were bright as mirrors, the leader of the Tigers carefully wiped the box and gently returned it to the shelf.

  Click! A bright beam of pale blue light once again emanated from the artefact, and projected Zhengde’s scroll into the air complete with identical text and diagrams. The image blurred for a moment, then became an entire book, this time written in Chinese!

  “Good God!” Pyros exclaimed. “It’s in Latin!”

  “Latin?” the disconcerted Zhang Yong asked.

  “Yes, I studied Latin as child, I know what I’m talking about… It’s said that these boxes record all the information they are exposed to. This object really is the work of the Precursors!”

  So, the incredible box did more than just translate the language of its creators, it could also display the result in the language of anyone looking at it. That was why they were referred to as magic artifacts! Nonetheless, the text remained relatively impenetrable even in Chinese. The style was confused, nebulous formulae one after the other with no apparent connection, vague terms and expressions all over the place. Zhang Yong had a revelation: instead of looking for meaning in the whole, he studied the sentences independent of one another, approaching the paragraphs as he would acupuncture techniques rather than as a written language. From this angle, he began to discover the scroll’s secrets.


  A quiet mechanical rumbling could be heard from below. The Tigers immediately recognized the characteristic noise of the main door opening.

  Yu Dayong was confused. Between the deadly reefs and the yuxiao, this secret base was as good as impenetrable. But looking out of the tower window, he could see a figure entering through the doorway.

  “Venerable captain,” he called, “someone is here!”

  “It must be Shao Jun! Kill her!”

  Zhang Yong had spoken without turning, unable to take his eyes off the book of light. In his time, Wang Mang exhorted scholars and educated men to leave the dead in peace and concern themselves only with the living. This tradition had become a foundation of Chinese medicine for centuries to come and had caused the country to fall behind significantly in terms of anatomical expertise. Indifferent to superstition and thirsty for knowledge, Zhang Yong had not only studied all the works he could procure on the subject from the imperial library but had also dissected cadavers himself. As a result, his understanding of the human body was undoubtedly one of the most advanced in the Ming empire. Despite this, the unfathomable secrets of the book before him gave him the exhilarating feeling that he was on the precipice of a new journey of discovery. How could he see it otherwise?

  Chapter 21

  The door came to a juddering halt before it had fully opened.

  “What happened?” Tiexin asked nervously.

  Feng Renxiao would have liked to answer, but the only time he had followed Yu Dayong in the vessel, he had stayed behind and therefore had no idea how the device worked. Before he had a chance to speak, the heavy door began to close again with a metallic creak. Shao Jun quickly leapt through the gap, but the stockier pirate leader was unable to follow. He rushed to the side of the door to try to pull the handle which controlled the opening mechanism. Nothing happened: despite his colossal strength, it refused to budge an inch. Breathing labored and face contorted with effort, he couldn’t even call his men to help. From her side, the young woman picked up a large stone and wedged in in the door’s path to keep it open. Seeing her do this, Tiexin rushed to push against the door with all his strength, quickly followed by his men. But it was in vain. They seemed to succeed in interrupting the closing of the door, but not in reversing it, and they couldn’t hold out for long. There was also no room for them to get through. Looking directly through the opening, Feng Renxiao suddenly saw something which terrified him.

  “Miss, watch out!” he cried.

  Shao Jun immediately realized she was about to be attacked from behind. Her sword was attached to her back, making it impossible to draw quickly enough to parry, so she threw herself forwards and kicked off the cave wall to give herself height. The cold whisper of steel passed several millimeters from her ankles. Her tendons would have been sliced through if she had been facing an opponent of Zhang Yong’s level. Trying to quickly gain the upper hand, she caught the blade between her feet to press it against the floor as she landed, bringing with it the weapon’s wielder: Yu Dayong. The Tiger cursed inwardly when he saw that his former employee had betrayed him. The group of men pushing against the door was also a source of worry, because while he didn’t doubt the durability of the door itself, he was less certain of the strength of its pivot mechanism. He was a good swordsman, but he was far below the talent of one such as Qiu Ju. And now he was discovering at the worst possible time that he was also far less skilled than the former imperial favorite. Until then, he had taken her victory over Wei Bin as being purely down to her ambush. The fact that he had captured her with little difficulty on the junk had misled him, and now they were on an equal footing, the difference between them was brought into stark contrast. To think that his greatest fear as he descended the tower was that he would be attacked by a yuxiao. How had she reached such a level of kung-fu?

  “Does this whore think her feet are stronger than my sword?” he grumbled to himself before yanking on his weapon in an attempt to free it. It didn’t budge an inch: Shao Jun was using The arms open the door and the feet kick the man into the room to concentrate all her weight into her feet, weighing the blade down like a sack of bricks. Realizing he had no chance of winning in this situation, the Tiger let go of his weapon and jumped back a short way, avoiding the young woman’s right boot as she kicked towards him in a wide arc. The blow didn’t hit, but she now had time to unsheathe her own sword and rush at Yu Dayong.

  He had taken care to refill the powder in his mirror-torch when they arrived at the cave, so now he drew the precious tool from his pocket to brandish it like a magic wand that would assure his salvation. But this time his adversary was prepared for his trick. She closed her eyes and grabbed her rope dart. Master Yangming had explained to her that his School of Mind was directly based on Liu Xiangshan’s way of the heart. More than just a style of martial art, it was a philosophy in its own right, its purpose to achieve a heightened state of consciousness. Its basic principle was to harmonize the heart and the universe, by matching their rhythms – inspiring the mantra “The universe is my mind, and my mind is the universe”. Eyelids closed, Shao Jun concentrated on her breathing and suddenly perceived her surroundings more clearly than ever.

  Yu Dayong believed his dazzling ray of light had won him the battle, but his lamp had barely extinguished when he felt a terrible pain tear through his left ankle. Looking down, he saw the head of a dart planted in it, and a rope circling his calf so tightly that his leg would have been severed if it hadn’t been so fat. Blind with panic, he set off his blinding lamp again, using the last of the powder. This time it was his other ankle that was captured. He shouted in impotent surprise. How had the imperial whore been able to aim so precisely when she should have been blinded? With a small movement of her wrist, the young woman loosened the rope and sent the end whipping at the Tiger’s hand, causing him to drop his precious tool. Before he could respond, he found himself pressed against the wall of the cave, the sharp edge of a blade at his throat.

  “M- Miss…” he stammered pitifully.

  “Open that door, and fast!” Shao Jun ordered.

  “I can’t! The mechanism is controlled from the tower.”

  She pressed her sword more firmly against the eunuch’s neck. It would only take the tiniest movement to open up his throat.

  “Really?” she persisted.

  “Miss…T- The mechanism is at the bottom of the right… tower…”

  Ma Yongcheng was known for his bloody reputation, Wei Bin for his deception, Qiu Ju for his swordsmanship, Gao Feng for his loyalty, and Luo Xiang for his mystery. As for Yu Dayong? He was a coward. His character repulsed the former imperial favorite, but he could be useful: she might be able to get some information out of him if he preferred to betray his master rather than lose his life.

  “Hurry up and open it,” she growled.

  He hobbled to the tower on his injured legs and pulled a hidden lever.

  “There, miss, the door will open.”

  A grinding could be heard as the door moved. Surprised by the sudden movement, Tiexin and his men, who had been pushing against the heavy metal, stumbled forward and nearly fell. “We did it!” he cheered internally, convinced that he had achieved the result with his own efforts. However, his triumph was short-lived as a loud splash suddenly echoed behind him.

  “Brother Tiexin!” Ye Zongman shouted next to him.

  In the pool where the vessel waited, an enormous human form had emerged dripping from the water and rushed at them. The pirate leader took a deep breath and began his Toppling Mount Kailash technique as he turned to face the assailant. Thud! He hit the creature with both fists. Unfortunately, it was he who recoiled from the impact, thrown several steps back towards the doorway. He would undoubtedly have been crushed against it if it hadn’t already been partly open. It was a terrible disillusionment for a powerful man so used to being feared on both land and sea. His boxing had always been unbeatable before, but now
two opponents in a row were completely unaffected! His confidence transformed into uncertainty.

  The superhuman fighter attacked the other men near the door. The member of the Eight Celestial Kings he assaulted had neither the experience nor the resistance of their leader, and the difference was clear: all the bones in his hand exploded, first from fingers to wrist, then from wrist to elbow. The instantly limp and swollen limb hung loosely from his shoulder as he screamed in pain. The yuxiao ended his suffering by breaking his ribcage with a punch before turning to its next victim. Ye Zongman begged Tiexin to intervene, but he remained petrified in the face of the supernatural power before them. What could he do? How could he fight? He was powerless.

  “Come in, quickly!” Shao Jun cried, breaking the stupor that paralyzed the pirates.

  They all slipped through the door, then the young woman immediately ordered Yu Dayong to activate the closing mechanism. Barely a foot-wide gap remained, but the mechanism suddenly stopped: the stone she had wedged in it a few moments earlier was still there. Tiexin kicked it hard and managed to loosen it when two hands suddenly grabbed hold from the outside.

  The yuxiao had found a grip and was pushing with all its strength against the door – something which a human would never have considered doing as the risk of losing fingers was significant. The door made a grinding noise as it opened several centimeters, and Tiexin shuddered in horror. It was crazy – just a moment before the strength of six men hadn’t been enough to make it move. Frightened, he carefully moved to the doorway and punched the creature’s stomach, but it didn’t even flinch. The door began to open. The pirate leader punched again and again, but it made no difference.

  He saw the gleam of a blade in the corner of his eye. Seeing the urgency of the situation, Shao Jun leapt to intervene, and pierced the monster’s heart with a single stroke. The pirate leader took the opportunity to add several punches and, this time, deprived of its strength as its semblance of life evaporated, the yuxiao let go and was sent flying backwards. But instead of continuing to close, the door began to open! While the former imperial favorite was distracted, Yu Dayong had seized his chance and reversed the mechanism before running towards the tower as fast as his injured legs allowed. The young woman shouted at her companions to get the door closed as she set off in pursuit, but he had already reached the mechanical ladder that stretched up the side of the building. No sooner had he grabbed onto it than it rose towards the top on its own, probably driven by a system of ropes and pulleys.