“To Japan!?”
“So long as that book is with you, there is nowhere in China where you’ll be safe. Of all the states around, only Japan would dare to defy the Manchu Emperor. Only there will you and the book be safe.”
Xiaojing and Xiaoyi nodded. “You will come with us, then?”
Tian gestured at his lame leg and laughed. “Having me along will only slow you down. No, I’ll stay here and take my chances.”
“The Blood Drops will not let you go if they suspect you helped us.”
Tian smiled. “I’ll come up with something. I always do.”
? ? ?
A few days later, when Tian Haoli was just about to sit down and have his lunch, soldiers from the town garrison came to his door. They arrested him without explanation and brought him to the yamen.
Tian saw that Magistrate Yi wasn’t the only one sitting behind the judging table on the dais this time. With him was another official, whose hat indicated that he came directly from Beijing. His cold eyes and lean build reminded ?Tian of a falcon.
May my wits defend me again, Tian whispered to the Monkey King in his mind.
Magistrate Yi slammed his ruler on the table. “Deceitful Tian Haoli, you’re hereby accused of aiding the escape of dangerous fugitives and of plotting acts of treason against the Great Qing. Confess your crimes immediately so that you may die quickly.”
Tian nodded as the magistrate finished his speech. “Most Merciful and Farsighted Magistrate, I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You presumptuous fool! Your usual tricks will not work this time. I have ironclad proof that you gave comfort and aid to the traitor Li Xiaojing and read a forbidden, treasonous, false text.”
“I have indeed read a book recently, but there was nothing treasonous in it.”
“What?”
“It was a book about sheepherding and pearl stringing. Plus some discussions about filling ponds and starting fires.”
The other man behind the table narrowed his eyes, but Tian went on as if he had nothing to hide. “It was very technical and very boring.”
“You lie!” ?The veins on Magistrate Yi’s neck seemed about to burst.
“Most Brilliant and Perspicacious Magistrate, how can you say that I lie? Can you tell me the contents of this forbidden book, so that I may verify if I have read it?”
“You . . . you . . .” ?The magistrate’s mouth opened and closed like the lips of a fish.
Of course Magistrate Yi wouldn’t have been told what was in the book—that was the point of it being forbidden—but Tian was also counting on the fact that the man from the Blood Drops wouldn’t be able to say anything either. To accuse Tian of lying about the contents of the book was to admit that the accuser had read the book, and ?Tian knew that no member of the Blood Drops would admit such a crime to the suspicious Manchu Emperor.
“There has been a misunderstanding,” said ?Tian. “The book I read contained nothing that was false, which means that it can’t possibly be the book that has been banned. Certainly, Your Honor can see the plain and simple logic.” He smiled. Surely, he had found the loophole that would allow him to escape.
“Enough of this charade.” ?The man from the Blood Drops spoke for the first time. “There’s no need to bother with the law with traitors like you. On the Emperor’s authority, I hereby declare you guilty without appeal and sentence you to death. If you do not wish to suffer much longer, immediately confess the whereabouts of the book and the fugitives.”
Tian felt his legs go rubbery and, for a moment, he saw only darkness and heard only an echo of the Blood Drop’s pronouncement: sentence you to death.
I guess I’ve finally run out of tricks, he thought.
You’ve already made your choice, said the Monkey King. Now you just have to accept it.
? ? ?
Besides being great spies and assassins, the Blood Drops were experts at the art of torture.
Tian screamed as they doused his limbs in boiling water.
Tell me a story, said ?Tian to the Monkey King. Distract me so I don’t give in.
Let me tell you about the time they cooked me in the alchemical furnace of the Jade Emperor, said the Monkey King. I survived by hiding among smoke and ashes.
And ?Tian told his torturers a tale about how he had helped Li Xiaojing burn his useless book and saw it turn into smoke and ashes. But he had forgotten where the fire was set. Perhaps the Blood Drops could search the nearby hills thoroughly?
They burned him with iron pokers heated until they glowed white.
Tell me a story, Tian screamed as he breathed in the smell of charred flesh.
Let me tell you about the time I fought the Iron Fan Princess in the Fire Mountains, said the Monkey King. I tricked her by pretending to run away in fear.
And ?Tian told his torturers a tale about how he had told Li Xiaojing to escape to Suzhou, famed for its many alleys and canals, as well as refined lacquer fans.
They cut his fingers off one by one.
Tell me a story, Tian croaked. He was weak from loss of blood.
Let me tell you about the time they put that magical headband on me, said the Monkey King. I almost passed out from the pain but still I wouldn’t stop cursing.
And ?Tian spat in the faces of his torturers.
? ? ?
Tian woke up in the dim cell. It smelled of mildew and shit and piss. Rats squeaked in the corners.
He was finally going to be put to death tomorrow, as his torturers had given up. It would be death by a thousand cuts. A skilled executioner could make the victim suffer for hours before taking his final breath.
I didn’t give in, did I? he asked the Monkey King. I can’t remember everything I told them.
You told them many tales, none true.
Tian thought he should be content. Death would be a release. But he worried that he hadn’t done enough. What if Li Xiaojing didn’t make it to Japan? What if the book was destroyed at sea? If only there were some way to save the book so that it could not be lost.
Have I told you about the time I fought Lord Erlang and confused him by transforming my shape? I turned into a sparrow, a fish, a snake, and finally a temple. My mouth was the door, my eyes the windows, my tongue the buddha, and my tail a flagpole. Ha, that was fun. None of Lord Erlang’s demons could see through my disguises.
I am clever with words, thought Tian. I am, after all, a songgun.
The voices of children singing outside the jail cell came to him faintly. He struggled and crawled to the wall with the tiny barred window at the top and called out, “Hey, can you hear me?”
The singing stopped abruptly. After a while, a timid voice said, “We’re not supposed to talk to condemned criminals. My mother says that you’re dangerous and crazy.”
Tian laughed. “I am crazy. But I know some good songs. Would you like to learn them? They’re about sheep and pearls and all sorts of other fun things.”
The children conferred among themselves, and one of them said, “Why not? A crazy man must have some good songs.”
Tian Haoli mustered up every last bit of his strength and concentration. He thought about the words from the book:
The three of them herded dozens of captives like dogs and sheep. If any captive walked too slow, they would beat him immediately, or else kill him on the spot. The women were strung together with ropes, like a strand of pearls.
He thought about disguises. He thought about the way the tones differed between Mandarin and the local topolect, the way he could make puns and approximations and rhymes and shift the words and transform them until they were no longer recognizable. And he began to sing:
The Tree of Dem herded dozens of Cap Tea
Like dogs and sheep.
If any Cap Tea walked too slow, the Wood Beet
Hmm’d immediately.
Or else a quill, slim on the dot.
The ?Why-Men were strong to gather wits & loupes
Like a strand of pearls.
And the children, delighted by the nonsense, picked up the songs quickly.
? ? ?