Now let us return to Chen Jinggu, who was riding through the air on a soaring cloud searching everywhere for Empress Chen Jinfeng. To search out the vague traces of the demon vapor, she went directly to Great Ravine Mountain, where she pressed down the head of the cloud and saw Jinfeng in the cave. Having heard that Jinggu was looking for him, the Ravine Demon had long ago fled, leaving only the unconscious Chen Jinfeng in the cave. From the time she had been put under a spell and carried out of the palace by the Ravine Demon into the cave at Great Ravine Mountain, she had slept in the grotto, where the Ravine Demon did with her as he liked, giving her food and drink so as not to kill her.

Having found the empress’s true body, Chen Jinggu came out of the grotto and rode the cloud back to the palace to report to the ruler of Min what she had found. Wang Yanbin urgently asked where the empress’s true body was.¹ Jinggu said, “I have already ascertained that she is in the grotto at Great Ravine Mountain at South Gate, where she was put under a spell by a demon, who has fled. I hope my Lord will quickly send someone to Great Ravine Mountain, as it is urgent to bring her back and treat her promptly.”

The ruler of Min ordered several palace attendants, as well as palace manager Gui Shouming, to quickly take a small sedan chair to Great Ravine Mountain to bring the empress back; no delay would be permitted. Upon receiving their orders they went to Great Ravine Mountain and entered the cave, where they saw Chen Jinfeng in a stupor. Lifting her, the palace attendants carried her back to the palace. Chen Jinggu sprayed her with talismanic water, commanding the poisonous vapor to retreat, and Chen Jinfeng gradually regained consciousness. It was as if she were waking from a dream: she did not know what had happened. The palace people then told her the circumstances in detail, and she thanked Lady Chen repeatedly. People were ordered to help the empress into the palace to be nursed back to health.

The ruler of Min then related the story of the palace concubines being imprisoned in the Cold Palace by the demon snake and the circumstances of their suffering. Jinggu said, “Although these palace concubines have all been eaten by the demon snake, I hope my Lord will not worry, since I learned the magic of refining bones into human form.² Where are their bones now?”

The ruler of Min took her to the Cold Palace, and Chen Jinggu followed him inside. As described, she saw white bones covering the floor. She said, “But I didn’t bring my magic implements with me.”

The ruler of Min said, “If you need magic implements, the Daoist official Chen Shouyuan has some with him.”

Jinggu said, “That will work. Please quickly have them brought here.” The ruler of Min ordered a palace attendant to ride a horse as fast as he could to the Baohuang Palace to get the magic implements from the Daoist official, and in a short time all of the various implements had been brought.

Jinggu arranged the dry bones on the floor, then let down her hair and spread it out. She blew the horn and paced the Dipper, while reciting the true words and imprecations. She cycled the energies of Heaven and Earth, carrying out the Liandu Ritual with fire and water, and recited for a time. Then they saw the white bones covering the floor return to thirty-six piles. Jinggu wrote thirty-six cinnabar talismans for protecting the body and taking form, and pressed one on top of each pile of bones. Next she tightly closed the palace doors, and again blew the horn and beat the drum, deploying the true magic of Mount Lü. A sound rang out loud and clear, and the thirty-six skeletons took on human shape, turned into the thirty-six palace concubines, and stood up, exactly like their original forms.

Chen Jinggu ordered the doors to be opened. As soon as the ruler of Min saw that the thirty-six women were all alive, he was greatly astounded and regarded it as a remarkable affair. The people asked them, “Why did you all die? Some were eaten and some killed, leaving only skeletons. But we don’t know what happened.”

The thirty-six concubines explained, “We were imprisoned by the empress. We couldn’t see the sky and sun. A white snake as big as a bushel came in and every day ate one person, so that in thirty-six days all of us had been eaten. There was no place to redress this injustice. Today, we don’t know why, suddenly we were brought back to life.”

The crowd of people pointed to Lady Chen and said, “You were saved by this person.” The thirty-six women expressed their thanks to Lady Chen for having been concerned to give them life once again, and each of them paid her respects.

Since Jinggu’s work of refining the bones into people was complete, she had already washed and combed her hair, and was about to return to Gutian. The ruler of Min did his utmost to make her stay, without success. He decreed that she should receive the title of Lady of Linshui (Linshui Furen). Then he conferred on each of the thirty-six palace concubines the title of Lady of Linshui’s Disciple, and decreed that the Gutian local official at Linshui Grotto should rebuild the palace dressing room. He also bestowed an inscribed wooden tablet for Linshui Palace, conferred an official office on her husband, and bestowed titles on her parents. Moreover, he gave her family a stipend of colored silk, silver, and rice, which the local official delivered each month to Linshui Palace.

At this time Chen Jinggu had received her first honorary title. After leading the thirty-six palace concubines to meet the officials of their places of origin, she led them back to the palace. She herself wanted to return to her parents’ home to stay for a few days before returning to Gutian. The local official received the decree and began construction on a large scale at Linshui Grotto, building a palace and chambers where the thirty-six palace concubines were settled. Then he promulgated the ruler’s order for the conferment of titles, and respectfully established the Dragon Pavilion, which was of the utmost splendor.³ Madame Chen altogether received noble titles on four occasions. This was the first time she was so honored.⁴

Now let us tell about the construction of Linshui Palace, which was completed in one month. Outside there was a Great Hall, while inside there was a Hall of Magic. Along two corridors thirty-six chambers were built, and there was also a Dressing Room. Moreover, there was a Cloud Terrace for summoning and dispatching spirit generals. There was also a large flower garden, as well as a rockery, fishpond, and other scenery. In front of the door to the Great Hall was hung the inscribed wooden tablet that had been bestowed, with the three characters Linshui Palace in gold. It was extremely beautiful.

The thirty-six palace concubines were settled to live in the two corridors, while Madame Chen and her three sisters surnamed Lin, Li, and Ou lived in the chamber to the rear. At their leisure they went to the Hall of Magic to discuss scripture and explicate the dharma. Madame Chen summoned the thirty-six palace concubines to ask each of them, “What county did you live in and what is your name?” The group of palace concubines replied one by one. Their villages and names are listed below.

When Madame Chen had heard the entire list, she said to her three sisters, “In accordance with their names, we should write a wooden tablet to hang over the lintel of each of the thirty-six palace concubines’ chambers, which are on the two sides, so as to avoid calling on the wrong one by mistake.” All the palace concubines agreed and withdrew from the hall.

Now we will speak of the ruler of Min, Wang Lian. The official title of his reign period was Dragon Ascent. He entrusted responsibility for all state fiscal matters to Xue Wenjie, who, however, was crafty and cunning by nature, and curried favor with the ruler by bringing in lots of money. Over and above incriminating rich people to confiscate their family wealth, he persuaded the ruler of Min that, in his dealings with the various palace people, he should investigate their small infractions, and then order them to be killed.

At this time there were prophetic rumors outside the court: “In the palace of the emperor of Min there is extreme cruelty. The snake pretended to be the empress, so the emperor coupled with the demon.” Xue Wenjie secretly used the people of the inner palace to disseminate these prophetic verses, so that the whole palace knew about them. When the ruler of Min heard these verses, he was very angry, and rigorously investigated who had created them, searching within the inner palace. The rumors came from his eldest brother Wang Yanshu’s son Wang Jitu.⁵ When the ruler of Min learned this, he decreed that he should be arrested.

Now we will speak of Wang Jitu. From the time that his parents had been admonished by his father’s elder brother, Yanbing, in Fuzhou and refused to listen, they were seized after troops were led to surround Fuzhou.⁶ After they were charged for ten crimes and executed, Wang Yanbin ascended the throne.⁷ He thought of his nieces and nephews and sister-in-law remaining in the palace. When the cunning thief Xue Wenjie fabricated and spread the prophetic rumors in the palace, Wang Jitu knew that the ruler of Min, on account of the rumors, suspected that he had fabricated them, was very angry, and was going to imprison and interrogate him, so he quickly took his wife and children and fled the palace. The ruler of Min ordered Wang Jitu to be arrested and questioned, and all his family members killed. He also decreed that the various local officials and subordinates should be arrested. Meanwhile, the various affairs of the palace were still being handled by Chen Jinfeng.

After the palace was rid of the demon snake, it lacked the thirty-six concubines and felt very lonely. The ruler of Min handed down a decree to send an official communication everywhere to select and present palace concubines, announcing that girls between the ages of sixteen and twenty would be taken; it was not permitted to hide them or to practice favoritism or to take bribes. This decree was sent down to officials in every locale. Who would dare to disobey? They all transmitted the decree to select and present girls.

When the pitiable common people heard about it, there was no one who did not tremble with fear. If they had a daughter who was already betrothed, then she was quickly married in secret. If they had daughters not yet betrothed, they hastened to betroth and then marry them within a day or two. Who knows how many of them were incorrectly matched? If a place had girls, they could not hide them; they had to be reported to the officials. Neighboring families also were not permitted to conceal anyone. All the girls who were sent to the local official were examined and selected at the yamen, and, as expected, those whose facial features were irregular or who were defective or sick were not sent for selection. The remaining ones, without exception, were registered and sent for inspection. The parents could not bear it! As they parted, the streets were filled with their wailing.

Now we will return to Madame Chen at Linshui Grotto. While she was conversing with her sisters, the palace gatekeeper came in to report, “I wish to inform Madame that outside there are four old people with their four daughters. They say they want to come in to see you on an urgent matter. They’ve come to request an audience.”

When Madame Chen heard this, she ordered them to come into the palace, and went to meet them in the Hall of Magic. In a moment the four old people entered, leading their four daughters, and together they prostrated themselves on the floor. Madame Chen hurried to help them to their feet and asked why they were behaving with such ceremony.

One old man respectfully said, “My family lives locally. My surname is Xu and my given name is Hui. This man is surnamed Ma and his given name is Fei. He is my wife’s younger brother. This man is surnamed Ruan and his given name is Ying. He is a relative on my mother’s side. This man is surnamed Zeng and his given name is Fu. He is my neighbor. These four girls, all sixteen or seventeen years old, are their daughters and nieces. Because the ruler of Min recently decreed that every place must select palace concubines, if one family hides a daughter and doesn’t report her, then ten families will be implicated and punished. When these girls heard these words, they cried day and night, and tried to take their own lives. Their parents are uneasy guarding against this. They heard that you have merit with the state, which proclaimed your enfeoffment and the construction of your palace and hall. These four girls have each told their parents that they wish to acknowledge you as their master and be your servants and slaves. All their lives they will serve you and never marry, in order to avoid being selected for the palace and suffering a debased reputation. For this reason, I brought the four girls here. I beg you to take pity on the misfortunes of the common people and accept these four as your servants, to rescue them from danger for the remaining years of their lives, and to save them dying unjustly.” When he finished speaking, he and the four girls wept and kowtowed.

When Chen Jinggu saw this situation, she could not bear it. She comforted them, saying, “There’s no need to be so sad. Since you want to enter my palace to study magic, I should pass on my knowledge to you, so we will acknowledge each other as sisters. Why speak of slaves and servants? Moreover, I exterminated the demon snake [who enslaved creatures], but I have never yet used slaves and servants to wait on me, much less people like you. The character and ambition of you four girls is entirely correct. If you truly have the heart to follow me, how could I treat you ungenerously?” Then she called the palace concubines and requested them to come into the room. The four old people, deeply grateful for Chen Jinggu’s benevolence and generosity, were delighted, and departed after kowtowing their thanks.

Now there were altogether eight sisters in Linshui Palace. They were surnamed Chen, Lin, Ou, Li, Ma, Zeng, Xu, and Ruan. Although they had different surnames, it was exactly as if they had been born to the same parents. Chen Jinggu expounded and taught them the true magic with all her heart.

Now let us turn to Yuan Guangzhi of Minqing County in Min.⁸ When he had encountered Chen Jinggu and Liangnü at Wangbeitai Peak outside the pass, he had wanted to follow Jinggu to Mount Lü to study magic with the magic master. But because it was not his fate, he could not go to Mount Lü, and was faced with a dilemma. At that moment he had encountered the Ravine Demon, who had transformed himself into a young man and inquired into his circumstances. The Ravine Demon had advised him to go to Huayang Grotto at Juqu Mountain in Jurong County in Jiangning to join the Great Perfected One at Mount Mao to study magic.⁹ The Ravine Demon had used the Earth Vein Method to take him to the grotto, and had instructed him to enter and prostrate himself before the Perfected One of Mount Mao, who accepted him as a disciple, and day and night taught him the various arts. Without noticing it, four years and four months had passed.

One day, Guangzhi suddenly thought of his hometown, and wanted to return to Min to look into his family circumstances. He went for an audience with the Perfected One, formally saying, “I have been fortunate to receive your kindness in teaching me the magic arts. It has already been more than four years, and I wish to return to Min to see the scenes of my hometown and native place. I would like to temporarily take my leave of you. I don’t know if you will permit it.”

The Perfected One of Mount Mao laughed, “In your home there is neither father, mother, brothers, nor sisters, so who is there to miss? I know your intention: you wish to free yourself! Why would I not allow you to return? Now I will give you a magic sword, talismans, and incantations. Go back to your province now. Should you encounter adversity or refugees from hardship, you must come to their rescue. You cannot recklessly defy Heaven.” He had no further instructions.

Yuan Guangzhi quickly kowtowed, saying, “I am fortunate to have been taken on by you, and to have received your teaching for more than four years, and to have been taught the extraordinary arts. This unimportant person can hardly repay you. Now that I am leaving, I don’t know what my future prospects in life will be. I beg you, master, to instruct me.”

The Perfected One of Mount Mao said, “Since you ask me about your future prospects in life, I now have an eight-line poem, which is your entire life. You should keep it firmly in mind, as later it will surely be fulfilled:

You must preserve the Mount Mao arts.

The future has many possibilities.

When you encounter a demon, don’t become enraptured with it.

When you come upon a painting, don’t make a mistake.

The butterfly will shatter your equilibrium.

Placed in a high position, your life will be frittered away.

The whole army will be mobilized.

You will only forget the hero among the women.”

When the Perfected One of Mount Mao finished reciting the poem, he said, “These eight lines are the havoc that you will wreak.”

When Guangzhi heard this poem, he kowtowed and said, “I will strictly abide by my master’s words.” Then he took his leave and went down the mountain.

On the road he was hungry and thirsty. From Jiangxi he passed through Nanchang, and just as he was going to Nanchang, he saw a notice for a cash reward posted at the side of the road.¹⁰ Many people were looking at it, vying to see it. Yuan Guangzhi didn’t know what it was about, so he pushed his way through the crowd to have a look. It was about the son of the Wang family in that area, who had vanished on the day of his wedding. If anyone knew his whereabouts, or heard of him, they should report it to those searching for him. The reward was one hundred taels, and so on.

Yuan Guangzhi thought to himself, “How could a son vanish just when he was about to get married? If this man was already established and had reached the age of marriage, I don’t think he had a meager fate, so why would he disappear? There must be more to it than meets the eye. Who knows what happened to him? I will go to his house and ask for an explanation.” Then he went to the Wang residence to inquire about the circumstances.

Old Mr. Wang saw a Daoist with a sword at his waist come to his house to inquire in detail about this affair. Old Mr. Wang wept, saying, “My wife and I are both over fifty, and we have only this child. This year he turned eighteen, and was about to become related by marriage to the Jiang family in the village opposite. A few days ago was the auspicious day for marriage. With drums and music, the flower-bedecked sedan chair came to the door. After the new bride got out of the sedan chair and they went through the wedding ceremony in the ceremonial hall, she went into the bedchamber and sat on the bed. And all of a sudden the groom vanished! He couldn’t be found anywhere! Some say that he was carried off by a demon spirit, while others say he was kidnapped. There are all sorts of differing theories. Now it is already more than half a month. There was no alternative but to put up a notice in the neighborhood, but, even so, there is no news.”

Guangzhi asked if there was a demon appearing and disappearing in the area. Old Mr. Wang said, “Behind our house there is a high mountain. Lately I’ve heard tell that there is an exceedingly beautiful girl who picks wild flowers on the mountain. If someone approaches to look at her, she disappears just like that. The common people suspect it is a demon. Nobody has said any more than that.”

When Yuan Guangzhi heard this, he was secretly pleased. Described in this way, surely it was the doings of this demon, and he wanted to go look for it. Just then it started to rain, so he said to old Mr. Wang, “When it clears up, I’ll go search for it.” Old Mr. Wang was delighted, prepared a feast, and entertained Guangzhi in his study. Then he ordered his wife to bring their daughter-in-law, who bowed to Yuan Guangzhi.

Old Mr. Wang said, “After she was married in the hall, this pitiable daughter-in-law lost her husband, and hasn’t even seen his face. She keeps saying that if her husband has disappeared, she won’t live much longer.” Yuan Guangzhi looked the new bride over carefully. Sure enough, she was good looking.

He consoled her, saying, “If I search for him, I will surely find him, so what need is there to commit suicide?”

That night Yuan Guangzhi slept peacefully in the study. At dawn the next day, when the rain had stopped, he went to the mountain behind the house. As expected, he saw a girl at the foot of the hill picking flowers, which she put in her sleeve. Guangzhi thought it was surely this girl. Following her to the mouth of a valley, he saw the girl run into it. Guangzhi made himself invisible and followed her into the valley to watch her. Although from the outside the valley appeared to be very narrow, within it was spacious and bright. There he saw a young man, surely old Mr. Wang’s son, sitting with this girl on the ground, munching wild flowers. He looked carefully at the girl. Her appearance was beautiful, exactly like the bride he had seen the day before, and in his heart all was clear and obvious.

He crept invisibly to their side to find out what the two of them were talking about. He heard the young man say, “The flowers you gave me to eat the day before yesterday stank to high heaven, so I couldn’t bear to put them in my mouth. Eating them was disgusting. Today when I eat them, I feel that they are fragrant and sweet beyond compare. But ‘Although Chang An is good, it’s not a place where one can stay a long time,’ so tomorrow I want to go home.”

The girl replied, “If you go home, I absolutely won’t be able to go there. Your father will instruct his daughter-in-law to be his own secondary wife. I would rather die here. I’m not going.”

The young man asked in alarm, “Where did you hear about this matter?”

The girl replied, “I early on heard them say that your father wanted to take me as his concubine using you as an excuse. How would I be willing to go along? When I arrived at your house for the wedding and went into the bedchamber and sat on the bed, you went out and your father came in. He whispered in my ear, ‘My son is a fool. He doesn’t know anything. Getting a daughter-in-law now was done with his name. Really you’re a secondary wife for me. Tonight allow me to come into your bedchamber to sleep.’ When I heard him say that, I was extremely shocked. I thought that if I submitted to being his concubine, it would inevitably harm the five relationships.¹¹ For this reason, I’ve brought you here to this uninhabited place, where we have attained all the love of a married couple. It’s been half a month. If we hadn’t fled, your father would certainly have imitated the case of Zhu Wen of the later Tang dynasty, whose father usurped his wife.¹² If it were anyone else, it could be disputed. According to a folk saying, in arguing over a wife and seizing fields people don’t fear death. He is your father, so who will dare challenge him? Scandalously, you will be left without any argument and will be a cuckold. Now, if you stay a few days longer and I take you with me, we will have more than enough to eat.”

The young man wept and said, “As for my father behaving in such a manner, there’s a saying that if a father is not upright, the son can leave his home. From now on, in life and death I wish to be together with you.”

The girl used her sleeve to dry the young man’s tears, embraced him, and said, “Don’t be heartbroken. Although your father is not upright, how could I be shameless?” Guangzhi himself saw that this girl’s beauty was like flowers and jade, her bewitching manner sweet and charming. Without realizing it, his own lascivious thoughts were aroused.

He slipped out of the valley and returned to the Wang family. Old Mr. Wang received him, asking, “Do you have any news?”

Guangzhi replied, “It’s because you, old man, were not upright, and had evil intentions. Do you want to imitate King Ping of Chu, who destroyed normal relationships?¹³ ‘If the father is not upright, the son flees to another place.’ This saying is not wrong.”

Old Mr. Wang was deeply shocked, and said, “Whatever are you talking about?”

Yuan Guangzhi recounted what he had seen and heard, explaining everything. Old Mr. Wang burst out laughing and said, “It’s outrageous!” He hurried inside and told his wife to bring out the daughter-in-law to see Guangzhi, saying, “Here is my daughter-in-law. How can you say this? That girl talked nonsense. It was no doubt a demon.”

Guangzhi saw that this was so, and said, “There’s no need to explain in detail. I will go again to look.”

Guangzhi again went into the valley, where he saw the young man sleeping with his arms around the girl. Guangzhi smiled and recited two lines of a poem:

Zhuangzi awoke from a dream and thought he was a butterfly.¹⁴

When the dream ended he had lustful thoughts and turned into a cuckoo.

The girl woke up, and called out, “Who dares to come into my inner chamber?”

Guangzhi laughed and said, “You dare carry off someone else’s groom and bring him here, out of insatiable desire for wanton pleasure? Perversely, you falsely accuse his father of sowing disorder in human relationships. Yet you dare to yell at other people? You really want to have it all ways! I will not kill you now.” When the girl saw that Guangzhi had seen through her, she was greatly alarmed. She tried to escape, but since there was no way out, she made herself invisible, so that when you looked at her you couldn’t see her. Guangzhi looked at the place where the girl had become invisible, then conjured up a net to cover the spot, so as to not allow her to escape. Then he led the Wang son out of the valley back to the Wang residence.

When old Mr. Wang saw that his son had come back, he was overjoyed. “Why did you disappear for more than half a month?” he asked. His son looked furious and didn’t say a word.

Yuan Guangzhi said, “There’s no need to ask any more questions. Quickly tell your son to go into the bedroom to see his new wife. When he talks to her, of course he will understand. Only then will you be able to clear yourself of this false accusation.” Old Mr. Wang then prepared one hundred taels of silver to reward the Daoist master, which Yuan Guangzhi received with thanks. Then he said goodbye to old Mr. Wang and departed.

Guangzhi went back to the valley, and from a crack in the rock he pulled out the demon. He shouted, “What demon are you? You are in front of me, but you still don’t appear in your original form.” He slapped the demon on the back, whereupon she collapsed on the ground and turned into a large, gold-powdered, five-colored butterfly. Guangzhi said, “So, it’s the perfected spirit of a butterfly.” In his mind he reconsidered, and said to himself, “A perfected butterfly spirit surely wouldn’t harm people. For the time being I am traveling alone and it is very lonely, so it would be better to take a companion. There would be many benefits.”

Then he addressed the demon, demanding, “Now truly tell me your origin. Where did you get your spirit powers to have perfected your spirit to this degree? I will not kill you.”

The demon replied, “I am the drawing of a butterfly by King Teng. I obtained the energies from his spirit, was moved by the power of his brush, and achieved human form. My name is Mengyu (Dream Remnant). I am not the same as other butterflies.”¹⁵

When Yuan Guangzhi heard this, he was delighted. He said, “You are a painting by a famous artist, doubly elegant. I am none other than a disciple of the great Daoist master of Huayang Grotto at Mount Mao in Jiangnan. My surname is Yuan and my given name is Guangzhi. I am on my way to Fuzhou to be the preceptor of state for the king and his nobles. If you want to travel with me, I will take you as my legal wife, and we can share riches and honor. If you don’t come along, my sword will not be forgiving.”

Mengyu replied, “If I obtain your love, Daoist master, I am willing to join with you.” When Guangzhi saw that she would obey, he helped her to her feet and embraced her.

At this time the fire of his lust had already begun to burn. Then in the valley, after he had sexual intercourse with Mengyu, they used the Invisible Body Method to descend the mountain together. When they reached the roadstead, they looked for a boat to go to Fuzhou, paying the boatman a high price not to take any other people. Thereupon the two of them enjoyed themselves day and night.

But Mengyu didn’t eat food; she only ate flowers. There was no place Yuan Guangzhi could buy them, so that night he deployed his evil arts, and early the next day he had a big pile of wildflowers. Guangzhi smiled and said, “Dear, please eat them.” Mengyu ate several flowers. Then she put them down and didn’t eat any more. Guangzhi asked, “Dear, why don’t you have some more?”

“Wildflowers lack flavor,” Mengyu replied. “Only orchids and osmanthus flowers, the kings of the flowers, are appetizing.”

Guangzhi said, “I’ll get some. You wait until tomorrow morning at the latest.”

That night Guangzhi again deployed his magic arts. The next day, as expected, there was a big pile of orchids and osmanthus flowers. “Please, dear, enjoy the flavor of the kings,” he said. When Mengyu smelled their fragrance, she ate to her heart’s content. But, because orchid and osmanthus are extremely rare, only wealthy and noble families had them, so that after they had been stolen for several nights, the supply was exhausted. Guangzhi said to Mengyu, “Dear, you don’t usually eat food, you only like fresh flowers. Aside from that, what flavors do you like? You might as well tell me. No matter how far away it is, I will be able to get it for you.”

Mengyu smiled and said, “I love marinated phoenix and boiled dragon, carved snake belly scales and embroidered toads. Do you have any?” Guangzhi said he did. Mengyu smiled again, and said, “There’s something else I like. It’s just that it’s unsuitable to say.” Guangzhi said, “My extremely lovable wife, how I wish I could gouge out my heart and cut out my liver in order to treat you.”

Mengyu said, “Since I am so fortunate that you don’t blame me, when I hadn’t yet become a human being, I usually stole the dirt from the hair of little girls, the tips of the penises of little boys, and the nipples of young women. I ate them for some years. When I changed into human shape, I still secretly enjoyed them. I didn’t dare mention this unclean matter for fear that you would think it repulsive.”

Guangzhi said, “Dear, since you are fond of these things, how could I restrict them? In ancient times, people also had them, such as Liu Yong as Grand Commander (Taishou) in the Nanshi. He was very fond of eating ulcerous scabs. Mo Shuqi of the Sui dynasty liked to eat the excretions of young boys, and there were those who liked male sperm and female menstrual blood.¹⁶ There are many such as these. Give me until tomorrow morning, and you will have them.”

Guangzhi cut out ten paper men, each holding a pair of scissors, and stored each one separately in a small box. After writing talismans and chanting incantations, he covered the boxes tightly. Then he went into the cabin of the boat to sleep. At daybreak the next day, when he had finished washing and dressing, he opened the lids of the boxes to have a look. In one box was the filth of hair, while another held penis tips and nipples. The paper men were still there. Guangzhi smiled and said, “Could these be considered to be ‘getting jade pestles and treasures’?”

Mengyu thanked him, saying, “I am fortunate that you, Daoist master, have taken a lot of trouble. It’s really tremendous.” Then she picked up the penis tips with her fingers and ate them. She also ate the hair filth, as if it was raw seeds, and the nipples, as if they were fried beans. When Guangzhi saw this he laughed. When Mengyu had eaten everything, she was all smiles.

From this night on, he deployed his magic arts to get these three things. In all the villages, streets, and towns they passed through, there were very few young girls and boys who didn’t meet with the calamity of this demon. Of those who heard of it, there were none who were not astonished. Boys and girls who hadn’t yet been cut used red cloth to wrap themselves from head to belly in order to avoid the calamity of the demon’s magic.

Wherever Guangzhi went—Nanchang, Tingzhou, Yanping in Jiangxi, up to the provincial capital of Fuzhou—all met with this calamity.¹⁷ When the local officials heard of it, they put up announcements, sternly ordering their arrest and apprehension. But families in which people were cut were panic-stricken, so they invited monks to hold jiao religious services in their homes to pray to preserve peace.¹⁸ Guangzhi continued to exercise this evil Mount Mao magic. Even if he didn’t go so far as to kill people, still all communities in these two provinces were not at peace, and the commoner parents were panic-stricken. Execution was too good for him.

Now we will return to Wang Jitu, who was arrested by the ruler of Min in order to punish the crime of prophetic rumors. The members of his family had fled the palace and hidden themselves in the house of Yuan Gao, in Fuqing. Yuan Gao’s ancestors had lived in Minqing, and he had once been an illustrious minister of the honest and prudent king; but now, having retired from office due to old age, he had moved to Fuqing. He was an older fellow clansman of Guangzhi’s father’s generation. When Guangzhi arrived there, he intended to go to the house to visit his clansman. The boat reached the bank, and he stepped onto it. If you want to know Guangzhi’s business, then read the next chapter.