The court registrar respectfully submitted the Ledgers of Good and Evil for imperial perusal. Pilgrim read it through, then called out, “Registrar, why is there no mention of Qin Hui in this ledger?”

“My Lord,” reported the registrar, “so heinous are Qin Hui’s crimes that I, your humble servant, did not dare to mix them in with those of the great multitude of ordinary ghosts. I made a separate accounting of them, which I inserted at the end of the general ledger.”

Sure enough, when Pilgrim flipped through, he found a section with the title “The Record of Qin Hui’s Wickedness.” He began reading at the beginning:

At their meeting, the ruler of the Jin,¹ Wuqimai,² made a gift of Qin Hui to his brother, Talan. It was when Talan made his incursion to Shanyang³ that Qin Hui proposed a peace agreement for the first time. Talan released Qin Hui, sending him back to the Song. Qin Hui made his way back together with Lady Wang, his wife.⁴

“Qin Hui,” said Pilgrim, “even as an imperial minister, you were not concerned about establishing yourself and making a good reputation; instead, you conspired with the Jin. What was the reason for that?”

“These are all Jin fabrications,” replied Qin Hui. “They have absolutely nothing to do with me.” Pilgrim then called a judge with a silvery face and jade teeth to bring the Water Mirror for the Discovery of Treachery. In it, there was clearly to be seen a Qin Hui bowing down to the Jin ruler and wishing him “ten thousand years of life.” The Jin ruler whispered something into his ear, and Qin Hui nodded. Qin Hui also whispered something into the ear of the Jin ruler, who smiled. Upon his departure, the Jin ruler was about to whisper into Qin Hui’s ear, but the latter said, “That goes without saying, that goes without saying.” [C. Extraordinary!] [K. This is fictional, but it reads like an eyewitness account. Even calling it “reliable history” would be acceptable.]

Pilgrim was furious. “Qin Hui, do you see the Qin Hui in the mirror?”

“My Lord,” said Qin Hui, “the Qin Hui in the mirror does not know how the Qin Hui outside the mirror suffers.”

“Then,” said Pilgrim, “soon he will also know that suffering,” and he commanded the iron-faced ghosts to inflict on him the punishment of “thorns piercing his entire body.” Immediately one hundred and fifty iron-faced ghosts responded. They took out six million embroidery needles and pierced Qin Hui all over his body.

Pilgrim continued reading:

In the first year in the Shaoxing reign-period [1131], he was appointed Participant in Determining Governmental Matters. Qin Hui concealed his malicious intentions, waiting only to be appointed grand councilor.

Pilgrim leaned back and asked, “Grand Councilor, why were you waiting for this appointment?”

Chief Justice Gao testified, “My Lord, there are two types of grand councilors in the world today. [K. It has been like this since ancient times, but now it has become very extreme—alas!] One type is stinking people who are concerned with eating, being clothed, having fun with their wives, and playing with their children: for them, when they await appointment as grand councilor it is in order to glorify themselves, to show off to their hometown acquaintances, or even so that their servants can bully and deceive others. The other type is traitors who betray their state, respectfully presenting the crown and the white jade seal of the state to the enemy. When the position of grand councilor they await is granted to them, they see this as an opportunity to monopolize government affairs, to control the Son of Heaven, and to decide punishments and rewards at will. Qin Hui is of the latter type.”

Pilgrim then ordered the smaller ghosts to slap his face. A group of ghosts with red hearts and red hair held Qin Hui tightly and pounded him for about six hours and were still unwilling to desist. It was Pilgrim, however, who commanded, “Red-hearted ghosts, you do not need to proceed like this. You will have more time for beating him later.”

He continued reading:

In the eighth month, he was appointed the right vice director of the Department of State Affairs. In the ninth month, Lü Yihao became grand councilor for the second time, and Qin Hui shared power with him. Qin Hui inspired his clique to propose “cultivation of virtue in internal affairs and enhancement of defense in external affairs” and had Lü Yihao assigned to Zhenjiang. The Emperor said to Qi Congli, the auxiliary academician, “Qin Hui wants to return the people north of the Yellow River to the Jin, and those of the Central Plains to Liu Yu.⁵ If the people from the south are to return to the south and people from the north are to return to the north, We are a northerner, and where could We go?” [K. Your subject Qin Hui, in trepidation and fear, repeatedly knocking his head on the ground, respectfully replies: to the Jin.]

Pilgrim said, “The Song Emperor was telling the truth. In a time like that, when even commoners in the mountains and valleys would hear about emergency communications one day, and would see the circulars from the court the next day, whose ‘patriotic green liver and emerald-blooded loyal heart’⁶ would not be aroused? Who gave you such titles as one of the Three Dukes and a fief with income of a million pounds of grain? Who gave you the five-flower ribbon and the gateway with six willows? Who gave you the enormous courtyard and hundreds of bolts of brocade? (All of this comes from Miscellaneous Notes from Dragon Ford [Longjin zaji].)⁷ With no intention to repay the Emperor’s favors, you consistently harbored treasonous thoughts and poisonous ideas, rendering it impossible for His Imperial Highness, the Son of Heaven, to preserve even one foot of the pillars that support the state. Was that loyalty, or was it treason?”

“As obtuse and wicked as I am,” replied Qin Hui, “I still intended to protect the monarch and bring peace to the Imperial House. The statement that ‘the people from the south are to return to the south and people from the north are to return to the north’ was but a jest made on the spur of the moment. My Lord, it should not be taken seriously.”

Pilgrim said, “This is not a matter for jest!” He ordered the smaller mountain of knives to be brought out. Two fierce ghosts with disheveled hair carried out the small mountain of knives and dragged Qin Hui up it as he dripped blood all the way. “This is just for a little entertainment,” said Pilgrim. “Councilor Qin, it should not be taken seriously.” With this, he laughed heartily.

He continued reading.

In the eighth year [1138], he was appointed the right vice director of the Department of State Affairs. An envoy came from the Jin for peace negotiations, together with Wang Lun. Qin Hui and other high-ranking ministers had an audience with the Emperor. Qin Hui alone remained when everyone else left, saying, “The ministers all tend to hesitate, fearing this or that. They are unworthy to make decisions on matters of grave consequence. If Your Majesty has decided to settle for peace, I beg that Your Majesty would only discuss the matter with me.” The Emperor said, “We shall entrust the matter to you alone.” “May Your Majesty think about the matter for three more days,” said Qin Hui.

“I have a question for you,” Pilgrim said. “You wanted to complete the peace agreement, which was as urgent as fire in a wind. How could you afford to wait for those three days to pass? If it happened that some of the ministers at the court had sworn a blood oath and had organized themselves into a Coalition of the Loyal at the risk of their lives, your business would have been undone.”

“My Lord,” said Qin Hui, “at that time, there was only an Emperor Qin; where was there any Emperor Zhao?⁸ I, the condemned ghost, had a notebook with the names of ministers at the court, which was always kept in my sleeve. If a certain minister was so careless as to oppose Qin in the interest of Zhao, his head would fall before long. You speak of ministers loyal to the death. My Lord, from the creation of heaven and earth out of chaos by Pan’gu⁹ until the return to chaos, how many have there been? At the court those days, even if there had been a loyal minister, could he have organized a coalition with just himself? [C. The secret of traitors, for thousands of years, has been to prevent their opponents from organizing into a coalition.] Since no coalitions could form, I, Qin Hui, was reaping the rewards without any worries.”

“Since this was the case, what was the court of the Son of Heaven of the Song like, as you saw it?” asked Pilgrim.

“Back then, from this condemned criminal’s perspective,” said Qin Hui, “the ministers at court were all ants.” [K. Actually at that time all the officials at the court were no different from ants: this is not Qin Hui’s fabrication.]

Pilgrim ordered the white-faced devils to pound Qin Hui into fine powder and change the powder into a million ants, to avenge the ministers at the court back then. [C. Well done!] One hundred white-faced smart ghosts accepted the order and immediately brought a grinder that was fifty feet long and a thousand across, and ground Qin Hui into a peach-pink powdery liquid; when the liquid flowed onto the earth, it turned into ants and other tiny insects, scurrying here and there. [K. With tens of millions of incarnations, I am afraid that the King of the Southern Bough could not help becoming another Gaozong of the Song.¹⁰]

Pilgrim then ordered Qin Hui to be blown back together. A registrar named Wang blew Qin Hui back into his original form. “Now, Qin Hui,” asked Pilgrim, “is it that the ministers were ants, or that the councilor was an ant?” Qin Hui, with his face the color of clay, could only wail wretchedly.

“Qin Hui,” Pilgrim continued, “now tell me this. What did the Son of Heaven of the Song look like in those days?”

Qin Hui replied, “When I, your condemned ghost, stood among the ministers in the court I saw the silk robe with the figures of the five-clawed dragons as the tattered clothes in my trunk; the crown as my worn-out square hat; the sun-and-moon fan as my palm leaf; I saw the Imperial Golden Phoenix Court as my study; the Imperial Palace gate as my bedchamber. As His Majesty Zhao, in my eyes he was only a dragonfly the color of grass, flying around in circles.” [C. This all comes from Qin Hui’s own mouth. The imitation is extremely accurate and extremely hilarious.] [K. Actually at that time His Majesty Zhao was no different from a dragonfly the color of grass: this is not Qin Hui’s fabrication.]

Pilgrim said, “Fine. I’ll just bother you to be the Son of the Heaven for a while.” He called upon the Commandants Illuminating the Dark under the Calamity-Inflicting Star to bathe Qin Hui in a sea of boiling oil. Then they ripped open his sides and made four wings out of them, changing him into the likeness of a dragonfly.

Pilgrim again had him blown back into his original form, and asked, “Qin Hui, tell me this. You were extremely idle those three days; what did you do to pass the time?” [K. Extraordinary idea, extraordinary. I expect he was definitely not reading fiction.]

“How could I have had any free time?” answered Qin Hui.

“As a traitor,” said Pilgrim, “you didn’t want to attack the western barbarians or repel the northern savages; you didn’t want to establish moral order or rectify names; so how could you not have free time?”

“My Lord,” said Qin Hui, “I was very busy these three days studying the roster of ministers. [C. Being a traitorous minister turns out to be a time-consuming matter.] If I saw someone’s heart belonged to Qin, I would put a vermilion dot by his name: the larger the dot, the more his heart was inclined toward Qin; the smaller the dot, the less his heart was inclined to me. Those whose hearts were more inclined to Qin would later be appointed to higher positions. Those whose hearts were less inclined to Qin would later, when positions were assigned, not do so well. As for those whose hearts were inclined toward both Qin and Zhao, or were inclined toward neither Qin nor Zhao, and had no marks by their names, later they would simply be exiled. If I happened to encounter someone whose heart was even the least bit inclined to Zhao, I would draw a circle beside that person’s name with thick black ink; the larger the circle, the heavier the crime; the smaller the circle, the lighter the crime. Some would have their whole families exterminated; some would have their wives and children implicated and punished; some would have the kinfolk of their father, mother, and wife killed; some would have their paternal families, their maternal families, as well as their own, extending for nine degrees of relationship, all exterminated. It would be up to my own square inch of a heart.”¹¹

Furious, Pilgrim shouted, “Brother Zhang and Brother Deng,¹² Zhang and Deng, my brothers! Why haven’t you killed him before this? [K. The Palace of Divine Mists has been stolen; where could Brothers Zhang and Deng have found a place for themselves?] Why did you let him remain in the human realm and perpetrate such deeds?! Enough! If Lord Deng won’t use his thunderbolt, then we’ll use the thunderbolt of Lord Sun!” He then ordered ten thousand ghosts to emulate the thunder gods: at his command each used an iron whip to beat Qin Hui until there was no trace left of either form or shadow.

Pilgrim then ordered the judge to blow him back into his real form, and then picked up the ledger and continued to read:

After three days, he again remained behind to talk privately with the Emperor as before. The Emperor was persuaded. Fearing that the Emperor might change his mind, Qin Hui said, “May Your Majesty think it over for another three days.” After another three days, the decision was made to negotiate peace.

“How did you enjoy your leisure those three days?” Pilgrim said.

“I, your condemned ghost, did not have any leisure time those three days either,” replied Qin Hui. “At the court, I could tell that His Majesty of the Song had decided on a peaceful settlement: my sweet, sweet plan had succeeded. After I left the palace, I arranged a private banquet in the Tower of the Bronze Bird to celebrate the deed of eliminating the Song,¹³ supporting the Jin, and establishing the Qin enterprise—I was dead drunk all day long. The following day, I had a private banquet prepared at home for the ministers whose hearts were committed to Qin. That day I had the music of the Jin played and the ‘flying petals’ saber dance performed; nothing of the Song was used, and not one word about the Song was uttered. I was dead drunk all that day as well. On the third day, I sat in my Studio for Sweeping Away the Loyal all by myself, laughing from morning to night. Toward evening I got drunk again.”

“Those three days you really enjoyed your wine,” said Pilgrim. “Today I will present you with several goblets of good wine, Councilor!” Then he ordered two hundred drilling ghosts to carry out a huge earthen jar of human pus and pour it down Qin Hui’s throat.

Pilgrim threw his head back and roared with laughter, but then he said: “The empire that had been won so diligently by the efforts of Emperor Taizu of the Song was so happily given away by Qin Hui!”¹⁴

“Today,” said Qin Hui, “I’m not at all happy about this human pus wine! [K. Why not be drunk on it for three days?] Ay, my Lord, there will be many Qin Huis in the future; even in the present there is no shortage of Qin Huis—why do you make me the only one to suffer for it?” [C. A call to the world to wake up!]

“Who told you to be the teacher of present-day Qin Huis, and a role model for Qin Huis to come?” said Pilgrim.

At that point, he ordered the smart ghosts with gold claws to bring in the saws. They tied up Qin Hui and sawed him into ten thousand pieces. The judge nearby in charge of blowing hurriedly blew him back again to his original form.

Pilgrim took another look at the ledger:

When the peace negotiations were decided, Qin Hui took advantage of his connections with the Jin to make his position more weighty.¹⁵

“Qin Hui,” called Pilgrim. “How much did you weigh when you took advantage of your Jin connections? How many hundred pounds?”

“The Jin and I together weighed as much as Mount Tai does in iron,” said Qin Hui.

“Do you know how much Mount Tai weighs?” asked Pilgrim. [K. Your respectable husband Xiang Yu could have lifted it up.¹⁶]

“I suppose it weighs about twenty million pounds,” said Qin Hui.

“Your estimation,” said Pilgrim, “is not accurate. You can measure the weight yourself very soon.” He ordered five thousand ghost attendants with bones of bronze to carry out an iron Mount Tai and rest it on Qin Hui’s back. Two hours later he had the mountain removed to have a look: there was one small sheet of Qin Hui [K. Qin Hui’s wife by the name of Wang had committed adultery with Wuzhu;¹⁷ Qin Hui had been a “flattened (turtle)” like this for a long time.¹⁸], who had become flecks of mud. Pilgrim again ordered him blown back into his original form in order to interrogate him further.

He took another look at the ledger:

The generals reported victories when they fought, but Qin Hui advocated withdrawal of forces. In the ninth month, an edict was issued to recall the generals of the various armies.

Pilgrim asked, “Did those generals hasten back to the court on galloping horses, or did they return on foot?”

“My Lord,” replied a judge, “of course they returned on galloping horses.”

Pilgrim then ordered the judges in charge of transformations to change Qin Hui at once into a spotted dragon horse. Fierce ghosts, numbering several hundred, rode it or beat it in turns. Only after an hour did Pilgrim order him blown back into his original form and turn to the latter part of the booklet:

Twelve imperial gold tokens were issued one day, each ordering Yue Fei to withdraw his troops. Soon after Yue Fei’s return, the prefectures and counties he had taken were lost again. Yue Fei earnestly petitioned to be relieved of military command,¹⁹ which was not granted by the Emperor. Wuzhu sent a letter to Qin Hui, who totally agreed with it. Since there was a certain enmity between the Grand Master of Remonstrance Moqi Xie and Yue Fei, Qin Hui hinted that he should impeach Yue Fei. Qin Hui also instructed Zhang Jun to order the impeachment of Wang Gui, inducing him to make false charges, to the effect that Zhang Xian²⁰ had plotted to reinstate Yue Fei’s troops. Qin Hui sent messengers to arrest Yue Fei and his son for interrogation about the Zhang Xian affair. At first he appointed He Zhu to supervise the interrogation. In the process, Yue Fei’s garment suddenly ripped open, revealing the words “Ultimate loyalty and patriotism” tattooed on his back, which had penetrated deep into his flesh. When the investigation was complete, no evidence of disloyalty was found, and He Zhu declared him to be innocent. But Moqi Xie was appointed to replace He Zhu. Over a month after Moqi Xie assumed his position, the verdict was reached. Consequently, Yue Fei was sentenced to death as a result of the testimony of many witnesses. He was thirty-nine years of age at that time.²¹

Pilgrim then shouted, “Qin Hui, what do you have to say about the case of General Yue?”

Before he had even finished speaking, one hundred Qin Huis prostrated themselves before the dais, wailing piteously. “Qin Hui,” Pilgrim commanded, “one body of yours would suffice. Were there one hundred Song Empires?”

“My Lord,” said Qin Hui, “I’ve been able to bear it for the other matters, but for this one matter of Lord Yue, your condemned ghost does not have enough flesh and skin left for punishment. When you question me about that, I will not have enough words to answer with. As for one hundred bodies, this condemned ghost thinks they are still too few.”

Pilgrim then gave an order to the judges of the various courts: each was to take one Qin Hui away for interrogation using torture. Immediately, ninety-nine Qin Huis were taken to different places. [K. These hundred-odd Qin Huis reincarnated in the human world, wreaking endless havoc: this is all because Pilgrim, serving as King Yama, failed to exterminate them root and branch. What a grave mistake!] One could only hear him from this direction screaming, “Your Honor, the case of Lord Yue has nothing to do with this condemned ghost!”; or from that direction, “Your Honor, My Lord: this condemned ghost will be grateful if you could spare him even one stroke of the rod!”

Pilgrim was exhilarated. He said to a justice in front of his bench, “Does it mean that there are no clauses in the legal code prescribing the appropriate punishment for such matters?”

The registrar named Cao, daring not to make a direct reply, could only submit the record book in his hands for Pilgrim’s perusal. Pilgrim opened it and found that it was a record of previous trials in the courts of the Underworld. On the first file, the following was written:

From the Court of His Honor Yan: Qin Hui, with the nature of the bluebottle,²² plotted the destruction of an entire loyal house.²³ Yue Fei, with a character as pure as the white snow, displayed the heroism of a general.²⁴ Qin Hui is thus named “Foolish Villain,” while Yue Fei is to be called “Unreservedly Loyal.”

“They are all platitudes,” thought Pilgrim. “The word ‘foolish’ is not nearly adequate to indict Qin Hui.”

He came to the second file:

From the Court of His Honor Li: So glaring and blatant are Qin Hui’s plots, so sorrow-laden and melancholy-rife are the Lyrics of Chu.…²⁵ [K. A pedantic scholar blown by the wind: can such also be a King Yama?]

“Laughable!” thought Pilgrim. “That traitor Qin’s crimes are innumerable. How could one have spared even a minute to polish his words? As the saying goes, ‘A literary scholar has trouble deciding legal cases.’ [C. The author is satirizing the literati again.] [K. He must originally have been a budding talent who took the palace examination and passed.²⁶] No need to read it through!”

He went to the third file:

From the Court of His Honor Tang: An Elegy on the Death of General Yue—

Who used a “three-character verdict”²⁷

To collapse the ten-thousand-mile Great Wall?

Gazing toward the north, I cannot restrain my tears,

In vain the southern twigs and branches are lush.

The empire came to its end with his death,

The councilor prospered with the enemy.

The sun sets, and the wind rises among the pines—

I still hear the ringing of swords and halberds.²⁸

“This poem,” said Pilgrim, “expresses the situation forcefully enough to cut nails and split iron.” He called out, “Qin Hui, the five words in Lord Tang’s poem, ‘councilor prospered with the enemy,’ can be called a ‘five-character verdict.’ Let’s compare it with the ‘three-character verdict’ of yours. [K. The Mountain Man of Wuling says: In the previous text no mention is made of the three words “might have been.” It could have been a lapse on the author’s part.] But now, I will ignore your so-called ‘three-word verdict,’ nor will I use Lord Tang’s ‘five-word verdict,’ for I have a ‘one-word verdict’!”

“My Lord,” submitted the judge, “what is the ‘one-word verdict’?”

“Hack!” said Pilgrim.

Immediately one hundred disheveled ghosts carried out a furnace on their shoulders and had twelve gold tallies forged.²⁹ After a roll of the drums from outside the curtains, innumerable green-faced ghosts with fangs rushed in. They held Qin Hui fast, and cut him slice by slice, until his skin looked like fish scales. The slices cut off were thrown into the furnace.

After this fish-scale laceration, Pilgrim told the judge in charge of records to melt the first token. With this done, the judge reported in a loud voice, “Lord, the first gold tally summoning General Yue has been melted down.” This was followed by a roll of the drums. [C. The indignation that has been pent up in the mind has lessened by half.]

From the left jumped out fierce ghosts with red bodies to slash Qin Hui: they cut him into a cracked-ice pattern. Pilgrim commanded the judge in charge of documents to melt down the second tally. The judge followed the command and reported loudly, “Lord, the second gold tally summoning General Yue has been melted down.” There was another roll of the drums.

From the east walked in ten red ghosts, eyeless and mouthless, with their faces covered with blood, who each carried a knife and slashed Qin Hui into a snowflake pattern. [K. Knives with bells attached made profuse slicing cuts.³⁰ Minister, minister, you can really blend flavors in tripods.³¹] After the judge melted the tally, he reported in a loud voice, “Lord, the third gold tally summoning General Yue has been melted down.” The drums rolled a third time. [C. That not all of the tallies are melted down is even more marvelous; the writing is endlessly suggestive.]

All of a sudden there came a roll of the drums from the front gate, and a small-size ghost in a fish-scale robe respectfully submitted a large red card with both hands. [K. Again, the action is not finished off; wonderful.]

Pilgrim opened it to have a look. On it were these words: “Song General Yue Fei pays his respects.”

Seeing this, Judge Cao immediately presented a volume of files of the cases of ministers through the ages. Pilgrim took a careful look, committing Yue Fei’s life and works firmly to memory. The drumrolls resumed at the gate, and outside the curtained windows metal horns were blown. For an hour there was strenuous blowing of horns and beating of drums, and then a general walked into his presence.

Pilgrim hastened to stand up and descend the dais of the bench, and with a full bow, made a salute with clasped hands and said, “Welcome, General!” When the general reached the staircase, Pilgrim made another low bow. And as soon as they entered within the curtains—such a fine Pilgrim—he paid his respects and said, “Master Yue, your disciple has had only two masters my whole life long: the first is the Patriarch;³² the second, the Tang Monk. Today, I have the honor of recognizing you, General, as my third master. [K. The wife of the Hegemon-King of Western Chu becomes the disciple of Yue Fei, King Zhongwu:³³ what does this mean? The reader should think about this.] This combines all three teachings in one body.” [C. It is nothing out of the ordinary for Pilgrim to interrogate Qin Hui, but it is very extraordinary for him to choose Yue Fei, King Wumu, to be his master. Pay close attention to this.]

General Yue declined many times out of modesty, but how could Pilgrim allow that? He continued to bow to him, saying, “Master Yue, today your disciple will present a cup of blood wine for your enjoyment.” [K. Pilgrim has just treated the Grand Councilor with pus wine; now he is treating his master with blood wine. Entertaining guests in this way, it truly seems as if King Yama had opened a restaurant!]

“Thank you, my disciple,” said General Yue, “but I am afraid that I do not have the stomach for it.”

Pilgrim secretly wrote a letter, then asked, “Where are the little courier ghosts?”

A company of ox-headed, tiger-horned ghosts all knelt down, saying, “Lord, what are your orders?”

“I want you to go to Heaven,” said Pilgrim.

“Lord, how can we, a company of wild ghosts who have sunken so low, make our way to Heaven?” an Ox Head replied.

“It’s just that you don’t know how. Going to Heaven is actually not a difficult thing,” said Pilgrim. [C. Pay attention.] [K. This is truth, reality, and always-thusness.³⁴]

He changed a piece of paper into an auspicious cloud and handed the letter to the Ox Head. Then it suddenly occurred to him: “Several days ago, the gates to Heaven were shut tight. I wonder whether they are open today.” [C. Good echo.] [K. Ties to previous text. Now that the case of Qin Hui is closed, I know that the gates of Heaven must be open.] So he instructed the Ox Head: “Go where this auspicious cloud takes you. If by chance the gates of Heaven are shut, just say that a letter from the Underworld is being delivered to Tuṣita Palace.”³⁵ [K. Ties to the previous book.]

After Pilgrim sent the Ox Head off, he called to Master Yue, “Your disciple is overwhelmed with joy. Let me finish a gāthā with you.”

“Disciple,” said General Yue, “I have spent years on horseback: I haven’t read even a line of Buddhist writings, haven’t said even one line of Chan: how could I have a gāthā that you could complete?”

“Master,” said Pilgrim, “just hear me complete it.”

As long as the Emperor lives, I will exhaust my loyalty,

As long as I am a subject, I will repay my country. (These are the words of General Yue.)³⁶

If so, each person can be a Heavenly king [deva-rāja];

If so, everyone a buddha. [K. This is a mantra of rank unequaled.]

No sooner had Pilgrim recited the gāthā than the ox-headed ghost appeared. With the letter of reply respectfully offered up with both hands [C. What he saw was the letter of reply. Marvelous!] and carrying a purple-gold gourd on top of his head, he suddenly descended before the steps of the bench.

Pilgrim asked, “Were the gates of Heaven closed?”

“My Lord,” reported the Ox Head, “they are wide open.” [K. Reader, try to guess whether this is the real Heaven or a false one.] He presented the reply from Laozi, the Old Master, which read,

The Jade Emperor was immensely delighted, for, in the Great Sage’s interrogation of Qin Hui, each and every word was true, and each and every stroke deserved. I hereby present the Gold Gourd to you; it is impervious to all but a drill of metal: I hope the Great Sage will heed this. [C. Echoing the old text of Journey to the West, good!] As for chiseling through Heaven [K. Ties to previous text, and also mentions the chiseling of Heaven.], it is a long story. [C. Mentioned again.] We will discuss it in detail when next we meet.

When he finished reading it, Pilgrim laughed. “I, Old Monkey, should not have damaged his prized object with a drill back in the Lotus Flower Cave.³⁷ Now it is the old man’s turn to be sarcastic to me.”

With a bow to General Yue, he said, “Master, have a seat here while your disciple prepares the blood wine.”

[C. The interrogation of Qin Hui is an extremely delightful thing to do at that time for Pilgrim Sun, and the episode is an extremely delightful episode in Further Adventures on the Journey to the West.]

[K. “The Turning of Heaven” chapter in Zhuangzi states, “The corrector must be correct. If the mind cannot accept this fact, then the doors of Heaven will never open!”³⁸ What the author meant seems to be based on this.]