Now we will return to Chen Jinggu, who at Wu Shan’s house in Changle used an earth vein to go to Linshui Grotto. There she ordered her two bodyguards, Wang and Yang, to stay at the entrance to the grotto and not let the Snake Fiend escape. They sealed the back of the mountain to destroy the lair, and then led the spirit soldiers, each of them releasing yellow smoke and sprinkling realgar.¹ Shouting “Kill!” loudly enough to reach the sky, they burst into the grotto.

The Ravine Demon ran into the inner cave and urgently reported that the girl had found them out. They were just about to come out to confront them when they smelled the realgar smoke. The stinking smoke was pervasive, obscuring the sky like a fog, and they rushed all around in a panic. The White Snake’s four limbs became like jelly and couldn’t support her. Unable to take care of the little snakes, she fled for her life. Falling to the ground, she writhed around, intending to find a small hole at the back of the grotto and escape.

Now we will turn to the Ravine Demon, who charged forward brandishing a big axe. But when he saw Jinggu, he was so frightened that his soul left his body, and he, too, tried to escape from the back of the grotto. Jinggu rushed in to kill them, slaughtering all the little fiends. She continued slaughtering right to the back of the grotto but didn’t see the White Snake, the ringleader. She searched carefully, and only then did she realize that the White Snake had escaped through the small hole.

Jinggu turned and saw a man hanging upside down, and recognized her husband, Liu Qi, in whom only a single breath remained. With her sword, she cut the rope, and untied his hands and feet. As he could not walk on his own, Jinggu helped him out of the grotto. After ordering the two bodyguards, Wang and Yang, to look after him, she went back into the grotto and was searching with great care when she saw someone standing by a rock, crying for help. “Who are you?” Jinggu asked.

“I am a junior disciple of Pear Orchard of Suzhou,” he said. “The troupe’s name is the Jade Blessing Troupe. Because we were on our way to the capital of Fuzhou, we passed through Gutian. The villagers enthusiastically invited us and we performed for three days. One night a black-turbaned soldier dragged me in here to be a son-in-law. I don’t know why heaven and earth just shook. I beg you to save me.”

Jinggu asked, “What is your name? When did you enter to become a son-in-law? In the troupe, what role did you play?”

He answered, “My name is Sheng Tao. In the troupe I play female roles. I’ve been here half a month, so I don’t know if the troupe is still in Fuzhou.”

Jinggu said, “I will rescue you from the grotto, and find someone to escort you back to the troupe in Fuzhou. How would that be?” The young actor was overjoyed by this unexpected good luck and bowed to Jinggu in thanks. She turned Sheng Tao over to her two bodyguards, Wang and Yang, to look after. Then, unleashing her supernatural fire, she burned up the grotto.

When she returned home, assisting Liu Qi to walk, Teacher Liu had not yet returned. Only Madame Li, his wife, was at home, and that’s all. When she caught sight of her son supported by a young girl, the whole family was deliriously happy. The wife asked, “Who is this?”

The family servant who had taken the marriage schedule knew that it was Chen Jinggu, and said to the wife, “It’s none other than Jinggu.”

When the wife heard this, she was both astonished and happy. Then, with a smile, she welcomed her. “So, it’s our worthy daughter-in-law. Come in!” Jinggu said, “Quickly prepare a bed and bedding for your son to sleep.” She also told the family steward, “Outside there is a young actor, who was also dragged into the grotto by the snake spirit, and I also rescued him. You should take him in and let him convalesce for a few days. Then send him to Fuzhou to rejoin his troupe.”

Jinggu at this time had saved her husband from disaster, but she did not escape suspicion. When the wife saw her son sleeping on the bed, looking as if he were dead, she was grief-stricken and began to wail loudly. To Jinggu she said, “The way my son looks, I don’t think it will be possible for him to survive. I’m afraid you have labored in vain. You rescued him from the grotto, but it was all for nothing.” She wept without stopping.

Jinggu said, “Mother-in-law, there’s no need to cry. Do not say that your son is lacking qi—that is, that he will die. As your daughter-in-law, I will do my utmost to bring him back to life, so you needn’t be alarmed. Forgive me, but I’ve only just come here, so I don’t know where to find the pots and stove and well. Could I trouble you to bring a cup of water? A daughter-in-law as a matter of course should be useful.”

When the wife heard this, she stopped crying and fetched a bowl of water, which she gave to Jinggu. Holding the bowl of water in her hand, Jinggu quickly wrote a talisman and chanted an incantation, reciting the true words. Then she sprayed the water on Liu Qi’s face. In an instant his spirit had awakened, and he could recognize people; after a short time, his heart had calmed down and his appearance returned to normal. He sat up and walked around as before. It was just that the fiend’s vapor had not yet entirely worn off. The wife was very happy, and asked him what it was like in the grotto.

“Inside the grotto it was absolutely horrible,” Liu Qi said. He explained the whole matter about being beguiled, and how fortunate he was to be rescued by this Daoist master. Otherwise, he would certainly have met with disaster, and his life would have come to an end.

The wife said, “This Daoist master is none other than your original bride. When you went to Linshui Grotto, the black-turbaned soldier and young girl were both transformations of the fiends. If my son were not upstanding, if he’d been forced to submit, then he would surely have ended up in the snake fiend’s belly.”

When Liu Qi heard her say that it was the White Snake Fiend, he was horrified. He said, “If I had known then that it was a transformation of the Snake Fiend, I would have died of fright.” He bowed to Jinggu, saying, “If my worthy wife hadn’t rescued me, then my mother and I wouldn’t have seen each other ever again.”

Jinggu modestly replied, “There’s a man outside. He’s also one whom the snake spirit in the form of a girl enticed to be her husband. He is emaciated.” When Liu Qi heard this, he went out of the hall to welcome him. He saw Sheng Tao looking so dreadfully sallow and scrawny that it was truly frightening. Liu Qi asked about his circumstances, just making ordinary conversation and inquiring about his background. The man was a member of the Pear Orchard Troupe. Then Liu Qi instructed a servant, “Take this Sheng Tao and let him convalesce for a few days.”

Now let’s return to Chen Jinggu, whose many tasks were completed, except that she hadn’t yet entirely restored Liu Qi from the fiend’s vapor. Thereupon, she said goodbye to the wife, telling her, “Your foolish daughter-in-law is going back now.”

When the wife heard Jinggu say that she was going home, she urgently tugged at Jinggu’s sleeve and said, “Worthy daughter-in-law, since you have come to our house, what reason could there be to go back? Wait for your father-in-law to return, and we’ll see what he says. There’s no rush to go back again. Furthermore, you spoke about this before. A few days ago a servant took the timetable to your home. You said to his face that you would come back after going to Changle to eliminate the fiend, and then you would marry our son. There would be no need for drums and music, a flower sedan chair or an auspicious day. Now abide by those words! You want to go back, but wait for your father to come, and then we’ll decide.”

Jinggu had listened to the wife, who had talked to the point that there was nothing Jinggu could say in reply. She thought to herself, “I was just joking before. I didn’t know that in the end it would become a prophecy to be fulfilled. This is Heaven going along with human wishes, and one can’t oppose Heaven. But my husband still hasn’t yet entirely shaken off the fiend’s vapor.”

She said, “Mother-in-law, since you insist on keeping me here, I have no choice but to obey. Furthermore, the young gentleman is not yet entirely free of the fiend’s poison.” When the wife heard her consent, her mind was finally at ease, and she chose a clean chamber for Jinggu to sleep in. Everyday Jinggu burned talismans and chanted over the water, which she ordered the servant girl to take to Liu Qi to drink to cleanse himself of the fiend’s vapor.

To take up the story of the fiend, she had fled and met up with the Ravine Demon. “What good luck!” they each exclaimed. The White Snake ordered the Ravine Demon to make inquiries to find out why someone had come there to destroy the grotto. Having received the order, the Ravine Demon secretly went to investigate. After a short time he returned to report to the White Snake. He said that the person who destroyed the grotto was none other than the often-mentioned Chen Jinggu, the disciple of True Lord Xu of Mount Lü, explaining, “Liu Qi, whom I lured into the grotto a few days ago, is Chen Jinggu’s husband. When she heard that her husband was suspended upside down and his brains were being drained out, she came to destroy the grotto and rescue him. Gutian, his hometown, is very near Linshui. If we return to Linshui Grotto to live, then we will inevitably be captured by her, and our lives will be hard to preserve. Now we must abandon Linshui Grotto.”

The White Snake said, “If we abandon Linshui, we will have to find another place to live!”

The Ravine Demon said, “It will be difficult to find a place in a short time where you can live happily. I have a lair where I live in Great Ravine Grotto on Great Ravine Mountain at Nantai in Fuzhou.” The White Snake was very happy to hear this, and she and the Ravine Demon used the method of traveling through an earth vein to go there to seek refuge.

Their daily food was wine and meat that the Ravine Demon went everywhere to steal. With this hideout, the White Snake didn’t lack food and drink, so she was carefree and at leisure. In ancient times people had a saying: “Being full and warm gives rise to wanton desire; suffering from cold and hunger gives rise to thoughts of theft.” Once the White Snake had peace and happiness, she ordered the Ravine Demon as before to lure in a young man for her carnal pleasure. The Ravine Demon had no choice but to act on these orders and entice someone for the White Snake’s pleasure.

Now we will return to Teacher Liu and Mr. Chen, who hurried back to Gutian from Changle. When they reached the gate, Liu Qi came out to meet them. When the teacher saw his son come out to greet him, he was both astonished and delighted. He went in to ask when he had been rescued and inquired, “Is the daughter-in-law here?”

His wife smiled and replied, “I am keeping our worthy daughter-in-law in the rear chamber.” Then she told him all about the situation at Linshui Grotto. When the teacher learned of this he was delighted.

He went out of the hall to tell the elder Chen all about the matter of his son’s rescue, saying, “Your daughter is being kept in an inner room by my wife, waiting for the father of the bride to come and choose an auspicious day to accomplish the great event of her lifetime with my son. Now she will submit to her father. Stay for a few days and wait for your daughter to complete the marriage ceremony. Then I will see you back to your home. I have not yet asked what you think about this.”

When the elder Chen heard this, he replied, “As for the marriage, we should carry it out early in accordance with your order. I am fortunate that you have tolerated the long wait. Now, since the occasion presents itself, by right we should comply and settle the big event of their lifetime. How could I have any reason not to go along with this? It’s only that the bride’s trousseau is not ready. I’m truly ashamed.”

The teacher replied, “There’s no need to be humble.” Then he instructed the in-law to be treated generously and Mr. Chen to select an auspicious day. Lanterns and festoons were hung, and relatives, neighbors, and friends all came to wish them happiness. Jinggu, all dressed up, came out of the hall, and assisted in the guest rituals. After husband and wife bowed to Heaven and Earth, they bowed to Liu Qi’s parents and to Jinggu’s relatives. After paying their respects to everyone, the couple entered the bedchamber, drank the nuptial cup of wine, and became husband and wife. (This fulfilled the destiny of the couple created by the coins thrown into the river by Wang Xiao’er to complete the construction of Luoyang Bridge.)

Several days after the ceremony when Liu Qi had completed the marriage, Mr. Chen took his leave of Mr. Liu to return home. Jinggu said, “Father, since you are going home, could you please escort back to Fuzhou the young actor who is in the great hall so that he can rejoin the Jade Blessing Troupe?”

“What reason is there for that?” Mr. Chen asked.

After Jinggu told him the whole story of rescuing him from Linshui Grotto, she told the young actor to come in. When Mr. Chen saw how handsome he was, he told him to wait outside the door. To Jinggu he said, “Your aged father has no son. You are my only child. Having seen this actor, both young and handsome, I want to take him as an adopted son. What do you think about this?”

Jinggu quickly stopped him, saying, “That is not a good idea. I’ve looked at this person, and, although his appearance is very handsome, his inner character is extremely inauspicious. If you are frequently near him, you will inevitably suffer harm. Father, you must heed my words. You absolutely cannot adopt him.” Mr. Chen listened to what Jinggu said. Then he thanked her and left, taking the actor Sheng Tao with him.

When they returned to Fuzhou City they searched for several days, but there was no trace of the Jade Blessing Troupe, so he took Sheng Tao home with him. He saw his nephew, Shouyuan, who asked him, “Uncle, you went to Gutian and now you’ve returned. Jinggu’s husband was carried off. What happened? How is it that Jinggu hasn’t yet returned?”

Mr. Chen explained to his wife and nephew, Shouyuan, the matter of Jinggu at Gutian. They laughed and said, “What the crazy girl spontaneously said in fact matched her earlier vow.”

“Who is the young man outside?” Shouyuan asked.

Mr. Chen replied, “He is a young actor from the Jade Blessing Troupe. He, too, was dragged into the grotto by the fiend, where he was rescued by your younger cousin Jinggu, who entrusted me to take him to Fuzhou and return him to his troupe. Who would have guessed that there isn’t a trace of this troupe? You should take him and search at your leisure.” Shouyuan consented, and he and Sheng Tao went home.

Shouyuan, too, was single; both of his parents had died long ago, and he had no brothers. His household was so poor that he could not take a wife. For the last two years he had stayed at the Daoist priests’ house, where his job was to carry the implements. This Shouyuan was very clever, and after a while he was able to work as a Daoist priest. At his house he hung up a sign saying “Exorcist Who Dispatches Malignant Deities.” Like Jinggu, who had returned after studying magic at Mount Lü, he himself had learned several formulas for retrieving souls that had been snatched away. In addition, he had a sonorous voice, and his skills were excellent.² As soon as he rang a bell over a sick person, the illness was expelled. One person told ten, ten told a hundred, a hundred told a thousand. As a result, an endless stream of people came to request his help. He turned over the house to Sheng Tao, who was also the receptionist at the door, as Shouyuan was out from morning until night doing a booming trade as a Daoist priest.

Now we will return to Liu Qi of Gutian. After he and Jinggu had married, one day he received an official document from the king of Min, Wang Shenzhi.³ Liu Qi opened the document and read it. It was his order to go to Luoyuan, to again fill the vacancy of police chief, and he had to set out within the day. Old Mr. Liu and his wife were delighted. To Liu Qi they said, “Since the king of Min has again assigned you to your original post, you must bring your wife when you go to take up the post. You don’t have to worry about family matters. Your father will handle them. Hurry! Pack your clothes and get started. Don’t miss the deadline.”

Liu Qi obeyed the order. The next day, with Jinggu and servants of the family, he said goodbye to his parents and set out to take up his post. They traveled to Xiangzhuweng in Lianjiang Zhou, which bordered on Luoyuan.⁴ Jinggu rode in a large sedan chair hung with transparent gauze. She saw that many of the travelers on the road were young men, holding in their hands large banners and precious umbrellas, fragrant flowers, and lanterns with candles. They walked in columns, at the head of which were four Daoist priests, each sounding his instrument. Following them were five elders, fifty or sixty years of age. They were dressed differently from the crowd: on their heads they wore lotus leaves and undyed, soft turbans; on their bodies they wore blue-green brocade Daoist robes with gold borders; and on their feet they wore priest’s shoes. With their mouths they recited “Amituofo.” Behind them were many men and women, each carrying incense. It looked as if they were all crying, weeping, and in deep grief, as they walked along the main road. When Jinggu saw them, she did not know what was going on, or where they were going. At first, she wanted to make inquiries, but it seemed inappropriate. Still, she kept thinking about it.

Before they had traveled half a day, they arrived at Luoyuan, where a secretary was waiting to escort them into the city to the yamen. Liu selected and announced a day to sit in court. After reviewing the servants of the four detachments and eight groups, he went to the city god’s temple to burn incense.⁵ On the way back, Jinggu saw many people carrying long banners, and suspected there was a reason. “I will go myself to try to find out what in the world the explanation for this is,” she said.

When Liu Qi was sleeping in the bedroom, she told a servant, “I’m going out to look into the customs of this place, then I’ll come back. If my husband wakes up and asks, you can tell him this.” Jinggu then traveled through an earth vein to the outskirts of Luoyuan. When she emerged from the earth vein, she went to a village. She saw that the village had only forty or fifty families living in it. From a small house on the left, there came the heart-rending sound of weeping.

Jinggu thought to herself, “Here there is surely a matter of extreme suffering, to be as grief-stricken as this.” She listened carefully to the sound—it was the voice of a woman. Jinggu stood for a time. Abruptly, the sound of crying stopped, and a woman came out. She was wearing mourning clothes and looked like a new widow. Jinggu quickly went up to her and said, “Elder sister, I’d like to use your house to rest briefly, then I’ll go.”

The woman replied, “Since you need lodging after a long journey, how could I dare not assent? Please come in and have some tea.”

She led Jinggu inside. Offering her a cup of tea and inviting her to drink, she asked, “Where do you come from? Where are you going?”

Jinggu answered, “I’ve come from Fuzhou, and I’m on my way back to Luoyuan.”

The woman exclaimed, “Fuzhou is a two-day journey from here! How could you have walked here?”

Jinggu answered, “It was by long-distance sedan chair. I accompanied my husband when he came to take up his post of police chief in Luoyuan. Today I came here looking for a family member, but because the road was long, I availed myself of this as a resting point. Only then did I hear you weeping so wretchedly, and I don’t yet know what is the matter, that you are so distressed.”

The woman said, “I think my fate is perverse and paper-thin. Last season I lost my husband. Above, I have no parents-in-law, and neither aunts nor uncles. Below, I have no siblings, and no children to depend on. I have no alternative but to return to my mother’s family to live. My mother died long ago, leaving only my father, who is almost seventy years old. Because the Ghost Festival last year was the time fixed to ascend to the Realm of the Immortals, many men and women of the older generation went to the Realm of Supreme Happiness, the Western Paradise, to become buddhas and wander at leisure.⁶ But as my father couldn’t bear to leave me, he wasn’t able to go to the Realm of the Immortals to enjoy the Western Paradise. Because my fate is unlucky, it has ensnared him. How could I not weep bitterly?”

When Jinggu heard her mention ascending to the Realm of the Immortals, it was precisely the band of people carrying banners she had seen the day before, and she couldn’t help asking for an explanation. She asked, “What immortal realm did your father want to ascend to? How can ordinary people become buddhas to enter the Realm of Supreme Happiness?”

The woman replied, “I can’t talk about it. I don’t think you, elder sister, know that at Luoyuan port many people make offerings to the Lotus School.⁷ Any village men and women can make offerings, chant scriptures morning and evening, pray to Buddha, and eat only vegetarian food. When they meet red meat they don’t accept it. When they encounter it, they don’t eat it. Each year, at the Ghost Festival on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the earth official changes bad luck into long life, saving myriad lives, and they enter Paradise. Wherever there are good men and believing women, and they are vegetarians, and have lived to more than sixty, and have been vegetarians for more than ten years, they can ascend to the Realm of the Immortals. Those who have reached the age of sixty but have been vegetarians for less than ten years must wait until this requirement has been fulfilled. On the night of the fifteenth, at Lian River port, a Buddhist gentleman appears on the surface of the sea and conjures a tower paradise, within which lantern lights flash and reflections of candles shine brilliantly. All is precious stones and jade articles. Multicolored festoons are tied together. High up in the tower there is the music of pipes and flutes. In the tower are Buddhist pilgrims standing along the rail on either side, and at the center of the building is a golden bridge that leads straight to the shore of the port, by which people ascending to Paradise can enter. The long bridge has handrails on either side. The old people, men and women, ascending to Paradise clasp their hands and chant scripture, and cross the bridge to enter Paradise. The sons and daughters, relatives, and friends who come to see them off kneel on the shore. The Daoist priests who invited them are no longer to be seen.”

When Jinggu heard this account, it exactly tallied with the events of the day. She said, “The day before, when I was on the road passing through Zhouyang, I saw a band of men, each holding a long banner. In front of them were Daoist priests, and behind them were these five old people. They were going from village to village. These were precisely the ones you mentioned who had received the teaching.”

The woman said, “Just so. They left yesterday. All the relatives said goodbye.”

Jinggu laughed and said, “This is outrageous! Eat vegetarian food for ten years, and then you can ascend to Paradise? I’m afraid some fiend or demon has set up this tower. It is an illusion to deceive people into becoming its meal. Those are all ordinary people, ignorant people who are harmed by the fiend demon, meeting with disaster and being buried in its belly. How sad that they have suffered practicing ten years of vegetarianism! When they reach old age they don’t get a good end. It really is abominable. Just wait! In future I will eliminate this fiend demon.”

The woman asked, “Elder sister, what martial arts do you have that you boast that you can eliminate this monster?”

Jinggu looked the woman over carefully. To herself she thought, “Although this woman’s fate is unlucky, and she is young and a recent widow, from the remarkable nature of her facial physiognomy obviously she is a woman of pure qi. I should teach her the magical arts. I will capture this fiend and save the lives of many people. How could this not be good?” Then she replied, “If it’s a matter of martial arts, then I have none at all. If it’s a matter of eliminating fiends, then it’s as easy as taking something out of one’s pocket.”

Then she asked, “What is your name?”

The woman replied, “My husband’s family name is Tao, and my father’s family name is Li. From childhood I have been called Third Elder Sister.”

Chen Jinggu said, “Elder sister, I will truthfully explain everything to you. I am from Xiadu in Fuzhou, and my name is Chen Jinggu. In earlier years at Mount Lü I studied magic, exterminating fiends, and capturing ghosts. Those are my skills. I am married to Liu Qi of Gutian, who is police chief in Luoyuan. The day before, when I saw on the road the boisterous procession of people ascending to Paradise, I felt very suspicious and didn’t understand what it meant. For this reason I came here today to make inquiries, and to find out the explanation. I am very fortunate that you explained everything so clearly. Truly it is the greatest good fortune that now you have made clear to me this matter that I was concerned about. What you have described is obviously a fiend demon indulging in evil and causing trouble to harm living souls. Isn’t it sad?”

When Madame Li heard that it was the wife of the local police chief who had come to her house, she was very flustered. At once she bowed down before her and said, “So it’s the police chief’s wife! I have really neglected you. I heard that in Fuzhou there is a Jinggu who returned from studying magic at Mount Lü, who constantly rids people of scourges. You are none other than the Madame Chen who is able to eliminate demons and monsters! I admire and respect you.”

Jinggu replied that it was indeed her and said, “But the incidents relate to Fuzhou, so how is it that people here, also, know the name Jinggu?”

Madame Li said, “The common saying puts it very well: ‘People like to hear accounts of distant places.’ I’ve only heard of you, but I had never met you. Today I am lucky to meet you face to face. It is truly my family’s great good luck. I intend to prostrate myself at your door as your servant. From morning till night I will listen to your lessons. I don’t know if you will accept me or not.”

Madame Chen said, “Why must you be so modest? What is this nonsense about being a servant? Since we are fond of each other, we ought to become sworn sisters.” Li Sanjie was delighted. She acknowledged Jinggu as her elder sister and herself as younger sister. When the two had pledged themselves sworn sisters and invoked a prayer, they requested Madame Li’s father to come out. They bowed to him and explained everything.

Madame Chen got up, saying, “I have deceived you and your father. I came here secretly to make inquiries into the story about ascending to Paradise. Now I’ve already delayed too long, so I must say goodbye. Worthy younger sister, you can make arrangements in advance for your family to take a trip. Go with your father to the police chief’s yamen. I will explain the details of the matter and teach you the magical arts.”

Madame Li said, “Since I am fortunate not to be abandoned, and to be sworn sisters with you, I beg you to stay for the noon meal, after which you can go. It won’t be too late.”

Madame Chen said, “What need is there for such politeness? I’m afraid that if I wait too long, the police chief will know when I return and it won’t be good. I must go at once.” No sooner had she finished speaking than she left, and in an instant she had disappeared without a trace. Madame Li, both astonished and happy, went in to explain the matter to her father.

Now we will take up the story of Chen Jinggu, who used an earth vein to return to the yamen. Inside, the female servant met her. Jinggu inquired, “Did the master of the house question you?”

The servant replied, “The master is still in there sleeping. He has been sleeping from the time you left, and has not yet awakened.” Madame Chen was very pleased. She told the servant to go out and notify the yamen personnel that if a woman surnamed Li came looking for her to quickly report this in the yamen and let her know. The servant went out to instruct the yamen personnel and transmit the order. Chen Jinggu was secretly pleased. Moreover, the master still hadn’t gotten up. Since she had gone out on her own, it was even better.

Now we will return to Madame Li. The next day, as instructed, she thoroughly cleaned the house and made arrangements for her father. She put on mourning clothes and walked to the police chief’s yamen, where she explained to the doorman that she wanted to see Madame Chen. He went into the inner office and reported to the servant, who in turn informed Madame Chen, who requested that Madame Li come into the inner yamen. As soon as Madame Li saw her, she said, “Elder sister on high, please accept my full respects.”

Madame Chen laughed, and said, “We are sisters from the same family! Why act like this? From now on, I will treat you, Madame Li, as if we were one flesh and blood. The matter is settled.”

Formerly, it was said that in Luoyuan there was a retired country gentleman who had left government service, whose name was Lin Chen. He once went as prefect to Dongdu.⁸ His wife was a Madame Xu, and they had two sons and a daughter, and several servants. Because of burdensome court business, Lin Chen resigned his position and returned to his hometown. His daughter was called Jiuniang. She was about seventeen years of age, both kind and beautiful. From the time she was young she read books, and was fond of discussing the Zhou Changes.⁹ From morning till night she always had a book in hand. With all her heart she studied the principles of divination and magical numbers, but there was no one with superior understanding to teach her and she often felt depressed. She accompanied her father when he returned to his hometown.

One day when they were staying at an inn, an old man with a snow-white beard and hair and an extraordinary appearance approached Mr. Lin. “Your daughter, Jiuniang, wants to study the principles of divination and divine numbers,” he said. “I have now especially brought a volume titled Luo River Divine Numbers. I hope you will give it to her, as it can teach her the inner mysteries.”¹⁰

Mr. Lin was delighted. He thought to himself, “My daughter is fond most of all of divinatory numbers. Now having obtained this book, I will give it to her to thoroughly familiarize herself with it, and it will certainly fulfil her heart’s desire.” He promptly took the book and went inside without even asking the old man’s name or thanking him. He gave the book to Jiuniang, who opened it and looked: inside were the instructions for the most esoteric information. In a short time she had thoroughly understood them, and was able to know the principles of the Changes and to arrange the trigrams. Jiuniang told her father that she knew it all, and sent him out to thank the old man.

Mr. Lin hurried out, but the old man had disappeared. Asking the young servant, he learned that when he himself had turned away, the old man had changed into a pure wind. The servant didn’t know where he had gone. Mr. Lin and his daughter were both astonished, and bowed in thanks.

From that time on, Jiuniang knew how to work transformations and marvels and the principles of arranging the trigrams. From dawn to dusk, she practiced without stopping. After they returned, one day she was in her room during the first watch laying out the changes of the numbers of the eight gates and the eight harms, and harmonizing them from within. The transformations were limitless. Just when she was in doubt, a very fierce man burst in from the sky. Greatly startled, she cried out.

The man descended into the palace of trigrams, and when Jiuniang looked again, he had changed into a thumb-sized paper man!¹¹ Jiuniang thought to herself, “It is surely a violent man who is working this evil magic, depositing this paper man in order to delude me. It’s a good thing I hadn’t yet gone to sleep, was arranging the trigrams here, and discovered it. If it had happened while I was sleeping, I would surely have suffered the poison of this malevolent man. My fate is certainly a happy one. It is the achievement of a spirit of good fortune.”

She took the paper man and pressed it into the female palace trigram. The male was Heaven and the female was Earth, with the female palace as the door to the earth. She continued to gaze at the trigrams, afraid that he would return. She kept guard until the second watch when, again, a voice sounded in the air, and another man arrived. Greatly alarmed, Jiuniang again shouted. The man descended and turned into a paper man two inches tall. Once again, Jiuniang pressed it into the female palace trigram. By the fifth watch, altogether five paper men had come. All of them had been shouted down by Jiuniang and pressed into the trigram. The first paper man to come held in his hand a rope, while the others wielded knives or brandished swords.

At dawn, Jiuniang told her parents about the paper men during the night. She was about to burn the five paper men in order to cut off the fiend when Lin Chen stopped her, saying, “You can’t destroy the five lives one after the other. That certainly would not be auspicious. For the moment, treat them with leniency. Wait while I look into what fiendish man sent them here and why. If the fiendish man who sent them to do harm comes seeking to rescue them, rebuke him and let him go. It should be all right.”

Then he sent out servants everywhere to make thorough inquiries, but there was no news. They only learned that there was a man of a particular school who frequently sent out disciples to lure in beautiful women. He belonged to a large temple on White Pagoda Peak, where there was an abbot who used fiendish evil arts. The servants returned home and made their report. Lin Chen said to Jiuniang, “This is the evil magic of a fiend priest. Wait for him to come to rescue [the trapped paper men], and see what he has to say.”

Now let us turn to White Pagoda Peak, on the border of Luoyuan. On the peak was White Pagoda Temple with an abbot named Iron Head Monk, and in the temple there were more than a hundred disciples. This Iron Head Monk had marvelous magic, so everyone was afraid of him, and even the local gentry and officials all respected him. Only Police Chief Liu, who had twice been appointed there as an official, and Prefect Lin, who had now finished his term of service and returned home, had not gone to call on him.

For this reason, the fiend monk harbored resentment. He heard that Prefect Lin had a daughter called Jiuniang, and that she was very beautiful. Intending to use his evil magic to lure Jiuniang into the temple for his wanton pleasure, Iron Head Monk had manifested his remarkable power. That night he dispatched disciples one after another to lure her, until there were five. But in the end, not even one reported back, and he had misgivings.

The next night, he himself secretly slipped into Prefect Lin’s house. Only then did he learn that Jiuniang herself was able to arrange the trigrams, and that his five disciples were all pressed into the female palace. Iron Head Monk burst out laughing and said, “Jiuniang, although you are able to arrange the trigrams, you are not capable of carrying out their magic. As a general principle, the male is the gate of Heaven and the female is the gate of Earth, the xun trigram is the human world, and the gen trigram is the way of the ghosts. These four gates of activity, I figure you can’t handle them.” He continued, “You only know the numbers of the Posterior to Heaven order of the ‘Yellow River Chart’ and the ‘Luo River Writing.’ You only know this, but you don’t know the transformations of the Heavenly One producing water and the Earthly Six receiving it. These are the marvelous numbers of the dragon and horse carrying on their backs the River Charts.”¹² Then he went back to the White Pagoda Temple.

In the end, to see how Iron Head Monk saved the lives of his disciples, read the next chapter.