The Sorceress' Revolt - Ko Eiji's Story - Part 1 Chapter 2 by Translations by Ainikki / Anime Blog Tracker

The Sorceress' Revolt - Ko Eiji's Story - Part 1 Chapter 2

.post p { margin:0 0 .75em; line-height:1.5em; text-indent:1.5em; } The Sorceress' Revolt - Ko Eiji's Story Author: Toriumi Jinzō Translator: Ainikki the Archivist Part One: Sorceress Chapter 2 Bianliang was an enormous city ringed by three walls: the outer city wall, the inner city wall, and the Imperial Palace wall. Four main canals ran through the city, serving as the primary trade and travel route. The Imperial Palace, military barracks, government offices, shops, and private homes were all densely packed together; wide swaths of open space were rare. A million people swarmed in the streets. Bianliang was the largest city in the world, so the sorcerers sent to search it for Ko Biji’s reincarnation were at a disadvantage from the start. Even using magic, their task was well-nigh unachievable. They could not openly search for the girl without drawing undue attention to themselves and risking arrest. It wouldn’t be so terrible if they were detained, but if anyone discovered their relationship to Sei Koko, they would be bringing danger and trouble to the leader of their religion and the entire sorcerer army. Consequently, searching the city went slowly. They knew that Ko Biji’s reincarnation was a girl and about fifteen or sixteen years old. She probably wouldn’t look just like Ko Biji, so they possessed no detailed physical description of the girl. They didn’t even know her name. Bianliang was a metropolitan capital city; many wealthy people and beautifully dressed girls wandered the streets at all hours. The sorcerer Boku Kichi, who was also under Sei Koko’s command, was charged with searching for the girl in specific places. He haunted the city’s entertainment districts, seeing every play and musical performance on offer while he looked for Ko Biji’s reincarnation. He also kept an eye on the girls who frequented hairpin shops and clothing stores. As these were public places, he could not use his magic openly. At best, he could use blinding magic to get in to the theaters without paying an entrance fee. Sometimes he would sneak into the dressing rooms and watch the female actors changing. Boku Kichi only had eyes for women. A former actor himself, he was only twenty-four years old and quite attractive. Actresses chatted with him easily and he found out a lot about them and their peers. This might seem like an enviable job, but Boku Kichi had no interest in women. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. An elixir he’d imbibed as a young man had left him completely impotent. The elixir was meant to show him details of his past life, but obviously something had gone terribly awry. A doctor diagnosed Boku Kichi with nerve paralysis and the inability to get an erection. In despair, he attempted suicide, but was discovered by Sei Koko by chance. As Boku Kichi wept in frustration, Sei Koko promised to help him solve his problem. At that point in his life, he pretended to hate all women, but internally he burned with lust. Sei Koko examined his private parts and heard his story with clinical calm. Then she said, “Your condition is quite serious, and not easy to cure. Your illness is mental—a fundamental belief that has taken root in your mind. If you worship Empress Wu Zetian day and night and master sorcery, you will be able to exorcise the evil spirits rooted in your mind. Then you will be able to get an erection just by imagining a woman. Pray often, and learn well.” Boku Kichi followed the teachings of Sei Koko, worshiped the statue of Empress Wu Zetian in the shrine every morning and night, and devoted himself to sorcery. When he’d started learning sorcery, he hadn’t even qualified as a weak sorcerer, but he’d made leaps and bounds in his abilities since then. *** Three months had passed since Boku Kichi and Sei Koko’s other sorcerers had started looking for the reincarnated girl, but the investigation was proving to be extremely difficult. Sei Koko was impatient and scolded the sorcerers tasked with searching Bianliang. Whenever they found an unusually beautiful girl, the sorcerers would investigate her lineage, family structure, religion, and economic situation, as well as her date of birth, appearance, personality, hobbies, views on men, and if possible, the time of her first period, whether or not she was a virgin, and even the thickness of her pubic hair. All of these details and more, they reported to Sei Koko. Sei Koko never told anyone why she needed all of this information. She was being guided by what she’d learned from the Heavenly Book and her dreams and visions of Wu Zetian. They had to change something. What they were doing wasn’t working to find the girl. The sorcerers had investigated six hundred and eighty-eight girls within the city, though only four had warranted incredibly close scrutiny. None of those four girls was the one they sought. Sei Koko knew it. Wu Zetian had told her that she would have a strong connection to the girl, and so far, Sei Koko had not sensed any such connection. *** Go Saburō was one of Sei Koko’s sorcerers. He was seventeen years old and small for his age. Before joining up with Sei Koko, he’d trained for some years as a street acrobat and had an affinity for sorcerous multi-body techniques. He wasn’t very practiced at sorcery yet, though, nor was he particularly smart. Go Saburō thought he’d come up with a simple way to find the reincarnated girl. Ko Biji was the girl’s original name, so he decided to look up the Ko family within the city. It wasn’t necessarily the case that someone reincarnated would have the same surname, but he figured it was worth a try. Go Saburō visited Ko Kō’s store on Panlou Street and discovered Ko Eiji. He decided to report the girl to Sei Koko, even though his report would probably be quickly dismissed. He was a weak sorcerer, not very smart or confident. Sei Koko had no problem ignoring him and his antics most of the time.. Despite Go Saburō’s lowly position, Sei Koko heard his report. “Excuse me, mistress,” Go Saburō said. “Could this girl be someone in her thirties?” He’d been deceived by a thirty-year-old woman before. She’d pretended to be much younger in order to get more money from him. “No, Go Saburō,” Sei Koko said patiently. “The girl is my daughter, only reincarnated. She will be fifteen or sixteen years old.” Go Saburō nodded thoughtfully. “Well, mistress, I checked at the store on Panlou Street, and the girl there is sixteen years old.” “What kind of store is it?” “It’s a big store. There are three shops lined up, a gold and silver jewelry shop, a clothing shop, and a calligraphy and paintings shop. Each store has a manager, three store clerks, and about ten apprentices.” “So the store owner is wealthy.” “Mountains of coins reach the sky, and rice is plentiful in the storehouse.” “Don’t lie like you’ve seen it,” Sei Koko scolded Go Saburō. Go Saburō scratched his head. “Yeah, well, that’s what I’ve heard.” “What kind of girl did you see?” “She is very beautiful. Her name is Ko Eiji.” “Go Saburō, did you really see this girl, or are you making up a story again?” “Yes, I really saw her! I think she might be the girl you’re looking for, mistress. I gazed upon her and was struck dumb by her great beauty. It was like she put a spell over me.” “I understand your report.” Sei Koko gave Go Saburō a cynical smile. She knew from experience that Go Saburō was something of a womanizer, which made him likely to exaggerate any woman’s beauty beyond reasonable limits. She didn’t want to hear any more from Go Saburō. Go Saburō failed to read her mood and kept providing details. “Ko Eiji’s father’s name is Ko Kō. Her mother’s name is Chō Shi.” “Enough already. It is obvious to see that it is only the family’s great wealth that draws your attention.” Go Saburō looked crestfallen. He muttered complaints under his breath as he bowed, then walked away from Sei Koko. Before he was out of earshot, he turned and said, “One more thing, mistress, and then I shall leave you. The girl was born when her mother was forty-two years old, which is quite late. They have no other children. Apparently her father made a wish at the Great Shangqing Palace.” 1 “Is it even possible for her to have a child at that age?” Sei Koko appeared speculative. Her eyes lit up with lively interest. “Wait a moment, and tell me more about the Great Shangqing Palace.” “Yes, mistress. Ko Kō’s family are all devout Daoists. The Palace functions as a shrine, and it is dedicated to Xuanwu, the god of the North Star. There are rumors that the current emperor was born after the previous emperor visited the shrine. This one knows little else, mistress. Shall we depart to Bianliang to take a look at the girl?” “Yes, I believe we shall,” Sei Koko said. Go Saburō was positively elated. He wanted to see Ko Eiji again. Sei Koko began her preparations for travel, thinking all the while. She possessed a deep karmic connection to Daoism. A girl born under the lucky auspices of the North Star might well be her reincarnated daughter. Xuanwu was highly trusted by the Jade Emperor, one of the most powerful gods. The Great Shangqing Palace was blessed and considered to be lucky: the previous emperor, Zhenzong, had prayed there when he and his wife were still childless when he was thirty years old. Zhenzong submitted prayers to the Jade Emperor to various mountain temples and prayed himself at the Great Shangqing Palace. Soon after, Zhenzong’s empress became pregnant. The rumor was that the Jade Emperor had commanded the Barefoot Immortal to reincarnate and become Emperor Zhenzong’s son. 2 The infant emperor-to-be, Renzong, loved being barefoot and always had a genial smile on his face. Emperor Renzong’s existence was literally made in the Great Shangqing Palace. He’d been touched by the Daoist immortals in that place. Sei Koko was keen on visiting the Great Shangqing Palace in the near future to investigate. *** The morning after Go Saburō gave his report, Panlou Street bustled with shoppers rummaging through the latest luxury goods in all of the famous and prosperous shops. Most of the crowd were high-ranking government officials or the wives and daughters of wealthy people. It was well into autumn and the weather was cold, but just as Go Saburō had said, all of Ko Kō’s stores were full to the rafters. Leaving the inn where they’d stayed the night, Sei Koko and Go Saburō disguised themselves as a retired clerk from a good family and the lady of the house, whom he was accompanying. They posed as shoppers, browsing Ko Kō’s wares inconspicuously. No one looked twice at them. Sei Koko and Go Saburō were able to search for Ko Eiji without interference. When Sei Koko entered the clothing shop, she had a bolt of inspiration. Something here was stimulating her sorcerous senses. Go Saburō peered out from the crowd of customers in front of the clothing shop towards the cashier. He was beginning to look impatient. If he stayed in one place too long, he might arouse suspicion as a thief. Inside the shop, Sei Koko was thinking about choosing another day to come back, but she suddenly glanced over at Go Saburō. He had his arms clasped around his chest and was sitting in a strange position. Sei Koko knew right away what he was trying to do. He’s going to use magic? Here? Sei Koko clicked her tongue in annoyance. It was afternoon, but the sun was still bright. If he caused a commotion and failed, Sei Koko was worried that her true identity would be exposed. She tried to perform an exorcism to prevent his magic from manifesting, but it was too late. A young woman stood in front of the store as if she had been paralyzed and began to convulse. Go Saburō was still inexperienced at performing multi-body techniques; the spell he’d attempted was far beyond him. He hadn’t fallen under the spell’s misfiring hex and was uninjured, but he wrapped his arms around himself and trembled in fear. The shoppers noticed the commotion and started making a fuss. “She’s seriously ill!” someone called out, catching the young woman before she could fall. “Someone, call a doctor for this man!” someone else called out. The store manager and the shop assistant came running to help. “Maybe he’s possessed by a fox spirit. Something’s very wrong.” 3 The technique of paralysis was a forbidden spell. Originally, it was used by Daoist monks to immobilize poisonous snakes when they were training in the mountains. The technique removed all freedom of movement from an opponent, which was very useful. The technique was forbidden because after casting it, the sorcerer’s own magic would be dispelled. In Baopuzi, Ge Hong wrote: “The power of the forbidden spell cannot spread like an epidemic. Rather, forbidden spells stop all other magic. The energy in them neutralizes the turbulence of natural disasters. Qi is power, and thought is its foundation.” The ultimate forbidden spell, “Forbidden Pinnacle,” would completely paralyze a person. In the Taiping Guangji4 there was a story about the immortal woman Xu Xianhu, the daughter of Xu Zhicai of the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577 CE). Though she was already several hundred years old, she only appeared to be about twenty years old. One day while traveling, she stayed overnight at a temple in the mountains. Inside the temple there were ten evil monks, and when they saw that she was a woman, they tried to assault her. Xu Xianhu calmly took off all her clothes, lay down on her guest bed and went to sleep. At dawn, Xu Xianhu got dressed and left the temple. Nothing happened. The forbidden spell that Xu Xianhu cast during the night made the evil monks like stone statues until the morning. “Ko Biji!” Sei Koko called out. All eyes in the store were focused on the commotion, so Sei Koko’s shout and the blue light shining from her eyes went relatively unnoticed. The shock of Go Saburō’s failed spell had caused Sei Koko’s true nature to be revealed. Her eyes weren’t shining blue because she wanted them to. She’d never lost control over her power in this way before. There was no way that Go Saburō, a weak sorcerer, could cast a proper forbidden spell. He needed to train his qi and discipline his mind before he could even think about doing such a thing. Sei Koko glared at Go Saburō, but then he said, “Mistress, please wait.” He held her gaze, then looked toward a girl in the crowd. The girl had rushed out of the clothing shop to see what was going on. She stood near a cashier, casting worried glances at the paralyzed woman. Sei Koko’s sense of inspiration swelled; she wanted to shout her revelation to the heavens. Her eyes shone even brighter as she realized that this was the girl. This was Ko Biji’s reincarnation. Sei Koko regained her composure, and the blue light shining from her eyes faded away. She was still stunned by the discovery of her reincarnated daughter, but she did not let her emotions shatter her internal equilibrium. She’d trained for decades to create a completely calm and still interior world. The girl—Ko Eiji—looked so much like Ko Biji. So similar that even Sei Koko, who had given birth to Ko Biji, was impressed by the fidelity of the likeness. She had lustrous black hair, a thin, pale face, neat eyebrows, and a small mouth. As the daughter of a wealthy merchant, she had the freedom to do as she pleased, but the clothes she wore were very sensible considering her social position. The jewelry and ornaments she wore were of the highest quality and were dazzlingly beautiful. Sei Koko took in the sight of her reincarnated daughter and felt the stirrings of hope for the future. She’d done it. Ko Biji’s reincarnation was found. The young paralyzed woman stopped convulsing and managed to stand. She looked around in a daze and seemed unsure of where she was and what had happened. Ko Eiji gave the young woman a few words of encouragement, then returned to the clothing shop. Go Saburō approached Sei Koko with his head hung low. “I am sorry that I failed the spell so badly, mistress.” “Never mind that. Come to my room tonight, Go Saburō.” “Excuse me, mistress? What did you say?” Even Sei Koko’s eyes were smiling. Translator's Notes 1 宝籙宮: For more than half a millennium, the Great Shangqing Palace was the primary place of worship for one of the most popular Daoist sects in China. It was built in the Song Dynasty but burned to the ground; its ruins were only recently rediscovered in 2018. ↩ 2 赤腳大仙: The Barefoot Immortal, also known as Barefoot Master, is a Daoist deity in Chinese religion. He is known for his numerous appearances in Chinese operas and Chinese ancient literature, such as Journey to the West and The Water Margin. The ancient images and ceramic works that people found about the conception of the appearance of Barefoot Immortal demonstrate that in the minds of most people, Barefoot Immortal is a kind god who always has a gracious smile on his face. The rumor/legend about Emperor Renzong being his reincarnation is historically true; this is what people believed during the Song Dynasty. ↩ 3 In Japan as in China, foxes are traditionally tricksters in many tales, and are blamed for trickery and sorcery as often as not--even when there are no foxes nearby. ↩ 4 太平廣記: The Taiping Guangji, sometimes translated as the Extensive Records of the Taiping Era, or Extensive Records of the Taiping Xinguo Period, is a collection of stories compiled in the early Song Dynasty. The work was completed in 978 CE and printing blocks were cut, but it was prevented from official publication on the grounds that it contained only fiction and thus "was of no use to students." It circulated in various manuscript copies until it was published in the Ming dynasty. It is considered one of the Four Great Books of Song (宋四大書). ↩

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