“You cannot lie to me,” said Hong, but the acolyte did not reply to this, and went on his way playing his flute.
The envoy thought, “How can the boy know as much as he says, it may be that the Heavenly Teacher has told him to say this so as to test my perseverance. But as I have already met so many frightful things perhaps it would be better if I now get back.” So he retraced his steps.
Upon reaching the temple at the foot of the mountain he was asked by the priests whether he had seen the Heavenly Teacher. He told them what frightful experiences he had had, and said he suspected them of merely trifling with an Imperial Envoy.
“How dare we poor Taoists treat you disrespectfully?” replied the abbot. “These trials might have been arranged by the Heavenly Teacher to test your perseverance. The snakes and tigers on this mountain do not injure people.”
“As I was going to struggle up the mountain, I saw a cowherd coming out of a pine forest on a yellow cow, playing a flute who told me that the Heavenly Teacher had flown away on a crane this morning to the Eastern Capital, and so I returned.”
“What a pity that you missed such a fine opportunity! That cowherd was the Heavenly Teacher himself!”
“In that case why did he appear in such a strange way?”
“Because he is not an ordinary man. He is only young, but his supernatural power is unbounded. He is not a common person. His power is omnipotent. The people all praise him as the Master of the Tao.”
“I am so ignorant that I have failed to deliver the edict.”
“Never mind! As the Heavenly Teacher meant to go, I think the prayers may have been over and the pestilence already vanished when you get back to the Eastern Capital.”
The Imperial edict was replaced in the cover, and put in the Hall of Three Purities. A feast was then prepared for the envoy.
After breakfast the following morning the abbot suggested that they should stroll round the monastery for a sight-seeing. They did so, and spent some time going round all the temple buildings. One of these attracted Marshal Hong Xin’s attention. It was surrounded by a red mud wall; the entrance had a large red door with two leaves which were fastened by a very big lock. There were about ten strips of paper sealing the door, and these were all stamped with red seals; above the door was a board with four gilt characters, “The Subdued Demons Hall.” The envoy asked what the Hall was used for, and was informed that a previous Heavenly Teacher had subdued many demons, and imprisoned them there.
“But why are there so many seals on the door?”
“During the Tang dynasty the Heavenly Teacher Dong Xuan subdued the king of the demons, and locked him up inside this Hall. The succeeding generations have each added another seal so that is may never be opened. If those devils ever got out there would be a great calamity. Now about nine generations have passed, and no one ever attempted to tamper with this arrangement. Molten copper has been poured into the lock so that it is impossible to unlock the door. I have lived here for thirty years, and this is all that I have heard of but nobody knows what is inside.
Marshal Hong Xin felt very curious at this, and had a desire to investigate so he said to the superintendent, “Please open the door, and I will see what this king of the demons is like.”
“We dare not do that. Our former masters enjoined us not to open it and we cannot presume to disobey the order.”
The Imperial Envoy laughed, and said, “Nonsense! You only falsely declare there is something strange, in order to deceive the innocent people. You purposedly arrange such places and tell people that demons are locked up inside so as to show off your spiritual powers. I have read hundreds of volumes of books, and yet have never read of the king of the demons being imprisoned here. There is no way by which man can know about the supernatural. I do not believe that the king of the demons is inside here. Quickly open the door, and I want see what this demon is.”
The abbot still declined to do this, as he was afraid that somebody would be injured.
Marshal Hong became angry, and pointing at the Taoists, said, “As you will not open the door I shall first report that you refused to obey the Imperial orders, and not allow me to see the Heavenly Teacher. Also I will say that you are falsely declaring that the king of the demons is imprisoned here, in order to deceive decent people. Your license will be canceled, and you will all be banished to some distant places.”
The priests were all afraid of his great influence, and therefore they summoned servants to tear off the seals, and break the big lock. This was done, and when the door was opened they all went inside, but could not see anything because it was pitch dark there. So Marshal Hong ordered the servants to light about ten torches, and with these he made a close examination. There was not a single thing except a stone tablet in the center of the hall. It was about six feet in height, and was resting on a stone tortoise which was almost half in the soil. On the tablet were characters of the very ancient style, and they could not make out any of them. But upon examining the other side of the tablet they found four characters which read, “Open when Hong comes.” The Imperial Envoy Marshal Hong Xin was much pleased at this, and turning to the Taoists said, “You tried to obstruct me, but many hundred years ago they wrote my name here, and predicted that I would come here, and open the door. The fiends, I see, are imprisoned under this tortoise. Dig out the stone tortoise for me!”
The Taoists were terrified at the order, and said that it was not safe to do such a thing.
Marshal Hong was angry at this continuous obstruction, and abused them as ignorant. He insisted upon the excavation being begun immediately. As on the stone tablet it was stated that he would open the place so although the Taoists still objected they at last gave way, and told the workmen to dig. The men removed the soil and the tortoise. After digging about three feet down they unearthed a square slab of stone. Marshal Hong told them to lift it out, and in spite of objections from the Taoists, the stone was raised, and carried out of the hole.
It was evident that the slab was the cover of a very deep well. Now that the cover was removed a loud strange noise was heard far down in the cavity, and instantly a black cloud shot out from below, breaking a corner of the roof of the hall, and escaped through the aperture. The cloud ascended very high in the sky, and then burst forth into more than a hundred rays of light and disappeared in all directions.
All the spectators were astounded and rushed away from the hall. Even Marshal Hong was thunderstruck, and his countenance changed to a pale yellow color. He went out to the veranda where he met the abbot who lamented the result. Upon his asking what the demon was which had escaped the superintendent replied, “You do not understand. The fact is that our former Master Dong Xuan imprisoned here the thirty-six heavenly spirits, and seventy-two baneful stars which make a total of 108 fiends. The names of these fiends are inscribed on the stone in ancient writing. As they have now all been released they will bring calamity to the people. What are you going to do in the matter?”
Upon hearing this Marshal Hong was covered with cold perspiration and trembled with fear. Without saying a word he went to pack his baggage and calling together his retinue he quickly departed down the mountain on his way back to the Capital.
On the way Marshal Hong told his suite that they must not mention to anybody what had happened as he was afraid that if the Emperor heard of it he would be punished. They traveled both night and day, and soon reached the Capital, Bianliang, in modern Kaifeng. There he found that the Taoist Heavenly Teacher had arrived, and had held seven days’ service against the pestilence and had written magical spells for the sick people and as the pestilence had abated the Heavenly Teacher had flown back on his stork to the mountain.
The following morning Marshal Hong attended the early audience, and addressed the Emperor, “The Heavenly Teacher traveled by crane, and as I could only travel by horse relays he had been here and returned before I could arrive.”
The Emperor did not