“Do not worry,” said Ji Gong, “I will teach you a few safe phrases. When you see any bricks, just say, ‘Bricks, you are above me and I will respect you. I will not recite hocus-pocus, and you will not get up and hit me.’”
“Teacher, what shall I do?” the Daoist asked.
Ji Gong told him, “I will give you my monk’s robe to put on and the hat to wear and teach you several phrases. Go to the Su Embankment at the West Lake near the Qiantang gate. There you will find a place called the Cold Spring Pavilion. Go up there and stand, saying loudly three times, ‘Li Guoyuan, Li Guoyuan need not go to the Monastery of the Soul’s Retreat at the West Lake to find Ji Gong. Give me your ten ounces of pure silver, and you will still have three hundred and sixty cash left.’”
The old Daoist did not want to go, but there was not a cash at the shrine, so he went. Every time he had gone out before, his clothing had been very handsome and correct. Today the old Daoist had no choice. He put on the monk’s old, ragged robe and asked, “Teacher, if I do go there and say these words three times, will the silver just fall?”
The monk replied, “Just keep your mind on getting there and calling out the words loudly three times. Then there will be someone who will question you. We monks have an expression, ‘Take a small donation.’ It will be enough to take care of you for your lifetime.”
The Daoist had no choice but to go. He left the Shrine of the Three Virtues with his head bowed, fearing to meet someone he knew.
Along the street there were many neighbors who knew the Daoist. Some of them seeing him commented: “Isn’t that the venerable Daoist Liu from the Shrine of the Three Virtues? How could he have come to this condition? The tables seem to have turned. It could not have been anything else—he must love gambling.”
The old Daoist heard them but could not very well answer. He walked on until he came to the Su embankment at the West Lake and the Cold Spring Pavilion. There was a major highway at that place and a great many people passing to and fro. The old Daoist stood at the pavilion and called out, “Li Guoyuan need not go to the Monastery of the Soul’s Retreat to look for Ji Gong. Give me the ten ounces of pure silver you have, and you will still have three hundred and sixty cash left.”
The Daoist called this out three times and attracted the attention of a great many people. All of them started talking. Some said that the old Daoist had gone mad. Others said that he was looking for Li Guoyuan.
Just as this discussion was taking place, two men walked up through the crowd. One of them was saying to the other, “Dear brother, is that Ji Gong, or someone that looks like him?”
The two moved closer. The one in front seemed from his clothing to be a wealthy man. The other, a younger man, appeared cultured and elegant. As the two looked at the old Daoist, the first said, “You! Old Daoist, have you harmed or killed Ji Gong and taken from him those clothes that you are wearing?”
“I certainly have not harmed or killed Ji Gong. He has harmed me! He has eaten me down to my last pair of pants!” the old Daoist protested. “What are the names of you two honorable gentlemen?”
The cultured and elegant younger man was Li Guoyuan. His home was in the fourth hutung, a narrow alley, of the Green Bamboo Forest that was in the southern part of Linan. The family was at one time wealthy, and he himself was a literary graduate. He had taken a wife from the Lin family, a virtuous young woman, very dear to him. For no apparent reason she was stricken with a mental illness. A great many gentlemen had been invited to examine her, but with no helpful results. Li Guoyuan was very depressed by this.
He had a friend named Li Chunshan who acted as a private tutor in the home of a high official named Du. One day early in the morning Li Guoyuan went to see Chunshan. While the two were discussing their personal affairs, Li Guoyuan mentioned that his wife had become mentally ill and that, although they had invited several doctors to examine her, she was no better.
Li Chunshan said, “In the household shrine of High Official Du, there is a prince’s tally. It is a scroll that was once sent by an emperor to one of his sons as a symbol that his father had chosen him to be the next emperor. This tally has been a treasured possession of the Du family for several generations. On this tally are the eight trigrams, symbols used to repel evil, and the characters ‘five thunders’ are shown. Perhaps it is an invocation to the Thunder God, a protector of mankind against the demons that cause illness. I will ask if I can lend it to you. If he won’t lend it, I will simply take it and give it to you to use. If you hang it in your home for two hours, it will drive out all evil spirits.”
Li Guoyuan said, “Just as soon as this tally cures my wife’s illness, I will return it.”
Li Chunshan went to the Du family shrine, and, opening a chest, secretly removed the prince’s tally and brought it outside. It was in a small case of precious cedar.
Li Chunshan said, “This is a treasured heirloom of the Du family. I secretly borrowed it to let you take it, but a thousand times ten thousand be careful! Hang it for two mornings and it will drive out the evil spirit. Then get it back to me.”
Li Guoyuan said, “I will bring it back tomorrow.” Taking the tally, he said goodbye.
But as he walked away by himself, he thought, “Oh! We didn’t have breakfast!” Originally they had intended to eat together, but as soon as they started talking about the scroll, they forgot all about it. “It’s not convenient for me to go home and eat now. Just ahead there is a restaurant on the north side of the road. I will go in and look.”
Inside the place was full of wealthy friends of his. Everyone stood up and called, “Graduate Li, come and drink with us.”
Li Guoyuan said, “Do not shout, gentlemen. I have to talk to someone.” He went to the back room and found a table. After he had called for wine and drunk two cups, he thought to himself, “Everyone called to me in greeting, and I didn’t greet anyone. That was wrong of me.” He quickly got up and went to say a word to his friends.
When he had finished speaking to them, he turned and went back to his table. Suddenly his eyes widened in fright, and his mouth dropped open in an idiotic expression. The demon-chasing, five-thunders, eight-trigram prince’s tally was gone!
CHAPTER 5
Zhao Wenhui goes to the West Lake to visit Ji Gong; the drunken Chan master explains celestial bargaining
AFTER Li Guoyuan had greeted his various friends and returned to find that the borrowed scroll was not to be seen, he could no longer drink any of his wine, nor eat the food. He thought to himself, “If I had lost anything but the scroll, I could make some sort of repayment, but there is nowhere that this kind of thing can be purchased. This is a treasured family heirloom of the Du family. If news of this gets out, how could my friend, my elder brother, not lose his position?”
He then quickly called the manager to reckon the amount of the bill, telling him to put it on his account. The manager asked why he had not eaten. Li Guoyuan said, “I have some important business to do.”
Without any further talk, he hastened home and calling several trusted people of his household together, he told them: “While I was eating in such and such a wine shop just now, I lost a prince’s tally consisting of a scroll with the eight trigrams and the characters ‘five thunders’ as a prayer to ask the help of the Thunder God. Go around and see whether you can find out which gang the thief belonged to, and whether you can get someone to buy
