Chapter 235: Casting Swords in the Stone Cavern

Wuluo Zhongli Mountain stands sheer and precipitous. On its northern and southern faces there is a dark, damp cave on each side, called the Red Cave and the Black Cave. It is said that two thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Ba clan and the Fan, Shen, Xiang, and Zheng clans all walked out of these two caves.

At that time the Ba ancestors "had no lords or chiefs, and all served the ghosts and spirits." They gathered fruit, fished, and hunted to live, and also practiced simple slash-and-burn farming. The people clustered by the mountains and dwelt beside the waters, villages and hamlets scattered like stars. But because the mountain fruits could not be picked in all four seasons, the forest game was unstable, and the land that could be farmed by slash-and-burn grew ever scarcer, the people often went hungry.

The cramped Wuluo Zhongli Mountain could no longer sustain the Ba people. As the wild beasts in the mountains dwindled and the fish in the waters grew ever smaller, the five Ba clans began to gather and deliberate: for their clans to multiply and grow strong, they needed to choose a lord who could command all five clans, to lead everyone away from Wuluo Zhongli Mountain, out into the unknown world, to seek an ideal realm "where the hundred grains gather"!

They called that imagined fertile land "the Lin Land."

And so, under the direction of the shamans, the five clans selected their mightiest warriors and gathered together. They did not choose to go deep into the mountains to fight tigers, or to the river bottom to catch fish; the contest equipment was not the crowd-pleasing log-lifting or stone-heaving, but rather sword-casting and boat-floating…

Everything was just like today.

Fan Qin, Ba Zhong, and the lords of the various divisions walked about one li up the western face of Wuluo Zhongli Mountain from its foot, and then they saw a stone cavern. The cave mouth was twined with vines, guarded by several shamans who, bearing torches, led the way inside.

This stone cavern had long since lost the primitive simplicity of over a thousand years ago; it was now covered in murals painted with pigments of every color: the legend of the Ba people's origin, the ancient folk of the Red and Black Caves, and the scene from many years ago when the sons of the five clans cast swords here to decide their leader.

The Ba people had no writing; it was by this method of telling stories through pictures that the events of two thousand years ago were passed down mouth to mouth, generation after generation, so that none would forget the deeds of their ancestors.

The stone cavern was broader than it appeared from the outside. They walked inward like this for over a hundred paces and finally reached the innermost part, where they saw it suddenly opened wide, over ten zhang across. In the cavern ceiling were several hollow openings that let the sunlight stream through.

Two great stone blocks, one red and one black, stood side by side here, one zhang apart.

These were the Yin and Yang Stones; the Ba people regarded these two stones as divine stones. At the shamaness's direction, the crowd went over one after another to touch them with their hands. The Yin Stone was perpetually damp and could even seep water, while the Yang Stone was perpetually dry, and any blood dripped onto it during sacrifices would swiftly dry up.

Between the Yin and Yang Stones stood a huge wooden target — this was the mark for the sword-casting.

At this moment the shamaness spoke: "Descendants of Lord Lin, the Ba people have always decided great tribal matters within the stone cavern. This custom has been passed down from countless ages past and remains so to this day; none dare defy it."

"Long ago the sons of the five clans cast swords together in the stone cavern, agreeing that whoever struck the target would be honored as lord of the five clans. In the end, Wuxiang, son of the Ba clan, alone struck it, and all sighed in submission. Then they bade everyone ride earthen boats, agreeing that whoever could stay afloat would be made lord. The other four all sank; only Wuxiang alone stayed afloat. And so the people established Wuxiang as lord — he was the first generation of Lord Lin!"

"Now Lord Lin is gone, the Ba state has perished, and the Ba people are scattered. Yet we alone follow the ancient way. Some of you support submitting to Qin, some support submitting to Chu; you argue endlessly among yourselves, drawing strife to Wuluo Zhongli Mountain. The blood of our clansmen has flowed enough — this state of affairs cannot continue! Today, within the stone cavern, before the Yin and Yang Stones, before the spirits of our ancestors, we shall decide the fate of all divisions by sword-casting! He who strikes the target shall decide whether all divisions submit to Qin or submit to Chu!"

It seemed an almost frivolous method, yet no one objected. Hearing this, Fan Qin even burst into loud laughter.

He was a proud Ba warrior. In all the tribes for hundreds of li along the Yi River, none was fiercer than he, and none cast a sword more accurately than he. In his eyes, this was a method tailor-made for him by heaven, a favor from the shamaness and the ancestors.

Everyone's weapons had been taken from them at the cavern mouth. The shamans presented the short swords used for casting, letting each participant in the sword-casting take one.

"I shall go first!"

As the lord of the largest local division, Fan Qin unceremoniously picked one up and bowed to the shamaness, saying, "I will not disappoint the Great Shamaness!"

The shamaness had, one could say, watched Fan Qin grow up, and she had thought well of him as the head of the local divisions. But at this very moment, she only pressed her lips together; the thick paint on her face made her expression unreadable.

Fan Qin noticed nothing amiss. His frame was huge and powerful; he held the short sword, aimed at the wooden target between the Yin and Yang Stones, and hurled it with a sweep of his arm — dead center!

"A hit!"

Fan Qin laughed in triumph, but when he turned his head, he found that the crowd behind him was not cheering for him as they usually did, but watching him darkly…

It happened suddenly, as if prearranged. The lords of the various divisions abruptly surged forward together. They did not cast their swords; instead, they turned their short swords on Fan Qin and plunged the blades into his chest, into his belly!

Ba Zhong also stepped forward to stab, but before he could wound Fan Qin, Fan Qin let out a tremendous roar and kicked Ba Zhong flying! The others who tried to pin Fan Qin down were also shoved to the ground!

This Ba warrior was like a wounded fierce tiger. After beating back his attackers with his bare hands, he retreated to the Yin and Yang Stones, leaned on the Yang Stone, and clutched the wounds in his chest and belly, panting heavily. The blood from his hands stained the dry stone red.

This scene was something Fan Qin had never, ever imagined. He had foreseen that the fractured divisions might fight among themselves at Wuluo Zhongli Mountain, so he had brought a fair number of men with him as a precaution. But he had never imagined that the crowd would, in the sacred stone cavern, beside the Yin and Yang Stones, under the gaze of the ancestor spirits, draw blades on him!

"Great Shamaness…"

Fan Qin looked toward the shamaness, who watched as clearly as if seeing a fire through a cave but had not spoken to stop it, and seemed to understand everything. That the crowd could do all this was, of course, because the shamaness had tacitly permitted it.

"Why this betrayal of trust?"

The shamaness opened her withered lips and murmured, "The first Lord Lin, Wuxiang, also once betrayed trust and broke faith, shooting dead the Salt Water Goddess. All of it was for the divisions, for the clansmen."

The Ba people were no longer what they had been. The population could migrate, but their ancestral land could not be moved. Therefore the Ba people of Yi Circuit had no choice but to choose between Qin and Chu to submit to, so that they could continue to remain here.

Earlier, the various divisions had been stirred up by Fan Qin to raise troops and oppose Qin, but the facts had proven this a reckless decision. They could not even take the tiny city of Yi Circuit, and Qin was not as pathetically weak as the Chu envoys had claimed.

If the Qin people settled accounts after autumn and sent a great army to attack, they might force the Ba people to leave Wuluo Zhongli Mountain. In the shamaness's view, this was absolutely unacceptable.

Besides, compared to Fan Qin's offerings, the money, silks, and treasures that the Widow Qing of Ba Commandery had people deliver each year were far more generous. It was also the shamaness who had originally informed the Ba clan's horse team of Fan Qin's intention to rebel against Qin, having them relay it to the Widow Qing and request that she send someone to intervene.

Although Ba Zhong had arrived a step too late, the deeds of killing Qin officials and attacking Yi Circuit had all been committed by Fan Qin's division alone. It was not too late for the others to turn back now…

And so, through the collusion of the shamaness and Ba Zhong, a conspiracy that would let the divisions "shed less blood" had naturally arisen.

Fan Qin suddenly understood. He had misjudged the crowd's loyalty to the ancestral laws and ancient ways. The Ba people had originally been nothing more than a tiny tribe on the lower reaches of the Yi River. To seek better land, they had scratched a living from the harsh natural environment while warring with neighboring tribes, resolutely migrating westward and northward, growing and flourishing only after two thousand years.

In that long, drawn-out march, they had endured unimaginably savage battles and countless hardships and obstacles; schemes and treachery, betrayal and broken faith were indispensable.

The shamans and chieftains of the Ba people, amid their brave recklessness, also carried a trace of cunning.

Just as over two thousand years ago, Lord Lin, in order to annex the tribes of Salt Sun and seize that land, had schemed to shoot dead the wife who had given herself to him — the Salt Water Goddess.

"Lord Lin… sent a man bearing a green thread to present to the Salt Goddess, saying: 'Wear this and it will suit you well; I said I would live together with you — it is fitting that you put it on.' The Salt Goddess accepted it and wore it. Lord Lin then stood upon the Yang Stone, aimed at the green thread, and shot her; he struck the Salt Goddess, the Salt Goddess died, and the heavens opened wide!"

This was, unmistakably, Fan Qin's own fate!

Fan Qin was still unwilling to accept it: "Did the Great Shamaness not say many years ago that I might perhaps unite the divisions and become the new Lord Lin?"

With Chu's help, to rebuild the Ba state — that had also been his purpose in raising troops against Qin. Who could have expected that today he would meet with naked betrayal!

"What does 'Lord Lin' mean?"

The shamaness was silent and did not answer, but Ba Zhong said, "Grain stored is called a granary; rice stored is called a lin. This was a title our ancestors thought up when they had not yet enough to eat or wear, hoping that the lord they chose could lead them to do real work, to store up more grain, and spare them the suffering of hunger."

"Therefore, he who can let the Ba people eat their fill and live in peace and contentment — he is Lord Lin! But you, you would only lead the Ba people of Yi Circuit toward decline and destruction!"

With the shamaness's tacit consent, the lords of the divisions, holding blood-dripping swords, continued to close in on the already gravely wounded Fan Qin.

In the torchlight, only their savage shadows were cast upon the stone walls. Those sharp blades rose and fell, and Fan Qin's unwilling roars grew weaker and weaker, until at last there was silence…

…

By the time the Chu envoy was carried into the stone cavern, dangling from Dan Hu's single-handed grip, Fan Qin was already dead between the Yin and Yang Stones, his head already severed. It was held by the shamaness, whose hands trembled faintly, and presented to Hei Fu, who was disguised as a Ba man…

The Chu envoy was horrified; Hei Fu clicked his tongue in wonder.

"They really don't stand on ceremony at all."

Hei Fu looked at the head of this rebel before him, then at the Yin and Yang Stones stained red with blood. He too had not expected that the Ba people would use this method to kill Fan Qin, thereby proving their resolve to return to Qin allegiance.

Still, it was indeed very effective. Capture the ringleader first and the rest fall; this way, the Qin army would not need to spend months slowly rooting them out in the mountain forests.

At the same moment Fan Qin's blood splashed the stone cavern, a bloody clash also erupted at the foot of Wuluo Zhongli Mountain. The divisions launched an attack on Fan Qin's followers. After a bout of slaughter, they killed every one of the Ba warriors Fan Qin had brought with him, and also captured the Chu envoy called "Qu Yuan"!

Hei Fu believed that from this man's mouth, they should be able to extract detailed information about Chu's scheme to incite the Ba people of Yi Circuit to rebellion and to send troops against Chanling.

"Left Military Clerk."

Ba Zhong, himself spattered with fresh blood, cupped his hands and said, "The Great Shaman and the assembled chieftains have sent me to ask: does this suffice to prove the resolve of the various Ba tribes of the Yi Circuit to return to the State of Qin?"

Everyone looked at Heifu. According to the agreement, the condition for the various tribes to return to the State of Qin was to kill Fan Qin, and then help the government forces attack and destroy Fan Qin's tribe, after which the population and territory could be divided among them.

Heifu had Ba Zhong translate his words.

"The County Magistrate and County Commandant of Yi Circuit both fell to an ambush and died — such a thing has never happened before! Although the various tribes were merely coerced into assisting Fan Qin, they still cannot completely absolve themselves of guilt."

These words stirred a flurry of discussion among the crowd. Ba Zhong hurriedly calmed everyone, then asked, "Then what exactly must be done for the government to grant pardon?"

Heifu smiled and laid out his final condition: "It is very simple. After Fan Qin's tribe is wiped out, all the tribes shall muster every able-bodied man, and under the leadership of your chieftains, march east with me. We shall coordinate with the Commandery Commandant's main army to break the siege of Chanling! This action will prove that the Ba people are obedient subjects of Qin, not rebels. In this way, I will certainly be able to persuade the Commandery Governor to allow the Ba people to continue to live and multiply in Yi Circuit! The previous oaths and agreements — everything shall remain as before!"

(I have something on in the afternoon, the second chapter will be around 9 PM.)

PS: Recommending a new historical novel, "Reviving the Southern Ming."

In the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen reign, the bandit rebels breached the capital, and the Son of Heaven hanged himself for his country. Within, bandit chieftains and roving outlaws stole the imperial seal; without, Tatar barbarians and foreign curs clamored provocatively. The state was broken, yet the mountains and rivers remained.

As the whole nation mourned, a modern soul possessed the body of Crown Prince Zhu Cilang.

At this moment of dire peril, between survival and destruction, Zhu Cilang issued a deafening rallying cry: Our Great Ming shall make no marriage alliances, pay no indemnities, cede no territory, and offer no tribute! The Son of Heaven guards the national gate, and the sovereign dies for the altars of state! Han and traitor cannot coexist; the Imperial Ming shall not settle for a truncated peace!

(End of chapter)