BAF 64 - Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat, page 15
part #64 of Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series
“It is more than enough to hear such gratuitously expressed words,” said Lin Ho courteously; whereupon Kuei sang to him a melody expressing her deep emotions.
The next morning, after they had refreshed themselves with food brought in on silver plates by richly attired slaves and had smoked from a single pipe, Kuei took up the ring of keys that Lin Ho had brought, and indicating by a suitable movement of her swan-like hand that two bearers should attend with lights, she called that one to accompany her.
“Come,” she remarked pleasantly, “it is fitting that you, who are shortly to be the chieftain of the place, should now learn the extent of the treasure that its vaults contain.”
“It is an agreeable mark of confidence on your part,” replied Lin Ho with polished unconcern, but he followed her down the ladder closely, for there was his own strategy to consider, and he had a far from tranquil stomach about the one called Fang-tso, whom, in an outside manner, he had heard spoken of as comparable with gods in strength and with demons in resentment.
“Doubtless in these remote beneath-parts there will be a store of gold and silver and precious stones which will smooth this person’s path very appreciably should it become necessary for him to withdraw in unobtrusive haste,” thought Lin Ho as he descended, full of hope and resolution.
The first cave, from its earthen floor up to its arching roof, was filled with rags. There were shreds of every colour, variety, and usage, from the wrappings which the afflicted cast off in obscure byways to the unused scraps such as the charitable bestow on persistent mendicants about their door.
“Nothing is too insignificant to have some use; nothing too ample to be beyond our power of assimilation,” remarked the broad-minded Kuei with far-seeing pride as she contemplated the mass, but Lin Ho was not disposed to linger.
The next cave was filled in a like manner with bones, and it was no less spacious than the first. Again the one who led him spoke encouragingly of the profits of this obscure traffic, but here also Lin Ho pressed forward dumbly, so involved were his feelings.
Jars, cruses, and receptacles in their several grades were the staple of the third enclosure; fragments of torn and rejected paper of the fourth. In immediate succession there were vaults of broken and abandoned umbrellas, of worn-out and cast-off sandals, of unserviceable fans and fabricated flowers.
“This is the very dust-bin and the ash-heap of the city’s voidance,” reflected Lin Ho, as he passed a cave pressed to the full with driftwood, bungs, and half-burned joss-sticks. “What scope is there for one of my distinguished personality in this harbourage of refuse?” Twice or thrice he would have turned had not Kuei urged him on, and presently the nature of the commerce changed, and more in keeping with Lin Ho’s mood, for here were cloaks and coverings for the head and face, the better sort of garments, and such things as could be worn with fitness. Weapons of all kinds there were and armour both for men and horses, ceremonial flags and wands of office, tablets, and even chairs.
“Yet how comes it,” he remarked, “that these things are comparatively few and sparse, while of the cruder stock an interminable line of caves extends?”
“The answer to that requires no lantern to discover, seeing that the brigands of our band scarce number now a dozen, and they old and infirm in service, while of the mendicants a stalwart and increasing tribe responds daily to the roll,” explained Kuei readily. “But, speaking as one in authority to another, there is no great matter for regret in that. The rewards of mendicancy, if severally minute, are sure, and the market is a never-failing one. The fruits of brigandage are uncertain and difficult to garner; indeed, several of the band are scarcely worth their rice, and had it not been for the local distinction that the gang confers, even the vainglorious Fang-tso would ere this have dispersed them to their homes. But in the end he was always wont to say, ‘What we scatter on the brigands we gather up by the mendicants,’ and thus and thus it remains.”
“Her thoughts are forever set on gain and truckage, and her mind is ordinary in the extreme,” reflected Lin Ho. “This one can have no lasting permanence for me.”
“And now,” continued she whom he thus inwardly denounced, “I have freely shown you all. Will you not, in return, disclose to me the one thing that is lacking?”
“When you open your golden lips, nothing is wanting to complete the circle of felicity,” politely replied Lin Ho, his experience not being sufficient to enable him to detect the peril underlying Kuei’s speech and judiciously to avert the impending sequence. “What pearl is missing from the rope of your desire?”
“Somewhere about these caves is hidden Fang-tso’s private store of gold and jewels. That secret you would have extorted from him before you suffered him to Pass Beyond. Let us together now draw them forth and put them to a more appropriate use.”
This request threw Lin Ho into a very complicated meditation. It disclosed that such a store did undoubtedly exist, but it led no further on a beneficial line. In the vastness of those caves, to dig at a hazard would be as profitable as to scoop for a grain of salt in a cask of water. And a moment might arise when Lin Ho would not be given the leisure to dig at all. Despite much that had cast a favourable shadow, the Destinies were not really well-arranged, so far.
“Can it be that one on whom this person has lavished so much disinterested affection maintains an ambiguous pose toward her only expressed wish!” exclaimed the lady Kuei reproachfully as. Lin Ho remained aloof, and despite the restriction of the spot she prepared to indulge in a very extensive display of many-sided agitation.
“Defer your refined exhibition of virtuous annoyance to a more convenient gong-stroke,” cautioned Lirf Ho. “One in no way concerned approaches,” and as he spoke, the sympathetic Wong discovered them.
“Well chanced upon, O chieftain,” exclaimed Wong, with obtuse self-satisfaction. “The company of beggars are about to take their stations in the Ways. Would you exchange the usual greeting with them in the courtyard?”
“Let them disperse with an entire absence of ceremonial rite,” replied Lin Ho, in a tone of no-encouragement. “Dismiss them at their ease.”
’Things were very different in the upright days before the coming of the Competitions,” muttered Wong supinely. “What next, perchance? Indeed,” he added at the recollection, “there is a case in point. One stands about the outer door, protesting to all who pass that he, in spite of every outward sign, is no other than the bountiful Lam-kwong.”
“What is this one like?” demanded Lin Ho sharply. “Seeing that you have listened to his feeble pretensions.”
“Nay, but I did no more than question him, by warrant of my office,” replied Wong stubbornly. ‘“If you indeed are our noble chief Lam-kwong,’ I said, be it understood, ’there is a ready test,’ and I held out my hand, palm uppermost, toward him. ’For,’ I continued, this being the snare, ’that compassionate and high-stepping leader suffers no single day to go without a piece of silver passing to my sleeve—and so far to-day the custom has escaped him.’ To this the uncongenial dog made no adequate response and thereby stood exposed. ‘Begone, witless,’ I cried, justly annoyed, and I beat him about the head and shoulders with my staff. Then, as he put up no defence, I added, ‘Wert thou his very likeness and the wearer of his embossed ring, still, after this, thou couldst not be Lam-kwong.’”
’There is more herein than hangs upon a wooden nail, as the saying is,” pondered Lin Ho. “Describe him whom you beat,” he commanded aloud. “Haply he is some obscure member of my clan who bears a portion of the name.”
“He is small and undersized and his expression vile,” declared the ready Wong. “His eyes are badly placed and have a complex bend, his forehead insincere, and the sound of his breathing unpleasant to the good-class ear. His dress is meagre and ill-fitting, his—”
“Enough,” interrupted the one who recognized himself, although he was little disposed to hear from another what he had spontaneously avowed; “I would sift the essence of this mixture to the dregs. Remove the impostor to a cell apart, and there I will confront him.”
“It is as good as done, commander,” replied Wong with easy assurance; and he went.
When Lin Ho and Lam-kwong, each in the semblance of the other, encountered, the moment was a concentrated one. The former person had required that all should withdraw to a distance from the cell so that there was none to overhear their words. Lam-kwong was the first actually to speak.
“It is useless to curl your whiskers and blow out your cheeks in this one’s direction,” he remarked, and he spat familiarly and sat upon the ground.
“Yet how comes it,” demanded Lin Ho, “that you, who could not oppose the feeble-minded Wong, should remain unmoved by a display at which the boldest tremble?”
“It is in the nature of things,” replied Lam-kwong. “It must already be known to you that, with so ineffectual a face as this, and all that it implies, subservience and a meek demeanour are foregone. Only one aspect fails to impress me, and that is the one you wear, for, it having been my own so long, I cannot but know the hollowness behind. The contentious Wong may indeed be effete, but I am less familiar with his weakness.”
“What you say is very reasonable,” admitted Lin Ho, “for, from my own angle of observation, I have already experienced something of the kind. Since there is nothing to be gained by acrimony, let us disclose our minds,” and he related to the other what—up to a certain point—had taken place.
“It is difficult to see that you are much to blame,” admitted Lam-kwong courteously, “and in any case the involvement sprang from this one’s short-sighted gluttony. Had he not coveted the onion that you would have eaten, everything might still be going on satisfactorily. Were it not for the thought of you and the now unobtainable Kuei—” and he fell to pulling out much of his carefully arranged pigtail by the roots.
“Beware of jealousy,” advised Lin Ho. “Remember it is written, ‘Not everyone who comes down your street enters by your door.’ Rather, occupy your mind by disclosing in turn how the High Ones arraigned you before them.”
“That is easily explained,” replied Lam-kwong, “and they doubtless acted for the best. I must have Passed Upward at a slightly later period than your own distinguished flight, for as I went up I encountered your high-born Shade descending. After having very properly been kept waiting for a lengthy interval, this one was at last called in for sentence. ‘Lam-kwong,’ pronounced an authoritative voice, ‘you have overridden the Edict and set the Principles at naught. Your instincts are largely criminal and your tastes obscene. By this last act of violence you have seriously inconvenienced those who keep the books, for it was not intended that Lin Ho should close his record yet. To reward him for the wrong that has been accomplished, he has been returned to an ordinary state of life and given the opportunity to inhabit your body; to punish you in the most offensive way that can be thought of, you also will be sent back to earth, and in place of your own attractive and courageous frame you will be condemned to take up his. In this manner your defiant and salacious nature will be quelled, whether you like it or not.’ ’Omnipotence,’ I craved, ‘before the word goes forth, hear an inserted plea; let the judgment be extinction, the sulphur pit, or being transformed into the likeness of one of the lower insects, but not—’ ’Enough; it is too late,’ interposed the voice. ’The sentence has been written and the ink is dry.’ I then found myself lying among the rocks and suffering excruciating pain from the wound that I had inflicted upon you.”
“That is no doubt your angle of regarding what took place, but there is certainly another, more acute,” said Lin Ho coldly. “However, being in that barren place alone and with nothing in your sleeve, by what means did you extricate yourself?”
“Throughout the night I lay there and nourished my hurt on the dew that fell. Toward the dawn came one seeking, and presently, from his rancour and the familiar knowledge of his greeting, I recognized in him that ill-conditioned Leung of whom you spoke, come to see that his vengeance was complete. ‘Much gladness!’ exclaimed the misshapen outcast when he discovered me. ‘Have you eaten your rice?’
‘What little of it there was,’ this one replied. ’Is it your humane purpose to supplement it with a further portion?’ ‘Will another onion serve?’ he inquired smoothly, thus to test the limits of what I knew, and to this, seeing no profit in concealment, I replied, “Assuredly. Being under the direct protection of the gods, its venom will pass from me.’ At that, recognizing the frustration of his crafty plan, he disclosed himself without reserve. ‘If you lie beneath the bosom of the gods, let them suckle you,’ he scoffed. ‘See to it that you cross my path no more,’ and he drove me on with blows. Feeling incapable of raising a defence, this person fled as best he could, and thenceforward, begging diffidently from door to door, he made his laborious way.”
“Yet what can you hope to achieve by coming here?” demanded the one who had usurped him. “Nothing awaits you but a place among the band of mendicants.”
“A beggar in these Ways!” exclaimed Lam-kwong, change ing colour. “Not even Lin Ho’s face would countenance that. This one, before whom all others quailed, save Fang-tso only!
“Doubtless,” was the reply, “but no one fears the bull when he has lost his horns. As regards the one whom you have named, I would speak further, for I have cherished an uneasy feeling from the outset that Fang-tso was somewhat beyond our common measure. What passed between you at the last encounter?”
“We two, being on a journey alone and in a desert place, I overcame him by a stratagem, and having securely bound his hands and feet, I sold him into slavery among a passing tribe of barbarian Khins.”
“That was short-sighted to the last degree,” declared Lin Ho. “Why, he being in your power, did you not then destroy him?”
Lam-kwong hesitated and would have turned the subject aside by a timely stress of coughing, but Lin Ho took him by the ears so that he could not avert his face and thus compelled the truth.
“I would have done so for several reasons,” admitted Lam-kwong, seeing evasion useless, “but necessity ordained it otherwise. Fang-tso possessed a certain secret—not of any outside moment, but essential to my plans—and this he would not disclose. In the end I bargained with him on a mutually inviolate oath, covenanting his life in exchange for what he told me.”
“This concerns the hidden wealth,” thought Lin Ho instantly, “but Lam-kwong has now so little left in life that he will inevitably submit to death rather than disclose the spot. Adroitness alone will serve.”
“The private affairs of Fang-tso and of yourself do not engage my mind,” he accordingly remarked, with well-sustained no-interest—for he had also acquired Lam-kwong’s duplicity as well as that one’s valour—“but I would gladly learn what form the wealth took that he must undoubtedly have gathered.”
“He has heard nothing so far of Fang-tso’s buried hoard,” considered Lam-kwong, more easily deceived than he was wont to be. “If I can but secure even a short time alone in the beneath-parts, all may yet be well.” Aloud he said:
“He spoke more than once in the past of conveying it for safety to the stronghold of Hsin Foo, a well-walled city in the tranquil south, of which his brother, Hoang, is the governor. If there is no evidence of luxury about, this has assuredly been done.”
“Assuredly,” agreed Lin Ho; “for all that this place holds would appear to be the wind-sweepings of the city byways.”
“Naturally, to a being of your superior tastes, such commerce would seem gross,” ventured Lam-kwong. “Very soon, however, the one before you must turn his reluctant feet upon an outward path, nor has he any trade whereby to earn his rice. If out of the large-stomached forbearance that you must feel for his in every way second-hand condition you would suffer him to carry off in his pack a few poor remnants of unserviceable traffic, he would secure the nucleus of a sordid livelihood, the store would not appreciably be lessened, and your imperishable name would be written in letters of pure gold above the Temple of Munificence.”
“What was begun in friendship should not be wound up in malice,” assented Lin Ho, taking out the keys that he had retained. “So much as you can bear away upon your shoulder shall be yours.”
“I must contrive to divert Lin Ho from accompanying me,” argued Lam-kwong; “but to suggest it too abruptly were to raise suspicion.” So he remained silent.
“It is necessary to allow Lam-kwong to work in secret, so that he shall find the treasure,” reasoned Lin Ho, “though to leave him for no good cause might defeat its end.” And he also held his peace.
Together, therefore, they reached the opening to the vaults, and Lin Ho having unlocked the strong door they would have entered, but at that moment the supple Wong appeared.
“Fearless chieftain,” exclaimed that officious person, “Tse, of the intrepid mountain band, has ridden in on an urgent rein and seeks your pressing ear.”
“It distresses me beyond measure to leave you so inhospitably at the very outset of your laborious undertaking,” declared Lin Ho; “but—”
“It grieves me inexpressibly to be deprived of your entertaining society just when I was looking forward to enjoying that felicity for a further period,” retorted Lam- kwong; “however—” And with a mutually appropriate gesture of regret they parted, the latter person descending to his task, and Lin Ho unobtrusively locking the door upon him.
The one described as Tse stood at the outer gate and caressed his weary horse. He was of repulsive outline, having one eye only and an ill-cast face, but he seemed upright, and he accorded the sign of deference as Lin Ho approached.
“High commander,” was his greeting, “when they would have buried alive this person’s mother, in that she was an admitted witch, and your benevolence intervened and spared her, the one who speaks took an oath to discharge the obligation and bound himself thereby.”
“Proceed,” encouraged Lin Ho, “the occasion may fulfil your pledge.”
