Chapter 24 Hunting I

　　—Life is a phoenix’s elegy: burned to ash, then rising anew.

　　At dawn Dong Yifeng and Huamei finished dressing in clan garments and prepared to set out.

　　Huamei noticed Dong tucking a laser pistol beneath the clothing at his waist and asked in puzzlement: “Professor Dong, why take a weapon? I shall protect you throughout.”

　　“Huamei, it is not that I distrust you, yet even the wisest may err. This planet teems with monsters; I prefer to carry a weapon for defense.”

　　The previous neardeath at the jaws of the Infant Leopard still haunted him. Though he had appeared nonchalant at the time, in quiet moments he often felt residual fear and was frequently startled awake by nightmares.

　　This time Great Chieftain Gongdian led a personal guard of more than forty on the hunt. Although it was a season of grain shortage, the inner city remained well provisioned. Gongdian’s purpose in organizing the hunt was to keep the warriors in a state of readiness even in times of peace—spears ready, horses trained.

　　Among the party were Second Young Master Gong Yi, Gongdian’s third younger brother—GuardArmy Grand General Gong Wei—Guard General Yi Wu, and Ge Wu, younger son of the Bear Tribe chieftain.

　　Dong Yifeng did not see Gong Kang among them and wondered whether Gong Kang had again slipped away to meet Lian Xiang.

　　Before departure High Priest Fang Mu arrived in the inner city to perform a ritual of exorcism and plague expulsion for the hunting party.

　　Fang Mu still wore his threeeyed mask and held a wooden scepter topped with a dragon’s head. At the four cardinal directions stood four disciples, likewise masked with threeeyed faces and clad in black above and red below—conspicuous amid the sea of yellow garments in Wangqiu City.

　　Dong Yifeng, a scientist, had always despised feudal superstition. When he saw the High Priest muttering incantations and beginning to dance with his four disciples, he could not help shaking his head in impatience, inwardly fretting over the delay in departure.

　　Huamei, however, found the proceedings of great interest, regarding them as a rare opportunity to understand the religion of these alien natives, and therefore listened carefully to Fang Mu’s words.

　　At first Huamei heard Fang Mu praying to the Yellow Clan Celestial Gods; afterward the priest began to invoke the protection of the sun, the stars, the mountains, rivers, and the spirits of all things. Thus Huamei understood that the religion of these natives was a form of animism in which every entity possessed a deity.

　　Finally Fang Mu took a large sheaf of arrows from a quiver at his side, soaked them in a bucket of holy water, and again muttered prayers, apparently seeking that the hunters’ arrows might never miss and strike true every time.

　　When this was finished he distributed the “enchanted” arrows to each member of the hunting party.

　　Dong Yifeng received his arrows and noticed characters engraved upon every arrowhead. He quietly asked Huamei their meaning.

　　Huamei replied that the characters were the name of Great Chieftain Gongdian; these were therefore the Great Chieftain’s personal arrows.

　　At last, before the hunters set out, Fang Mu and his disciples dipped branches in the holy water and sprinkled it upon the party, praying for their safe return.

　　When the ritual concluded the hunters formed two columns, proceeded along the main thoroughfare, passed through the outer gate, and advanced into the dense forest.

　　Dong Yifeng and Huamei rode camelhorses, keeping close behind Second Young Master Gong Yi.

　　This was Dong’s first experience of riding a camelhorse. He found the sensation little different from riding a terrestrial horse, though these beasts were markedly more robust and presumably possessed greater endurance.

　　The column first traveled westward, following the trails left by animals moving through the forest. After rounding a hill they turned right and then proceeded northward into the forest.

　　Riding swiftly through the quiet depths of the woods, they continually heard the cries of birds and the roars of wild beasts.

　　Groups of wild animals repeatedly crossed their path and fled at the sight of the party, yet the hunters showed no inclination to pursue.

　　“Strange,” Dong Yifeng wondered throughout the journey. “What kind of hunt is this? So many wild animals ignored while they simply press onward at speed—what exactly are they going to hunt?”

　　The hunting party appeared to be advancing toward a predetermined objective. Seeing everyone ride forward in silence, Dong and Huamei thought it improper to ask further questions and simply kept pace.

　　They continued northwest for an unknown number of li. Toward evening Dong and Huamei saw a small fortified settlement upon a hill ahead, its perimeter enclosed by a stockade of sharpened wooden stakes.

　　Gong Yi pointed to the settlement and lowered his voice: “Honored celestial gods, this is the western pass of our clan. Night is already falling; we shall rest here and set out again at dawn.”

　　The gates opened and a column emerged to welcome them. The leader, upon seeing Great Chieftain Gongdian, embraced him warmly.

　　Gong Yi quietly introduced the man to Dong and Huamei: “The commander of this western pass is named Gong Hui—my second uncle.”

　　As garrison commander of the western pass, Gong Hui could not leave his post to visit Wangqiu City; thus he had not seen his elder brother Gongdian or his third brother Gong Wei for some time. The three brothers conversed of family matters while walking into the pass.

　　Dong observed that the buildings within the pass were all twostory wooden structures: the ground floor left open, the upper floor used for living. Altogether there were several hundred such dwellings.

　　That evening the banquet hall blazed with light; NightBright Flowers were set in sockets all around the walls.

　　Gong Hui produced the finest fare to entertain the Great Chieftain; the table was laden with delicacies and the air rich with the fragrance of wine.

　　Military life is dull; only wine relieves the tedium. Cups and bowls passed freely, the atmosphere grew lively, and bowl after bowl was drained. Those with strong capacity were already mildly intoxicated; those with weaker capacity had long since rolled beneath the table.

　　During the banquet the Great Chieftain asked Gong Hui: “Second Brother, is that great bird nearly ready?”

　　“Elder Brother, it has already swallowed nearly a hundred Azure Dragons; tomorrow should therefore be the best opportunity.”

　　At the banquet Dong and Huamei found an inconspicuous corner and sat down.

　　Because the two had kept close to Gong Yi throughout the journey, the accompanying guards—apart from Ge Wu, Gong Wei, and Yi Wu, who knew their true identities—regarded them merely as attendants of Gong Yi; consequently no one approached to offer toasts.

　　Undisturbed, Dong and Huamei sat quietly in their corner. Huamei remained seated without eating or drinking; Dong ate meat and drank wine in large mouthfuls while listening to the conversation between Great Chieftain Gongdian and Gong Hui.

　　“What great bird? Swallowing Azure Dragons? What exactly do they intend to hunt tomorrow?” Dong and Huamei wondered, completely at a loss.

　　Gong Hui glanced around and asked: “Gong Yi, why do I not see your elder brother Gong Kang?”

　　“Reporting to Second Uncle, Elder Brother has been busy of late with other official duties.” Gong Yi answered evasively.

　　“Lately my subordinates keep reporting that Gong Kang is frequently seen wandering alone in the forest. Gong Kang is the foremost warrior of our clan and fears nothing. Yet the soldiers of our western pass no longer dare walk alone in the Nanyu Forest even in broad daylight.”

　　Gongdian was rather astonished: “Second Brother, has something happened?”

　　“Recently a Stabbing Tiger has successively killed several soldiers of our western pass.”

　　“A Stabbing Tiger? On the road to Wangqiu the BullHead envoys killed a female Stabbing Tiger. Could the one of which you speak have come for revenge?”

　　“Exactly so. Stabbing Tigers are notorious for holding grudges; the humans of our forest never dare provoke them. These damned wild oxen stirred up trouble and left us to bear the consequences. Elder Brother, be careful on the road tomorrow.”

　　“With so many of us, what have we to fear from a Stabbing Tiger? Should it dare appear we shall destroy it.”

　　Early the next morning the hunting party resumed its journey.

　　From the outset the hunters wrapped the four hooves of their camelhorses with cloth pads and muffled the animals’ mouths with hemp cloth. This series of preparations only increased the suspicion of Dong and Huamei; the two speculated about the true purpose of the expedition.

　　Once under way the hunters, as on the previous day, moved swiftly and silently through the woods—first westward, over a hill, then northward—until at last they halted at the foot of a mountain.

　　They tethered the camelhorses in the undergrowth at the base of the mountain and then advanced quietly on foot up the slope.

　　The peak rose majestically; opposite it lay a vast gorge of unfathomable depth. The mountain was covered with tall, massive paulownia trees, some of which rivaled in size the giants of Wangqiu City.

　　On the left side of the peak ran a mountain stream of crystalline clarity; the vegetation in the gullies on either side grew luxuriantly.

　　Large rocks filled the stream bed; where the water met them it tumbled and roared.

　　The stream plunged over the cliff into the gorge, forming a waterfall. The cascade leapt from the foot of the mountain, throwing up sprays of foam that spread in successive ripples. Under the sunlight the waterfall radiated sevencolored radiance, like a rainbow suspended against the sky.

　　The party crouched among the shrubs halfway up the slope and peered upward through gaps in the leaves.

　　Dong and Huamei, not understanding the purpose, also looked up yet saw nothing.

　　While they still wondered, a white light suddenly pierced the clouds in the southern sky, followed by a sharp, piercing cry so harsh that everyone covered their ears.

　　At last the two saw a great red bird flying from the distant horizon. In its beak it appeared to carry something serpentlike.

　　When the great bird drew near the sky above the hill they finally discerned that what it held was an enormous Azure Dragon.

　　Looking more carefully at the bird itself, they saw that it was large enough to obscure half the sky. The Azure Dragon, though itself huge, appeared in the bird’s beak no larger than an earthworm held by a rooster.

　　The bird was entirely red; its head resembled that of a chicken, with a bluegreen comb and a white neck. Its beak was red like a bird’s, its belly black; on either side grew wings like those of a roc, also red; its legs were long and yellow like a crane’s; its tail was as brilliantly colored as a peacock’s.

　　It alighted upon a gigantic paulownia tree at the summit of the hill. The party halfway down the slope remained motionless among the shrubs, as though waiting for something.

　　After roughly the time required to drink a cup of tea, Dong and Huamei suddenly heard a cry even sharper than before. The great bird rose into the air; its red plumage became still more vivid.

　　They quickly realized the difference: the red was no longer the color of feathers but the red of flame. The entire bird appeared bathed in fire, and from its beak it belched a jet of flame tens of meters long.

　　The bird circled in the sky, its cries growing ever sharper and more piteous, until at last it plummeted headlong into the waterfall that hung from the cliff.

　　“So the legends were true after all,” Dong Yifeng murmured. “In the East there have always been legends of the phoenix and the divine dragon; in the West of the phoenix and the evil dragon. Seeing the totems of the Gongyou and FireWorship Clans I had thought them merely products of human imagination. I never expected today to behold a living Azure Dragon and a living Fire Phoenix!”

　　Huamei’s expression, however, was one of regret: “Professor Dong, I too was so absorbed that I forgot to record with my eyes the video of the phoenix devouring the Azure Dragon.”

　　Gong Yi, unable to understand their conversation, now explained in a low voice: “Honored celestial gods, we have been observing this phoenix for a long time. Every phoenix, after devouring one hundred great dragons, immolates itself and dies. This phoenix has already eaten ninetynine; today it has indeed taken another.”

　　Huamei looked toward the waterfall below the cliff: “Do you intend to eat the flesh of the phoenix? Yet it has already fallen into the cascade.”

　　“Not so. What we seek are the phoenix’s eggs—the rarest delicacy under heaven. In former times only the Yellow Clan Celestial Gods were permitted to enjoy them; we humans had no such fortune.”

　　“Phoenix eggs? You mean to climb this giant tree and take the eggs?”

　　“Exactly.”

　　The hunters ascended the peak and gathered beneath the largest of the paulownia giants. Gongdian designated four robust hunters and ordered them to climb.

　　Of the four, some carried bamboo baskets upon their backs, others had long ropes coiled about their waists. From leather bags they took flying claws, flung the ropes so that the claws caught the nearest branches, and began to climb.

　　Once upon a branch they continued to fling the claws upward; in a short while their figures disappeared among the dense foliage.