Song of the Silk Road (22 page)
“From that moment on, I knew our fates were linked. The temple monks and I taught him everything—reading, writing, Chinese aphorisms, and philosophy. He never went to school.”
“Because no school would take him?”
The master laughed his bell-like laugh, tilting his head. “Oh, no, because little Ah Hung just wouldn’t leave me or this temple. I once sent him to a nearby village school, but he caused so much trouble that finally both the school and I gave up. He just wanted to stay with me here and play with the Daoist monks. As a child, he followed me everywhere: when I performed rituals, doing Subtle Purple Calculus, even on trips out of the temple to the houses of rich clients. What he found here in the temple were his toys—cushions, statues, vases, musical instruments, brushes, ink stones. Although a very naughty child, he never broke anything or bothered the monks.”
Soaring Crane paused a moment, then continued, “I was very grateful for the monks who let me work here and raise him.”
“But you also attract huge donations for them.”
He “looked” at me through his dark glasses. “Miss Lin, never think of how you help others, only how you’re being helped. Heaven will know when or when not to reward.”
I sipped my tea, digesting every word uttered through the master’s wrinkled lips. “So, Master, how long have you been here?”
“Like Ah Hung, I was an orphan left at this temple door and picked up by my master, a Daoist monk who taught me to read people’s destinies.”
“How cruel that parents actually abandon their children.”
The master studied me for a while. “This has nothing to do with the parents, but in what place the child’s stars shine. Maybe to their parents they are worthless burdens, but to this temple, they are gifts from heaven.”
“Master, both you and the temple are very compassionate.”
“Compassion and generosity are the two virtues that keep this world from falling apart.” A long pause, then he suddenly changed the subject of our conversation. “Miss Lin, did someone send you to me?”
I stared at my own pale reflection in his glasses and felt a shiver. Instead of answering his question, I asked, “Master Soaring Crane, since I haven’t made an appointment, how did you know that you had a visitor and that I’m a woman?”
He laughed. “Miss Lin, I’ve been waiting for you for ten years.”
“How . . . ?”
“Let me make it real simple. Ten years ago my Subtle Purple Calculus told me that I would have a woman visitor today, exactly ten years later.”
“Oh . . . excuse my ignorance, Master. How can this be possible, and what exactly is this Subtle Purple Calculus?”
“A thousand-year-old Chinese astrology,” he said. “So, did someone send you to me?”
“Hmm . . . yes and no, Master.”
He counted his fingers while muttering something in a strangely appealing manner. “Ten years ago, a very special woman came for my consultation. I believe she’s related to you.”
Wow. How could he tell?
I blurted out, “Yes, she’s my aunt.”
I bit my lips. Damn! Didn’t Mindy Madison instruct me to tell him nothing but lies?
The master went on. “I’ll never forget this woman because of her constantly transforming
qi
. In half an hour, it kept changing from being very full and strong to the opposite. Because of this extreme
qi
swing, I could tell she’d lead an unusual, dangerous life.”
qi
. In half an hour, it kept changing from being very full and strong to the opposite. Because of this extreme
qi
swing, I could tell she’d lead an unusual, dangerous life.”
“Master, I think . . . she’s already dead.” This time I remembered to lie.
The old man tilted his head and sniffed the air. “Dead? No. But in between.”
“What do you mean?”
“She is now hanging on a thin thread between life and death.”
“Why would that be? Because she’s a bad person?”
“She’s neither good nor bad.”
“What do you mean? That she’s neutral?”
He shook his head. “It all depends who’s judging her.”
I digested his words for seconds, then I lied again. “I think she’s in a very dire financial situation.” Of course, since my aunt had three million dollars to give me, she couldn’t possibly be poor. Could she?
This time the master shook his head emphatically. “No, she’s rich. But not for long.”
Why did this fortune-teller always contradict what I said?
He took a long sip of his tea. “Miss Lin, tell me your date of birth and the exact time when you were born. Then I will show you the map of your life.”
21
More Predictions
T
his was the first time I’d encountered a fortune-teller who did not need to see my face, read my palm, or examine my handwriting to give predictions.
his was the first time I’d encountered a fortune-teller who did not need to see my face, read my palm, or examine my handwriting to give predictions.
Once, years ago when I was a child in Hong Kong, my mother took me to a fortune-teller. I remembered his small face was comically covered by his oversized, chopping-block-thick glasses. He held my small hand in his big one and exclaimed to Mother, “Ah, what an unusual child you have, with all these intricate ‘energy lines’ criss-crossing her palm. Ma’am, your daughter will be rich and have an adventurous life. This is already engraved on her palm like a map!”
Would the blind Master Soaring Crane predict the same thing as the near-blind master in Hong Kong?
After I told Soaring Crane my date and time of birth, he meditated, counted on his fingers, muttered to himself, then picked up his brush and swept it across the rice paper with swift, bold movements, leaving elegant calligraphic strokes. I was amazed at how well he formed the characters, even though completely blind. After he repeated the process three times, he put the papers into three small red silk pouches, dropped his brush, and “stared” at me.
Although he couldn’t see me (or could he?), the intense scrutiny was nevertheless nerve-racking. I could feel the strong
qi
from his small frame overwhelming my already-weakening one.
qi
from his small frame overwhelming my already-weakening one.
He handed me the pouches.
“Thank you, Master. What are they?”
“Poems.”
“But I rarely read poems. I prefer novels.”
“Then start to read them. They’re novels in a pouch. Besides, don’t thank me, thank heaven. I’m only a messenger bringing you wisdom from above. Take them out to read when you are in trouble, or when you need to pacify your troubled mind.”
I nodded, feeling bewildered.
He continued, “In your life, the money star, shining strong and bright, complements with your transmigration star. That’s why you’re here in the Silk Road, seeking money, adventure.” He paused for seconds before adding, “And danger.”
The word “danger” gave me a chill.
“Miss Lin, you’ll become very rich and famous.”
“It’s very kind of you to say that, Master Soaring Crane. But I’m very poor and have no idea how to make money.” I lied. Being paid fifty thousand U.S. dollars for the trip with the prospect of getting three million later couldn’t be considered poor, after all.
I went on. “Master, I’ve been struggling financially and was helped out by a former professor. So, how am I going to make a lot of money?”
“I’m only telling you what will happen. ‘How’ is not my concern. Anyway, you’ll make lots of money with your own effort, not from another person.”
But I’d be inheriting three millions from
someone
else.
someone
else.
“However, your father–mother palace is not properly placed in your life’s map, which means your karmic connection with your parents is weak. Indeed very weak.”
I didn’t respond, thinking of the dead father I bitterly hated and the dead mother I dearly loved, one in hell and the other in heaven, I hoped.
Some silence passed and he continued, changing the course of the conversation. “Your so-called aunt, she’s both good and bad to you. When she came to me ten-odd years ago, she was desperate for help and guidance. But unfortunately she didn’t follow my advice. That’s why she has been suffering. The will of heaven is not to be slighted.”
“How is she suffering?”
“Both mentally and physically.” He penetrated my eyes with his sightless ones behind the dark glasses. “Miss Lin, you’re the only one who’ll be able to rescue her from the sea of suffering. You are her
guiren
.”
guiren
.”
Of course I knew the term
guiren—
noble person. These are people, including strangers, you may encounter along your life’s path who will give you unconditional help, even saving your life. Simply put—angels. But how could a powerless young woman like me be Mindy Madison’s
guiren?
guiren—
noble person. These are people, including strangers, you may encounter along your life’s path who will give you unconditional help, even saving your life. Simply put—angels. But how could a powerless young woman like me be Mindy Madison’s
guiren?
The master’s powerful voice rose again in the small cell. “Someday you’ll understand what all this means. Meanwhile, you have to undergo a long, arduous journey. But don’t worry, your effort will be handsomely rewarded. But you have to be careful—very careful. Now please open the door for me.”
After I did, he yelled toward the entrance. “Ah Hung, is the soup ready?”
“Master, can Ah Hung hear you that far away?”
He nodded. “I’ve been summoning him like this for many years since I developed arthritis and can’t walk all the time to fetch him. After all these years his hearing is extremely acute.”
Soon Ah Hung materialized by the door, holding a tray. Carefully he laid down the two steaming bowls in front of us. Before he left, he leaned to whisper into my ear, “Miss Lin, very nutritious black chicken soup with very precious wild ginseng.”
Now that his disciple was in the room, the master was making an effort to lower his voice. “Ah Hung, do your job without boasting, especially not to our noble guests. Also, don’t whisper to any guest when there is nothing to hide in this land of purity. Go eat your own soup in the other room.”
“Yes, Master,” Ah Hung said, then winked at me as he dragged his small posterior out the door.
The master yelled to his back, “Ah Hung, how many times I’ve told you not to wink to our honorable guests, except small children?”
“Of course, Master!”
Was this decrepit old man really blind? Just then, as if to clear my doubt, Soaring Crane took off his glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief.
“The steam of the soup mists my glasses,” he said, then looked up to stare at me with his sightless pupils—two cloudy white marbles like the eyes of a fish left under the sun for days.
I stared at him, trying to suppress an “Oh, my God!” and then quickly averted my glance. What if he could tell by his sixth, seventh, even eighth sense that I was staring at him? Although the soup was steaming hot, my body felt chilled.
“Please, Miss Lin,” he said, putting his glasses back on.
We began to eat the delicious and
qi
-filled soup. Soaring Crane made loud, slurping sounds, just what I had been severely criticized for as a child.
qi
-filled soup. Soaring Crane made loud, slurping sounds, just what I had been severely criticized for as a child.
He spoke between sips. “Feel free to slurp and enjoy. This soup is cooked with many
yang
ingredients to generate a warming effect.”
yang
ingredients to generate a warming effect.”
I looked up from my bowl. “What
yang
ingredients?”
yang
ingredients?”
“Black chicken, wild ginger, dried dragon-eye pulp, and red berries cooked by fire from the raw wood dried in our courtyard for months under the sun. Ah Hung deliberately chose these ingredients to complement your
yin
nature.”
yin
nature.”
Could he tell that I had
yin
eyes?
yin
eyes?
After I drained the last drop, I said, “Master Soaring Crane, the soup is excellent and so is your consultation. I am very grateful that you generously gave me so much of your precious time. Now I think it’s time to stop bothering you and Ah Hung. I’ll . . . pay him on my way out.” Although Ah Hung had told me his master had stopped charging, I still thought I should offer to pay.
When I stood up and was turning to leave, Master Soaring Crane waved me to sit back down. “Wait a minute, Miss Lin. Please sit for a while.”
I sat down. Suddenly I was afraid he would ask for more money than I could comfortably afford.
But his question surprised me. “Are you wearing something around your neck?”
My hand involuntarily reached to touch Lop Nor’s pendant. “Yes, but how can you tell?” I immediately regretted my question, since he might take it as a remark of his blindness.
“Because I’ve been analyzing your
qi
since you’ve been in this room and realize that the strongest part of it comes from around your neck. You’re wearing white jade, right?”
qi
since you’ve been in this room and realize that the strongest part of it comes from around your neck. You’re wearing white jade, right?”
“Yes, but how do you know it’s jade, and white?” Maybe he was only faking blindness after all! A charlatan! Then how to explain his cloudy, dead-fish eyes? Some kind of theatrical makeup?
“Miss Lin, jades can be hundreds or thousands of years old. So only jade can send out vibrations like this, not silver or gold, which is newly made by gold- and silversmiths. Since old jades have been absorbing all kinds of
qi
from the universe and from their different owners, they release very strong, complex vibrations.”
qi
from the universe and from their different owners, they release very strong, complex vibrations.”
I touched Lop Nor’s pendant. “Master, what kind of vibrations has this pendant been sending out?”
“Please take it off and let me touch it.”
I slipped off the jade and handed it to the fortune-teller.
He caressed, rubbed, weighed, and bounced it in his pink, fleshy palm. Then he shook his head. “Miss Lin, better not wear this anymore.”
I protested. “But, Master, this is a very precious gift from a very dear friend!” I thought of the one-thousand-
renminbi
ivory bracelet thrown away like garbage by Keku. So, no, I was definitely not going to do the same with my dear departed friend’s precious family heirloom.
renminbi
ivory bracelet thrown away like garbage by Keku. So, no, I was definitely not going to do the same with my dear departed friend’s precious family heirloom.
“Then more reason not to wear it. Because this person’s spirit is still very much attached to the necklace, so it will throw you off balance, especially during inauspicious moments like sickness, getting lost, being frightened.”
“But it’s just a necklace.” My Western mind still believed that my earlier sickness was caused by the polluted air in the bazaar, not something so ridiculous as a ghost dwelling inside my ivory bracelet.
“Stones, especially jade, are very powerful,” Soaring Crane murmured, then licked his wrinkled lips. “Let me be straight with you, Miss Lin. I’m afraid that this jade has locked in too many tears. If you wear it, you’ll be the one who will shed those tears.” He paused, then added, “The one who wore it before—a life so tragic as his will take many years of tears to repay.”
“How do you know the owner was a man?”
“The
qi
, it’s very
yang
.”
qi
, it’s very
yang
.”
I nodded.
He went on. “This man is . . . in love with you. Deeply.”
I sighed. “My friend was drowned in a lake.”
Now I could see the master’s dead-fish eyes darted in their small confines behind his glasses. “No, in tears.”
Before I could respond, he continued, “That was just the physical manifestation of this accident. The ultimate truth is that he was drowned in tears triggered by his beloved woman. Or women. Please tell me his story.”
I did. This time no lies, since Lop Nor had nothing to do with Mindy Madison.
After I finished, Soaring Crane let out a long exhalation. “
Hai
. . . You know, Miss Lin, according to the Subtle Purple Calculus, all of us are granted by heaven one hundred and twenty years to live. But because this dusty world is filled with all kinds of dangers and dooms waiting to grab you, only those who escape them survive. We are all born with twelve stars governing our lives. The Life Star decides our character, and the Transmigration Star our actions. If we can balance the two, we can all live to a hundred and twenty.”
Hai
. . . You know, Miss Lin, according to the Subtle Purple Calculus, all of us are granted by heaven one hundred and twenty years to live. But because this dusty world is filled with all kinds of dangers and dooms waiting to grab you, only those who escape them survive. We are all born with twelve stars governing our lives. The Life Star decides our character, and the Transmigration Star our actions. If we can balance the two, we can all live to a hundred and twenty.”
Was the master already close to his hundred and twenty years?
He sighed. “No one escapes the entanglements of this world, do they?”
Suddenly I imagined there might be a poignant love story hidden behind those dark glasses and sightless eyes. I hesitated a moment before I threw out the forbidden question. “And you, Master?”
His answer surprised me. “Of course not.”
“Do you mean . . .” I was about to ask if his heart had also been broken by a woman—or several women.
But the master said, “Although I’m a lay person, not a monk, I was never married. Ah Hung and this temple are my lifelong entanglements.”
I smiled. “Ah Hung is a very sweet person.”
“Sweet? More like sweet and sour. If only you had a chance to live with him!”
We both laughed.
Moments passed. He “looked” at the pendant again, his expression turning serious. “If you wear this around your neck as you do, the bad vibrations will enter your life.”
“But Lop Nor is not going to hurt me, not even as a ghost!”
“Not intentionally, but accidentally. If this necklace means a lot to you, when you go home, wrap it in a clean cloth, preferably silk, and put it away in a dry, cool place. This way it’ll be left in peace while still feeling close to you. Just don’t wear it, especially not touching your bare flesh.”
He handed the pendant back to me. “For now, you can put it back on. Otherwise it might be stolen or lost on your long trip back. But don’t forget to take it off when you’re home.”
“Thank you so much for your advice, Master,” I said, putting the necklace back around my neck. Now it suddenly seemed weighted with a ton of sloshing tears.
“Miss Lin, yours is a peach blossom life. Maybe it’s flattering and pleasurable to have all these men chasing you. But ultimately you better stay with one. Passion and lust will vanish like smoke and dust. Only true love lasts.”
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