Chapter 188 — A Sudden Appearance
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 3 of 7
Ming Li did not understand, but he guessed well enough what the question was. So he said nothing, only raised his head and gestured toward the mountainside with a look. He did not point with his finger, because he still remembered that the Miao people regarded such a gesture as deeply disrespectful.
The two boys started, exchanged a glance, and then one of them, who seemed slightly the elder, shook his head. Neither of them stepped aside. Ming Li felt a faint anxiousness in his heart, yet he was truly unwilling to raise a hand against the kinsmen of the Great Shaman who had once helped him—and seeing the devastation in Seven Li Cave, he could not bring himself to strike.
He was silent for a long while. As the hostility in the two boys' eyes grew heavier and heavier, he sighed, turned around, and made to leave.
But he had taken only a few steps when a commotion suddenly came from up the mountain. He turned to look, and moments later a man came running swiftly down from the mountainside. First he said a few words to the two boys in the Miao tongue; the two nodded repeatedly and stepped to one side. Then this man, who looked to be about forty and seemed a priest of some sort, said to Ming Li in somewhat halting Central Plains speech:
"You... hello. The G-Great... Shaman asks you to come up."
Ming Li was startled and frowned. "The Great Shaman?"
The man nodded repeatedly. Ming Li drew a deep breath, nodded, and followed the man up the slope.
The cave was still there in its original place, but the structures and stone platform at its mouth were utterly changed beyond recognition—broken stones shattered and scattered all over the ground. Among the rubble stood a young Miao man, who looked to be only about thirty, dressed in the robe of the Great Shaman, smiling as he watched Ming Li approach.
His eyes held a faint gleam, as though a passionate flame burned within them—utterly different from the Miao folk down the mountain.
Ming Li walked up to him. The young man smiled slightly and, to his astonishment, spoke in exceedingly fluent Central Plains speech: "Hello, Mr. Ming Li. I am the new Great Shaman of the Miao people of the southern frontier. I have long heard your name."
Ming Li was taken aback, nodded and returned the greeting, and before he could speak, the young Great Shaman was already smiling:
"Please come in. I will take you to see the former Great Shaman."
With that, he led the way, walking into that still-dim cave. Ming Li followed behind him, slowly melting into the darkness as well.
The cave was as dark as ever; the young Great Shaman's figure swayed faintly ahead. Somehow, Ming Li felt he looked familiar. After thinking carefully, he remembered: the last time he had come here, the Great Shaman had once called this young man out. He had never imagined that after so short a time, the man had already succeeded to the position of Great Shaman.
As before, the young Great Shaman came with Ming Li to the room deep within the cave that enshrined the Hound God. The great fire still blazed, crackling and spitting, but the withered, ancient figure was nowhere to be seen.
The young man stepped forward and bowed squarely to the statue of the Hound God. Then, from the hound's jaws, he drew forth a carved wooden box and set it respectfully upon the ground. "It is our Miao custom," he said to Ming Li, "that when a Great Shaman of any generation passes, his ashes are enshrined beneath the Hound God's image for a full year. This is the old man's remains."
Ming Li was silent. He looked at the small wooden box, plain and unadorned, without the least ornamentation, made even of the commonest timber of the southern frontier. The Great Shaman, like countless Miao folk before him, slept quietly here.
Ming Li bent and bowed deeply.
Grey Monkey gave a squeak, leaped down from his shoulder, and scampered off on its own.