Now it is said that Chief Daoist Wizard Jia Qingfeng sought to court Hu Mei'r, that he was loosing his senses over this infatuation and that he had just spent an entire night without sleep.

This having been the case, he left his bed before sunrise, opened the door and stealthily tiptoed downstairs for a look. He saw only Quezi snoring away on the bed; upstairs he could hear no activity at all. Returning to his room he was unable to sit for long and paced the floor nervously, four or five times, truly like an ant on the lid of a hot kettle with nowhere to escape.

Climbing down to the kitchen he called out for the old Incense Keeper to come and heat some water for washing and make some breakfast. Now in this monastery there was a solitary rooster to crow the dawn; the unfortunate bird was shortly to be slaughtered and prepared for the table. Wizard Nie knew exactly what was on Jia Qingfeng's mind so he was busily setting everything up. And for his part the old Incense Keeper was off in dreamland.

"Amitofo," he muttered unconsciously, "can't you make that bird cry out a bit later for once?"

Wizard Nie heard his prayer and chuckled.

"Esteemed Teacher had better learn to get up by himself" he joked, "'cause from today we're not using a rooster anymore!"

Meanwhile the old woman and Mei'r were both conspiring together upstairs.

"We haven't covered much ground in all the time we've been out," one could be heard whispering, "and it's all because of that Quezi of ours dragging his bum leg along that we couldn't move any faster. Why, this Daoist is so kind, why not let Quezi become his young disciple to live here in his care while we go on ourselves? Then if and when we find a real teacher and a place to call home we'll be able to come back and fetch him at once."

At daybreak they called Quezi upstairs and informed him of the plan. Now, our Limping Lefty had been truly afraid of walking so he was immeasurably happy; he felt like a condemned man just handed an official reprieve! But just as the trio had reached agreement they heard the sound of coughing from downstairs; indeed it was from Wizard Jia.

"Has Auntie gotten up yet?" he shouted up the stairs; "I've instructed a the priest to bring up some washwater."

"I'm up," answered the old mother, "I'll have Que go down and fetch it." Now Que started down for the water but before he could hobble down four or five steps Wizard Nie had brought it up to meet him. Quezi snatched the bucket and took it back to the room; they then washed up and groomed in good time. Then Jia Qingfeng came up to pay his humble respects.

"Did you sleep well last night?" he asked.

"Yes" she gratefully answered, "all thanks to you."

At this time he noticed Hu Mei's appearance, charm and bearing; there was something even more striking than the day before. It was the light on her face! For heavy snow had indeed fallen in accord with his wishes, and outside the crested drifts were adorned with veils of windborn, icy crystals against the bluest sky, beneath of which all was a brilliant white with fine drifting snow swirling over the glazed and frozen dunes. And the window light from this wondrous scene only enhanced her unspeakable charm. She was truly like an angel from the legendary Taoyuan Cave, or a beauty from the harem of Doushuaitian, that high Buddhist Heaven. Now our Wizard only stared but there was no scratching his itch, much as he wanted to know her in a flash, like swallowing a cupful of water!

"How old is your mother," he asked, collecting his senses, "and in what year of her radiant beauty is the young maiden?"

"I'm all of sixty years old," answered the mother, "and my girl is fully eighteen."

The Wizard was curious: "Was she born when you were past forty-two?" he asked.

"Precisely," answered the woman.

"And about this brother of hers, how old is he?" continued Jia. "How did he lose the use of a leg?"

The mother paused. "That roughneck," she answered, "is in his twenty-third year; the leg was broken in a play accident when he was a child. We've been unable to get very far on this journey because of his handicap; he's always been lagging behind."

"The snow really came down last night," said the Wizard. "It'll take four or five days for it to melt away, then it should be all right to travel, eh? And especially as things aren't so easy with the young man along, it won't hurt to stay on here a few more days, will it?"

The mother looked down. "I don't know whether or not to tell you this, but..."

The Daoist cut her short: "If you've got something to say, by all means speak!"

The mother continued: "I, your unworthy old guest, am a widow and my late husband was a Daoist, in fact a flame and cinnabar man like yourself, only his alchemical skills weren't so distinguished. This coarse young man of mine may seem loathsome but he's got a mighty fine fate in Dao awaiting him. Just last year a teacher of Original Nature Dao, who could perform Mayi facial reading, said that Quezi appeared inclined to enter the Craft. He actually wanted my boy to be his disciple but I wouldn't hear of it. But now, seeing a high Daoist priest so kind and loving I have a mind to order my son to take the vows of a disciple, to kneel and serve, prepare incense and clean up or any old thing you might desire. But I don't know," she added, "how long you could stand him..."

Now as our Wizard Jia was bent on seducing the Fox-spirit lass he wasn't exactly being sensible. In fact he was now confusing strangers with blood relatives and betraying his family's highest secrets, so to speak.

"Receiving your young son as a novice Daoist will be such a joy!" he accordingly answered. "But I myself, your humble priest, have something to say of my own that you may be surprised to hear. You see, since childhood, when my own parents both left this world, I haven't had any kin to look after me. Now if you don't find the idea too revolting I'd like to take thee, old woman, as my stepmother."

"How can such an honor befit an old hag like me?" answered the astonished mother.

The next moments passed in a silence of mutual humbleness. Then Jia Qingfeng gave his vows of filiality, four times to our old mother; the young Quezi in turn bowed and clasped his hands toward the Wizard, likewise vowing four times. From then on he called Jia "shifu", meaning "esteemed teacher," and the old woman, who all along was of course the ancient fox Holy Auntie, was stepmother of the Wizard. Then Wizard Jia and Hu Mei'r exchanged glances.

"From this moment forth," they each vowed, "we are as elder brother and younger sister."

At this point the old Daoist Nie had just finished cooking up the poor rooster and divided the meat and broth. And he'd also prepared a vegetarian chicken course, which, together with the chicken, he brought downstairs for the breakfast service. Then Wizard Jia, with the old mother, Mei'r and Quezi seated themselves according to the rank and age of their new family. And because Quezi was now a disciple, he offered the head of the table to Wizard Jia.

"There's nowhere to shop on such snowy days," he said, "but I've had our assistant get hold of a chicken somehow. I hope that mother and little sister partake of it as they like!" This said, they hungrily descended upon the contents of the bowls, each picking out certain choice morsels and energetically ladling them up.

"This old woman," said the embarrassed mother, "and her little girl are both on a vegetarian fast. I'm sorry that this moron of mine, a novice priest no less, is eating so much meat. And after all the trouble you've gone to; I just don't know what to say..."

"How strange," answered Jia, "your daughter's so young, why should she be a vegetarian?"

"She's been one since birth" answered the mother.

"When she get's married someday that'll be really inconvenient" said Wizard Jia.

"What?" said the mother, indignantly; "Marry? Who's she going to marry?" She's a future nun awaiting her vows; why, she can't wait for the day when her head will be shaved and she'll enter a monastery!"

Wizard Jia was struck by a happy thought: "This is yet another fortunate coincidence," he mused. He then spoke.

"There's nothing wrong with taking vows; the problem is rather with youngsters who scorn the faith and do evil. Now, I your stepson have got an aunt who is a nun, residing at a most pristine convent. Oh Mother, if our girl is willing to leave the worldly life and study Dao, she should go there immediately and begin her cultivation. Why, it's only forty li from here, where Brother will be in this monastery. You'll both be close enough to take care of each other without a moment's worry."

"Oh, how wonderful this is!" exclaimed the woman; "But my daughter has already resolved to sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven at the Holy Peak of the West, Mt Hua, so she must go there. I, your old mother, must accompany her on the pilgrimage, so upon our return we'll discuss this again."

"Suit yourself" said the Wizard, nodding agreeably, "it sounds fine to me."

Now after breakfast the old mother saw this Wizard in a new light, with the tender feeling of a flesh-and-blood family member. Moreover she no longer felt like leaving so quickly. Wizard Jia took off his Daoist priest's robe, still in fair condition, and gave it to Quezi to wear. He then issued a pronouncement to the local faithful that the young novice priest was to be known, henceforth, as Que Shi, or, Limping Teacher. And what was more the Wizard gave him an empty cubicle next to his own quarters as a bedchamber, had a carpenter fix things up and install some windows and even placed Quezi in charge of supervising the job. Now he would no longer have to sleep downstairs, while Jia Qingfeng could prepare tea and cakes for his stepmother and stepsister and entertain them in his room.

Now let's take a little break from the story and cast a curious eye over to our little foxy sister. For it had been Hu Mei's light laughter that drove Wizard Jia out of his mind, and here's a poem for proof:

Now Wizard Jia devoted himself heart and soul to caring for his brother and sister and he stuck like glue to Hu Mei'r, following her everywhere. And because the two of them came to exchange intimate eye contact the Wizard presumed that his feelings were mutual. After a few more hours nature took its course and they began to get more physical about it, lightly at first, touching about the hands and feet. But they couldn't really go at it because of the old mother's presence. Wizard Jia was as frustrated as a seagull stranded on a sandbar with a broken leg, tempted by a delicious fish in the water!

It had gone on like this for three days when the sky finally cleared and the old mother started to say her farewells. Now the Wizard truly spent the day in distress; though he tried to dissuade her, in the end he could only consent. He then went back to his room and brooded ever so sadly.

"Why," he thought, "there's only today left; if I don't get a hold of her what a waste of effort this will have all been!" And he paced back and forth knitting his brows and wracking his brains for all of three hours. Suddenly he broke into laughter.

"Hah!" he exclaimed, "I've got it! Reaching into a wicker trunk he dug out a couple of strips of green native cloth and ran downstairs shouting.

"Mother! Sister!" he cried out. "I don't know how long it'll be before you return, so I'm taking these here two pieces of cloth I've picked out and having garments made for each of you to wear on your journey and remember me by! I've already called a tailor to come and do everything tomorrow, and you'll go the day after!"

The mother was delighted. "More and more gifts," she bubbled, "such awesome generosity!" And she had Mei'r thank him, too. Now Jia whirled around and was gone in a flash, off to tell Wizard Nie to call a tailor from town to come at daybreak on the morrow and make the clothes; the older man grudgingly nodded and left.

Now, one important aspect of this can't be overlooked: when it came to lewdness and lechery, Wizard Nie played second fiddle to no man, certainly not to Jia Qingfeng. However, because he'd seen his superior fidgeting so in frustration and as he himself was not endowed with any great mental power, he could only observe the girl daily in the hope of discovering some new angle, some weakness on her part. This time, off on his journey to the tailor, he decided to keep a detached eye upon things and await such an opportunity in future developments...but getting back to our story!

Wizard Jia spent another sleepless night tossing and turning; at dawn he had Nie bring the tailor at once. In a short while Wizard Nie announced the seamster's arrival in the main study hall. Now Jia Qingfeng flew upstairs and told mother to come out with the bolts of cloth.

"You'd better be around so this country tailor can get your measurements, and you'd better watch while he cuts away, too, just in case..." he said. Cloth in hand she followed the Daoist downstairs. Once in the study, Jia wheeled on a foot and bolted away from the mother, back to find Hu Mei'r alone there, and he approached her at last.

"Oh, sis!" he began boldly, "We've held back in caution for so long, waiting for this opportunity! Come to me quickly and save me from this torture...quickly!" he pleaded desperately.

Hu Mei'r responded warmly but nervously.

"Why, it's broad daylight. I'm scared to death that someone will discover us; you know that wouldn't do! Why, Mother could barge in on us!"

The Wizard tried to soothe her fears: "Your mom's in another room cutting the cloth, so we still have a good chance. Let's make the best of our time together! Come to big brother, sis!" he moaned; "I want you more than anything else in the world! Please, don't be difficult..." And placing his face to hers ever so softly he kissed her fully upon her compliantly opening mouth and she responded with a darting, pointed tongue.

"Dear brother," she told him, "I want to, oh, how I want to! I have feelings too, you know; I don't know how I've been able to stand it all this time...but no, not during the day! Tonight, when Mom's asleep I'll sneak down and come to you ever so quietly, and we'll come together as man and woman right on this bed! I won't fail your trust, you have my word!"

Wizard Jia plunged to his knees in gratitude.

"Oh Sister, if we can really be together I'll never forget your loving kindness." And he knocked his head reverently upon the cold, hard floor.

And so it was set; there was no more said. Let me now describe what happened next. For one thing the old Incense Keeper cried out: "Esteemed Teacher Jia! The old woman wants you up front to have a look at the designs!" Wizard Jia nodded and turned to leave.

"You mustn't forget what you've just said!" he told Mei'r in parting, and went to the study to inspect the new clothes.

Now, all this time there was nothing to stop Daoist Nie from carrying a washbasin upstairs right over the rendezvous, from hearing Wizard Jia's voice and from tiptoeing over to the staircase and eavesdropping. And although the two hadn't spoken out so loudly he surely got the drift of things and the sensual possibilities swam before his eyes; he could more or less imagine that they had made plans for a liaison. So he waited for Jia to leave and then fairly flew downstairs, and clasping Hu Mei's with his own then confronted her with his discovery.

"I know," he whispered urgently, "that there's something going on between you and Teacher but I promise not to betray you. I only beg you grant me the favor due a first-born son! For ever since I first laid eyes on you I've thanked Heaven for having matched me with a girl like you!" Now Hu Mei was delighted and truly moved in her heart and soul, and even felt a tingle down inside; she raised her eyebrows in delight.

"Let go," she whispered, "it'll be embarrassing if we're spotted although I enjoy being held by you, I must admit!" Daoist Nie released her hands.

"How will you come to me?" he asked.

"A moment ago," answered Mei'r, "Teacher bothered me so much that I had to promise to go to him just to get him to stop. I told him to leave his door open and that I would see him in his room after midnight, and I'm bound by my word. So tonight just wait until he retires to his room, then sneak downstairs and wait in the empty bed. I'll first come down to you and we'll settle our accounts, then I'll go up to see him. Won't that be fine?"

Nie kowtowed and thanked her: "If you really do this, my dear girl, may Lord Buddha bless and keep you forever!" And having so spoken he was up and gone, but Mei'r laughed to herself.

"I'll tease them a little and enjoy the fun," she chortled, "much as I'd like to take them both in bed, if word leaked out Mom and Que and I would be finished. I'll see to it that things get fouled up tonight!"

After the old mother finished supervising the tailoring of the new outfits she called Quezi down and informed him that she and Mei'r would be departing on the morrow. She then told him to study diligently and behave himself in her absence and to abstain from drink, lest he be punished upon her return. And while Wizard Jia prepared dinner, two tailors presented the finished garments to mother and daughter. Wizard Jia took advantage of the occasion to ask the mother about leaving a bit later the following morning to allow for a hearty breakfast, an offer that the women declined.

After dinner Wizard Jia returned to his room and nervously anticipated the coming rendezvous. He lifted a teapot of fine spirits and drank alone until somewhat flushed, then nodded off on his couch, no doubt hoping to build up his vital forces for the liaison. As for Nie he cleaned up and took a break, sat down under a plantain in the courtyard and waited. From this vantage he could see the comings and goings of the entire compound. Wizard Jia had already closed his door; the mother and daughter had gone upstairs. So he quietly tiptoed to the downstairs bed and took a little nap, waiting for some news from upstairs and he lay this way in anticipation for about half an hour, finally nodding off.

Now, Wizard Jia at this point awoke with a start from his drunken sleep. Having lost track of time he was only afraid that he had missed the rendezvous, for he hadn't opened the door. Deciding to have a discreet look round, he hurriedly applied his hands to the latch and opened the door ever so gingerly. Then he walked stealthily out, his arms extended for balance and his legs slinking out in long, sneaky strides on the balls of his feet, like a stork. When he reached the summer bed downstairs he groped forth to feel for its surface. He knew at once that someone was asleep on it and was delighted.

"Why sure enough," he thought, "this difficult little lover of mine has some desire for me after all. Why, she's been here waiting!" Then he quickly threw off his slippers and lay down next to his love.

Now, feeling a newcomer's presence Wizard Nie suddenly awakened and of course he too thought that Mei'r hadn't failed him. So the two of them, throbbing with desire, lay in the dark without speaking. Then, embracing each other they began with a passionate kiss.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Jia in puzzled disgust. Nie recognized his master's voice at once.

"Esteemed Teacher," he answered sheepishly, "it's me."

And Jia Qingfeng knew, of course, just who "me" was! "Perhaps," he thought, "the thieving scum's heard some rumors and decided to wreck my fun this way!" Nonetheless each got up from the bed in silent embarrassment and went off to his own quarters to sleep. Clearly, this had all been a nightmare for Wizard Jia; he simply could not believe what had just happened. In due course, however, he tossed aside his desire for Hu Mei and sought refuge in sleep.

Come daybreak everyone arose from slumber and went to breakfast. At the table Wizard Jia looked at Assistant Wizard Nie and giggled like a schoolboy. Nie returned his glance and a sheepish laugh, and Hu Mei'r looked at both of them with a little chuckle of delight. It's like this:

Although Jia Qingfeng had been disappointed, he remained hopeful of yet having a liaison with Mei'r upon her return from the pilgrimage to the holy peak of the west, Mt Hua. And so he ordered Nie to prepare wine and provisions for the ladies. They then fetched up and put on their coats, gathered up their belongings and rose to bid farewell. They told Quezi in parting to be patient.

"I know what I have to do," he answered. Then Wizard Jia and Quezi escorted mother and daughter out the gate of the monastery, the old woman thanking everyone repeatedly.

"Upon your return," said the Wizard, "you must come back to the temple to see me. Tomorrow I'll send a letter of introduction to my Aunt over at that nunnery by Fujiang Rapids. If you still want to enter cultivation of purity and original goodness there's no better place." And to Mei'r he added: "Take care of yourself; we'll meet again someday." Then his eyes became red and swollen with tears and he was wracked with sobs and, ashamed, ran off with his hands over his face. Mei'r was truly moved and saddened.

Now, dear reader, do not forget this point: none other than Zuo Chu himself has just become a novice Daoist priest in the Guanwang Monastery at the foot of Swordgate Mountain!

To get on with our story, mother and daughter left the monastery and headed for Swordgate Pass; Quezi not being along they made good time. They were confronting steep terrain, ever rising higher and higher, and dusk was falling when they spotted a small grove on a distant slope, roughly ten li ahead. "Mei'r," said the mother, "let's spend the night in those woods; we aren't far from the holy peak now." The two women hadn't taken many more steps when suddenly they met a fierce black squall; against its fury they could only close their eyes. Indeed they couldn't stand, so great was the gale. It was really like this:

After the first gusts subsided two burly warriors came forth, chests thrust out and shoulders back and announced: "The Queen of Heaven has decreed that Holy Auntie appear at the Imperial Audience!"

The old woman was astounded. "Who is this 'Queen of Heaven'," she asked.

"None other than the Holy Mother, Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty!" answered a warrior.

"But it's been centuries since Empress Wu left the world," said the woman, "how can it be that she's still with us? Anyway we've never met; what could she want from me of all folks?"

"Our Empress and you," answered one of the men, "share a common fate and you are destined to meet her, so please cooperate with us." He continued: "She has known your whereabouts all along, Holy Auntie, and that you would pass by here!"

Now, the old woman wasn't at all afraid and had no desire to escape, though the soldiers had in fact seized her and she couldn't have gotten away if she had wanted to. When she could once again move freely she found herself suspended in midair, and in less than an hour was transported to a place where ancient trees touched the sky, where vines hung as far as the eye could see, where a cool breeze blew and the dark smell of night was all-pervading. Passing a pair of stone tablets she saw the outline of an audience hall. The original two warriors were nowhere to be seen; instead there were now two girl slaves from the harem carrying purple Chinese lanterns. They came forward to welcome her, saying: "The Empress has been waiting for awhile now."

When the old woman entered the audience hall she saw only an incense altar with the design of a swirling dragon and nobody in there. "Wait here for a moment, Holy Auntie," said one of the slaves.

After a short while her two escorts reappeared, announcing: "The Queen of Heaven has decreed it; let it be done! Holy Auntie, please come to the rear chamber for the Imperial Audience."

And so the old mother followed the slaves in, to see a high curtain of beaded pearls sparkling brilliantly in the lamplight. The Empress sat upon a throne in the center, between vermillion pillars and under a purple ceiling; on either side of her were woman officials clad in purple and wearing veils, and they ordered Holy Aunty to kowtow. She performed the knockings and kneelings reverently, then stood at attention. The Empress Wu thereupon granted her permission to sit.

"How dare I show such disrespect to your Majesty," answered the old woman fearfully.

"There's no need for such humility," answered the Empress. "Today's meeting is no coincidence; the Throne wishes to discuss a matter of Fate with you, my servant, in fine detail. How can we do justice to this topic with you standing throughout?" The Empress then called for a cushion and passed it to her guest.

"Those awful brutes in the meadow," said the woman, "didn't tell me anything about thy intentions, my Empress!"

"My minister," began the Empress, you mustn't feel ashamed of not being human. For you are indeed a person posessed by a fox, while I am a fox residing in a person. Reading that manifesto of Prince Luo's still makes me tremble with fear! I, the Exhalted One, am truly ashamed to receive you, my minister, under these circumstances." And she chanted the following poem:

"Oh," she continued, "how I'd once valued the talents of Luo Binwang. When they presented the heads of the rebels I asked if his was among them, for I couldn't bear to look. Little did I know that his head was another's and that he had escaped dressed as a monk. All bad officials who have ever hoodwinked an Emperor have been like him! Outsiders accuse me to this very day of excess cruelty, but I think that the killings were justified in the public interest!" Her face then turned pensive and sad. "In the end," she added ruefully, "Luo became a bonze, redeemed himself and went to Heaven, while I remain bottled up in this cold darkness. Who would have ever thought that our world of the Tang would end at the hands of that Huang Chao and that my decaying bones would be repeatedly desecrated and my tomb looted. So today, I, the Exalted One, can only wear the few crumbling trinkets that remain of my jade girdle as I meet you."

And sure enough, when the woman looked she saw that the crown atop the Empress's head had neither diamonds nor other gems and that her gown was unadorned.

"Huang Chao and the vandals must have been terrible, why didn't you forbid their trespasses with your supernatural powers?" she asked.

The Empress Wu continued: "When my worldly Fate was over Heaven sent me back to rule as the Devil Queen. Now, I was a child of the early Tang while Huang Chao was born at the end of our epoch. Mortal men and women are different according to their times but we spirits are the same throughout the ages. When I was Empress Wu on earth, the time when anyone could take the throne had obviously arrived. So how could I prevent that salt merchant Huang Chao from doing exactly that? Fair's fair, after all!"

"I've heard," said the old woman, "that during your reign you patronized the casting of holy icons and statues, had pagodas and temples built and supported them throughout the land, and that your good works on behalf of Buddhism were truly glorious. So why are you being kept here in the cold dark reaches of eternal night?"

"Ordinary mortals," answered the Queen, "first purify their souls and then receive the grace to begin good works and to cultivate blessings. In my life I was impure of heart and I cultivated devilish ways. I enjoyed all the benefits of womanhood, yet I secretly harbored great resentment at not having been a man; my prayers and flattery to Lord Buddha were all due to this. So today my desired Fate has come to pass, and by the grace of God I've become a man in body!"

The woman was puzzled. "Has your majesty," she asked, "been reincarnated with honor, riches and power as of old?"

The Queen spoke: "Now that I've become a devil in accordance with the way of Fate, I must remain on the path of a devil's life. If I had no special privileges and powers, how could I ever perform my magic? Although I was originally born a woman I have nonetheless become Emperor. Why not become a man while I'm at it? Now, your daughter Mei'r is secretly fated to be an Imperial Concubine," continued the ghostly sovereign to the astonished old mother; "she's already entrusted to my Prince Chongxiao, so don't worry."

"So," exclaimed the mother, "you've become a man under that gown and again usurped a throne! And now, having lost your palaces, pleasure halls and handsome satyrs of old you've decided to take a woman of the spirits as your own..."

"There are many things," responded the Queen, "that you , my servant, do not know. In her previous life, Mei'r was Zhang Liulang, a man with the bearing and grace of a lotus blossom. I, the Exalted One had such deep feeling for him that I made him a pledge, swearing that we would be husband and wife forever, throughout all subsequent lives. Unfortunately we were separated by the course of events and have been truly star-crossed lovers down to this very day. But now I've become a man, so he can come back to me as my Queen. We're predestined to remain together like a pair of mandarin ducks; isn't it truly touching? I, your Sovereign, shall now set out for present-day Hebei Province and I shall meet you there in twenty-eight years, in the district of Beizhou. Please, my servant, polish up your sorcery in order to best serve me!"

"We were captured while seeking those skills at any cost," replied the mother; "where shall we go for them?"

The figure on the throne answered: "I've got a prophecy of sixteen characters for you, which you may write down. The charm goes like this:

"In three years," the Empress then said, "you'll be contacted by one of us, you can be sure. You needn't go to any special trouble on this account." And she had something else to say: "Heaven's secrets must be guarded ; they must not be leaked out carelessly. If 'Old Eighty' hears of this, something terrible will happen!"

"Who" asked the woman "is 'Old Eighty'?"

"The Prince of Hanyang, Zhang Jianzhi," answered the Queen. "He's been an opponent of mine down through the ages so you, my minister, should avoid him."

And then there was a moment of silence, followed by shouting from the front of the hall. Suddenly a woman slave, alarmed, rushed in and warned everyone: "The Prince of Hanyang has heard of our Lord's ambitions to the throne and is commanding an army of a hundred thousand to come and crush us!"

Her face ashen with fright, the Queen ran behind her throne and fled. The old woman was terrified. "That thing made a pact with me," she thought, trembling, "I'd better get out of here right away!" And in panic she fell off of her cushion and tried to beat a path out of there but her limbs wouldn't move and she awakened soaked in sweat. For it had all been a dream, and a bad one at that. She had been sleeping under the stars at the foot of an old burial mound, and there was of course no audience hall. But neither, to her alarm, was there any sign of Hu Mei'r. She cried out in each direction with no trace of an answer, and she had no idea where the girl might have gone. And then she sobbed for awhile, thinking. "Yan Banxian said my daughter had an unfortunate end awaiting her; perhaps it's this incredible affair!"

Now, it was already nearly dawn, and by the pale light of the eastern sky she saw a stone monument lying on its side in the thorns right in front of the mound. And engraved upon it were the characters of a prophecy given, the marker said, by the Empress Wu Zetian of the Great Tang Dynasty.

"In my dream," said the old woman, "I floated to the Queen's Palace in Hell and I still remember a bit of what she said in parting. This is so very strange; these are the very same sixteen words here on this tablet. How can it possibly be? I don't even know what it means!"

And it having come to this she thought of the day they left their earthen burrow, mother and two children, and of how she had just lost her daughter. How sad and lonely she felt; the rest of her journey was spent in a daze and she lived on her feet until she reached the great Mt Hua. Then she only sought a quiet place to collect her thoughts and decide what to do next.

Now the point is that when, as prophesized, the old fox-spirit meets yet another supernatural being, still another strange episode will unfold...it's really like this: