Chapter 208: The Emissary's Descent

Lightning illuminated the paper window, making the dark room as bright as snow for a moment, then plunging it back into darkness.

The sound of the pouring rain was like the bursting of the celestial river. Such a heavy rain had been falling for a shichen.

Summer thunderstorms came quickly, with heavy rainfall, but they also passed quickly. It was rare for one to last more than half an hour. However, it was not uncommon for a heavy rain to last for half a shichen or a full shichen here. Zhang Yingchen knew that this was most likely due to the abnormal climate of the Little Ice Age.

“What a waste of this torrential rain and thunder!” Zhang Yingchen couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Otherwise, on such a stormy night, he could have displayed his “divine power” and staged a grand drama of creating a divine medicine while bathing in heavenly thunder. But so far, the lightning had never struck the cage. The roofs and large trees around were all taller than this iron cage, so it was indeed difficult for lightning to strike the cage directly. It was difficult for him to “perform magic” in the cage for the time being. It seemed that without a lightning rod to attract the lightning, it was hard to draw it with just an iron cage.

Although he had thought of other methods, such as making a wooden pole with an iron tip at the top and a thin iron chain leading down from it, the blacksmith shop replied that they were too busy making iron chains recently and couldn’t get to it for several days. The Zhuang family’s servants had run to several blacksmith shops in and out of the city, and all gave the same answer.

“What a strange thing. Why is everyone making iron chains for no reason?” Daoist Priest Zhang could never figure it out.

Strange as it was, since he couldn’t perform magic, he had to continue with his main job: lobbying the Zhuang family.

Through his activities these past few days, he had learned a lot about the Zhuang family. He had originally thought that this was just an ordinary rural gentry family, but he didn’t expect them to be so powerful locally.

The Zhuang family of Dadian Village had migrated from Donghai, Jiangsu, in the early Ming Dynasty. The current Master Zhuang Qian was the fifth-generation descendant of the Dadian Zhuang family. Originally, the Zhuang family was a poor family in Dadian Village. In his youth, Zhuang Qian had sold sesame seed cakes. Later, he benefited from the appreciation of a local school teacher, Wang Kai, who took him in as a student for free. From then on, he had the opportunity to study. He was a Jinshi of the 47th year of the Wanli era, had served as a magistrate in Runing Prefecture, and was later promoted to Censor of the Zhejiang Circuit and Censor-in-Chief of Shaanxi. In the second year of the Chongzhen era, when the Later Jin invaded, Zhuang Qian had led troops north to defend the capital. He retired to his hometown the following year.

Although he was said to have retired, Zhuang Qian was not very old, only 48. But his health was already not very good. Zhang Yingchen took the opportunity to teach him many methods of recuperation and prescribed various nourishing medicines. Under his careful care, Master Zhuang’s health had improved somewhat, and the entire Zhuang family became even more respectful of him.

Besides this capable civil and military Master Zhuang, Zhuang Qian also had a cousin who was a military student. During the Tianqi era, he was appointed as the garrison commander of Luokou for his military merits, making him a military official. Zhuang Qian’s second younger brother, Zhuang Sheng, was a tribute student, and his third younger brother, Zhuang Ben, and his cousin, Zhuang Ding, were both government-supported students. Zhuang Qian’s eldest son, Zhuang Xialing, was also a tribute student, and his second son, Zhuang Heling, was a government-supported student.

In general, the Zhuang family was a standard large family of scholars and officials. They were a powerful gentry family in Dadian Village and even the entire Yizhou region.

If this family could be loyal to the Senate, it would be a great help in the southern Shandong region. At the very least, they would have the ability to command the wind and rain in Yizhou.

He had already sent a letter to the center, requesting the Grand Library to immediately search for detailed materials on the Zhuang family of Dadian Village in Yizhou and to send the materials to him via Linqing as soon as possible.

If he could get more specific materials on the Zhuang family, his work here would be more targeted. As he was thinking, he heard footsteps outside the door. A servant of the Zhuang family came in.

“Has the Daoist priest finished his dinner?”

“Yes, you can take it away,” Zhang Yingchen waved his hand and then suddenly asked, “What, Old Zhao didn’t come today?”

Old Zhao was the person assigned by the Zhuang family to serve him. He usually brought his meals and water and handled all the rough work.

“Yes, Old Zhao had some family matters and went home,” the servant replied while clearing the table. “Did the Daoist priest enjoy his dinner?”

“Yes, yes,” Zhang Yingchen nodded and dismissed him.

Under the candlelight, Zhang Yingchen carefully studied a stack of pulse records, considering how to continue nourishing Master Zhuang’s body. Suddenly, a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder came from outside. The candle flame flickered and dimmed. He quickly shielded the flame, and the light gradually brightened.

The brightness of such a candle was already very limited. The homemade candles made from animal and vegetable oils not only had low brightness but also had to be constantly trimmed to maintain their brightness.

Zhang Yingchen picked up the scissors and trimmed the candlewick, but the light became even dimmer.

“Strange!” He put down the scissors and suddenly smelled a faint, fragrant scent.

In a small courtyard used for storing miscellaneous items, dozens of converts from the Zhuang family’s servants had gathered under the corridor, their expressions solemn. The incense master had passed down the word that the Dharma protector emissary would personally descend here today to perform magic and strike down the “demon” in the Zhuang residence with heavenly thunder.

In the middle of the courtyard was a small black iron tripod. Because it had been left in the rain, it was half-filled with water.

As for who the “demon” in the residence was, the incense master did not say. Anyone with a bit of intelligence knew that it was most likely Daoist Priest Zhang, who lived in the west wing of the warehouse.

There were some murmurs among the believers about Daoist Priest Zhang being a demon. After all, Daoist Priest Zhang had treated the sick and given out medicine in the residence, the village, and even the city, saving many people. He was also kind and treated everyone equally, regardless of their status. By all accounts, he seemed to be a good person.

But they dared not disobey the “order” from “above.” The incense master had already said that this was a matter personally instructed by the altar master. As for the venerable altar master, many of these ordinary believers had never seen him, but everyone said that his magical powers were extremely high. If it weren’t for him secretly casting spells during this great flood, who knows how many more people would have perished.

“I hear that a Dharma protector emissary sent from the Jinan main altar is also coming…” whispers spread through the crowd.

Dozens of believers, men and women, old and young, all held incense and candles piously, awaiting the descent of the Dharma protector emissary. To them, the arrival of the emissary was no less than the descent of a deity.

Thunder rumbled, and lightning frequently tore through the sky, illuminating the dark courtyard as bright as snow.

The incense master, who had been watching the sky, suddenly shrieked, “The time has come! Light the incense and welcome the emissary!”

A large bundle of lit incense sticks was thrown into the small iron tripod in the middle of the courtyard. The tripod was originally filled with water, but the incense sticks did not extinguish when they fell in. Instead, they burned even more fiercely. The flames and water mixed, and a green smoke filled the air, filling the courtyard with a strange fragrance.

The incense master led the chanting of scriptures. Amidst the murmuring incantations, the believers began to sway their bodies, falling into a state of trance.

As they chanted, the incense in the censer began to act strangely. A green smoke slowly rose, becoming thicker and thicker, gradually blurring the entire courtyard. Countless tongues of fire began to leap up with slight crackling sounds, like lightning, like flowing fire, hidden in the haze, constantly jumping. In the haze, a red figure seemed to descend from the sky. Suddenly, with a clap of thunder, a ball of fire shot up. The crowd, in a daze as if waking from a dream, stood there blankly. The flames in the censer had burned out, and not even ashes remained. There was still only half a tripod of clear water, as if nothing had happened.

However, under the eaves and in the middle of the courtyard, a red-clad young girl now stood. She wore a long pomegranate-red skirt, covered by a yellow gauze robe, with her hair in two buns, and a seven-star precious sword hanging at her waist. She looked both ethereal and eerie. The swastika patterns and lotus treasures embroidered on her robe flickered and changed.

The rain poured down in the courtyard, but the girl’s clothes and hair were not wet, not a single drop of rain touching her. The incense master, as if snapping back to reality, shouted, “Welcome the Dharma protector emissary!”

The believers, already in a trance, all knelt down and began to chant scriptures, completely mesmerized.

Under the cover of the dark, rainy night, Min Zhanlian and his men snuck into Dadian Village.

The journey was very smooth. With the help of the believers inside the village, they quickly crossed the gap in the enclosure. Then, with the help of the believers among the Zhuang family’s servants, they successfully entered the Zhuang residence through a side gate in the backyard.

The Dharma protector emissary had entered the manor a few steps ahead of him. According to their pre-arranged plan, she should now be “performing magic” inside the manor, preparing to let the believers witness the power of the “True Way” once again, to deepen their impression and thus work hard to preach within the manor. It was not just the Daoist priest who valued the Zhuang Qian clan. Although the members of the folk religions in the late Ming were overwhelmingly from the lower classes—peasants, artisans, soldiers, sailors, and small merchants—and rarely included intellectuals and gentry, it did not mean that the upper echelons of these secret societies were closed to the social elite.

In fact, at the beginning of Zhuang Qian’s illness, the sect had already tried to persuade the inner chambers of the Zhuang family through the believers among the servants to let the sect’s “master” treat him, but they were all refused. Because of the White Lotus rebellion in southern Shandong, the gentry families were extremely wary of such folk religious sects.

Min Zhanlian wiped the rain from his face and waited for the last door in the narrow alley to open. At the end of the alley, after opening a door, was the courtyard where Daoist Priest Zhang lived.

He knocked three times on the door as agreed. The door opened immediately, and two men dressed as servants appeared. They silently let him and his group in.

He was taken aback. A group of people had silently arrived in the narrow alley, all dressed in black with bamboo hats, squatting in the shadows of the corner of the wall. The sound of the rain, thunder, and the dense rain had dulled his senses. If it weren’t for a flash of lightning, he would have almost missed them.

“They are from our sect, they came with the emissary,” the servant whispered. “Your things are behind that door. The door opposite is the courtyard where the Daoist priest lives.”

Min Zhanlian nodded. The kite and the iron chain had been secretly transported into the Zhuang residence by the believers a few days ago. Now they just needed to assemble them on the spot.