The Star of Greed

[Jwa Ja's Point of View]

January 21st. U Gil's thatched hut at the summit of Mount Wudang.

With a sharp bang, Jwa Ja—who had been on Mount Shang—appeared before the hut at the peak of Mount Wudang.

It was true. Exactly as Yuanhua said.

Yuanhua, the star disciple who had learned medicine ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠under U Gil, had once let slip that there was a child who had died and been reborn. Lately the threads of heaven had been running crooked, so Jwa Ja had wandered the Central Plains searching for the cause. Yuanhua's words floated back to her; on a whim she stopped by Mount Shang—and there she found a child born under the Star of Greed.

A child who should have been dead.

Around him stood people who likewise should already have died, and two more children born under the stars of heroes whose fates had already gone awry. Every one of them was bound to the boy by threads of destiny, woven tighter and tighter.

The end of Han will come even sooner. The heroes who should have stood beside the child meant to succeed the Han have all gone to him instead.

In Zhuoxian, at Loushang Village, she had once seen a boy who bore the countenance of an emperor. When she drifted through You Province again this time, she saw that same boy—yet the imperial visage was gone.

No one can overcome the Star of Greed. And if the heroes are women…

She stood in the courtyard of the hut, still turning the image of the child over in her mind. Then she remembered why she had come: to fetch U Gil, whose skill at reading faces surpassed even her own. She stepped toward the hut.

The thick scent of medicine hung in the air. A decoction pot bubbled in the yard; medicinal herbs lay spread out to dry. Looking closer, she saw two pairs of shoes. One of the disciples must have come up. Unlike her usual careless self, she straightened her robes and called from outside.

"Gil-ah!! You in there?"

The door to the room where U Gil taught her disciples creaked open, and Yuanhua's face appeared.

"Aunt Jwa Ja. You've come. Master says please enter."

"Right."

Yuanhua stepped out onto the veranda and bowed politely. Jwa Ja slipped off her shoes and went inside.

The room was far larger than it looked from without—expanded by Taoist arts. Thousands of bamboo slips hung drying; two writing desks stood side by side. At one of them U Gil sat bare to the waist, brushing characters down a scroll. She set the brush aside as Jwa Ja approached.

The title read Taiping Dao.

"Taiping Dao?"

"Mm. Nan Hua asked me to write it. A book on governing the age, to give to her disciple."

Jwa Ja picked up the first volume and flipped through it at speed. Goosebumps rose. The contents were dangerously radical.

"All people are equal? Communal farming, communal distribution? This is far too dangerous."

"It's for Zhang Jiao. That child."

Zhang Jiao—the man fated to open an age of chaos. A sly-looking fellow with narrow eyes, one of Nan Hua's disciples.

"Hmm. Then this will be burned soon enough, won't it?"

"What can you do? Glad you came, though. Here's the Taiping Sorcery Manual. I'm weak at sorcery, so finish it for me."

A blank book with only the title written: Taiping Sorcery Manual.

"She wants sorcery written in too? Nan Hua?"

"Mm. She said medicine and sorcery are needed to delude the masses and swell their numbers."

There was nothing to say to that.

Taoists like Jwa Ja, U Gil, and Nan Hua left the flow of heaven alone—yet when heaven required intervention, they intervened without hesitation. Zhang Jiao seeking out Nan Hua had been heaven's will; U Gil handing over the Taiping Dao, the Taiping Sorcery Manual, and the Taiping Medical Classic was likewise heaven's will.

"Tch. That bitch could do it herself, yet she dumps the work on us."

"Heh. We youngsters just have to endure. Nan Hua's been alive since the Spring and Autumn period."

The law was distant; the fist was near. Even if the two of them charged together they could not match Nan Hua, so Jwa Ja accepted it and sat at the empty desk beside U Gil.

"Hm? The Qingnang Shu?"

"Ah. That's the medical text Yuanhua is writing. Stripped of all Taoist arts."

Just then Yuanhua brought another desk, set it beside them, and sat. Then she stripped her upper garments completely off.

"You make your disciple do this too?"

"Hoho. What's the harm? At home one should be comfortable. Sweat's sticky. Heat rash is a nuisance."

"Ugh."

Modest breasts. Yuanhua was a beauty in her own right, so the view was pleasant enough. With master and disciple both bare-chested, writing side by side, Jwa Ja alone still clothed felt awkward. She loosened her white Taoist robes and shrugged them off.

They swayed.

"Nice, right?"

"Yeah. Ah—Yuanhua. I went and saw the child named Ian. He's the one twisting the threads of heaven."

"Truly? Because he died and came back, heaven can't touch him?"

U Gil set her brush down again and turned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fully toward her.

"No. He was born under the Star of Greed, and the boy himself is completely untouched by heaven's influence. As if he isn't even of this world."

"What? Then the world itself should reject him."

"A god. I think a god intervened. One far above the Primordial Heavenly Lord."

"What…?"

U Gil scooted closer, face full of curiosity. Jwa Ja smirked and drew a sheet of paper from her subspace, handing it over.

A portrait—drawn with the Taoist art that perfectly reproduced whatever she had seen.

U Gil took it, studied it a long moment, then groaned.

"Nngh… it's real. I'll have to see him myself for the details. But I have to finish writing by mid-March. What a shame… I want to look."

"Hoho. I left a location mark on the child's body. Once the work's done, we'll go together."

"We should, shouldn't we? Ah… if only it weren't for Nan Hua, I'd drop everything and leave right now."

U Gil stuck the portrait to the wall and stared at it for a long while. Jwa Ja turned to Yuanhua and reached for the Qingnang Shu.

"May I look?"

"Yes, Aunt. Please read it and give any advice you have."

"All right."

She opened the first volume of the Qingnang Shu. An anatomical diagram of the human body met her eyes. With Confucian influence growing stronger by the day, this too was a dangerously subversive text. Master and disciple sitting side by side writing a book that would get them beheaded if the officials caught them—her temple throbbed.

"You. Don't tell me you cut open a living person's belly for this."

"Ah—no. I dug up graves less than a day old…"

Jwa Ja sighed at Yuanhua scratching her head. Cutting open the living was already appalling; digging up graves was another level entirely.

"Good grief. Master and disciple both, what a pair of lunatics."

"Hoho. Aunt! It's for the advancement of medicine. Needles and moxibustion alone can't properly treat external wounds."

"True enough. Ordinary people don't have Taoist power, and like in the Western Regions, putting a knife to the body is faster. Be careful. Do not release this yet. Chaos is coming soon—release it then."

"Yes, Aunt."

A few details were wrong—probably because she had never opened a living belly. Jwa Ja pulled a blank talisman paper from her subspace and swiftly drew a charm. Once finished, she multiplied it with Taoist power into about a hundred copies and handed them to Hua Tuo.

"These are?"

"Seeing Talismans. Tear one and a person's body will become transparent to your eyes. You need to study living organs to improve. Tsk tsk."

"Ah!! Thank you, Aunt!"

Yuanhua rose, bowed at a perfect ninety degrees, and immediately tucked the talismans into her spatial pouch.

"If you'd told me sooner you wouldn't have needed to rob graves."

"Hohoho. Yes. From now on, if I need anything I'll ask."

Jwa Ja set the Qingnang Shu aside again and opened the first page of the Taiping Sorcery Manual, pondering what to write.

"Master. I'm going down to the Central Plains to finish the Qingnang Shu."

Before anyone noticed, Hua Tuo Yuanhua had dressed neatly again. She tucked the entire manuscript into her spatial pouch and bowed to U Gil.

U Gil, still staring blankly at the portrait, waved a hand without looking around.

"Fine. Jwa Ja is here, so you may go."

"Yes. Aunt. You'll be sleeping with Master, right?"

Jwa Ja's face twisted at the words. U Gil must have said something outrageous.

Taoists who could read heaven's will lived under several constraints.

First: they could not bear children. That was the Heavenly Lord's will—so that they would take in disciples of greater talent and pass the arts on. Disciples were treated as children; those who showed aptitude became personal attendants.

Second: they could not couple with ordinary men. Only those outside heaven's threads, men born under special stars, or men of overwhelming yang energy like Xiang Yu could satisfy a Taoist. Thus the Taoists of the Central Plains paired among themselves, as Jwa Ja and U Gil did. Sometimes, like U Gil, they took same-sex disciples to bed as well.

"Ugh. Fine. I'll handle your master's lust, so go finish that Qingnang Shu."

"Yes, Aunt. Truly, thank you."

Yuanhua bowed to Jwa Ja and left the hut. The door closed behind her.

"What exactly did you say to your disciple?"

"Hm? Oh, I didn't say anything. Yuanhua just jumped to conclusions."

"Jwa Ja. You said the Star of Greed, right?"

"Mm. Certain."

U Gil's voice trembled. A strange sexual excitement colored it.

Don't tell me…?

Jwa Ja read the thought and smacked her hard on the back.

Slap!

"You lunatic. He's five. Five years old."

"No—look at the nose. That straight bridge. And if he's born under the Star of Greed… just a moment."

U Gil rose, went to the stacked bamboo slips, and pulled one free. She unrolled it and opened her Soul Eyes, reading the empty spaces between the characters. Jwa Ja stepped close at once and opened her own Soul Eyes to read alongside her.

"It's true. It's really true."

U Gil was overjoyed. Jwa Ja, reading the passage on the Star of Greed, felt her own excitement rise at the thought that she might finally lose her virginity the way Nan Hua once had.

"His yang energy is strong. His manhood will be impressive too, no doubt. Five years old… by ten, dual cultivation should be possible."

"U-U Gil, are you seriously planning to offer your virginity to that child?"

"Mm. Aren't you? I've only waited seventy years, but you've waited a hundred."

"Ugh… fine. Just one night with my eyes closed…"

"Hohoho. I've always been so jealous of that old hag Nan Hua and the man she keeps."

U Gil wore a lewd expression as she drifted back to the portrait and stared at it blankly once more.

She's been holding it in a long time. Honestly, I'm tempted too.

The thought of her lover embracing another man left her mixed and restless, yet Jwa Ja herself felt her sex grow damp at the prospect of that first night. She shook her head and returned to the Taiping Sorcery Manual, rapidly filling pages with assorted minor arts.

I need to examine that child again soon.

"Jwa Ja. We might even be able to do the deed right away. Make a Past-Life Transformation Talisman."

"Hm?"

A talisman that restored one's appearance from a previous life? Jwa Ja was intrigued and immediately began calculating the charm.

March 15th.

A beauty in her early twenties prowled around U Gil's thatched hut. Seductive clothing, hair cascading softly, nine fox tails fixed to her hips.

Nan Hua.

The nine-tailed-fox obsessive was waiting in the courtyard for U Gil to hand over the Taiping Dao, the Taiping Sorcery Manual, and the Taiping Medical Classic meant for her disciple Zhang Jiao.

"Still not done? U Gil~!"

After half an hour of waiting her irritation boiled over; she shouted toward the hut. Moments later U Gil and Jwa Ja emerged, dressed neatly.

"Big Sister. We were just putting on clothes to go out. Sorry."

U Gil approached, bowed her head, and respectfully presented the bundle of books. Nan Hua took them and beamed.

"Hmph. You two were late because you were coupling, weren't you? The smell… snff snff."

"Not at all, Big Sister."

Jwa Ja broke into a cold sweat and waved her hands as she came forward. Nan Hua snorted.

"Hmph. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Still, you finished on time."

"Yes, Big Sister. But will that really make Zhang Jiao raise a rebellion?"

"Hohoho. It will flow as it should. You put only moderate sorcery in, yes?"

A nod.

"Yes. Only minor arts. Illusions, illusion-maze formations, that sort of thing."

"And the countermeasures?"

"If you can get chicken blood, they break easily. Purely minor arts."

Nan Hua nodded. Then she pulled gold from her subspace, dumped it across U Gil's courtyard, chanted a spell, and vanished.

"Whew. That bitch. Those fox tails never seem to rot, do they?"

U Gil's words.

The woman who claimed to love nine-tailed foxes had hunted one—a contradiction. Wanting to look like a fox herself, she had killed Daji, skinned her, and taken the tails.

"Right. How strong must she be, to have taken a nine-tailed fox so easily back then."

"Hmm. We'll need a few more centuries, I suppose."

A nod.

Jwa Ja nodded and slipped an arm around U Gil's waist. She drew out a talisman to check it—and discovered Ian was on the move.

"Hm? The brat's traveling. He's in the Taihang Mountains right now."

"Hurry. If something happens to him…"

The word "something" made Jwa Ja's heart leap. She tore the talisman at once.

Bang.

With a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sharp report, the two women vanished from U Gil's thatched hut at the summit of Mount Wudang.