Chapter Four: With Walls and Towers Girdled Round
As above, so below. This simple phrase, my children, explains all you need to know and understand about the world and about the soul. What one does in the world, one does in one's soul. What one does to one's soul is reflected in the outside world. This is a lesson that all need to learn to progress into their next incarnation. As an illustration of this principles, remember when the five worthies ....
The five worthies command that the Emperor's Apartments are completed. The decorative work is finished in a few days and work begins in arranging the Khan's treasures and heirlooms for his enjoyment. Gurban Jun, the official record keeper for the project, discovers that the Khan's greatest family heirloom is missing.
"I do not how such a thing could happen, your lordships," he pleads. "I marked the Map of the Cosmos as having arrived five months ago. Now it is simply not there."
They examine the store room. Tumen Subei consults her scrying mirror and sees a vision of a tall stone building surrounded by mist and dim light. She gets the impression the this location is cold and damp. Baiju Gan and Sung Il Tran interrogate the record keeper but he has no more information to give. Mei-Lan-Dai examines the crate and finds that except for the seals broken in opening the crate this morning the rest are intact and have not been tampered with. It is Xiao Lin-yu who notices the boot tracks which lead across the floor from the crate into the wall, half of one boot print is visible at the very edge of the wall itself.
While the others argue about what action should be taken, Sung Il Tran prises off a panel on the wall to discover, not the corridor he expected, but an entire world of tall stone buildings, dim light and damp fog. Throngs of strangely dressed people and horses pulling tall carriages move purposely along the busy streets. Tumen Subei spots the top of the building she saw in her mirror stretching above the other rooftops.
Sung Il Tran summons two veterans of the expedition into the spider web tunnel to Lady Spider's parlor. The party of seven step through into the mysterious other world. Tran orders one soldier to guard the tunnel entrance to protect their point of return. Linyu ties a rope to a scaffolding beam at the portal entrance and the other end around her waist. They walk cautiously towards the building in the mirror, marvelling at the new sights, sounds and smells.
They climb the stone steps to the tallest building any of them have ever seen. It is made completely of stone and its roof is supported by huge columns of stone so great that it would take three men linking arms to encircle just one. A young man in a blue uniform and pillbox hat asks if he can help them. They say that they are looking for the Great Khan's heirlooms.
"Oh," the man in blue replies. "You'll be looking for the Treasures of Inner Asia exhibition. It's a real coup for the British Museum to get a hold of them for the month. In fact, if you follow that gent in the tophat, I'll lay odds on that he's going right there."
The man the attendant points out is a well dressed gentleman walking down a corridor through small knots of museum visitors. On his back is a shiny purple spider the size of a small dog. The back of the man's skull is missing, exposing his brain, into which the spider has dug three or four of its legs. In this manner, it directly controls the man's actions.
The five worthies follow the gentleman at a discreet distance and file into the exhibition room with the other visitors. On display about the room are the Khan's family treasures and, surprisingly, a number of very ordinary everyday items. The hierlooms include the sword of the Great Temujin, Kubilai's grandfather whose title Genghis causes mortals to tremble in fear, and the wedding dress of the Khan's first wife. In the centre of the room encased in magically clear ice is the missing Map of the Cosmos. The man in the tophat is in deep discussion with another spider-controlled gentleman.
Without even pausing to think, Sung Il Tran starts pounding on the ice casing holding the Map with his spear. Little Xiao Linyu repeatedly shoulder charges it. Together they topple it to the floor where it shatters into 99 pieces. Sung Il Tran grabs the Map of the Cosmos and they run for the exit. The soldier follows them facing backwards, ready for any counterattack.
The spider-controlled gentlemen shout for the guards. The crowd in the room falls back against the walls for safety.
Mei-Lan-Dai scoops the spider from one man's back and Tumen Subei burns it to ash with her 'eyes of fire.' The man collapses to the ground. Baiju Gan swings but misses the second man, who retaliates by magically shattering Baiju Gan's sword into 99 fragments. He stares in disbelief at the stump of his sword then jams it into the man's throat cutting him badly.
Two guards interpose themselves between Sung Il Tran and Xiao Linyu and the entrance while another two burst into the exhibition room from the other corridor. All four guards are spider-controlled. Tumen Subei uses her magic to set fire the anything flammable in the room, curtains, papers, people, etc. The spider on the back of the remaining gentleman leaps down and scuttles across the floor to attach itself to the soldier.
Baiju Gan smashes into another cabinet and takes a sword that once belonged to the Great Genghis. With this, he takes off the head of the screaming soldier before the spider can take root in his brain. Tumen Mei-Lan-Dai makes a final attack to slow down the approaching guards and the three run to catch up with Sung Il Tran and Xiao Linyu. En masse, they overpower the two spider-controlled guards and run into the street, heading back towards the portal entrance. Behind them a cacophony of whistles communicate events between the spider-controlled thralls in short shrill bursts.
Through the portal and back in Xanadu, the five worthies order the panel replaced and re-inforced. The portal is closed just as the guards reach their side of the portal. Xiao Linyu works to make the reinforced portal entrance look like the rest of the wall. Only a close examination could tell that this section of wall has been modified.
After calming down and relaxing after their exertions in the magical world called by the bizarre name of 1887, they sit back and relax in the calmness of gardens of Xanadu. After some debate, they decide to concentrate during the next week on two area: the rose bridge and the scholar's garden.
It is only now that they notice that the villagers are hideous squat creatures only vaguely human in form. Their features and limbs are twisted parodies of normalcy. Why had the five worthies not noticed this until now?
... And so the Great Khan Kubilai's visit draws ever closer and the five worthies remain steadfast in their natures. Baiju Gan attacks all problems with a sword. Tumen Subei does the same but uses her mystical powers. Xiao Linyu is distracted by the possibilities presented by a situation. Sung Il Tran struggles to maintain unity against his own desires. Mei-Lan-Dai concentrates on the details. The more the five worthies come to understand themselves, the closer the the Great Khan approaches Xanadu. As above, so below.