Page:Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan.pdf/138

122 the world? These mountains of Emeishan have always been my abode since the very beginning of the world. How dare you sit here alone without paying any attention to my presence. You cannot be any ordinary mortal. If you value your life, I command you to make answer!”

But Tu Tzuchun still kept silence, for he remembered what the old man had told him.

“You will not answer me? … Well, then, do as you please. I will command my army to cut you to pieces!”

The war god held up his spear, and beckoned to the sky above the opposite mountains. In one instant the dark clouds opened, and a host of countless warriors, some armed with spears and some with swords, came surging down upon him.

This sight nearly made Tu Tzuchun give vent to a cry of terror, but remembering the old man’s instructions, he did his best to keep silence. Seeing that Tu TzuchungTzuchun [sic] did not move or utter a sound, the war god was beside himself with rage.

“You obstinate brute! Since you will not answer me, you shall die!”

So saying, the war god raised his three-forked spear and plunged it into Tu Tzuchun’s breast, and killed him. And laughing so loudly that the mountains of Emeishan shook violently, the war god disappeared, and his countless warriors also disappeared with him like figures in some horrible dream.

The polar star began to shine once more upon the