Page:Romance of the Three Kingdoms - tr. Brewitt-Taylor - Volume 1.djvu/331

 came a very violent storm and when it calmed down at daylight there was no trace of the body. The guards reported this and Sun Ts‘ê in his wrath sentenced them to death. But as he did so he saw Yü Chi calmly walking toward him as if he were still alive. He drew his sword and darted forward to strike at the wraith, but he fainted and fell to the ground.

They carried him to his chamber and in a short time he recovered consciousness. His mother, the Lady Wu, came to visit him and said, “My son, you have done wrong to slay the holy one and this is your retribution.”

“Mother, when I was a boy I went with my father to the wars, where men are cut down as one cuts hempen stalks. There is not much retribution about such doings. I have put this fellow to death and so checked a great evil. Where does retribution come in?”

“This comes of want of faith,” she replied. “Now you must avert the evil by meritorious deeds.”

“My fate depends on Heaven: wizards can do me no harm, so why avert anything?”

His mother saw that it was useless to try persuasion, but she told his attendants to do some good deeds secretly whereby the evil should be turned aside.

That night about the third watch, as Sun Ts‘ê lay in his chamber, he suddenly felt a chill breeze, which seemed to extinguish the lamps for a moment, although they soon brightened again, and he saw in the lamp light the form of Yü Chi standing near his bed.

Sun said, “I am the sworn foe of witchcraft and I will purge the world of all such as deal in magic. You are a spirit and how dare you approach me?”

Reaching down a sword that hung at the head of his bed he hurled it at the phantom, which then disappeared. When his mother heard this story her grief redoubled. Sun Ts‘ê, ill as he was, did his utmost to reassure his mother.

She said, “The Holy One says, ‘How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powers that belong to them!’ and ‘Prayer has been made to the spirits of the upper and lower worlds.’ You must have faith. You sinned in putting Master Yü to death and retribution is sure. I have already sent to have sacrifices performed at the Jade-pure Monastery and you should go in person to pray. May all come right!”

Sun Ts‘ê could not withstand such a mandate from his mother so, mustering all his strength, he managed to get into a sedan chair and went to the monastery, where the Taoists received him respectfully and begged him to light the incense. He did so, but he returned no thanks. To the surprise of all, the smoke from the brazier, instead of floating upwards and dissipating, collected in a mass that gradually shaped itself into an umbrella and there on the top sat Yü Chi.