Fernanda, Lao Jiang, and Biao were sleeping, completely still. “Have you tried to wake them, Master Red Jade?”
“Yes, madame, it shouldn't be long now. I applied some herbs to each of your noses. The stimulant will soon bring them back to consciousness. It's extremely dangerous to breathe methane.”
“Why weren't you poisoned?” I asked, using my hands to help me into a sitting position.
Master Red smiled. “That's a secret, madame, a secret of the internal martial arts.”
“You're not saying you don't breathe,” I joked, but something in his face made me blanch. “You do breathe, don't you, Master Red Jade?”
“Perhaps a little less than you do,” he reluctantly admitted, “or perhaps in a different way. We learn to breathe from the abdomen. Control over the breath and the muscles that regulate it is one of our usual meditation practices, a technique we learn for health and longevity. While you inhale and exhale some fifteen or twenty times, and the children a little more, we do so only four times, like tortoises and they live to be over a hundred. That's why the methane didn't affect me: I inhaled much less of it.”
The Celestials, and the Taoists in particular, never ceased to amaze me, but I didn't feel up to learning anything right then. My entire body ached. With supreme effort I managed to stand. As I turned, just behind me, I saw iron rungs in the wall that were undoubtedly the ladder we'd come down—though I don't remember how. The ceiling was some ten feet above me, and fortunately the trapdoor leading to that huge, gas-filled cathedral with the bronze floor was shut tight. I don't know how we made it out of there alive. At least I'd been able to drop pieces of turquoise right until the very end (the end of my memory, in any event, and I wasn't exactly sure where that had been). We would see if they were of any use at all.
My niece opened her eyes and moaned. I knelt by her side and ran my hand over her hair.
“How are you?” I asked affectionately.
“Could someone turn off the light?” she protested rudely. The hand I held on her head was tempted to rise up and give her a proper smack, but I didn't believe in such things. The desire, however, was most certainly there.
Biao also woke up complaining about the torchlight, although like a good servant he was a little more polite.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“I have no idea, Biao. We've left the second floor of the mausoleum, but we're not yet at the third. There are ramps similar to the ones in the shaft you fell into, although these are much bigger and more secure. Look,” I said, pointing to the wall in front, where two of them could be seen going down. I'm sure we'd have seen more if we'd looked into the shaft, but I didn't feel like moving all that way.
I helped the children up, and it was then that Lao Jiang gave signs of life.
“How are you, Da Teh?” Master Red asked, bringing the torch closer.
“Move that away, please!” he exclaimed, putting his arm over his eyes.
“Well, we're all alive,” I said happily, mostly to hide how furious I was with Lao Jiang. I didn't plan on saying anything, but I was going to keep a close eye on him and read his thoughts if necessary to prevent him from making another unilateral decision that could endanger all our lives. That would not happen again.
“Shall we eat before heading down?” Master Red asked shyly.
The children wrinkled their noses in disgust, and both Lao Jiang and I shook our heads. I couldn't even think about food without feeling sick all over again.
“Do you know what would do us good right now, Auntie?” Fernanda commented as she picked up her bundle. “One of those ginger infusions you used to drink on the ship.”
“Eat something along the way, Master Red Jade,” Lao Jiang said as he walked along the platform toward the first ramp. We all hurried behind; Master Red didn't even try to pull food out of his bag.
We started down into the pit, following the spiral of platforms and ramps built up against the wall. It wasn't difficult, and there was a wonderful, soft current of fresh air that rose up from the bottom, clearing the fog from our heads and the poison from our veins. It soon became cold, and shortly after that it was positively icy. We bundled up and hid our hands inside the big sleeves on our padded jackets. By then we'd reached the bottom of the shaft, where the last ramp ended abruptly. In front of us yawned the mouth of a tunnel; there was nowhere else to go.
“Where are the ten thousand bridges?” Lao Jiang muttered.
“The architect Sai Wu told his son he'd find ten thousand bridges on the third level that would seem to lead nowhere,” I clarified for Master Red. “However, there would be one route that would lead to the only exit.”
“Ten thousand bridges?” he repeated. “Well, ten thousand is a symbolic number for us. All it means is ‘many.’ ”
“Yes, we know,” I replied, watching the antiquarian stride over to a receptacle at the mouth of the tunnel, similar to the ones along the walls in the funeral palace. This one took somewhat longer to light when he held the torch up to it, perhaps because of the cold. Once it did, however, we again watched the fire advance down a groove along the wall, illuminating the tunnel.
We cautiously walked some fifty feet, all five senses alert. A strange iron structure was at the end and beyond it nothing but darkness. We headed over to examine the enormous rusted frame that seemed to rise mysteriously out of the floor. Three thick, rather short posts emerged from the rock (one on either side and one in the middle of the floor) with enormous iron chains attached. The chain in the middle headed straight into the dark on the other side; the two on the sides rose diagonally up to the top of two sturdy posts a little over three feet high and from there went straight off into the void as well.
“A bridge?” Fernanda asked, terrified. “I'm afraid so,” Lao Jiang confirmed.
Three chains, I said to myself, just three iron chains: one to walk along and the other two, about three and a half feet high, to hold on to. The links were as big around as my fist, but even so it didn't look like the safest way to cross a chasm.
The flame reached more and more receptacles, gradually illuminating the shadows. Standing at the end of the tunnel, we watched agape as the third level of the mausoleum was revealed. The iron bridge in front of us ended about a hundred feet away on a pedestal that must have been nine square feet. Two more bridges reached out from there, one to the far end and one to the side. Unfortunately, there were several pedestals just like it, all connected by iron bridges, and these pedestals were actually huge pillars that sank so deep into the earth we couldn't make out the bottoms of them. As far as the eye could see below us, thousands of bridges formed a labyrinth of horizontal and diagonal chains at varying heights and slopes, beginning and ending on top of pillars of different heights. Sai Wu hadn't lied or exaggerated when he said there were “ten thousand bridges that seem to lead nowhere.”
Overwhelmed, we contemplated the labyrinth without a word, holding our breath as the fire moved down, expanding our field of view and confirming our fears. At some point the flames reached the bottom and started back up the pillars. Soon the entire place was perfectly illuminated, and there was once again the unpleasant smell of burning whale oil.
“This is very dangerous,” Lao Jiang observed, in case the rest of us hadn't realized it. “We could end up right back where we started after walking for hours and hours along those unstable iron chains.”
Very uplifting—made you want to get started right away.
“There must be some logic even if we don't see it,” I said, adopting the Chinese way of thinking.
Master Red regarded the bridges and pillars, turning his head left and right, looking down every now and then.
“What are you looking at, Master Red Jade?” Fernanda asked curiously.
“As madame said, there must be some logic. If there's an exit, this can't simply be random. How many square columns do you see?”
I hadn't thought to count. On our level there were three rows of three giant pill
ars each. Down below, it was impossible to calculate.
“Nine columns,” Master Red declared out loud. “And how many bridges begin and end at each one?”
“That's hard to say, Master Red Jade. They all cross at different points.”
“I'm going to that column in front of us,” he said, walking toward the bridge as he adjusted and secured the bag on his back. “I'll be able to see better from there.”
My blood ran cold, and not because of the air temperature.
Holding on tightly to the chains, Master Red put one foot on the unsteady, rusted walkway that creaked and swayed as if it were about to collapse. I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't want to watch him fall into the void or smash into one of the pillars or the ground far below. Luckily, all I heard was the creaking and squeaking of the iron as he moved forward. There would be no convincing me to let the children walk on those. Master Red finally reached the end after a few very long minutes of unbearable tension. You could hear a collective exhalation when he did, and Lao Jiang and the children gave a jubilant shout. I was too terrified to move, let alone openly rejoice. I just sighed and relaxed every muscle in my body that had contracted in fear. Master Red Jade waved to us from the other side.
“It's steady,” he said, “but don't come just yet.”
We watched him examine the labyrinth again, turning his head in every direction and leaning dangerously over the edge of the pillar. Then, unexpectedly, he sat down and pulled the luo p'an out of his bag.
“What's he doing?” Biao wanted to know.
“He's using feng shui to study the flow of energy and the arrangement of the bridges,” Lao Jiang explained.
“And how will that help us?” the boy insisted.
“Remember, this tomb was designed by master geomancers.” Red Jade stood up and put the compass away.
“I'm going on to the next column,” he announced. “Why?” Lao Jiang asked.
“Because I need to confirm a few things.”
“Please be careful,” I begged. “These walkways are very old.”
“As old as this mausoleum, madame, and as you can see, it's still standing.”
The iron links creaked once again, and we watched him move away, putting one foot in front of the other and holding on to the pliant chain handrails. If his legs wobbled even a little, he'd be dead. Balance was fundamental, and I took good note of that for when it came time to risk my life.
Even though the posts anchoring the bridges stood between him and us, we saw that he arrived safe and sound at the second pillar. We could tell he had pulled the luo p'an back out to perform his energy calculations. Once again he leaned dangerously over the edge to examine the walkways below, then finally stood and beckoned us over.
“You two stay here,” I said to Fernanda and Biao.
The boy looked up at Lao Jiang for help, but the antiquarian had already begun walking across the chain. My niece furrowed her brow like I'd never seen her furrow it before.
“I'm going,” she declared, obstinate and defiant. “No, you're staying.”
“I want to go, too, tai-tai.”
“Well, I'm sorry. The both of you will wait here until we come back.”
“And what if you don't come back?” Fernanda asked, still glowering. “Then leave and find help in Xi'an.”
“We'll follow you as soon you're gone,” she warned arrogantly, dropping her bag on the floor.
“You wouldn't dare.”
“Yes we would. Wouldn't we, Biao? We already followed you from Wudang, remember?”
“Biao,” I said, “I forbid you to follow Lao Jiang, and I mean even if Fernanda orders you to. Do you understand?” The boy lowered his head sadly. “Yes, tai-tai.”
“And you, Fernanda, you will stay with Biao. If you disobey me, I'll put you in the strictest Catholic boarding school there is as soon as we're back in Paris. Is that clear? I'm sure you've heard what French nuns are like. And I swear you will not come out, even for holidays.”
Her expression changed from anger to surprise to rage, but I had gotten through to her. She stomped her foot and flopped down on her bag with her arms crossed, looking back along the tunnel.
Master Red was still beckoning to us.
“Here, Biao,” I said, opening my bag and handing him my box of pencils and my sketchbook. “So you don't get too bored. Please be careful. Don't do anything silly. We'll be back soon.”
“Thank you, tai-tai.”
I secured my bag tightly so it wouldn't throw me off balance, moved one trembling foot forward, and grasped the rails with my cold, sweaty hands. Lao Jiang was nearing the other side.
“Shall I follow you or wait?” I asked.
“The walkways are very solid, madame!” Master Red shouted from afar. “Don't be afraid! They'll hold the both of you!”
And so, terrified, I started to walk. It was the hardest test of any so far. Death was just one false step away. I didn't want to look down, but nor did I want to place my feet incorrectly and lose my balance. If I kept sweating as I was, my hands would slip no matter how much rust coated those iron rings.
Lao Jiang reached the pillar and turned around.
“Keep coming,” he said. “I assure you there's nothing to worry about.”
No! Of course not! Nothing at all! Just a fall of I don't know how many hundreds of feet, but I had taken the first steps and had to keep going. It was best to carry on and not think about it. Hadn't I heard that bravery didn't mean you weren't scared, just that you faced and overcame your fear? I was brave. Yes, very brave. My legs might be shaking, but the very fact that I was even crossing that bridge proved it.
“Well done, Elvira!” Lao Jiang congratulated me as he reached out to help me with the last step. I was still dazed when I finally set foot on the pillar. Had I reached the end? Really? Was I on the pillar? Had I made it all the way across?
“Just look at the view from here,” he said, reaching an arm down. “No thank you. I'd rather not look if you don't mind.”
He smiled. “Let's get on with the next,” he said. “You go first, and I'll keep an eye on you.”
Oh, no! Not again!
I took a deep breath and moved unsteadily toward the second walkway that continued straight ahead. It was crazy: There was absolutely no way to know which one led to the exit. A cold sweat broke out all over my body once more. No, you never get used to fear, and it never disappears; you just learn to live with it and not let it get the better of you.
So as not to offend the beaming Master Red, I resisted the impulse to hug him as soon as we reached the pillar he was on. I was very happy I'd lived to see him again.
“Do you know how to get out of here?” Lao Jiang asked with barely disguised impatience.
“Of course,” the monk replied, holding up his luo p'an proudly. “We follow the path of energy along the Nine Stars of Later Heaven.”
“Incredible!” Lao Jiang blurted out. “Yes, incredible,” I agreed quietly.
“You have no idea what we're talking about, do you, Elvira?”
“No, Lao Jiang, and I'm not sure I want to.”
The antiquarian smiled, then laughed. “Remember Yu, the first emperor of the Xia dynasty, whose dance we followed on the first level?”
“Of course.”
“Well, it was Yu who discovered the drawing of the Nine Stars of Later Heaven on the shell of a giant tortoise that emerged from the sea when he stopped the floods and saved the earth.”
“No, hold on, that wasn't what happened. Master Tzau told me that some old kings named Fu Hsi and Yu had discovered signs consisting of solid and broken lines that then made up the hexagrams of the I Ching. King Fu Hsi discovered some on the back of a horse that rose up out of a river, and King Yu or Emperor Yu of the Xia dynasty discovered a few more on the shell of the tortoise that emerged from the sea. Later some king from a subsequent dynasty combined them to compose the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching. Master Tzau hadn't mentioned anything about any kind of st
ar or heaven, much less ‘later heaven.’ ”
Master Red looked at me admiringly. “Not many women know so much about these matters.”
I refused to accept his apparent compliment. If not many women did, it was because no one encouraged or allowed them to study things that were considered exclusive to men. It was sad that I, a foreigner, could know more than 200 million Chinese women about their own culture. “You see, madame, when Emperor Yu, under orders from the celestial spirits he visited in heaven thanks to the Steps of Yu, managed to finally save the world from the floods, he saw a giant tortoise come out of the sea with strange signs on its shell. These signs weren't the yin and yang lines of the hexagrams, however. Let's just say that Master Tzau told you a simplified version of the story so you would get the basic idea. Emperor Yu saw the Pa-k'ua of Later Heaven. Pa-k'ua literally means ‘Eight Signs,’ and ‘Later Heaven’ refers to the sky after the change, the universe in constant motion and not static like Early Heaven. But I don't want to confuse you. Suffice it to say that those Eight Signs represented a pattern of the variations in the flow of energy in the universe. They gave rise to the eight trigrams that were the basis for the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching, as well as the eight directions they pointed, the eight cardinal points (south, westsouth, west, westnorth, north, eastnorth, east, and eastsouth) plus the center. These, then, are the Nine Stars, the name they've been known by in feng shui for thousands of years. Thanks to the Nine Stars and the luo p'an, the compass, we can understand how chi energy circulates in a given place, whether a building, a tomb, or any other space.”
Well, I didn't understand it all, but the basic idea was clear: The Nine Stars were the eight cardinal points plus the center, the nine spatial directions.
“You see this labyrinth of iron walkways?” he asked, glancing around. “Well, if I'm not mistaken, this labyrinth hides the path of chi energy through the Nine Stars of Later Heaven.”
“It's so complicated!” I burst out after taking a quick look at the tangle of bridges filling that enormous space.