“It is near noon,” said Sun Ce. “Clouds are of no account without rain. He is only an impostor.”
Sun Ce bade his attendants lay the priest on the pyre and pile wood around him and apply the torch. Fanned by the gale the flames rose rapidly. Then appeared in the sky above a wreath of black vapor, followed by roaring thunder and vivid lightning, peal on peal and flash on flash. And the rain fell in a perfect deluge. In a short time the streets became rivers and torrents. It was indeed a three-span fall. Yu Ji, who was still lying upon the pile of firewood, cried in a loud voice, “O Clouds, cease thy rain, and let the glorious sun appear!”
Thereupon officials and people helped the priest down, loosened the cord that bound him, and bowed before him in gratitude for the rain.
But Sun Ce boiled with rage at seeing his officers and the people gathered in groups and kneeling in the water regardless of the damage to their clothing.
“Rain or shine are as nature appoints them, and the wizard has happened to hit upon a moment of change; what are you making all this fuss about?” cried he.
Then he drew his sword and told the attendants to smite the Taoist Saint therewith. They all besought him to hold his hand.
“You want to follow Yu Ji in rebellion, I suppose,” cried Sun Ce.
The officers, now thoroughly cowed by the rage of their lord, were silent and showed no opposition when the executioners seized the Taoist Saint and beheaded him.
As the head fell, they saw just a wreath of black smoke drift away to the northeast where lay the Langye Mountains.
The corpse was exposed in the market place as a warning to enchanters and wizards and such people. That night there came a very violent storm, and when it calmed down at daylight, there was no trace of the body of Yu Ji. The guards reported this, and Sun Ce in his wrath sentenced them to death. But as he did so, he saw Yu Ji calmly walking toward him as if the Taoist Saint were still alive. Sun Ce 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, 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 Father to wars, where people are cut down as one cuts reed 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 Ce 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 Yu Ji standing near his bed.
Sun Ce 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 Ce, ill as he was, went to see his mother and did his utmost to reassure her.
She said, “Confucius the Teacher 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 Saint Yu Ji 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 Ce 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 Yu Ji.
Sun Ce simply spat abuse and went out of the temple. As he passed the gates, lo! Yu Ji stood there gazing at him with angry eyes.
“Do you see that wizard fellow?” said he to those about him.
They said they saw nothing. More angry than ever, he flung his sword at the figure by the gate. The sword struck one of his escorts who fell. Sun Ce told them to bury the man. But as he went out of the courtyard, he saw Yu Ji walking in.
“This temple is nothing more than a lurking place for sorcerers and wizards and such people,” said Sun Ce.
