Episode 5 (The Mystic Nine)

**Episode 5 (The Mystic Nine)** is the fifth episode of the television series The Mystic Nine.

## Synopsis

Zhang Qishan, Lieutenant Zhang, and Qi Tiezui continue to explore the mining mountain. Chen Pi takes a risk for Ya Tou's health.

## Story

After pressing the old man for a clearer explanation of what happened, he finally told them his story. Several generations of his family were miners. The whole mining mountain was eventually bought by the Japanese. By his father's generation, his dad was already working for the Japanese and had held a high position. His father even knew the Japanese and would entertain them when they came to the mines. The mining group found a mine cave during the Qing dynasty and asked the old man's father, along with 10 other miners, to go down to explore.

At the end of the exploration into the cave was a large door. One of the Japanese bosses saw the door and said the words "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." Ba Ye recognized the saying from the book *Divine Comedy* by Dante Alighieri. The book talked about a person that toured hell and the words "All hope abandon, ye who enter here" were written on the gates of hell. The old man's father and all the men that went down were able to open the door. The Japanese boss did not allow the Chinese miners to go past the door into the tomb. However, the miners had planned to steal whatever they brought out of the tomb. Fo Ye interjected by saying he believed the Japanese weren't looking for things of monetary value but for an item that could help them with their experiments or weapons. The old man continued his story and told them that while the miners were waiting for the Japanese to come out, they heard a cry for help. Soon after, the Japanese ran out of the tomb and a black smoky fog followed behind them. Some people collapsed from the fog and died at the entrance of the tomb.

After hearing the story, the four of them went past the gate to travel further into the mine cave. Many of the entrances were blocked off from the Japanese who came back later to prevent others from entering. They began looking for the mine shaft and found it but came upon a bunch of old bowls laying around the cave. The bowls indicated that a Yin-Yang Master had set up a Feng Shui array using the bowls. The ancestors of the religion Onmyōdō based their religion on the Five Phases/Elements. Ba Ye tried to explain the array and pointed towards one bowl which had been filled with water from a well, while the other bowl was filled with river water. Fo Ye correctly stated that well water does not interfere with the river water, an idiom that means to mind one's own business. The mine shaft was used by both the living and the dead. The bowls were arranged like that so that they don't mess with each other's business. Ba Ye implied that there must be something dirty in that place and followed up with that they should leave. The old man quickly agreed and said that there were ghosts. In response, Fo Ye spilled the water from the bowls, said there weren't any ghosts, got up, and left. Everyone ran after him.

    Mr. Kong, a grandmaster of Chinese Chess and Go, was playing multiple games at the same time with Xie Jiuye, commonly known as Jiu Ye. Jiu Ye was hidden behind a screen and a woman was playing for him. Mr. Kong won one round but lost the other games. Once Mr. Kong left, Jiu Ye explained to a few of the onlookers that he played badly on purpose in the beginning. He did this so that Mr. Kong would not bear any hatred towards him and didn't lose face. Once the onlookers left, Jiu Ye told the chess players that were helping him throughout the game to come out from behind a door. They greeted each other but soon left. A girl who stayed behind asked Jiu Ye to explain what was going on. Jiu Ye explained that those behind the door were all playing the one game that they lost against Mr. Kong. However, Jiu Ye played the other games and won all of them since Mr. Kong's energy was focused on the other game. Someone came to interrupt them to tell Jiu Ye that Fo Ye and his group went to the mines. Jiu Ye knew that Fo Ye was impatient and thought that once they went down those mines they will create problems. He accepted that there wouldn't be any more quiet days with a smile on his face.

Fo Ye, the old man, Lt. Zhang, and Ba Ye were still in the mine caves looking for the door from the old man's story. The old man complained that even if his father were there, he would not be able to find it. The old man admitted that he only guided them because he thought the three of them would kill him. Ba Ye noticed a piece of wood with notches in it. He became afraid and told Fo Ye that he can't open the gate. Ba Ye wouldn't explain at first but Fo Ye knew the other wouldn't be able to keep the information to himself. However, suddenly the old man saw the miners from the Qing dynasty and started freaking out. He ran off and the three of them did not bother to chase after him. Ba Ye then explained the notched wood he saw earlier. The wood was a beam that was used to hang people.

They continued to look for the gate but came upon a dead end. In the same cave opening, they found a jar filled with moving water. They believed it was covering something. Lt. Zhang handed his gun to Fo Ye who shot straight down into the jar. The water inside drained and they moved the jar to reveal a small opening underneath. Lt. Zhang and Fo Ye grabbed some shovels and began digging to create a bigger opening. Ba Ye held their flashlights and waited patiently until they were done. Once the opening was big enough, Fo Ye jumped down and soon gave the okay for the other two to join him. Ba Ye suggested Lt. Zhang go first so that the other could catch him. Lt. Zhang smiled, then pushed Ba Ye into the opening who landed on his stomach. He slowly got up when Lt. Zhang jumped through the opening and knocked him down again. The space below was another mining tunnel that was covered in cobwebs. They picked a direction and continued onwards. On the path, they found pieces of wood that had characters written in red on them. Fo Ye thought that the wooden coffins were dragged through that path. The tunnel also appeared to be centuries older than the one above them. They contemplated when exactly the tunnel could have been created. If it was the early Qing dynasty, then it wouldn't explain the fact that there were no trains or railroads then. However, they didn't even know whether the coffins were made when they created the mine shafts or whether they discovered the coffins when the tunnels were created. As they moved through the tunnel, they heard someone singing Chinese opera. It stopped but they still continued forward.

Chen Pi was walking around and found Ya Tou's handkerchief with blood on it indicating her illness was getting much worse. Afterwards, he got someone to direct him to Tanaka Ryoko who was at the Changsha Chamber's Commerce of USA. He told the man that brought him there that he would destroy the place if he could not find her. Tanaka Ryoko greeted Chen Pi with many men carrying weapons. Chen Pi assured her that whatever Er Ye could do for them he could do the same.

## Characters

* Fo Ye
* Ba Ye
* Lieutenant Zhang
* Hatoyama Miyoshi
* Chen Pi Ah Si
* Tanaka Ryoko

## Locations

* Changsha Mine
* Hong Manor
* Changsha Chamber's Commerce of USA

## Notes

1. ↑ A **Yin-Yang Master** (Japanese: 陰陽師 (onmyōji); Simplified Chinese: 阴阳师 (yīnyáng shī)) is someone who studied and used the theory of the yin-yang five phases to rearrange energy in a way that they believed would be beneficial. See Onmyoji (describing the Japanese position); Gogyo (describing the Japanese's interpretation of five phases); Wuxing (describing the five phases).
2. ↑ **Feng Shui** is the ancient Chinese art of controlling the flow and direction of energy (气 (qi/ch'i) *usually* based on aesthetics, location, and position of objects and buildings. It can also be based on astrological or cosmological orientations. See Wuxing & Feng Shui (Cosmology); Meisnner, Daniel J., *Feng Shui: The Wind and Water* (outlining the basics of Feng Shui); Field, Stephen L., *The Truth about Chinese Fengshui* (explaining the misconceptions about Feng Shui)

An **array**, also known as an arrangement, is one such positioning of a set of objects or building(s).
3. ↑ **Five Phases/Elements** (Chinese: 五星 (Wǔ Xíng)) is a cosmological theory that uses the five elements to explain various phenomena. The five elements are fire, water, wood, metal/gold, and dirt/soil. See New World Encyclopedia, Wu Xing (detailed explanation); Gotheborg (simpler explanation).