Mulan Searches for the Medicine of Immortality

The Further Adventures of Red Riding Hood comes to a close with this one last tale...

Hi everyone,

This is my last short story for the year - one more entry in The Red Riding Hood Saga, and one last story to close out the current arc!

So, please enjoy…

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Mulan Searches for the Medicine of Immortality

木蘭尋找仙丹

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Prologue: The Weaver Leaves Home

序章 - 紡織者離家

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[Jik jik], the loom clicked again, [jik jik].

The young woman sighed, barely an adult.

But the Emperor had called for soldiers.

And who else in the family but her could go?

So the weaver left, in the dead of the night.

To spare her family sorrow, to fight in a war not her own.

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Part One: A Teahouse Meeting

第一回 - 茶館初遇

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"Cha...," I said to the server, in broken bits of their language while making a drinking motion with my hand, hoping that I was successfully asking for tea.

The server patiently smiled and nodded.

Then, I attempted to ask for some of the sweet-filled buns that I had grown to enjoy, "... bao."

The server said something that I couldn't understand, and all I could do was bow my head and say sorry in their language.

The server nodded and walked away, and I hoped that I would get what I had asked for.

I had travelled to this land far away from my home, still searching for a cure to the poison that cursed my beloved.

Today, I had found myself at a small teahouse on the outskirts of a farming village.

Looking around, I could see the patrons taking their seats at the tables and chairs that had been arranged outdoors next to the main teahouse itself. Meanwhile, a group of performers seemed to be setting up a stage of some sort.

The server came back with a pot of tea for me, and I attempted to ask for information about something called 'xian' or 'xiandan'.

After a few minutes of patiently conversing with me, the server left and I let out a sigh of frustration.

Either we had failed to understand each other, or the server didn't have any new information for me - either way, I found myself at a dead end with nary an idea of how to proceed.

Perhaps travelling back to a more populous city would bear more fruit? After all, that was where I had first learned about-

Suddenly, I noticed that a soldier in light armour had approached me.

Alert, I stood up quickly - keeping my hands away from my weapon so as to not draw ire, but ready to run if I needed to.

I bowed my head and attempted to greet the soldier in their language.

In return, the soldier gave me a light bow and began to speak.

I tried to converse with her, but was soon lost.

Unable to respond, I resorted to my own language and blurted, "I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean."

The soldier raised an eyebrow, before saying, "Ah, is this better?"

I stared at her in shock.

"Y-Yes!" I exclaimed, "You understand my language?"

The soldier smiled, "I do."

"Oh, thank you!" I said, excited that perhaps she could help me, "May I ask-"

A loud cough suddenly cut through the air.

I turned to see that the patrons had all turned their attentions to us.

The server, who had approached us, gestured to the waiting performers and said something to us.

In response, the soldier held up her hand and bowed, saying what I believed to be an apology to the patrons.

As the server walked away, the soldier gestured to the chairs, "It seems that the performance is about to begin. Why don't we talk afterwards?"

I nodded, "Yes, of course."

And so, we took our seats as the performers readied their instruments and their puppets.

***

"Moved by their love, the Queen Mother of the West relented and allowed the Weaver Girl to see her family again, but only once every year," the solider said.

"And so, on the seventh night of the seventh month each year, a flock of magpies will form a bridge across the heavenly Silver River, reuniting the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl."

We applauded as the performers bowed, finishing their puppet show.

"Thank you," I said to the soldier, "for explaining the story to me as they performed it."

The soldier smiled, "It is a well-known story, so it was not hard for me to summarize it for you."

"I only wished that you could have understood them," she said, as she took a sip of her tea, "for they told it much better than I could."

I smiled, "For someone who had to tell it while someone else was performing it, I would say that you did quite well!"

We shared a laugh as we drank our tea.

The server placed another basket of buns at our table, and the soldier gave thanks.

Following the soldier's lead, I thanked our server as well, trying to copy what the soldier had said, "Xie xie."

The server smiled and left.

"Hopefully," the soldier said, as she gestured at the buns, "these are what you wanted?"

I reached for one and took a bite.

I smiled as I tasted the sweet filling inside, "Yes, thank you!"

The soldier smiled, "These ones are filled with a red bean paste, while the ones you had before were filled with roasted pork."

"But, now that the show is over and you've gotten your food," she continued, her tone becoming serious, "allow me to explain why I had approached you."

I finished the bun and took a sip of my tea, before saying, "Yes, of course."

"You had asked our server about a xian, did you not?" she said.

I nodded, "Yes, do you know about... uh, them?"

The soldier chuckled, "It seems that you are unsure of what it is you seek."

"I am," I confessed, sheepishly.

"Before I explain," the soldier said, "and please pardon my intrusiveness - but why are you looking for a xian?"

I hesitated, before answering, "I am hoping to find a cure for a poison - a magical poison that curses someone I love."

The soldier raised an eyebrow, "So you've travelled this far... for love?"

I nodded, blushing a little, "Yes."

"Well," the soldier said, "it seems that you have a far nobler goal than I do."

"Is that so?" I asked.

The solider nodded, "You see, a xian is a sort of... sage who has cultivated themselves spiritually."

"Many xian will develop magical abilities from their self-cultivation," she continued, "and the most common thing that they gain is immortality."

"It is said that, through their accumulated wisdom and knowledge, they have developed a special type of alchemy."

"And that alchemy has produced the xiandan - a medicine that grants immortality."

"That is what the Emperor has sent me searching for," she finished, "so that his reign may continue eternally."

At the mention of the ruler of this land, my guard went up. Cautiously, I looked at the solider and asked, "Why tell me all this?"

She chuckled, having noticed my guardedness, and said, "You have no need to worry - my orders were simply to find and bring back the xiandan. Nothing was said about others looking for the same thing."

"And," I said, hesitantly, "if it turns out that there's only one such xiandan?"

"Then I have my orders," she said, her tone becoming serious once more, "And you have yours."

For a long moment, we stared at each other.

"But," the soldier said, her tone lightening, "if the stories are true, then we need not worry - there should be plenty to go around!"

"The real quest will be in finding the xian and convincing them to give us some of their xiandan," she continued.

"So, for now," she said, "would you like to travel together?"

I paused, stunned by the turn of events.

"Would...," I began to ask, "Would this xiandan be able to cure magical poison?"

The soldier nodded, "If the stories are true, then it can cure anything - even death."

"Then, thank you," I said, "I am in your debt."

"Nonsense," the soldier said, smiling, "the journey ahead will be long and dangerous - we will help each other."

I smiled back, "Agreed."

She stood up, and bowed with her hands together in front of her, "My name is Hua Mulan. By your customs, you may call me Mulan."

Standing up, I tried to return the same bow, before saying, "I am Red Riding Hood. Please call me Red for short."

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Part Two: Hua Mulan and Red Riding Hood

第二回 - 花木蘭與紅騎帽

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For months, we travelled, searching for any clues as to where we could find a xian.

And during that time, as travel companions are wont to do, we shared with each other stories from our past.

I told her about how I had grown up alongside my beloved Princess Snow White, how I had been framed for the princess's poisoning, how I eventually cleared my name and took down the real culprit, and how I now searched for a cure to awaken my princess, who lies asleep in the sealed Glass Coffin.

In return, as I did, Mulan slowly revealed to me her past and how she came to be on her quest for her Emperor.

"I wanted to be a weaver," she had said to me, one night, "many years ago, when I was but a child."

"I wanted to make beautiful clothes for people to wear," she continued, "and I had gotten quite good with the loom - or, at least, that's what I'd like to think."

She cracked a smile, before taking a sip of her tea.

I took a sip of mine as well - this tea was the local special, Mulan had told me, and we would go on to try many different teas during our travels.

"But then the Emperor sent out a notice to every home," she said, "And it mandated that every family must send a physically and mentally fit member to fight for the Empire."

"Failure to do so," she explained, with a sigh of anger, "would be treated as treason."

Mulan took another sip of her tea, before continuing, "And so, I left my family, without even telling them."

"They didn't know?" I asked.

"No," she replied, "my father had planned to go himself - he was unwilling to send any of his children, or let his wife go."

"But I could not bare the thought of my father being in another war," she said, "and I could not let my mother or my younger siblings, who weren't even adults yet, go in his stead."

"So I absconded," she said, "to fight for the Empire."

"Do you... regret it?" I asked.

Mulan stared at her tea, took another sip, and then answered, "Well, we won the war, didn't we? And I survived, as did my family."

I looked at her for a moment, before nodding, "Yes, you did."

I did not press her further that night.

***

"How did you come to learn my language?" I asked Mulan, as I took a bite from my bun.

This time, it was filled with a paste made out of lotus seeds - one of the many foods that she had introduced me to during our travels.

"Ah, you see," she said, as she took a bite from her radish cake, "I had risen through the ranks steadily during that long war."

"Turns out, I was quite good at... the art of war," she said, "and I had been awarded many honours over those ten years."

"When the war finally ended, the Emperor decided to... 'reward' me by appointing me as the Governor of a border region," she continued, "I was to defend the region and our borders."

"Being a border region," she explained, "many traders and merchants from different lands would pass through - so it was useful to learn a new language or two, and one of them was yours."

"You didn't want to go home after the war?" I asked.

"I... did," Mulan said, with a tinge of sadness in her voice, "but you don't refuse a 'gift' from the Emperor - not if you value the lives of yourself and your family."

I raised an eyebrow, but only said, "I... I see."

***

I used the two wood sticks in my hand to lift the long dough strings out from the hot soup in my bowl.

Zhu was what Mulan had called the eating utensils in my hand, while the long dough strings were called mian.

Bringing the mian to my lips with the zhu, I slurped the delicious food into my mouth while the warm soup still covered it.

I let out a sigh of contentment, "Delicious."

Mulan smiled, "I'm glad that you're enjoying it."

She lifted up some of the mian from her bowl and gave it a long stare.

"A lot of people like to eat mian on special occasions such as the New Year or one's birthday," she said, "It's said that the longer the mian you're able to eat, the longer your life will be."

"Were it so simple...," she said, before letting out a bitter laugh.

I watched as she slurped up some of the mian, before asking, "Is this about our quest?"

She looked around, to checked that we weren't being eavesdropped on, before answering, "Yes, you could say that."

"You know why I am on this quest," she began to say, "for whom I'm on this quest."

I nodded.

She sighed, "I had hoped that, since I could not return home, then perhaps I could bring my family to me - to the border region that I was governing, I mean."

"I had worked hard for a few years in my newly-appointed position," she said, "hoping to make the region safe enough for my family."

"But, one day, an Imperial Messenger arrived with an edict from the Emperor," she continued, bitterly, "And it said - Hua Mulan, you are to search and bring back the xiandan to our sovereign, so that the Glorious Emperor may reign eternal."

"So I set out once again," she said, "for the 'glory' of the Emperor."

I watched as she took another slurp of the mian - though I doubt that she was able to taste it.

"Would you like to... turn back?" I asked.

She turned and looked at me.

Then, she sighed resignedly, "No, I can't go back to the Emperor empty-handed - for both my sake and my family's sake."

I watched as my travel companion drank some of her tea.

And all I could say was, "Yes, of course..."

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Part Three: The Xian at Kunlun Mountains

第三回 - 在崑崙山的仙

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We had finally made it to the mystical Kunlun Mountains.

Or, had it drawn us to it?

After several months of searching, Mulan and I had finally found a lead that indicated we could find several xian at the Kunlun Mountains... if we could find the mountains, that is.

Those who claimed to have visited the mountains could only point us in a vague direction, saying that they had just... happened upon the mountains and the xian in their time of need, unable to find the mountains again afterwards.

Even when Mulan and I had found it, it appeared to us after we had traversed through a thick mist.

And though there had been no indications that a mountain could be found anywhere close to our location, the mountains were the first thing that we saw after we had made it past the mist.

I looked at my companion, and she nodded.

Wordlessly, we both knew that we were close.

And so, we began to climb the mountain.

It would not be long, before we came across a little house, which rested on a relatively flat piece of land next to a cliff.

As we approached, a man who had been sitting at a table outside stood up and beckoned us over.

His robes were formal, and his manner seemed friendly.

"Welcome," he said, gesturing to the table and chairs, "would you care to join me for some tea?"

Mulan and I gave each other a look.

Then, she nodded at the man, and said something to him which I could not understand.

"I have accepted his invitation," she said to me, "He may be able to help us find the xian."

I nodded, and followed her lead as we walked over and sat down.

As the man poured tea into the cups that he placed in front of us, I asked, "You are able to speak in my language?"

Mulan raised an eyebrow at me, as the man said, "Not quite."

"You can understand him?" Mulan asked me.

"Of course," I said, "why?"

"It's just...," Mulan paused, before saying, "He's speaking in my language."

The man chuckled, "Not quite true either."

"I am speaking in a way so that you both may understand me as though I speak the language which you are most comfortable with," he explained.

"It is...," he said, with a cheeky smile, "one of the abilities that I've cultivated, you could say."

Wide-eyed, Mulan said something in shock, which I believed to have meant, "You are a xian?!"

The man smiled and nodded, "Indeed, I am."

"But, before we continue," he said, gesturing to the tea, "I have prepared a special tea that will allow you both to temporarily speak as I do."

"I believe that this will help our conversation flow more smoothly," he continued, "But, if either of you are unwilling, then I would not mind exercising some patience as we talk."

Mulan and I gave each other a look again.

She picked up the tea and bowed her head, saying to the xian something which I believed to have been thanks and deference.

The xian laughed, "There is no need to be so polite with me, Hua Mulan - you may simply call me Jiang Ziya."

At the mention of his name, Mulan looked stunned.

"Do you know him?" I asked.

Mulan nodded, "I've heard of him, yes. But, let's be polite and have our tea first."

She drank the tea and I followed suit.

As Mulan put her cup down, she said to me, "Red, can you understand me?"

I nodded, "I can. And can you still understand me?"

"Yes," she said, "But it's as if you were speaking in my own language instead of yours!"

The xian chuckled, "Good, now we may understand each other on a more intimate level."

Mulan stood up and bowed low, "Great Jiang Ziya, we have been searching for you! Thank you for gracing us with your presence!"

Jiang Ziya laughed, "Please, Hua Mulan, as I said, there is no need to be so formal - you're embarrassing me in front of your friend!"

"Y-Yes, of course," Mulan said, as she sat down again, "my apologies."

"I'm sorry," I said, "I haven't heard of you, I'm afraid."

The xian laughed, as Mulan hastily explained, "This is the Great Jiang Ziya - a legendary xian who's said to have sacrificed decades of spiritual cultivation in order to aid us mortals in overthrowing a tyrant, many centuries ago!"

"And, perhaps," Jiang Ziya said, "you are here because another one plagues your land now?"

Mulan looked at the xian, "I- I beg your pardon?"

Jiang Ziya raised an eyebrow, "Perhaps I was wrong."

"Tell me, then," he said, "why are you here?"

Mulan put her hands together and bowed, "By edict of the Emperor, I have been sent to retrieve a xiandan, so that the Glorious Emperor may reign eternal."

I followed suit and did the same, but said, "I am also here for a xiandan, so that my beloved Princess Snow White may be cured of a magical poison that curses her."

"Please, Great Jiang Ziya," Mulan said, "I know that we must be asking for a lot from you - but we have journeyed long and far."

"If you could please spare some of your scared treasures for us," she said, "we would be in your debt."

We held our heads down, waiting for an answer.

Finally, it came, "No."

We looked up at the xian, and I could feel our hearts breaking at his answer.

"But first," he said, "let me explain."

"This xiandan that you search for," Jiang Ziya said, "does indeed exist."

"But," he said, holding his hand up before Mulan or I could get too excited, "it is not what you think it is."

"Us, xian," he explained, "spend decades and centuries cultivating our bodies, minds, and spirits."

"It is through such long and hard work that we gain our abilities, immortality, and, in some cases, godhood."

"The xiandan that my mentors and elders have created is merely a medicine to help us balance our spiritual, physical, and mental energies."

"To explain it more simply - it is more of a nutritious food for us, rather than any miracle medicine," he said, "and it is of no use to anyone who hasn't already spent decades undergoing self-cultivation."

"So, Red Riding Hood," he said, looking at me with empathetic eyes, "I'm afraid that what you seek lies elsewhere."

"As for you, Hua Mulan," he said, giving my companion a stern look instead, "unless if your emperor wishes to come and learn our ways, then he shall not find immortality here as well."

"But," he said, his tone softening a little, "I suspect that you already knew how foolhardy your errand was, to chase after the obsession of a tyrant."

"A-A tyrant?" Mulan said, stunned.

"Or, put simply," Jiang Ziya said, his tone stern again, "after everything that you've seen and experienced, do you think that your emperor should 'reign eternal'?"

Mulan paused and pondered the question.

But, before long, she let out a sigh of realization, "No, I do not."

Jiang Ziya smiled, "Then, should you need my help, you know where to find me."

Mulan bowed, "Thank you, Great Jiang Ziya - you are indeed as wise as they say."

Jiang Ziya laughed, "If only, if only..."

"Now, before you go," he said, as he waved his hand across the table.

And where there was once nothing, a plate of dark, spherical food appeared!

"Since you came all this way," he said, chuckling, "why not have one for yourselves?"

Mulan looked at the plate, wide-eyed, "Is this..."

Jiang Ziya grinned, "Indeed, it is! Though, like I said, more than anything else, it's simply healthy food."

"Then, why?" Mulan asked, still as stunned as I was.

Jiang Ziya laughed, "I would be remiss if I did not give you youngsters what you came all this way for! And..."

He grinned cheekily, "I want your opinion on my cooking!"

Mulan and I gave each other a look for the third time since meeting the xian.

I reached out and picked up one of the balls on the plate.

It... felt like food?

Mulan picked one up as well, and inspected it.

Then, with one more glance at each other, Mulan and I placed the xiandan in our mouths and began to eat.

Jiang Ziya smiled as the taste and texture of the food overtook us.

It... was one of the most delicious things that I've ever had in my life!

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Part Four: A Teahouse Farewell

第四回 - 茶館告別

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"And so, reunited as butterflies, the pair of lovers flew off - never to be apart again."

The puppet show had just ended, and Mulan had summarized the show's events for me once more.

It was several days after we had met Jiang Ziya.

And for those few days after we had eaten the xian's food, we felt very healthy and well - almost... supernaturally so.

Soon, though, that would fade, as had our temporary ability to understand each other without a common language.

Mulan and I would then travel to a nearby village to rest, before deciding on our next course of action - though we both knew that our time as travel companions was near its end.

On that last day, we had decided to go to a teahouse, similar to the one where we had met.

As the applause for the puppet show died down, I asked Mulan, "What will you do next?"

Mulan paused to look around, checking to confirm that we were not being spied on.

"I shall go to the capital," she said.

"I... believe that the Emperor's reign should come to an end," she said, quietly, "and I know of a few people to whom I might be able to speak with about this."

I looked at my friend.

And though I knew what her answer would be, I asked, "Shall I come with you?"

"I mean," I said, with a wry smile, "I do know a thing or two about taking down a ruler."

Mulan gave a little laugh, but said, "No, you have someone waiting for you."

"And, should it lead to a war," she said, "then I would not wish for you to fight in a war not your own."

I felt that I should protest, but I saw her eyes...

And I knew that she was right.

Instead, I said, "Good luck, my friend."

She nodded and gave me a slight smile, "And good luck to you as well, my friend."

We sat and shared one last meal together, before I rode off to continue my journey, while she stayed behind to begin her fight.

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Epilogue: The Weaver Returns Home

後記 - 紡織者回家

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The weaver returned, after many years away from home.

At first, she fought a war not her own.

Then, she fought a war to fell a tyrant.

She took off her battle-worn armour, and put on her old clothes.

She sat down at the loom, and smiled.

[Jik jik], the loom clicked again, [jik jik].

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Photo by Paul Pastourmatzis on Unsplash

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Commentary

This story can probably be seen as a sort of love letter to all the Chinese folklore, legends, and mythology that I grew up hearing.

When I started the Retelling Myths series, many years ago, I had wanted to work in more stories that were inspired by Chinese tales.

Unfortunately, inspiration didn't strike me that way, so I had to move on.

But, when inspiration did strike me to write a story where Red and Mulan met, I knew that it was my chance to make references here and there in this story.

So, as usual, let's go through some of the inspirations for this story:

• First and foremost, the Ballad of Mulan (and its many, MANY retellings) was the main inspiration for the story, and forms part of Mulan's backstory in this story.

• Mulan's quest was inspired by the mission given from Qin Shi Huang (the first emperor of China) to Xu Fu to find and bring back the elixir of immortality.

• Jiang Ziya is a real historical figure, but this one was inspired by the fictional version of him in Investiture of the Gods - his backstory is basically a very brief summary of his role in that story.

• And lastly, the puppet show performed in Part One was The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, while the one performed in Part Four was The Butterfly Lovers (Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai). I've wanted to do retellings of these two stories for a while, but still haven't found a way to retell them yet - so, this was just me sneaking in references to two great tales!

In the original Ballad of Mulan, Mulan actually declined the emperor's (khan - due to its Northern Wei origins) offer of a higher position, and the emperor accepts this and allows her to go back home - even providing a sturdy camel for her travels.

That was changed, of course, so that Mulan could go on her quest.

Speaking of her quest, xiandan (仙丹) is usually translated as Elixir of Immortality - this is most likely because they're similar legends about a type of medicine produced by alchemy that grants immortality. However, xiandan are usually depicted as dark, spherical pills (though there are also ancient Chinese alchemical beliefs that talk about creating elixirs [potions] from ingredients such as gold and/or mercury), while the Elixir of Immortality is usually depicted as a potion of some sort. And while pills have existed for a long time, the modern depiction of them as little tablets would have been too prevalent in the readers' minds, I felt. Thus, I opted to translate it as "Medicine of Immortality" in the title and to explain it, and then leave it untranslated in the story itself. This also had the serendipitous effect of leaving the form of the xiandan ambiguous until the reveal. (A less commonly used translation is Pill of Immortality, which I opted not to use for the aforementioned reasons as well.)

In most stories, the xiandan do really confer immortality to those who consume one - but, as you can see, I opted to change that for this story as well.

As most of you have already guessed, zhu refers to chopsticks and mian refers to noodles. However, because the words "chopsticks" and "noodles" originated from a time period far after when the Ballad of Mulan was written, I thought that it would disrupt the immersion of the story, so I opted not to translate them. (On a side note - zhu (箸) is actually an ancient name for chopsticks, which has now been replaced by kuaizi (筷子).) (On a second side note - bowls and soups have been around for so long in so many different cultures, that both of those words did not feel immersion-breaking for me.)

Speaking of immersion, Mulan calls Jiang Ziya "Great" for similar reasons. In Chinese, she would be saying 大人, a title of respect to one's superior which literally means "great person". Usually, this would be translated as "Lord" for men, but it felt too immersion-breaking for me - hence, "Great".

Now, to go the other way around - in Part Two's title, I translated Red Riding Hood as 紅騎帽. Usually, Little Red Riding Hood is translated as 小紅帽, which literally means "little red hat". Obviously, this Red is not little anymore, but I didn't just want to leave it as 紅帽 ("red hat"). Red Hood would have been 紅兜帽, but that didn't feel right either. So I ended up with 紅騎帽, which means "red riding hat" - and the reason why I went with this is because 騎 means riding AND is used to form the Chinese word for knight (which is what Red is - so, pun!), and it provided good symmetry with Hua Mulan's three character Chinese name.

At first, Jiang Ziya was just going to be a nameless xian. But as the story became a little bit about overthrowing a tyrant, it just made sense to have the xian be the one who is famous for doing that!

The original ballad DOES have a message at the end about treating women and men equally (up to interpretation, of course); but since I had already created a world where there were already women who were knights, soldiers, etc., I felt that it wouldn't have made too much sense to leave in the exact same message for this story. So, instead, I emphasized the anti-conscription themes of the ballad (again, up to interpretation).

Speaking of the original ballad, it's named the Ballad of Mulan because women were only referred to by their family names back when the tale was likely written - so it is likely that Mulan is actually her family name in the ballad. Hua was later added as her family name, while Mulan became her given name.

The Prologue and the Epilogue are semi-adaptations of the beginning and the end of the Ballad of Mulan, with the [Jik jik] line being a near-direct translation of the first line of the ballad. I then tried to write the Prologue and the Epilogue in poetic form, to pay homage to the original ballad.

This is the last Further Adventures - with the minor (background) story arc of Red becoming more confident in her quest and knightly duties having been completed last story, this felt like an excellent epilogue to end The Further Adventures of Red Riding Hood on.

But, worry not - there are still a few more tales in The Red Riding Hood Saga left to tell!

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