Hengwen said, “This humble immortal dares not accept such a lavish reward. I beg Your Imperial Majesty to take it back and bestow it upon another immortal.”
Danzhu said, “What, are you like that young immortal Bihua, who likes animal fur but not feathers?” Song Yao spoke up at once. “Hengwen, since His Imperial Majesty sincerely wishes to bestow it upon you, naturally you should accept it with the utmost respect. Only Bihua has that particular quirk in Heaven. His Imperial Majesty’s feathers, especially his tail feathers, are so precious that they ought to be reverently displayed in a vase. Fortunately, Your Majesty is selective about those to whom you give feathers. I was just worrying that if you gave one to everyone who came to pay their respects, you might run out of feathers to pluck.”
Danzhu replied, “Quite right. If I gave them even to mediocre little immortals like you, wouldn’t I have gone bald long ago?”
Song Yao chuckled. “Your Imperial Majesty shines with immortal splendor. How could you possibly go bald so easily? Even if a patch should happen to go bare, it would have a distinctive celestial grace and shed auspicious light in every direction.”
“Naturally,” said Danzhu. “If losing a few feathers made me look like one of you lesser immortals, barely fit to be looked at, what would be the point of my being an Immortal Emperor?”
Song Yao said, “Your Majesty’s words are profoundly insightful. This humble immortal has suddenly seen the light. Alas, shut up on this barren island day after day, with nothing but trees and stones to look at, my knowledge has grown sadly shallow. I hardly deserve to call myself an immortal anymore. I could never hope to equal such graceful and profoundly accomplished friends as Brother Bihua.”
Danzhu selected an apricot and turned it over in his fingers. “That young immortal who hatched me is quite admirable in every respect. The only thing I don’t understand is this preference of his for spirit beasts over spirit birds. Could something have happened to give him a prejudice against feathered creatures? I’ve never been so particular myself. Just recently, to reward that young immortal, I spent several days as a tiger. I found being a tiger quite agreeable.”
Song Yao smiled ingratiatingly. “How many of us younger, insignificant immortals could ever attain Your Majesty’s open-mindedness? I’ve never asked Brother Bihua to his face why he doesn’t care for spirit birds, but there are all sorts of rumors among our celestial colleagues. One version has it that he once swore that, if he ever raised a spirit bird, it would have to be the most precious in all Heaven and Earth. Ordinary ones would never meet his standards.”
Rolling the apricot between his fingers, Danzhu said with interest, “Is that so? Had I known, I wouldn’t have turned into a spirit tiger upon hatching. I could have found out whether my true form met his standards.”
Song Yao seemed about to say something, then swallowed it. He smiled again. “You are an Immortal Emperor. How could anyone presume to judge you so disrespectfully?”
Danzhu said, “My original form really is a bird. There’s nothing disrespectful about judging it. But you plainly swallowed something you were going to say, and that last remark was merely an excuse. What was it you swallowed?”
Song Yao lifted his sleeve to his mouth and coughed, then said hesitantly, “Well, this is only something I heard secondhand. They say that long ago the Great Peng and the Peacock Great Wisdom King from the Western Tathagata’s realm jokingly asked Bihua whether he thought their true forms were good enough for him. And Bihua… ahem…”
Danzhu arched a brow and smiled. “Interesting. I’m beginning to admire his standards.” He raised his wine cup and took a sip.
Song Yao changed the subject. “By the way, there’s something I forgot to ask Your Majesty. Where do you intend to rest today? Will you return to Brother Bihua’s residence or graciously remain on this humble island of mine?”
Danzhu did not answer, seemingly lost in thought.
Hengwen merely smiled without speaking as Song Yao went on. “There’s one more thing I should report. I feared this deserted island would be too lonely and unworthy of Your Majesty, so I’ve already asked the Dragon Crown Prince to send Bihua Lingjun word and invite him to escort you back to Heaven.” He hurriedly added, “Of course, you instructed us not to disclose your identity yet. I only had the prince tell Bihua that something had happened to the spirit tiger, nothing more.”
Bihua Lingjun arrived on the remote eastern island in great haste. The moment he came through the door, he demanded to know whether Yuan Su had caused some trouble. Song Yao looked at him, sighed, and said, “Your Yuan Su is in the apricot grove. Go and see for yourself.” He patted Bihua’s shoulder with a perfectly sincere expression. “You may be in for a shock today. Brace yourself.”
Those words filled Bihua Lingjun with suspicion, and he hurried toward the apricot grove.
In the courtyard, Hengwen said to Song Yao, “You put together quite a neat story today.”
Song Yao replied, “I only made up one sentence. The part about the Peacock Wisdom King was taken out of context. Bihua once said he never wanted to speak again of the real reason he stopped keeping spirit birds, so naturally I couldn’t tell Danzhu and had to improvise. Although I really would like to tell the Immortal Emperor about it. Even if he’s a phoenix himself and inclined to defend the feathered clans, once he heard the story he’d agree that Bihua was wronged.” Then he chuckled and put an arm around Hengwen. “The important thing is to get this mighty immortal off our island by whatever means necessary, so we can have some peace.”
With doubts swirling in his head, Bihua Lingjun hurried to the apricot grove. As soon as he stepped among the trees, he saw a small yellow furry bundle lying in the grass.
Calling Yuan Su’s name, Bihua hurried forward. The furry bundle shrank back, raised its head timidly, and cast him a glance. There was apprehension in that glance, and shame, and a hint of inferiority…
Bihua Lingjun bent down to pick him up, but Yuan Su shrank away again and lowered his head. A faint spiritual light suddenly appeared around him.
Bihua Lingjun frowned in confusion. The light was not strong, but it wrapped itself around Yuan Su’s little body. When it gradually faded, the yellow tiger cub had vanished. In its place, a small, nearly featherless quail crouched in the grass with its head tucked in.
Bihua Lingjun started. Suddenly the scruffy little quail spoke. “My lord, I’m sorry. I… I lied to you…” The voice was that of a five- or six-year-old boy, very young and quavering on the brink of tears. “When I was hatching, my lord seemed not to like me. I was afraid you wouldn’t want me, so I changed into a tiger to deceive you. I’m sorry… I, I, I was seen through by those two immortal lords. I can’t go on deceiving you… My lord only likes spirit beasts. If you were to raise a rare bird, it would have to be the most precious kind… I, I don’t deserve to be kept by you anymore… Please throw me away…”
Silence filled the apricot grove. The little quail closed its eyes, hunched its neck, and trembled all over. For a moment Bihua Lingjun’s face remained expressionless. Then he sighed and crouched down. “So this is the shock Brother Song Yao was talking about. It certainly startled me. I wasn’t expecting it. I haven’t raised feathered creatures in many years, yet it seems I still have some immortal affinity with them. Perhaps the Jade Emperor gave me the Wishful Egg to teach me a lesson.” He stroked the few sparse, stiff feathers on the quail’s body. “Since I’ve taken you in, as long as the Jade Emperor doesn’t ask for you back, I will continue raising you.”
The little quail still shook beneath his hand, its head buried in the grass. “All the spirit beasts in your residence are precious rarities. I’m only a quail. Won’t you lose face by keeping me?”
Bihua Lingjun’s hand paused. Keeping such a bald little quail would indeed be rather… But it was trembling so pitifully beneath his hand, and when he remembered how Yuan Su used to look, his heart softened. “Those who cultivate the immortal Way ought not cling to outward appearances. Even if you’re a little ugly… there’s no need to feel ashamed. Besides, since you hatched from the Wishful Egg, you must possess immortal potential. You disguised yourself as a spirit tiger for days without my noticing; that alone proves your spiritual power is considerable. Even if you remain like this forever, so long as you wish to stay in my residence, I will never drive you away.”
The little quail raised its head from the grass and suddenly gave a ringing laugh. “Well said!”
The voice was clear and resonant, unmistakably that of a young man.
Bihua Lingjun nearly jumped out of his skin, his hand slipping from the quail’s feathers. The bald little bird spread its wings, flew up from the grass, and burst into a blaze of immortal light.
Bihua Lingjun slowly stood, eyes wide. He was utterly dumbfounded.
Never had he seen such magnificent immortal radiance. Amid swirling auspicious clouds and dazzling, many-colored light, a vast vermilion fire phoenix wheeled through the air. Clouds curled around its wings; its magnificent tail feathers outshone the surrounding brilliance. At that moment, the sun, moon, and every constellation in Heaven might have lost their light, and the clouds of all nine heavenly realms their color.
The voice that had just laughed rang out again from the phoenix’s beak. “Young Immortal Bihua, I am in fact Danzhu, the Purple-Void Immortal Emperor. Several years ago, while fighting the demon race, I accidentally burned myself back into an egg. After several years of secluded cultivation, and thanks in no small part to your efforts, I have finally hatched and been reborn. You have rendered me a service. In the test just now, you succeeded in overcoming your prejudice, to my great satisfaction. I shall therefore grant you a reward.”
The immortal light and auspicious colors suddenly drew inward again. The vermilion phoenix transformed into a figure surrounded by celestial radiance and floated down before Bihua Lingjun. “Young Immortal Bihua, I reward you with the chance to raise the most precious of all immortal birds. Now that I have revealed my true form, you may count me as a spirit bird and allow me to rest in your residence for a few days.”
Elio’s Notes:
The Great Peng is a legendary giant bird, while the Peacock Great Wisdom King is Mahāmāyūrī, a Buddhist deity. Song Yao’s examples certainly aren’t ordinary pet birds.