Daomu Biji: Wu Xie’s Private Notes

The lower three clans.

The lower three clans had fewer stories because they were all business people, and didn’t personally rob graves. Since the middle three clans and the lower three clans had close business relationships with each other, people from these two clans were often related by marriage as well. For example, my grandmother was from the Xie family.

As the only woman in the Mystic Nine, Huo Xiangu from Baishajing definitely wasn’t inferior to men. Granny Huo had a son who joined the revolution led by Mao Zedong. During the Cultural Revolution, the Huo family’s background was discovered, which resulted in their disappearance. Rumor had it that they went behind the scenes and were protected by powerful people.

Speaking of Huao Xiangu, my grandpa always had to see whether my grandma was nearby when he talked about her, since he and Hua Xiangu had history. It was a sensitive topic in our family, so we had to prevent my grandma from overhearing our conversations; otherwise, she would pinch my grandpa’s ears and scold, “Old man, it’s been decades, and you still haven’t forgotten about that temptress.”

That’s right. Huo Xiangu and my grandpa had an ambiguous relationship in the past.

Since this topic couldn’t be discussed in detail, I didn't know whether their relationship happened before or after my grandparents got together, but it would be a big problem if it was the latter. I couldn’t ask my grandma about it, because she would hit me on the head with a knitting needle and shoo me away.

Of course, it may not be what I think. Maybe grandpa just had some business relationships with Huo Xiangu, but grandma got jealous because Huo Xiangu was so beautiful.

Grandpa said that Huo Xiangu was indeed beautiful, as evidenced by her nickname “Xiangu”, which means “fairy”. Her beauty was acknowledged by people, and my grandpa said that she was really like a fairy. This woman had a temperament that made people unable to look at her directly, or think dirty about her. It was the kind of temperament that was innate and couldn’t be cultivated. Men who looked at her had no way of producing any evil thoughts.

When I asked my grandpa if he meant that Huo Xiangu’s boobs were as flat as a washboard, he replied, “Of course not.”

Huo Xiangu was 1.7 meters tall, and liked to wear cheongsams. Her skin was very white and she had short hair. Her temperament came from her gaze, which was something out of this world. Her eyes were so clear that it was as if she had never been polluted by the world. Once you looked into them, you would be willing to do anything she asked of you.

That sounds a little like Poker-Face. Does that mean that Huo Xiangu was a female version of Poker-Face? Then I started to imagine what Poker-Face would look like in a cheongsam.

However, Huo Xiangu’s holiness didn’t last her entire life. When she was about thirty years old, she fell in love with a military officer who later became a capable man under Mao Zedong.

It was said that she once showed up at a political ball after the founding of the country. Her appearance stunned all of the people who were present, and even a few Soviet Union officials looked at her intently.

However, this may have also caused a lot of trouble to her husband, and their family was overthrown in the Cultural Revolution. Fortunately, they were rehabilitated afterwards, but Huo Xiangu had become Granny Huo by that point. The last time my grandpa saw her was on TV. She was still graceful, and her temperament was still the same, but she wasn’t a little girl anymore. It really made people think about how ruthless time could be.

For such a woman, I always felt that she was a bit like Ruan Lingyu. (1) I couldn’t imagine how she could be in the Mystic Nine, and she was even ranked seventh. Could she also rob graves?

Grandpa said that Huo Xiangu didn't go underground very often, but when she did, she used a very special method to rob the grave, which was similar to the early method used in salt mines. They would dig a big tunnel, and then hook something on top of the tomb before hanging upside down. This method required people to be very flexible and have a lot of strength, which was why the heads of the Huo family were all women, and the status of female underlings was very high.

But when there were more women, there would be more disputes. As a result, the Huo family was also the family that had the most internal strife. The process of fighting for power was very fierce, and since there were many daughters in the Huo family, Huo Xiangu's road to becoming the head was very tortuous.

After the head of the family at that time passed away, several daughters, sisters, and cousins all had their eyes on the leadership position. No one knew the specifics, but everyone was watching, because it meant that the Huo family’s power would be reorganized. (The truth was simple. You may have a business relationship with a woman who ranked second in the Huo family, but if she couldn’t become the head in the future, you might fall out of favor. Then, all your efforts would be wasted. In addition, the other person who subsequently became the leader would have her own interest group, so you couldn’t be sure whether you would benefit from the change.)

In order to become the head of the house, the competitors would surely try to form alliances with outside forces. Huo Xiangu’s ally just so happened to be my grandpa, so he was very familiar with how she became the leader of her family.

Among the Mystic Nine leaders, the upper three clans didn’t like to interfere with trivial things in the underworld, and wanted nothing to do with any of it. As a result, they wouldn’t intervene in such a scheme, even if it was likely to turn into a major incident.

The middle three clans and lower three clans, on the other hand, were very enthusiastic since it was all related to their interests. Most of the people in the Huo family wanted the support from the Xie family, because Xie Jiuye was incredibly reliable. Moreover, the Xie family had a strong foundation, and their underlings were skilled in every way. Whether it was about fighting or plotting, you would likely succeed as long as you had the Xie family behind your back.

But Xie Jiuye was a very shrewd man, and naturally wouldn’t let himself join the game. Furthermore, the Xie family was so well-off that he didn’t care who would become the leader of the Huo family in the future. Whoever became the head of the Huo family would want to conduct business with him no matter what, so he could stand aside and see which way the wind would blow.

No one in the Huo family wanted to work with Chen Pi Ah Si since he was too unpredictable. It was very risky to work with him, and he might even steal your business away. But Chen Pi Ah Si wanted to have a stake in it, and tried to take advantage of the situation, which made things even more complicated. People in the Huo family were afraid to work with him, but they were also afraid that he would work with their opponents.

Black Back the Sixth was a mad man, so no one wanted to work with him.

Qi Tiezui had a small business, and it was impossible for him to talk other people into stepping down, so they found it useless to work with him.

My grandpa turned out to be the only one who was the most reliable. He was loyal and had a relatively high appeal in the underworld. There were several excellent apprentices who were on his side, his underlings were very obedient, and his workers had brilliant abilities. Not to mention the fact that my grandpa had a successful business.

The most important thing was that my grandpa got along with everyone. He could work with several leaders in the Mystic Nine and had a particularly good relationship with the Xie family. Xie Jiuye was very fond of him, so several sisters in the Huo family sent people to invite my grandpa over for a cup of tea.

As for why my grandpa chose Hua Xiangu in the end, it’s actually very intriguing. It was said that she sacrificed something in order to gain my grandpa’s support, but they were the only ones who knew what exactly happened between them.

In that era, women always had to pay a bleak price when they had to bargain with men. Even for Huo Xiangu, her beauty was only one type of leverage. This was still the case for women nowadays, although we as a society had improved a lot. At least when women in this era took a step back, there was no longer an abyss behind them.

I don't know whether we should be glad or sad about it.

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TN Notes:

(1) Ruan Lingyu was a Chinese silent film actress. One of the most prominent Chinese film stars of the 1930s. Wiki link