Sheng Keyi - Death Fugue

He kneaded the xun with both hands then, without thinking, played ‘The Pain of Separation’.

The cylindrical hall was like a giant speaker. The mysterious deep tune, fluctuating between regret and mourning, seemed to spread out and fill the universe. In every corner of the world creatures listened to the music. They moaned, they howled, they lamented, they cried, and then they were silent.

Ah Lian Qiu slowly stood up from her chair. She struck the keys on her remote like a skilled typist, commanding the movement of her legs, the bending of her knees, her walk, and then her standing still, all in fluid motions. It was hard to tell they were prosthetics, but the mechanical rhythm of her legs could not be completely disguised, so that in the end she resembled a lifelike robot.

‘There are two things that made your father proud,’ she said, as if preparing to see a visitor off. ‘One was your poetry, the other was the feeling in your playing of the xun . He planned to let the backlash from the demonstrations blow over, then sit down and have a good drink with you.’

‘Maybe he would be ashamed that I didn’t stay by your side and protect you.’

‘No. The one you needed to protect was Shunyu, your half-sister. I had the whole square, the whole of Beiping — the whole crowd of people waiting for the truth — to protect me.’ Her voice grew rich with pride.

‘Qizi?’ He wanted desperately to do something to dissolve the distance between them, and thought that recalling the memory of the earliest stages of their acquaintance might be the best way. ‘I remember the interrogation room. You said you were developing a mysterious machine…At the time I laughed to myself, thinking it was impossible.’ He paused, suddenly alarmed. He looked at the lake and saw what looked like a tornado in the sky above it. ‘But you did it.’

Ah Lian Qiu’s nostrils flared as she sneered, ‘I am the spiritual leader of Swan Valley, Ah Lian Qiu.’

‘Qizi?’

‘I am the spiritual leader of Swan Valley, Ah Lian Qiu.’

‘You’ve become a stranger…’

‘Power, beauty, physical torture — you’ve withstood them all. You refused to write poetry. You have proved yourself a poet. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.’

‘I want to take you away. You can’t stay here. Death is spreading through Swan Valley. It’s over…’

‘Leave? Where would I go? Back to your motherland? Ha!’ Her wild laughter stopped suddenly. ‘Go back? Tell her, only when she chooses the most beautiful spring, when the red rose blooms, when she walks the truest path with the most sincere attitude, and admits her wrongs to me! Admits it to everyone! Admits it to the whole world!’

She left him angrily, walking to the podium with a mechanical but swift pace. She picked up a red cloth from the table and expertly wrapped it around her head. She took up the remote control in her hand, then as she walked, she recited the old poem ‘Hunger Strike’, as if an audience of countless people were listening. ‘On sunny days, we are on a hunger strike…’

When her recitation reached its climax, she took a stack of paper from the drawer and tossed it skyward, as if scattering pamphlets. Her tone suddenly rose.

‘…Democracy is life’s highest form of existence. Freedom is an eternal, inherent right. Everyone has the right to know the truth…’

The leaves of paper fell. Mengliu picked one up. It was a page from the manuscript of Hei Chun’s Principles of Genetics . It was exactly the section he was familiar with.

‘To reconstruct the Roman Republic or the early emperor-governed Rome is possible. To achieve this goal, we must have people of courage and genius to constitute the ruling class…We do not need the common public to participate in politics…the contest between nations is only a contest between the quality of their people. It is a battle of knowledge. Therefore, to have a rich and powerful population one must begin with its genes…We will create a new society not because we are better than others, but because we are simple people with simple human needs — for air and light, health and honour, and for freedom and the highest spiritual pursuits. Our impartial behaviour is innate…The excellent and new nation of Swan Valley, in a few years’ time, we will demand the world’s attention.’

Qizi’s voice rolled on, ‘Farewell, parents! Please forgive me. Your child cannot serve two masters. Farewell, citizens! Please allow us to serve you in this unusual manner…’

As quickly as he could, Mengliu scrambled to collect the scattered manuscript. He had caught a glimpse of the value and weight of the work. It was Hei Chun’s vision. He had a responsibility to compile and publish it. And he had a great desire to read it.

Qizi finished her recitation with the shouting of a few slogans. Then, as if she had suddenly discovered Mengliu was there, she shouted at him, ‘You! How did you get here? Quickly, go back! Go back and wait for me!’ She opened the door of the hall with her remote control.

Startled for a moment, he bent over and picked up more pages. He thought, I’ve agitated her with my appearance, and that’s caused her to escape into the past, and now she is unable to return to the present.

‘I’m not alone. I’ve got a lot of people here with me. Everyone is with me…You? You still haven’t gone?’

Seeing that he did not move, she pulled out a gun. ‘Get out of here now!’

His heart pumped violently. ‘Qizi…calm down,’ he said.

She fired a shot, shattering the big electronic screen.

Like the barrel of the gun, her gaze was now pointed right at him.

He saw that she was trapped inside her fantasy.

He walked slowly out through the doorway.

In the icy air Mengliu realised that he had perspired a great deal in the room, though he was not sure whether it was because he was hot or because of fear. He was cold now, and his wet clothes clung to his skin. His heart tightened. He looked at the mess of papers clenched in his hand. For a moment he couldn’t remember that this was Hei Chun’s manuscript.

He hastily straightened the papers, rolled them up, and concealed them in his clothing. He found Suitang near the column. He suddenly heard a series of muffled explosions inside it, and felt the rumble under his feet. Looking up, he saw smoke billowing from the top, growing thicker by the moment.

In a confusion of anxiety he shouted out Qizi’s name as he searched for the door. He banged on the wall as he ran around the column.

The flow of smoke from the chimney grew stronger. The wall was hot to the touch.

What was the password… Open sesame…pineapples …He shouted a confused flow of incantations, his feet and hands running rapidly around and across the wall. The bricks remained steadfast and unmoved.

Suitang seemed to come from nowhere, she grabbed Mengliu’s hand and they bolted.

They had only run about ten paces when they heard a noise behind them so loud it threw their bodies to the ground. A wave of heat swept over their heads. Their hair felt like it had been singed. Sediment rained down on them until they were both buried in debris.

Mengliu slowly pulled himself up and looked back. The cylindrical building had collapsed, and was burning in a chaos of smoke and fire.

A page of manuscript drifted down from the sky. Catching it, Mengliu read:

white doves have taken our eyes away

and people are left with hungry tongues

in a domain buried in silence

where thorn-like arms wave

nothing in the world that exists

is higher than you

in this land, on this soil

you are equal to the storm