Below there was the plastered backwall of the wine shop. A narrow door stood ajar. Next to it Tao Gan saw a small outhouse that he took to be the kitchen. He reflected that it would be easy for Woo to leave his room by climbing down from the balcony.
He waited patiently.
After about half an hour one of Woo's windows was slowly pushed open. Woo looked out.
Tao Gan did not move. He knew that he was invisible against the darkness behind him.
Woo stepped over the window sill. He walked as surefooted as a cat along the narrow balcony till he was above the outhouse. Then he climbed over the balustrade and let himself down on the sloping roof. For a moment he crouched on the tiles, apparently looking for an empty space among the winejars below. Then he jumped down neatly between two stacks and quickly made for the narrow passage that separated the wine shop from the house next door.
Tao Gan left his observation post. He ran out of the alley as fast as he could. He nearly broke a leg when he stumbled over an old wooden box. When he turned the corner of the alley he collided with Woo.
Tao Gan uttered a low-class oath. But Woo hurried on without looking back, making for the main street.
Tao Gan followed him at some distance.
There was a large crowd about in the street and Tao Gan needed not be careful to keep in the shadows. Woo was easy to follow because of his outlandish turban that bobbed over the black caps of the crowd.
Woo kept walking on in southerly direction. Suddenly he turned into a side street.
Here there were fewer people about. Without stopping in his brisk walk, Tao Gan pulled up the button in the middle of his cap till it had become the pointed bonnet of a commoner. He took from his sleeve a bamboo tube of about one foot long. This was one of Tao Gan's many clever devices. It was a trick tube that contained six others of decreasing size. He pulled it out and it became a bamboo staff. Tao Gan changed his gait into the more sedate walk of an elderly householder.
He walked on till he was quite near Woo.
The painter turned into another alley and Tao Gan walked on behind him. They were now in a quiet area, Tao Gan reflected that they could not be far from the eastern city wall. Woo seemed to be quite familiar with this neighbourhood. He entered a narrow side street that seemed completely deserted.
Tao Gan looked round the corner before he followed Woo. He saw that it was a blind street that ended in the archway of a small Buddhist temple. It had apparently been abandoned for the wooden gate had been demolished and no light showed within. There was no one about.
Woo walked straight on and climbed the crumbling stone steps leading up to the archway. There he stood still and turned round. Tao Gan hastily drew his head back.
When he looked again, Woo had disappeared into the temple.
Tao Gan waited a while, then emerged in the open and calmly sauntered to the temple. Over the archway he could faintly see three characters of weather-beaten coloured tiles inlaid among the bricks. They read: 'Hermitage of the Three Treasures'.
Tao Gan went up the steps and entered.
The temple seemed to have been deserted many years ago. All the furniture was gone and the place where the altar had stood was empty. He saw nothing but bare stone walls. Here and there the roof had caved in and he could see stars in the evening sky.
Tao Gan explored its interior, walking on tiptoe. But there was no trace of Woo.
Finally he looked out of the back door. He hastily withdrew behind the doorpost.
There was a small walled-in garden with a fishpond in the middle. On its bank stood an old stone bench. Woo was sitting there alone.
He had cupped his chin in his hands and seemed to find the old pond of absorbing interest.
'This must be a secret trysting place!', Tao Gan said to himself.
He found a window niche where he could sit down and keep an eye on Woo, while at the same time he remained hidden for any newcomers.
Having established himself there Tao Gan folded his arms and closed his eyes, straining his ears for any sound. He did not dare to look at Woo too often for he knew that many people are sensitive to a hidden stare.
He sat there for quite some time. Nothing happened.
Woo occasionally would change his posture. Once or twice he picked up a few pebbles and amused himself by throwing them into the pond. Finally he rose and started pacing up and down the yard, apparently lost in deep thought.
Another half hour passed.
Then suddenly Woo made to leave.
Tao Gan shrank back in his niche, flattening himself against the damp stone wall.
Woo walked back home at a brisk pace, looking neither left nor right.
Returned to his own alley he stood still on the corner and looked out. Evidently he wanted to see whether Ma Joong was out in the street. Then he swiftly walked on and disappeared into the narrow passage between the wine shop and its neighbour.
Tao Gan sighed resignedly and strolled back to the tribunal. In the wine shop all were in high spirits. After Ma Joong's fund of stories had become exhausted, the proprietor had told quite a number of his own. The two loafers were a grateful audience. They vigorously clapped their hands after every story and were fully prepared to keep this up for hours on end.
Finally Woo came downstairs and joined the party. Ma Joong had drunk more rounds of wine than he cared to remember. But he had a tremendous capacity and his head was still clear. He thought that if he could make Woo drunk he might elicit some useful information from him. Thus he hailed Woo boisterously as a fellow-citizen of the capital, and offered him a toast.
That was the beginning of a drinking bout that was talked about in that quarter for many months afterwards.
Woo complained that he was far behind the others. He emptied half a jar of strong white liquor in a rice bowl, and drank it down in one gulp. The wine had as little effect on him as if it had been water.
Then he shared a pint with Ma Joong, and told a long but very amusing story.
Ma Joong began to notice the influence of the wine. He racked his brain and told a rowdy tale. With some difficulty he reached the end of his narration.
Woo shouted his approval. He emptied three cups in rapid succession., Then he pushed his turban back from his forehead, placed his elbows on the table and started to tell a string of queer stories about events in the capital, pausing only to drink some more.
THE DRINKING BOUT IN THE ETERNAL SPRING WINE SHOP
This he did with great relish, emptying his cup always in one draught.
Ma Joong kept him faithful company. He thought vaguely that Woo was a very companiable man. He remembered that he wanted to ask him something but could not think what it was. Ma Joong proposed another round.
The two loafers were the first to pass out. The proprietor had them carried home by some friends of the neighbourhood. Ma Joong concluded that he was getting very drunk. He started to tell a spicy story but somehow or other he got mixed up when he approached the end. Woo emptied another cup and told a ribald joke that made the proprietor howl with mirth. The point of the tale had escaped Ma Joong but he still thought it a remarkably funny one and laughed loudly. He drank another toast to Woo.
Woo's face had turned red and perspiration trickled down his brow. He took off his turban and threw it in a corner.
From that moment on the conversation was very confused. Ma Joong and Woo talked both at the same time. They paused only for clapping their hands and drinking more.
It was past midnight when Woo announced that he wanted to go to bed. He rose with difficulty from his chair and succeeded in reaching the bottom of the stairs, all the time haranguing Ma Joong about their eternal friendship. As the proprietor helped Woo to climb up Ma Joong reflected that the wine shop was a very pleasant
