Small Shen

by Kylie Chan

  ‘Stop right there,’ Xuan Wu said from the doorway behind the demon. He was wearing the same black Mountain uniform as the students, armed with a sword in each hand, his long hair loose from its tie.

  The demon hesitated, looking at the Dark Lord, then dropped his head and disappeared.

  Xuan Wu disappeared as well.

  ‘Was that him?’ Jensen asked with awe.

  ‘Oh!’ Cynic said. ‘Look!’ She relayed the image for them.

  Xuan Wu appeared on the wall among the archers, still with a sword in each hand. He leapt from the top of the wall, somersaulted, and landed lightly on the ground twenty metres below. He swept through the demons, moving so fast that he was a black blur of swords and flying hair. The students stopped, watching with bewilderment as he destroyed the demons with ease. He grabbed the last demon by the scruff of the neck before it could escape and again disappeared.

  Shut the gates, battle stations, he said to everybody. The prince is still here. Gold, connect with the structure, and find the demon. Energy workers, trace it! I want this demon found! Celestials Liu, Mak, Park, Wong, to Purple Mist. Let’s see what this one will tell us.

  The bells on the towers in the corner of the academy sounded again, this time in a higher pitch: battle stations.

  Master Liu strode into the mess hall. ‘I will watch them. You run the trace.’

  Gold checked; it really was Master Liu. He quickly took True Form and flew outside to the stone-paved square in the centre of the barracks area. He made his stone form paper-thin and spread over the paving, sending his awareness through all of Wudangshan, seeking the demon prince.

  Gold did a lightning-fast inventory of all the staff and students present in Wudangshan, comparing every person present with the list he held internally. Five people were unaccounted for, and Gold quickly sent the information about them to Xuan Wu.

  Good job, Gold, I am sending Masters to check these five people. Gold watched as the Masters approached each person in turn. None of them was the demon prince.

  It appears to have taken off, Gold said.

  Do a sweep to confirm. Check the seals, the Dark Lord said.

  Gold lifted himself up off the paving and took True Form again. He quickly rose and moved his consciousness through the Wudangshan complex, meeting up with the minds of other Shen as he did. The demon prince was nowhere to be seen. Surprisingly, the academy’s seals appeared to be intact; the demon must have somehow not registered on them.

  Gone, my Lord.

  Come to Purple Mist and assist in the interrogation of this demon.

  Gold took human form and walked to the south-west corner of the complex, to the Hall of Purple Mist. The hall had been erected two thousand years previously, and was one of the oldest buildings in the complex. It was a perfect rectangular shape, with traditional nail-less pillar and beam construction, its upward-sweeping roof tiled with black tiles.

  When Gold entered the hall, a number of the Celestial Masters, all in their black uniforms, were gathered around the Dark Lord and the demon. The demon was still in True Form, black and scaly with bulging eyes and tusks at the corner of its mouth; but its face was limp and slack-jawed.

  ‘Good, you’re here, Gold,’ the Dark Lord said. ‘Record these proceedings, we may need to review them later.’

  ‘Has it turned?’ one of the Celestial Masters said.

  ‘No,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘I’m holding it bound.’ He stood in front of it. ‘What number are you?’

  ‘Three nine five,’ the demon said.

  ‘Third generation this big. Disturbing,’ one of the Masters said. ‘The king is losing his touch, allowing creatures like this to be spawned without his direct control.’

  ‘The king always has his reasons, even if they aren’t apparent at the outset,’ Xuan Wu said, still studying the demon. He focused on it. ‘What is the name of your master?’

  The demon opened its mouth, then its eyes went wide and it exploded in a cloud of black foul-smelling demon essence all over everybody present.

  ‘Dammit!’ Xuan Wu said.

  ‘Very disturbing!’ one of the Masters said. ‘Not just large, but with a self-destruct mechanism as well!’

  ‘Gold,’ Xuan Wu said, without turning. ‘I want this data link up between Heaven and the Earthly as quickly as you can make it. Five of the students on the database here weren’t on the one in my office. A demon prince tried to take advantage of our ignorance and insinuate himself into the school. I need my information up to date.’ He strode out of the building towards his private wing.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Gold said, his voice small.

  As Gold returned to the barracks to collect the students for the remainder of the evaluation, Michelle’s singing soared over the compound, accompanied by the grand piano in Xuan Wu’s quarters. Gold felt the music try to lift his spirits as he pondered how he would be able to create a data link between the Celestial and the Earthly realm. He shook his head. He was an expert at the manipulation of stone and energy to produce information, but even this could possibly be beyond him.

  Cynic landed on the walkway in front of him. ‘That was fun!’

  ‘No it wasn’t, the prince tried to take the form of a student and insinuate itself in. The database between Heaven and the Earthly was out of sync. It’s a disaster.’

  Cynic dropped her head and gazed at Gold with her jade-green eyes. ‘It’ll be fine. The demons didn’t hurt anybody.’ She raised her head and changed into human form, this time a slender beautiful young woman wearing a jade-green Tang-style robe. ‘So when are you off duty? Want to meet up later?’ She smiled seductively. ‘Like you said, you owe me some thanks for helping with Lady Michelle’s brother.’

  Gold hesitated, then, ‘Thanks for the offer, lovely lady, but I am in a relationship at the moment, and don’t think that such a thing would be proper.’

  Cynic stared at him. ‘Are you sure you’re the Golden Boy? The one I’ve heard so much about?’

  Gold bowed slightly. ‘People change, ma’am. I’m sure many of the stories you’ve heard about me have been grossly exaggerated.’

  Cynic’s frown deepened. ‘Humph. Very well then. Guess I’ll go visit with someone else.’ She disappeared.

  Gold continued back towards the student barracks, thinking of Leo, all alone on the Earthly. He wondered if he could warrant a brief visit home, but then quickly shook his head. He had more pressing matters to attend to; a whole computer system to update for the Dark Lord.

  Leo would have to wait.

  THE SENTENCING

  1903

  ‘Wen sui, wen sui, wen wen sui,’ Gold said.

  ‘Rise,’ Xuan Wu said. He gestured towards Gold’s chair. ‘Sit.’

  Gold flopped into the chair.

  Xuan Wu didn’t sit; he clasped his hands behind his back. ‘How did you come by this tea plantation?’

  ‘When Number Twelve was ousted, I lifted the deed for this property,’ Gold said. ‘Nobody else knew that Twelve owned it.’

  ‘Theft,’ Xuan Wu said.

  Gold raised his hands, palm up. ‘The new owner didn’t even know that the plantation existed. I prefer to think that I inherited it.’

  ‘Tell me about Robert Fortune,’ Xuan Wu said. He sat in one of the chairs and conjured a pot of tea for himself.

  ‘He did a great thing,’ Gold said with pride. ‘He worked to free our nation from the tyranny of the tea and opium trade.’

  ‘You were aware that the Celestial has forbidden interference in human affairs?’

  ‘If the human asks for assistance, is it interference?’

  Xuan Wu poured himself some tea. ‘You are very sheltered here in the hills of Fujian. Let me tell you what has been happening elsewhere.’

  ‘Please,’ Gold said. ‘I would love to hear.’

  ‘After the tea was grown successfully in India, the English no longer required our tea. The trade trickled down to nothing.’

  ‘I know,’ Gold moaned. ‘I am reduced to s
elling on the local market. It’s very hard, I had to dismiss half my workers. I may lose part of the plantation.’ He brightened.

  ‘But that means less opium.’

  ‘True,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘So the streets of the southern provinces were full of addicts with no supply. The tea merchants were forced to dismiss many of their staff. Suddenly the streets of Guangdong were full of addicts in withdrawal, and workers with no livelihood.’

  Gold was silent. He hadn’t seen it that way.

  ‘When there is poverty, there is unrest. The obvious ones to blame were the foreigners. Many of the homeless men joined secret societies of martial arts practitioners. They worshipped me’

  Gold began to feel that things were once again not going his way.

  ‘They believed that I protected them against the Westerners’ weapons,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘They attacked the foreigners in their enclaves.’ He leaned back and glared at Gold. ‘The Dowager Empress supported them. They killed every foreigner they met. Women and children as well.’

  ‘They were freeing our nation,’ Gold said. ‘I have heard that the foreigners were carving up our country.’

  ‘The Empress fled.’ Xuan Wu thumped his fist on the table. ‘The foreigners put down the rebellion and the Empress ran.’ He leaned back and sighed with exasperation. ‘The Westerners have taken over. Heavenly Mandate has been removed. The Empress will last no more than a couple of years. Very soon she will poison her own son to stop him from taking control when she dies, because she fears that he will bring China the reforms that it so desperately needs. She will set up a three-year-old as Emperor, to keep this country stunted and backwards.’

  Xuan Wu continued. ‘You are a very small Shen. You do not know the extent of the suffering that our country is about to encounter. Millions of people will starve to death.’

  ‘I have no vision of the future, my Lord,’ Gold said. ‘I am too small.’

  ‘Be glad of that. If the tea trade had continued, it is possible that we may have maintained enough control of our economy to lessen this disaster. It is impossible to tell how much the theft of the tea contributed to these catastrophes.’

  Gold moaned. ‘I helped do this.’

  ‘The Jade Emperor would like to speak with you.’ Xuan Wu rose and pulled out a vermilion scroll bound with gold ribbon — an edict from the Jade Emperor.

  Gold shot to his feet, then fell to his knees. ‘Wen sui, wen sui, wen wen sui’

  ‘Present yourself at the Imperial Cell Complex in the Celestial Palace,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘You are to be held at the mercy of the Jade Emperor.’

  ‘This small Shen is honoured.’ Gold rested his forehead on the floor. ‘No.’

  ‘I will give you a day to organise your affairs,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘Do you have any children?’

  ‘No, my Lord,’ Gold said without rising. ‘But I have three wives.’

  ‘Human?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘They will never see you again,’ Xuan Wu said without emotion. ‘Say your goodbyes. Settle your affairs. I will be acting as Celestial General when next you see me.’ His voice softened. ‘Rise, Gold.’

  ‘I can understand why you have done this, but the Jade Emperor is furious,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘You have openly disobeyed an Imperial Edict. You have meddled in human affairs. Be ready, stone, this will be very bad for you.’

  The next day Gold presented himself to the Imprial Cell Complex. He was placed in a cell usually reserved for the worst Celestial offenders. As he sat in his cell, he looked around and spotted a familiar face. It was Jade, hair and clothes dishevelled. She was sitting in the cell next to his, with her head buried in her knees to hide her tears.

  Xuan Wu walked through the open doors of the dungeon, with Jade and Gold trailing him. His pace was quick, and he led them through a number of dark twisting passages, lit by small torches on both sides.

  Midway through the long walk to the Jade Emperor’s audience chamber, Xuan Wu changed his form. He was now in full Celestial Form, with black lacquer armour and the Seven Stars sword on his back.

  Jade and Gold followed quickly, Jade visibly quivering with fear. Xuan Wu escorted them into the small audience chamber; obviously they weren’t important enough for anything grander. The Jade Emperor appeared small and elderly on his golden throne, and Xuan Wu took position as First Heavenly General at the Jade Emperor’s right hand, emotionless and intimidating.

  Jade and Gold fell to their knees and touched their foreheads to the floor. ‘Wen sui, wen sui, wen wen sui.’

  The Jade Emperor had taken human form for the audience. He watched the two Shen prostrate themselves with amusement.

  Jade and Gold rose and carefully didn’t look into the Emperor’s eyes.

  ‘Read the charges,’ the Emperor said. He raised a tea cup from a small table next to the throne and sipped the tea.

  The guard behind Jade and Gold moved forward to stand next to them. He opened a scroll. ‘Princess Jade of the Dragons.’

  ‘This small Shen is present and honoured, Celestial Majesty,’ Jade said.

  ‘Golden Boy, child of the Jade Building Block.’

  ‘This small Shen is present and honoured, Celestial Majesty,’ Gold said.

  ‘These Shen are charged with interfering in Earthly matters. They aided a Westerner in the theft of one of the Middle Kingdom’s greatest treasures. This interference was in direct contravention of an order issued to all Shen by your own Celestial Majesty that Shen were not to interfere in Earthly affairs during this time of unrest.’

  ‘How do you plead?’ the Emperor said, returning the teacup to the table.

  ‘Guilty as charged, Celestial Majesty,’ Jade whispered.

  ‘Golden Boy?’ The Jade Emperor’s amused expression didn’t shift.

  ‘Guilty as charged, Majesty.’

  ‘No argument, stone?’

  ‘It was a foolish thing to do, Majesty.’

  ‘What shall I do with them, Ah Wu?’ the Emperor said without looking at Xuan Wu.

  ‘I’ll take them, Majesty,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘I may have need of their abilities.’

  ‘Oh, come on, Ah Wu,’ the Emperor said. He raised his teacup and swept his long sleeve out of the way. ‘You have an army on the Mountain at Wudang, you have the entire Northern Celestial Heavens, and you claim need of these two? I think not.’

  ‘Celestial Majesty,’ Xuan Wu said.

  ‘You always were too soft, Ah Wu.’

  ‘My nature is yin, Majesty.’

  ‘That it is. Summon the Azure Dragon of the East,’ the Emperor said.

  Jade stiffened and Gold squeaked.

  Qing Long appeared next to Jade and Gold. He fell to his knees and touched his head to the floor. ‘Wen sui, wen sui, wen wen sui.’

  ‘Rise,’ the Emperor said.

  Qing Long rose beside Jade and Gold. He glanced at them, his long serene face emotionless. ‘These two have offended Heaven,’ the Jade Emperor said. ‘You want them?’

  Qing Long folded his hands into his long sleeves and studied the dragon and stone next to him. ‘Are they good for anything?’

  ‘Jade Dragon, list your accomplishments,’ the guard said.

  ‘Embroidery, ink painting, pipa, erhu…’ Jade began.

  ‘No!’ Qing Long snapped. ‘Useful stuff. Any Earthly qualifications?’

  ‘I can read and write, add and subtract, I know all of the laws and the precepts,’ Jade said stiffly.

  ‘Stone of Gold,’ the guard said.

  ‘I am a stone. We are renowned for our mathematical abilities. I also know all of the laws and precepts,’ Gold said.

  Qing Long turned back to the Jade Emperor. ‘I’ll take them, Majesty.’

  ‘Write out an edict, Ah Wu, and give this worthless pair to Lord Qing Long,’ the Jade Emperor said.

  ‘As you wish, Celestial Majesty,’ Xuan Wu said.

  The Emperor put his teacup carefully on the side table. ‘The Jade Girl and the Golden Boy are to serve the Azure D
ragon of the East until I decree otherwise. They are both to retain human form,’ he glanced at them, ‘constantly, day and night, while they are serving him, unless he permits otherwise.’

  Jade and Gold didn’t look at each other but they were both clearly completely mortified. Human form, twenty-four hours a day? Eating, sleeping, washing, all of the human inconveniences… It was worse than being bound in True Form.

  The Jade Emperor watched their reactions carefully. ‘Concluded. Dismissed.’

  Qing Long bowed deeply, his hands still in his sleeves. ‘Celestial Majesty.’ He beckoned towards the two Shen quivering next to him. ‘Come with me. I have a lot of work for you to do.’

  Jade and Gold both touched their foreheads to the floor. ‘Thank you for your merciful correction of our erroneous ways.’

  ‘Next time I will not be so lenient,’ the Jade Emperor said. ‘Take this as your final warning, both of you. Next time it will be a very long visit to Hell.’

  THE CELESTIAL PLANE

  1999

  GOLD HESITATED at the entrance to Thunderbolt’s pavilion. The building was a small house on the edge of the Celestial complex, traditionally designed with minimal windows on the outside. Thunderbolt was a highly revered Shen, having fought bravely in the Shang — Zhou Wars even though his True Form had been horribly changed so that he could participate. Gold had never met this powerful spirit, but the Celestial bureaucracy had assured him that Thunderbolt was a great sorcerer and the person to talk to for anything computer-related. Charged with the task of syncing the Dark Lord’s Heaven and Earthly databases, Gold could only hope that Thunderbolt would be of help.