Kung Fu Kellie and the Legend of Anguo

by Shinn A. H.

  As Kellie watched Hagos pull himself up, she felt sorry for him. His gray fur fell limp over his emaciated arms and legs. Any hairless skin was creased and hung loosely. His body showed no similarities to Mulin and Zurich’s perfect physiques, the epitome of their species. Her anger was gone and now she had sympathy for him.

  “I’m sorry Xavier was killed,” she said softly, hoping to affect him, “but I’m sure this isn’t how he would’ve wanted you to be.”

  Hagos stared at her questionably with wide eyes. Then they narrowed again.

  “Do you think I dwell on his death?”

  “It wasn’t your fault that he died.” Kellie had hope Hagos could be good again. He was a mystical animal and their duty was to fight evil. The old Hagos had to be in there somewhere. “I’m sorry you lost him.”

  “His death was a gift — I was reborn after his death,” he said, as if preaching a sermon. “I can see now.”

  “I don’t believe you….You cared about him —”

  “— I can’t say it wasn’t your fault!”

  Kellie parted her lips, but no words came out. She didn’t understand what he meant. She was silenced by her own bewilderment.

  “It was because of you that Lau died.”

  Kellie’s stomach dropped and the compassion for him dissipated. She could feel the blood leaving her face.

  “He was protecting something that was mine, and when he would not hand it over, I ended him,” he said coolly, as if taking a life didn’t matter. “The first time I learned of the name, Bao Yu, it was when I overheard Mulin first reveal herself to Lau in the forest —”

  “Shifu Lau was a chosen one?”

  “No stupid girl — his kung fu was pathetic. Mulin instructed him to protect ‘Bao Yu’ because this ‘Bao Yu’ harbored a special energy, but I could not hear much of the conversation.”

  Although she was repulsed whenever Hagos said Shifu Lau’s name, she needed to hear the rest of the story.

  “Before I could gain more of the information I had been seeking for years, Mulin’s superior perception to sound alerted her to an intruder’s presence and she revealed nothing else…and I was unable to get a look at Lau. I was so close that day….”

  His eyes darted up to the sky, but Kellie didn’t take hers off him. She was captivated by what he was saying. Was he speaking about the necklace housing Anguo or was she the “Bao Yu” he meant? The stone was always in Master Chen’s possession, as far as she knew. An answer nudged at her and she was afraid to hear it. All these years she dreamt of getting the truth about her past; she would have never speculated that it would come from a horrible being like Hagos.

  “Then I wandered into this very spot…seeing Lau’s face perfectly. He was at that tree,” he said, pointing to the trunk with the engraving of Kellie’s Chinese name. “He was doing something there. After he left, I went over to it and uncovered the words again, ‘Bao Yu.’”

  Kellie’s mouth went completely dry. He was right. It was all her fault. She carved her name into the tree. After Shifu Lau scolded her and explained that all life must be respected, she ran off in tears. He stayed behind for a moment, perhaps to try to mend the tree.

  She left the clue for Hagos that led to Shifu Lau’s demise. If she hadn’t done something so childish and thoughtless, he may have still been alive.

  Habitually checking the atmosphere, Hagos continued his explanation with some satisfaction. He seemed to enjoy the emotional pain he was inflicting on her.

  “I waited in the forest for him to return, but he did not. After a few days, I decided to go after the monk. I sat patiently high above the monastery until I discovered his living quarters — You should have seen his face,” he said ruthlessly, “when he saw me come out of the darkness of his room. He looked terrified. Before he could yell, I silenced him with a few simple blows — His kung fu was worthless.”

  Kellie cringed at the thought of Shifu Lau at his mercy. Although kung fu was a daily ritual for all the monks at Taiping Monastery, Shifu Lau’s passion was in the sciences. He did not possess the level of skill that Master Chen or Master Zheng have. Even if he had, Hagos was too proficient in the art.

  “You didn’t have to kill him!” Kellie shouted, holding back her tears.

  “If he simply handed it over, I may not have.”

  “Maybe he didn’t know what you were talking about.”

  “Haven’t you been listening, dimwit? I heard Mulin tell him….I saw the same words on the tree….The only problem was that I didn’t know what Bao Yu actually was…until recently.”

  Kellie held her breath.

  “Lau knew exactly what I wanted. It was all over his face when I kept repeating ‘Bao Yu’ over and over again. He shook with fear — He was a terrible liar. I searched his room, but could not find anything. He would not give it up….I do have to admit, he had endurance. No matter how many times I struck him, he would not budge.”

  “I hate you,” Kellie murmured.

  “What?”

  “I hate you!” she screamed.

  With a satisfactory smile, he went on, looking up at the moon and stars. “I needed to find Bao Yu before the Night of Pass, which is tonight,” he said, pointing up, so she would see what he was incessantly observing.

  Kellie broke her gaze and looked up. The shimmering moon she caught sight of earlier was now blasting with a glowing aura. The gleaming light was rapidly spreading out of the moon and when it met the stars, the stars glistened and danced as if coming alive. What was happening above? It was like a choreographed display, both mesmerizing and mystifying.

  “My search for Bao Yu became more urgent,” he said, “so I searched the monks’ rooms. The unfortunate ones who caught me, paid the price. I expected Lau to pass on his secret, but none seemed to know what I wanted. Those modest monks had nothing that resembled a ‘precious jade.’ I could not find it…until I encountered you, wearing the jade necklace.

  “A piece of stone…I didn’t think it could be such a simple thing. I was searching for something more ornate. Something more precious and worthy. So to be sure, I captured the Saola and found my way to the Cave of Gray Slate to use the Fountain of Truth.”

  “It didn’t work, did it?” Kellie said smugly.

  “No — it didn’t,” he growled at her. “It didn’t contain the right water. That was my next quest, but the Saola was released, and I was furious I wasn’t going to be able to find my way through the labyrinth again.”

  “Why couldn’t you just catch the Saola, again?” Kellie asked the obvious question.

  “No one can catch the Saola!” he said irritably. “She’s as fast as a lightning bolt and the heat from her horns will cauterize you. She knew me as one of the mystical animals and allowed me to approach her. After what I did, she will never trust me again.”

  When he looked back up at the sky, Kellie checked on Master Zheng. He was losing a lot of blood and needed help.

  Glaring back at her, Hagos said, “I thought the —”

  “Please,” she begged him, “I need to get Master Zheng help….I know you don’t care about human lives, but if you let me take him back, I will help you with anything you want.”

  Hagos sniggered at her offer.

  “You’re right. I don’t care about humans, and he’s not going anywhere….You can’t help me with anything, but you will give back what is rightfully mine.” He smirked as he waited for a response, seeming to enjoy his taunts. When she said nothing, he resumed his narrative.

  “Well, before I was rudely interrupted, I was about to get to the best part….I thought the monks set the Saola free, so I went to seek revenge. That is when I made the discovery — when the foolish monk called you, Bao Yu. You have what I’ve been looking for all these years.”

  “W-what is it that I have?”

  “You have my Emotive Chi.”

  ellie’s head spun as if she was in a whirlwind of clarity. Shifu Lau was protecting her and he alone must have known the truth. He
told the other monks to send her away. That was why she was taken to the other side of the world in such a hurry.

  Emotive Chi, she thought to herself. She recognized those words. Emotive Chi was one of the seven types of chi Mulin taught her. She couldn’t believe what Hagos revealed. How could she possess his chi?

  “That was ever so clever of them…my dear family… to give my chi to a young human,” he said with the upmost sarcasm.

  “I don’t want your filthy chi — you can have it back!”

  “Watch your tongue!” he snapped at her. “And, you don’t have to worry your small head about that — I will take it back.” After looking her up and down with disbelief, he asked, “You never felt it? Your mortal body occupied a powerful source of energy and you never noticed? You mean to tell me, you have never made the connection between your emotions and your physical strength?”

  Kellie wasn’t going to admit anything to him, but past events made sense to her now: the loud roar that scared away Shifu Lau when he was attacked by a tiger; hitting Derek across the hall after he taunted Jory; and making a slam dunk in P.E. during a surge of excitement. All her extraordinary physical skills she executed were tied to an emotion.

  The vital question flew out of her mouth. “How do I have your chi?”

  “That answer goes back to my dear family — They parade around declaring themselves as only supporters of good, when they tip the balance when convenient for them. Filthy, they are.”

  “No, they’re not!” shouted Kellie. “They are good and you’re pure evil.”

  “There is no such thing as pure good or pure evil….It is the choices that are made and what you allow yourself to succumb to. You, for instance…your intentions are good, but you’re resulting actions speak otherwise….I can feel your anger. You cannot control your emotions.”

  “You don’t know me…”

  “Oh, but I do…because you have been containing my chi. You and I are connected by that.”

  Kellie’s insides coiled. She was sickened by the idea. She was nothing like him and vowed never to be.

  “To answer your question of how you have my chi” — It felt as if Kellie’s heart stopped beating — “my dear family gave it to you. I am one of the seven members of the Family of Chi. Each one of us represents a different one — Mulin is Force Chi and Zurich is Air Chi.”

  Why did they give it to me? Kellie was confused to why Mulin and Zurich would withhold this critical information.

  “The six of them plotted against me after I got rid of Xavier’s betrayer.” A minute inflection was heard when he said Xavier’s name.

  “You killed his innocent friends,” she reminded him.

  “Sacrifices had to be made! You don’t understand like they didn’t understand! I eliminated some evil by going after his betrayer. And some of the other casualties were not so innocent.”

  “That wasn’t up to you to determine,” said Kellie, knowing it was hopeless to convince him what he did was wrong.

  He jumped on the boulder and raised his arms so Kellie could take a good look at his weakened state. “And it wasn’t up to the others to determine my fate!” he snapped. “One unsuspecting evening, on the Night of Pass, they extracted my Emotive Chi. I was no longer one of the seven members of the Family of Chi….They said I was a threat to mankind. A threat to mankind? I would say a threat to them…” he added under his breath. “Although they were able to take away my source of power, they could not take away my skills and intelligence — It took me centuries to figure it out…to finally find you, but I did.”

  “Centuries?” As far as she knew, she was fifteen years old.

  “You didn’t have it for centuries…obviously,” he said with annoyance. “I do not know when and why they chose you, but that is irrelevant at this point.” Glancing up at the moon again, he seemed to be waiting for something. He then looked at the jade: the glow from it was growing stronger and with more sparkle, and it looked as if the essence of Anguo was trying to leave its host.

  “You lied,” he sneered.

  “About what?” Kellie asked, afraid of how Hagos was going to get his chi back.

  “You said the other stone is in another continent.”

  “It is…”

  “If it was, it would not be doing this,” he said, and exposed the rock for her to observe. The glow seemed to be lifting and leaning toward the side of the forest from which she came.

  No, she worried in her head. She feared it was Master Chen, carrying the other piece. But that’s impossible….He’s in America trying to get it back from Principal Lemore.

  Kellie couldn’t let Hagos get his hands on both pieces, but remembered the power was in the passing of Anguo. Although she didn’t want to have his energy, it would make him whole again and dangerous to the mystical animals, and to mankind. She had to do something, but what? Stop the passing of Anguo? Fight him?

  “I don’t know where —” She stopped midsentence when he delicately placed the jade on the boulder he was standing on.

  “I truly have luck by my side,” he said with a snicker. “I have Anguo and the one who has my chi…and all just in time, thanks to you. I was waiting on the side of the road with Zurich’s feather as a ruse to lure you, and it worked too well, but I had a change of plan when you revealed to me that Zheng had Anguo and you knew where the other stone was — Now, if I get the timing right, I can harbor Anguo’s energy….That will make me more powerful then all of the other mystical animals.”

  He pointed up and Kellie saw the shimmering aura blanketing the entire atmosphere.

  “It is a beauty, isn’t it? If you’re wondering why you can see it…it is because you have my energy; otherwise, it’s a sight only for the mystical animals.”

  When Kellie lowered her eyes, Hagos was gone. The brilliance of the stone sat alone on the boulder, floating in a sway.

  She spun around in a circle, presuming he was playing with her. She stood there vulnerable, like a lamb to a wolf.

  “Where are you — you coward?” she shouted.

  With no response, she took one cautious step toward Master Zheng. Then Hagos jumped in front of her and threw punches at her nose, stomach, and throat. Kellie blocked each strike with ease, surprising herself. He aimed at her temple, mouth, and solar plexus, but she anticipated his moves by watching his shoulders. She began to have faith that she could actually beat him.

  He kicked at her face, but she evaded. He kicked high and low, charging her, but she swooped out of the way each time. Don’t just block, but attack, she recalled from a lesson from Master Chen. When he threw a round house kick at her head, she ducked and tiger clawed him across his back. After that move, pain shot up her spine. It must have been from the hit earlier. Ignore the pain, she told herself as she winced.

  Hagos buckled from the tiger strike, one of the most powerful of animal attacks. He quickly gained ground and stood up straight, eyeing her with hideous intentions.

  She advanced forward, throwing tiger punches at him. She struck him with all her might, crunching her abdominal muscles, and with a loud breath each time. But with every blow, she felt weaker, and excruciating pain darted through each nerve connection. Hagos accepted every hit and coiled away from her. She thought it was strange he wasn’t fighting back, and as she caught a glimpse of his face, she saw him wearing a smile.

  Kellie felt breathless and it was a challenge just to stay upright. It was as if she was losing all her energy. Pain gushed through every muscle fiber, and that was when she realized what was happening: she was giving Hagos back his chi. When she sent her energy out of her through her attacks, his chi left her, and he accepted it willingly.

  From the rush of vigor, Hagos fought back aggressively. Kellie experienced a blow to her gut and she hunched over. A sting slashed through the back of her knees and she descended to the ground. Another force belted her in the chest and she lost a lungful of air.

  On her knees, she saw a reflection from his side. The blood sta
ined dagger was dangling between his fingers. Her eyes moved up his arm and saw that it appeared bigger. His biceps were no longer scrawny and defined muscle mass was emerging. His coat of hair was getting fuller and darker. The return of his chi was inciting a transformation.

  Twiddling the weapon, he said, “The transference has begun and it has to be finished before the Night of Pass ends.”

  He leapt into the air and was hidden between the branches. Just as the leaves fell loose, he came streaming straight down in front of Kellie. He kicked her weak body and she lay in the dirt immobile. As he made his way up to her, hovering over her beaten body, she tried to lift her limp arm, but dropped it back down, forlornly. All she could do was look up at Hagos.

  Wood shavings drifted down on her and she made out what he was doing. He was carving a stick with the edge of the blade. He seemed to be putting the finishing touches on the sharp point at one end, forming it into a stake. When he flipped it around to blow the shavings off the tip, Kellie saw that the smooth green stick was hollowed out.

  “Bamboo from the Bamboo Forest,” he said. “A conundrum, if you wish to call them….They can withstand and garner immense energy….Hearty plants, they are,” he said, holding up the stake in front of him and admiring his work. “It will get me my entire chi back.”

  That’s why he hacked his way through the bamboo wall, Kellie thought. “You didn’t have to burn down the forest.”

  A scowl formed on his face. “You have no idea how long I have been planning for this moment. The others thought they could strip me of what is rightfully mine, and think I would do nothing about it? Burning down the Bamboo Forest was a forewarning…”

  Distracted by the dancing in the sky, Kellie tuned out most of his ranting and raving regarding the mystical animals. The light show above was mesmerizing and brought her some peace, considering the perilous situation she was in. She couldn’t stop from admiring the stars pirouetting across the night’s black backdrop. Then as the synchronized formation came to a close, the stars began to settle into their original positions. The Night of Pass was about to end.