by Mark Swaine
Wang scales down the rope and stops adjacent to Wenyi and the rat. Swinging himself back and forth he kicks it savagely in the face. Wenyi consumes a small amount of what energy he has left as blood pours freely from his wounds whilst shouting for Wang to leave. Wang swings from his rope and onto Wenyi's and wraps his arms around the rats neck in a strangling hold. As the scuffle causes the rat to release Wenyi from its painful hold, Wang slides off the rat’s slippery back and Wenyi loses his grip. The falling teens overshoot the end of the rope and act fast to grab hold of the rat’s thick pink tail. The rat squeaks in a deep drawling hiss as it grabs hold of the rope with both claws. With the weight of the two men proving too much for the integrity of the rope, the rat’s claws begin slicing through it. With one final movement of its claw, the rope snaps and the three climbers are sent into a freefall. Wenyi reaches out and grabs the adjacent rope with one hand and Wang's hand with the other. Wenyi's teeth clench as his hand burns from the friction of the rope shredding through his skin. Wenyi holds on tight as he finds his fist clenched around the end of the line, and as he looks around, he finds himself at the mouth of the cave entrance with the river of rats passing below. Worse yet, is what’s holding onto Wang's torso. Wenyi's cheeks twitch madly as he knows what will happen should his fingers falter even once. Wenyi wishes he had a better grip on Wang, but he knows that adjusting one finger will compromise his grip. Wang wails loudly from below as the rat claws repeatedly slice through his chest to secure a permanent grip. Wang's face shakes with pain as a heavy spurt of blood escapes his mouth, and then his fingers weaken from Wenyi's grip.
Wenyi shakes his head in protest of Wang's decision to release his grip, but he does so all the same, taking the rat with him. Wenyi watches Wang fall to the river of slick moving hair to be carried away under the piles of rolling rodents. As black blood flows from Wenyi's wounds, he too loosens his grip, intending to share the same fate as Wang, a man who it turns out was a better friend than he gave him credit for. As Wenyi closes his eyes to prepare for his end, he hears a cackling laugh echoing around the caverns and feels the chill of a strong upward draft. It smelled of decomposed meat, it smelled of evil, and the laughter cackles harder the more Wenyi loosens his grip. Wenyi's face turns angry, and as he tightens his fist around the rope, the laughing stops. Wenyi remains in a suspended state and focuses on everything that does not exist in this cave: the sky, clean rivers, his beloved, the sound of his children's laughter, and his best friend Wang. Much to his regret, Wenyi realises that Wang would not wish to die in the caves, nor be lost in them.
“I am coming back for you Wang,” vows Wenyi, losing consciousness.
As he senses a sudden falling rush, he feels a sudden bracing force around his chest, and his last memory is a lifting sensation ending with light. After listening intently to Tian Wu's tragic tale, Yu-Huang believes the wounded man redeemed for showing bravery, even after his first act of cowardice. The Emperor carefully raises the man's bandage to observe his decomposing wound. The gashes in his shoulder and chest fester and throb and already have begun forming a gangrenous discharge that smells like rotten cheese. Patiently awaiting the inevitable, Wenyi speaks circuitously with his visitor.
“I heard something; down in the sewers... something was laughing. Something did this to us, ‘tis connected to the stories of late is it not?” says Wenyi.
“I believe it is. Did you see the entity, did you look upon the Darkness?” asks Yu-Huang.
“No, I saw only my friend falling to his death. T'was then I heard a howling cackle, and then I felt its awful presence await my death, gloating at my demise,” replies Wenyi.
“But you didn't die my friend. Not only did you defy this evil, you saved many of these people,” says Yu-Huang.
“What do you believe awaits the kind of heart on the other side?” asks Wenyi.
Yu-Huang considers the deep and philosophical question and accommodates him with an answer he would hope to receive were he in the Tian Wu's position.
“Peace, family and close friends, fine melodies and good food,” says Yu-Huang, pacifying the man.
“What of the damned?” asks Wenyi after smiling at Yu-Huang's encouraging reply to his previous question.
Yu-Huang ponders upon the dark morbid question with eyebrows raised, then answers him as honestly as his mercy will allow.
“Nobody has all the answers my friend, not even our great Emperor Yu-Huang, eradicate such thoughts from your mind,” advises Yu-Huang, for the sake of Tian Wu's final state of mind.
“I am no soldier, not a Priest, not a Healer, nor a wise powerful warrior. I am nothing more than a sewage worker, I will die without a shred of honour to take with me,” whispers Wenyi, indirectly.
“Self pity will not save you my friend, nor do your words hold any truth. There is much pride to be had in providing for your family, regardless as to whether you are a Jade soldier, a Pig Handler, or a sewage paddler,” says Yu-Huang.
“Tell that to Wang,” says Tian Wu.
“Your swords, they once belonged to a very wise General, they are useless now...” says Yu-Huang changing the topic.
“Take them, I never want to lay my eyes on them again,” says Wenyi, angered with himself.
“...Useless that is, without a set of arms to wield them. They will need restoring if you are to learn how to use them,” says Yu-Huang.
“I am no swordsman, I failed my companions this day,” stammers Tian Wu.
“No you didn't, the Etherealm of peace awaits your light,” says Yu-Huang.
“What if, what if another place awaits my spirit?" says Tian Wu, quietly with dread.
“You fear the worst,” Yu-Huang tells him.
“As would any coward staring death in the face, an honourable man would have tried harder to save his companions. I would trade my life a thousand times in the fresh days of spring if only I could bring them all back, if I could only bring back Wang,” stutters Wenyi, overwhelmed with guilt.
The sight of his bed-ridden colleagues makes him sick to his gut, knowing that he'd abandoned them to their fate, even if it was just for five minutes. Tian Wu's feelings of angst are evident in his clenched fist as a million different scenarios leading to the saviour of his workers swim inside his head. Yu-Huang very rarely interferes in nature's cycle of life and death, as he understands and accepts that death is a part of life. And he muses upon the wishes and regrets of the sick man as leans back against the wall with his index finger resting on his chin. Yu-Huang ponders further upon Wenyi's situation, and then asks…
“It is too late for the men who fell in the dusk of this evening; it is too late for the honourable Wang Weo. However, would you offer the same noble sacrifice to the sick men lying beside you?” tests Yu-Huang.
“I know you have the power to make it so… Emperor Yu-Huang,” says Wenyi, sternly.
Yu-Huang is slightly taken aback as Wenyi sees through his identity, and Tian Wu continues.
“Tell my wife and children...”
“Tell them yourself,” growls the Emperor, rising from his seat, “this will hurt,” he warns, gravely.
Emperor Yu-Huang closes his eyes and inhales whilst placing one hand over Tian Wu's heart and another over his forehead. Yu-Huang continues to inhale as the veins in his forearms glow in a flowing light down to his wrists. The bamboo shutters flap wildly and the lanterns swing with ecstatic joy as the room is engulfed in a tornado of dry and crispy autumn leaves. As Yu-Huang's eyelids rise to reveal eyes of bright light, Xiaojian and the other Healers watch on in awe as bolts of electricity burst from the palms of his hands, penetrating Tian Wu's festering skin. As steam rises from Tian Wu's body, every ounce of poison and bacteria is cleansed from his veins as spurts of yellow, red and white ejects from his wounds before sizzling and sealing shut. The Emperor allows his blessed gift to take care of the rest of Tian Wu's superficial injuries as he withdraws his hands. Throwing his hood over his head, partially concealing his face, the Emperor walks determi
nedly down the aisle as crackling bolts of forked lightning shoot from his harmonic humming hands. The wounded patients scream in burning pain as the coils of light writhe and stab at their injuries, healing them almost instantly. Yu-Huang exits the Healing Hut and staggers into the open then collapses onto his hands and knees. The Jade soldiers, surrounding the perimeter, fearing the peasant to be carrying a contagious sickness, back away whilst aiming swords and arrows at him. Yu-Huang, dazed from the outlet of power finds his senses weakened, the soldiers menacing faces are slowed and their voices slurred. The world is bright and spinning, and in his disorientated state, he attempts to rise. Covering his lower face with a rag, a soldier furiously demands Yu-Huang return to the ground. Yu-Huang, unable to comprehend the soldiers command staggers forward trying to maintain his balance. A soldier misinterprets his actions and prepares a ranged attack with a rock and sling. As the soldier spins the sling around his head, Yu-Huang takes another uneasy step forward and the soldier releases the large speeding rock. The smooth stone ball impacts the end of a Bo and volleys upwards into the air. With a sudden twirl and rapid strike, the rock flies back to the soldier. The ball of stone impacts the soldier's face just hard enough to smash his nose and send him backwards of his horse.Xiaojian stands beside the downed Emperor with her sword at the ready as she tosses the Bo aside.
“Leave him be,” snarls Xiaojian.
“What are you doing Xiaojian? You put this quarantine in motion!” shouts the Jade Captain,
“The sickness has passed,” says Xiaojian, informatively.
“Are you certain, he does not look well to me,” says the cautious Captain.
“Are you a Healer Captain? Then how would you know! Go inside, look for yourself,” says Xiaojian.
The Captain of the guard gestures to one of his soldiers, and the wary cloth faced man looks inside the hut to find all the patients have miraculously recovered. Although few are slightly weak from the magical operation they'd just received, they appear to be in good health as they eat and drink to sate their thirst and hunger. Only one appears uninterested in the meal beside him as he stares at two swords resting crossways in his hands. The Jade soldier emerges from the hut and nods in affirmation of Xiaojian's assurances of safety.
“What is the matter with this man?” asks the Captain.
“He is weak, he just needs food and water,” says Xiaojian, placing a protective arm around Yu-Huang. “You must rest my Emperor. Please, come back inside,” says Xiaojian, quietly into Yu-Huang's ear.
“No, I must leave,” replies Yu-Huang, managing to his feet with Xiaojian's aid.
Xiaojian calls to Quon and orders him to fill a sack with medicinal supplies, food and water. Xiaojian hands the sack to Yu-Huang before embracing him and speaking once more into his ear.
“For what you did, I can never repay you,” says Xiaojian.
“I can try, ‘tis I that owes you a debt. Life will flourish in these lands once again, that I promise you Xiaojian,” replies Yu-Huang, before leaving.
Yu-Huang walks exhaustedly up a dusty trail out of the village and strays for solace in the rocky waters at the base of the mountain. There, he regathers his strength as he begins meditating in the morning light. Using his divine power to heal the mortals had drained him of his energy, and in his weakened state he mourns for those left behind in the sewer. Yu-Huang has used his powers of divinity countless times before, but this is the first time it had affected him so strongly. He ponders upon the strange sensations that he'd been experiencing lately, and for all the wisdom in his celestial knowledge, still could not understand why this was happening to him.
One might hold the answer, but what good are all of his centuries of wisdom if he could not solve this puzzle himself. So he meditates, drawing power from the astral beacons and lunar light.
CHAPTER SEVEN
To all those who weren't thrown in a state of disarray, a miracle happened that terrible night in the Healing Hut, and the Healers could find no plausible explanation for the electrical phenomena. Only Xiaojian and Tian Wu realise how fortunate they are that the Emperor had happened across them that night. Though it mattered not where the act of wonder came from, those who had been saved to see another day are simply overwhelmed to be alive. Tian Wu nods in gratitude to Xiaojian as he leaves, then he begins his journey home to a secluded area on the mountain side. His wife Quing and two daughters Chun-Tao and Chunhao cry with excitement and worry as he crosses a river to his little run down hut. Wenyi doesn't eat well that night, and with a troubled mind he leaves the hut to look upon the distant Tower of Guang rising high. There and then, he pledges two oaths, one to the Great Merciful Emperor Yu-Huang, to be brave always. The other oath he makes to Wang, to find his body and to care for his family as best he can. Fast asleep on a flat stretch of rock, Yu-Huang's eyes flicker, suddenly he sits awake startled by his own insane dream. But he awakes at full strength and so dismisses the absurd and feral nature of his dreams as he feels too good to care. Feeling like his old self again, he rises to his feet and his attention is slowly drawn to his own shadow. His thoughts turn to the previous day’s tragic events and he feels sorrow for the men who had fallen victim to the suspicious force in the sewers. Their deaths should not have been. Tian Wu was right, their deaths were not natural, ‘tis for this reason alone why he saw fit to intervene on the fate. Yu-Huang looks down at his hooded shadow...
“You are testing me, are you not?" says Yu-Huang, ominously.
Yu-Huang places his hand upon a patch of earth between the rocks as his eyes glow with controlled bursts of light. Beneath his glowing hand, a trail of fresh grass, great big trees of every kind and bright flowers and potent herbs rises from the once arid ground and spreads along the mountain side all the way to the “Huīsè de Cǎo” (Grey Grass) village. As Yu-Huang continues to focus new life into the dry outcrops of the neglected land, the soil around the Healing Huts and mountains flourish with earth fit for grazing.
“You will not reign over my rule... or my people,” says Yu-Huang, to his shadow.
Satisfied with his resolve, Yu-Huang grabs the sack that Xiaojian had given him and tucks into a boiled corn on the cob whilst bounding off to continue his journey. It takes ten sundowns for Yu-Huang to reach the “Kang Fu” (Health and Happiness) village, a village that had now grown into a large town. A town of tree huts, rope bridges and winding pasture lanes. The Kang Fu village is the only place in the city where it is forbidden to live on the ground, and priority is given to all flora occupying it. Within the large quirky town, a vast range of herbs and flowers both common and exotic, flourish in the hazy intoxicating meadows. To walk the many turns and crossings is soothing for the mind as the healing fragrances affect the entire body in a calming lift of euphoria. Civilians are prohibited from entering the gardens within the city, only specially trained Carer's are permitted to walk amongst the many species of beautiful and deadly plant life. The gardeners and horticulturalists walk amongst the paths of lush green grass barefoot whilst tending to each bud and socialising with each mature flower. The kooky sticklers treat the plants as if they are their own children, children who could do no wrong. To observe their methods, a common farm hand, Mason or steel worker might think them insane as they gently stroke and whisper nurturing encouragements to each bud prior to bloom. Emperor Yu-Huang often made inspections and was never disappointed in their progress, though he always keeps his visits brief and his manner as humble, quiet and kind as one possibly can. Even though the Carer's acknowledged the presence of their Emperor with respect, they expressed a certain eccentricity and discontent regarding that of outsiders within the boundaries of the nursery. Walking amongst the trimmed and well-kept bushes, Yu-Huang scrutinises the quality of the rowed shrubs of Wolfberry, Cinnamon, and Ginger and many other herbs. Under the broken shelter of the rows of red and white cotton trees standing high and imposing above the curved leas of the suspended bamboo huts. A network of tree houses and rope bridges house the dedicated Carer's that
rarely ever left their wild multicoloured enclosures. Giant tiered walls of bamboo canes surround each village sized garden, and Jade soldiers patrol the perimeters whilst others guard from way up high above in watch nests. During his stroll, Yu-Huang happens upon a young girl sitting cross legged before an Orchid that had not yet bloomed. She softly pleads sweet nothings to the sealed petals in desperation that they open. The girl slumps her head down and sighs deeply, troubled by the deaf or comatose winding stalk. Yu-Huang discreetly approaches the girl and asks if he may sit with her. The girl sits dumbstruck at the sight of her idol as she nods with a gormless open-mouthed smile.