Chapter 3: Wish (1/2)
Chapter 3 Wish A
Shaw Danon's eyes had never witnessed a night such as this; the clouds had never hung so close to the ground as the darkness of this night. The thunder had never roared so loudly; lightning had never flashed so harshly, making it almost difficult for him to see.
It was as though the sky was falling down.
He stood there, watching the old monk and the man in the black glare at each other, as if it were a battle of wits.
Suddenly, he heard a loud clap of thunder, so loud the shock made his ears buzz, before bearing witness to a streak of lightning race across the sky; coming down into the earth and falling on top of the man's sword.
At that moment, the man in black clothes body swelled, his eyes wide open as though it were about to burst apart. Meanwhile, all of Grasstemple was lit by strong light as bright as the dawn.
Lightning dancing upon the tip of the sword in the night is so beautiful that Shaw Danon lost his breath; and, in the eyes of Puzhi, he appeared to be excited.
”Is this the true power of the Taoists?”
The man only released a loud shout; his left hand pointed at Puzhi, thunder roared and the sword dashed toward Puzhi leaving a dark trail of scorched earth on the ground behind it.
Puzhi took three steps backward, removed the mark, clasped his palms together; cheeky, solemn, his whole body lit up with faint golden light. Puzhi whispered: ”my Buddha of compassion!”
”Pop,” all the remaining seven jade beads shatter in front of Puzhi; they took the huge form of the word ”Buddha”; so bright that it could not be seen.
The next moment, lightning and the word Buddha, clashed together.
Suddenly, Shaw Danon felt his heart begin to race; it was as though all of his body's blood flowed in reverse in an instant. His limbs grew soft and he choked for breath; in this moment, the wind stopped, the thunder stopped, the entire world stopped.
Then, he flew backward involuntarily; without even a chance to feel afraid he witnessed bright white light, even brighter than the sun in the sky. Then, the Grasstemple fell apart.
His heart felt empty, all he could hear was fierce wind sweeping in his ear.
He felt terrified, subconsciously he wished to curl up; but, feeling powerless, he had flown to the unknown.
In his head, the idea arose: ”Am I dying?”
Intense fear, sudden palpitations in his heart, his body broken into a cold sweat; trembling, slightly.
When standing in front of death, how to face it?
He passed out, unconscious.
※ ※ ※
Puzhi slowly walked over; shambling, carrying Baye and Shaw Danon to a slightly cleaner area. Placing the two children on the ground he felt a pain in his body, it almost split; no longer able to cope, he collapsed.
He inspected his chest; through the burned cassock, faintly visible, he could see a surge of black gas has gradually encircled the chest leaving only a small place uninvaded.
A smile slowly arose on his face as his arms reached into his clothes. His hand trembling, moving shakily and slowly, drew out a red pill; about the size of a fingertip.
Puzhi sigh and whispered: ”Hard to believe Dr. Gho was right; I still need to take his 'Three Days Death Pill' at the end.”
He hesitated then finally nodded and swallowed the pill.
Then, he looked up to see the mountains.
Finally it begin to rain.
Mount Jadeon stands in the wind and rain, hazy mystery.
”Taoist surgical precision in its method is truly wonderful, it contains godly power. If used together with my Fuwa teachings, accenting each other, it may be possible to discern the secret of immorality. It is a pity that Master Doyel Shen is far stronger than me; like the three of my shixiongs, cannot relinquish faction differences and positions. Alas!”
Puzhi gave a long sigh; looking back, his sight fell on the two children. The rain, growing stronger, wet their hair and faces. Grasstemple was destroyed, there is no nearby place around to block the wind and rain.
His mind suddenly grew tight, he could not help but worry for the two children. He had been forced to use his spirit to form the ”Fawin Wisdom” and relied on the Buddhist treasure ”Jade Prayer Beads” to create a strong anti-Felkin power in order to block the strength of that man's ”Thunderblade”; the backlash having hit him caused him to run away. However, Puzhi is badly injured and poisoned; even his last chances of survival vanished. His only option, to use the ”Three Days Death Pill” he received from Dr. Gho, extended his life by three days only.
”That devil was injured; however, I did not hurt him on the inside. After I have departed, he will turn back to kill the witnesses. At that time it will not be only the two children; I am afraid that all of the village people's lives will be at risk. This...this...this...What should I do?”
Puzhi's mind was growing confused; although his knowledge was very high, one day he must die. Also, he found himself worrying about the lives of innocent people; however, that man seems to have a high status in Jadeon, if Puzhi rushed up the mountain for help his fears would be of no benefit.
In his mind the situation is most regrettable; however, there is something else that is a major wish in his life. A task he wishes to see completed. As he stands today as one of four Skysong's Divine Monks, admired by the world, honored by others; but for him, more important was, the riddle behind life and death, untying the knot of immortality. However, fifty years ago, he had already come to realize however long he had practiced Fuwa teachings he could only enhance the skill of his practice; he could not solve the riddle of life and death.
He pondered over a few decades; the developments in his thinking have been unprecedented. Today, the Fuwa, Dagos and Felkin reign as the most prosperous three religions, deeply seated in magic. Felkin has developed a bad reputation, having done things in many cruel ways that people could not take; however, Dagos, intensive training with wonderful skills combined with Fuwa teachings, each having their strength, joined in learning; they will be able to break the dead-knot.
But such a prospect had never been pursued; he had always been against by his open-minded shixiongs. They were saying it is evil thinking. He visited many different Dagos factions, Jadeon alone he had visited several times; however, every time Master Doyal Shen refused.
Thinking of this, he let out a smile; quite self-deprecating the thought arose: there is only three-days left to live now, what use is there to wanting to live forever?
Although he is open-minded, seeing the two children laying on the ground and, unable to think of any good way, he looked instead to the left. Seeing, in the distance, there is a pine tree which can still block a little wind and rain; better than nothing, he picked up the two children and managed to walk there.
Unable, that is, until he came to stand under the tree; carefully putting the two children down Puzhi, exhausted, suddenly sat down and gasped for breath.
天地不仁, 以万物为诌狗!
This is a Daoist saying, with a sort of mournful rage, come from the mouth of Puzhi.