The sun rose beyond the Horizon and Sun Jie had fought throughout the whole night.
As she should have. After all, their credo was:
“A warrior should always be able to stand against his foes. Be it nature, man or himself. A warrior does not falter against those he sees as lesser than himself. A warrior shall not kneel, even if hunger, thirst or exhaustion forces them down. A warrior must prevail and is only released in death.”
She positioned herself, the rising sun in her back and waited for the perfect opportunity.
Her foe had no idea that his downfall was mere minutes away.
The glaring rays of the morning sun stopped Dai Fo, as he wasn’t able to locate the young girl. This momentarily lapse in concentration was enough for the trained warrior and Sun Jie ducked down to fully utilize the sun and with a hard hit on Dai Fo’s femoral muscle, forced him to stagger. Before he was able to catch himself again, Sun Jie exploited his imbalance and jumped, knee high, against his upper torso.
Dai Fo fell and before he could brace himself against the torment, the girl let a flurry of hits rain down upon him. He needed to tap out, otherwise he would get more than a few light injuries.
“The winner of this generation's succession tournament is Sun Jie Nu!”
Sun Jie let out a roarus laugh, she had won. She couldn’t believe it, but sometimes luck is also an ability and to be honest, she still fought every fight up to the finals.
Finally done. Ten minutes longer and he would have had me. These tournaments are in no way fair. The age difference and therefore the advantage is too huge.
Hopefully grandpa is proud…
The congratulations ceremony was pretty short, as every practitioner was dead tired and nobody wanted to stay up longer than necessary. Sun Jie sat down to relish the warm sun, spreading through their valley. With every breath in, she took the energy of nature and made it her own and with every breath out she expelled the inferior and useless energy. Just like you would take higher oxygen concentration in and breathe the used air with lower concentration out.
She guided nature's energy through her veins and a special combination of meridians. One time, two times and so on. The more she let it flow through her, the more it would be refined. The better the refinement, the less energy would be needed to get the same results.
An hour later she finally let the energy settle in her dantian to make it her own chi. Of course it took longer and longer to meditate and refine, but her newest victory was a sign that she was on the right path.
Now it is time for my meeting with grandpa. He should be awake by now.
Her grandfather was in fact not her real grandpa, she never got to know her real grandpa, as her parents were killed during a mugging attempt when she was about a year old. Parent - and Homeless, she was brought to the next temple for her upbringing. As her great-grandfather was an abbot, they couldn’t reject her and that was Sun Jie’s ticket for life.
“Grandpa! Are you up yet?” she yelled through the door. “Yeah yeah, give me a few minutes,” her grandfather groaned back. “No, stand up! I have good news. I won the competition!” Happily, Sun Jie jumped into the room.
It was small and meagerly furnished, as even an elder, or especially an elder of a Buddhist temple, had to refuse mundane enjoyment. After reaching enlightenment this wasn’t strictly enforced anymore, but the last daoshi to reach Nirvana was ages ago.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Congratulation Sun Jie, I would have loved to watch, but you know, we Elders have to be impartial towards the younger generation.”
The girl prepared the table for breakfast. The window stood wide open, as the first frost hadn’t begun yet. “Grandpa, come on. In anticipation of my win I bought strawberry jam. And you love strawberry jam!”
“...”
Faster than she could even detect, her grandfather sat on the table and the first piece of bread was already on his way into his mouth. “Really?! But you are right.” With a laugh, she bit into hers. “So tell me all about your fights, how did you win in the end?” the jam dripped down the sides of his mouth and some crumbles threatened to fall out.
“You shouldn’t talk while eating. But…” and she told him about her victories, the sweet grin of her caretaker burned itself in her memory.
The victory was worth it. Grandpa is so proud, it makes me feel fuzzy.
A short while later, another Elder barged into the room. “Elder Nu, you are needed for the Meeting.” and with a snappy turn, the Elder left the room. “Sorry Sweetheart, I need to be there. But we will talk later and as a reward, I will show you the next kata, so your fights will always end in victory.”
Soon Sun Jie sat alone with her meal. A bad premonition made itself known. The feeling of victory forgotten and its taste a little bland. She hoped that it wasn’t a serious issue that stole her grandfather from this sweet moment.
Sadly, she would be disappointed.
Hours later, nearly night, her grandpa called her into his room. “Sweetie I have bad news. The Council of Elders won’t accept a female successor.”
“That is no problem, I don’t really care, becoming the new abbot in a few years. I just want to train,” the young girl stated. “No, you don’t understand. You won the competition in front of every disciple and teacher. Even some Elders of other temples saw you. They can’t take this victory away from you. You will become the successor unless you won’t make it through the next years... Nobody said anything about it, but the atmosphere was enough to understand their plans,” the Elder sighed. He clearly was upset about the councils' decision. “What? No, I don’t want to die. I don’t want to become the successor. Help me, grandpa!”
“As sad as it makes me, I can’t do anything in front of the council. Dai Fo should have become the next successor and his Father has a powerful voice in the meetings... There is only one way out. You need to leave Gansu. You mustn’t come back, otherwise, I fear, some Elder will take it into his own hands, to let Dai Fo succeed.”
Panicking, the girl asked: “Where should I go? What should I do?” Tears were dripping down Sun Jie’s face. She wasn’t one to cry, even though the harsh and painful training, she never let herself down. But right now, when confronted with the council's plans, she broke down.
“Don’t be afraid, child. Remember the credo!” the harsh voice of her grandfather raised her from the bleak prospect of her future. “There might be a way. It will be very dangerous and you could die, but I guess it is better than the sure death, which awaits you if you stay here.”
“Mhm...Tell me…” sniffling Sun Jie glanced at her grandfather's eyes. They seemed moist, but she couldn’t be sure through the gray veil of her tears.
“An old companion of mine is a teacher in Prague, in the Czech Republic. I will write a letter, and he will help you to learn in his academy. Go pack everything you will need and meet me back here in an hour, I will prepare a few things.”
After collecting her necessities and stealing a backpack, equipped with camping gear for the month-long survival training, Sun Jie met her grandfather back in his room. From the small cabinet he had taken quill and paper and wrote his letter. On the tables side lay a small pouch, a small booklet and a bigger one, bound in leather. “I am back grandpa. Thanks for your help!” the girl proclaimed.
“You shouldn’t thank me, I can’t protect you here any longer. But sadly it must be done. You shouldn’t lose or open this letter. Only my friend Daniel Rank must open it! In the pouch are some soul stones which I charged up for you. The small booklet is the full Manual for your path of cultivation and even has according fighting stances. And lastly, my journal with notes on cultivation insights, fighting techniques and beasts I met on my travels. I shouldn’t give those two books to you, as you are leaving the temple, but you are the only person who could count as my kin. I never had the joy of marrying a wife or raising a family. You are the one who brought light into this old fool's life. I wish you well Sun Jie Nu. Make me proud and come back when you are strong enough to live by our credo!”
The warrior girl snuffled, but braced herself and with power in their voice, they both recited the temples' credo:
“A warrior should always be able to stand against his foes. Be it nature, man or himself. A warrior does not falter against those he sees as lesser than himself. A warrior shall not kneel, even if hunger, thirst or exhaustion forces them down. A warrior must prevail and is only released in death.”
She hugged her grandfather, smiled crookedly and jumped through the open window into the night. Sun Jie knew, a long journey stood before her, but she was equipped with everything she needed. The knowledge to hunt the beasts or forage in the woods. The power to wander day and night and the will to come back and fight for her position, even against the elder council if needed.
Grandpa, I promise. I will come back to you, even if the old fogeys don’t want me to.
Nothing will stand in my way, for I am a warrior.