Chapter 7 - A Mystical Performance

As the dinner wound down, the maids came and cleared each person’s plate, replacing it with a smaller plate for dessert. One maid removed the remaining dishes on the table while the other brought out a large clay bowl filled with fluffy white buns whose tops were glazed with honey, browned in the oven and sprinkled with sesame seeds for aesthetics. The buns were small enough to eat in two bites.

Yuzu, who had eaten a bit of fish, a few bites of veggies, and about half a dozen balled shrimp, found herself quite full. Still, she took one bun as her dessert. The bright yellow custard filling was warm and gooey, and not overly sweet. She glanced over to Char just at the right moment to catch the girl staring longingly at the buns, then look down at her stomach and pinch it. In the end, she didn’t take any dessert for herself.

“So, Edwin.” Old man Reza said, leaning back into his chair and splitting a bun in his hands, letting a puff of steam escape. “I’m very curious - can you tell me, are the stories true? You know, the legendary stories of the warrior monks from ZhongShan, flying through the air, their swords dancing like ribbons.”

Edwin smiled, shrugging amicably, “Well, I don’t know-“

“It’s okay if you can’t say.” Old man Reza interrupted him, smiling broadly, “I know your monastery is very reclusive, and there are probably many secrets which you can’t share. But since I was young, I dreamed of running away to the Heavenly Gates and learning the sacred arts.”

“You, learning sacred martial arts? I can’t imagine it!” Uncle Zhao laughed.

“It’s true! Jingyi knows.” Old man Reza smiled, “Back when we were young, I used to play martial arts in the field behind our house.”

“Just kids fooling around with sticks.” Grandma Jingyi chuckled. “As I recall, you always wanted to be the hero.”

“So you see- I’m just an old man with unfulfilled dreams.” Old man Reza grinned. There was a boyish mischief in his eyes.

“Well, as you know, the Heavenly Gate Monastery became famous back when the Jinwu clan sought refuge with them back when they were being pursued by Warlord Khan. In those days, they held the six sacred paths of the elements.” Edwin recited, “This event is considered one of the main battles of the five kings era. Since then, though, the monastery has slowly lost its strength. It has been burned down twice over the last eight hundred years, and many of its sacred treasures lost or stolen.”

“It’s a shame.” Lily Fang said, “Such rich history, destroyed by greed.”

“Then, have the sacred arts been lost?” Old man Reza asked anxiously, enraptured by the story.

“All but one of the paths.” Edwin said. “The Spirit Chain.”

Reaching into his robes, Edwin pulled out a bundle of silver. Standing up, he distanced himself from the table to give everyone a good view. He stretched the silver out between both his hands, and Yuzu saw that he was holding a chain. Each link was about eight centimetres long and glimmered in the light. He spread his arms, letting part of the chain hang loosely between his hands. He allowed one end to drop down from his right hand. Dangling on its end was a silver blade - long, thin, with two razor sharp edges that glinted menacingly.

“The chain is made of silver, as this is the metal that is most effective against spirits. It is also highly resonant with spiritual energy, so it can be bolstered by the spirituality of the user, making it many times stronger than steel.”

“And you study this- this spirit chain?” Old man Reza asked, having fully turned around in his seat.

Edwin nodded, and began twirling the chain seemingly out of habit.

“I have devoted my life to this path. I have been studying the chain since I was five years old.”

The chain glided gracefully through the air, the only sound being a soft, silky ringing as the silver links slid against one another. He spun it faster and faster, whipping the chain in a figure eight, spinning, spinning, then with a flick of his wrist, blasting the blade forward faster than a blink. Then, before one could even process the movement, it returned to its orbit around Edwin’s body before zipping off in another direction.

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He handled the weapon with such grace that it seemed that he was standing and directing a flying creature with his arms. It circled his body, singing as it flew around him in a sphere, then striking suddenly without warning. Though it moved at blinding speeds, it never once scraped the floor or contacted anything in the room.

Edwin suddenly stopped, grabbing the end with a bashful look on his face and ending the performance.

“I’m sorry, I got carried away.” He bowed deeply to Sansen Zhao, embarrassed, “I shouldn’t be swinging a weapon around in your lovely home.”

Sansen raised his hand, gesturing for Edwin to relax, “Your demonstration was mesmerizing. Thank you.”

“That was incredible!” Char Char brimmed over with bubbly excitement as she clapped her hands, “Please show us more!”

Edwin blushed, smiling as he folded up the chain and stowed it into his robes. Yuzu’s brow furrowed at the reaction. Was he attracted to Char Char?

“Well, if you insist.” Edwin said, then bowed respectfully to Sansen Zhao “And of course, with your permission.”

Receiving a nod, Edwin thought carefully for a moment, “Could I perhaps request for five candles to be brought out? They don’t have to be anything special, although preferably made of beeswax.”

Sansen nodded to a maid and she scurried off. Before long she returned with a number of candles of various sizes, each with their own holder. At Edwin’s instruction she placed them in a line on the far end of the table, perpendicular to the length of the table. Edwin removed the chair from the foot of the table and stood with the line of unlit candles in front of him.

The lights in the room were then lowered, blanketing the room in shadow. The monk had fallen silent, and for a moment stood with his head lowered and his arms clasped in prayer, thus creating an atmosphere of mystery that excited the occupants of the room!

All eyes were on Edwin as he took a low horse stance and began breathing in deeply. With each slow inhale through his nose, he drew his hands up to his armpits, elbows tucked close to his body. With each slow exhale through his mouth, he extended his hands directly forward, before dropping them to his waist and drawing them up against his armpits on the inhale. He did this seven times with his eyes closed.

Then Edwin opened his eyes and stood up tall. Yuzu’s heart skipped a beat as the monk extended his hand over the candle furthest to his left, letting it hover twenty centimetres away from the wick. His hand began trembling as he stared intently at the candle wick, breathing deeply.

“Oh!” Sue Ying exclaimed, as the wick began to smoke. Then, in a puff of air, the wick came alight. There was a brief, muted response of surprise before the room fell back into bated silence.

One by one, Edwin held his hand over the remaining candles, and after several seconds of concentration, lit them purely with some mystical power. What’s more, each candle burned with a slightly different hue, starting from a rich orange flame, but progressively growing bluer in colour as the monk progressed. Such a feat was almost unbelievable for the occupants at the table!

The entire audience held their breath as the final candle was set aflame with a turquoise flame. Then, Edwin drew both arms out in a wide arcing gesture and clasped them together in front of him, bowing low. The whole audience clapped as Edwin stood up, smiling and bowing shallowly several more times in appreciation. He gestured for the maids, who had been watching from the side of the room to bring up the room lighting again to normal levels. The candle flames flickered and regained a natural orange colour. Small beads of perspiration gathered on his forehead.

“This is a meditation technique cultivated by the path of the chain. At first, simply lighting the candles with one’s spirituality is a challenge. Then as one progresses, the purity of one’s spirituality changes the colour of the flame. At the highest level there are nine candles, with the final flame burning pure white. As you can see, I am only able to reach five candles in the sequence.”

“Amazing. Simply amazing.” Old man Reza shook his head, a look of wonder on his face.

“Can anyone learn to do it?” Char Char’s voice asked earnestly.

Edwin chuckled, “Every person has a spirit, and so can activate their spirituality.”

“Can you teach me?” Char Char was nearly falling off her chair with enthusiasm. The adults looked at her with amused expressions, seeing no need to quash her excitement.

Edwin stuttered for a minute, having not expected the question. Eventually he shook his head, a regretful expression on his face, “I’m not allowed to teach the path to outsiders. My apologies.”

“I, I see. Of course not.” Char Char’s face flushed red as she sat back in her chair. Yuzu rubbed her eyes with her right hand in a discrete facepalm, feeling embarrassed on behalf of the other girl for her extreme naievity. Auntie Sue Ying placed a consoling hand on the girl’s thigh.

Edwin looked distraught at having embarrassed the pretty girl, but presently his face lit up as an idea came to him. He quickly drew something out of his robe.

“Th-there is something.” He stammered, “I can’t teach you the path, but there is something else I can show you.”

He drew out a small, translucent crystal globe. The inside of the slate grey globe was filled with imperfections, but as Yuzu examined it from afar it seemed to shift and churn, as if there were smoke trapped inside.

“This is one of the sacred relics from the monastery. It is called a lode stone. It serves as a focus for meditation, but it also has another use. It can measure the spiritual potential of an individual.”

He held it out to Char Char. “Would you like to give it a try?”

Char Char’s expression brightened again as her amber eyes lit up with delight.

“Yes!”