PATHS OF LIFE

VOLUME 2 : PATH OF A WARRIOR

CHAPTER 4 : DECEPTION OF WORDS

IT WAS DEEP INTO THE NIGHT. THE MOONS HAVING REACHED THEIR ZENITHS SHINED RIGHT ABOVE THE AO TRIBE. THE PURPLE MOON - ZU’S SPLENDOR EASILY OVERPOWERED THE SMALLER, SUBDUED SHI MOON. THE WHITE TINGED PURPLE LIGHT FELL DOWN UPON THE AO TRIBESMEN THAT HAD GATHERED BEFORE CHIEF DAQUAN. AN ANNOUNCEMENT WAS EXPECTED TO BE MADE SOON.

EVERYONE HAD NOTICED THE TENSION SURROUNDING THE CHIEF’S RESIDENCE EARLIER IN THE EVENING. AND NOW IT LOOKED LIKE THE ELDER’S DEBATE HAD REACHED A CONCLUSION. AS FOR THE TOPIC OF THE DISPUTE ? NO ONE KNEW FOR SURE. BUT THAT DID NOT STOP THE BUSYBODIES OF THE LOT FROM SPECULATING - COULD IT BE THAT THE HUNTING PARTY WAS NOT ABLE TO SECURE ENOUGH PREY FOR THEM TO SURVIVE THROUGH THE HARSH WINTER? HAD LORD BARON PUT FORTH SOME UNREASONABLE DEMANDS YET AGAIN ? OR WAS IT SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE NEIGHBOURING BRATS OF THE PENG TRIBE. NONE HAD CONSIDERED THE YOUNG BOY BROUGHT BACK BY AO LONGWEI FROM THE WILD TO BE THE SUBJECT BEHIND THE ANNOUNCEMENT.

THE BONFIRE WAS SLOWLY DYING OUT YET ITS EMBER STILL GLOWED RED, PROVIDING SOME MUCH NEEDED COMFORT AND WARMTH ON A RATHER COLD NIGHT. THERE WAS RESTLESSNESS IN THE AIR. EVERY DECISION FINALIZED BY THE SADISTIC DUO AFTER A DEBATE AT THE CHIEF’S RESIDENCE WOULD STIR UP A STORM. THE ONLY THING TO SEE NOW WAS IF IT WOULD BE A BIG STORM OR A SMALL ONE.

AO LONGWEI WAS PERHAPS THE ONLY ONE IN THE VILLAGE APART FROM THE ELDERS WHO HAD FIRST HAND INFORMATION ABOUT THE UPCOMING STORM. BUT THE ONE PERSON WHO COULD ALLEVIATE THE CONCERNS OF THE NERVOUS VILLAGERS WAS NOWHERE NEAR THE GATHERING. IN AN EFFORT TO PRESERVE HIS GOOD LUCK ,HE HAD ESCAPED BACK TO HIS FAMILY’S HUT AS SOON AS MASTER ZHEN ALLOWED HIM TO.

*AHEM*

“ SETTLE DOWN EVERYONE, I JUST HAVE A SMALL ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE.”

CHIEF DAQUAN STOOD IN FRONT OF THE CROWD WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE. THAT SMILE HAD BEEN STUCK ON HIS FACE EVER SINCE HE LEFT HIS RESIDENCE. HE WOULD EVEN CHILDISHLY GIGGLE WHENEVER THE THOUGHT OF THE NOBLE DESCENDANT CURRENTLY ASLEEP IN MASTER ZHEN’S HUT PASSED THROUGH HIS MIND. HIS UNUSUALLY FRIENDLY DEMEANOUR ONLY SERVED TO MAKE THE VILLAGERS EVEN MORE APPREHENSIVE.

“SO BASICALLY, AO LONGWEI FOUND A STRAY BOY WHILE HE WAS OUT HUNTING AND WE HAVE DECIDED TO LET HIM STAY WITH OUR TRIBE. FOR NOW, HE WILL BE STAYING OVER AT MASTER ZHEN’S PLACE.”

“WHAT?”, A CLAMOR INSTANTLY ROSE UP AMONGST THE CROWD.

THE MENTALITY OF THE AO TRIBESMAN WAS SIMPLE ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND. TOWARDS THEIR OWN, BE IT THEIR LAND OR THEIR PEOPLE, THEY WERE INCREDIBLY PROTECTIVE - GOING AS FAR AS DECLARING WAR AGAINST OTHER TRIBES FOR THE SAKE OF PERSONAL DISPUTES. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND THIS MADE THEM WARY OF OUTSIDERS. THEIR WORLD WAS A SMALL PRIMITIVE ONE - THE NUMBER OF OUTSIDERS THEY MET IN A YEAR WOULD NOT EXCEED SINGLE DIGITS. ON TOP OF THAT, MOST STRANGERS THEY ENCOUNTERED ENDED UP CAUSING HARM TO THE TRIBE ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. ALL OF THIS LED TO AN ATMOSPHERE OF DISTRUST AND XENOPHOBIA TOWARDS OUTSIDERS.

“AS EXPECTED, THEY DON’T LIKE THIS ONE BIT.”

DAQUAN COULD ALREADY SPOT SOME UNPLEASANT EXPRESSIONS IN THE CROWD. BUT NONE OF THEM COULD MUSTER THE COURAGE TO REGISTER THEIR DISAGREEMENT WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT. NORMALLY, THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE SOME HOT HEADED PEOPLE WHO WOULD RAISE THEIR VOICES TRYING TO REVERSE THE DECISION. IF IT WAS CHIEF DAQUAN’S DECISION, THEY WOULD RALLY UNDER MASTER ZHEN’S BANNER AND PROTEST AND VICE VERSA. DESPITE BEING LARGELY ISOLATED FROM THE WORLD OUTSIDE, THE AO PEOPLE WERE NO STRANGERS TO A LITTLE POLITICS.

HOWEVER THIS TIME THERE WAS NO ONE BOLD ENOUGH TO PROTEST. FOR ONE, MASTER ZHEN WAS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN AND THE SMART ONES EVEN NOTICED HOW CHIEF DAQUAN HAD SAID “ WE HAVE DECIDED” . THERE WERE FEW OCCASIONS THAT FORCED THE SADISTIC DUO TO COME TO A DECISION TOGETHER BUT WHENEVER THEY DID DO SO, THAT DECISION WOULD BE SET IN STONE.

BEING THEIR CHIEF, DAQUAN WAS WELL AWARE OF THE REVULSION HIS PEOPLE FELT TOWARDS OUTSIDERS AND THE REASON WHY THEY WERE KEEPING QUIET IN FRONT OF HIM. THEIR DISAGREEMENT WAS BASED ON THE SAME PRINCIPLES THAT HE HAD ARGUED FOR BACK IN HIS RESIDENCE, DAQUAN UNDERSTOOD THAT CLEARLY. AND YET, THERE WAS NO WAY FOR HIM TO SPILL THE BEANS ON THE REAL IDENTITY OF THE BOY AND HOW HE COULD HELP EVOLVE THE BLOODLINE OF THE TRIBE. SUCH SECRETS HAD TO BE KEPT CLOSE TO THE HEART. IN THIS FICKLE WORLD, COUNTLESS HAD DIED CHASING AFTER THE ELUSIVE DREAM OF BLOODLINE.

‘SUPPRESSION OF DISSENT IS A RECIPE OF DISASTER’ - THIS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST LESSONS THAT THE PREVIOUS CHIEF HAD TAUGHT HIM AND HE WAS PREPARED TO PREVENT THIS PARTICULAR DISASTER. THUS BEGAN HIS DECEPTION OF WORDS.

“I WANT TO BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR ABOUT SOMETHING ,ME AND MASTER ZHEN, WE HAD NO HAND IN MAKING THIS JUDGEMENT. IT WAS SIMPLY GOD’S DECREE - A DIVINE INTERVENTION OF THE SACRED AO GOD.”

“THE BOY WAS FOUND IN POSSESSION OF A PENDANT BEARING STRIKING RESEMBLANCE WITH OUR AO INSIGNIA. TELL ME, HOW COULD WE IGNORE SUCH A DIVINE MESSAGE? “

HE HAD BEGUN BY INVOKING THE NAME OF THE SACRED AO GOD - A DEITY WORSHIPPED BY EVERY AO VILLAGER. THE PENDANT HE SPOKE OF…. DID NOT EXIST. HE WAS SIMPLY GONNA MAKE THE BOY WEAR A SIMILAR PENDANT HE HAD LYING AROUND IN HIS CLOSET. THE IDEA HAD STRUCK HIM WHEN HE THOUGHT ABOUT HOW THE ROSARY BEADS ON THE BOY HAD MADE THEM ASSOCIATE HIM TO THE NOBLES.

“THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO WHEN THE AO GOD PREACHED HIS SERMONS TO OUR ANCESTORS HE HAD SAID, “ ACTS OF CRUELTY AND MEASURES OF KINDNESS - THE KARMA OF ACTIONS IS RETURNED MANIFOLD.” TELL ME, CAN WE RISK INCURRING THE KARMA FOR THE CRUELTY OF ABANDONING THAT BOY? “

DAQUAN WAS THE ONLY ONE IN THE TRIBE WHO KNEW HOW TO READ ANCIENT RECORDS, THEREFORE IT WAS ALMOST TOO CONVENIENT FOR HIM TO TRANSLATE THE DOCUMENTS LEFT BY THE ANCESTORS TO MEAN WHATEVER HE WANTED THEM TO.

‘ACTS OF CRUELTY AND MEASURES OF KINDNESS - THE KARMA OF ACTIONS IS RETURNED MANIFOLD’ - THIS WAS SIMPLY A PHRASE HE HAD COME UPON IN ONE OF THE NOVELS HE HAD BOUGHT DURING HIS TRIP TO XIANG CITY, IT WAS A PHRASE THAT THE PROTAGONIST USED WHILE ACCUSING HIS WIFE OF CHEATING.

SACRED AO GOD WAS A DEITY THAT HELD A SPECIAL HOLD OVER THE HEARTS OF ALL AO TRIBESMEN. IT WAS SAID THAT THE TRIBE WAS FOUNDED UNDER THE GUIDANCE AND PROTECTION OF THE AO GOD - HE BLESSED THEIR YEARLY HARVESTS AND GRANTED THEM PROTECTION FROM THE ASSAULTS OF THE FOREST BEASTS. THE VILLAGERS COULD BE SAID TO HAVE BLIND FAITH IN THE POWER OF THE AO GOD BUT DAQUAN WAS A BIT DIFFERENT. HAVING SPENT MOST OF HIS YOUTH IN THE CITY, HIS VIEWS WERE QUITE RADICAL AND UNCONVENTIONAL FOR THE VILLAGE. HIS BELIEF IN THE AO GOD HAD WANED BUT HE REALIZED HE COULD USE THE NAME OF THE GOD TO ACCOMPLISH GREAT THINGS FOR THE TRIBE WITH MINIMAL RESISTANCE - THIS LED TO THE BEGINNING OF HIS ‘TRANSLATION OF THE ANCIENT SERMONS’ PROJECT.

BEFORE THE CROWD COULD EVEN COMPREHEND HIS WORDS PROPERLY, HE CONTINUED, “ MOREOVER, THAT BOY IS AN ORPHAN. HE HAS NEITHER A FAMILY NOR A TRIBE. DESPITE VIRTUALLY ZERO SUPPORT HE HAS MANAGED TO SURVIVE IN THE WILD ALL THESE YEARS. THE SCARS ON HIS BODY ARE PROOF OF HIS PERSEVERANCE. I DO NOT THINK SUCH A CHILD WOULD BE A BURDEN ON OUR TRIBE. UNCLE ZHEN HAS ASSURED ME THAT HE WILL BE TRAINING THE BOY TO SUPPORT OUR TRIBE. UNCLE ZHEN IS THE CHAMPION OF OUR TRIBE SO DOUBTING HIS WORDS WOULD BE UNREASONABLE… WOULDN'T YOU ALL AGREE?”

JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE, HE EVEN TRIED TO CONJURE FEELINGS OF SYMPATHY FOR THE ORPHAN BOY. USING MASTER ZHEN AS THE GUARANTOR FOR THE CHILD, HE ASSURED THE CROWD THAT THE BOY WOULD NOT BE A LEECH FOR THE TRIBE. WITH THIS MOVE AO DAQUAN HAD USED ALMOST EVERY ARSENAL HE HAD IN HIS BAG TO EMOTIONALLY MANIPULATE HIS PEOPLE.

A LEADER WAS ONE WHO COULD GAUGE THE MIND OF HIS PEOPLE AND BY THAT STANDARD AO DAQUAN WAS A GREAT LEADER. THE EFFECT OF HIS WORDS WAS EVIDENT. THE AWKWARD AURA SURROUNDING THE CROWD WAS GONE. MOST FELT SOME DEGREE OF SYMPATHY OR ATLEAST PITY TOWARDS THE KID. THE MORE RELIGIOUS ONES OF THE LOT WOULD NOT DARE TO ACT AGAINST THE WORDS OF THE AO GOD. NATURALLY, THERE WERE SOME SHREWD ONES AS WELL, THOSE THAT WERE NOT SO EASILY CONVINCED BY EMPTY WORDS ALONE BUT AS LONG AS DAQUAN HAD THE MAJORITY ON HIS SIDE, HE WAS HAPPY.

“WELL, I HAVE TAKEN CARE OF HOW THE TRIBE WILL REACT TO THE KID. NOW ALL THAT'S LEFT IS TO SEE IS HOW THE KID WILL REACT TO THE TRIBE.”

……………………

MEANWHILE, THE STRANDED BOY AT THE CENTER OF THE STORM ,ZHANG GUI, HAD JUST WOKEN UP. HE FOUND HIMSELF LYING ON A SOFT LEATHER MATTRESS WITH A THATCHED ROOF OVER HIS HEAD. ROUGH ANIMAL HIDES NOW COVERED HIS NAKED BODY. IT WAS AN UNFAMILIAR ENVIRONMENT MUCH DIFFERENT FROM THE FOREST THAT HE WAS IN EARLIER BUT AS A FREQUENT FAINTER, IT DID NOT TAKE HIM LONG TO CONNECT THE DOTS.

“ THIS SHOULD BE THAT HUNTER’S BASE CAMP RIGHT ? DID HE REALLY NOT KILL ME? ”

HE MADE SURE TO DOUBLE CHECK HIS PULSE JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE. AS HE FELT HIS BLOOD PUMPING THROUGH HIS ARTERY, HE NOTICED A MASS OF GOLDEN FUR CUDDLED UP INTO A ROUND BALL RIGHT BESIDE HIM. IT WAS BO WHO WAS SNORING AWAY IN PEACE.

“LOOKS LIKE BROTHER BO IS SAFE AS WELL, I AM GLAD. JUST WHERE IS THAT HUNTER THOUGH? GIVEN HOW HE KIDNAPPED US AND BROUGHT US HERE...IT WOULD BE MORE APPROPRIATE TO CALL HIM A BANDIT.”

AT THAT POINT HIS MIND WAS ABLAZE WITH THEORIES AS TO WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED WHILE HE WAS KNOCKED OFF. HIS OVERACTIVE IMAGINATION DELIVERED HIM QUITE AN INTERESTING THEORY - HE WAS CURRENTLY INSIDE THE BANDIT’S CAMP EITHER BEING HELD AS A HOSTAGE OR AS SOMEONE THEY WOULD LATER SELL AS A SLAVE.

HE DECIDED TO TAKE A SURVEY OF HIS SURROUNDINGS BUT THERE WAS BARELY ANY STRENGTH IN HIS BODY, THE HUNGER PANGS ONLY GREW LOUDER AS TIME WENT ON . COMBINE THAT WITH HIS THIN AS A STICK BODY AND IT WOULD EXPLAIN WHY EVEN PROPPING HIS BODY UP WITH HIS HANDS TOOK QUITE A BIT OF EFFORT. HE HAD TO PUT THE WEIGHT OF HIS BODY BEHIND THE DOOR JUST TO NUDGE IT FORWARD. AS THE CRACK IN THE DOOR WIDENED, ZHANG GUI WAS GREETED TO THE SCENE OF A SMALL BONFIRE AND A MAN SITTING NEXT TO IT.

THE CREAKING OF THE DOOR DREW THAT MAN’S ATTENTION TOWARDS ZHANG GUI. THE FIRST WORD THAT CAME TO ZHANG GUI’S MIND AS HE LOOKED AT THE MAN WHO WAS ILLUMINATED BY THE BONFIRE WAS - MASSIVE.

“IS HE A GIANT OR SOMETHING? EVEN WHILE SITTING, HE IS TALLER THAN ME. HE ALMOST LOOKS THE SIZE OF A BEAR.”

HIS ATTIRE SEEMED TO MATCH THAT OF THE BANDIT ZHANG GUI HAD MET IN THE FOREST EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT THIS MAN WAS QUITE SPARSELY CLOTHED.

“I GUESS IT MAKES SENSE. IT MUST BE TOUGH FOR HIM TO FIND CLOTHES THAT CAN FIT HIS SIZE.”

UNDER THE FEW STRIPS OF ANIMAL HIDE WERE MUSCLES THAT LOOKED TO BE BRIMMING WITH POWER. HIS SMOOTH BALD HEAD ONLY SERVED TO MAKE HIM LOOK EVEN MORE BURLY.

“THESE BANDITS MUST BE STRONG TO HAVE SUCH A MEMBER AMONGST THEIR RANKS. THE ONE I MET IN THE FOREST WAS NOTHING IN FRONT OF THIS BEAR.”

DESPITE SUCH AN APPEARANCE, HE DID NOT SEEM TO BE SCARY. A SOFT SMILE WAS HANGING ON HIS FACE- WHICH WAS DISPROPORTIONATELY SMALLER THAN HIS BODY.

THE MAN GESTURED FOR ZHANG GUI WHO WAS STANDING STILL OUTSIDE THE DOOR TO GO AND SIT BESIDE HIM. ORDINARILY, ZHANG GUI WOULD NEVER WANT TO DISOBEY SOMEONE WHO LOOKED LIKE THEY COULD KILL HIM WITH A SINGLE BREATH BUT HE JUST COULD NOT MOVE HIS BODY. HE WAS FIXED IN PLACE LIKE A TREE STUMP, STARING UP AT THE NIGHT SKY. THE WHITE TINGED PURPLE MOONLIGHT WAS REFLECTED IN HIS EYES. A STRANGE NUMBNESS SPREAD ACROSS HIS BODY AS A TRAIN OF THOUGHT LEFT ITS STATION IN HIS MIND.

“THERE...THERE ARE 2 MOONS ? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?”

“SO THIS ISN’T EARTH?!!”

“IF NOT EARTH THEN WHAT IS THIS PLACE?”

“I THOUGHT HE HAD TELEPORTED ME TO SOME TRIBAL AREA ON EARTH BUT THIS….”

“IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW. THAT BASTARD JI HAD SAID THAT HE WOULD BE SENDING ME BACK TO THE MORTAL REALM BUT HE NEVER SAID THAT I WOULD BE GOING BACK HOME. THE MORTAL REALM - JUST WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT MEAN ANYWAY? HOW NAIVE OF ME TO THINK THAT I COULD ESCAPE THE UNDERWORLD AND GO BACK HOME SO EASILY.”

“THAT BASTARD JI… HE HAS PLAYED ME FOR A FOOL.”

HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE PERSISTENT GESTURING OF THE MAN TO JOIN HIM AT THE BONFIRE, ZHANG GUI WOULD HAVE TAKEN A LOT LONGER TO SNAP OUT OF HIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT.

AS HE DRAGGED HIS BODY TOWARDS THE BONFIRE, HE NOTICED THAT THE MAN SEEMED TO BE BARBEQUING SOME SKEWERED MEAT OVER THE FIRE. PERHAPS IT WAS INSTINCT BUT ZHANG GUI INSTANTLY KNEW THAT THE SKEWERED MEAT WAS THE RABBIT THAT HE AND BO HAD CAUGHT BACK IN THE FOREST.

*GRRRRR*

EVIDENTLY, HIS STOMACH WAS LEAST BOTHERED ABOUT HAVOC GOING ON IN HIS MIND. REGARDLESS OF EARTH OR THIS ‘MORTAL REALM’, HIS STOMACH ONLY HAD A SINGLE REQUIREMENT - FOOD. EVEN THE MAN COULD NOT HOLD BACK HIS LAUGHTER AT THE GRUMBLING STOMACH AS HE HANDED OVER THE SKEWER ROD TO ZHANG GUI.

*GULP*

THE BARBEQUED PIECE OF MEAT WAS COATED IN ALL SORTS OF HERBS AND SPICES. ITS THICK JUICY SAUCES LEAKED OUT AS ZHANG GUI BIT INTO THE TENDER MEAT. AN INSTANT WAVE OF SATISFACTION WASHED OVER HIM AS HE GULPED DOWN THE RABBIT PIECE BY PIECE. IT WAS A SIMPLE DISH - JUST SOME SEASONED MEAT THAT WAS HEATED OVER FIRE AND YET IT FELT SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT TO HIM.

MOST OF HIS TIME IN DIYU WAS SPENT AS A SOUL, EVEN WHEN HE HAD HIS BODY FOR A WHILE - THE FOOD NEVER TASTED THIS DELICIOUS. PERHAPS THE LAST TIME HE HAD SOMETHING THIS MOUTH WATERING WAS BACK WHEN HE LAST ATE HIS MOTHER’S COOKING. A FOUNTAIN OF SUPPRESSED MEMORIES RUSHED OUT LIKE A SPRING.

*SPLASH*

A WHIRLWIND OF EMOTION WAS PASSING THROUGH HIS HEART. TEARS CLOGGED UP HIS EYES MAKING EVERYTHING LOOK BLURRY. THE MAN MUST HAVE THOUGHT IT TO BE WEIRD, FOR SOMEONE TO CRY THEIR EYES OUT JUST BECAUSE THEY ATE SOME MEAT. THAT MAN COULD PROBABLY NEVER UNDERSTAND THE FEELINGS SWELLING UP WITHIN ZHANG GUI.

HE WANTED TO GO BACK, HE DID NOT WANT TO BE STUCK IN THIS FOREIGN LAND WHERE HE COULD NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND THEIR LANGUAGE AND MOST OF ALL HE WANTED TO EAT HIS MOTHER’S COOKING AGAIN.

“YOU WANTED ME TO CLIMB MOUNT LAO AND EXTRACT THE DAGGER STABBED IN ITS ORIGIN VEIN RIGHT? FINE THEN.”

“I WILL FIND AND CLIMB THAT BLOODY MOUNTAIN. AND IF, ON THE DAY I HOLD THAT DAGGER IN MY HANDS, YOU REFUSE TO SEND ME BACK HOME - I WILL MAKE SURE TO STAB YOU WITH IT, EVEN IF IT SENDS ME BACK TO THE UNDERWORLD.”

“BUT FIRST I MUST FIGURE OUT WHAT KIND OF A PLACE I AM STUCK IN. IS IT REALLY A BANDIT CAMP ? …. AND CAN I HAVE SOME MORE MEAT? ”

A CASE OF LITERARY THEFT: THIS TALE IS NOT RIGHTFULLY ON AMAZON; IF YOU SEE IT, REPORT THE VIOLATION.