Chapter 41 - Staircase to Heaven

Time passed as the duo rested on the bench. The monk had long disappeared out of sight up the staircase. Finn estimated it had already been close to an hour and was getting impatient. He had already sent the driver away, since there was no point for him to wait around for that long.

“Aren’t you worried about finding your master?” Finn asked Edwin, who still didn’t look too worried even after Finn’s lengthy explanation of his suspicions. “He’s been missing for two weeks and you’re spending your time being served by maids and drinking milk tea.”

Edwin frowned, looking up at the sky. “I suppose I am worried, but I also believe that things will be okay. First off, I can’t imagine my master actually being in any trouble. He is one of the strongest fighters in the monastery. And second, I have you to help me.”

“You didn’t even know me until this morning.” Finn said.

“Before that I had Mr. Zhao. And before that, Mr. Ying.” Edwin said. Mr. Ying was the groundskeeper at the Old Bell Temple, where Edwin had stayed prior to meeting Sansen Zhao. “And before that was Mr. Longan.... I guess what I’m saying is, I’m not worried because it feels like the Heavens are supporting me. In my training we’ve always focused on finding inner peace in stressful situations.”

Edwin’s eyes lit up slightly as he looked towards the top of the stairs. “See, there’s the monk coming back.”

Finn stood up, “Let’s hope he has good news.”

The pair walked back towards the first monk that had talked to them, who seemed to be in charge of the group. They stood at a polite distance away as he spoke with the monk who had returned from the top of the stairs.

After a brief talk, the first monk with a scar over his left ear wore a polite smile as he turned to Finn and Edwin.

“You are invited up to the monastery.” He said, gesturing with a sweep of his arm towards the stairs. “You can return with Banmi, he will escort you up.”

The messenger monk named Banmi clasped his hands together in a short bow.

“Thank you.” Finn said, “Do you know if Edwin’s master is up there?”

“No, sorry.” Banmi said, looking at Edwin. “They only told me to let you go up.”

“Also-“ The first monk said, “Only Edwin may go.”

Banmi nodded. Finn’s eyes narrowed slightly. “May I ask why?”

“Ah- Like I said, since we are currently completing preparations for the festival, we are not accepting visitors. Since Edwin’s master is a friend of the monastery an exception can be made.”

“I see.” Finn frowned, his eyes glancing at the scarred monk, “Unfortunately, I’m not simply here to escort Edwin. I am here as part of an official investigation of the Noga Police.”

With those words, he reached into his jacket’s inner pocket and pulled out a typewritten letter. He had prepared the document in advance with Chief Luan’s seal and approval. It requested the assistance of the temple in the investigation into several missing person’s related to the area around Cloud Peak Monastery. It had been tactfully written to avoid any implication of wrongdoing on the monastery’s part.

The scarred monk held it and the two grey robed monks read it together. They glanced at each other before the scarred monk handed it back to Finn.

“I see. Very well, Banmi will escort the two of you up to the gate.” The monk said, not without hesitation in his voice.

“Thank you.” Finn said, returning it to his pocket.

Banmi led the way to the stairs with Edwin following shortly behind. Finn took up the rear as he glanced up the famous staircase. To tell the truth, he was not looking forward to the climb. It no more attractive to him than the thought of riding four hours back in the police carriage. Still, he knew that he had to do so at some point.

The fact that he had to bring out the letter already told him a lot about the situation at the monastery. If the situation was normal, even under renovations, there would be no reason to require an official letter for an officer to go up to the monastery. This was especially true since he had showed up with Edwin.

Why split him and Edwin up?

Assuming that something was wrong in the monastery to begin with, the ideal situation would be to deny both of them entry. However, the situation was complicated because Edwin had a distinct connection to the monastery through his missing master. If they simply turned him away, the news might arouse suspicion among between the monasteries. Thus, they had to at least let him enter.

However, they denied him, the police officer who was escorting Edwin. In a normal situation, it would be common sense to allow both Edwin and him up to hear about the master’s status or whereabouts. However, again assuming something was wrong, they would take the chance to keep an officer out. Most likely they suspected that Finn’s relationship to Edwin was simply that of an escort, and that he had no further reason to enter the monastery.

Thus, even if Finn was reluctant to leave, he wouldn’t have any recourse to join Edwin.

He had always planned to present the letter, but by taking this approach he had gained a little more insight into his suspicions.

Finn mulled over his thoughts as they climbed the stairs. At first it was a fairly simple trek - each individual step was slightly less than the average height - however after reaching the sixth landing he began to feel it in his legs and lungs.

Above him, Edwin and Banmi were already two flights higher than him looking unphased by the climb. They chatted while they ascended, though Finn could not hear their conversation.

“I heard you are from Heavens Gate.” Banmi said to Edwin. He had round ears and a goofy smile. His hair was almost half an inch long, indicating that he had not been diligent about shaving his head recently. “Your spirit chain is very famous.”

“Thank you.” Edwin said, “I have heard many things about Cloud Peak’s Moonlight Sword as well.”

“Maybe we could duel some time?” Banmi suggested with a laugh, “I think you would win, though. I don’t know how I would fight against a chain that can hit from any direction!”

“I heard that your sword can cut through anything, even from great distance.” Edwin said. They were both referencing the mythical stories of the signature weapon styles of each of the monasteries. While it was unlikely that anyone except the abbots and high masters could actually perform the weapons these days, every warrior monk training under the monasteries dreamed of the day they could inherit the style.

“Do you have stairs like this in your monastery?” Banmi asked, continuing the light hearted conversation.

“No, they are more winding, and they go around the mountain peaks. They’re a lot less even than these stairs.” Edwin said, skipping a few steps, “These are much easier to climb!”

As the younger monk passed him, Banmi picked up his pace, skipping steps as well, “It’s not about the ease of each step, it’s about the distance you travel! I am sure that there are not as many steps from the bottom of your mountain to the top than on this staircase!”

“It doesn’t look so high to me!” Edwin laughed as they began racing.

Before long, they made it to the top of the stairs as they had seen it from below. At that point a slightly longer landing stretched out before them, leading directly to another staircase that ascended even farther up. From this vantage point, Edwin spotted at least three other similarly tall staircases, however he couldn’t see the top.

“Clouds?” Edwin gasped as saw that the stairs disappeared into the clouds.

“Why do you think we’re called Cloud Peak?” Banmi grinned as he sprinted down the stone walkway.

“Makes sense to me!” Edwin laughed. “I was about to be disappointed!”

Far below them, the ash blond haired officer removed his cap and wiped the sweat off his brow.

“Just three more landings to go.” He muttered as he steeled his will for the last bit of the climb. He was slightly disappointed though. By his count, the number of steps between each landing was around eighty, meaning that the total amount of steps on this climb would be just under a thousand.

He looked down at the ground below, already feeling like the monks working in the garden looked like ants. It was an impressive view, with the deep green mountains spreading out around him. He almost regretted that he’d never visited the monastery before.

He didn’t feel shame for being so slow. After all, people have their specialties and focuses. Still, felt he couldn’t fall too far behind. He had his pride as an officer to uphold. Fortunately he wasn’t too much of a slouch athletically, due to the rigorous requirements of the police academy training.

With a final push he climbed the last staircase, expecting to see the walls of the monastery before him, and Edwin and Banmi waiting. He slowed his pace at the end and put back on his cap, putting on a smile as if he had climbed the stairs at his own leisure.

His smile faded as he saw the three staircases stretching up into the clouds. Edwin and Banmi were already ants in the distance starting up the second flight of stairs.