25/06/1164

Long Huo Monastery

Echoing chirping filled the sky, overshadowing the sounds of rustling meadows and gushing streams in its midst.

Under the shine of soft sunlight, the blades of grass and flowers interlaced between swayed back and forth as a refreshing breeze blew by, inducing the air with a floral scent. Vegetation covered as far as the eye could see, sometimes dense, other times sparse.

Yet, as if it was all a part of nature, in the middle of it all stood two gigantic wooden doors, with the walls at either side seeming to reach past the horizon. Golden carvings decorated the door itself, in a language lost to time. The walls around had murals drawn upon.

Each mural present depicted its own story. From the preaching of wise scholars to monks praying to the gods, from farmers ploughing the fields to valiant warriors charging fearlessly towards their opponents, the countless murals embodied the stories from all walks of life.

Looking at the familiar scenery in front of him, Zhu sighed. Pride filled his eyes. Turning back to address the two kids following him, he spread his arms. “Welcome to Long Huo Monastery.”

After a brief pause, he continued, “From now till when you have completed your training, this will be your—”

“Identify yourselves or leave.”

A cold whisper echoed through the surroundings, interrupting Zhu in the middle of his speech.

Zhu sighed before removing his hood. Rays of sunlight bounced against his head, illuminating it like a fire in the middle of a dark night. He replied, “I am the third high-priest, Shi Ke Zhu, along with some guests. Allow us to enter.”

Over ten people walked out from the surroundings, all carrying weapons on their backs and wearing robes similar to Zhu’s under his cloak, albeit colored blue instead of saffron.

The blue-robed people bowed towards Zhu. A woman, seemingly their leader, walked forward before saying, “I am sorry, but according to standard procedure, I must ask for the identity of our esteemed guests.”

Zhu’s eyes narrowed slightly before his expression returned to calm. He replied, “The High-priest already knows of this matter. I’ll take the responsibility if something happens. You all go back to your posts.”

The blue-robed woman hesitated. A moment later, she waved her hand, leading the others of her group back to their posts.

Raising his brow, Samuel asked, “Who were they?”

Shaking his head, Zhu replied, “They were gatekeepers. It’s their duty to keep a watch and, in case of intruders, alert the monastery.”

Nodding in understanding, Samuel continued, “Then why be so rude? Can’t they talk a bit… gently?”

Looking at Samuel, Zhu replied, “It’s… their duty. They are to ask for the identities of anyone entering or leaving. And since we all are wearing cloaks, I guess they didn’t recognise us.”

Feeling the lack of confidence hiding a sense of disappointment in Zhu’s voice, Samuel nodded, not pressing about the matter anymore.

At the side, Zack looked at Zhu silently, not saying anything.

Heaving another breath, Zhu said, “Let’s go get you to some place to stay.”

The group of three approached the pair of gigantic doors tens of times the height of a grown up man. Looking up at the doors, Samuel exclaimed, “Damn! These doors are bigger than I thought they would be. Way bigger.”

Zhu nodded. “Back in the day, they made these doors to let even the biggest of giants and beasts walk through here.”

“What about now?” Samuel asked.

At the same time, furrowing his brows, Zack inquired, “Giants? And why beasts?”

Zhu replied, “Giants are more or less humanoid creatures tens of times our size. More or less. As for beasts, although a majority are, not all beasts are senseless. Some of them have intelligence, some surpassing even us humans. Don’t look down on beasts. As for now, our relations… well… they aren’t the best.”

Zhu pushed against the massive door, causing it to creak. It opened a crack, revealing the world within.

Mountains, hills and buildings made of stone covered the landscape like a large city. Most of the buildings had only one floor, with the highest ones at most having three. However, at the very centre, an enormous tower stood tall, eclipsing the glory of the tallest mountains within the wall, looking especially conspicuous amongst the small buildings surrounding it.

With Zhu in the lead, the group of three walked down a stone-paved path, heading towards the tower at the centre.

On the way, they passed by many people, some bald like Zhu with others having hair. All of them wore robes of various colours like red, yellow, white and black, some practising punching or kicking, while others did their daily tasks, like washing clothes or cleaning the pathways.

Whenever Zhu walked by, all of them bowed deferentially before returning to what they were doing. Zhu, as well, nodded to them in greeting. His steps never halted, yet he never forgot to return any greeting.

Behind him, Zack and Samuel followed, drawing many curious gazes.

Looking at a section with people wearing red robes punching buckets of water, Zack asked, “What are they trying to do?”

Samuel replied, “They’re… washing clothes? But, they forgot to bring any clothes. Wait, are they washing their hands? What a flashy way!”

Zhu coughed before interjecting. “They’re all practising how to apply force. When to be gentle and when to use hard force.”

Scratching his head, Samuel inquired, “Gentle? Hard? Uh… Just what?”

Pointing towards the red-robed people, Zhu explained, “Look at those buckets closely. When they punch, those buckets don’t really splash as much as they should, don’t you think? And the speed with which they’re punching is definitely not slow.”

Blinking in confusion, Zack asked, “Why is that happening? Water should be splashing around at this rate, but… not even one drop is spilling out.”

Samuel followed up, “Yeah, just how?”

Rubbing his chin, Zhu explained, “When punching, they make sure to apply force in a straight line and to not let it disperse. Sounds easy, right?”

Both Zack and Samuel nodded.

Zhu smiled, replying, “It’s not. It took them a lot of time and effort to do this. Well, that’s about it. I won’t say much. You’ll get your turn, eventually. Don’t catch a cold, though.”

As Samuel halted in his steps, his brows creased. After a moment, he asked, “Why spend all that effort when you can just smash them to bits?”

Shaking his head, Zhu replied, “Little one, everything is not as easy as you think. If you’re strong, there’s always someone stronger. And if someone’s weak, you just save the energy. As for this, it’s the same as how loose sand blows off against a light breeze, but a brick can stand still against dozens of times the pressure.”

Squinting his eyes, Samuel responded, “The whaaa—”

“That’s enough nonsense from you. Keep walking. I don’t have all day.” With a stern voice, Zhu cut him off as he moved forward.

Clicking his tongue, Samuel replied, “Fine.”

Coming up next to Zhu, Zack asked, “Teacher, why are we going to that tower?”

“To meet the high-priest. Since you two are outsiders and we can’t formally accept you into the monastery because of reasons you probably already know, we’ll ask him how to handle this. For what you need to know, just be respectful and remember to not do anything uncalled for. I already have enough troubles in my life and I don’t want to add a lecture on etiquette on top of those things.

“And as for you, Samuel, don’t get too overprotective when the time comes. I’ll need to use your father’s name for this one. Although the high-priest already knows about it, that vice-priest of ours won’t be too happy. In any case, just be prepared. As for where your father is, we don’t know. I hope you understand.”

Looking ahead solemnly, Samuel nodded.

Looking at the expressions of both along with him, Zack kept his silence, walking along. During a half-an-hour walk through the monastery, the group of three witnessed many similar scenes, with some methods of training looking even easier than the one before, while the others made the two boys take in an icy breath.

After walking through a plaza near the end, they reached the tower in the middle.

Just as Zhu was about to enter, an old man walked out. Zhu bowed to the old man slightly, to which the old man returned the gesture through a nod.

Looking at the boys, he asked, “Is this child the one you mentioned? And who’s that other one?”