EARTHLY DRAGON, SOARING PALM Page 7

  “Look out, there’s another one about!” Bai Feng was shouting as he ran for cover but before he could finish, he ran straight into one of the Kshatriya warriors. Under a vice like grip to his shoulder, Bai Feng sank to his knees in a burst of pain and could say nothing. What he could see, however, flabbergasted him. Xun Da was in the process of fighting five first class warriors. Surrounded by the remaining halves of the scarred couple and the Kshatriya brothers as well as the three Yarlese disciples, Xun Da never stopped moving and from the nearly opaque wall of blocks his arms and legs put up, Bai Feng could discern the odd palm, fist, or kick emerging to intermittently send one of his five assailants back a step. They weren’t going to have it easy, that much was clear. But neither was Xun Da for that matter.

  Bai Feng attempted to break free of the Kshatriyan’s grip to render assistance but, feeling even more pain, he sank deeper to his knees. Then, in a trice, he was flying up the mountain in the clutches of the burly warrior. Without even waiting for his brother, the Kshatriyan was rushing through the dense summer foliage seemingly determined to leave everyone else behind. Drifting towards them from where they came, Bai Feng could hear the faint angry shouting that he assumed belonged to the other Kshatriyan. Clearly, my abductor is making a break for it alone, Bai Feng thought. But why is he bothering to bring me?

  Being carried like a bundle of sticks under this stout warrior’s arm, Bai Feng couldn’t move nor utter a single word. He simply had to tolerate this humiliating abduction. However, as his anger welled, he had a sudden feeling that it was absurd to be angry. Why should I be embarrassed? I should just bear this with a calm spirit and say nothing. There’s nothing I can say or do anyway.

  As the Kshatriya warrior sprang quickly and lightly through the mountain woods, he began to get nervous because Bai Feng had stopped struggling. He glanced down at the young boy and was bewildered by what he saw. A boy’s face for sure but glowing with an expression he could barely comprehend. As their eyes met, the captor couldn’t help but feel deeply intimidated by the young boy’s stare. There was nothing violent in it but nor was there any trace of vulnerability whatsoever. The more he stared at the boy, the weaker and less sure of himself he began to feel. “Close your eyes!” he couldn’t help roaring in his own language. Of course, that was a mistake because the sudden shout ensured he lost that last bit of concentration he was using to propel himself up the slope. A trip and a fall later and both of them were tumbling.

  The earth and night sky spun interchangeably in Bai Feng’s eyes until his vision dramatically realigned with a sudden stop. Staring upwards, the face of the giant Yarlese Monk, Wangchuk Drup, was now looking down at him. Wangchuk Drup squinted down at Bai Feng in a slightly puzzled manner as if he was looking for something before grabbing him by the waist and continuing up the mountain. Suddenly, the air behind them was split with the sound of two spinning iron wheels. Wangchuk Drup merely shifted his weight to the side and casually watched them flash by. As the wheels passed centimetres from his face, Bai Feng noticed each wheel was bladed into about three or four points that would slice through most anything that wasn’t made of stone or iron. As he was inspecting these unusual weapons, he realised they stopped moving if only momentarily and then suddenly reversed their course. As time snapped back into normal perspective, he saw the wheels shoot straight back into the Kshatriyan’s hands as if attached by elastic.

  What he didn’t expect is that he himself would directly follow those wheels almost at the same lightning pace, albeit from within the grasp of the giant Wangchuk Drup who used the distraction of the returning wheels to advance on the Kshatriyan. The unusual facial features of the Kshatriyan grew larger in Bai Feng’s field of vision as he and Wangchuk Drup’s presence seemed to consume him. Held backwards under the big monk’s long winding arm, Bai Feng couldn’t see exactly what he was doing to the Kshatriyan but a succession of grunts and moans revealed it was nothing pleasant. Wangchuk Drup eventually leaped away towards the same upward path the Kshatriyan had been following. As they ascended the hill, Bai Feng saw the Kshatriyan warrior left behind, unmoving in a crumpled ball. Bai Feng felt nauseous at the thought of these people’s unending cruelty and, from that, came an outrage that was at odds with the state of calm he had earlier obtained. He began to struggle and in his repeated failure to twist free and hit out at this demonic monk, he weakened. Wangchuk Drup glided up the mountain path, faster and faster.

  The Third Gorge

  The passing mountainside blurred under Bai Feng’s defeated stare. Rocks, grass, soil, roots, and branches all wheeled into one disorientating image. For what seemed like hours, he was spirited through the slopes and forests as his formidable captor put as much distance between them and the rest of his associates as possible. And then, without the abruptness one would expect a sudden halt to bring, he found himself lying at the entrance to a sizeable cave.

  “This will probably do,” he heard the Yarlese mutter as he entered to get a better look.

  Bai Feng wasted no time and attempted to run but found his whole body to be paralysed. The only thing he could move was his eyes. A moment later, the Yarlese emerged from the cave’s darkness and dragged Bai Feng inside. Soon after, a fire was lit and Bai Feng's eyes squinted against its flames. It wasn't long before those eyes were drawn back to Wangchuk Drup’s pearly spheres and the boy noticed a burning inquisitiveness in them as he attempted to match the man’s stare.

  Extending a hand towards Bai Feng's torso, the lanky foreigner promptly unsealed whatever pressure point had rendered him immobile and returned to the boy the power of speech.

  “You bully! Does it do you good to go around abducting children?”

  “Quiet!” the gigantic monk rasped, seemingly deep in thought. Eventually, however, he did speak. “Who are you to the monks of Earthly Dragon?”

  “Nobody!” Bai Feng spat. “I was just accompanying my friends. I've no interest in kung fu at all.”

  “It won't do to lie to me. I've been to the Third Gorge and spoke with the Eight Guardians. They said they were waiting to receive a boy of eleven and nobody else. Turning me away for a mere child! They disgraced me!” Veins throbbed all over his shaved head as he attempted to calm himself.

  “They couldn't have been talking about me. Nobody knows me here.”

  “I'm more than patient,” Wangchuk Drup said with a restraint he didn't feel.

  “Do what you like! I'm not going to tolerate this treatment. Not even from someone I respect would I. As for you—you're nothing more than a gangster.”

  “Enough!” he slammed back before repudiating himself for not remaining calm in front of this mere child. “I'm not planning on hurting you. Not yet at least. Go and sit over there quietly while I think this through.”

  “I can't rest with you beside me. You're so ugly, you make my teeth hurt. The first opportunity I get I'm going to thrash you. Go on—turn your back on me. You'll get a—”

  With scant warning, Bai Feng found himself being dragged deeper into the blackness of the cave. “Let go of me you bastard!”

  “This cave leads nowhere but it's plenty deep. Go on back there and make yourself comfortable. You won't have to look at me back there. I'll be back in a moment and then we'll begin.”

  “Begin what?”

  “I'm going to test your abilities—one at a time. Eventually I'll discover what great aptitude you possess.”

  “You dumb oaf—are you going to keep me here forever?” Bai Feng's moxie was betraying his child’s fear of the dark so much so that even Wangchuk Drup cracked a smile before turning away to think.

  Reluctantly, Bai Feng sat down amid the inky darkness of the deep cave and reached into his gown to root out the last crumbs of rice that Xun Da gave him. Chewing on whatever morsels he found, he allowed his head to lean back on his shoulders and let the tears flow freely. He wasn't even sure what exactly he was crying about for all tribulations seemed more pronounced in the dark. Did he miss his friends back at Baiyun
Mountain? Or was he feeling the sadness of being separated from Li Jing and Wu Chen? Or even Xun Da? The man who gave him the food he was currently eating, the man he only just met. The man he became deathly afraid of right before they were parted. Before he knew it, his tears had dried and were replaced by a confused numbness. Like that, his brain threatened to drift off only to be disturbed by the abrupt return of his captor.

  “What?”

  “Stand up.”

  Bai Feng tried to feign indifference to his demands but the power of the man’s glare forced him to his feet.

  “Now, attack me.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?”

  “Whatever way occurs to you. I want to discover what's so special about your skills and personality.”

  Bai Feng scoffed and made as if to sit down again but Wangchuk Drup's voice stopped him in his tracks.

  “Don't dare to sit down until I tell you to. Now, ATTACK ME!”

  Irritated by an overriding sense of helplessness, Bai Feng felt he may as well try to achieve some satisfaction from hurting this bastard. He lunged forward and ran straight into his captor’s bulky frame. Bouncing backwards, he landed on a slab of rock and felt the internal vibration of a hollow chamber below. It wasn't loud enough to catch his tormentor's attention. Marking its location for further investigation and not wanting Wangchuk Drup to have a second more to think, Bai Feng jumped up, steadied his stance, and lunged again. His target moved only imperceptibly but before he knew what was happening Bai Feng was stumbling towards the wall behind, clipping his head on an overhanging rock.

  Dissatisfaction seemed to steam from the Yarlese’s face. “Nothing. There's nothing there. I must be missing something. Attend to your wound. I have to think some more.”

  After watching his captor return to the front of the cave, Bai Feng sat back down yet this time, his mind was on the hollow under the cave floor. Could it be a way out? he wondered excitedly. He waited a few minutes and then moved slowly over to the slab and began feeling around its surface. He didn't have the heightened perception of a great master yet he possessed natural feel for construction and understood the constituency of physical materials. His heart sank as he discerned only a small space between the cave floor and the rest of the mountain. No more than a meter deep, he thought resignedly. Nothing I can use!

  Sitting back down, he was as near to total frustration as he could remember. I need to get out of here, he thought. Think!

  * * *

  Wangchuk Drup meditated until dawn yet—even with a clear and refocused mind—he could discern no reason why the Earthly Dragon Sect would be interested in this boy. Rising to his feet, he stooped his large frame one more time and headed into the recesses of the cave. If I have to flay him to the bone, I'll find out, he told himself.

  However, when he came to where he had left Bai Feng, there was no sign of him.

  “Boy,” he called out without reply.

  There's no way he could have sneaked past me, he thought. He held his breath and let his highly attuned ears reach out into the blackness. Soon enough, a smile crossed his face as he heard the faintest sounds of breathing coming from deeper within the cave. His attempt at hiding was enough to prompt caution in the wily warrior. He has something planned, he thought.

  Wary of everything including the ground beneath his feet, he stepped forward and probed the rock with his right foot. Finding everything as it should be, he applied his weight to the cave floor and set his mind on his next step. However, to his dismay, before he could probe any further, the ground beneath his right foot gave way and he fell about a half meter into a small hole. At that same moment, he felt a gust of wind pass above his head as his quarry jumped over him and bolted for the exit.

  “Help, masters!” he heard Bai Feng scream at the top of his lungs. “I'm sorry for running away from our glorious sect, I beg forgiveness. Save me from this bad man and I'll…”

  He had made it only three steps before Wangchuk Drup’s long arm wrapped itself around Bai Feng’s ankle and pull him back. “You were clever to improvise your little trap,” he heard the big monk say. “But to think you could escape me is also a sign of true stupidity. I guess that makes you average. Who would've guessed an Earthly Dragon disciple could be so ordinary. Nevertheless, it appears I now have my way in.”

  Immobilising Bai Feng, he sat him down gently and began to speak with a warmness that sounded alien to his being. “So, you're a runaway. Why hide that? That's eminently fixable. I'll tell you what,” he spoke as he sat opposite Bai Feng. “I'll bring you back to Earthly Mountain and tell your masters that bunch of cutthroats kidnapped your from your masters. They'll never know you intentionally ran away.”

  Bai Feng smirked to himself. This big monk is fearsome, he thought but actually not so difficult to fool. Still, he cautioned, I can't be too quick to capitulate.

  Wangchuk Drup noted his hesitation and took a guess. “I know you've had second thoughts about your commitment to your sect,” he said with an insincere sensitivity. “What about this? Allow me bring you back, gain the favour of the Eight Guardians and then when I'm taken as a disciple, I'll help you escape. With my abilities, you'll get far from Earthly Mountain before they ever know you're gone.”

  Bai Feng allowed his eyes to reveal some excitement. It was all the encouragement the Yarlese needed.

  * * *

  Carried under Wangchuk Drup’s strong arm, Bai Feng traversed the mountainside and ascended the peak with the same bewildering speed as before. Sometime after dawn, he saw that he and his new benefactor were approaching the foot of yet another gorge except this one spanned a greater distance than any he had yet crossed.

  Wangchuk Drup halted suddenly and cast his eyes over the wall of rock across from him. A sheer peak of narrow rock, taller than any they had previously come across stood before them, climbing ever up into the clouds. After stooping to put Bai Feng down, Wangchuk Drup straightened his entire frame, elevated his chin towards the tall peak and bellowed. “Junior Wangchuk Drup has brought the child who you are waiting for.”

  As his booming voice resonated up and down the mountain gorge, Bai Feng couldn’t help wondering how someone so strong and who already had disciples of his own would be willing to revert to the position of disciple in a new sect. Is the Earthly Dragon Sect that good? What would happen to his existing disciples? They've travelled with him, could he be willing to enter the sect alongside them as mere brothers? Dozens of questions tumbled through Bai Feng's mind when a piercing whistle pulled him back.

  An arcing line of sky blue split the clouds above, majestically descended the narrow peak, and landed across the gorge from him and Wangchuk Drup. Before his vision could refocus, two more whistles screeched and a golden yellow line and a deep red line also arced out of the clouds, down the peak. The object in blue moved forward towards the far edge of the gorge and Bai Feng realised it was a person. Though dressed in plainly made robes, their colour and the manner they moved while this person walked gave off a supreme air. Unlike the way normal people walk, this person seemed to step without any sharp movements and as Bai Feng watched, he noticed for the first time this graceful human being was in fact a rather brutish looking man with a large bushy beard and shaven head.

  With an even more profound resonance than Wangchuk Drup managed, he opened his mouth and greeted his visitor. “First Guardian welcomes the impressive Wangchuk Drup back to our modest mountainside but I can't help but be surprised at your return. Did we fail to make it clear that we have no desire to interact with the world’s warriors? I have already dispatched some of my guardian brothers to investigate the mysterious cliff etchings you claim presented you with an invitation to this place. Did you not believe us when we told you that no such invitation had been extended and this is most likely the work of meddlesome outsiders?”

  Wangchuk Drup was visibly uncomfortable. “I'm truly ashamed of my pushiness in this matter, First Nameless Monk, but whilst returning to the second gorge to
finally leave your domain, I encountered this youth as he was being accosted by a bunch of evildoers. I naturally came to his rescue but couldn't help wonder if this was the youth you were asking about earlier. So I decided to guide him up here safely and find out.”

  On hearing how easily lies fell from his mouth, Bai Feng felt a renewed hatred for this monk. He yearned to scream his objections and tell this Nameless Monk or whatever he's called what was really happening—that this bastard Wangchuk Drup was originally part of the gang that tried to capture him and he was merely picking up where they left off. However, he knew how dangerous his position was. One wrong word and Wangchuk Drup could simply snap his neck. If he wasn't going to get what he wanted from these Guardians, he may do it out of sheer spite. Thus, he raged inwardly. I have to lie here and listen to this story about him rescuing me from the very people he was travelling with, he thought. And who the hell is this kid they're talking about? As I guessed back in the cave, it seems they've all mistaken me for someone who the Earthly Dragon Sect is waiting for.

  As the First Nameless Monk peered intently at Bai Feng, the golden and red robed monks stepped forward to join their guardian brother on the cliffside. The golden robed monk was a short and stocky man in his fifties with a shaven head and a thin triangular shaped beard while the monk in red was a slender man of forty plus years without a single hair on his head or face. He was even missing his eyebrows. With the slightest effort, the man in gold threw his voice across the gorge. “Fourth Guardian welcomes Wangchuk Drup back but the youth we are waiting for was to be accompanied by a young hero. Wherever you found this child, I suggest you return him safely after you leave our mountain.”

  Wangchuk Drup was confused by this response. This is their disciple, he reminded himself. Why do they disown him? Perhaps they're testing me, he thought quickly. “I'm suspect the Artless Monk perceives deception in my well intentioned behaviour. What a pity.”