It had been over three years since that day, and in those years Chen Lin's visits had only become more infrequent. She had given up trying to contact him and instead, went on more trips of her own, searching out new apprentices. It was during this time that she had discovered Liu Zhi. A young teenage girl living with her guardian, an elderly blacksmith. Both her parents were gone and she had been brought up by the kindly smith, who was the only one in the village able to take her in and feed her. It was a very poor area; however, his work meant that there was always a steady supply of money coming in as farming equipment would always have to be mended. In return Liu Zhi had learned early on how to help him in the workshop, to grow vegetables and grind flour for their food.
Occasionally the smith would be startled by strange happenings after the arrival of Liu Zhi in his home. The carrots she had planted last week would already be fruiting. The metal in the workshop would make strange noises as he plunged it into the water bucket, almost like the sound of singing and every so often he would catch her staring so intently at the sky that the bright blue seemed to not only reflect in her eyes but to shine from it.
"She has the gift," Feng Ju had stated bluntly to the smith as she sat on the clay floor of his kitchen. She had been directed there by whisperings in the nearby village where she had been staying. The whisperings concerned a teenage girl whom the animals followed.
"Tell me about the animals."
"How...how do you know about the animals? Who are you Ma'am? Was it them villagers again? Nosy folk, please ignore 'em,” the smith had shaken his head .
"I mean the girl no harm Blacksmith, only to help her if she has enough of the gift. Please, tell me about the animals," Feng Ju had made her voice soft, reassuring.
"Well..." the smith had paused and scratched his balding head, his belly protruded from his moth eaten tunic, not a sign of gluttony as Feng Ju well knew, in these parts, men and women of the older generation often sported bloated abdomens, a remnant of the malnutrition they suffered from as children. A result of the drought that occurred five decades ago across the Great Plains. His nose was overly long for his face, but his watery brown eyes were kind and judging from the way he talked about the girl, he clearly cared for her.
"Animals sometimes react strangely to Liu Zhi. Not all animals mind - just a few, they like to follow her. I think she throws them some bread occasionally you see, probably always hoping for a meal!"
He had laughed nervously and stood up, "Would you like tea Ma'am? I've got tea, Liu Zhi grows the herbs herself." He turned his back to her without waiting for a an answer and began opening cupboards, "It's just some odd animals really..." he went on, "The village dog, you see he used to be a monastery dog, but after that closed down, well it was a few miles from here and we found him wandering around the corn fields with no place to go..."
He turned to look back at Feng Ju and found her still staring at him, listening intently, "Well that, and the donkeys go a bit funny sometimes when she goes down there, but they're always braying at nothing, and I suppose, well I suppose you've heard about the bats?"
"The bats?" Feng Ju had raised an eyebrow.
"Aye, some villagers don't like the bats, say it brings ill omen, but I asked Liu Zhi about it at the time and she said she was throwing bits of poppy bread up in the air for them out in the fields one day. To see how fast they could catch it before it fell to the ground, and well they just followed her home after that, but they live in the barn now see, and they don't bother nobody."
"I see, may I meet Liu Zhi?"
"You...you still want to meet her?" The smith had looked worried.
"Very much so," Feng Ju had replied.
"It's just a few bats Ma'am,"
"And a dog and a couple of donkeys apparently," Feng Ju smiled at the blacksmith, whose face was now contorted somewhere between nerves and confusion. "That and you've got pumpkins growing in your garden that are quite out of season."
The blacksmith sighed and set the tea strainer down, sinking to the floor again he whispered faintly, "Are you going to take her away?"
"Not if you don't want me to, but I can give her a good life Blacksmith, and she's free to come and visit you anytime she chooses, in fact, I'll make a point of it"
Feng Ju had kept her promise. After she had seen the girl and determined that it was indeed the gift she sought, she took her back to the mountain and began teaching her the way of spell-casting. Every six months her and Liu Zhi would pack for a short trip and set out to see the blacksmith, and to tend to his garden.
Liu Zhi had quickly become the most promising of Feng Ju's apprentices, she had a particular fondness for metalwork and on her eighteenth birthday Feng Ju had given her a gift crafted by her own magic, a sword. Feng Ju had never leaned swordsmanship, although Chen Lin had offered his tuition, but Liu Zhi quickly took to the blade and often made trips to a swords master living in the central province. When she returned she would spend hours on the balcony slashing this way and that, practising the same moves over and over.
It was Liu Zhi, whom Feng Ju always chose to accompany her on her trips, especially when going into the forest. She never felt wholly protected by her magic in there, the spells that hung in the air seemed older than her and the creatures that Chen Lin talked of. It was a comfort to know that Liu Zhi always had her blade if magic should fail. Not that they'd ever encountered any problems visiting Chen Lin before, the route from the mountain to his abode had been so carefully mapped out, tracked and enchanted by both her and the warlock that it was a relatively easy journey and didn't take more than half a day's walk.
Chen Lin lived in the southern heart of the Great Forest. It was said to have two hearts, the southern was closer to the mountain and relatively known by the warlock and some regular visitors. The northern heart was a place not even Chen Lin was comfortable travelling, for as he put it, "That is the true heart of the forest, if you stray there, you are trespassing into her soul."
Feng Ju and Liu Zhi set off at midday, despite it being a route well-known to her, Feng Ju still disliked travelling in the forest in the dark. That would not be wise on even the safest path. Both women wore the traditional dress of witches, loose fitting silk trousers with long dress tunics. Slits up the side of the tunic allowed for easy movement. Both wore wide bands of lace across their eyes, the lace was so thin it looked like swirling patterns drawn across their faces. On top of that they wore hooded robes for extra warmth, Feng Ju wore black, for she was the elder and Liu Zhi wore a pale greyish blue.
"Are we staying many nights?" Liu Zhi asked as they walked down the stone steps of the mountainside, "I only packed for three, is that sufficient?"
"That is fine Liu Zhi, Chen Lin can always supply us with whatever we need, take care with your footing in the wind, you are not a mountain goat."
The apprentice laughed, "I never fall Feng Ju, your magic ensures that!"
"Well at least pretend to take care, I am too tense today as it is," Feng Ju paused as they turned round the corner of the stairs to face out again over the horizon, something is stirring somewhere.
The journey to Chen Lin's territory, was, as anticipated, relatively short and easy, they had made good time, stopping only briefly for rice cakes and water.
"We're here!" Liu Zhi had exclaimed as she ran towards a tree laden with fruit, "Plums! I've longed for plums."
That you were entering Chen Lin's home was only noticeable by the abundance of plum trees, some in blossom, others already fruiting. The path became more and more overtaken by their branches until before you knew it you were in an archway made of interweaving and interlocking boughs. Then the roots began to protrude from the ground, bulging out in matted clumps, these twisted after a few steps to form a staircase scattered with blossom. There were intermittent knocks on the roof of bent trunks as fruit fell down from greater heights.
The stairs led to another archway, this one was made up of silver coloured trees that occasionally pink blossoms would drift down from. This arch was the front door to the home of Chen Lin the warlock. Comprised of many open plan levels that cut across half of the room and looked down upon each other. The floor was still made up of tree roots and yet here they had become worn underfoot and were now smoothed into undulating waves. The trees bowed to each other and clasping blossomed hands formed interwoven walls and ceilings through which you could see the sky but no drop of rain ever fell. All around the room perched hundreds of blue jays, their electric blue dazzling against the silver bark.
Chen Lin himself emerged wearing house robes of black with shining silver slippers. He was carrying a red leather bound book. "You're here" he smiled at Feng Ju, "You've come just in time for dinner, if the plums haven't filled you up Liu Zhi."
Liu Zhi grinned as Chen Lin walked over and bowed deeply to the two witches. They returned the gesture and said together, "We are your honoured guests."
"And I your honoured host,” Chen Lin beamed, “now come and eat, we have much to discuss and little time."
After the meal was done Chen Lin invited them over to a long table covered in manuscripts, some were human historical volumes in scrawling illegible hands, others were in Spirit script, the beautiful curves lacing the paper, a few were in languages Feng Ju did not recognize, they were probably dead tongues from secluded provinces. Chen Lin gestured for them to sit, Liu Zhi bowed and began to back away but he said, "No, Liu Zhi, you may stay, my words are for all who would hear them."
Once they had sat, the witches on one side of the table, the warlock on the other, Feng Ju became aware of the silence that had settled. The blue jays had stopped their singing and hopping about, she wondered if it was on Chen Lin's instruction. He drew out a browned piece of parchment from under a pile and rested it in front of them delicately; the paper was thin and worn in several places. Feng Ju glanced at it, she saw dense tight knit passages in thick black ink - it was written in Monkstongue.
This was the language of the old monasteries, the monks had created it from a simplified version of Spirit script mixed with the colloquial tongue of the western provinces. Feng Ju knew how it sounded, like a jutting song that went high and low sporadically. It was not used for official documents or sacred texts; it was used for two purposes, messages between monks, and prophecies. Originally very few people but the ordained could decipher the hybrid tongue, and only those to whom it had been taught it could understand. Therefore, it was the perfect choice for monastic messages - privacy was linguistically ensured.
"This is indeed a prophecy," it was as if Chen Lin had read Feng Ju's thoughts, he was looking hard at her. "Can you read it? If you do you'll notice something interesting."
Feng Ju craned her neck, it was a long piece of parchment but it looked simple enough, the Monkstongue was written in the standard prose and the script was neat and rounded. Chen Lin had taught her the language years ago.
"It seems like more of a message, the first quarter is a greeting," she said, looking up at the warlock who nodded back at her.
"It is both prophecy and message," he replied, "keep reading."
Feng Ju continued to scan her eyes down the page until she hit a passage that was not in the same hand, in fact, it was in a different script altogether, "Spirit language!" She exclaimed, "But why the switch?"
"It is the reply," Chen Lin said softly, although his eyes were still fixed intently on the witch. It was not uncommon for monks to share the same scroll for their messages, one would write his piece and leave room for the next, but to have a message like this, half in Spirit script, Feng Ju had not seen its kind before. Then the fact dawned on her, "This message, it is between a monk and a Spirit!"
Chen Lin smiled faintly as Liu Zhi gasped, "That is the same conclusion I arrived at."
"I cannot read the Spirit script, what does it say?" Feng Ju asked, impatiently running her finger over the swirling symbols,
"It is a request," Chen Lin explained.
"A request?" chimed Liu Zhi and Feng Ju together, the idea of a Spirit asking something of a humble monk seemed bizarre.
"Yes, and a desperate one at that, read the Monkstongue out loud Feng Ju, I have transcribed a copy of the message here so I shall read the reply." Chen Lin drew out a newer, smaller piece of parchment and held it up against the table. Feng Ju pulled the original scroll down towards her so she could start from the top,
I am Xu Ah, second abbot of the Monastery of Kitenji
I am Xu Ah, your honoured servant...
"Skip the greeting, read from the second paragraph." Chen Lin interrupted, Feng Ju traced her finger down the lines and began again, tripping over the first few words,
I am indebted to your friendship, but last time we met you seemed not yourself
I wonder, what would you have me do? What is this great purpose you speak of?
I would do it a thousand times over if it should honour the Almighty and repay
my debt to you.
Feng Ju looked up at Chen Lin who began to read the reply, quickly enough that Feng Ju knew he must have the translation in front of him. Not even the warlock could read the complex Spirit tongue with that much ease. His voice sounded strange, as if it was not his own, and Feng Ju imagined that she was sat opposite a true Spirit as he spoke, she shuddered at the thought.
My Friend the Abbot,
Long has this day been awaited, I have seen mountains strike forth from the earth to be battered down again by the unstoppable rain. I have witnessed the rise of your kind, though some have risen higher than others. I have watched you build your monasteries and heard you chant your prayers and still I have waited. My kind has waited, for too long now. I speak to you of the prophecy you must record, you must tell it to your race, you must make them understand.
There will come a man, a man of god, a man who is god.
The Almighty, he will reign supreme.
The sun will ravage the land but the growth will not stop.
There will be no end until the beginning.
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