The Journey - Part 6

After their conversation, Prince Thallios became more silent and eventually drifted off to sleep. Leiyu decided to use the time to meditate. He remained in his cross-legged position, closed his eyes, and let the sounds from outside the cave wash over him. Crows cawed to the heavens. Wind rustled the leaves. He felt the world melt away as he journeyed into the recesses of his mind.

***

Leiyu opened his mind’s eye and saw himself back at the sect compound, an old house hidden away on a misty hill. He was four, or maybe five. Truth be told, he could never be certain of his actual age. He just remembered that before Shifu found him, he had spent at least one winter living on the streets, huddling in nooks and crannies, sleeping in the corners of temples, and eating the fruit offerings when the monks were looking the other way. Those were the days when he did not even have a name.

He stood in the doorway next to Shifu. Behind him, the rain continued to pour, and the wind howled. Before him was a hallway, dry and warm. Children ran around while older teenage disciples tried to keep them from getting too rowdy. Upon seeing Shifu, the children ran toward the doorway. Shifu opened the parcel and passed out the steamed buns.

“Shifu, who is that?” one of the children asked.

“I found him while I was in town to buy food,” Shifu explained. “Since it was raining so hard, I offered him a place to stay.”

The child approached him. “What’s your name?” When he did not respond, the child asked, “Can you speak?”

“Yes…” he said hesitantly.

Lightning streaked the sky outside and booming thunder roared immediately after. The other children screamed.

“Don’t worry,” Shifu reassured them. “It is only a thunderstorm.”

“Leiyu…” he murmured, focusing on the Dongyu word for 'thunderstorm.'

“Huh? Did you say something?” the other child asked.

“My name is Leiyu,” he said.

“Hahaha, did you just make that up right now? That’s a pretty cool name. My name is Jianyi.”

***

Leiyu shifted to another memory. This one took place maybe a year or so later, when he was already settled into the sect.

He and Jianyi accompanied Shifu to the apothecary shop to pick up medicinal herbs. As Shifu chatted with the shopkeeper, the boys looked through the shelves of ginseng, tea leaves, and various dried items that included mushrooms, fish maw, scallops, and sea cucumbers.

After Shifu received his parcels of herbs, the three exited the shop. As they prepared to cross the street, Leiyu tugged at Shifu’s sleeve and motioned to the two figures near them. A beggar boy sat on the ground with an empty bowl, while a man was slumped on the ground next to him.

Shifu approached them slowly and checked on the adult. He frowned. The man had already passed away. Turning to the boy, he asked, “Child, is this your father?”

The boy nodded weakly.

“I am sorry,” Shifu said. “He is already gone. Where is your mother?”

“Baba said that she died when I was born,” the boy replied.

Shifu sighed in sympathy. “Do you have any relatives nearby?” The boy shook his head. “Would you like a place to stay? There are other kids your age.”

Jianyi and Leiyu approached them.

“I’m Jianyi.”

“I’m Leiyu.”

“Do you have a name?” Jianyi asked the boy. “Leiyu here didn’t have a name when he joined us, so he made his name up.”

“I’m Anying,” the boy replied.

While the boys conversed with each other, Shifu had to figure out what to do with the deceased father.

Later that day, a horse-drawn cart from the morgue took Anying’s father away. Anying wept as the cart drove away. Shifu offered to carry him as they walked, while Jianyi and Leiyu carried the parcels. They returned to the house on the hill.

***

Another memory. Leiyu was now fifteen. He was sparring against Jianyi. They exchanged a flurry of fists and spinning kicks. Out of the corner of his eye, Leiyu saw Shifu standing in the distance. Shifu’s face betrayed no emotion, and he observed them like an old man watching birds.

The two teenagers continued fighting and leaping around the training grounds. Dust flew in the air and gravel was kicked aside. Jianyi pushed off the ground, ran up the compound wall, and flipped himself onto the roof. Leiyu leapt up and landed on the curved tiles. They ran across the roof, spinning, kicking, dodging. A roof tile became loose and fell to the ground below.

“Disciples!” Shifu called from below. Leiyu and Jianyi both turned to look at him. “No more sparring on the roof, unless you want to pay for the damages.”

Leiyu and Jianyi both leapt off the roof and landed softly on the ground. They bowed and held their arms in a fist salute. Speaking in unison, they said, “Shifu, we have erred. Forgive us.”

Shifu nodded. “Continue your training.”

Leiyu and Jianyi faced each other and resumed their spar. They went back and forth, punching, spinning, flipping, and kicking. Jianyi huffed, his energy ebbing. Leiyu, however, became more focused, his mind like a blade sharpened on a whetstone. Seeing an opening, Leiyu spun his leg and tripped Jianyi. His shixiong’s eyes widened as he tumbled backwards. Leiyu stood over him, his expression completely blank.

Jianyi lay on the ground, breathing heavily. Sweat ran down his face. “Shidi, I concede defeat. Your skills have improved so rapidly.”

Leiyu held out his hand and helped Jianyi stand back up. They noticed that Shifu was still standing there.

“Good,” Shifu said. “Continue practicing everyday.”

Leiyu and Jianyi bowed and saluted him again. Shifu nodded, returned the salutation, and walked away.

Once Shifu disappeared back into the compound, there was another shuffling of feet coming from around the corner. Anying approached them and cupped his fist. “Jianyi-shixiong! Leiyu-shixiong!”

“Anying-shidi, what brings you here?” Jianyi asked.

“Shixiong, you said we would visit the town today.”

“Ah yes, I did say that.” He turned to his side. “Leiyu-shidi, do you want to come along?”

“Sure,” Leiyu replied.

They walked to the edge of their sect grounds and descended the hill on a flight of stone steps that would lead them to town. Jianyi and Anying chatted with each other while Leiyu walked silently behind them. He looked toward the horizon and slowed down.

Anying turned around. “Leiyu-shixiong?”

Leiyu did not hear him, as his mind was already elsewhere. He stared at the mountains in the distance. They were shrouded in mist and seemed to beckon to him to unravel their mystery. He felt an urge to scale the rocks and go above the clouds. If he climbed that high, would be able to glimpse the Celestial Realm where the immortals lived in their grand palaces? That’s what the scroll paintings he had seen before always depicted. Or was that realm invisible to mere mortals like him? He blinked a few times and turned his focus downward. Simply visiting town no longer sounded as interesting.

“Leiyu-shixiong? What are you looking at?” Anying asked. “We’re going to leave you behind if you don’t hurry up. Leiyu-shixiong?”

***

Leiyu’s memories went two years forward. He was seventeen now, tending to an ailing Shifu. There was a small window in the room, letting in diffuse light from an overcast sky. Shifu’s breathing was erratic and his movements sluggish. Leiyu put a damp cloth on Shifu’s forehead. He then went over to a corner table and poured a small portion of the medicinal herbs from the apothecary shop into a cup. He also poured in hot water from an adjacent kettle to make an herbal infusion. After the water cooled, he took the cup and returned to Shifu.

Shifu drank the concoction and sighed. “Yu-er, have you given any thought to what you want to do in the future? You are very talented and pick up new techniques faster than any of the other disciples.”

Leiyu lowered his head. “Shifu praises this humble one too much.”

“Would you like to take over as sect leader someday?”

Leiyu’s eyes widened. “Sect leader? Oh no, I couldn’t. No one can replace Shifu as sect leader.”

“I may not have much time left. More and more, it hurts to walk. Fatigue overtakes me easily now.”

“Shifu, let me know what I can do to help.”

“You are already a great help, Yu-er. But tell me, what do you want to do in the future if you do not take over the sect?”

“I…” Leiyu looked toward the window. “Shifu, did you travel a lot when you were younger?”

“Yes, I have traveled to many lands during my soul journey.”

“Then, that is what I would like to do.”

Shifu smiled. “That does not surprise me. Oftentimes in the past, I would see you look out into the distance, as if you were curious about what else was out there.”

“But right now, I will stay here and help you as much as I can.”

“That is good. Be good to your fellow disciples as well. But when my time comes and I am gone, if you truly wish to go on your soul journey, you should not hesitate to do so.”

After Shifu finished his herbal tea, Leiyu left the room. As he made his way down the hall, he encountered Jianyi.

“Were you with Shifu?” Jianyi asked. His expression was cold.

“Yes.”

“You sure spend a lot of time with Shifu.”

Leiyu frowned. “He is ill. He needs my help.”

“Just your help? Doesn’t he need anyone else’s help?”

Leiyu glared at him. “What are you implying?”

“Oh nothing. You’re just his favorite disciple, that’s all.”

“I am not. Shifu treats us all equally.”

“Hehe, does he?”

Leiyu did not answer and continued walking down the hallway.

Author's Note: Shifu addresses Leiyu as "Yu-er", which is the diminutive form of Leiyu + "er" (child), since they have a mentor-disciple dynamic.