SENSING THE REALM PT2The moment Mao Lu had the deed and keys in his hands he ran out of the building at full pelt. Running to the bus stop.
It took him around 20 minutes to get from the council to the Maizidian residential area, near Chaoyang Park, where he used to live.
When he finally stood in front of his old home, he felt tears building up inside of him again. This was where most of his happiest memories resided. This was where he"d grown up.
Excited and br.i.m.m.i.n.g with emotion Mao Lu ran up to the entrance only to be stopped by a police officer.
"Are you a member of a tour group, sadly this residence isn"t open for display any longer. So we are telling all tourists that this is now a private property and can no longer be ventured into. I suggest you turn back." The man advised Mao Lu.
Mao Lu pulled out his deed and showed it to the security member. "You"re right it is private property and I am the owner. So now kindly move aside."
The security guard blanched and then bowed to Mao Lu, "I apologise, I will notify the others of your appearance."
"It"s fine and please do." Mao Lu nodded at the officer as he ran past and into the property.
As he got to the vermillion painted entrance, he glanced at the stone lions[1] that stood outside the doors, he twisted and pushed the copper handles.
Tall walls surrounded the perimeter of the siheyuan. There were two courtyards[2] that were both surrounded by buildings. It was perfectly preserved and looked the same way his family had left it.
There were four main buildings and three backside buildings surrounding both courtyards, positioned along the north-south and east-west axis[3]. The buildings positioned to the north and facing the south are considered the main house[4]. The buildings on the sides of the main house, facing east and west, are called side houses[5].
The northern, eastern and western buildings were connected by gorgeously furnished pa.s.sages[6]. The pa.s.sages served as a shelter from the sunshine and provided a nice area to view the courtyard at night.
The building that faces north is known as the opposite house[7]. Behind the northern building, there was three separate backside buildings[8]. All the buildings had low tiled roofs.
As Mao Lu wandered around the large courtyards he felt tears fill his eyes. It had been eight long years since he saw this place. Mao Lu could almost see his grandfather sitting on the patio of the main building, admiring the bamboo shoots in the courtyard with a smile on his old face. Of course he wasn"t really there, it was just an old memory, a phantom sitting in Mao Lu"s heart.
"Are you proud Grandpa!" he yelled "I got the house back, ancestors are you happy!" He felt choked as he yelled this. The dead can"t answer, but he felt like he"d made his ancestors proud.
He wandered towards the north building and used one of the keys to enter. It was rather dusty inside. The interior of the buildings in the first courtyard hadn"t been on display. This was probably because all the buildings in the first courtyard had been modernly renovated with modern amenities. His family had lived in the buildings surrounding the first courtyard.
The northern main house had a wide living room, the one he used run about as his Mother chased him. All the old furniture was gone and it was entirely empty now but he felt a warm sense of comfort from this building.
He then went to the west side house using the pa.s.sages, that were just as lovely as he remembered, truly traditional housing was the most gorgeous.
Mao Lu used the key and entered his old room. He used to have the west building all to himself. His parents would be in the East building and his Grandparents in the South. They"d use the backside buildings as a bathhouse, there was a wide bath in there a shower and two toilets. There was also the boiler, generator, and water meter in the back buildings.
Just like the main house, the west building was dusty and there was no furniture, but Moa Lu still felt a wave of nostalgia as he looked inside.
After exploring every building of the first courtyard he went to the second courtyard. As he went into the buildings he saw that they were completely clean, polished, and gleaming. The architecture and the old style benches were very well maintained. These buildings had obviously been put on display for tourism.
Mao Lu then went to the West building of the second Courtyard. He kowtowed before the door before he unlocked it. He was glad that this door was locked, it showed that the council had been respectful.
The west building of the second courtyard was filled with old tombstones, all with the family name Zhang on them. This was where his ancestors had been put to rest. This was where his Mother"s tombstone should have also been put. Now that Mao Lu had the place back he wanted to move his Mother"s tomb here.
Mao Lu rummaged through his bag and found the cleaning cloths he"d brought. He diligently cleaned and dusted every Zhang tombstone. When he was done he lit incense sticks and put them around the tombstones. He clapped his hands together and then silently prayed as he kneeled before the graves.
"Please watch over me." he whispered.
After praying he went back to the other buildings of the first courtyard and began intensely cleaning. In his large duffel bag he"d bought with him sprays, cloths, a foldable mop, a dustpan and brush and other cleaning appliances.
By the time he was done everything was sparking and gleaming and it was beginning to turn five o"clock.
Mao Lu wanted to stay longer to clean more and buy furniture but it was getting late and he had a shift at Roaring Tiger in the evening. If he was going to get in some training today, he needed to probably do so now.
Mao Lu locked up the other buildings and then sat on the patio of the north main building of the first courtyard. From there he had a nice view of the setting sun.
Mao Lu closed his eyes, eased his body and reminded himself, "I am in control".
He opened his inner eye for the first time that day and he felt all the information flood into him at once. He heard the buzz of every insect in beijing, every animal, every breath, and every movement. All at once he could sense the millions of people and creatures living in Beijing.
This time, just as Gates had told him, it wasn"t as overwhelming as it had been the first time. It wasn"t as shocking as the first time either. He"d gotten somewhat used to all of the noise. He was even able to focus on specific noises.
He found Tanaka Kato sitting in his home with Bei Lao, they were watching some j.a.panese drama and Tanaka was crying over a scene as Bei Lao held his hand. It was such a small touching moment that Mao Lu had just eavesdropped on, it made him smile, "How sweet."
He then sensed Zhao Detong he was with Fei Bing Bing and they were…. Mao Lu went bright pink and tried to focus his brain elsewhere.
He witnessed the birds flying high above the clouds, he could sense the subtle movement of the clouds themselves as well.
"Very good. Now try going beyond Beijing and to the whole of China." Gates softly instructed.
Mao Lu carefully and slowly expanded his range. More and more people filled his brain, more and mores essence, more and more scenes. He sensed all kinds of events from children playing in the park, heartwarming family scenes, people working their jobs, students studying, daily lives, tears of frustration and struggles.
He saw some people getting beaten, he sensed a brutal murder, he sensed all kinds of things the negative and positive becoming intertwined with each other. He was surprised that he didn"t go mad, it was like his brain was unconsciously filing away and organising all this information just as it got to him. Rather than overwhelming it was like he was watching a river flow by him, and he had the power to pick and choose what affected him.
"Now try bigger, you can easily sense this entire planet go for it." Gates urged.
Mao Lu"s face went slightly red and his heart rate quickened. The river of information became bigger and bigger. So many people, so many lives, so many animals, so many creatures, so many insects, so many objects. So much of everything. He was able to sense it all.
As his consciousness spread wider and wider he could see beyond the clouds. It was only when his mind touched the edges of the atmosphere that he reached his limit. The amount of information in s.p.a.ce was trillions of times bigger than the Earth. It was like his body was a Dam containing all this information. When he reached his limit he felt that internal dam fill him to the top and begin to spill over. Blood filled Mao Lu"s mouth and he spat it out onto the floor of the courtyard.
He opened his eyes this time they weren"t bloodshot but they bulged as he gasped for air.
"Well done, that was very good, you"re improving faster than I thought you would. Maybe there is hope for the next meeting." Gates praised.
Mao Lu didn"t respond as he sucked in the air around him and greedily drank the water from his water bottle.
He rested for a few minutes, he wasn"t lethargic like last time, actually he felt like he was buzzing with energy. He jumped a little and flew several metres into the air, as he did this the time essences around him got excited and swirled around him. The wind that had blown past him suddenly began rewinding and blowing again like it had been put on a loop. It also got stronger and was suddenly suspending him in the sky.
"I"m...I"m flying!!!!" Mao Lu shouted excitedly. So he could use time like this, how fascinating.
"The time essences like you so they"re just playing around." Gates explained, "But if you order them to they will do such things for you. But I must remind you that your control of the time essences isn"t that good yet if you don"t focus they might-" Mao Lu fell hard to the ground. "drop you." Gates said a little late.
"Ow ow ow." Mao Lu rubbed his sore b.u.m and then looked at his phone. "s.h.i.t it"s 19:30 my shift starts at 20:00, we have to go!!!"
Mao Lu called a nearby taxi service and travelled all the way to the Wanping district where the Roaring Tiger club was. It took 38 minutes by car. Mao Lu had cash on him and did not mind paying the taxi fee. In the past he dreaded Taxis since they tended to be very expensive but now he was relieved since the cost now caused him no issue.
He rushed through the backdoor into the club and ran into the staff room, opened his locker and began getting changed.
"Look who it is crawling in here, don"t you know Manager Xu is looking for you, he"ll have your head for skipping out last night." Fang Kai tapped Mao Lu on the shoulder.
"Why would he, I was ill!! And I"ve never missed a shift before." Mao Lu muttered.
"O come on, you know Manager Xu hates your guts, he only keeps you on because you"re a good worker and he"s had no excuse to fire you. But look you just gave him the excuse." Fang Kai shook his head and took a cigarette from his pocket and a lighter.
"But why does he hate me, I never understood that. I"ve literally always been the best to him." Mao Lu was irritated as he b.u.t.toned his shirt.
"Lu, didn"t you know that four years ago Manager Xu"s wife ran off with some male model. Ever since Xu has hated good looking guys, he always avoids hiring guys that look too nice. But of course if all the staff were ugly he wouldn"t get that many customers right so he started hiring only woman. That"s why we"ve got so many female staff. The day you were hired it was Manager Rin that hired you remember, not Xu. The moment Xu saw you he"s hated your guts." Fang Kai breathed out a ton of smoke. "So if you"re not careful this shift he"s gonna fire you."
"That"s so dumb, but it doesn"t matter since I"m going to quit." Mao Lu said as he closed his locker. Fang Kia dropped his cigarette in surprise, he then quickly picked it up.
"What! How come?"
"I"ve come into some money recently. I was able to pay off my debt and I got a new full time job so I"ve been quitting my other jobs"
"Whoa really!!! That"s awesome man congrats. You better come round mine for drinks even after you quit. My sister wants to see you y"know, she still runs that tattoo parlour so if you want to get more done and more piercings my sis will give you a big discount like last time." Fang Kai excitedly rubbed Mao Lu"s shoulders as he said this, Mao Lu laughed but then he froze as he turned and saw Manager Xu standing there glaring at him.
"If you"re gonna quit then get out. I don"t need you working this shift! And you can forget any pay you were expecting this month! I expect you out of here in five minutes!" Manager Xu roared and then stormed off.
Fang Kai paled, "d.a.m.n, how long was he standing there, don"t tell me he heard us gossiping. s.h.i.t. And curse his sister, doesn"t he know it"s illegal not to pay you for your work. I"m sure he"s just bluffing."
Mao Lu sighed, "I was only planning on helping before I leave but since he wants me out I guess I"ll leave now. Give this to Manager Xu will you." Mao Lu gave Fang kai his resignation letter.
Fang Kai nodded, gave Mao Lu a big hug, and in less than five minutes Mao Lu was out on the streets and walking towards the nearest station.
"What an unpleasant person that Manager Xu is, since he"s so rude there"s no reason you should have given him face and came in today." Gates grumbled.
"It"s fine, it"s not like everyone will appreciate everything good or nice you do, but just because they don"t appreciate it doesn"t mean you shouldn"t do it." Moa Lu said as he breathed into his hands, the night air was chilly. With his sense of the realm he saw a taxi driver two streets away. Mao Lu ran towards it.
If Gates had a body it would have had widened eyes, Mao Lu had a rare wisdom that went beyond his years. Some people could say such things but it took a rare type of character to be able to say and do it.
As Mao Lu ran to the taxi, Gates shuddered suddenly. Mao Lu also stopped in his tracks, he felt as if his head was splitting open. He fell to his knees, blood dribbled down his nose.
"What"s happening Gates?" Mao Lu weakly murmured through gritted teeth.
"Someone has entered this realm without permission...using a Gatekeepers key." Gates said, sounding extremely angry.
"A Gatekeepers Key?"
"Do you remember the third rule?" Gates asked Mao Lu, as the painful sensation stopped.
Mao Lu put his hand to his bleeding nose, "Do you mean the rule not to reproduce."
"Yes. Four billion years ago the previous Gatekeeper of the realm 1, violated this rule and had a child. Reluctant to kill the child he hid her away. Any child of a Gatekeeper will inherit that Gatekeepers abilities but they won"t have the restrictions of the rules, which is why they"re forbidden."
"This child grew up to become an unstoppably evil force that didn"t see the point in the existence of Gatekeepers and wanted to unite all of the 400 realms into one huge realm, where she was the ruler. She caused a 1billion year war. Her power and intellect was beyond anything ever seen. It took a hundred Gatekeepers, and countless sacrifice, to finally kill her.
Before she died one of the tools she developed was the judgement keys now known as Gatekeeper keys. They have the ability to breakthrough a Gatekeepers barriers, allowing the bearer of the key to enter any realm without permission.
We destroyed 92 of the 100 that she made, but there were eight that we lost. Just now someone has used one of these lost keys, and they have now entered your realm. That"s what you"re feeling. "
"What do I do?" Mao Lu asked as his nose stopped bleeding.
"Find, interrogate, and punish them. No one is allowed to use a key."
.....
IN THE ATMOSPHERE
Next to a floating satellite, dust began to collect and then suddenly formed bones, flesh and blood. Eventually becoming a person. When Chàng Bo opened his eyes he could see a blue planet right in front of him. He was floating in s.p.a.ce, he felt the chill freezing the wounds from his bursted veins. The poison was still burning inside of him.
Unable to muster any strength he let the atmosphere pull him further in. Soon he was getting hotter and hotter as he began falling. He burned as he entered the Blue Planet"s atmosphere, luckily his skin was extremely tough so the burning didn"t hurt but it was unpleasantly tingly being surrounded by flames.
He fell at an extremely quick velocity and just as he was about to hit the ground hard, he stopped abruptly. Something was holding him in the air.
"How dare you barge into my realm" A cold voice came from behind him.
Slowly his body was turned by the invisible force and Chàng Bo"s starry blue eyes came into contact with light brown/black ones.
[1] The entrance of a Siheyuan is usually painted vermilion, has copper knockers, and is in the southeast. There is a screen wall near the gate, like a wall used to ward off evil spirits, near the entrance. Two stone lions are often outside the gate.
[2] Some large siheyuan compounds would have two or more layers of courtyards and even private gardens attached to them. Such is a sign of wealth and status in ancient times.
[3] The courtyard dwellings were built according to the five elements and displayed on the eight trigrams. The entrance is made at the southeast where the wind element is, and the main house is on the north side which is water. This type of structure is believed to prevent fires. A simple courtyard represent morality and confucian ethics
[4] The main house is called zhèng fáng
[5] Side houses are called xiāng-fáng
[6] Pa.s.sages are called chāo shǒu yóu láng
[7] The opposite house is called dào zuò fáng
[8] Backside building are called hòu zhào fáng