“Sorry. I must look kind of stupid.”
“No, not at all. I was impressed. Your form is impeccable, but you were so angry before you started. Why?” the monk asked.
“It’s nothing, really. Silly, really.”
“Please. I will not be offended by anything you say.”
Everyone said that but very few ever meant that. Not wanting to offend, Noah began diplomatically, “Every temple, every school has its own systems…”
The monk interjected, “This is not my temple. You can tell me.”
Noah checked this monk out carefully. There was a calm about him that made Noah think he might be trustworthy, but he also knew the truly disciplined Shaolin mind was unreadable.
“It’s kind of stupid. I was thinking about my girlfriend and was mad that she broke up with me.”
The monk interrupted again. “That is not the reason.”
Noah liked this guy. Straight shooter, no bull. “The truth be known, I was mad. The sifu’s form is not perfect. Better than almost anything else I’ve seen, but not good enough for a place that calls itself the best in the world. And he’s letting the students get away with murder. They are making mistakes. They’re lackadaisical. They think they can fool anybody but really they’re only fooling themselves. Focus, breathe, focus. Left, right. You are not doing this for yourself. It’s a disgrace to Shaolin heritage.”
Noah bowed. “I’m sorry, I said too much. Forgive me.”
There were a few moments of silence, then the monk said, “You didn’t say too much. You said what you said because you care.”
Noah nodded. “It’s the way I was brought up. Trying your best is not good enough. Only perfection is acceptable. That was crap.”
The monk stared into the eyes of Noah’s soul, probing, evaluating, discerning. “You are looking for Heaven.”
“How do you know?” Noah was surprised by the monk’s perception.
“Only the righteous person is unhappy with the ‘almost righteous.’ Only Heaven will be acceptable for such a man. By showing your unhappiness, you are telling me that only perfection will be acceptable, that you are trying to find Heaven. Heaven has found you.”
“Are you…?”
The monk bowed deeply. From a standing position, his forehead touched below his knees. “I am who I am.”
The thunderbolt hit Noah. “You are the sentry.”
“I am he.” The monk bowed again to Noah. “I am Wangdan.”
Noah bowed in return. “I am Noah Reid. Come, my sifu needs to see you.”
Lisa and Sam were waiting with Master Wu at the Shaolin Paradise entrance. They watched with intense curiosity and hope as Noah approached with Wangdan.
“Told you I’d find him,” said Noah.
“Technically speaking, I found you,” corrected Wangdan.
“Right.” Another smartass. Noah brought Wangdan up before the aging grandmaster. “This is Master Wu.”
The young Shaolin monk bowed deeply before the wheelchair-bound Master Wu. “Sifu, it is an honor to meet you. Noah has told me about you. I am Wangdan.”
Master Wu tried to stand but couldn’t. “No, I am without honor. I left Heaven wanting to conquer the world. Instead, it conquered me. I need to make amends to Sigong Zhang if he is still alive. If he is not, I need to make amends with the gods.”
“Sigong Zhang is alive,” said Wangdan. “And he will be most happy to see you.”
“Hey, what about me? And her?” asked Sam, pointing to Lisa.
“Sorry about that. The woman is Dr. Lisa Mah and this young man is Sam,” apologized Noah.
“Honored to meet you,” said Wangdan, making the Shaolin salute.
The always impatient Sam replied, “How we gonna get to Heaven? Limo, plane, taxi? Angels? Anything but a boat.”
“We will travel by private car to the base of the mountain. Then it is two days journey by foot—for a healthy person.”
Sam groaned. “Are there snakes? If there are, I’m not going.”
“Unfortunately, there are snakes,” responded Wangdan with a straight face. “And panthers. And bears.”
Groans changed to grins. “Very cool.”
Wangdan became very serious. “Where we are going is holy. It is sacred and it is secret. That’s the way it has always been. We will take nothing along with us except our clothes, food, and shoes. No cell phones, no computers, no tablets, nothing that can link us with the outside world.”
“Noah already gave us that drill,” complained Sam. “Hey, how do you know about those things? Master Wu is an anti-technoid so I thought all you Heaven Shaolin guys were.”
Wangdan replied simply. “Being a monk does not mean I am ignorant.”
“How do you expect Master Wu to travel?” asked Lisa practically. “And I would like to get some medicine for treatment.”
Wangdan did a quick check of Master Wu’s pulse and tongue. “I know the basics but Heaven’s doctors will check him out fully after we arrive. I want to have Master Wu’s system cleansed so we will use no medicines. If there is a problem along the way, I know which plants can be used for medicine. They are fresh, pure and natural. As for how to transport him…” Wangdan turned to Noah. “We are both strong.”
“You didn’t ask me why I came, Wangdan,” said Master Wu.
“I don’t need to. It is written on your face. You want atonement before you die and the only place you can get it is Heaven.”
Chapter 29
To make sure he didn’t miss the vessel Noah was on, King took the chopper from Senkaku to the China coast back and forth three times, each time altering the route. Seeing nothing except a few itinerant fishing boats, King felt confident that Reid and company were not on the East China Sea.
Now in Shanghai, King realized his prey could be anywhere between where he was now and Wenzhou, a coastal city almost three hundred miles away. While helicopter would be the fastest way of travel, it was impractical. He didn’t have a proper flying permit within China and, on the ground, it would be easier to catch clues from people who might have knowledge of his prey’s whereabouts.
He bought a dune buggy to travel down the beach to Wenzhou. A crazy idea, but it was the best way to turn over rocks. If he drove straight, it might take him six hours on the sand. However, because he needed to drive slowly and question any people he encountered, it might take up to three days.
Wangdan arranged for a minivan to take the group from Shanghai to the base of the Huangshan or Yellow Mountain Range. Noah was appreciative that Wangdan did not ask questions about why Noah insisted on absolute secrecy about the travelers’ existence. He was also grateful that Wangdan paid for everything, trusting Noah’s word that he would eventually pay for all the expenses.
Noah wished he had Wangdan’s confidence that Master Wu would remain alive until they reached Heaven, but Master Wu sided with the sentry against his and Lisa’s objections about getting medical supplies.
The trip would take twelve hours. As they left Shanghai and traveled deeper into the countryside, excitement swelled. The Yellow Mountain Range contained some of China’s most spectacular sites with its lofty peaks and craggy rock formations.
Pointing to a jagged granite peak shrouded in mist, almost as if floating on the clouds, Master Wu spoke in awed tones to Noah, “Heaven is close. Can’t you feel it?”
Noah could only nod. There were no words to describe the transcendent serenity and peace he felt.
Wangdan offered, “There are many public and private temples here. For fifteen hundred years, since the Tang Dynasty, our mountains have inspired over twenty thousand poems, a school of painting; even the movie Avatar’s Hallelujah Mountains were inspired by Huangshan.”
“Hey, Wangdan,” interrupted Sam, “I thought you guys didn’t go to movies or do any fun stuff.”
“I wasn’t always a monk,” smiled Wangdan.
The minivan finally turned onto an almost undetectable dirt road and traveled slowly for another hour before
coming to a stop in a tiny clearing. Only someone with a trained eye would have seen the tiny trailhead that came out on the small open space.
“We are here,” announced Wangdan.
“This is Heaven?” asked Sam.
“No, this begins the journey,” replied Wangdan as he and Noah carefully lifted Master Wu out of the minivan and onto a stretcher.
“You look like a warrior,” complimented Wangdan.
“No, I look like what I am, an old man,” said Master Wu.
“An old man who can kick the crap out of me,” proclaimed Noah.
“Noah, my sister could beat you with one arm behind her back,” scoffed Sam as he and Lisa unloaded the knapsacks of supplies. “And she’s only four.”
The trek up the arduous steep slope began.
The sights seen during minivan ride to the base were just a teaser for the trek to Heaven. For the next three days, awe-inspiring, wondrous, and dangerous sights rewarded the sojourners in their odyssey through the mountains. Massive natural stone pillars rose out of the rocks, craggy snow-capped mountains towered high over the ephemeral clouds, shimmering pools of ice-cold water delighted, and gurgling waterfalls provided the purest of drinking water.
The herbalist in Lisa was totally captivated by the rich variety of flora endemic to Huangshan. “I see why you didn’t think bringing medicine was necessary,” admitted Lisa to Wangdan.
“If you ask me, once you’ve seen one fern, you’ve seen them all,” Sam said flippantly. “Hey, Wangdan, how much further do we have to go?”
“I’ll know once we get over the bridge.”
“What bridge?”
Wangdan motioned to an upcoming ancient rope bridge that linked two lofty peaks. “That bridge.”
Sam looked down. It was five hundred feet over jagged rocks and into a river alive with swirling eddies.
“Piece of cake.” The hundred-and-ten pound teenager raced across the bridge, then called from the other side, “Who’s next?”
Lisa crossed while Noah and Noah latched Master Wu to the stretcher.
“When was the last time the planks on this thing were changed?” asked Noah as they stepped onto the bridge.
“Not sure they ever have been,” replied Wangdan.
It was hard for Noah and Wangdan to keep balance as they crossed. While Lisa and Sam could hold the handrails, Noah and Wangdan had to carry Master Wu and the bridge started rocking.
“Aiyah!” Disaster struck when several of the bridge’s dilapidated deck boards snapped.
Wangdan grabbed the bridge with one hand and Master Wu’s uniform with the other.
Noah, maintaining his hold on the stretcher, jumped to a sturdier part of the deck. Hearing the sound of Master Wu’s uniform starting to rip, he shouted, “Wangdan, wrap your feet around Master Wu’s head, then grab my hand.”
Wangdan reacted instantly. He yanked Master Wu just a bit before the uniform ripped apart and his lightning legs wrapped around the sifu’s head. The board he was holding snapped but Noah, who had wrapped part of the bridge’s rope around his leg, leapt headfirst and grabbed Wangdan.
Noah began swinging Wangdan, higher and higher. Finally, Sam grabbed Master Wu and pulled him to safety. Noah pulled Wangdan up, and the two jumped over the hole in the bridge and joined the group in safety.
“Nice,” panted Sam. “Somebody’s watching over you.” Sam was so wired from the near miss that he didn’t see a rut on the thin ledge. Noah saw him slip over the embankment and threw his end of the stretcher into the air. He leapt down, seizing Sam’s arm with one hand and the branch of a pine tree protruding from the rock face with his other hand.
Wangdan, who had grabbed Master Wu’s stretcher, laid it flat. He looked down to see Noah perilously hanging onto Sam. “Can you swing him up, Noah? We don’t have any rope.”
“What if the branch breaks?” shouted Noah.
“It won’t. The roots are deep into the rock.”
“You think we can be lucky twice?” Without waiting for an answer. Noah began swinging Sam back and forth, almost the same way he had done with Wangdan just moments earlier.
“Now,” cried Wangdan.
Noah launched Sam into the air. Wangdan easily grabbed the boy and placed him on the ground.
“Thanks, but how are we going to get Noah?” asked Sam.
“A variation on the same theme,” called Noah. “I’m going to use this branch like a gymnastics high bar and twirl around and around. When I’ve got enough momentum, I’m going to let go. I’ll go straight up, feet first. You’ve got to catch my feet.”
“Okay,” said Wangdan. “Have you ever done this before?”
“Never, but there’s a first time for everything.” Noah began doing “giants,” rotations of 360 degrees in a fully extended position. His circling form was awful but the idea might work. With every rotation, he was gaining momentum and his stretches were getting longer.
“Now,” cried Wangdan, flat on his stomach. He reached out as far down as he could. Noah completed his swing upward, then let go of the branch. His feet shot skyward. Wangdan grabbed Noah’s feet but started slipping.
Sam jumped onto Wangdan’s bum. It wasn’t much weight, but it was enough to stabilize the sentry. Wangdan quickly yanked Noah up to safety.
Sam, Wangdan and Noah just laughed and gasped. They had dodged bullets twice in two minutes.
“If you ever get tired of being a sentry, you can go into gymnastics,” said Sam. “And there’s lots of cute chicks in gyms.”
“Wangdan’s a monk, Sam,” chortled Noah.
“But he’s still a guy. Hey, Wangdan, I guess there’s no McDonald’s anywhere close, is there?”
“What’s that?” asked the puzzled monk.
Chapter 30
The sun beat down on the sweating travelers on the narrow mountain trail. Wangdan motioned for Noah to let down Master Wu’s stretcher just before a bend.
“What’s the matter, Wangdan? You tired?” joked Noah. Truth is, they were all exhausted. For the last two days, it had been a backbreaking seventy-five miles of uphill treachery. Not to mention that being a mile above sea level robbed Noah, Lisa and Sam of air, as well as energy.
“Not tired, but I thought you would all like to know… we’re here,” announced Wangdan with a dry smile. “Come on.”
He led them around the corner and there it was. Heaven. Master Wu struggled to sit up. His eyes misted as he saw the six-hundred-year-old small complex of five buildings after decades of absence.
Sam looked askance at the plain structures. “We traveled all the way here for this? Hey, Master Wu, I gotta tell you, this ain’t much.”
“It’s not meant to be much,” explained Wangdan. “Isolation was part of the vision of our founders, as was functionality and simplicity. Our community is known to very few. Only the most dedicated will make the effort to come.”
Sam’s face drooped. “So I guess you don’t have a website?”
“No electricity, no cell phone towers, not even running water or toilets.”
Sam looked at Lisa. He could tell she had the same thought. How am I going to survive?
Master Wu cleared his throat, “Heaven doesn’t need any of those things. If you want to come, you will come. That’s how I came sixty years ago. That’s how it was. That’s how it always will be. Heaven is a place for the pure in heart and spirit.”
Noah wasn’t sure, but Master Wu’s voice sounded clearer and stronger. He and Wangdan carried Master Wu into the small monastery’s courtyard. There weren’t many people. There never were. Some of them were meditating, some were doing the slow movements of Taiqiquan (Tai Chi), and some were engaging in the aggressive moves of the fighting arts. None of them paid attention to the new visitors.
Noah and Wangdan put the stretcher down. They noticed the tears in Master Wu’s eyes as he scrutinized the monks. All were males. Some were as young as ten, a little younger than Master Wu was when he first entered. Most were from age twenty to s
ixty, but what drew Master Wu’s attention most were three monks aged ninety and older. Two of them sat by side. They were lethargic and disconnected from their surroundings, perhaps suffering from some form of dementia, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.
However, there was one nonagenarian with a vibrant vitality that barked out, “Left. Right. Left. Left. Right.” The ninety-two-year-old Sigong Zhang had been doing this for almost seventy years. It was Master Wu’s sifu, the one he learned from―and the one he betrayed.
Noah watched the acolytes as they went through the exercises.
Wangdan asked, “Do you approve?”
Noah nodded. He had never seen anything like this on a larger scale. He always thought Master Wu had been exceptionally hard, insisting on repetition and a nitpicking bordering on insanity. Master Wu’s sigong made what Noah went through look like a walk in the park. But, as Noah watched, his spirit swelled; he understood. While he always heard and even believed that Shaolin was more than exercise, to see it practiced in such a way―with such belief, dedication and intensity―made him finally understand the spirituality that Master Wu felt.
Master Wu willed his body to move. When Noah saw him trying to stand, he put his arms around him to help him, but Master Wu waved off; he wanted to rise by himself.
“Wait until the doctors treat you then, Sifu,” begged Noah.
“No, Noah. Being in Heaven is medicine enough. The air, the atmosphere… There is healing power here.”
While the rest murmured approval, Lisa hid her disgust. What utter nonsense. The poison has worn off. That is all that is happening. There is no ‘healing power.’
For the next half hour, the group watched enrapt as Sigong Zhang vigorously chastised, prodded and encouraged his disciples. Finally, the aged sifu nodded. “Now go to meditation.” The acolytes scurried away.
Only then did the venerable teacher turn to Master Wu. Everyone realized this was an important moment. It was the reason the failing Master Wu had undertaken the calamitous journey. Master Wu, slowly but with sure footing, walked to Sigong Zhang. The two men stared silently into each other’s eyes. Words were unnecessary but they still needed to be said.
The Noah Reid Action Thriller Series: Books 1-3 (plus special bonuses) Page 35
