Relics

by K. T. Tomb

  He felt his frustration begin to rise and he fought it. It would do him little good to cause a scene by whisking her away to a private place. They had barely finished bowing to one another at the end of the dance when several children rushed onto the floor.

  “Wang Mu! Wang Mu! You dance so beautifully!”

  “Thank you,” she replied, giving each of them a quick kiss on the top of their head.

  Max reached out and took hold of her hand again. “Why do they call you Wang Mu?”

  Min’s eyes were instantly fixed upon the floor. There was something she wasn’t telling him and the confusion was beginning to frustrate him. What was she hiding from him? Why was she hiding whatever it was? Did it have something to do with that legend or prophecy or whatever it was? He started to pursue a discussion of the issue with her, but she had been whisked away from him by the children and others doting over her. He had several pulling him in a different direction as well and had to fight down his own frustration and desire for answers in order to be polite.

  For much of the rest of the evening, he would catch her stealing glances at him, but when he would look up at her, she would turn her eyes away. Something had changed and Max was becoming more and more frustrated. The connection between them had become deeper, he could feel it in their touch, it had nearly ignited into flames during the dance and then it had begun to smolder after he asked her why the people called her Wang Mu. He wanted so badly for the party to end so that he could ask questions and get some answers to his questions. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a tiny, ancient man who made Master Chin look like a teen.

  “You are confused.”

  Max had expected him to say something similar, but more like, “Confused you are. Answers seek you.” Max could only stare at him. How had he read his thoughts? Evidently he hadn’t disguised them very well. He looked across at Min, Wang Mu or whoever she was. She was watching the old man take him by the hand and lead him toward the fire.

  “Sit with me.”

  Max did as he was told. In a moment, the children had gathered around them in eager anticipation. When he began to speak, others crowded near, including Min who stood opposite him behind several children seated on the floor. Whenever he looked up, he could see her downturned face.

  “Wang Mu,” he began, “was goddess of the immortals. She was the guardian and protector of the people of the mountains. She was so loved, that a beautiful palace was built for her as an honor and tribute. The finest timbers and the finest stones were used in order to build it. But it was a hidden palace in a secret place where none could ever go. Those who were given knowledge of its location were sworn to secrecy. Those who agreed to build it gave up the lives and family that they had enjoyed before, because they would never be allowed to leave the palace for fear that they would give away its location.

  “Some of those who helped to build it became guardians of the palace and a new order of monks was formed in order to tend to it. Some chose to be put to death as a sacrifice to the goddess. The blood from their sacrifice was mixed with soil and used to plant a single peach tree in the palace garden. This peach tree would only bloom once every three thousand years, but the fruit that was born from those blossoms would make those who ate from it immortal.

  “The goddess was pleased with the palace and the sacrifice of those who had provided it to her, but her heart ached because she had never found a worthy mate. Immortal as she was, it became a heavy burden for her; therefore, she chose to become only immortal in spirit and not in the flesh until such time as she could find true love.

  “She sought out a great seer and asked him to tell her of the future. The seer took hold of her hand and a vision came to him. He told Wang Mu that many years in the future there would be a foreigner accused of a crime that he did not commit. The foreigner would be sentenced to death, but would be rescued from death by a beautiful woman in whom the spirit of Wang Mu was present.

  “At the same time, a dark lord would arise and seek to find the palace and eat from the fruit of the peach tree in the garden and not only become immortal, but become the ruler of the mountain people for eternity.

  “The foreigner and the woman with the spirit of Wang Mu would go to the palace and do battle with the dark lord. Though the woman would be greatly skilled and able to destroy hundreds of strong men with ease, the dark lord would be too much for her unless her spirit was set free by true love. It is only in this love that she would have the strength to defeat the dark lord and save the people. That true love would be found in the foreigner.

  “There was one sad, speculation in it all. In defeating the dark lord, she would lose her life, though her spirit would remain and be reborn in another who would be eternally immortal.”

  Max had listened to a full explanation of the story he had been told by Master Chin. As it was recounted to him, he glanced up often at Min, searching for a response from her, but saw nothing, from her blushing, downturned face. Was she really this Wang Mu? Was it even possible for such a thing to happen? It still seemed a great deal like an old Bruce Lee movie to him, though there was also a ring of truth to it as well. Min had certainly dispatched several dozen men in helping him to escape and with an ease that seemed supernatural. But why were they looking to him as a hero and savior? He was just a simple man from a small Midwestern town.

  “It is a great deal to hear all at once,” the old man whispered quietly. He made a sweeping motion toward the children and the crowd, dismissing them.

  Max continued to stare at the floor as he considered all that he had been told. He could hear the footsteps and quiet whispers of the party goers as they began to file away. When he looked up again, he was alone with the old man and Min or Wang Mu… no, to him, she was Min and only Min. Her eyes were still fixed on the ground. She was nothing like the warrior who had brought him out of Beijing and across most of mainland China.

  “Do not be angry with Wang Mu, my son.”

  “Min,” Max corrected him quietly.

  “Do not be angry with her. She could not tell you everything. She could not influence how you felt toward her or what your response would be. To do so would run the risk of taking you into a battle which depends upon true love for its outcome. Who knows of the outcome if that love is not present.”

  Max wasn’t sure how to respond. It all seemed like a bunch of hokey to him, though other parts of it were real. He was falling for Min. Everything about her stirred something deep inside his soul. In spite of the fact that she had held back the truth of why she rescued him, he found it difficult to be angry with her. Regardless of what reason was behind her actions, she had saved his life and he was grateful. Was he only grateful and not in love?

  “The two of you will have much to discuss.” The old man rose from the floor and quietly left the two of them alone.

  “Will you forgive me, Max?” Min asked.

  “I am not the man that you think I am.”

  “No,” she replied. “You are more.”

  ***

  Niulang was an honest and kind-hearted cowherd and lived by himself herding cattle and farming.

  One day he came across a beautiful girl. She was Zhinu, the seventh daughter of the goddess Xi Wang Mu, who had escaped from the boring heaven to look for fun. Zhinu soon fell in love with Niulang and came down secretly to earth and married him. They lived a happy life and she gave birth to two children. Unfortunately, the goddess soon found out the fact that her daughter married a mortal. She was furious and took Zhinu back to the heaven.

  Niulang was very upset after his wife was taken away from him. Driven by Niulang’s misery, his ox began to talk and helped him fly to heaven to meet his wife. At the time when he was about to catch up with his wife, the goddess found out about his plan and used her hairpin to slash across the sky, creating the Milky Way between them. Zhinu became the star Vega and Niulang the star Altair. They were separated on the two opposing banks of the cosmic system and could only fill the space between th
em with their constant tears. Moved by their love and devotion, millions of magpies formed a bridge for the couple to meet each other. The Goddess was also touched by their love and finally allowed them to meet each year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.

  On that day, Chinese people will look up in the sky and see the two stars, Altair and Vega, on the same side of the Milky Way for their once-a-year meeting.

  Chapter Sixteen

  General Yung was quiet as he received the very sound verbal reprimand of his superior concerning his failure to capture the American. Underneath the silence, however, was seething anger. He did not deserve to be spoken to the way that he was. He was not some lowlife like the thousands of soldiers who had failed to follow his orders.

  He had risen through the ranks because he had been willing to carry out orders that others found distasteful. He had been brutal when necessary, persuasive and manipulative when necessary, and he had achieved his rank using every skill he possessed. He did not believe that he belonged in the rank of general, but rather as commander of the entire army and in control of the entire nation. To be spoken to the way that he was being spoken to boiled his blood.

  Though he had been born in Tibet, he had felt a dark destiny inside of him since he was a small child. Rather than take to the passive beliefs and tenets of the Tibetan religion with eagerness as his friends and family had done, he had felt as though he was forced to do so. He had made the decision as an early teen to be better at the religion and practices than all of them, though he still did not believe.

  He had made fools out of all of them. In spite of the fact that he had never believed the garbage that he had been taught, he had indeed outperformed all of his peers and risen to the top. Once he had arrived, however, he turned it all away, mocking them for their stupidity. He left Tibet and joined the Chinese Army. His hope was to eventually rise to a place where he could completely crush Tibet, eliminate its people and destroy its idols and temples.

  With that singleness of mind, he had driven himself to continue to climb in rank. As he was rising through the ranks, he wondered about his dark destiny. There had been a legend told many times as he was growing up; the legend of Wang Mu and the secret palace that had been built for her. Though he had scoffed at it during his youth, as he grew older, he wondered if there was truth behind it. What if his dark destiny was that of the dark lord that was so hated during the retelling of the legend?

  Having been given a short command in Tibet, he had taken the opportunity to do some exploring and had narrowed down the location of the secret palace. He wasn’t certain of the exact location and hadn’t actually laid eyes upon it, but he was sure that he knew nonetheless. Without giving away his secret, he began to recall the details of the legend. As he pondered the part about the foreigner who would rescue the people, an idea formed in his head.

  If he could watch for such a man to appear and prevent his escape, perhaps even capture the woman who was said to have the spirit of Wang Mu inside of her, then he could have control of the palace and could even eat from the tree of immortality. To watch for that opportunity, however, he needed to secure command of the Beijing prison where any foreigner accused of a crime would be held.

  He had waited a number of years for the opportunity to arise, but when he saw the case of Max Harper, he knew that it had finally arrived. Initial evidence had proven the man was innocent of his crime, but Yung wanted to run a little test to see if Max Harper might actually be the hoped for hero. He made certain that any evidence that spoke to Max Harper’s innocence was covered up. People had been paid off or threatened with their lives to keep silent. All evidence exonerating Max was mysteriously non-existent. He had been able to push the trial to a quick termination with execution as the sentence and was pleased at how easily he had manipulated it all.

  He was actually quite shocked when what he had intended to be a test of the legend had actually began to come true. The dead guards and dead soldiers as well as the fanciful stories of a beautiful woman helping Max Harper escape began to give credence to a legend that he had only half-believed. When they had disappeared in the forest where they had been surrounded by more than 200 Chinese troops with dogs and helicopters to assist them, he knew that the legend was being fulfilled. He also knew where Wang Mu and Max Harper would be going.

  As Wang Mu and Max Harper were rushing toward their destiny, he couldn’t help but believe that he was also rushing toward his own. In the hours following their disappearance, he had waited in silence, contemplating his next move. As an army general, he would certainly have command of some of the best men and best troops to track them down and to find the secret palace in the process of searching for a fugitive; however, he would also be bound by regulations and bureaucratic bullshit as well. As he was being strongly reprimanded, the idea suddenly came to him and he fought back a smile as it grew to full force in his mind.

  “What do you have to say for yourself, General Yung?” His superior had wound up his tirade and was catching his breath while he waited for an answer.

  “I believe that I have failed miserably and I should be removed from my position. I hereby resign it in shame.”

  The shocked look on his superior’s face was enough to cause the smile to creep toward his lips once more, though he clamped down upon them with his teeth in order to keep from giving himself away. He was even able to make a couple of tears fill up the rims of his eyes to complete the scene as he stood and saluted his superior for the last time.

  “Very well,” his superior replied, still surprised by the turn of events, but completely unaware that he was being manipulated. “You are relieved of your duty and placed on administrative leave for 30 days while we look into your part in this debacle before determining your place in the Chinese army. Understood?”

  “Understood, sir!” He snapped the final salute, spun on his heel and marched out of the building toward his destiny; a wicked smile forming on his face.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The week that passed after the party was a mixture of emotions for both Max and Min.

  After clearing the air the night of the party, each of them felt a sense of relief, but also a sense of expectation. They began to talk about their lives, what they had done as they were growing up, where they had been and what they had seen. On the surface, it was the same way in which most lovers first discover one another and come to know each other, but there was always something looming just under the surface.

  The tingle and the spark were still there every time they touched and as each learned more about the other. With the countless hours passed together, the intensity began to grow rather than diminish, but it was not able to ignite completely because of the one thing that neither of them would venture to discuss.

  Though Min could feel her love for Max growing and believed that she saw the same taking place within him, she could not help but believe that Max still did not share the vision of their destiny. It was likely that he hoped that the legend could be forgotten and that they could just fall in love, start a family and live a regular, peaceful life rather than fulfill the destiny that had been laid out for both of them.

  She had sought her grandmother’s counsel on the matter when Max had stepped out for a while late one afternoon. Her grandmother’s words still lingered in her thoughts as she and Max sat beside a gently flowing stream enjoying a picnic in the still silence of early afternoon. “Begin your mission and put him to the test. It is time.”

  Min hadn’t slept since her grandmother had spoken those words. She knew that they were right, but she also knew that it might spell the end to what had begun to develop between her and Max. If she pushed him, he might leave her, but if she clung to him and settled into a life that was against their destiny, they would be plagued by misery forever. There was only one path that they could take. Min’s heart hammered in her chest as she realized that the moment to push forward had come.

  She knew that he would reject the idea initiall
y and she had a plan to cover that first rejection. She would lead him to the plateau where he could choose to continue on with her or he could cross over the mountains into India and be free. Though she trusted her grandmother’s words, even trusted her skill at reading the character of others, she couldn’t keep down the anxiety that rose up inside of her. She squeezed her eyes tightly together, inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly as she drew upon the courage of Wang Mu.

  “Max,” she began. “Tomorrow we must begin our journey. We have a mission to complete and a destiny to fulfill.”

  The long silence that followed made her wonder if he had heard her. “Max?”

  He turned and looked into her eyes. They searched her so deeply that she wondered if he could see into her soul and understand the turmoil that filled her. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke.

  “What will happen if I don’t go with you?”

  “Then the dark lord will rule the palace and my people, these people that you have grown to love, will live under the bondage of his dominance.”

  “Do you truly believe this, Min? Do you truly believe that you are this Wang Mu, who is meant to undo some great evil that, to be quite honest, I don’t see present anywhere?”

  “I have known since birth the hour and the circumstances of my death. I have known my destiny and I have known my purpose. Yes, Max, I am Wang Mu.”

  “And I’m this great foreign hero?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, Min, I don’t believe it. I believe we make our own destiny. I believe that nothing that we do is laid out ahead of us on a path that we must follow. We make our own happiness and we choose how we are going to live. I am not some foreign hero come to save the people. I am a photographer, a damned good one, but only a photographer. I have no special powers to defeat evil, nor do I have a desire to become a deliverer. Perhaps the man that you are looking for is still out there. My heart will be eternally broken when that man comes to take his place at your side, but I am not the man that your legend seeks.”