Treasures Of Heaven And Earth

Rén Chún trudged slowly up the dusty track, fl.i.c.k.i.n.g his staff at the stragglers of the village's flock of geese as they marched up the mountainside. 'The screams of a mighty army on the march', he mused to himself as the unceasingly squawking fowl flowed like a river towards their favorite grazing area, startling various smaller creatures along the path with their cacophony.

Chún was used to the noise they made, though. As a simple orphan who survived by doing odd jobs for the village, he was often given the work others preferred not to do - compared to carrying out the village night-soil to the fields or cleaning out the offal from the carcasses that the butcher hung out the front of his shop, putting up with the screams of the village flock was an easy break.

The sun warmed his shoulders as he called out to a few birds that had decided to sneak off the path. "Yi, yi yi, sisters stay with us,'' he called in a herder's cadence as he circled along side and ahead of the wayward geese - fl.i.c.k.i.n.g his staff in warning as one stretched out her neck and hissed at him. "None of that, Princess - back", he spoke sternly.

The bird pulled back with a grand show of flapping, ruffled feathers and slide glances, then chose to turn back and rejoin the main group - acting as if had been her intention the whole time, of course - followed by her underlings. Snorting with amus.e.m.e.nt, Chún bent down and plucked a stalk of grass at his feet as he kept an eye on the flock for any other breakaways, musing to himself that the geese behaved a great deal like humans.

Straightening his back, and smiling up into the azure sky, he pulled in a great breath of cool morning air, which was much cleaner up here on the mountainside than down in the valley of the village - another reason he preferred this task to the others he was given to do. "Dangerous beasts ha, the only dangerous beasts on this mountain is this flock of good-for-nothing pile of feathers,'' he exclaimed grandly to the empty mountain, spreading his arms to indicate the gaggle of birds marching noisily upward, "...and the lack of company is getting to me with no one else to talk to."

Sticking the stalk of grass firmly between his lips, he whistled sharply as he resumed following the flock and chasing errant individuals towards the path. Pushing his woven grass head covering firmly down to shade his eyes from the morning sun he broke into a simple song - punctuating each line with the push of his staff into the path for purchase;

"Clean air and

Sun fire

Bird song and

Earth's breath;

Better than gold,

More precious than,

Power...

Treasures of

Heaven;

Treasures of Earth"

"An interesting song, young man".

Chún's eyes widened and the grass stalk dropped from his lips in surprise. The praise came from a short, elderly man clad in a simple robe and sitting cross legged on a boulder a little way ahead on the right side of the path, just short of the flock's customary pasture.

Chún blinked, and rubbed his eyes with his left hand as his right tightened cautiously on his herding staff.

"Peace, friend - I mean no harm,'' chuckled the stranger, slowly laying aside a full size stave from across his l.a.p, "I was merely contemplating the mountain scenery, when I was interrupted by the dulcet tones of your lady friends, here", he gestured wryly at the flock streaming past him with loud contented honks as they spied their destination and began to spread out across the pasture.

Chún ducked his head in embarrassment and hasty apology; "Apologies honoured Ancestor, I did not mean to disturb your meditations..." he cut himself off as the bald man waved one hand like a monk bestowing a blessing, the earth colored robe he was wearing making the simple gesture seem sweeping and grand as the long sleeve followed the movements of his arm.

"It is of no concern - but you seemed surprised to see me...?" Dark eyes shone with curiosity in a face seamed and brown like an old walnut as the elder c.o.c.ked his head in question at Chún.

Chún shook his head in befuddlement. He rarely had reason to hold long conversations with anyone, as he was mostly ignored by the villagers unless they wanted chores done - or he bartered the rewards of chores and hunts for basic necessities that he could not gather or make himself.

However, the rock had been in his sight for the last two li. That he hadn't seen the old man on the rock earlier as he came up the path made him long to be elsewhere. Unfortunately, the villagers would skin him alive if he abandoned the flock, even if they believed anything he said about strange old men. He eyed the flock who seemed oblivious to the person on the rock and shivered, despite the warmth of the rapidly rising sun

"Honoured Ancestor..."

"Call me Yijing", interrupted the old man, his long beard fluttering as he bounced off the rock towards Chún like one of those hairy, wild goats Chún had spotted on his occasional forays further up the mountain, his staff thumping against the path with a musical chime from the bells dangling from the top.

Chún broke into a sweat. He hadn't seen the man pick up the staff - and where had the bells come from? Despite the geese, Chún felt his feet move backward on their own accord and then tangle into a fall...

...only to find his right elbow (and staff) held firmly in a strong grip, looking up into Yijing's smiling, wrinkled old face, eyes twinkling in amus.e.m.e.nt.

Yijing hoisted Chún upright and onto the boulder with less effort than Chún would use to lift one of the butcher's carcasses and hopped up beside him on the rock, "A better place to watch your flock, yes?"

Chún blinked. Orphan or not he had lived by his wits and physical effort. Physical labor and eating wild game had given him a stocky, muscled frame despite being barely out of his youth - he was no lightweight, but this old man had lifted him like a feather, where even the village blacksmith would have had to put forth some effort. From listening to the villagers talk, there was only one thing that Chún knew of that this man could be.

He bowed carefully towards the old cultivator in thanks, his earlier fear replaced with calm - if this man was a danger he wouldn't notice until after he had died. "Senior Yijing, this one is called Rén Chún".

"A Simple Man, en. Good. Very Good.", Yijing's eyes narrowed as his smile broadened, "Or perhaps a skilled one?"

"I am only an orphan of little skill, Senior", said Chún respectfully, keeping one eye and his ears trained on the flock in the pasture to their left - they seemed strangely well behaved - or perhaps not so strange, he thought, considering the calm he felt himself.

"En. Young Chún, then you do not know your family?"

"I was left in the village as a babe, Senior," Chún answered, ignoring the old familiar pain at the thought with the ease of long practice, "the village raised me as one of their own - I repay their kindness as I can".

"Hmm, kindness is it? So that is why you sing your song?" The twinkle was gone from Yijing's eyes though he smiled and Chún felt his face heat.

"It is merely a pastime, Senior and I only do it alone... I know my voice is not very good."

"Your song seems wise for one of your age, my friend - I am curious, where did you hear it?"

Chún ducked his head, forgetting to watch the flock for the moment. "I, that is... it is my song, Senior... it helps the chores go faster".

"Hmmm, truly? Your song? Does it have more verses then, Young Chún?"

Chún raised his head in surprise and saw Yijing looking at him intently for a moment before the cultivator laughed, his eyes twinkling and Chún blinked in confusion.

"Senior wishes to hear...? Well... it is only that the path is long so...there are quite a few..."

"Then we will watch your flock, friend and you will sing for us both!"

Chún coughed, rubbing behind his neck under his grass hat. "It is only that... I use my staff, as I walk, for the beat..."

A thumping chime interrupted him as Yijing's staff hit the grass beside their boulder. Chún shook his head as he looked into the smiling face. "As you wish then..." He took a deep breath and raised his voice in song once again.

"Good food and

Dry bed

Stream's cry,

Wind's heart.

Stronger than Wine

Warmer than,

Woman...

Treasures of

Heaven;

Treasures of Earth"

A serene mountainside; breezes swirling through treetops and ruffling green grass, the scent of wildflowers and herbs, calls of the proud steel-backed eagle and chatter of drilling jackdaw, water flowing over river rocks, chuckling wetly to itself as a doe and her fawn dip soft muzzles to drink - a proud stag watching alertly beside them.

The sun shines brightly in the sapphire sky and the essence of Heaven and Earth strengthens around the mountain; insects hum busily from flower to flower, chased by lizards...

...broken by the sound of aged laughter coming from the top of a large boulder. The deer jerk their necks upward and bound away in startlement, the sound of the jackdaw pauses - and then resumes as the laughter dies away.

"Young Chún," wheezed Yijing as the old man wiped away tears of laughter, "A good verse - although perhaps, I think - you might wish to rewrite it when you get a little older."

Chún blinked. "I have been doing a.d.u.l.t chores for the villagers for the last two seasons, Senior", the boy replied, slightly indignant "and hunting for myself for the past three - I am almost eleven seasons old".

Once again Chún thought he saw an appraising look cross the face of the old cultivator, before the aged head dipped slightly in apology. "I meant not to mock your achievements Rén Chún - merely that when you get to my age, everyone seems young", Yijing answered, smiling at the boy across from him, "Although I do wonder where you have heard of the warmth of a woman is less than that of a good bed..."

"I heard some of the village men talking about it,'' answered Chún in puzzlement, "Although I have never really understood it - a girl won't be any warmer than I am and without a bed, everything is cold at night, Senior - that is why I put it into my song," he added as an afterthought, rubbing the back of his neck in confusion as Yijing broke into a fit of coughing.

Yijing rubbed his mouth with his free hand as his coughing subsided, eyes twinkling, "Forgive me, ah... my throat has become dry with all this talking - and the sun is warm - please share a drink as thanks for your good company". His hand dropped from his face to a gourd fastened to his waist on the right side, pulling it free and above his head, tipping the opening of the gourd towards his lips - the clear liquid falling easily into his mouth.

"Ahh, that is better," he exclaimed and smiling extended the gourd towards Chún. "Please, it is refreshing on such a warm day..." Yijing waggled the gourd invitingly, sending the clear sound of liquid sloshing to Chún's ears.

Bowing his head in thanks, Chún hesitantly took the gourd and with the old Cultivator watching and nodding encouragingly, carefully raised it over his lips, catching the falling liquid into his open mouth.

An indescribable coolness rushed out from Chún's mouth and down his throat, hitting his stomach like a cool breeze that exploded through his body. For a moment he felt that he was standing under the small waterfall further down the mountain that he usually washed in - instead of on a boulder in the hot sun.

Chún felt a shiver pass through him, followed by a rush of energy. Small popping noises came from his muscles and joints causing him to twitch in surprise. He lowered the gourd hurriedly to avoid spilling it and stared at the old Cultivator with wide eyes.

"This is a treasure," he exclaimed in shock, "Senior, you should not waste it on this unworthy one..." he hastily pushed the gourd back into Yujie's hand and scrambled off the boulder to bow deeply to the Cultivator.

Yijing snorted gently and hopped off the boulder, whacking Chún across the shoulders as he landed in front of him. "None of that nonsense, Young Chún. It is Water - not a treasure. Or at least," the old man waggled the gourd in Chún's face, forcing him to straighten up watching with disbelieving eyes as the short figure ambled away, toward the stream that crossed the north end of the small pasture, "not a treasure an ordinary man would recognise. Follow me, Young Chún - we can watch the flock from here as well as there".

Chún blinked - absently considering that he seemed to be doing that a lot lately - and scrambled to follow after Yijing who seemed to move a great deal faster than his pace might suggest, catching up in a puff of dust raised from his rough clothing despite the lushness of the pasture, just as Yijing reached the stream bank.

"Senior, I can refill your..."

Chún's apologetic statement cut off as Yujie extended the gourd in midair over the stream and vibrant blue mists swirled like wind blown dust, up from the surface of the flowing water. Glittering cerulean motes like fireflies darted in and out of the mists that flowed into open the mouth of the gourd.

Chún's pupils shrank in shock, but before he could speak, the stream chuckled loudly and twisted upward into the gourd following after the mist like a silver snake moving into bushes.

The quiet pop of Yijing replacing the cork shook Chún from his paralysis, to find the old Cultivator watching him steadily.

"Tell me Young Chún, what did you see?"

"Water... the Cry of the Stream it... into your - and then the water... just..."

Yijing's wrinkled face broke into a large smile, "Cry of the Stream, is it? Good. Very good." Yijing poked Chún with the top of his staff, "After hearing your song - I thought that might be how it was".

Yijing's face went solemn, staring at Chún seriously, "What would you say, Young Chún, if I told you even the mightiest", he frowned darkly, startling Chún, "...the mightiest Cultivator, would have only seen the water from the stream move to my gourd?"

Yijing smiled broadly again "But Young Chún can see more...", he laughed at the expression on Chún's face and moved past him back towards the boulder, raising his voice in a singsong tone.

"Come with me, Young Chún

Treasures of Heaven and Earth indeed, my friend

Treasures of Heaven and Earth".