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Mutants & Masterminds: StarGate Freedom - Chapter 1c: A New World Order


z-Servant of Ra

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It only took a week for them to come to the notice of the gods. The new recruits were settling in exactly as Zhenglai thought they would, with all the expected bumps and set backs that he'd expected. Their actual training was going well.

A sudden noise rang out, audible even in the training hall. Zhenglai ordered the students to continue, then limped out of the building. It was the strange transportation rings that the students had arrived. As the master watched, the rings dropped back into their mounting, leaving a slim feminine form. She was dressed in a green and white quju, the traditional woman's Hanfu dress. Her hair was sculpted into an elaborate hairpiece. Centuries ago, she would have been dressed to the height of fashion.

Her demeanor was not period. There was none of the submissiveness that was normal for Chinese women, or even the veneer of submissiveness that Zhenglai's own wife affected. The woman gazed around with cold, hard eyes before striding toward Zhenglai. "I seek Guo Zhenglai. Do you know where he is?"

Her voice was a shock. It boomed as if somehow amplified but Zhenglai could not see how she was doing it. As he adjusted, she stared at him without courtesy or patience.

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Zhenglai could only stare as the strange woman approached; such strange times his last years had turned out to be. Given all the bizarreness that had taken place over the past week, it was a wonder that his old heart hadn't given out already.

The past week had been a hard one for him, as well as for his wife and Lao Bi, the other elders at the Temple of the Jade Maiden. Even things had been progressing more or less as Zhenglai had expected, that did not mean they were progressing smoothly. The sudden addition of nine new students - alien students, no less - had placed quite a strain on the delicate balance that the teachers and priests who ran the temple worked so hard to maintain, and it had been only a week since they'd arrived. A week during which everyone, new student and ancient teacher alike, had been forced outside of their comfort zones while struggling to learn the new balance of things. For the younger students and priests, this represented a purely emotional and mental struggle, but for the elders, such as Zhenglai, Jurong Chan and Lao Bi, such struggles were as much a physical strain as they were emotional or mental.

Zhenglai in particular had taken to frequent meditation as a means of centering himself more firmly in The Way, and aside from when he was fulfilling his duties as the Head Teacher, discussing Temple matters with Bi Tanmao or Shi Ainu, or simply spending time with his beloved wife, he could be found sitting under the Rootless Tree meditating. The ancient Grand Master rarely even slept any longer.

The Rootless Tree was both a physical tree and an ancient and very important Daoist concept. The concept was of a tree whose roots are found, not in the immovable soil of earth, but in the Dao itself, thus allowing it to go where it needed to go and to adapt to whatever might come its way. The physical tree was an ancient juniper growing on the bare rock of the mountain top itself, bent and twisted by the wind and elements, but unbroken and thriving even after many centuries. Zhenglai liked to believe he sat under both trees while he meditated.

Perhaps ironically, perhaps symbolically, it was alongside the Rootless Tree that he and his strange new visitor came to stand facing each other. Guo Zhenglai found this appropriate. He offered the woman with the miraculous and unnatural voice the traditional Chinese fist-in-hand bow and said, "Welcome to the Temple of the Jade Maiden, madam. I am Guo Zhenglai, and I am at your service. Please forgive my abruptness, but it is so windy and chilly out here on the open face of the mountain; if it would please you, allow me to escort you within the walls of our humble temple."
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The woman's face expressed surprised for a moment and her dark eyes swept from his white hair down to his simple sandals and back up. "You are the master?" she asked in that booming voice, a slight wrinkle forming between her eyes. Zhenglai bowed again, a grace-filled movement that affirmed her question.

The woman's wrinkle disappeared and she drew her tiny frame up straighter. "I am Lady Nuwa," she told him, her expression assuming a distant, aloof appearance. Zhenglai wondered if her name meant that she thought herself to be the goddess of the same name.

"I am visiting all of the temples where we have left soldiers, to be sure that they are receiving the proper training. I will be checking up on you periodically." She paused and seemed to be waiting for something. Zhenglai couldn't be sure what it was, but she seemed a little put out that she didn't receive it.

Turning, she glanced at the open doors of the hall, where the students could be seen training. "You will show me where they live, study and progress," she said, and it was not request. Perhaps she did herself as a goddess. She was acting with enough arrogance.

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"Of course", Guo Zhenglai answered amiably. "Please", he said, indicating the gate into the temple and the student-filled courtyard beyond, "this way."

Once inside the temple, the Lady could see that all of the students, including those sent by the 'Emperor of Heaven' were busily engaged in their training. "They are learning basic Push Hands techniques", Zhenglai offered simply. He said nothing more as he allowed Lady Nuwa to observe the boys while each attempted to best his partner in combat while maintaining a chest-to-chest distance of no more than six inches. In the case of the younger or less-skilled students, this resembled little more than a slightly sophisticated shoving match, but in the case of the more advanced student pairings - several of which contained one of the Dragons-in-training - the combat involved a highly complex barrage of interlocking strikes and grapples, all executed simultaneously with what resembled an equally complex dance of some kind as each student attempted to kick, trip or otherwise knock the other's legs out from underneath them.

After a moment the ancient master turned to the Lady and again gestured with his old hand, indicating some rooms further into the temple. "Please", was all he said.

Lady Nuwa allowed herself to be led by the slow-moving old Zongshi through a simple and well-maintained doorway that nonetheless gave the impression of great age, as though it were a portal leading to an older, more ancient China. One in which Lady Nuwa's manner of dress would not seem so out of place. Within was a medium-sized room, evenly spaced with low desks designed to be usable by one sitting on the floor. Across the desks were spread sheets of paper upon which had been written traditional Chinese characters in traditional calligraphic style. There were even brushes and inkpots set alongside of the papers on each desk. It was obvious that some of the students had fared better than others when it came to writing in such and old and outdated style, and a few of the sheets were smeared with characters that were barely legible.

Guo Zhenglai smiled softly as he considered these less-than-elegant scrawlings and then looked back to his strange guest. "They are transcribing the Huang-ti Yin-fu Ching", he said as he indicated the sheets of paper on their desks. The Huang-ti Yin-fu Ching, or the Yellow Emperor's Scripture of Joining with Obscurity, and also known as the Classic on Yin Convergence, was perhaps the second most important piece of Taoist scripture, second only to the Daodejing itself in relative importance. Zhenglai had no doubt that the Lady would know the work of which he spoke, for if she didn't then she was not who she claimed.

"The scripture was read to the students in its entirety once", Zhenglai explained, "and then they were instructed to copy it out from memory alone."

His old face softened with sympathy for the students as he explained this difficult (in fact nearly impossible) task to the Lady. "Obviously", he said, "they cannot do it. Some of them did better than others". He indicated a desk with a series of papers spread over it containing what looked to be - if one assumed a reasonable degree of accurate transcribing on the part of the student responsible - at least half of the Yin Convergence. "And some of them did worse", he turned and indicated another desk with only a single sheet on it and a sparse series of poorly drawn characters upon it. Scarcely a single sentence.

"And what is the penalty for failure?", asked Lady Nuwa, eyeing the many failed attempts at her feet and no doubt trying to determine which ones belonged to the young Dragons.

"There is none", Zhenglai answered simply.

"What?", demanded the Lady, returning her fierce glare to the ancient master. "Then what is accomplished by all this?"

"Cultivation of their minds", answered Guo Zhenglai, "as well as their bodies. They cannot remember the scripture in its entirety now because their minds are too focused on other things. Their ears have heard the words spoken by their teacher; their minds contain every verse; yet they have so little control of their own selves that they cannot grasp the memory. Those who train here learn not only the mastery of the body, but mastery of the mind and of the will as well. This", he said, once again indicating the desks with their sheets of paper strewn across them, "is only the first of many such tests."

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She seemed pleased by the training, her eyes following the movements of the students, particularly the Dragons. The Dragons in turn were much less happy to see her; their movements became stiffer as they reacted to her presence. Some, like Peng, worked harder to attract her eyes and her approval; others, like the twins, attempted to shrink before her gaze, as if they feared her.

The woman, if that was what she was, absorbed all of this with a suppressed anger. Zhanglai wasn’t sure why she was so upset, but she seemed full of wrath at his revelation. She carefully bent down and picked up some of the papers. It was one of the better copies, and Zhanglai saw almost a perfect section:

Then the Yellow Emperor sighed heavily and said: 'My fault is want of moderation. The misery I suffer comes from over-attention to my own self, and the troubles of the Empire from over-regulation in everything.' Thereupon, he threw up all his schemes, abandoned his ancestral palace, dismissed his attendants, removed all the hanging bells, cut down the delicacies of his cuisine, and retired to live at leisure in private apartments attached to the Court. There he fasted in heart, and brought his body under control.

“What is this supposed to teach the servants of the Emperor?” Lady Nuwa asked him. Her voice was calm, but he sensed a tension in her asking. “What use is it to a slave to learn his master is fallible?” Her dark eyes locked on his as she demanded, “Is this what you plan to teach our Jaffa? To doubt their gods?”

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