Paths Of Life

Volume 2 : Path of a Warrior

Chapter 1 : A Fresh Start

It was dawn. The Sun had begun to rise on the horizon, its cusp radiating feeble rays on the land. The Redwood Forest was one of the places welcoming a new day. The morning breeze seemed to be playing with the fluttering leaves of the luscious green trees. The silence of the night was broken by the chirping of the birds. It would have been a completely normal rustic forest landscape had it not been for the naked stranger that had crash landed from a crack in the air.

“Tsk...tsk...tsk…was it really necessary for him to create that crack metres up in the air. That Ji bastard is trying to kill me before I can even live again.”

The stranger could be seen rubbing his head, raining down curses on the slowly disappearing crack which was floating a few metres up in the air. Just listening to the barrage of curses one could easily decipher the identity of this stranger - it was Zhang Gui.

He had opened his eyes in this world only to find himself falling down from the sky in free fall. It was like a nightmare that had come to life. Had it not been for the dense tree canopies, the branches that he had used to slow his momentum and the thick grass on the ground providing him cushion, he might have actually died. Thankfully, he came off the fall with only a few scratches and bruises. But that did not stop him from raging.

As he was preparing to grab a rock or two and throw them into the crack hoping for one of them to hit that Bastard Ji on the other side, his eyes landed on his hands.

Wrapped tightly around his left wrist was the japmala that Monk Di had gifted him. Zhang Gui was surprised to see that the treasure had made its way to his new body. It was perhaps the only physical vestige of his time in Diyu.

As he tried to form a fist with his new hands, a strange feeling crept up within him. The thin brown arms that entered his sights felt foreign to him. He could see multiple scars running along their entire length.

His gaze then wandered towards his torso and abdomen. The prominent rib cage and the flat belly only served to point out the state of malnourishment this body had suffered. The torso and the abdomen were also covered in scars of various sizes. The legs did not bring any surprises either being in a similar condition as his arms.

“This is the body he gave me? It is too frail. Did he grab this body from a victim of a famine or something?”

He felt like he had been duped by that bastard Ji. However his foul mood did not last long. As he glanced at his ‘junior member’ hanging proudly in between his legs, a soft chuckle escaped his lips.

“Well...I guess not everything about this body is frail.”

He may have fiddled around with his new junior member some more had he not noticed a fissure in the air, another crack had formed right above him. As it grew wider, a figure was ejected from it hurtling towards Zhang Gui.

He tried to move out of the way of the falling canon ball. But unfortunately for him, those weak legs lacked the strength to move him so quickly.

“Not again, not my head.”

*Bam!*

The figure landed straight on top of his head before falling on the ground. The impact of that hit caused a dizzy spell to sweep across his mind.

“Damn it. Does this Bastard Ji want to give me a brain injury?”

He did not even pay any attention to the figure that had just arrived. All his attention was focused on the crack hovering in the air. With unusual swiftness, he bent down picking up a couple of stray rocks laying on the ground. His arms were weak and he was still not used to this body but the annoyance in his heart fueled his actions, with a forceful swing he tossed rocks towards the crack. He saw at least 2 rocks make it into the crack.

“As long as one of them can find their way to the stupid hooded face of Bastard Ji, it would be my victory.”

Turning around, he finally noticed the figure that had hit him on the head.

“No way!”

It was a… monkey. Staring at him with wide hazel coloured eyes, the golden furry animal looked just as confused as Zhang Gui was.

“Why would a monkey fall from the crack? The only other person who should have been here apart from me was….”

The words of Ji Heian echoed inside his mind.

“Even your friend Bo’s body could not survive the teleportation, so we had to provide his soul with a new body as well.”

“New body...it can’t be.”

Zhang Gui could not believe it. His mind was having difficulty accepting the logical conclusion he had reached. Looking back into those strangely intelligent hazel eyes he inquired, “Are you Bo?”

Zhang Gui himself was not sure what kind of response he was expecting to receive. After a short pause, the golden furred animal slowly nodded his head confirming his suspicions.

Looking up at the beautiful azure sky, Zhang Gui could only sigh.

“Ah, we have truly been duped.”

………..

*Splash!*

Zhang Gui was hunched over the side of a stream washing his face.

Grumbling noises could be heard emanating from his stomach.

“I am too hungry”

The duo had already wandered the forest for a couple of hours at this point. In their search for food, they had covered a vast distance and searched every nook and crank they could find. Unfortunately, their stomachs still remained empty.

To find food in a forest should have ideally been an easy task. Search for fruits, hunt small animals, go harvest some mushrooms - how hard could that be. But it was this forest that was peculiar. It had thousands of trees and yet not a single one of them bore any fruits. They had barely managed to find a few sketchy looking mushrooms growing out of a rotten tree stump. But the bouts of copious vomiting that followed their consumption quickly dissolved any idea in their mind about finding more mushrooms.

Just as they were wallowing in anguish, a white blob of mass emerged from the bushes next to them. It looked like it was a rabbit or maybe it was a hare. Regardless, they had decided that it was going to be their meal. But the rabbit was fast and agile and despite their best efforts, the two of them were unable to grab a hold of it. Zhang Gui’s weak legs could barely allow him to run and it looked like Bo was still adjusting to his new body.

The chase did however yield some benefits. They had stumbled upon this stream just as they lost track of that rabbit. Tired and exhausted, they could only give up on the rabbit and take a break.

“That is just….so ugly.”

Zhang Gui could spot his own face reflected in the clear stream water.

He could see the reflection of a young boy. By his stature he looked to be no older than 15 years of age. His dark curled hair dropped down to his shoulders, hiding his ears behind them. He had pale white skin and thick eyebrows. His facial features could be considered to be average. But what ruined his entire visage - were the scars. Multiple thick and jagged scars of various sizes and shapes covered his face just as they covered his body. Such scars on a young boy felt incredibly misplaced.

“Nevermind this face, at least I got a human body.”

His gaze shifted towards a tree standing right next to the bank of the stream.

Bo was sitting on top of a branch high up in the tree. He was up there sulking in silence, staring into the distance. Bo had been affected far more than Zhang Gui by this transition. He had spent the first hour since his arrival in a state of disbelief. It had taken a great deal of convincing from Zhang Gui to even assure him that the scarred young boy he was staring at was the same man who had awoken his next to the Bridge of Karma. Eventually the pangs of hunger had forced him to suppress his suspicions and search for food.

“Brother Bo I am sorry to get you into this mess.”

When he thought about the circumstances from Bo’s perspective, it made sense for him to feel helpless. For Bo, there had been no Mister Ji, there had been no deal. He had suddenly been shifted from his solitary confinement to the body of a monkey with a guy who claimed to be Zhang Gui.

One of the worst aspects of the situation was Bo’s inability to speak. A monkey could only make vague growl sounds. The soul of a human in the body of an animal was a recipe for disaster. He could understand everything but could never speak up.

Zhang Gui had thought about letting Bo know about the entire sequence of events that led to their current situation but without Bo being able to respond, he felt trying to explain the circumstances would only worsen their relationship which was at best awkward right now.

A loud growl jolted Zhang Gui out of his thoughts. Bo was jumping up and down on the tree branch pointing in a certain direction. He seemed to be excited about something but Zhang Gui could not see anything special in that direction, just the usual crowd of trees.

Bo hurriedly made his way down the tree, running in the direction he had pointed out. Zhang Gui could only follow behind him.

It was only after making a few turns and running some hundred metres did the reason for Bo’s excitement come into his view. It was a white rabbit nibbling on some leaves. Zhang Gui was not sure if this was the same rabbit they had chased after before but it didn't matter anyway. Food was food.

Perhaps it was because of the rest they had taken or maybe it was the unbearable hunger, either way, there was a certain spring in their steps as they ran after the rabbit.

“The rabbit seems to be slower. We will definitely catch it this time.”

His thoughts had already drifted towards how he would have to skin the rabbit and set up a fire to roast the meat.

The rabbit was within their reach, maybe that was why Zhang Gui did not notice his feet tripping over a rope. In a moment their world turned upside down, hidden underneath the fallen leaves on the ground was a net that had been triggered by the trip wire.

Hanging upside down from a tree branch, cramped up in a cramped space were Zhang Gui, Bo and the rabbit.

“This is a hunters’ trap! Who would put a hunters’ trap here?”

“We just wanted something to eat. Why is it so difficult to find food here?”