The Deadliest Religion: A Wuxia Mythology Novel

Copyright © 2014 by Dante Lee.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014918887

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4990-8345-3

                Softcover        978-1-4990-8347-7

                eBook             978-1-4990-8346-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/07/2014

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CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1: The Prodigal Son

Chapter 2: Mind of the Wonderful

Chapter 3: Perfect Silence

Chapter 4: T.H.E. Inferior Child

Chapter 5: The Original Drunken Master

Chapter 6: Death vs. the Human Spirit

Prologue

Nightfall quickly falls over the land of China. During the reign of the Qing Dynasty massive rebellion wars plagued the country due to many Ming Dynasty revolutionaries who sought to overthrow the Qing’s and to restore the Han Chinese Empire. Rumors began of a countrywide assault against the Qing Dynasty. This assault is to be led by several stand-alone organizations such as the Taiping Rebellion, the Red Flower Society, and the Heaven & Earth Society. All groups were created by small communities and religious sects, they have no affiliation with each other, nor did they share any religious backgrounds that bound them. However, one rumor came under close surveillance and threatened the Qing Imperial Army. It was rumored that the southern reign of Shaolin Temple was aiding rebellion groups in their quest to overthrow the Manchurian Qing Dynasty. This was being accomplished by teaching rebels advanced forms of Kung Fu, granting them immunity behind the walls of Shaolin (which was in direct violation of the Peace Waiver created by the Northern Shaolin reign and the Wei Dynasty centuries ago) and secretly aided them with weapons, money, food etc.

Both regions of Shaolin Temple are said to be home to many of the most powerful martial arts masters and techniques. The standards were set by the Shaolin Temple of the north many centuries ago when a Shaolin warrior aided the Emperor in ridding the country of its most notorious villains. Afterward, the Peace Waiver was signed by Abbot Pure Heart and Emperor Li Shimin. It granted Northern Shaolin complete immunity against any future Dynasty and established the concept that no outsiders may seek refuge at the Southern Shaolin Temple in fear of an internal weakening. However, despite the Waiver, it seems a possibility of rebellion forces are in league with the southern Shaolin Temple and are readying an attack against the Qing Dynasty’s Imperial Army.

The Prodigal Son

CHAPTER ONE

South Fujian, China 1703

Shang Lang, a mid-fifties martial arts master from Southern Shaolin Temple, travels on a dirt road to his cottage home located near the town of Foshan. Shang Lang is a noted martial artist and pioneer of Southern Shaolin. He and a few other monks were able to achieve the highest form of Kung Fu in the 35th Chamber of Shaolin which made him a legendary practitioner of Shaolin Kung Fu. After his achievement of the 35th Chamber, Shang Lang was given the title of Scout Master. As Scout Master, Shang Lang is able to recruit orphaned children for the benefits of Shaolin Temple training.

As Shang Lang travels home, the outcries of an infant child are heard from a distance. The child’s cries sound like that of something inhuman; however, the closer Shang gets, the more human the sounds became. As the sun begins to reveal dawn, a morning storm neared. Suddenly, Shang spots the child, a baby boy, crawling next to a dead tree which is holding several pieces of fresh fruit. Shang grabs the child, wraps him in a cotton blanket, feeds him a piece of fresh fruit from the dead tree, and continues his journey home. Sunlight pours over China just as the rain begins to fall. Shang grips the baby close to his chest, revealing a small grin of happiness.

Shang: I must thank the gods for this; I’ve prayed for years for another son, and now he’ll be my protégé…

Shang: …No more mistakes…I’ll do my best…

Shang is very excited and full of joy. Once he is home, he cleans the child of dirt and grass. It’s odd to Shang that the child has no markings to identify him or his real parents. What’s even more odd is that the child responds to Shang directly, and listens to every command as if it understands the meaning of the words already. Shang has the idea that this baby will be a great martial arts student for the future of the Shaolin Order. He felt that this child is what Shaolin needed: a fresh student for a powerful master, his friend, Fu Jin Lien. Shang sits the baby on a nearby dinner table while he begins to gather food to cook and clean clothes to dress the baby in.

Shang: Sit still. Don’t move. You may fall. OK?

The baby boy simply sits still with his hands in his lap and looks at Shang with a very warm and inviting smile. The baby boy appears to be around eighteen months old, at least, that’s what Shang believes him to be. While Shang gathers some clean blankets, the baby boy begins to look around Shang’s home. Books, scrolls, money and crates filled the room. The baby boy also ponders at Shang’s massive weapons collection: a Chinese Long Sword, a Japanese Katana, several knives and daggers, a western rifle and a Spanish fencing Sword. Shang clothes the child and begins breakfast. He turns to the child and wonders for a moment.

Shang: What in the stars am I going to name you?

As the child eats and soon falls asleep across the dinner table, Shang lays the baby next to an old flag which covers most of his bed. It’s the flag of the previous Ming Dynasty, which was governed by the Han Chinese people. Shang Lang is secretly a leading member of the Red Flower Society, an anti-Qing group of rebels. As a Shaolin master of Kung Fu, he took a big risk involving himself with rebels; but this was something Shang has done secretly for years. He is in fact, one of the leaders of the Red Flower Society and happily teaches the rebel forces Kung Fu for self-protection against the Qing’s. Shang decides to name the baby boy Hon Loung.

As the years pass, the young boy, Hon Loung, who is now six years old, has began his lessons in the martial arts under the direction of his godfather, Shang Lang. Shang begins by teaching Hon Loung a style called Ving Tsun (Wing Chun), which focuses on close range combat. Hon Loung studies this Kung Fu system for the next three years. Hon is also given books of Chinese history to further his educational skills. Reading and writing was very important to learn in Shang’s opinion; he know too many people who can’t read or write. At nine years old, Hon Loung is able to successfully use the Ving Tsun Kung Fu system and can read, write and spell on an eighth grade level. Hon Loung is a very focused and serious young boy. He enjoyed playing in the fields located behind his godfathers cottage chasing wildlife; however, Hon enjoyed training and learning from Shang more than anything. Sometimes Hon will go days doing nothing but kicking and punching a nearby tree for training. He loved martial arts and is becoming a natural fighter. On this evening, Hon and Shang are enjoying dinner during a summer night, but Hon suddenly stops eating.

Hon: Dad, where’s Ma? She’s been gone an awfully long time?

Shang almost chokes and begins to clear his throat. He takes a drink of water to clear his throat, animatedly whipping his eyes out.

Shang: Your, Mom!? Come on, Hon, you know it’s always just been you and I. What’s wrong?!

Hon appears to be shocked and worried. He stops eating and slowly takes a drink of water, slightly shaking a bit.

Hon: Mom said ‘she’ll return home and wait for us there’.

Hon continues to speak of a woman, often cloaked in purple and black. She stood over Shang in height and never touched him. Her eyes were always pearl white, which was never strange to Hon, considering he has been around this woman all of his life.

Shang can only sit in awe as Hon continues to speak about a ‘mother’, a cloaked woman who was never seen by the eyes of Shang. For the past nine years, he has raised Hon single handedly and had never married. As a monk, Shang really wasn’t allowed to, unlike his northern brother monks.

Shang: Hon, did … did she say when we’ll be together again?

Hon: Yes …

Hon: She said we’ll be together again once I’ve completed my martial arts training. She said the day I become strong enough, we’ll be together…

Hon calmly begins to eat his remaining food. Shang stares at Hon and wonders to himself.

Shang: Could Hon be speaking about his true parents? But how could he remember? Surely he can’t remember life as an infant child?

For the next seven years, Shang taught Hon economics and a style called Duan Quan (Short Range Boxing), which is a close range combat system that focuses on striking in circular and linear movements using both hands and feet. At sixteen years old, Hon has become an amazingly skilled martial artist. Shang has already prepared a place for Hon at Southern Shaolin, where he will remain and train for ten years. Shang has sent word to his Shaolin brother and friend, Junior Abbot Fu Jin Lien and requested that he teaches Hon advanced forms of Shaolin Kung Fu (Hung Gar).

On this night, while Hon is asleep in his bed, he tosses and turns, wet and sweaty. His mind drifts into the dream realm, while his mind begins to unlock the roots of his subconscious. Hon’s soul is plunged into the realm of the supernatural. His astral form gently leaves his body and lands on a dark void that acts as a surface. Suddenly, stars fill the area, surrounding him in a massive and infinite ‘space – time – continuum’. A voice speaks from the depths of outer space with a dual vocal tone; as if two or three people are speaking in unison.

I … whose soul was created in the Underworld … is reincarnated into this … a being of limitless spiritual and metaphysical potential.

As the voice continues, Hon begins to look around from the surface. Fear quickly fills his heart and he is terrified.

This body … is fueled with the blood soaked tears of my creator … and can plummet an entire world into the depths of Hell in moments …

The voice continues to speak from nothingness.

I thirst for the original Sins which spawned me in the beginning … combat and murder.

It brings me great pleasure to learn my rule in the Martial World as Death … the first son.

This is the meaning of my existence!

Hon stands from the surface, his eyes are lost in the surrounding environment of outer space. He feels sick for a moment as the fear begins to fill his heart.

Hon: Where am I, and who are you …

Suddenly, Hon’s eyeballs explode as he yells out in horrendous pain. The blood from his eyes begins to thicken and color morph into a black liquid, wrapping his body in a skin tight lace of secondary flesh. Hon screams, falls to his knees and tries to pull the black, liquid flesh from his body. He continues to scream out in fear and pain, his body almost completely wrapped in the blood soaked black tears. The space-time continuum that surrounds Hon shatters like glass. Before all of the pieces of reality fall to the surface, a glimpse of paradise on Earth is seen; before it was taken by the fallen celestial eons ago in time.

… I am that which all warriors must meet at the end … Destiny!

Hon violently awakens from this nightmare. ‘What did it mean?’ Hon wonders. Hon looks around the cottage from his bed, angered from the fear of the nightmare. Shang is nowhere in sight and Hon is worried. He then notices a cloaked figure in purple walking past the cottage to the left of the front yard and leaps from his bed and runs outside.

Hon: Damn you … what have you done to my father, huh!?!

Hon runs to the left side of the cottage, falls into his martial arts stance and shouts to the top of his lungs.

Hon: Where’s my father, you son of a bitch …!?

As the cloaked figure walks past the cottage it fades into the sunlight, suddenly vanishing. Shang walks toward the cottage from the same direction of which the cloaked figure vanished carrying a wet crate of fish, bags of vegetables and more bags of sugar cane sweet potatoes.

Shang: Such language! That’s it young man, no more graphic novels for you…

Hon: Dad you’re…you’re ok?!

Shang: Ok?! I guess I’m ok. I’m broke, no money…and my hands smell like fish…

Hon smiles in relief and helps Shang into the cottage with the wet crate of fish and grocery bags.

Shang: I leave here for groceries, and now I return to my son, who’s running off at the mouth like some western teenager…

Hon: I’m sorry dad. I thought something happened to you.

Hon and Shang sit at the dinner table and begin to un-bag the groceries. He could not bring himself to tell his father about the nightmare he had awaken from, sharing such a thing seemed ludicrous and crazy. Instead, Hon began to share a plate of bean curd with Shang.

Shang: Hon, you’re just nervous about your Shaolin training. There’s really no need for that. Master Fu is a close friend of mine; he’ll see that you receive the proper martial arts training.

Hon: It’s not that, Dad. It’s just … you know.

Shang: Oh, that; I see. I have spoken with Master Fu about your nightmares and headaches. He’ll look after both, Hon. Master Fu is a skilled doctor and mental therapist …

Hon’s nightmare have been an ongoing thing since he was a child. Dreams of the unknown have always entered his mind during his sleep. Hon stops eating the bean curd, a look of sadness covers his features. He’s often wished he didn’t dream at all, that he could just avoid sleep. That way he could train and study in the martial arts…forever.

Hon: A therapist? So you think I’m crazy, huh …?

Shang stops eating cold and moves his seat closer to Hon. As a father, he is very open with his son about how he feels, giving him compassion and understanding. For years, Shang had prayed for a son; a son he could raise using love and heart, something that Shang had to learn about himself while being a father to Hon.

Shang: No son! That’s not it … there are things about the mind that even I don’t understand. The mind is a complex matrix of potential power and secrets. Master Fu will …

Hon interrupts, raising his hand into the air not to be rude.

Hon: Dad, it’s ok! I do need help. Some things are often out of our reach for ourselves to handle. I understand.

Shang sighs: Hon, you’re my son. I want to help you in any way possible. I truly believe that my friend, Fu, can relieve your mind of stress and at the same time teach you Shaolin Martial Arts. I’ll be waiting for you, Hon. Waiting, to see the man you’re destined to become …

He looks pleased and hands his godfather a cup of tea. They enjoy the rest of their evening eating and talking about the various idea’s and plans toward Hon’s Shaolin training. Actually to his surprise, they discuss more than a little bit. Shang begins to boast about how Hon could become the next head priest of Shaolin, or even the next Junior Abbot like his newly appointed master. In any case, he enjoys this moment with his godfather; it’s the last night they’ll have together for ten years.

Hon: Let’s drink, Dad, and celebrate my new master at Shaolin Temple.

Shang takes another cup of tea in hand and toasts Hon.

Shang: Yes, Hon. Master Fu is your new teacher. You’ll meet him soon enough.

Shaolin Temple is very much like College to a moderate day student. Shang also tells Hon about his two step-brothers, who are slightly older than Hon and were raised mostly at Shaolin Temple. They were both under the tutelage of Priest Pai Mei and Elder Li, Master Fu’s elder brothers. Shang’s oldest boy, Chang Lang, and his first adopted son, Tong Long, have already began their careers at Shaolin Temple. This information only made Hon more excited about his future at Shaolin. In the early morning, Shang gathers some clothes, books and snacks for Hon’s stay at Shaolin Temple. The next morning, the horse and carriage Shang hired arrives to escort them both to southern Shaolin Temple, which is located on the northern border of Fujian. After fifty minutes of travel, they’ve arrived and Hon is immediately awe struck at the beauty of southern Shaolin. Its main entrance is met with a large door and a tower of stairs that leads to the courtyard of the temple. Once you’ve reached the courtyard, the Shaolin Temple visually becomes that famous school of Kung Fu that the martial world has heard of for centuries. In the distance, as Hon jumps out of the carriage, excitingly