The Sorceress' Revolt
Author: Toriumi Jinzō
Translator: Ainikki the Archivist
Ko Biji's Story
Part Four: The Heavenly Book
Our universe is vast and contains a
multitude of mysteries. At the heart of it is a mysterious being that
humans call God: omniscient, omnipotent, and beyond all
comprehension.
More than a million years ago, humans
were not humans yet, but humans-to-be were australopithecines, capable of
thought and reason and making tools. They understood enough to wield clubs
made of wood and stone and bone and go to war. Those evolved into
sinanthropus pekinensis (Peking Man), which gained the ability to
set and control fires.
The birth of homo sapiens
into the world was not an expected event, but it was a welcome one. Homo sapiens
was truly intelligent, and the progress of the species was eagerly
observed. Would they develop language? A culture? A civilization? What
level of sophistication were humans capable of?
In order to test this, the Heavenly Book
was made. It was not given into the hands of humans for fear that it would
be damaged or destroyed. The divine beings that took an interest in human
development believed that they would require guidance in order to walk the
right path.
The shape this guidance took was
two-pronged: first, cultivate human intelligence by protecting the species
and making sure they reproduced, and second, cultivate the human sense of
empathy. Faith and the teachings of Buddhism were not gifts from the
divine, but were things that humans made up themselves, because they were
inherently good. They created these beliefs in their hearts and spread
them widely to others. That the beliefs took root so strongly was in
keeping with human thought patterns and emotions.
The Heavenly Book was also part of the
divine plan to cultivate human potential. Like the rest of this plan, it
was never given, but encouraged: whoever gained the Heavenly Book would
need to seek for it and earn it through hard work, determination, and
wisdom.
The inscriptions engraved on the Heavenly
Book were entitled Desires and Treasures. It was first engraved
many thousands of years before, and had been revised and updated over the
years to reflect the culture of the time. The ancient writing tested the
reader's wisdom, Hakūn-do Cave tested the reader's courage, and the
reader's potential determined how they would be able to use the
Book.
Thus, Tanshi's duel with En Kō was part
of the test for worthiness to read the Heavenly Book.
Rumor of the book had spread since the
time of China's first Emperor, and these rumors were encouraged. All part
of the plan.
En Kō was a representative of an
intelligent species, one between sinanthropus pekinensis and
homo sapiens. He'd been granted eternal life and special powers to
make him a better guardian of the Heavenly Book. He'd been ordered to
eliminate all humans who set foot in Hakūn-do Cave... and he had, up until
now.
***
"Only one planet in our vast universe
includes humans," En Kō said bitterly. "I hope the knowledge of the
Heavenly Book will bring the species good fortune and not ill." He
scratched his head. "My role was to test human potential. What a laugh."
Until Tanshi had stolen part of the Heavenly Book, he had not known the
scope of his own role in the cave.
"If the human who entered the cave did
not possess wisdom, courage, and potential, they would never have been
able to take even a part of the Heavenly Book. Isn't that so?"
En Kō's face twisted with sudden
anger. His anger was understandable: Tanshi had managed to take the
Heavenly Book without a fight. "Does that brat even have any
potential? He stole the Heavenly Book while I was gone, like a wimpy
coward."
The goddess laughed. "Indeed, he stole
the Book while you were away. But such a scheme shows human ingenuity,
does it not?"
En Kō slumped. "I believed you could
predict anything that might conceivably happen to humanity,
goddess."
"Humans are intelligent and sapient, not
mindless creatures operating based on our wishes. I can predict patterns,
but I am not omniscient."
"Patterns? Like what?'"
"Some humans are lucky. Fortunate. And
some are very much not."
"Fortunate?"
"And unfortunate. Yes. And because some of
them are lucky, they aspire. They hope for greater things for
themselves."
I suppose I was unfortunate to be bested by Tanshi. En Kō
snorted.
"It seems like Tanshi wanted the Heavenly
Book very much, yes?" the goddess asked.
It didn't make sense to En Kō why the
goddess seemed impressed by Tanshi's actions. Why wasn't she angry, like
he was?
"He risked his life. He overcame his fear
of you to get the treasure," the goddess said.
"But what can we do now?" En Kō asked.
"Now that he has the Heavenly Book, there's no telling what he'll
do."
"I say we leave it alone."
"What?"
"Tanshi has the Heavenly Book. This was
part of the divine plan. Now that he has it, we must observe what he will
do with it, no? We do not know how humanity will change, if at all, and we
should not interfere. At this stage, it is our role to watch over, but not
to alter events."
The halo of light dimmed, leaving the
surface of the Heavenly Book in fog and darkness. When it brightened
again, the Heavenly Book looked a bit different.
"I have added Tanshi's actions to the
Book," the goddess said.
En Kō bowed to the halo several
times.
"Thanks to this, you should be able to
observe his actions from afar."
"Thank you, goddess." En Kō spread his
hands out, dissipating the fog and showing him an image of Tanshi. He was
ragged, worn-out, and being hugged tightly by Ko Biji.
En Kō frowned at the image.
The halo disappeared as the goddess'
laughter echoed through the cave.
No comments:
Post a Comment