On Gods and Demons: A Thousand Li Short Story by Tao Wong

Author:Tao Wong [Wong, Tao]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Starlit Publishing
Published: 2021-07-15T05:00:00+00:00

***

Later, much later, the proprietor cleaned off his hands on his stained apron. He tugged on the apron, turning aside and flapping it a few times. Bits of dirt and blood flew from the apron, to stain the ground outside the empty-but-for-him property. Sliding the now miraculously clean apron over his head, the proprietor and cook began covering his various bubbling dishes, storing things away. He worked with brisk efficiency, storing and banking fires before he stepped out of the crude building.

His head turned, lips compressing in a deep glower. Then, fingers began moving, twisting and turning, ducking and snapping as he formed mystical hand seals. When he was done, the establishment had shrunk, twisting in space till it became but a single point of light.

The next moment, it zipped towards the bearded proprietor, slipping into a grimy, chipped plain gold band. Behind, it left an empty clearing, stained in portions by the spilt meat and blood, the delectable smells lingering in the air.

One last moment spent inspecting the clearing, before the proprietor turned on his heels. A single step took him a dozen li away, another dozen. In the time it took for the normal sounds of the forest to resume around the now-empty clearing, the proprietor had traveled a thousand li.

A single brave rat scurries out, drawn by the enticing smells. It spots a portion of cooked meat, dropped while eating or flung during one of the many arguments. It bites down, chewing and swallowing and then shudders. It twitches and freezes, its muscles rippling under its skin before it falls over, catatonic.

Gathered animals, at first intent on scavenging, see the fate of the rat and flee.

Later, much later, a lynx crawls out from the underbrush. Spotting the fallen rat, it pounces on the creature, paws landing on the unmoving form. Its head dips, sharp fangs extending as hot saliva drips onto the supine form.

Only for the lynx to be thrown aside by a single blow by the rat, woken from its contemplation of the dao, immortal food absorbed. The rat scurries forward, a new intelligence in its eyes even as the lynx scrambles to right itself, to understand the sudden change in its fate.

Such is the effect of the immortals upon the world.

For all their plans and plots, for all their vaunted wisdom and cunning, it is their very presence that twists the skeins of fate.

A lynx dies. A child-on-the-border of adulthood sees a bobbing light and follows it up the mountain. A manual is found.

Fate changes.

And the world turns.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.