Kapitel 92: Keiko - 九
"Please excuse me," I said, gently setting down the cup of tea.
I rose to my feet, turning to leave, but Xiong did likewise.
"Sure, sure. Allow me to show you out," He said kindly.
We left the pagoda, walking down the stone path. We coiled around the mountain, heading down to where the disciples resided. The cool air felt nice.
As we neared the disciples chambers, Xiong patted me on the back. A perfect opportunity for the beginning step in a long journey. I swelled my qi from my dantian. Another pat landed on my back, and I continued to stir my internal energy. One more pat. I prepared Grandmaster Li's technique. He rested his hand on my shoulder, and I did nothing.
"The night's pleasant." I said, trying to distract myself of my feelings with a conversation.
"Indubitably." Xiong replied.
We snaked around one of the cherry trees the sect decorated the mountainside with. I stumbled over one of the roots and Xiong caught me, letting me regain my balance before we continued.
"I found the library." I said.
"I know. Did you learn all you wanted?" Xiong replied.
"More than you can imagine." I said.
"Good. Will you be ready for evening's practice?" Xiong asked.
"Must I?" I replied.
"We cannot control others actions. It would be wrong of me to punish them for the crime of being youths." Xiong said.
"Crime of youth.." I replied.
Xiong always had such elegant ways to summarize complex matters.
"What troubles you, my disciple?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.
"I..." I hesitated.
I could not do it. I could not bring myself to harm the only person who had ever shown me compassion. In visions I fashioned myself a fierce warrior and stoic woman, but in reality, I am a lonely disciple and cowardly child.
"Master, do you hate anyone?" I finally asked, my voice trembling.
He looked surprised for a moment, then stroked his long white beard thoughtfully.
"Hmmm... Hate?" He began, "I wish I could tell you I have never been stricken by the ailment, but I am a greatly sick man, deathly so."
"The..." I stopped walking and turned to face him, stumbling over random syllables before I found my sentence, "So have I. There are people... Monsters that I hate—unreconcilably so."
He inhaled slightly, raised his eyebrows, and made an awkward smile. He knelt down, looking up at me to maintain eye contact.
"Keiko, I am already a geezer. My only hope for redemption is departing the wisdom and discipline to your generation that was never granted to me. My greatest wish is even just one of you to not have to endure the mistakes that I did, to skip the failures that made me."
"I have forsaken a great deal in my pursuit of the way of the fist. I have lost even more to others afflicted by blinding emotions." He took a breath, his smile softening with love. "Whatever you decide... whatever choice you make... you will live the rest of your days carrying that choice, reliving that choice. Regretting that choice, and if you do not, then you have lost your soul."
He moved his hand to caress my cheek gently. "My child, I have failed you, but I implore you. Either forgive them or whatever price you need to exact, I will pay willingly in their stead."
I pulled away from him, closing my eyes. The pain in my heart was amplified by the conflicting emotions his words stirred within me.
"Is there anything at all I can do to have you reconsider? To mend the void in your heart?" he asked, his voice breaking with emotion. "Please, Keiko. I have lived too long of a life. Let my death allow you yours."
I winced, choking back a tear. Master Xiong broke into tears of his own, his hand trembling against my face. He cleared his throat, even as tears pooled on the path below us. We sobbed together, each troubled by and fearing the outcomes of this encounter.
I sniffled, wiping ugly tears from my face, "I have loved you like a father."
"And I, you a daughter."
He wiped his eyes and cheeks with both hand, leaving his fingers dripping with tears.
"No child could ever ask their parent to cover the payment that I seek."
"You were my favorite... Keiko, I am so, so, so, so sorry."
More tears fell down his face.
"For the sake of the others. For the sake of the sect. For the sake of... yourself," he squeezed out through a horse voice, quivering on that last word. "Banishment, from Jasmine. Effective immediately."
He sniffled.
"Find a new life, one unburned by hate. Forgive me. Forget them."
Before I could retort, he drew his hand back and planted a palm strike on my stomach, leaving a wet imprint from the tears still on his skin. In an instant, the breath was knocked out of me, even through my enhanced constitution.
His qi entered my body and strangled my consciousness. My mind ached as his energy wiggled around my memories, eating them. I cried out in agony, my limbs going limp.
Then, the strange man in a light green robe with a beard almost down to his waist caught my body as I fell. His tears fell onto my hair, as he summoned his jian and sliced the air beside us. The cut opened a gate revealing a field of petals.
My consciousness flickered, I felt him lay me gently onto a bed of flowers. Then, I felt nothingness. I fought back the void, the last thing I saw- a tear-streaked face of an unknown elderly man, filled with sorrow and burdened by love.
He lingered for a moment as I alternated from wakefulness and limbo. After some time, he placed one leg back through the gate to a stone path along a mountain. He turned back one final time.
He whispered as he stepped fully through the gate, "Farewell...
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein