Chương 32: The One We've Been Waiting For.

It was barely morning, on the third day in the week of the eight month. The stars were still up but there was no trace of the moon. Zagan sat on the top of the temple where he was meditating. Ever since master Shi De had told him about his amulet, he had been meditating more and trying to increase his inner strength to activate and discover more about the amulet. He took a liking into meditating on the top of the mountain because of its serenity. Although he spent hours meditating everyday, nothing came to him. It was like he just went blank over time.

Master Shi De was worried for him. Although Zagan had never uttered a word since he came to the temple, ever since the attack, he became more distant and cold. He spent most of his time meditating and training but asides that, his social life was almost zero. If only he wasn't a fast trainer and an exceptional one, no one would have noticed his presence in the Shaolin temple.

Zagan waited till the sun began to rise before returning to his room. As he walked down to the hallway that led to his room, he skimmed through the hall but everywhere was dead silent. Where did everyone go? The sun was already up and at this time, most of the Junior monks which included him, would be out of bed doing some chores.

'Did I stay there for too long?' He wondered. The dorm was clean and all the chores were already done. Why did the students wake up earlier than expected? He walked into his room and found it just as he had left it. After he took a bath and changed into fresh orange colored monk robe, he went to training site with the hopes of finding the disciples there but he found no one.

'Where could they have gone? Did I miss and important information?' He was confused. He clearly remembered that no news was passed yesterday, so why did today's schedule change?

Just when he was about to search elsewhere, a senior monk spoke from the other end of the training field.

"Why are you still here? Everyone has gathered by the gate. Didn't you know about the welcoming of the grand master?" Noticing the ignorant look on Zagan's face and his outstandingly smart looking outfit, he shook his head in disbelief. It was too late to change his outfit now.

"Quick Zigan, follow me to the gate. It will not speak well of you if you miss the welcoming." He persuaded then, picked up a wooden box and walked eastward to the direction of the gate with Zagan walking behind him. They walked down the high mountain to the mighty wall before finally reaching the gate. When they got there, Zagan was surprised to see many students lined up in two rolls standing in front of the gate with their maroon robes.

Before zagan could assimilate what was going on, a light skinned old man in what looked like his seventies walked in through the gates. The man possessed a strong aura. He looked like a man of discipline. He had his hair cut off just like the other disciples in the temple.

As he walked in, his hands were folded behind him and his bent back was quite obvious. His spectacles balanced on his ears and hung on his nose and his mustache was slim yet long. It looked like he was floating over as his feet almost didn't touch the ground.

Master Shi De walked up to him and bowed respectfully to him. After receiving the bow, he then began to walk between the two rows. And as he passed by the disciples, they bowed in respect to him. He nodded impressively but then stopped when he got to a particular person who stood out amongst all the other disciples. This particular somebody, wore an orange robe which was completely contrasting the robe of everyone else. Not only that, this specie was different from the other disciples. Although his complexion was fair, it was slightly darker than the normal skin color the grand master had seen in this temple, this person also had bulgy eye compared the tiny eyes of the other disciples. And what was worse, was the fact that his hair was not shaved yet.

The grand master lifted his brow and the wrinkles on his forehead came to sight, sharper with every slight lift of his brow. He straightened his glasses then turned to look at master Shi De who was walking behind him all this while as if looking for answers.

"Who is this?" he asked wearily. Strangers were not allowed in the temple so were did this boy come from?

Master Shi De looked toward the direction of the sight of the grand master and spoke. "Oh! This is our new student. His name is Yang. He just Joined us three months ago."

"I see." Was all that could be heard as the grand master spoke. Zagan had his head up but was not looking at the grand master's eye. The master tilted his head and looked at him closely. He stretched out his hand and touched a few strands of Zagan's hair then his lips curled slightly in a mysterious smile which lasted only but for a heartbeat before returning to its cold and stiff form. He pulled his hands back and began to walk away without uttering a word.

After he was out of sight, Zagan instinctively touched his hair and picked the strand the grand master had touch then noticed it was his red hair strand.

'How did this get here?' He wondered. He was still lost in thoughts when he heard the voice of the senior who had led him to the gate the other time.

"You shouldn't just stand there. Come on, let's go in. And you also need to have your robe changed. Come I'll help you."

Zagan walked with the senior back to his room to change his robe before going to the hall where the grand master was being welcomed.

As the walked to the hall, the senior introduced himself to Zagan to while away time as the hall was quite far from Zagan's room.

"I'm Sun Xu, this is my fourth year in Shaolin temple. I heard your name is Yang. I'm sure the grand master must be surprised because you don't look like our race. I've only seen someone like you once and that was at country A."

Zagan stared at Sun Xu from time to time. Listening to every word that left his mouth but couldn't say anything back thankfully, Sun Xu didn't not ask any questions.

When they got to the hall, a long dining table was set so that it accommodated all the monks. The monks were humble people and didn't care about elders seating on a different table. Juniors, senior, higher ranking monks, masters and even the grand master, all sat on the same table with chairs of equal height.

Zagan and Sun Xu sat beside each other and for a while everyone just ate what was placed on their plate not uttering even a single word before the grand master asked,

"I hope you like it here." Was that a statement or a question? Zagan raised his head from his food which barely ate and nodded slightly. The grand master said nothing more to him but rather, spoke to master Shi De in a low yet audible voice. "How did you find this boy?"

"I was in the market place of the Lynx clan watching some stunts when I saw him. He was in rags but still had a bright smile as he was impressed by the petty stunts displayed by some teenagers. Initially, I ignored his existence but he was in trouble and I saved him." After saying that, he leaned closer to the grand master's ear and whispered,

"He's the one we've been waiting for."

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