The Tale of the Ghost Eyes Chapter 81 The Cold Winter

I didn't know what to say. I'd had such hopes of praise at my progress and growth, but now he wasn't even going to stick around. A hot surge of anger flared up and I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying anything.

I turned around and left the room. "Where are you going?" The old man called after me.

"For a walk!" I called over my shoulder, almost adding, "To relax."

Zhao Jie and Shang Haoming followed me out the door. Zhao Jie called after me me, "Xiao Yong, what's wrong? Master Liu only has a day here, why are you leaving? Plus he brought all that food!"

"I know." I said, feeling the anger pulse in my head.

Shang Haoming added, "Xiao Yong, come on! Let's go back. If you disrespect Master Liu he might not come back next time."

That stopped me in my tracks. It'd be terrible if Master Liu never came back.

I turned around, standing in the rain and feeling dumb as my shoes sank into the muddy road. Down the way I could see Master Liu standing on the porch with his hands behind his back. The old man was smiling kindly, watching us through the falling rain.

Still watching us, Master Liu called down the road, "You boys should go home. I need to speak with Xiao Yong."

Zhao Jie and Shang Haoming nodded and waved to Master Liu, both giving me a look that said, "I'd go back if I were you."

I waved them away and trotted down the muddy road back to Master Liu. "I'm sorry godfather. I shouldn't have lost my temper."

Master Liu laughed. "Why are you apologizing? I know what it's like not to get what you want all the time. I wish I could come visit more often. You are family to me, son." He put a hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to be sorry."

He went on, "The rain falls and the air is fresh. Xiao Yong, you are only a child, a big one now, but still young. You'll have to deal with things alone for a while."

He looked into the sky at the sun peeking from behind the dark clouds. A rainbow flitted down and stretched over the village. It was beautiful.

Master Liu said, "There is one now. There will be a wonder of three rainbows here within the next three years. After that, we will meet again. In the mean time, I need you to keep practicing your skills. Build a foundation with your Taoism, and grow with it."

I nodded and asked, "Godfather, what is the wonder of three rainbows?"

"Well, it's very literal. A time will come when three rainbows appear at once. It's a very beautiful spectacle. When that happens, I will come back and stay with you. I'll teach you more of what I know, but first you'll have to pass the test." He said.

"What test?" I asked, now more curious than angry.

"You'll need to be able to harbor that spirit of yours for at least half an hour. And I expect you to be able to make a minimum of thirty-six different kinds of amulets. At least one of them should be of the blue grade. Oh, and your Da Hong Fist. By then you should be a first class fighter." I made a checklist in my mind, trying to plan out what I'd need to work on the most.

We spent the afternoon talking about the two years he was away and everything I'd seen. I asked him countless questions and only ended up with more. The man was a mystery. "Does it really have to be three years?" I asked, as he was getting ready to go to bed.

"Three years and three rainbows." He said with a chuckle and closed the door.

Master Liu did indeed leave the next day. I began practicing the moment he left. Each day I would train in Da Hong fist. Each afternoon I would summon the spirit and practice crafting the amulets. And each night I would study my books, working harder than ever to keep up with school and Taoism.

In the summer of 1998 I was a freshman of junior high school. While I practiced and trained, I watched the other kids start to pair off into couples. Several of the boys in my class even had the audacity to ask out Zhao Yuan. An interesting new bite of jealousy started to creep into my mind whenever that happened, but she turned most of them down.

She gained quite the renown in our village by writing an essay and getting into the village's number one school. Zhao Laohei was very proud and never missed an opportunity to boast. I remember him inviting my father over for drinks to thank him for all of his hard work teaching and preparing his children.

I think that was the year that I decided I'd have to marry Zhao Yuan. She was smart, beautiful, and my kind of lady. I rolled the idea around in my head with glee until I remembered that she thought Zhao Jie and I were silly little kids. The whole thing gave me a sour feeling.

When the summer ended, Zhao Jie and I started attending the junior high school. Zhao Yuan, being a little older went to the senior high in town.

Students were still flocking into the new school buildings that had settled and begun to lose their novelty. It was nice to meet the kids from the other villages. On the first day back, Zhao Jie and I compared schedules and were disappointed to find out that we'd been separated. He was in the homeroom opposite of mine. Only Shang Haoming and Ku Tou were lucky enough to be paired together.

The four of us found each other during lunch and swapped complaints about all the new classes.

"You guys are lucky to have homeroom with each other!" I told Shang Haoming. "I hardly know anyone in mine."

"What about You Xiaoqing?" Shang Haoming interrupted, "She's in your class and she's pretty!" He gave me a wide goofy grin.

"Gorgeous!" Ku Tou added with an accent that made the word come out gaw-gee-us.

I gave them both a jab to the arm, feeling my face get warm.

They were right though she was pretty. So, needless to say, I started to hang out with her in the mornings. We'd walk together between classes and chat about homework. It wasn't anything serious, but the guys gave me crap for it any time they could.

By the time winter rolled around there were rumors circulating that we were dating. Even our teachers chided in once in a while. It was awkward to say the least.

"Ignore them," You Xiaoqing told me. "They're just jealous that we're so cool! Now how did you get the answer to number seven?" I walked her through the problem and did my best to ignore the girls whispering two seats behind us.

Shang Haoming and Ku Tou continued to pester me about You Xiaoqing throughout the year. They drew hearts on my books and sang the k-i-s-s-i-n-g song whenever we walked past them after school.

Zhao Jie on the other hand, took to junior high like a real academic. By winter break he was one of the top ten students. The rest of us were shocked. "What's your secret?" Shang Haoming asked him one lunchtime.

"None of you dorks is there distracting me any more!" He grinned. "It's easy to get your studying done when no one is babbling on about girls right next to you."

"You sure its not your sister's old notebooks?" I said. Zhao Jie's face went a deep red.

"They're better than the text books!" He said.

Winter break was short and brisk. The season took a fast cold turn and we played in the snow, sliding up and down the frozen road like ice skaters. We probably wiped out more than the professionals, but it was always a blast.

When school started up again it was still very cold outside. I was walking with Zhao Jie the first morning back and we came across a man I'd never seen in the village before. He was tall and lanky with dark black hair that fell to the middle of his back. He wore a long green coat and ragged black shoes that were riddled with holes.

We saw him every day that week. "We should bring him some food." Zhao Jie said after the second day. "I think he's homeless."

On the third day both of us snuck some food from our houses and gave them to the man. He took the random assortment of breads and vegetables with a smile. He said something in a language I didn't understand, but took as a thank you. As we walked away he started to sing in a harsh tenor, still going on in that strange language.

"You think he's crazy?" I asked Zhao Jie as we walked away.

Zhao Jie darted a look over his shoulder. "Maybe. He reminds me of the wacko we saw at the car accident. You remember the one by that curve into the mountains?"

"I remember." I told him, feeling a shiver wrack my body. "I remember all too well…"

Chapter end