25. Historical surveillance
The gaang had postponed their plans, Aang and Toph were meant to leave in the morning but Zuko had decided that they should try and learn as much as they could about the Chufen Dai so the mission would have to be put on hold.
"What do you guys think, I mean there have been reports of murders, rapes and other such crimes for years and years but now someone or something decides to take the law into its own hands" Zuko asked
"Well there are two sides to the argument, one we leave whatever it is to continue, two we try to stop it, but what we need to do first is find out as much as we can about it, we well be seeing a lot more of it just like Serj said before, but why is it here, who sent it or why did it choose to appear, we have to ask these questions and hopefully understand what we are facing" Sokka replied.
Aang began fidgeting in his seat "well you guys know what I think, that killing is wrong and that everyone deserves a second chance but in a way part of me thinks that maybe this is the only way"
The others gasped at Aang's confession
"Look don't get the wrong idea I still hold on to my beliefs with all my being, but maybe the monks were wrong when it came to second chances"
Suki stood up "Well sitting here is not going to help we need to find some information, some form of knowledge, wait Toph you and Azula actually saw it, did it say anything important"
Toph nodded "yeah it did something about punishing the evil and that sometimes you have to act outside the law and other stuff like that"
The final statement the Chufen Dai began reciting itself in Azula's head, she tried to push it away but no matter how hard she tried she could not get the words out of her head, they just kept repeating over and over and she suddenly found herself quietly reciting them.
"Those who do evil to others - the killers, the rapists, psychos, sadists - They will come to know me well. Call me the Chufen dai. I leave this as a declaration of intent - so no one will be confused if you're Guilty you're dead. A wise man once said, Sic vis pacem parabellum - If you want peace, prepare for war. In certain, and extreme situations like this, the law is insufficient. In order to shame its insufficiency, it is essential to act outside the law. To pursue natural justice, this is not vengeance, Revenge is not a valid motive, it is an emotional response, No this is not vengeance. This is Punishment."
The gaang listened in silence; some were actually nodding in agreement.
"You know in a way its right" Katara said, shrugging off the shocked stares she continued "Sometimes the law is insufficient, think about it when someone claims to have been abused how long is it until someone investigates the claim, weeks, months even years and then what, buy that time the culprit is either gone or has taken another victim"
"Katara's right but still if people see this thing as just a person in a mask then what, they will begin questioning the law themselves saying that if one man is above the law why shouldn't they be the same" Azula replied.
As the discussions grew the gaang found that they were just going in circles, until Iroh and Li Mei walked in carrying half a dozen books and scrolls.
"What have you found uncle" Zuko asked as he helped Iroh take a seat
"Ahh thank you nephew, and to answer your question a lot actually, the history, the purpose and much more, this Chufen Dai has had a huge role in the history of the world"
The gaang began listening intently as Li Mei began speaking
"Ok first we have to establish what the Chufen Dai is, so the first clue we have is it's actual name, now we all know that it's name mean's punishment bringer or the bringer of punishment and what does the word punish actually mean"
Li Mei pulled out a dictionary and read the definition "Punishment…is the practice of imposing something unpleasant or aversive on a person or animal or property, usually in response to disobedience, defiance, or behavior deemed morally wrong by individual, governmental, or religious principles".
"That answers the question of its purpose, but who sent it and what does its appearance symbolize" Aang asked
Li Mei opened a large book, it was big enough to us as a foot rest and it weighed at least fifty pounds, she flipped a couple of pages and began reading.
The realm of Yin and Yang, good and evil, Life and death is a realm fixated on balance; this balance comes from the situations occurring here on earth. Living within this realm are two deities or Goddesses one who watches over good and another that watches over evil each role important, The Goddesses work together in a process called the cleansing' both working in harmony both relying on each other to maintain balance the Goddess of evil uses her spirit to Separate the good from the evil once the two karma's are separated she purifies the evil karma. The goddess of good takes all the good karma and rewards all those who have done good things.
However without each other's support the process of cleansing is broken and soon all the uncleansed evil karma will begin to corrupt the good karma, when all good is finally corrupted there will be no good left, not even the most purest soul will be safe from the taint of evil and the world will fall into total chaos. The cleansing is broken when there is more evil than good in the world for example, what happens when the world is engulfed in war or crime rates are remarkably high, the balance of Yin and Yang is disrupted, the goddess of evil will become over worked and she will begin to let evil karma slip by without cleansing it, once this begins to happen the whole realm slowly begins to divide, when this happens the good karma will become tainted bringing the world into everlasting Chaos.
When this occurs the Goddesses choose a mortal, one with a level head and a strong sense of justice one who wishes to protect the weak from harm and to bring those responsible of evil to justice.
The mortal remains hidden refining their skills in combat, stealth and military strategy once fully trained the mortal becomes the Chufen Dai, the Chufen Dai can appear to be a normal man those around him may not even know about his existence just a fellow ally or friend with the responsibility of punishment, however there have been others who have dressed up to suit the role, usually as sinister like figures, such as skeletons, angels with black wings and so on. There is speculation that no one ever knows the true identity of the Chufen Dai due to the fact that the mortal has sworn secrecy.
Li Mei put the book down "That's all there is in this book"
"So the goddesses choose someone with a strong sense of justice, train them then make them swear to never tell a soul…" Iroh rubbed his beard "This is troublesome"
"Hey wait, what about Serj's vision" Sokka blurted out
"Your right the goddesses did say he had some sort of power" Aang gasped as he remembered what the goddesses said "learn to control it learn to control your sense of good your sense of justice, learn that justice must be served to those who commit evil deeds" he mumbled
"So what that means that Serj is the Chufen Dai, hey where is he anyway" Toph asked
Just as Toph finished asking her question Serj ran in "Hey guys uhh there's something you have to see"
Everyone eyed Serj suspiciously "What" he said "It's important, I think it's the Chufen Dai"
Toph stood up "He's telling the truth, well partly"
"Just look out the window and see for yourself"
The group looked out the window and Saw what seemed to be the Chufen Dai standing on a roof, shocked they turned around to See Serj standing beside them "What's wrong" he asked as they all looked at him then out the window repeatedly.
The Chufen Dai pointed to a section in the court yard, following its hand with their eyes they noticed a group of people about five in total, all bleeding and in pain "They have been punished accordingly" The voice of the Chufen Dai booming "Use them as a message, let the people of the city know that they will all share the same fate if they continue their evil ways" and with a click of its fingers the Chufen Dai vanished.
"That was weird" Serj uttered rubbing his eye "Anyways I'm going back to bed, wake me if you need anything"
"Toph what did you mean that he was partly telling the truth" Azula asked
"Well when he said Chufen Dai it was like he was confused about the whole thing like it didn't make sense"
"Well would it if you saw a skeleton man pointing to a group of badly disfigured people and I don't think Serj can click his fingers and vanish like that" Sokka said sitting back down.
Azula crossed her arms something was not right and she was going to get to the bottom of it, why would he of been confused and if Serj was the Chufen Dai how did he manage pulling a stunt like that you can't be in two places at once, hundreds of questions rushed into Azula's head but she decided to keep quiet she would have to find solid evidence, she still believed that Serj was the Chufen Dai even if the others had been convinced otherwise.
Serj walked back to his room confused what the hell was that all about he wondered, is there two Chufen Dai's if so the Goddesses have a lot of explaining to do he thought. As Serj closed the door to his room Shén nu xié è appeared in front of him.
"So what did you think of my little stunt" she asked
"That was you, why you do it, you had me believe that there could have been two Chufen Dai's" Serj asked
Shén nu xié è frowned "It would seem that your friends managed to pick up on the fact that you were in fact the Chufen Dai so we had to intervene, you know protect your identity"
Serj nodded "Yeah that makes sense, man I should have thought about that before I done anything"
"Thought about what" Shén nu xié è asked
"About the fact that there could be records on the Chufen Dai, I kind of figured that I wasn't the first one you know coz I'm human and you haven't turned me into a spirit or anything like that"
Shén nu xié è nodded "Very perceptive of you, yes we only use mortals to fill the role of Chufen Dai however the Chufen Dai is only needed in times like these"
"Time like what" Serj asked
"War, chaos, pain etc, when the realm of Yin and Yang begins to separate it means that the world has too much evil in it"
"Too much as in there is more evil than good"
Shén nu xié è nodded "Yes and when this I will become over worked and the evil karma will start to slip by without me cleansing it, once this begins to happen the whole realm slowly begins to divide which in turn separates me from Shén nu zhuan, when this happens I will have no good influence and no one to reward the good meaning that all the good karma will be consumed by evil, when this happens the world falls into chaos meaning that all good will be abolished"
"So all this just from the fact that the Qimeng yi want power, and what do the dragons have to do with all this"
"Think if the master is evil what happens to all his subjects?"
"They will become corrupted from their master's thoughts" Serj replied "It still doesn't explain the fact they are after the dragons"
"Oh I think it's pretty self explanatory, think if the master is evil his followers will be two but what if he has control over at least one dragon"
"He can manipulate it to his will" Serj gasped
Shén nu xié è smiled "Good your beginning to see things clearly now, keep on your toes young Chufen Dai, we will be watching" she clicked her fingers and vanished leaving Serj to think about what she had said.
Li Mei picked up a scroll "This is a journal which has eye witness reports, people claiming to have seen the Chufen Dai with their own eyes"
"Well read it" Sokka said earning him a slap from Suki "what" he cried
"That was very rude of you Sokka, apologize" Suki demanded
"Sorry Li Mei could you please read it for us"
Li Mei unrolled the scroll and began reading
I write this report as part of my studies into the so called Chufen Dai, it is said that whoever is chosen to become the Chufen Dai faces great responsibility, the responsibility to punish those who commit evil accordingly, their punishment is a symbolization of the crime they have committed, for example if one commits rape they suffer the removal of their reproductive organs, if they order the deaths of innocent they have their tongues removed, if one enjoys the sight of pain and torture then their punishment is the removal of their eyes. Each action the Chufen Dai makes sends a message to the community, follow in this persons foot step and you shall suffer the same punishment.
There have been several eye witness reports mentioning the horrid methods of the Chufen Dai, What confuses me the most is that during my life time there has been at least three Chufen Dai's not all at once but when one had finished another would take the previous one's position and continue.
The first Chufen Dai appeared twenty years after the Air nomad genocide, dressed in a black monk's cloak it roamed the world freely punishing all those that came across it, soldiers, nobles and rulers all fell to its blade. It eventually became a leader of a great army which protected the Earth Kingdom from being overrun, however after this battle the Chufen Dai's most trusted general began noticing significant changes in the Chufen Dai's behaviour and soon the mental state of the Chufen Dai snapped when this happened the Chufen Dai died, this was the first record that the Chufen Dai was mortal the approximate age of this Chufen Dai was about twenty five.
As the war progressed into its fortieth year another Chufen Dai appeared this one did not conceal his identity his mortal name was Xun Mie, nothing is know about Xun Mie parents and it is said that his name was given to him by a man who witnessed his first kill the, Xun Mie killed the man in the blink of an eye which is why he became known as Swift kill. Xun Mie became a legend his kills were perfect and precise, his method of punishment was probably the least gruesome of all recorded Chufen Dai, Xun Mie did not enjoy killing and only killed when required, many men and women had been put into prison and were found guilty of all sorts of crimes, Xun Mie left the government to deliver the final blow.
Xun Mie's final Kill was Fire Lord Sozin many believe that he had died of old age but in reality he had died from constant poisoning, a letter was found which revealed that Xun Mie had been poisoning the Fire Lords plates with a special venom extracted from a rat viper. However not much is known about the death of Xun Mie only that when he died he was fifty and that he had suffered the same mental collapse as the previous Chufen Dai.
"So great grandfather Sozin didn't die in his sleep like the history books said" Zuko mumbled
The Third Chufen Dai of my time was just as much ruthless as she was compassionate, she was discovered by an old master swords man, who took her in as his own child, he soon discovered that at a young age she was extremely deadly with a dagger and named her Nu-sa-ren which mean's lady of the blade.
Nu-sa-ren's targets always suffered greatly, she never dealt with petty crimes such as theft, however the crimes she did deal with almost always resulted in death rapists were left out in the main squares of whatever town she was in dangling off buildings and posts with their groins removed, murders were left dismembered all over the city, one truly remarkable kill of hers was when she be headed a noble man as he was giving a speech on peace, when he was actually the man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of children, women and men.
Her most memorable kill was that of Fire Lord Azulon, the night of Azulon's death she dressed herself as a one winged Angel, she was dressed completely in white with one lone black wing resting on her back, soldiers who survived the onslaught spoke of a woman covered in a blood splattered dress standing over the body of the Fire Lord wielding a large Scythe. An investigation soon discovered that the Lady Ursa had sided with the Chufen Dai and she was soon sentenced to be executed, claiming that she had done it to save her beloved son Zuko. As a act of thanks Nu-sa-ren rescued Lady Ursa and hid her amongst the Earth Kingdom people a small village hidden somewhere in the great divide. The only record of Nu-sa-ren's death is that she too suffered a mental break down.
Zuko and Azula sat in shock as they listened, their mother had actually helped the Chufen Dai at one stage and that she could very well still be alive.
From these three examples I have determined that the Chufen Dai never once raised his or her blade to the innocent, that the origins of the Chufen Dai were never known, parents, birth place and family, that they all managed to determine who was guilty without any proof and that they had all died the same way. Another thing I found Confusing was that two Fire Lords had been the targets of two separate Chufen Dai's within a short amount of time, Maybe the Chufen Dai only appears when the world is engulfed in chaos.
I leave this journal for anyone who wishes to continue my work and discover the true secrets of the Chufen Dai and whoever it is they work for. If by chance I am still alive when this is discovered seek me out my name is Rui jiaoshi and I am sixty years old.
Li Mei began rolling the scroll up not knowing what to say after reading what was on the scroll, Azula and Zuko both stared at each other with blank faces; Sokka was left to ponder the reason behind the mental breakdown of each Chufen Dai while the others smiled happily at Zuko and Azula.
A single tear slid out from Zuko's good eye "Mom's still alive"
Some back ground on the Chufen Dai
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