Requiem III: The Search for The Truth

By Bonnie Eagan & Alisa Joaquin

Part 10: Thoughts Of the Past Long Gone

The Master spoke to Xia Tan for over an hour. He knew he had gained her interest, if not her trust, by saying he knew Tan. The order had taught both, but it was he who became it's Master at a younger age while, having been indoctrinated from when he had entered the army when he was only 16 years of age. Back then, it did not matter what your age was. There were even boys as old as 13 years, but they were not allowed to fight or go on any missions. They were used for other purposes. It was a long time ago and the Master grew sad thinking about it. It had been a time of famine, and many families were starving; his family had been no exception. He remembered arguing with his father over some point of honor, then remembered exactly what that point was, and his sadness changed to anger and hate. His thoughts continued to drift until they took him back to that very day.

"Why father?"

"Because he saved my life."

"But he killed him."

"You do not know that my son."

"Then why hasn't Grandfather come back? You have not heard any word for years. Grandfather was Shaolin. He should have been able to take him."

The older man drew in a deep sigh. "You are too young to know, my son. Your grandfather had to seek him out in America. But your grandfather and I also disagreed on this one point. He would not listen. All he could see was the amount of the reward. He no longer cared whether the man saved my life. He had left the Shaolin order behind because we were poor. He fought for money, which a Shaolin never does. He lost the way."

"I don't care. He took my grandfather away from me before I ever got to know him. You should go after him. You should go after that Shaolin," the word was said with disgust. "Grandfather would want you to reclaim our family's honor?"

"I will not. You will not dictate to me about honor. Honor is doing what is right. Your grandfather fought for money. If his life was ended by the Shaolin, it was ended in a fair fight. I will not go after the man who saved my life."

The man watched his son race out to the small garden in tears. 'He will understand some day,' he thought.

'But I refused,' the Master thought. 'As a child I was taught to respect the Shaolin. I did, even revered them, but my feelings were very clear on this matter. My father did not understand. Kwai Chang Caine killed my grandfather. I did not have the chance to know him. I swore I would kill the Shaolin when I had the chance, but that was not to be. So, I swore to take my revenge out on his heirs.' The Master remembered the day he had that opportunity, but that too, had been lost to him. By then he had been in the army for two years, his hatred for the Shaolin growing each day. Though he did not hate all Shaolin, he no longer revered them. For they sheltered his hated enemy.

"Your orders are clear. The Shaolin temples are to be destroyed."

"But why, sir?"

"Chairman Mao has decreed it. They are a threat to his power. It is suspected that they will lead the people to revolt. Get rid of the Shaolin and the people will fall in line."

So, the temples were overrun. Many monks were killed, the children were taken, though not all. The older boys were tortured first then killed later. The younger children were put into state homes and retrained. The families of those Shaolin children were never seen or heard from, again. In each province the troops came. Some temples were small and their destruction complete. For others, it was enough to simply drive out the monks and the nuns from their home and kill them out in the open, leaving the building intact as a base for troops or to use the building for target practice for artillery. Among the ones sighted for destruction, Zhangzhou Temple, but something about that temple was not so easy to overcome. The monks were very well trained. A man led them, a man who somehow seemed familiar. The soldiers rushed the temple and burst through its doors. Gunfire could be heard. Screams and shouting rent the air. Blood flowed. What could not be killed or destroyed, was taken prisoner, or confiscated, and all of them children.

A young familiar soldier grabbed a nearby child and another boy tried to come to his rescue.

"Kwai Chang help me!

"Li Pei!" the boy cried out."

The young soldier turned his head at the name. Kwai Chang? Another soldier tried to grab the boy.

"Father!"

One of the monks fought the man and grabbed the child and carried him away. Soldiers ran after them, but they had disappeared. No trace of them could be found.

The young soldier stared down at the child he held in his grasp.

"Tell me who that monk was?" he demands. "The one who grabbed that boy."

The child's eyes were wide with fright. "Master Caine," he said, his voice stammering out the words.

The young soldier turned to face where the monk had disappeared. So, the Caine line still lived on. Turning toward the young child something changed in the soldier's manner, "Come with me."

The soldier took the child and hid him. He would learn all he could from this child and in return, he would save his life. He would take the child far from here where no one would know him. It was the least he could do for getting what information he needed to track down Caine. The child was an innocent in all of this. He did not deserve to die for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The soldier had seen too many children killed by others. At least he could honor his father's wish and do at least one right thing in his life.

'Afterward, I was approached by a man who said that I had great potential. He said my chi was strong, like that of the tiger. He told me of the secret order that followed the tiger. An order to this day that no one knows just how many are present,' the Master said to himself. 'And so, they had recruited me, using me as a courier. But both the Order and the Shaolin were being wiped out because they followed the old ways. They were being destroyed to make room for the new order. No one would suspect that the Order would remain alive within the ranks of the communist government. Their ways became ours. The tiger had found new hunting grounds for which to survive. But no one suspected that the Shaolin would survive as well, no matter how many temples had been destroyed.

'I told no one of what I had learned from the boy. It would be many years before I would learn what had happened to Caine. My training honed my skills where I could trace even the slightest movements or tracks. It was time for the tiger to go hunting. And so, I set my sights on Matthew Caine. I would trace him to several places, but each time I would be too late. He would already be gone. I would pick up his trail only to have it disappear again, elusive as smoke. I lost track of Caine in the Himalayas and once again I would lose my opportunity. By then, I had moved up within the Order and prepared to take my place as its new leader. As I did, Tan entered the Order, a young man filled with potential. I trained him as I had been trained. As his training was completed, I found that Caine's son was living in a temple in America with his own son. I thought I had another opportunity. I sent Tan as a test of his loyalty, but little did I know, Tan had ideas of his own and had taken my revenge from me, or so I thought.'

The Master turned on his monitor and stared at Marlene. This time, she slept. 'You are my key, Marlene Pei. You and your husband, wherever he may be. He should be here soon. It was I who laid the clues to keep him searching. It was I who led him to this city. He will eventually seek out Caine. In the meantime, Xia will be my sword. She will destroy the one called the Ancient. Without him, the community will have to turn to a new master.'

Continues with Part 11