Bu Kek Siansu (The Demigod) Chapter 01

That morning was incredibly beautiful deep within the forest on the slopes of Jeng Hoa San (Thousand Flowers Mountain). The young sun spewed its golden yellow light onto the surface of the earth, reviving the grasses nearly paralyzed by dew, the trees swallowed by the darkness of night, and the flowers that had suffered all night from the piercing cold air. The golden yellow light brought warmth, beauty, and life, driving away the thick mist; and the mist fled from the light of that king of life, leaving behind droplets of dew that now adorned the tips of leaves and grass, making the multicolored flowers look like beautiful young maidens fresh from a bath, refreshed and radiant.

The gentle sunlight was deflected by the leaves and branches of the dense forest trees, yet its softness allowed the light to penetrate through the gaps between the leaves and branches, causing long, thin rays, clearly visible among the shadows of the trees, to slide downward. Here and there, they met reflections of water, forming a rainbow of exquisite beauty—colors composed of all shades, especially the primary colors of red, yellow, and blue. Beautiful! For eyes free from all attachments, that beauty was felt even more deeply, a beauty that was new and would always appear new, even if seen every day. Before the first reddish light of the morning sun appeared, the state was one of profound silence. What first awakened the forest was the short, sharp crow of the jungle fowl, a sudden and startling crow, followed by others from several directions.

It was this rooster's crow that roused the birds, who had previously been enveloped by the darkness of night, hiding their faces beneath the thick, warm blanket of their wings. Now, movements of life occurred in every large tree, and the chirping of birds was heard in response, their voices varied, competing in beauty and noise, yet all possessing a distinctive melody. It was difficult for the ear to determine which was more beautiful, because the responding voices formed a unified set of musical instruments played together. All the ear perceived was beauty! It was hard to say which was more beautiful: the voices of the birds themselves or the empty silence that existed between the sounds.

The boy was still very small. He could not have been more than seven years old. He stood like a statue, standing on a slightly elevated flat spot in the forest of Thousand Flowers Mountain, facing east. He had been standing like that for more than half an hour, only his eyes moving—wide eyes full of sharp brilliance and tenderness, typical of a child whose life is still free and pure. However, between his eyes, the skin between the eyebrows was slightly disturbed by straight lines. It was strange to see such a small child already having wrinkles between his eyebrows!

The boy’s clothing was very simple, though extremely clean, just like the cleanliness of his body, from his hair to his well-maintained and clean fingernails. His face was ordinary, like other children, with a handsome shape, but it was his eyes and the wrinkles between them that were rare in children and made him a child who easily left an impression on the viewer as someone strange and certainly possessing something extraordinary. The boy's pair of eyes shone brightly, full of the radiance of life, when he saw the large red sphere emerge from behind the eastern mountain peak—a large red sphere that was initially a sight of great attraction, but gradually became an object that the eyes could no longer bear to look at due to the increasingly yellow and glittering light.

So he shifted his gaze, now enjoying how the boundless light brought everything to life, from the mountain peaks to far below, at the foot of the mountain. The boy then took off his clothes, one by one, with patient and unhurried movements, without looking right or left, because he knew that at this time of morning, no one else would be there except himself. Completely naked, he approached a stone and sat cross-legged, facing the sun.

He sat upright, his legs crossed, and his breath entered and exited smoothly without regulation, without force, like the breathing of a baby sleeping soundly. For several years, he had done this every day: sitting and bathing in the sunlight for two or three hours until his entire body was drenched in sweat and felt hot; only then would he stop. Also, during nights with a bright moon, he would sit naked on that stone, bathing in the light of the full moon for seven nights.

Sometimes he would lose himself and sit cross-legged, half-asleep, and would only stop when his body was nearly frozen and the moon had vanished, hiding behind the western peak. An extraordinary child! Indeed. This is also what the residents around Jeng Hoa San called him: Sin Tong (Wonder Boy). This was the name the child was known by. Wonder Boy, mystical child, and other epithets. Because everyone called him Sin Tong and he himself never wanted to state his name, the boy became accustomed to this title and considered his name to be Sin Tong! Why did the villagers, the inhabitants of all the hamlets around the slopes and foot of Jeng Hoa San, call him the wonder boy?

There was a reason for this: the seven-year-old child was extremely skilled at treating illnesses by giving leaves, fruits, and medicinal roots that were truly effective! Almost all residents suffering from illness came to the slopes of the Thousand Flowers Forest—the name of the forest where the child lived, because among all the forests in Thousand Flowers Mountain, this one was truly deserving of the name Thousand Flowers Forest, with its diverse flora, full of beautiful flowers, especially during spring. And this child gave the medicinal leaves or roots with an open heart, sincerely, voluntarily, and always refused if offered money! Thus, villagers flocked to him and secretly revered him as a wonder boy, as a deity who had manifested as a child to save the villages from disaster.

Even when a contagious disease broke out—a severe fever that caused many casualties last year—it was this wonder boy who eradicated it by giving certain roots whose water had to be drunk after boiling. With those roots, many of the sick were helped, and those who had not yet contracted the disease would not be infected. When the villagers, especially the women, came bringing new, neatly sewn clothes, the child could not refuse, and expressed his thanks with tears streaming down his cheeks, but no words came out of his mouth. Because of the kindness of these villagers, the child always wore very simple, "village-style" clothing. Who exactly was this extraordinary little boy who lived alone in the Thousand Flowers Forest?

Was he truly a deity who descended from heaven to become a child to help humanity, as believed by the residents of the Tibetan Mountains, where many Lamas are considered to be Sang Budha himself "manifested" as children and becoming future Lamas? In reality, of course, it was not like the superstition believed by people who are fond of superstition and the miraculous. The boy was formerly the only child of the Kwa Family in the city of Kun-Leng, a small city east of Jeng Hoa San. His name was Kwa Sin Liong, and the name Sin Liong (Mystical Dragon) was given to him because when his mother was pregnant, she dreamed of seeing a dragon flying in the sky among the clouds. Sin Liong's father was a sufficiently wealthy medicine merchant in Kun-Leng.

However, disaster struck the family one night when three thieves entered their house. Initially, these three criminals intended to steal from the wealthy family, but when they entered the room, Sin Liong's father and mother caught them. Fearing they would be recognized, the three men then killed Sin Liong's parents with machete slashes. At that time, Sin Liong was only five years old, and in the dim light, he saw how his father and mother were showered with machete blows and collapsed, bathing in blood, dying without time to scream. Out of sheer horror and fear, Sin Liong seemed to turn mute; his eyes bulged, and he could not utter a sound. Because of this, the three thieves did not see the small child in the dark room. They were primarily busy gathering valuables and were also panicked, wanting to leave quickly because they had been forced to kill the master and mistress of the house.

After the criminals left the room, only then could Sin Liong scream, screaming with all his might so that the night was torn apart by the child's shriek. Their neighbors were startled, and all doors were opened. All the men ran out and saw three unfamiliar people leaving the Kwa family house carrying large bundles; immediately, the cry "Thieves! Thieves!" was heard.

And the people surrounded the three criminals. Several people ran into the Kwa family house, whose hearts were understandably shocked to see the husband and wife dead, drenched in blood, while Sin Liong wept over his parents, hugging them so that the child's face, hands, and clothes were covered in the blood of his father and mother.

"Murderers! They killed the Kwa family!"

The person who witnessed the bodies immediately ran out and shouted, "Cruel humans! Catch them!" "No! Just kill them!" "The bodies of the Kwa husband and wife are chopped to pieces!" "Kill them!" "Attack...!"