Qingchi had been up all night studying the old books and scrolls hidden within the Temple walls. Zao Ho had brought his spacial ring to this world, but he couldn't be bothered every time someone wanted to look at or in his Collection.
The depository was not large, but the Temple had a lot of interesting works from the Dark Ages, stories of Devils and Deviousness. Among the scrolls laying around were animal skins from Atlantia. The scrolls were written on the torn flesh of strange, now extinct beasts. Ho was very knowledgeable when it came to the Animals of Earth, He had looked for anything that resembled his Homeworld with little success. The Atlantian residents were well known for their sense of adventure, they wrote down everything they saw, however.. much to his disappointment upon meeting them, their culture was ahead of its time.
The Atlantian people were disproportionately able minded. The intellectuals ruled like a caste system over the commoners, and in the end.. it was a bomb. The coastal civilization developed a use for crude oil, then stockpiled it and disaster struck. The Sea floor shifted after decades of inactivity and fissure's were formed. The whole disaster was a nightmare as the seafloor gave great upheavals and shook the entire continent, the entire land moved with tides and was swept under the sea. Soon, The Oil burned out of control across the sea.. The force of the moving continent was great, greater than anything that had ever exploded in the written history of the World at the time.
It was a cataclysm of epic proportions. The landmass sank like a waterlogged ship, the oil that had been stockpiled lit fires across the rolling waves.
There were few survivors, far too few.
The vast Cities meant nothing in the face of an incoming tide. And thus, The Island sank... The earth's plates had shifted and brought the land to the seafloor. During the event, Zao Ho watched from a fleeing ship. He was near the Palace at the time, The knowledge of Atlantia in his ring. It was of no help... no use for the residents who lost their lives.
While it was only a written history and held no technological advantages, the stories were important enough to save. After reading them, he could never allow them to be destroyed. Ho was grateful for his mostly immortal body.
... ... ...
The Story of the Evil Wing.
A Black Beast brought forth carnage, The Black Beast was a devil of the night and would sniff out children in the darkness, young women more so. In the darkness the beast took their very souls, eating their corpses at the end. The faces of its victims shadowed in the Evil Wings.
The Story of the Great Hammer.
A God Hammer, Prepared and Unwavering in the face of Evil. It held a trove of knowledge lost, the creators will, and was from Another World.
The Finders.
An object of fate. They showed one path, guiding their owner. It is said they are the remains of a God, Indeterminable and Defined. A Calamity. Desired but unobtainable, only granted.
The Gygax choose their owners with much discrimination. Ancient arrogant objects with the souls of former Guardians. From wicked to pure, their attitudes and tastes are all unique.
The Legend of Ho was even among them. The books and scrolls numbered in the hundreds, It seemed that the childlike Esper Ho was a bit of a fanboy of his own. The books covered a wide variety of mythical creatures and groups like the Yamabushi.
The Undead King... The World Tree's Fall... The Death of Lera, Goddess of Light.... Stories that resembled the ones in the Library at the Tower. Zao Ho was keenly aware of their significance.
The Stories were important because of their significance to Shìyán, The Emperor's interest in these matters would be more than enough to have stolen them. Ho didn't have to steal them, the opportunity to preserve them was a much better outcome. Ho wasn't sure how long he would be stuck in the world, and the Atlantian people were very influential for being such a small island.
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Zao Wu Hai's appearance had cost the world its innocence. Much of the World conflict exploded thereafter and times were going to be harder. There was nothing that could escape the coming war, not even the hideout for the Priests and Ho.
6 months after Xui Ying brought her children to the Temple, the Chinese and India Joint task force to investigate the Dodona Trees had led them to capture images of Wu Hai's face more clearly. Even though Wu Hai had been live and on Television, he hadn't revealed his previous life's identity to the world. Thanks to tracking software, they managed to locate one of the stops he had made while he was in mainland China, his Sister's Home.
The Car was missing and the Police had even been looking for any sign of it. Xui Ying's picture eventually circulated the countryside, she had been named as a wanted person. Xui Ying was wanted for questioning in connection to the Incident on Television, several downed fighter planes, a bunch of missing people and worst of all, Terrorism.
News took a while to reach the Priesthood, but it eventually did. The Temple went on alert and started making preparations to flee if they had to. Everything would come to pass, they only had to survive the ordeal until Zao Wu Hai returned...
Ho spent a lot of time coaching his niece and nephew. His knowledge was easily accumulated by Luitian, while Qingchi had been studying with Ho directly. Qingchi could feel the loneliness within Ho's heart. Ho was in the body of a 7 year old. He had been alive longer than recorded history, and yet still managed to keep some of his childlike attitude.
It was cute.
Qingchi was just a girl, a mortal child But she was in her teens, and lonely herself. It didn't take long for Ho to build a relationship with her that was less than innocent. Even though he was unable to fulfill carnal desires with a child, when his Brother Wu finally returned, Ho could get a human body.. and age.
Xui Ying wasn't blind to their interactions, she frowned at first but quickly took note of her daughters ability to read someone's soul and let things happen.
Ho wasn't malicious, Ho was quite powerful and considerably older but that was it. With his body, he was unable to age or mature. It was likely he had not undergone puberty, much less been inclined to fornicate regularly. There was little doubt to the subject after they had a conversation the first time, Ho had told her that he was unable to reproduce.. which meant that he had at least tried. At over 4,000 years old, Ho surely would have considered sexual desires at some point.
Xui Ying did her best to learn meditation, it solved her regular flare ups with emotion. Whenever she would become emotional over the past few months, her powers would rage. The Temple was never in danger, however she lost more than enough bedding.
The Elder Priests had a difficult time keeping up with Luitian. His gift, his overwhelming intelligence left them at a crawl in comparison. He quickly absorbed a lot of the knowledge collected within Ho and the Temple's possession. Unwilling to let things slip by him, he had been very diligent in his reading. The Scrolls concerning fighting abilities were easy enough to memorize, but Luitian's ability was in his mental preparedness and not in his physical prowess.
Sparring with his Sister felt like he was hitting a sandbag, and sparring with the Elders felt like he was a bully. Only when he fought Ho did he feel a real challenge. Ho never used his abilities, but would move around quickly and had a lot of battle experience. The key for Luitian in the battle was reading his opponents and taking advantage.
Qingchi helped soothe some of the people like Wúliáo who had been through ordeals of their own, It helped a lot to mature her personality. The Hermit Wúliáo finally came out of his cave after a few months of treatments. His psychic abilities were a lot easier to control and he himself had been learning to meditate in their absence to better control his own power. Ho was grateful for Wúliáo, he had taken the initiative to show Xui Ying's family to the Temple. A strange twist of fate, Ho wondered if Wúliáo knew the people he had guided were his liberator's Kin.
Xui Ying was always brimming with power, ever since she had eaten the Crimson Crystal she had felt a seething heat keeping her warm. It was a healing, a wondrous and spectacular thing to be cleansed by fire every night.
Soon, upon its discovery, the World would begin their hunt for occupants of the Temple. It was more important now than ever to prepare themselves.
"Grandmaster Ho?" an Elder came up to his door as Ho rested.
The door crept open and Zao Ho laid on his bed while he questioned the Elder. "What is it? I'm preparing my mind before the troops discover our position. Has there been movement?"
"Not as of yet. Grandmaster, I would like to know if we should begin preparations to evacuate." The Elder wasn't wrong, but he felt hesitant to leave such a rich and long history to those that would destroy, covet, or cover up their existence.
"It is not time, however.. get everyone to pack their personal items, that way we can be ready to leave much quicker. I believe we only have one week until they come for us. It is only a feeling." Ho waved his hand for the Elder to leave.
Thanking the Grandmaster as he left, The Elder started informing the Priesthood.
... ...
Five Days later, scouts at the foot of the mountain sent up a signal.
The Armies were setting up and surrounding the Temple.
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As morning rose the next day, The Soldiers began to move.
"General, we have the Satellite Imaging Online." The man at the Comms put his headphones down and informed the command tent.
The mobilized soldiers wore a multitude of battle armors and carried the latest prototype EMP. They were ready for Wu Hai, his electrical abilities were the only things they had on camera.
The even more unrealistic thing was what would be waiting for them up the Mountain. Armored soldiers tramped up the mountain and helicopters, drones and up-armored vehicles swarmed the area. It didn't take long to cordon off the area; The Demon at the Expo was able to vanish into thin air, then again at the Hotel. The government didn't know what the limits of the transportation were, but they speculated it wasn't easy.
The rotten exterior really hid the beauty of the Temples great halls, many fresco lined the walls telling stories in various languages. The sounds of rushing footsteps echoed throughout the entirety of the Temple grounds.
The Encirclement was complete.
The General had placed a strict communication blackout to mask their approach, when he finally gave the order to breach the compound he expected to see someone, anyone...however.
The Temple's contents and all of its occupants had vanished.
Two rooms in particular got the authorities to take great interest in. One was Ho's bedroom, There was an eerie presence that made their hair stand on end. The other, was a room that looked like it had once been lined with shelves.
On one wall were the carved and repainted words.
'Esper Emperor Zao Wu Hai'
The entire scene was played over the video monitors. The body cam footage even showed where items long since stored had been removed.
"... Who tipped them off?" The General flipped over the table in the Command Tent.
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Forensics spent a lot of time looking over the Temple, they found lots of trace materials from the people including skin samples from Xui Ying and her family. The Government of China took possession of the materials without approval from the allied forces. Their greediness caused a lot of conflict with world nations, which was great for the Priesthood.
The Priesthood would be safer without the joint cooperation of the worlds leading nations chasing after them.
The population of the world freely watched the operation, it was impossible to deny the existence of the task force just based on its overall size. The media outlets around the world were furious when only the American's had footage that they released.
If it wasn't for the Americans, the World wouldn't have been allowed to see any of the footage. China wasn't too pleased with being made fun of for a second time in a row, but it only showed their own unwillingness to keep their word to its people. China used its political position to pressure the others into burying the video footage. They intended to be at the forefront of any findings and wouldn't back down in the slightest.
The American government claimed to have released the footage to every media outlet that would run it. Even the American Television stations were somewhat afraid to disclose the information because of the incredible pressure internationally. It showed all 3 leading world governments, led more specifically by China than India being made to run an operation on an 'Empty' Temple.
Religious fanatics around the world called it an outrage. To barge in and attack a temple, any temple, was a violation of religious freedoms. If it wasn't for the label of terrorist, freely given by the Chinese government rather than earned, the joint task force would never have had allied approval.
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"I want a full Investigation. Get me more details on these Espers and I want the best interpreter on staff to be present and read them in. Get someone loyal to this Nation this time, we don't need a repeat of the 2020's. China might be big, but they are not our friends and allies. After we 'Live Streamed' Joey Bribes's execution, our relationship with China has been precarious at best." The President of the United States sat in the Oval Office and did his best to understand the situation.
"Mr. President, We have confirmation that the Chinese have begun mobilizing Civilian forces to check the border territories for the fugitives. Once they had begun their advance, they started seizing nearby regions in the name of security. Sir." The Joint Chiefs all stood and agreed with the assessment from the report.
"Send out the Space Force. I want every satellite that we can access in use, immediately. If China wants to take over the World to hide its shame and inability to catch some kid doing a magic act.. then we won't stand by and watch. My father sure wouldn't take it, What sort of message would that send if I backed down from a fight." Taking a deep breath, The President looked out at his advisors once more.
"Make it happen." Giving the order, US forces started to move.
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In the Mountainous Region of Chile, a bright flash lit up the Jungle canopy. A Temple Ruins could barely be seen through the thick overgrowth. It was unlikely that others would find the temple easily, It had remained undiscovered for hundreds of years despite avid treasure hunters around the world searching.
The Architecture was primitive in some parts and exquisite in others.
Zao Ho spoke up. "I lived here for a while, and then the world started drifting the landmasses apart. I haven't been here for about 1200 years, but its not too bad. Thank you Wuliao, your warning came in a timely manner."
Wuliao nodded.
"Why did you leave here?" Qingchi was curious and then she saw the murals and almost instantly understood everything.
This was a temple, devoted to him. Ho had mentioned that eventually people start to deify those with power and it was a simple yet constant truth throughout history.
Those with abilities are usually exaggerated about until finally they reach mythic proportions. Ho had been in an undying and Elemental body.. To the ancient Tribesmen of Chili he was likely a highly worshiped God.
"The tastes didn't suit me" Zao Ho thought about destroying the murals many times, but it was a history of his time on this world.
The murals were his memories, the stories of his past. Living for so long, it was likely that many such Temples existed around the World... hidden.
He could never bring himself to destroy any of them properly. If the murals and temples faded from history to be forgotten then he was okay with the outcome, but to deliberately deface something was never in his interests.
Walking through the doorways and arriving at the temple's courtyard Zao Ho released the contents of his storage ring from the temple. The priesthood started work immediately. It was likely that they would be discovered again. In order to maintain their seclusion they would have to remain quiet and not attract attention.
If the major Governments of the world found them in China, it was because someone was followed. There was little doubt of Miss Ying's contribution, even if it was during her escape however no one held it against her.
The immediate future depended on their ability to hide, Zao Ho cast some illusion magic over the old temple to hide its appearance. After the magic was cast, Ho found Luitian sitting on a large pedestal that once held a statue of Darkwing. Ho had carved it to remember his former Master, Teacher and Friend but taken it away when he moved continents.
It was time to bring it out again.
Luitian got up from his seat and watched. The statue was made life-sized and made of a black stone that caught the light gently. Darkwing's image was beyond words for Luitian.
'A Duck?' Luitian remembered the way Ho had described his Teacher.
Luitian had a question for Ho, "Beastman.. That's what you called him? I heard you once say that Darkwing was an artificial being... Can I ask what you can recall about that, I'd like to learn more."
It was going to be a long time before Ho's Brothers would arrive and they had plenty of time to talk about the new world. Ho seemed hesitant at first but finally started to open up about the subject.
With a sharp look Ho's attitude changed.
He shuttered and spoke softly. "It was a hard time for the sect, a lot happened in such a short amount of time."
"It was about the time when I got this." Ho pulled out the Darkflame Blade
Passing it over to Qingchi he continued, "We can start there..."