"I have been a hero… I have been a villain… I have been all there was and more, for I… am eternal."
The wind rose, dragging with it, a scattering sight of red rose petals on a visible gray current.
Fen stood battered and bloodied against the edge of a cliff. His face was painted in a delirious smile as he flung out his arms and wailed in ecstasy.
"Wondrous, my 621st life comes to an end… and this is how it happens!" He yelled wildly with blood stained lips.
The eyes of countless Kulan province soldiers were wide with surprise as they watched this mysterious criminal, who they had chased to the edge of the mountain, scream in glee as they cornered him with pointed spears.
"He's… truly mad." One soldier said with a slow, concerned exhale.
"Do not let this lunatic fool you men, he is of the most dangerous sort. Fen Sha-Hotei killed three Wise Masters in a single night, desecrated the temple of the most holy harvest goddess, and slew the first imperial company, all while in his bathrobe and p*ss drunk…" An authoritative, stern voice rang out from the company commander who had led the soldiers on their hunt for this madman.
"What?!" Several of the soldiers stuttered in response and took an instinctive step back from Fen Sha.
Fen made no reply. He merely let his arms fall to his sides as he turned around and looked out at the dazzling landscape of the Kulan Province beyond the cliff's edge. The area before Fen was a rolling valley full of thin trees with dark brown bark and bright red leaves the shade of warm blood.
Several petals were flying in the wind and even the mountain which they were standing on was covered in the same red leaves from below.
"This… is a good place to die, don't you think?" Fen asked, turning to look over his shoulder at the small company of soldiers which had surrounded him with their spears gripped firmly in their hands.
The faces of the soldiers paled in response.
"Fen Sha-Hotei, you have committed crimes both unthinkable and unspeakable. By the will of the Magistrate, I sentence you to die." The company commander spoke up again, stepping forward with one hand wrapped tightly around the handle of the longsword that hung from his waist.
A soft metallic scratching noise filled the following silence as the commander drew the sword from its sheathe. Its silvery blade gleamed in the golden light of the setting sun.
Fen turned around to face the commander and regarded him with an expression of grim sobriety. His long, dark hair hung over his pale white features. Fen let his head fall slightly.
In the stillness between the two of them, the wind whistled softly one more time, blowing red petals all around them.
"Think you can accomplish the task?" Fen's voice was calm, almost encouraging. He looked up at the commander from where he was standing with dark, sunken eyes devoid of light.
The company commander lifted his sword, gripping the handle with both hands he aimed its sharpened tip at the center of Fen's chest and took a deep breath.
And then, as he exhaled, the commander lunged forward and with a loud *slink* noise, pierced the heart of the man known as the Hundredth Demon.
"Eughh…" Fen gagged as lines of crimson poured out from his chest and spilled from his lips. The liquid made a soft pattering noise as it fell against the dirt beneath their feet.
The commander's breath was steady as he slowly and carefully pulled the sword from Fen's chest, letting the infamous criminal fall backwards off the side of the cliff.
The last thing Fen Sha-Hotei remembers is the company commander's face growing more and more distant as his vision slowly faded to black. The wind, cradling him on his descent.
…
"There is in life, a sort of cyclical nature to man's madness."
Fen Sha was born on the 27th of an autumn month in the Hotei Province. Which autumn month he was born in would come to be a topic of debate for scholars across the country many years after.
His parents were low-ranking members of the middle-ranked Yuge Clan. By the time Fen Sha had come to be a teenager, he would be recognized as a genius by the Elders of the Yuge Clan and would be taken to the Temple of Flowing Grace to become an Acolyte and eventually a Junior Master.
This progression of events was uniform for all 621 lives of the great Fen Sha-Hotei, the man who had come to be known as the Hundredth Demon, The Master of 4,000 Moons, the Great Shen Master of the Hotei Provence, and the Ruin of the Yuge Clan.
Every life was a dance. Initially, Fen changed very little in his second life, trying as best as he could to recreate the life he had before his death, changing only what he thought necessary to change his fate.
However, no matter how many times he tried, he failed. He always died. Sometimes he died a hero. Sometimes a villain. When he declined the offer to become an Acolyte of Yuge Clan in his 20th life, he retreated to the woods and built a hut of his own where he spent his life in obscurity.
Unfortunately, after going so far as removing himself completely from the events of "his story," Fen Sha always met his end.
There were lives when he lived into his late 20s, early 30s, mid 40s, and so on. But all of them ended in tragedy.
And so finally, he gave up. His "immortality" if you could call it that, became a party and he was the only invited guest. He burned towns, slaughtered lords, established his own rebellion against the Emperor of Golden Light, and indulged himself in any and all scenarios he could imagine.
This degree of hedonism and impulsive, irrational behavior led Fen Sha to develop a sort of apathy to life, love, meaning, and created within him, a fundamental lack of excitement and lasting joy beyond the simple pleasure of his own hedonistic desire.
Until one day, at age 18 of his 622nd life, as an Acolyte soon to be a Junior Master of the Yuge Clan, when a stranger appeared. An unfamiliar character who walked into his story for the first time in over 600 retellings.
…
"It is in the nature of all things to change."
A woman named Seon of the Hwa Clan came to the Temple of Flowing Grace, the headquarters of the Yuge Clan which ruled over the Hotei Province (1) and trained its Shen (2) Masters.
The Temple and its surrounding grounds were impressive by most standards. Flawlessly maintained buildings of stone and bronze, the grounds were built atop a hill at the far edge of a dark and misty forest overlooking a small field that ran wild with various kinds of flowers.
Seon was radiant, her golden hair and pale blue eyes marked her as being of mixed royal blood. She came as an envoy of the Hwa to the Yuge Clan, bearing an invitation to a banquet that was to be held in honor of the recent marriage of Injin Mu, the Wise Master who would go on to become one of the greatest swordsmen every produced by the prestigious Hwa Clan.
At least that was common the trajectory of his life in Fen Sha's experience.
Huh? Injin Mu never married… he had a secret but short lived romance with the Magistrate of Goh's daughter, but he never married anyone in all 621 of my previous lives.
Fen's mind raced as he heard the news. He had been carrying water back to the temple, considering whether or not to burn the place down when the envoy from the Hwa arrived.
When the envoy and her small escort of Hwa guards arrived, dressed in the pale blue robes of the Hwa Clan, Fen came to the temple with the other acolytes and lined up along the sides of the temple's main hall as the envoy entered and gave her invitation to the Clan Master, Oma Yuge, by hand.
Many small deviations arose in Fen's 600+ lifetimes but the sudden appearance of this unfamiliar woman, the wedding of Injin Mu, and the visit of a Hwa envoy all felt far too unusual for just another common deviation.
I have to investigate… this could lead to something interesting. Fen thought to himself playfully. The part of him that would normally be concerned about something so, different, had been buried long ago. A flame alit in his eyes like a mad scientist ready to experiment with a new formula.
The next morning, after the Clan Master had bid the Hwa envoys adieu, he was seated in the temple discussing the banquet with the Elders of the Yuge Clan.
It was up to the Clan Master and the Elders to decide who from the Yuge Clan would go to the banquet as representatives. The Yuge was a middle-rank clan and as such could not afford to send an envoy made up of just Wise Masters.
Only high ranking Clans had enough Wise Masters (3) to make up a full attending party without severely weakening their own temple's defenses in the time that they were away. Similarly, it would be difficult for Oma Yuge to leave the temple for such a journey himself.
So it was decided that one of the clan Elders, the Wise Masters who supported the Clan Master in managing and training the rest of the clan, would lead the envoy to the Hwa banquet.
Sending an Elder meant that the Yuge would show more respect to the Hwa and that fewer, lesser skilled members of their clan would needed to be sent to the banquet.
After some deliberation between the elders and master Oma, it was agreed that they'd send Hama Yuge, Oma's adopted younger brother and a clan Elder on the journey. As the leader of the envoy and an elder himself, Hama would be able to choose who went with him to the Hwa.
Having spent the first dozen or so of his lives navigating the politics of the Yuge Clan, Fen knew just the way to get himself assigned to the envoy to the banquet.
Later in the afternoon, once he had completed his tasks as an acolyte, the same tasks he'd completed a million times before, Fen went to the temple's main hall and sat at the altar situated against the back wall.
Hama Yuge, the Elder of the clan assigned to lead the envoy, always prayed before the altar of the clan's patron, Larchela the Mysterious, at the same time every day.
Hama was a generous, forgiving man who often gave assistance to the younger and lower ranked members of the clan, always encouraging them to do their best.
Which meant that he was often unofficially petitioned or sought for guidance by the younger members of the clan.
Fen sat with his legs crossed on the plush red pillow beside Hama Yuge and clasped his hands as he bowed his head before the altar. For the first 100 of Fen's lives, he believed that his power of "immortality" came from Larchela.
Now he laughed at himself internally for such an absurd thought. Larchela was likely more "real" than any other patron. Even if they were, what good would it do them to bestow such a blessing or a curse upon Fen Sha of all people.
Fen looked up at the statue and let his eyes scan over its bronze form for any indication of identity. Larchela the Mysterious was an obscure patron, worshipped only by the Yuge Clan, who was neither male nor female and had no great deeds, feats, or offerings.
Most clans worshipped one of a handful of patrons which meant that many clans shared the same patron even all the way across the country.
"Haven't seen you here before Acolyte." Hama Yuge's gruff, stoic voice resounded in Fen's ears. The Clan Elder which sat beside Fen was a portly, tan skinned man with broad shoulders and a dark, bushy beard that rubbed uncomfortably against his neck.
"Ah, it is my first time. I suppose I needed guidance." Fen's voice was soft in reply.
"Don't we all… tell me child, what is troubling you?" Hama asked, his hands still held tightly together and his head still bowed to the altar.
The elder was a pious man, never allowing himself to break concentration from prayer unless it was to help one of his younger peers.
"I-I'm ashamed to say Elder. It's that woman, the Hwa woman who came here the other day, Seon. I… I find her irresistible." Fen tilted his head slightly and let a solemn expression spread itself generously across his features.
"Oh dear. A woman from another clan stealing the heart of a Yuge boy? I can see how that'd be troubling." Hama replied with a gentle yet unemotional tone.
Did I lather it on too thick? Fen pondered.
There was a short, lingering silence between the two of them until elder Hama spoke with a soft gulp of air beforehand.
"Well, I can't speak for young love and what have you, but I could grant you the chance to see her again, tell her how you feel perhaps?" Hama added after a moment.
Fen's eyes lit up at the clan elder's words.
"Clan Elder… that, that would mean the world to me." Fen replied in as pathetic a voice as he could manage.
"Very well. You're lucky, it seems one of our Junior Masters forgot his training this morning. Put golden horned bee honey in his tea for flavor. I guess he forgot horned bee's honey wreaks terrible pain upon the stomach." Hama explained with a disappointed sigh. "You can take his place in the envoy to the Hwa banquet, I'll see to it once I'm finished here."
"I see… I didn't know that. Thank you, Clan Elder." Fen replied with a careful smirk. "I don't want to disturb your prayer. I'll leave you, Elder." Fen replied.
Elder Hama gave a silent nod in return.
As Fen left the temple and returned to the acolyte housing on the edge of the grounds, he made sure to dispose of the golden horned bee honey bottle in as safe and discreet a way as possible.
Now then, time to get ready. He thought, allowing a mischievous smile to adorn his features.
Glossary
Some chapters will provide a brief glossary section for terms introduced without much, immediate explanation in context. All of the terms will be explained in the novel at some point or will at least have their effects shown directly.
- (1) Province/Provence, administrative region of the Empire similar to states or territories.
- (2) Shen, a spiritual life force energy that can be used to perform mystical and superhuman feats.
- (3) Wise Masters, a rank in the system of Clans, wise masters rank above Junior Masters and below Elders who are themselves either Wise Masters or Ascended Masters.
Thank you for reading Chapter 1 of "The Mad God's Remembrance of Eternal Life," more chapters are on the way soon and I hope to see you there!
-StarFish43, also CyberStarFish43 author of "TMGROEL" or "Immortal Madness."