The Kingdom of Roses

15

Weaving a Web

The Tiānshǐ now regularly drew the Heaven Bow, and many of them were able to strike the bullseye of a full moving target. It was to Jiàn Shēng’s chagrin as each success magnified his own failure. It was not something beyond his capacity to rectify either. It was merely his own unwillingness to let go of what should not have entered his heart and mind.

‘I tried to appeal to her eyes, but she would not even glance at my form or my face no matter what I did. I tried to appeal to her desires, giving her the best of treasures and gifts, but they were nothing to her. She only has eyes for him, and in those eyes I see her desire is for him alone. How can I win her heart?’ he mulled to himself as he sat beside the stream in the western realms.

Suddenly, a glimmer of silken spiderweb caught his attention. There were three spiders playing together. They shone in metallic hues of green, copper and red. Each was aiming to get to the center of the web, when a gust of wind caused the copper and red spiders to fall off. The green spider quickly grabbed the copper one with silken thread from its spinneret, leaving the red spider to make its way back on its own. It was all a game for these spiders.

Their webs were not used to catch prey for they did not eat other creatures in the realms. However, they collected dew for drinking and helped the other beings by providing them with their silken threads for making different things.

While spiders are not insects, the same was true of the other insects in the realms. They were creatures of beauty, often in bold metallic colors. The things they did were always beneficial to those that were many times larger than themselves.

Jiàn Shēng watched the spiders as they struggled back. Then with a flick of his finger he sent the red spider flying some distance away from the web and his two friends.

His laugh turned sinister as an idea formed in his mind. ‘Indeed! I must get rid of him one way or another. It cannot be by power as I will not be able to fight one of them, let alone both! It must be by cunning that I must trap him and drive a wedge between both of them.’

‘Since I could not satisfy her desire or the appeal of her eyes, I must win her attention by proving that I am capable of ruling the realms with her. I will rise up and take the throne from him. I will give her the kingdom as a wedding gift. I will go up to the heights of Dàshān and gain for myself a name and honor above every other Tiānshǐ. I will make myself like him so that he will not be missed. Surely, she will desire my beauty and find my splendor to be greater than his. I will cause her to forget him!’ he vowed to himself.

Jiàn Shēng knit his eyebrows as he said aloud, ‘Little by little, I will spin my web and gain the kingdom and the Bride. But first, I will have to gain loyal followers.’

In the eastern realms the King and his beloved were walking hand in hand, with her leaning upon him. Each one’s reflection was in the eye of the other as they looked face to face. They paused for a while under a large fig tree, admiring the verdant valley stretching below them. She turned towards him and traced the outline of his face, pausing at his deep cleft chin. She loved his eyes, soft and gently glowing under his thick lashes. He smiled back at her as he gazed into her star-like eyes with lashes just like his own.

‘Wait here! I want to show you something beautiful,’ he said as he turned around and made his way down a path behind the tree. He had spotted ice roses that had fallen off a plant in the northern realms. They had floated down the river and reached a lake not too far from where the King and Bride were trysting.

Meanwhile, Jiàn Shēng had sensed the presence of the Bride in the eastern realms as he was passing by. He made his way towards the tree where she stood alone. As he landed behind her, she turned around to catch his besotted gaze.

‘Jiàn Shēng! What are you doing here?’ she asked awkwardly.

‘I was just passing by and saw you. I thought you would like some company,’ he replied.

‘The King went down that way to get something. He should be returning soon,’ she said.

‘Oh? What may that be?’ Jiàn Shēng pried.

She nodded her head as she was unaware of what it was the King sought to get for her.

Jiàn Shēng pulled out a many piped flute he had learnt to play. ‘Listen to this music. It may not be as good as Zhì Shēn’s, but it is perfect for this beautiful scene,’ he said as he played a lively tune upon it. The Bride smiled. It was indeed lovely for Jiàn Shēng played from the depth of his soul. He put away the flute when he was done, and they stood quietly gazing upon the valley below. The sound of birds chirping in the distance filled the air.

‘If there was no him, would you choose me?’ he suddenly asked as he turned around to face her.

She was startled, but she quickly regained herself and replied firmly, ‘If there was no him, there will be no me.’

Jiàn Shēng frowned slightly, ‘How about now? If he left you, then would you pick another to be by your side?’

‘Jiàn Shēng, why do you still trouble yourself over this?’ she asked him. ‘Such matters are not to be played with. I will not even consider options like those you have mentioned. We are one, the realms are held together because of our union.’

Just then, Jiàn Shēng spotted the King making his way back towards the tree. He was prepared with his plot to drive a wedge between them. Without warning, he pulled the Bride into a tight embrace and kissed her without pretending that it was an accident. She was shocked and unprepared just like Zhì Shēn was when Jiàn Shēng cast the entombing enchantment upon him after striking him on the head.

Before she could struggle to get away, the King was beside them. He pulled her into his arms, his eyes blazing with jealous fury as he pushed Jiàn Shēng away ever so slightly yet causing the latter to fall over.

His voice was cold as ice as he spoke, ‘You have crossed the line. Will you even force yourself upon my beloved and molest the Queen in my presence? You will pay for this.’

Before Jiàn Shēng could respond, the King disappeared with his beloved held closely in his embrace as if he were shielding her from further insult.

‘So much for that! He did not even get upset with her or suspicious of her. I only got myself into trouble. I have to make haste and give wings to my other plot now before he takes action,’ Jiàn Shēng thought as he realized his idea to cause a wedge in their relationship had just failed.

Back in Méiguī shān the King tenderly wiped the lips of his beloved. ‘Did he hurt you?’ he asked as he gazed upon her face with deep love and concern. She shook her head in response.

‘I could have dealt with him,’ she spoke.

‘Yes, I know. But I was provoked to jealousy and there was no way I would allow him to get away with what he did,’ the King replied.

‘I think we should do what we did not do before,’ she said softly as she was troubled deeply within her spirit.

‘Look into his thoughts?’ the King asked. She nodded in the affirmative.

They had the power to know all thoughts, but they had never used it. They wanted their created beings to have the freedom to keep their own thoughts and share as they felt the need. This was an act of divine restriction they exercised. This time, they knew they had to exercise their power for the good of all life in the realms.

They held their hands and gazed into each other’s eyes. The power of omniscience was unleashed from their eyes. It swirled around them like a pillar of light and wind in seven distinct twists from the ground upwards like the funnel of a tornado. In those swirls, all of Jiàn Shēng’s thoughts from the time of his creation, past, present and future were seen together by them.

She blushed at many of his unclean thoughts towards her and acts with the Red Phoenix, while the King grew more infuriated, his eyes blazing like embers. When all of it was laid bare before them, the wind and light subsided, and the King pulled his beloved into a tight embrace unwilling to lose her.

After what seemed a long while, she broke the silence, ‘We must make counterplans. There can be no delay,’ she said.

He nodded in agreement and both of them opened a portal into which they entered. The twenty-four dimensions of a board of Zhànlüè was before them, except this was no game. It contained all the possible choices and consequences of strategic moves they could take with courage, caution, and wisdom. As they walked through each dimension and path, new doors presented themselves revealing new choices and outcomes.

There was a door to the north of the board that was closed, and the Bride kept tugging at her beloved to move him towards it. However, he kept avoiding it and insisted on opening every other possible door first. She smiled and there was a hint of sadness in it.

‘You know you cannot avoid it. The only straight path lies behind that door and that is the one which we will both have to walk,’ she whispered to him.

‘If there is a better way, I would rather take it. I do not even want to consider what is behind that door!’ he said firmly as he drew her towards another door away from the one even he knew was the only way forward.

After they had exhausted every choice and seen what was behind each door in the twenty-four dimensions of possible strategies, they were finally left with the unopened door. She looked at him and smiled sadly yet again. He sighed and held her hand more tightly as they pressed forward into the unlocked gloom behind it.

After some time had elapsed, they emerged out of the portal and were back in the familiar beauty of Méiguī shān.

‘Well..’ she started only to have him place a finger upon her lip and reply, ‘I will not hear it!’

‘But you must,’ she replied. ‘It is not for both our sakes but for the life of all we love in the realms. They did not ask that we bring them into existence. Yet, we did. Now, we are the ones who must ensure their lives and safety at all cost, even if the ones who pay the price will be us,’ she said firmly.

‘I am willing to pay any price, even with my own life. It is just that I cannot accept involving you in it,’ he replied despondently.

‘What other options do we have?’ she asked. ‘Look, we have seen what will happen if we just end it now. We can destroy him with one word. The result? All the living beings will fear us more than love us, and our rule will be as one of absolute control in their eyes. Perfect love casts out fear. They have not seen what we have, and we cannot blame them for their fear. They must see for themselves that his way will only lead to destruction.’

‘We must also exercise grace towards all those who will follow him. Till the time given to them runs out, let them have the chance to turn things around. They must still have a holding place once they leave these realms,’ she continued.

‘You saw the outcome. Must we go down this path of pain?’ he asked.

‘We must give them choice, even if that means they will make bad ones,’ she sighed knowing what the consequences would be. ‘And it has to be me. Only I can push this plan forward because he desires me. It is after all expedient for one to suffer on behalf of the many,’ she said.

The king looked at her distraught. ‘Will you really abandon me? I cannot bear the thought of being separated from you!’ he whispered as he pulled her close to himself.

‘I am the guardian of your life and the life in all the realms. That is another reason, it has to be me,’ she replied with a joyful smile. ‘I do not desire to abandon you, but we must be separated for a while. I entrust my life to you. You have your own role to play in this. I have full faith that you can find me and bring me back when the fullness of time in the new realm dawns.’

‘The mortal beings of red earth will be weak, easily swayed and have short memories on account of the matter with which they are made,’ he said.

‘That is perfect is it not?’ she replied. ‘Let us bring forth from their weakness, strength that rivals that of the Tiānshǐ and from their foolishness, wisdom that confounds the wisest beings in the heavens. He will underestimate the earthen vessels and what they are capable of bearing. They will bear both of us as hidden treasures within them. We will be their life, their breath, their wisdom, and their strength.’

‘They will suffer injustices on account of the twenty-four realms. We will share in their sufferings and lay down our power so that in saving the twenty-four realms, we will also save and make the realm of mortals, part of the heavenly kingdom. We will gift them immortality and restore them to their dead when the evil days have passed, and true judgments have been given,’ the King determined.

The Bride added, ‘To counter the short memories of mortals, we must hide trail markers in their world and stories. Let them carry our memories and love story for us till the time comes for them to be retrieved. Let these trail markers guide our hearts back to each other. Scattered in their collective consciousness and wisdom, gathered in specific ones we designate, they will act as jolts to revive us to our true identities when we enter their realm.’

That day the King and His Bride laid down battle plans even before war began, considering the life of every being and especially the as yet unformed mortal ones. At the same time, Jiàn Shēng plotted elaborately in gaining followers, the throne and the Bride. All that remained to be witnessed was who had weaved a better web.