Beyond the Heavens

BEYOND THE HEAVENS PROLOGUE Over two thousand years ago, the Kingdom of Lixin faced a terrifying drought. Located far away from other civilizations, situated between a desert and a forest, the Lixin Kingdom couldn't defend itself against this crisis. The Rong River, which had existed long before the population settled there, dried up for the first time, shocking all the inhabitants. In the face of this major crisis, the people became increasingly agitated: some tried to find water from other kingdoms, others panicked and left the Lixin Kingdom in search of a more prosperous place, and finally, the rest of the population submitted complaints and requests to the King. One by one, all three paths of the people proved to be futile. Those who sought water from other kingdoms encountered two problems. The first was that most kingdoms rejected the inhabitants of the Lixin Kingdom, fearing that such a drought would affect them too, and if they provided water, there would be too little left for them to survive. The second problem was that even though a few kingdoms were willing to help the people of Lixin, given the vast distance between kingdoms, there was no way to transport the water. The journey to other kingdoms took from around ten days to even two months if done on foot, and if done on horses, the time would be halved. However, even if the king sent some servants on horses, how would they return with the water? Moreover, they would have to travel for days or months through the desert. Food might have been enough for everyone to reach their destination, but water certainly wouldn't. Therefore, seeing the failure of this first solution, some residents packed their belongings and, holding their children or the elderly by the hand, set out in search of a new kingdom to settle in. Unfortunately, they started much too late and in unfavorable conditions, so not having enough water to hydrate due to the drought, and with the desert temperatures being too high, their end was inevitable. The people remaining in the Lixin Kingdom, realizing that the first two paths had failed, became increasingly agitated. Complaints and requests were constantly submitted to the King, but being the first time in history that King Lin Chen faced such a situation, he was equally powerless in the face of the drought. At the same time, his wife, Queen Lin Mei, carried an heir in her womb. Her pregnancy was quite advanced when the drought problem was first noticed. However, as happy as the residents of the Lixin Kingdom were on the day it was announced that the King would have an heir in less than a year, now, just a few weeks or even days before the birth of the child, the people no longer showed the same interest. The initial joy turned into hatred, and some residents had even started spreading a rumor about the child in Queen Lin Mei's womb. "Bringer of misfortune" or "the kingdom's bad luck" were some of the expressions used whenever the unborn heir was mentioned. With the spread of the rumor, people began to fear that the birth of the heir would bring dark days to the kingdom in the future and an even greater disaster than the current drought. But King Chen, who eventually heard the rumor, enraged by what he heard, ordered the instigators of the rumor to be executed on the spot, and those who spread it further to have their tongues cut out. However, even with this measure taken, the rumor had already spread throughout the Lixin Kingdom, and now it could not be erased from the minds of the people. Facing both the drought on one hand and the birth of his heir and the surrounding rumor on the other, King Chen entered a great impasse for the first time in his life. He had not yet found a solution to the drought, and more than two weeks had passed since the Rong River dried up. Water supplies decreased every day, citizens continued to file constant complaints, and some became aggressive, attempting to start a rebellion several times. His wife's condition worsened due to the high temperatures in the kingdom, and the life of his heir was endangered. Two days before the birth of the child, King Chen decided to pray, feeling that this was the only option left. All seven existing kingdoms at that time revered a god. The Mozhong Kingdom revered the goddess Ma Bo. The Xianzou Kingdom revered the god Peng An. The Gonginyi Kingdom revered the god Xiang Li. The Lingxue Kingdom revered the goddess Qian Wen. The Xuande Kingdom revered the god Guo Lin. The Jinxue Kingdom revered the goddess Lee Ren. Finally, the Lixin Kingdom revered the god Zhu Shen. Once a year, King Chen held a grand festival in honor of the god Zhu Shen, called the Guāng¹ Festival or the Festival of Lights. During this festival, all citizens of the Lixin Kingdom had the tradition of gathering in groups to pray in front of the statues of the god Zhu Shen, and to light up all the lights in their homes and illuminate the roads with various decorations. It was believed that the more illuminated the kingdom was, the easier it would be for the god Zhu Shen to see his devotees and bless them. However, apart from his annual participation in that festival, King Chen did not usually pray to the god Zhu Shen, although he believed in him and respected him. Instead, his wife prayed to him every morning, but with her condition worsening lately, the Queen had not been able to carry out this habit. Behind the doors of the Lixin Kingdom Temple, the King knelt down, as he used to do when he was a child, and with trembling hands, he pushed the tray of fresh fruits and flowers at the feet of the imposing statue of the god Zhu Shen. The statue was of astonishing height and had been built at the beginning of the Lixin Kingdom. Carved from the stone of Mount Yu² by the best sculptors of that period and polished by the most careful hands to ensure an impressive smoothness, the statue of the god Zhu Shen measured twenty chi³, almost reaching the ceiling of the Temple and competing with the height of the other statues of the gods revered by the other kingdoms. King Chen bowed his head until it touched the cold surface of the floor, then began to pray for the health of his wife and child, for the resolution of the drought problem, and for the cessation of the rumor surrounding his unborn heir. But of all his pleas, one of them was heard by the god Zhu Shen. "I beg you... please, bless my wife and me with a miracle. Please, attach a miracle to the birth of this child. Please, turn the birth of this child into a miracle for the Lixin Kingdom." That night, King Chen prayed constantly, rising from his knees only in the late morning of the next day to see his wife. Who would have expected that Queen Mei would begin to show signs from that moment that the child was about to be born? The birth of the heir of the Lixin Kingdom had been planned before the Queen even became pregnant. In those moments, every servant in the palace knew what to do. The royal couple's room was soon filled with serving women who were to assist the Queen, and the Royal Physician. King Chen found himself obliged to give them priority and anxiously left the room. Unfortunately, given Queen Mei's condition, the birth was prolonged. It wasn't until midnight that the cries of the child were heard, and the royal physician joyfully confirmed the birth of a healthy baby girl along with the good condition of the queen. Princess Lin Su came into the world. But when the King entered the room to meet his child, a thunder shook the entire palace, and the cries of the baby intensified. "Your Majesty, it's raining!" the Royal Physician exclaimed in shock. Indeed, a heavy rain descended upon the entire kingdom, as if by miracle. At that moment, King Chen fell to his knees and bowed three times, crying tears of joy. The god Zhu Shen granted his request. Footnotes: ¹„Guāng" or * (chinese) means „light". ²A sacred mountain located in the western part of the Lixin Kingdom. ³1 chi = 35 cm, therefore the statue of god Zhu Shen was around 7 meters.