Wei Feng 18 - Folk Tale - The tale of the Jade Beauty and the Boy with a hole in his heart
A Folk tale of the Virtuous Flipper region
The tale of the Jade Beauty and the Boy with a hole in his heart
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The tale of the Jade Beauty and the Boy with a hole in his heart
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Once upon a time, in a village far away, there lived a little girl.
She was fair of face, and strong of mind.
She had the grace of a dancer, and the wit of a philosopher.
She was blessed by the heavens with astonishing talent and beauty.
Soon enough, her talent was recognised by a wandering cultivator, who knew the girl to have been blessed.
He took her away to the land of immortals, where she grew up strong and powerful and beautiful as the dawn. Many sought her attention, but she refused them all. For her heart had been captivated long ago by a little village boy. One day, she knew, it was their destiny to meet again.
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Once upon a time, a little boy was born with a hole in his heart. A tiny, tiny hole, almost un-noticeable.
He grew up with a loving family and made many friends among the village children. Among them was a girl, fair of face and strong of wit. As they grew, he fell in love with the girl, and desired with all his heart to have her.
Yet the girl was blessed by the heavens. And when she was found by a wandering cultivator and taken away to the lands of the immortals a pit opened up in the boy's heart.
He lived, adrift and mourning for the life he had dreamed of, until one day he found a peculiar ring. This ring was haunted by a powerful spirit, who offered the boy a way to become an immortal cultivator and see all his dreams come true, if only the boy would help the spirit free itself.
Almost without thought, the boy agreed, and the spirit began to teach him. The boy grew in power swiftly, able to match those who had trained for years in the space of months. But he knew if he wanted to achieve his goal and find the girl he could not languish here.
The boy took all his savings and set off for the Immortal world.
Upon the road, he met an injured man on the side of the road. Without thought, the boy offered his help, but the man was really a powerful bandit. He struck out at the boy and when all was said and done, the boy was left for dead on the side of the road, with nothing but the clothes on his back.
And the hole in the boy's heart grew a little wider.
Many months later, the boy came to the gates of the sect where the girl had gone. Many sought to enter this mighty place, yet few succeeded. But the boy was brave and skilled, and though he had not trained for so long as many he managed to pass the tests and be admitted.
There, he finally saw the girl again, though only from afar. For though he had passed the gates he was still of lowly status, and the girl was a great treasure of the sect. And his heart was gladdened and began to warm again.
But another saw the boy's interest. A young master of the sect, who believed that the girl should be his alone. The young master arranged to train with the boy, and under the guise of a match beat him within an inch of his life, crippling the boy's progress.
And the hole in the boy's heart grew a little wider.
But the spirit of the ring was knowledgeable and powerful, and with its help the boy recovered, determined to grow stronger and avenge himself and see the girl again. He recovered and trained for many months, and finally he cornered his adversary and avenged himself.
But the young master's father was a man of great importance and arrogance. When he discovered what had happened to his son, he grew wroth. He sent the girl away to another sect and enacted his own revenge upon the boy.
The boy, realising that his beloved was gone and that he could not hope to stand up to the father, fled. Yet his enemy never gave up and hounded the boy day and night. The boy could sleep no where in safety, every friend he made betrayed him or died.
And the hole in the boy's heart grew.
Finally, the boy came to a valley of secrets. In it he found great treasures which raised his strength immensely. With these treasures he finally struck down the father and all who had followed him. All the friends who had betrayed him he slew in the name of the friends that had preferred to die.
And the hole in the boy's heart grew.
Many years passed, and the boy faced many more trials, growing in strength all the while. Until finally he met the girl once more. The girl was still strong and brave and witty. As strong as he. And for a time, the boy was happy.
But then once more he looked at the world, and his jaded eyes saw threats and terrors all about him. So once more he sought power from the wise spirit.
The spirit though, had grown weary. It had brought the boy great power, yet the bargain was unfulfilled.
"Have I not given you all the dreams you sought? Give me my freedom, see our bargain done, and I will once more aid your growth."
But the spirits words angered the man. His dreams were not fulfilled. He was still too weak, for it was possible he could still be defeated. In his rage, the man conceived of a new plan. If the spirit would not aid him then he would take the spirits power for himself.
He wove a great ritual, telling the spirit all the while that he was working to free it. And so he did. The ritual enacted, the ring broke and the spirit was freed. But the man had perverted the ritual, the freed spirit was instead damaged and broken down and finally consumed wholesale by the man.
And the hole in his heart was a yawning chasm swallowing all that it could.
Seeing what he had done, the girl grew afraid. She begged him to stop, but the hole in the man's heart was too wide. He would not stop until he could fight all the world if he must. He possessed the girl now, and he would allow nothing to take her from him.
Long years passed, and the man grew stronger, and crueller. He weaved great rituals, and even when the heavens turned against him and rained great lightning upon him, he was unmoved.
Stronger and stronger he grew, until the pursuit of greater strength became all that defined him. He became a monster, that lived in a tomb and could only stand the touch of light for instants in a day.
The girl grew old, her skin lost its shine, and the man grew disgusted by her appearance. His love turned to dust, for her aging showed that she was weak.
Yet still, he would not let her go. For she was his, and he would allow no other to take what was his.
Some say that the monster still lives, slumbering in his tomb beneath the great empty desert. His hunger so great that it drains the very lifeforce from anyone who enters his territory.
Some say too that the girl too still lives, growing more aged, yet the monster grew so strong that he would not allow even death to take her. They say her calls still sing out, warning travellers away from the territory that she is forever trapped in.
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Ah yes. Those backstabbing assholes. Not like we've never put a knife in someone's spine, right?
