The Abbot sat on the stone wall waiting for Jax to land in the courtyard.
‘Zuo. Sit, Mingzi,’ he said, brushing the dust away.
Jax sat down beside the Abbot.
‘I see you have heard the call of Peng,’ the Abbot said, his gaze turning in the direction of the lake.
Jax nodded.
‘And I see you have discovered what your Peng mark can help you do.’
‘Yes, Abbot, but why did you call me down?’
‘First you must know who Peng is, and how the two of you are linked.’ The Abbot arranged his patched robes so that they fell loosely to the ground. ‘Peng is a part of Nature,’ he began. ‘He is a creature so powerful he can fill up the whole sky. And yet he can be so small he can sit on a blade of grass without it bending under his weight. He can hold all the oceans of the world in his mouth. And yet fit inside a tiny droplet of water.’
‘No creature in the world can do that!’ said Jax in disbelief.
The Abbot waved his hand towards the sky. ‘But Peng is not from this world, Mingzi.’
‘He doesn’t sound real.’
‘He is as real as those clouds up there, or the mist over the mountains or the tides that come and go across the oceans. When you were a baby, Peng touched you on your palm. Ever since that day, your life has not belonged to you. You have been linked to your destiny, as Peng is linked to his.’ The Abbot smiled affectionately. ‘You are like two strands of twisted rope, one from the stars, the other from the earth. You give each other strength. You, Mingzi, are the new Peng Master, and the creature in the lake, the new Peng.’
‘But what does a Peng Master do?’ asked Jax.
‘You and Peng will balance the violence in Nature. The reason why there have been so many bad storms of late is because Nature is tilted too far one way. The previous Peng has died, and the last Peng Master is old. Humans, too, have been treating the earth carelessly, greedily. So the two of you must calm Nature’s spirit, as humans must also calm theirs. You must bring back the balance between Yin and Yang. That is why you were brought to Whispering Cloud Monastery.’
‘But I wasn’t brought here, I came here by accident.’
The Abbot smiled. ‘What did you call your little dog?’
‘My dog?’ Jax was confused by the question. ‘I… um… called her Ruby.’
‘Ah… yes, Ruby.’ The Abbot’s eyes misted.
‘What’s the matter, Abbot?’
‘Ruby used to live here before I sent her to you. She was the one who guided you here to Whispering Cloud Monastery.’
Jax was speechless. He could hardly believe it. Ruby, the Abbot’s dog?
‘Can you see now how everything is interconnected, Mingzi? Peng has such great power that a Peng Master needs incredible strength to withstand him. That is why you had to come here. To train your body and your mind in readiness to become the new Peng Master.’
Jax stared out over the courtyard. The other monks had come out to practise, but Jax was hardly aware that they were there. He was deep in thought. It was all becoming clear now. Everything that had happened in his life, all the frustration and the sadness and the loneliness of it, had been leading him to this moment.
Jax turned to the Abbot. ‘And what of the old Peng Master?’ he asked, softly. He looked deep into the Abbot’s eyes then reached for the old man’s left hand and turned it over. There, lying in the Abbot’s palm, was the same creature mark as his own.
‘Yes, Mingzi, I am the old Peng Master. In fact, the last one in a long line of Peng Masters stretching back one thousand years that served the old Peng. Now a new Peng has been born, and so, with you, Mingzi, a whole new cycle begins.’
Jax ran his finger over the small creature in the Abbot’s palm. And as he did, he saw, in a series of flashes, the Abbot as a young man, the Abbot as a child, and the Peng that once had touched him long ago. He saw other Peng Masters going way back through time, struggling to keep the balance between Yin and Yang. And in that one moment, Jax understood the great power and responsibility he possessed. This new knowledge was like a growing wave, surging to its height then breaking over him, giving him new strength.
He looked up at the Abbot. ‘I feel ready to meet Peng,’ he said, his eyes clear and bright.
‘I know. It is time,’ the Abbot replied. ‘But let me tell you this first. You and Peng are still both young and inexperienced. You have not yet developed to your full potential. Usually there are small storms you can practise on, but I’m afraid that there is no time.’ The Abbot’s eyes grew suddenly intense. ‘Mingzi, you must leave Whispering Cloud Monastery tonight.’
‘Tonight! But that’s too soon!’
‘The silver wind approaches at great speed. As it travels over the sea, it gathers more and more power. If it is not stopped, it will soon reach land and cause great destruction. That is why I had to summon you here so quickly. You and Peng must go out and meet the silver wind. You will not be able to overcome it, but you might be able to weaken it.’
Jax felt the incredible responsibility of being a Peng Master weighing heavily on his mind. But his life up to this point had always been like a big jigsaw puzzle with thousands of broken pieces. Now, for the very first time, the pieces were coming together. He could feel something huge growing inside him as if Peng had entered his body and they had become one. Jax was on a mountain top, ready to fly.