Wang Fei's Disciple

"To Grow Plants" Chapter 5

After Nia's eyes got used to the bright light she could see that she was in a long rectangular room. The light seemed to be coming from the ceiling of the room and when it touched her skin it was pleasantly warm. The floor had paths that wove around beds of strangely pale plants of all kinds. Some where as high as her shoulder and others where only the length of her thumb. Some had wide leaves and others leaves were narrow. Wang walked over to the far end of the room where he used a chant to move some water over and above the plants then turned into a mist that drifted down onto them. As it did the light from the ceiling shone through the it creating a faint rainbow. 

He picked up a few things from a shelf and slowly moved around plucking produce from some plants and stirring the soil around others. He put the produce into the satchel and made his way over to Nia who was looking around in amazement. When he neared her he handed her a small sack, and told her to follow him. They walked over to the far end of the room there some of the ground was not planted. The soil was soft but it was a brownish gray, Nia realized that nothing in this place had much color but it all seemed to be a variation of white or gray. That is certainly strange, she thought I wonder if it is caused by being so far from the surface. Although this thought made sense it didn't quite explain everything. Shaking her head she saw that Wang had begun taking some seeds from another small sack in his hands and planting them after he placed each one he would chant. 

"Small seed grow and thrive,

until the time for harvest does arrive."

When he had finished planting one row he turned to Nia. "Your turn" He then showed her how deep to press the seed into the soil. When she had finished planting two rows Wang moved over to the wall where a shallow trough of water sat. He brought some water over and handed some to Nia then he stretched his hand out towards a row of seeds and chanted.

"Water over each seed fall,

quench its thirst as it calls." 

When he finished chanting the water in his hand separated and moved to hover over top of each seed for a moment before falling. Wang then looked at Nia and motioned for her to do the same with another row. When she had finished the chant the water in her hand grew to twice its original size. Wang who was watching then said, "Nia concentrate and repeat after me."

"Oh Water shrink and become still,

only a little and the seeds have their fill." 

After Nia obeyed the water that by now had grown to three times its original size trembled and stopped. Before slowly retreating until only enough was left to water the seeds remained. When she was done watering both rows. Wang taught her what chant to use to make sure the soil had everything it needed to make the seeds flourish.

By the time they were finished and left the tunnel the sun was high in the sky although it was warm it did nothing to move the mist that always covered the lower parts of the gorge. Sometimes the mist would rise and creep up the gorge walls. But it never came close to the hut or its surroundings. 

A few months later while Nia sat in the courtyard watching the mist that had risen quite far up the gorge walls. She spotted a small brown bird dart down towards the mist with a small hawk chasing it. The bird hesitated for a moment just above the mist but then it vanished downwards. The hawk circled a few times before flying away. Nia then saw the small bird burst forth from the mist, it flopped awkwardly towards the ground. Landing a few feet from where she sat, it took hopped a several times flapping its wings as if trying to fly. Then it stumbled a few more paces before it seemed to calm down, it then laid down and tucking its head under its wing it appeared to fall asleep. How odd thought Nia, wild birds don't normally fall asleep out in the open. She got up and moved silently moved closer. Soon she was near enough to touch its feathers, yet it never moved. Then as she watched the small birds feathers started turning gray, astonished Nia's eyes widened. When the entire bird was no longer brown she looked closer and saw that the color hadn't been draining from it but that the bird had been turned to stone. Shocked Nia jumped back and turning she hurried away to look for Wang. 

She came back with Wang in tow and Nia showed him the bird that had turned stone. He bent down and gently picked up the poor creature. Sighing softly he turned, "Its the Stone Mist it seeps from the ground near the other end of the gorge. It builds up and overflows when it reaches the lowest part of the gorge wall."

Nia stared at him stunned at the amount of words that flowed from his soft pale pink lips. Only when he had turned around and started walking away did she snap out of her daze and hurried to catch up to him. 

Wang walked past the left side of the house and there behind a large bolder. Nia saw a small marked out plot of ground. It looked similar to the one she found near the beginning of the path. But this one had stone birds and the other held stone women. Wang gently set the small bird down in a clear spot. Then he closed his eyes, Nia hurriedly followed suit. After a few moments he spoke in the deep soft voice of his. "Rest well small friend." 

That evening Wang told her he had to leave the next morning and that he would be back in a month or two. Nia was surprised but by now she had a pretty good grasp of the basics needed to keep the hut and garden running smoothly. When Nia woke up the next morning and opened the door between her room and the rest of the hut she didn't see Wang anywhere. She moved around gathering the ingredients for breakfast. After she finished washing her dish and spoon Nia opened the door and walked out onto the courtyard. As she looked over the gorge she breathed in the fresh morning air setting her mind on what was next she started the first day of being on her own.