Book,+Chu+Jeng

=Chu Jeng= Book One of the Dragons of Wulin (By Chu Jeng)


 * Chapter 1 Inception**

I was not always a dragon. In the fertile province of Gurin near the region of the five lakes there stood a prosperous village. I was born on a farm near that village into the family of Chu. My father gave me the name, Jeng. The village is gone now, burned by the emporer's troops and the people slaughtered. Folk of the region are forbidden by law to speak the name of my family's village. I speak it now, "Sanjurra." The Dragon's path called me away from that village just before the autumn harvest of my thirteenth year, though I could not have understood it then. It beckoned most cruelly with the murder of my beloved uncle Senji, and that is how the whole thing started. The air was cool with the morning mist not yet burned away by the sun as I walked toward the village with two buckets of yams to trade for wheat flour. I smiled at a memory of wrestling with uncle Senji as I walked past his old farm on my way to the village. My father had many brothers and sisters, most of whom lived at or near the village, but I was an only child. I had hoped to see my favorite uncle in town when i got to the market. He always made it to market before most of the other villagers, setting up the general area for them. The night before, he had promised me a small share in his profits if I stayed to help him for a few hours. It seemed a day like any other sweet autumn day until I neared the town circle where the sellers gathered. Even before I entered the market circle, I know by the noise of the crowd that there had been trouble. One of the village elders shouted above the crowd. It sounded like the old widower and chief of the village elders, Korenda. His deep voice carried a plea accross the angry mob. "No! We must call for a provincial investigator to prosecute this murder, and not let anger rule our decisions." I was instantly saddened and yet curious, in the way that children so often are, to hear that another murder had occurred. I pressed closer to hear the details, and perhaps, get a glimpse. I had never seen a dead man. Another Elder shouted, "No! An investigator will just haul away more of our youth for provincial and imperial service." "Or slavery!" a woman warned, failing to choke back her frustrated sobs. A more youthful voice made its way to the top of the din with, "The foreign Emperor and his puppet regional governors are vampires! We don't want their unholy help! They brought the bandits and warlords with them!" "Down with the Tardor Emperor and up with the old dynasty of the Hahn people!" A teenage voice shouted. His teasonous patriotism frightened most of the crowd into an abrupt hush. Taking advantage of the Sudden quiet, Elder Korenda said, "We are all wounded by the untimely death of one of our most honored villagers. Let us not add more innocent blood to that of our friend Senji by throwing stones at the imperial hornet's nest. Bandits and highway thugs are the enemy. It is foolish to word-stab at the Warlords, Governors, and Emperor"

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