The Heartless Mage Chapter 01

Chapter 01: The Origin of the Mage

The Heartless Mage never ages and never dies.

It sounds like he’s a god, but he doesn’t have any powers. He just never ages and never dies. Like a mundane, he eats when he’s hungry, he drinks when he’s thirsty, he put on layers when he’s cold and he rests when he’s tired. In this unanchored life of wandering, the most important thing for him is to find ways to live. Of course, not eating, drinking, and sleeping will not kill him; at most he would slowly turn into a living corpse and he would just wait patiently at a desolate place for an opportunity to seek for food. For him, the eternal lasting sensation of cold and hunger is so unbearable that it was a torture akin to descending into hell.

Mage Wu’xin does not know where he came from and where he should go. He doesn’t remember the long past too clearly anymore. It’s like he has fallen in the human realm yesterday, but no one had bothered to care about him when he arrived on land. He cannot create life nor can he die, he doesn’t have a soul or a spirit—all he has is an immortal body.

Because his hair can only grow to the length of an eyelash, he spends most of his time living as a monk. Living as a monk was nice because it was better than doing hard labor. He claims that he knows how to chant mantras, foretell fortunes, looking at feng-shui, expelling demons and capturing ghosts. Of those tasks, being able to chant mantras and expelling demons and ghost were true. However, his fortune-telling was complete bogus and his feng-shui readings were even more of a sham. Despite so, these skills of his allowed him to live for thousands of years. After all these years of living, he began to detest it and did not want to live.

Mage Wu Xin’s outer appearance was quite decent; he had fair skin, dark eyebrows, and deep set eyes. Because of his lack of will to live, his gaze had a melancholic attraction to it. He himself thinks that he is handsome, but it was hard to find love because he did not have a home, a history, a family or relatives, and he was poor. Based off these traits, it makes him only suitable for marrying into a girl’s family. However, his secret can only be kept for so long. A son-in-law that never ages is more than enough to frighten his in-laws. Furthermore, it doesn’t take a long time of living together to bring suspicion in the family and wreak havoc in the household.

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Wu Xin loves being close to people and he wants to find a girl to accompany him. In the end, when his guise began to deteriorate, people saw him as a demon and on several occasions, they would beat him up and burn him at a stake. The sensation of being burned and being beaten was painful. He was heart-broken and he also feared pain, so he slowly left populated areas and continued being a wandering monk.

It was approximately in the Tong Zhi period (mid-1800s) when Mage Wu Xin fell into the river of love. A seventeen-year-old girl fell in love with him, and even after finding about his secret, she still loved him. Mage Wu Xin was so ecstatic at that moment, he tore off his monk robe and secularized himself. He even tucked a queue braid at the back of his hat to fit in. He lived with his wife in the city for fifteen years and his young wife has aged into an older sister, so they moved to Zhi Li. They spent another fifteen years in Zhi Li, and his wife now looked like his mother. After becoming aware of the neighbor’s gossips, Mage Wu Xin brought his wife into the mountains and lived together in that secluded area. In the end, his wife died of old age without any illnesses; her death was silent and tranquil. With tears in his eyes, Wu Xin made a wooden coffin and on the day that he buried her, he crouched in front of her grave and used the handkerchief that she left behind to cover his eyes.

He was actually fine whether he had eyes or not. From every inch of his skin, he can perceive colors, light, air and wind. When he raised his hand up and moved it, his wife’s spirit intertwined with his fingers like a soft summer wind.

“Yu Er, go on”, he continued to mutter, “thank you for using your life to accompany me, thank you.”

The summer wind slowly disappeared, but the old handkerchief continued to aspirate Yu’Er’s breath. Mage Wu Xin’s life in the mountain was really poor. His usual clothing was so battered that it cannot be worn anymore so he took out his old monk robe and wore it. The heat of the warm afternoon sun made his body feel ticklish, almost as if Yu Er has reached out with her aging hands and gently caressed his head.

He finished the last bit of mixed noodles left in the house, but Mage Wu Xin still could not fight off his hunger so he decided to leave the mountain and find some work.

Initially, when he went to the mountains, Emperor Xuan Zhi did not abdicate his throne yet; however, after asking around, he found out that the Republican China had several succeeded presidents already. Sitting on the side of the street, he set up a fortune-telling stall so he can make a bit of money to buy some steam buns to eat. But then when people on the streets saw his young-looking face, they all thought he was just a youngster that wouldn’t know how to tell fortunes.

Without any business, Mage Wu Xin decided to go catch demons and ghosts. But this town was so peaceful that there weren’t any supernatural creatures. He was left with no other choice, so he resisted his hunger and began his journey towards a nearby county. Half-way there, he surprisingly found a companion.

The companion was a seventeen-year old girl whose surname was Li and name was Yue’Ya. Yue ‘Ya was pretty; her curvy shoulders flowed like water, and her waist was willow slim. Her body was better looking than her face, but of course her face was still good looking. Her eyes shone brightly and her hair was tied in a long braid. Yue Ya ran away from her house because her parents wanted to give her away to their usurer to become his eighth mistress. Their usurer was already 62 years old— half of his face was covered in wrinkles, the other half was pockmarked and his mouth was filled with what looked like yellowed horse teeth.  Yue Ya couldn’t sit there and wait to be married off, so when night fell, she packed her bag and ran away.

Yue Ya’s family was from the country side, so the females in her family did not have to bind their feet. She was used to doing house chores so she was in good health and had large feet which made running easy for her. Hazy light shown through the early morning and there were only two people on the road headed to town. Yue’ya was well prepared to travel since she had a small steamed cornbread to eat while she walked. Wu Xin followed her from behind but because he hasn’t eaten food for several days, he was salivating; if he could, he would steal the bread from her right now.

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In the end he didn’t have to steal it from her because shortly after noticing that he was staring at herself, she split the cornbread in half and passed it to him, “Master, eat some.”

It has been so long since Wu’xin disguised as a monk that he almost forgot who Buddha was. He smiled at Yue’ya and stuffed the cornbread into his mouth. Yue’ya glanced at him and promptly turned away to continue walking forward. For some unknown reason, her heart drenched with sympathy.

Shortly afterwards, she laughed at herself thinking that she is barely able to take care of herself right now and yet she has the time to sympathize a passerby.

Wu’xin wolfed down the cornbread and his insatiate tongue tried to lick away at the crumbs on his lips. He hastened his pace to catch up to Yue’ya and began to speak, “Thank you, Miss.”

Yue’ya focused on walking straight ahead, and spoke as she walked “There’s a temple at the top of the mountain that’s outside of Wen County, there’s quite a few number of monks there and they all seem well fed. You can go ask them, if they take you in, then you would have a place to stay, wouldn’t you?”

Wu’xin understood her kind intentions so he felt more comfortable and close with her. “Miss, do you plan to go to the Wen County?”

Yue’ya looked straight ahead and hesitantly nodded her head. What can she do after arriving at Wen County? The answer was unknown to herself.

Wu’xin continued, “I’m going to the Wen County too. The County is pretty big so I am certain that I can make some money. When I have enough money, I will definitely invite you to eat a feast at a restaurant.”

Originally, Yue’ya was worried to death, but suddenly hearing Wu’xin making such promise, she couldn’t help to feel astounded, “You’re a monk and you want to eat at a restaurant?”

Wu’xin stared at Yue’ya and didn’t know how to respond to her so he just smiled.

Yue’ya has one positive attribute: no matter how worried she feels, after a minute or two passes, she will come up with a resolution so she never had to suffer for long. She’s a penniless girl; if she returned home she would have to marry that old man but if she ran away, there’s no place for her to go. No matter how she thinks about her situation, there’s no bright pathway for her to take. To make matters worse, a weird sympathetic monk is following behind her. The monk’s silly demeanor was very attractive which make her heart wrench painfully. Why does is hurt? It’s hard to say. But the conclusion is that she’s worried to death right now.

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Once she had the thoughts of death in her mind, she stopped caring about everything. As she walked, she confided all of her frustrations to Wu’xin. Wu’xin tilted his head and earnestly listened to her talk. By the time that she finished talking, the two arrived at the gate of the Wen County.

At this time, the morning was bright already and people were walking in and of the city gates while looking astonished at this odd pairing of a young girl and a monk. Yue’ya didn’t want to live anymore so she temporarily gave up her need for pride.  Wu’xin, on the other hand, did not care the slightest bit and said to Yue’ya, “It’s unnecessary.”

Yue’ya lived in the countryside since she was ten, so her mind and appearance had the imprints of being a country girl, “Wad ya mean by that?”

Wu’xin pulled out an old handkerchief from his sleeves to cover his eyes and tied the ends of the blindfold at the back of his head. He took a step forward and replied without even looking back at her, “It’s unnecessary to die, and it’s unnecessary to worry.”

Yue’ya chased after him, “You have eyes but you don’t use them, what trick are you trying to pull?”

Wu’xin carefully evaded a rock in front of his feet and replied in a soft voice, “I’m looking for the pathway to fortune. You don’t have money, and nor do I, if I don’t do anything, when it comes to afternoon, we will have to starve again!”

Yue’ya quickly responded, “I have a piece of cornbread left in my bag, we can share half-half so that can cover for our lunch--- hey, walk slowly, there’s a sewage hole in front of you!

Wu’xin ignored her. The long and soft sleeves of his monk outfit was covering his hands. He walked slowly in a direction opposite to morning wind. The bright glimmers and wisps of souls and spirits suddenly appeared in front of him. Only with his eyes closed can he see how crowded the human realm is. Unknowing how long he walked like this, he suddenly closed his fingers tightly into his palm and he clenched his hands into a fist. A sliver of sinisterly cold wind brushed passed his nose. 

There is no such thing as a dead end. The Wen County did not disappointed him. He removed the handkerchief from his eyes and turned his head to the side and discovered that Yue’ya was sweating all over from chasing after him. Yue’ya was actually unwilling to run after him; everybody was staring at them like they were crazy, but if she didn’t follow after him, who else could she follow? Yue’ya did not have relatives anymore, even if she had to leave, she would at least give him half of her cornbread before leaving. 

He turned his head and gazed forward. Ahead was a set of extravagant black doors. The doors were shut tightly. He reached his hand out and knocked loudly. 

The contrast of the black door made his hand appear abnormally white. Almost immediately, somebody from behind the door responded, the voice was croaky and tired, “Who is it?”

Wu’xin replied in a strong and clear voice, “A mage!”

A sonorous sound resonated and the door opened. A haggard old man popped his head out from behind the doors, and squinted at Wu’xin with his eyes, “Who?”

Wu’xin placed his hands behind his back, and stared into the old man’s cloudy eyes, “There are ghosts in your house!”

After saying this, the old man immediately shivered. An old hand that looked like a withered tree branch reached out and frantically clasped onto Wu’xin’s monk robe, “Mage, please come in to talk--- no, no, don’t come in. I’ll come out and bring you to find Lord Gu!”

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