Chapter Three

After Changpu had adequately dried out he returned to his grandparents family home. His grandmother questioned him over his bloody lip and ripped shirt, and he promised her to be more careful. She took his shirt to repair, and Changpu felt guilt for causing her further hardship. His grandfather now elderly was bedridden and she spent a lot of her time caring for him as well as Changpu. After dinner and reading a few pages of the newspaper to his grandfather by lantern Changpu finally retired for the night.

That night as Changpu slept a low humming sound began around him in his room. Silver ancient Chinese Characters flickered in and out of appearance. They appeared to have originated from his medallion, then characters formed a silvery door which shone brighter and brighter pulsing until through the silver door stepped what appeared to be an ancient Chinese Mage.

Seeing the medallion on sleeping Changpu the mage knelt and bowed his head saying "Lord Wu!"

The mage then rose and began examining Changpu's room, his school books, walked into his grandparents room, wandered through the village into the ancestral shrine, leaned into the guardian lions ears and spoke a few words to each at which silver characters could be seen floating into them, examined the ancestral tablets and portraits before returning to sleeping boy's side. He looked fondly at the sleeping boy, spoke some silvery characters that floated over and around Changpu's head. Then the portal through which the mage arrived reformed. The mage stepped into the portal and disappeared as if he had never been in Changpu's room at all.

As Changpu slept that night his mind whirred as it updated itself incorporating and improving its processes and adding to it a connection to a mystical world of which he had just become a elite member.

When Changpu woke at precisely dawn, his mind was clear and fresh. He stood in front of his window looking out at the village beyond - somehow the village which had been his complete world was now only a small border of it.