The Immortal Words (The Grave Kingdom), стр. 30
“And what are those?” she pressed.
“Most of them can only be used by those who have bonded with a phoenix or dragon, although meiwood has a power that spans the worlds. There are many words, and each has a different power. Some are powerful enough to reunite the spirit-soul and the body-soul. The words you used to bring Echion and Xisi back, for example.”
“I don’t know them,” Bingmei said.
He gave her a quizzical look.
“I mean, I drew them, with my finger. But I didn’t know what I was doing. I was compelled.”
“No, you didn’t know what you were doing,” he said, shaking his head. “But you will. This is difficult to explain, but time flows like a river. During our existence, we stand in the current, walking upstream. The water that touches us comes from the future, not the past.”
She looked at him curiously. “But I saw a vision of the phoenix dying. That was in the past. And I also had another vision of the creation of the Death Wall.”
“Yes, those visions were of the past, but not of your past. They were shared with you, at great difficulty, by the spirit of one of the other phoenix-chosen so that you might better understand the dragon. The other visions you’ve experienced were all from your future, Bingmei. Rowen began to understand this. Although he was blind in his visions of the future, he knew he was himself. And, with time, he realized you were the woman he had felt. Like you, he longed to escape his future at first. He wrestled against it for a season. But he came to accept it because he fell in love with you. The phoenix started to teach him because it sensed he was more open to his destiny.”
Juexin’s revelation shocked her. Never once had she suspected her visions were of the future. Although she could still feel a thread connecting her to her body, and an equally strong one connecting her to Rowen, she’d thought she was dead for good. That her body would either stay dead or serve as some sort of vessel for the phoenix.
Could she have a future in the mortal world? With Rowen?
“But I don’t understand,” she said. “I’m dead, Juexin. I gave up my life. Isn’t that what was expected of me?”
He shook his head slowly, and she smelled a gust of sympathy from him. “You needed to die, Bingmei, in order to come to Tian. It had to be done willingly, or you would have ended up in Diyu as one of Echion’s many slaves. The only place you could learn about your destiny is here. Rowen would not speak of his visions with you for fear of spoiling your natural love. Your future lies back in Tianxia. Your work there is not yet finished.”
That news astounded her. “I’ve believed a lie? Is that what you are saying?”
“The phoenix does not lie. The creature is incapable of doing so. No, it was something that could not be explained to you until you experienced it for yourself.” Silence hung between them for a moment, seasoned only by the music of the siskins.
“The times when I’ve felt the magic overwhelm me,” she said as they continued down the beautiful garden path, “were the times when I . . . was helping others. When we escaped after reviving Echion. After the ensign rescued me in Fusang. The magic aided me then. But when I tried to use it for myself, it never came.”
“It is in opposition to the magic that Echion wields,” Juexin said. “A magic he’s cursed so it serves only him and those he permits to use it. He cannot give it up. He cannot let go of it. So he hoards it. Even if he could go back, he would do it all again. There is no remorse in his heart. Only anger and pride.”
“The word ‘pride’ doesn’t begin to do it justice,” she said, again feeling the urge to laugh but not having the ability to do so. Her voice rose slightly, but that was all. How strange it felt.
“Ah, there’s a word. Justice,” Juexin said, looking satisfied. His smell had been so pleasant during their walk, full of comfort and ease, but upon saying that word, it took on a little burnt flavor. The scent of charring meat. “The dragon is meant to embody justice. The symbols you saw when you visited the Grave Kingdom were not put there by Echion. Diyu is intended to be a place of torment, of anguish, of despair, where souls suffer for actions they have committed. They suffer for how they have treated others. When a thief steals from a vendor in Wangfujing and isn’t caught, he feels glee that he has acquired something for nothing by his trickery. But in Diyu, he begins to experience the consequences of what his actions have caused others to feel. He experiences their anger and resentment against him. But that is not all. The criminal also feels the despair of the wronged merchant who works hard to feed his family. He feels the hunger of those he has robbed of food. As his body decomposes in Tianxia, his memory fades of what he’s done, but not the feelings. Ultimately, there will be the Reckoning. When the spirit-soul and the body-soul are reunited again, fused together eternally by the Immortal Words, and then the