Shi Zhen Li's Story

Shi Zhen Li was sleeping peacefully against the side of a laying elephant who was basking in the shade of a huge tree on the bank of a soothing river with its long grey trunk lapped lazily around him like a blanket. The forest was quiet and peaceful, full of tranquility and the echoing sounds of nature. Birds and crickets were chirping and singing. Grasshoppers and dragonflies were buzzing around. Rabbits and squirrels were pouncing about, and everything seemed to be in perfect harmony. Shi Zhen Li was in paradise, literally. He never had to want for anything. The rivers and forests provided everything, and although he was quite primitive and had a simple lifestyle, Li thought of himself as the wealthiest and happiest person in the whole wide world. Life was good, and he lived without care.

Every morning, the 36 year old Asiatic monk would rise at sunrise and sit on the bank of the river to meditate and smile at the rising sun. Then he would wash himself under the freezing cold waterfall, throw on his simple loincloth or plain toga and go to work gathering fruits and vegetables, foraging for edible roots and berries. Some of them, he fed to the birds and animals he encountered, and some of them he ate. He built a small sacrificial altar out of simple flat stones that he had stacked together, and every day he made burnt offerings to the creator using sweet smelling herbs and spices. Li had no real concept of politics or religion, but his instincts told him that there had to be a creator and a higher power beyond what his normal eyes could see. Some people called it God, or Yahweh, while others called it the Force or something else. Li himself just felt it was the entirety of the whole cosmos, and so he never actually gave the higher power a name, as names just seemed too limiting for something so formless, so vast and powerful. He just simply referred to it as the Tao, heavens or universe.

Shi Zhen Li loved the universe with pure empathy. Every single day, without failure, he would take care of the animals and tend to the many sporadic gardens in the forest and open plains. He watered the plants and talked to the flowers, singing to the trees and giving them gift for gift, never taking more than what he absolutely needed. He made time to play with the lions and feed the squirrels, and he would often sing with the birds and socialize with all the other wild animals he came into contact with throughout his day. They were his only family, after all, and the Garden of Eden was their home. Li was born in the garden, or else created. He had no recollection of his parents or how he got there. He grew up in the jungle, far away from human civilization. He had no concept of sorrow, death, sickness, suffering or old age. He had never witnessed it or experienced such a thing for himself. He had spent his entire life in paradise, and was as happy as a pig in mud.

As the carefree monk slept peacefully against his ginormeous grey friend, he suddenly felt a slight tickle in his ear. Shi Zhen Li would grimace slightly and twitch, squirming a bit before falling still again. A moment later, he felt another tickle in his ear, causing the sleeping monk to roll over on one side. But then he felt something heavy resting on his bald head and messing with his scalp. "Tumtu stop that, I'm trying to sleep." Suddenly there was a loud huff as hot moist wind blew against his face. "Tumtu!" the monk wiped his face and opened his eyes. The elephant groaned and let out a strange noise which sounded like a disturbed trumpet, nudging him with its trunk. Li pushed the large mammoth's trunk away from himself before sitting up and wiping his tired eyes, letting out a long yawn as he stretched his arms.

The elephant, apparently named Tumtu, would stand up slowly, causing the sleepy monk to stand on his own two feet. Li took a minute to gather his thoughts and gain awareness before turning to stare at his floppy-eared friend. "What is it boy?" he asked. The gigantic mammal would scrape its paw along the ground, throwing its trunk up in the air as if responding. "Breakfast? But we already had breakfast earlier," Li remarked. Tumtu let out another bellowing groan before stomping his feet and turning around in circles. Shi Zhen Li scoffed and shook his head, rolling his eyes. "I thought you said you were on a diet. You're going to get fat you know," Li commented. Tumtu the elephant apparently understood this statement as he nudged the monk's whole body with his forehead, pinning him against the tree with his tusks while letting out another trumpet-like bellow, this time louder than before.

Shi Zhen Li giggled helplessly, the prickly hairs on Tumtu's forehead tickling him as he pet the elephant's squirmy trunk. "Hahaha fine fine okay okay, I'll get you some melons, sheesh. But then you have to take me to the temple, and no more pit stops until we get there. Promise?" Li placed his hands on his hips and gave the large beast a stern scowling face to face. Tumtu would lick Li's face with his big wet tongue and kneel down on his front legs, lowering his head as if bowing. Shi Zhen Li smiled and hugged Tumtu's big fat giant head before stepping on to his tusks and climbing on to his back. Afterwards, the mammoth would raise his head and stand upright, his large brown eyes seeming happy as can be as he carried the weightless monk through the forest, treading slowly along the dirt pathway along the riverbend, heading towards the mountainside with Li as his passenger.

After a while, the enormous grey elephant Tumtu would leave the remote oasis within the Garden of Eden and head north along the riverbend, carrying the peaceful warrior monk Shi Zhen Li on his back. Li had come from the wild forests and jungles of paradise and was not like the other Edenites who lived in the guarded city walls. Li was from the outskirts of Eden, the vast wilderness which had belonged to no man, but was guarded by angels and cherubim.

But why was he there? Where did he come from, and how did he get there? He had no recollection of his infant years, his early childhood, or either of his parents. It was as if, like Adam and Eve, he just appeared or had been placed in the Garden of Eden, a fully formed and developed human man-child with the ability to learn and speak in common tongue. He had caught glimpses of other human beings before, and had a few brief encounters with them as a teenager, but for a great majority of his life in the forest, Li had never seen another human being. He was raised by animals.

He had heard rumors about the Tree of Life and the infamous Tree of Knowledge, but he had never actually seen them for himself, or attempted to eat their fruits. Eden was a large expanse of land covered with mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, forests and plains. A person could go almost their entire lives in the garden without ever coming into any sort of contact with civilization.

This was especially true in Li's case, for unlike Adam and Eve, he had never been banished from the most sacred garden, where the lions and the lambs co-existed in peace and harmony, and where suffering and death did not exist. He was in paradise, and at 36 years old, he had stopped aging, was immortal, and could never die. However, as Shi Zhen Li sat quietly in stillness practicing the sitting lotus, thinking about his purpose, he considered the idea that leaving the Garden of Eden would make him a mortal and leave a lasting effect on him for the rest of his life.

As the 15 foot tall elephant carried the mahout through the forest edge along the riverbend, heading north towards the mountainside, Shi Zhen Li would reach above himself with his walking stick and pluck 6 large green and orange melons with a single swipe, but catching only one of them. Tumtu the mammoth immediately started picking up the other five melons with his trunk, eating them slowly as he strolled by past a crocodile Li had named Noku that didn't even seem to be interested in them. Following the flow of the river, Li was heading to the Temple of Eden to discover his own destiny.

As he set his walking stick down, balancing it perfectly on Tumtu's shoulder before breaking the melon he caught in half over his knee, Shi Zhen Li looked up towards the horizon while taking a bite of the melon, his eyes widening as he chewed the juicy sweet fruit before swallowing. "Tumtu, look! It's the Temple!" he pointed and smiled. "It looks different than I imagined." The innocent looking bald-headed simple dressed peaceful monk was still sitting in the lotus position, gazing at the seemingly small white marble temple made of stone. It was facing them on the other side of the swampy river, it's entrance seeming to Li to be reachable only by air or water for there seemed to be no land bridge across, but there appeared to be an area resembling a boat landing directly in front of the entrance between four white marble stone columns or pillars.

There were what looked like four figures on the slightly tapered rooftop of the temple, but it was difficult to tell whether these were just statues or guardians. Perhaps both. Li noticed the bright green treetops hanging above the temple, providing a shaded canopy masking visibility of the temple's location from up above. As the large 15 foot tall elephant stopped at the bank of the swamp, Shi Zhen Li would grab his walking stick once again, finishing his green orange melon before jumping off of Tumtu's back almost as if sliding. Li landed on the soft wet squishy grass with bare feet and gazed up over the reflectively calm tea-colored murky water at the square shaped marble and glass architecture on the other side.

Tumtu grumbled lowly. "No my friend, it might be too deep" Li replied, patting the mammoth's hairless grey stomach. Li then stepped closer to the bank and stuck his toes in the water before taking a step into the river. Then another step, and suddenly he was already up to his knees in water. Li felt around the slimey mud with his toes as he shuffled forward, and within a few steps he was already up to his waist in water. Li turned to look back at his elephant companion. "Stay close Tumtu, I'll be back before nightfall." The large floppy-eared mammal would nod its head like a human and begin snorting down water with its trunk. As Li turned around to walk across the river, he suddenly felt a forceful wave of cold water across his entire back, drenching his entire body.

Shi Zhen Li stopped abruptly and looked down at the water before turning around again very slowly and looking at Tumtu. The elephant was standing on the bank of the river quietly, wagging and whipping its small hairy tail while sifoning water from the swamp, pretending he didn't just splash Li with 40 gallons of water. Li waved his finger at Tumtu and gave him a stern glare before turning around again and approaching the temple entrance, walking on the surface of the mud with a little bit of skill and caution, feeling around the mud with his feet as he took small slow steps, his reflection now distorted by the ripples caused by the water droplets dripping off of his neck and shoulders.

Shi Zhen Li wasted no time in getting across the river and over to the temple entrance. He prodded along the bottom of the mucky swamp floor, shuffling his bare feet through the mud. He was sure he could feel a fish or something slimey rub against his leg a couple of times as he slowly walked through the mud. By now he was up to his arms in water, and he would take a quick moment to relax and enjoy the refreshing stillness of hydrotherapy as he started to move more fluidly, almost allowing himself to lightly glide across the river. Soon, he felt something like a moving rock against the bottom tip of his walking stick. Li knew that it was either a giant snapping turtle, a mako shark, or a massive crocodile.

Li shewed the river monster away with his walking stick before carrying on towards the slightly raised stone boat landing. As he crossed the deepest part of the river, which was only neck deep to the 5 foot 8 inch tall muscular Asiatic bronze skinned monk dressed in a simple orange kasaya dyed with deep brownish red saffron, he started to hear a crackling noise, almost like a vibration. His kasaya was composed of a basic loincloth with drapery in front concealing his private area like a long skirt, and only one shoulder sleeve, almost like a toga, and besides the brown wooden round jar beaded necklace that he wore around his neck, along with a few faded scars and mysterious body tattoos, Shi Zhen Li appeared to have no other clothing, weapons or body armor.

Despite his heavily muscular body shape, his small stature adding only to his balance and stability, Li only weighed a measly 154 pounds and was by no means a heavyweight individual. This disadvantage only aided him in the water, as it allowed him to glide most effortlessly through the river as he reached the other side. Within moments, there it was, the fabled Temple of Eden, the mythical portal to the beyond, where those who were deemed worthy could go to gain spiritual insight.

Suddenly, there was a flash of colorful lights as what could only be described as a tinted glass halo seemed to surround Shi Zhen Li, and as he glanced up at the temple and raised his hands slowly, he could see a radiant light between his fingers and all around him. Li smiled and marvelled at the spectacle before him for a minute, wiggling his fingers and playing in the colorful lights.

Without warning, the halo disappeared along with all the bright colorful spectrums of light, and Li suddenly heard a loud splash. By now, he had reached the other side and was just about to reach out and grab the stone platform when one Sergeant Anton Valerian of the Aschen military unexpectedly fell out of the sky into the middle of the river. Shi Zhen Li turned around, witnessing the last instant after the splash. He noticed a strange looking man in all black, with giant silver eyes, wearing a turtle shell as a hat and all kinds of unnecessary clothing and equipment. Li's instincts told him it had to be a human. He had seen other humans before, and he had even made friends with some of them. But what just happened? And where did this person just fall from? Li did not see any tree branches hanging over the middle of the swampy river, and it appeared as if Anton had either fallen from the sky, or had somehow ran and jumped farther than anything he had ever seen.

Tumtu the elephant was just standing there, gazing at the whole entire incident in silence and complete stillness, unable to either perceive or describe what he had just witnessed. Tumtu's only instinct at that moment was for some reason, to stand perfectly still and act like a giant grey boulder just sitting there. Shi Zhen Li on the other hand, whipped around quickly and placed both hands on the stone ledge of the boat landing and pulled himself out of the water, his robes dripping soaked and wet as he wiped his face and peered out into the middle of the river with his back to the temple, looking at Sergeant Anton Valerian as his head popped out of the water. He shook his head in disbelief as the sergeant tried to struggle against the current for a moment, watching him finally reach some rocks on the other side of the river where Tumtu was still sitting.

Shi Zhen Li took a second to process everything in his mind before chuckling. He set his walking stick down against one of the marble stone pillars and began ringing the water out of his shoulder sash, smiling as he wiped the water off his face before resting his hands on his knees and squatting very slightly, looking over at the man in black on the other side of the river. "Are you alright?" he asked, noticing the panic as the mysterious stranger gained his breath, regaining his composure.

Shi Zhen Li watched as Sergeant Anton Valerian stepped out of the river and on to the shore, catching a glimpse of his entire frame for the first time. Who was he? What was he? And where did he come from? "That was amazing!" Li shouted, smiling widely as Sgt. Valerian removed his mirror tinted glasses and helmet, tucking them under his arm. It was at this moment that Shi Zhen Li realized that Anton's eyes were actually grey, not silver, and that the alleged turtle shell was actually not a turtle shell at all, but rather, some kind of helmet made from a synthetic material that Li had never seen before. Was this guy even from around Eden? Li didn't think so, but still, he had never seen anyone jump so far from the bank of the river before. Valerian had made it out to the center of the swamp, a good twelve foot lunge from where Li was standing. Even with all his years of tenacious training in the forest, Li couldn't jump that far. Surely, this stranger had to be someone of great skill and importance. Li decided to watch him curiously as the soldier grasped his rifle strap, pulling his rifle closer to himself.

Shi Zhen Li had never seen a rifle before. Such weapons did not exist in the jungle, and the need for any sort of weapon was a foreign concept to him, as he had never witnessed anything like war in his life. As the sergeant narrowed his gaze on the peaceful warrior monk, Li would smile warmly and raise one arm, waving at Anton with an open hand. By now, Li's saffron colored linen robes were also drying out fairly quickly, and the Aschen marine could see that he was quite primitive. Li himself realized that Anton was either deaf in one ear, or else spoke a foreign language, for the marine had not responded to his inquiry of whether or not he was okay. Li was hoping that the strange foreigner might understand some common universal body language as he waved happily, smiling at Anton as he greeted him from the other side of the river.

Afterwards, the plainly clothed bald-headed monk would turn and grab his simple makeshift wooden walking stick, and gaze out over the swamp to the other shore where Sergeant Valerian was standing. "It appears you went the wrong way," Li chuckled, tapping his walking stick twice on the stone platform. "Unless you plan on trying to jump across again, the temple is this way" he said before turning around and walking towards the entryway. But as he turned to walk away, Li suddenly stopped and considered for a moment that the foreigner might be out of place. Scratching his head, the shorter statured 5 foot 8 inch tall bronze skinned warrior monk turned around again and looked at the Aschen marine.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Li asked inquisitively. "My name is Shi Zhen Li, what's your name?" he said, tapping the base of his walking stick against the beaded jar necklace and draping shoulder sash over his exposed bare chest when saying his own name, then pointing the stick towards Anton while asking for his name. "Are you a spirit?" Li questioned, wondering now if this all wasn't just some kind of great big test from the heavens. He started to wonder if Sergeant Valerian might be an angel sent to guide him on his journey, as Li glanced back at the Temple of Eden for a brief second before staring at the marine dressed in all black.

Shi Zhen Li watched the Aschen marine on the other side of the river. Sergeant Valerian had plainly witnessed Li waving and talking to him, but rather than responding the black clad soldier just stared at him before going to work, speaking some foreign language into a small plastic device he removed from his pouch. Shi Zhen Li lowered his hand and stopped waving, figuring that perhaps the mysterious stranger before him wasn't as friendly or as social as he had expected. Li would lean and rest against his walking stick, observing the man curiously as Anton removed another device from a different pouch which began to emit a holographic light image over the river. To the innocent monk, the handheld light-mass fabricator looked much like a strange anthurium of some kind, only less natural and more synthetic. But as it started to emit two beams of blue light over the water, Li knew right away that the foreigner wasn't holding some ordinary rock or flower, but something else that was way more advanced.

Tumtu the elephant, now sitting behind Valerian and frightened by the emissions of blue light, would suddenly jump into action. Before the 3D printed metal bridge could begin its construction, the large 15 foot tall grey mammoth would rear his tusks and lift his head, attempting to push Sergeant Valerian back into the river with his 8 foot long 380 pound heavy trunk. Shi Zhen Li could only watch in speechless silence, his jaw dropping in awe and amazement at what was now happening before him. His eyes widened, and Li gazed cautiously at Sergeant Valerian as the startled and over-protective elephant charged at the Aschen soldier from only a few feet away, showing his animal instincts and spontaneous bull-headedness as the large mammal groaned, letting out a horn-like sound of distress with his mouth wide open and sharp white ivory tusks pointing at the sergeant as if ready to defend its habitat in fear. Tumtu's ears would flare up in an attempt to make himself appear larger and more intimidating as he stamped his feet on the riverbank, asserting his strength and dominance, his 26,000 pound body nearly causing the ground to tremble.

Tumtu was getting bad vibes from the man who fell from the sky, but Shi Zhen Li just observed quietly. Li had no fear but was unafraid, looking more like a bewildered and curious child than anything as he peered out over the river at the blue beams of light, wondering what kind of angel or spirit this strange person was. Anton certainly wasn't a cherub from what he could tell. But rather than running a million thoughts through his mind on what he could possibly be, Li just observed quietly and accepted what was apparent at that exact moment, knowing that all of the answers to his questions would eventually come with time, perhaps sooner than he was expecting.

Shi Zhen Li could only watch as Sergeant Valerian was pushed back into the swamy river from whence he came. It was difficult to tell what Tumtu the elephant was thinking as he craned his trunk and shoved the Aschen soldier into the muddy water. The mammoth seemed frightened. Was it trying to help Anton get back into the river? Did he think that Anton was a fish? Or maybe a crocodile? Was he toying with him? Or maybe his fight or flight instincts were triggered by the peculiar synthetic device in Anton's hand. Whatever the reason for it, the small brained megacow was being defensive.

The next four seconds took seemingly forever to Shi Zhen Li as a million thoughts and scenerios ran through his mind. He was subconsciously doing math and science in his head, calculating every possible reality, the direction of the sun, the wind flow, the water current. Li was standing slightly higher up than Sergeant Valerian, about 18 to 19 feet away on the stone platform, resting his body weight against the 1.37 meter long 2 inch thick makeshift wooden walking stick. He watched Valerian spin around in the water as he reached for his rifle. Li watched quietly, thinking that the rifle must have been a case for something. But he had never seen a gun before, and having no concept of the danger and trouble Tumtu may have caused, Li smiled again and was about to laugh when suddenly there was a loud crackle and a bright hot flash, almost resembling a thunderbolt in close proximity.

Li quickly diverted his eyes, turning his head away and shielding his face with his forearm. He could feel the heat of the blast against his arm hairs as Valerian put a hole in Tumtu's forehead. The elephant was fast, but not fast enough to dodge whatever this was as the marine's shot hit with near perfect precision between the eyes, the mammoth's brains instantly splattering out of the back of his skull upon impact. Tumtu stopped dead, stumbled two steps to the right and fell over without moving another inch. His 26,000 pound body would crash against an overhanging tree, crushing it with his enormous weight. As the tree fell over under pressure, it hit the ground with a loud thud which shook the forest. As a result, one of the long broken lower roots of the tree was now sticking straight up above the ground over the swamp.

Shi Zhen Li watched in horror and shock as his long time animal companion was killed in an instant. His mouth open and his jaw hung in stillness, Li could hear the cracking and splitting of wood as the broken tree root started to collapse under it's own weight. Suddenly, like cause and effect, the long thick heavy root fell over, with Sergeant Valerian in its shadow. Once again, the poor lost panicky soldier would find himself having to react quickly as the large branch-like tree root started to collapse on top of him, it's long spindly fingers forming a trap or net which threatened to drowned the Aschen soldier in the mud. Li closed his mouth and swallowed, watching quietly as he lowered the arm he was diverting his eyes with.

His face suddenly went void of all expression. He had led his elephant to it's death. If he had never brought Tumtu along, none of this would be happening, Li thought. And who or what was this character before him under the shade of a root system? Li suddenly felt a great sadness and fear come upon him as he tightened his grip on the center of his walking stick. But as he started to breathe more slowly and quietly, allowing all of his emotions to come and go, Shi Zhen Li quickly freed his mind and started focussing only on the immediate still changeable situation.

The tree root was falling, and would crush Sergeant Valerian in less than two seconds. Li had never even seen death before until now, and already he had seen enough. Still standing about 18 feet away, Li considered the possibility of jumping across the river. He looked down at the running space around him, something which the battle-ready marine likely didn't have in the muddy water, which would slow anyone down even if they tried to roll out of the way. The wet earthy root system weighed around 800 pounds as the thick base snapped and started to collapse straight down on top of Anton's head with enough force that if it struck him right, it could immobilize him instantly.

Shi Zhen Li took a deep breath. Tying his shoulder sash around his waist, Li took a few steps back, and suddenly dashed forward, jamming the end of his walking stick between two stones and using it to pole vault over the river, hanging on to the other end of the stick with one hand as he threw his whole entire body into a cartwheel flip over the top of the walking stick, and using it to push off the ground even higher as he lunged across the swampy river and into the air, doing a single long distance cartwheel flip across the whole river. As his body rotated completely upside down and then upright again, Li bent one of his knees, bringing his leg in underneath himself as if sitting on it while extending his other leg in a sort of very high aerial side kick, throwing his entire mass and momentum into the base of the falling root system, channeling his breath and allowing all of his muscles to work in unison.

"Tsaeeiii!!!" shouted Li as he breathed out, tightening his leg muscles before impact. As his bare foot flew over his own head and hit the tree root, the variables and physics of its momentum would change, so that the root system would fall at a slightly different angle, collapsing off to the side just shy of Sergeant Valerian's position, far enough away that the tangly wooden net would miss him, if only by a few feet. Li kicked off of the tree as he pushed it with his foot, landing on his feet in the waist deep water, still holding his walking stick behind him quietly while looking at Sgt. Valerian blankly. Then, silently, Li would slowly raise his open free hand in front of his chest in a half praying hands gesture, bowing his head quietly while looking into the Aschen's eyes.

Shi Zhen Li watched quietly as the Aschen marine Sergeant Anton Valerian addressed him in a foreign language before stepping out of the mucky water on to the riverbank for a second time. After looking him over for a minute, Li then turned to look at his dead animal companion on the ground. The monk's face was void of expression, and for a moment Li was hoping that Tumtu might be okay and rear his head up, or say something. But as Li brought his walking stick in front of him and began to follow the mysterious stranger out of the water, the elephant never moved. Li shuffled his feet through the mud, prodding the murky water with his walking stick as he stepped out of the swamp and back on to the riverbank.

Once he was out of the water, Shi Zhen Li would sit down quietly on the shore between the dead elephant's legs, placing his free hand on Tumtu's belly. Only this time, there was no air pushing the large mammoth's lungs. Tumtu was not breathing, and his body felt colder to the touch than ever before. Li knew that Tumtu was officially dead, and for a moment, a deep surge of sadness swept over him. Then, for the first time in his entire life, something strange happened. A single salty teardrop ran down Li's cheek. Wiping it away with the back of his hand, the peaceful warrior monk glanced up to see Valerian looking around and surveying his surroundings.

At that moment, Shi Zhen Li gathered his thoughts and let go of his emotions, standing back up slowly while staring at the sergeant the entire time. Gripping the center shaft on his walking stick, Li stood up tall and straight with his feet together and his other hand down at his side. He did not say or do anything else, instead just standing there quietly, watching the Aschen marine to see what he would do next. But while he was assessing the foreigner in front of him, Li couldn't help but wonder. Why wasn't there anyone else at the Temple of Eden to greet him? Li was under the impression that there should have been an angel, or bodhisattva guarding the entrance to the temple. Was this him? Anton certainly didn't look like a guardian angel, or an enlightened individual by any means. He had just carelessly murdered a wild animal, and Li had no idea what to expect next.

But like all thoughts, this one too had passed quickly and soon the lonesome monk would free his mind and breathe slowly, allowing the natural cosmic order of the universe to guide him in stillness and harmony. Li had come to this place in order to find his purpose in life. He wanted to inquire the heavens above and ask for help. But perhaps the universe had already given him the answers. Fate, it seemed, was not without a sense of irony as Li stood there quietly, his saffron robes dripping wet from the muddy water. Li had let down his single shoulder sleeve and wrapped it around his waist before doing an aerial cartwheel flip over the river. It was only the added extension of his 1.37 meter long stick which had allowed him to pole vault across the swamp, otherwise he would never have been able to make it across.

With his entire upper body now naked and exposed, it was apparent that Shi Zhen Li was in remarkable physical condition. He had a full 12-pack abdomen and sharp muscular features on his whole upper body. Although the 36 year old monk only stood at a short height of 5 foot 8 inches tall, Li was absolutely ripped with the physique of a warrior. His pecks were strong, his shoulders broad, his back well toned, his arms built thick with muscles on top of muscles, and there were black faded tattoos going from the side of his neck all down his spine, covering his entire back, which was also quite muscular. The precise meaning and nature of these tattoos was unclear, and while some of the tribal designs resembled symbols or some strange form of writing, some of the other tattoos on his back looked vaguely similar to a map of some unknown place. Li seemed to be unaware of this, for although he knew his name was tatted on his neck, he was completely oblivious to the tattoos on his back, tattoos that he had never seen first-hand and had no recollection of getting.

As he stood there quietly, allowing the water to drip between his bare toes and evaporate, Li made no further attempts to dry himself off, instead just allowing nature to take its course as his bald wet shiny head glistened in the sunlight. He stood tall and straight, and absolutely still, looking at Sergeant Valerian the whole time, who was now only a few meters away. Rather than trying to initiate another friendly conversation, the monk kept his mouth shut and his eyes open, watching to see what the soldier would do next.

The forest was quiet now. Not a sound could be heard near the Temple of Eden, not even a frog or cricket. No birds were singing. No rabbits were hopping around. The bright flash of light, and the loud crackle of Sergeant Valerian's disruptor rifle had brought death and fear to the jungle. The rest of the elephant herd, alarmed by the death of one of their own, had fled the area in mourning and sorrow. Nature was aware, and had a keen sense for danger, something they had never experienced before in such a peaceful place. Only two animals remained close by, watching quietly from a distance, drawn to the area by the sound of a single gunshot. Laohu the tiger was crouched low on his haunches in the yellow high grass, about 50 yards away from where Shi Zhen Li was standing. Laohu was perfectly camouflaged in the jungle. She never even made a sound, just watching silently and stealthily from a safe distance away. Even the monk was not aware of her presence.

Noku the crocodile was also lurking nearby, and had slowly moved up river, his entire body concealed perfectly beneath the mucky water's surface. Only his eyes peered out of the river as he nestled beneath the tangled web of roots which overhung the water, casting a dark shadow for which the large reptile used to conceal itself, a few feet behind Shi Zhen Li, also never making a single sound. Li himself continued to watch quietly as Anton pulled out his handheld light-mass fabricator and began constructing a temporary dwelling. The quiet monk was not sure what to make of it, as he watched the Aschen marine's structure take fold. Li had never seen a tether before, or solar panels, and he was mildly curious as to what they were. Shi Zhen Li had no dwelling or shelter to go to. He lived in the wild, raised by animals, and pretty much slept wherever he wanted to sleep.

Ackwardly enough, Li had only curiosity and was quite inquisitive of the Aschen soldier, rather than being afraid of the potential danger. After silently observing Sergeant Valerian set to work for some time, and strip down to more casual attire, Shi Zhen Li finally stepped forward to approach his shelter, using his walking stick to pace forward before stopping at the entrance. "Are you the temple guardian?" he asked softly and passively. "Are you the creator?" he asked calmly. Li had many questions for Sergeant Valerian, and was hoping once more to communicate with him. But this time, Li was more cautious, and his body language suggested that he was not taking any chances. He kept his distance, still standing tall and straight with his free hand down by his side. Li's approach was neither aggressive, nor threatening, for he did not wish to be struck by lightning or do anything to upset the stranger before him. Li had never met the gods and angels before, and had no idea what they were capable of.

Shi Zhen Li watched motionlessly from the stepped entrance to the hermetically sealed door of the reflective white fabricated shelter as Sergeant Anton Valerian tossed his BDU shirt on to the rooftop of his firmly rooted dwelling. Li looked at the door without approaching it, but instead turned to look at the Aschen marine with the barcode on his neck as he stripped down to his black skin-tight undershirt.

"I am a soldier... My name is Anton," The man replied, this time in a language that Li could understand.

Shi Zhen Li would quirk his eyebrows slightly and squinted his eyes, glancing towards the ground before looking back at Valerian once more. He could understand the sergeant's wording, but the Aschen's accent was very peculiar to him.

"I have come here to study this place, and determine it's worth to my people." the institutionalized highly trained marine would say, causing Li to wonder silently. Who are his people? As the soldier opened the door for him and stepped inside, Li looked in at everything inside but did not follow Sergeant Valerian, instead maintaining his stance with one hand hanging down at his side, and both feet together standing straight while loosely gripping his walking stick with the other hand. Valerian would toss his vest and gear into the doorway and then turn around again and go back to his rucksack on the ground to grab a granola bar.

"What is this place?" the man asked with food in his mouth, his words indecipherable to Li.

After briefly surveying his surroundings, Valerian turned back around once again to look at Li, who was now facing him directly but once again had never moved and was standing completely still. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" the monk asked politely and smiled, having not fully comprehended what the sergeant was saying. Li would briefly glance around as well, noticing the strange tether and solar panels on the structure's dome-shaped rooftop, before looking back at Valerian quietly.