Chapter 28: The White Lotus

The world of the Avatar was vast, dotted everywhere with the sites of great events that once stirred history itself. Occasionally, such places served as a final sanctuary, a place where people went to spend their remaining days in absolute silence and pleasure. Zaofu certainly belonged to the latter. Simply stepping within the bounds of the small settlement, I felt an indescribable sense of peace. The mist rolling in from the lake, the gentle chill, and the superb clarity of the air created such comfort that one could easily stay here until the very end. Nevertheless... Afka found nothing strange here that would distinguish this place from any other. Save for one very remarkable grave, situated almost in the center of town.

There, upon a great stone from which a crystalline tree grew, was carved the name of one of the Earth Kingdom’s leading conquerors: the Crystal Knight, Cheng. There was some connection to Bumi here, but the exact nature of what had transpired remained to be understood. Logic dictated that I simply needed to speak with the locals, preferably those who had seen enough of life in their time.

Removing the rags from my head and the mask from my face so as not to unnerve the relaxed residents with my appearance, I wandered through the streets. Despite my arrival, life here flowed sluggishly, as if everyone were drifting down a slow, warm brook. A woman was taking laundry down from a line; a pair of children ran around the headstone, nearly colliding with a fisherman carrying a bucket of fish from the lake. And there, on the veranda of a cozy house, a few old men had gathered, playing some sort of board game. I decided to approach them.

"Am I disturbing you?" I began measuredly, careful not to disrupt the local tranquility. "May I join you?"

"Would you like to play a game of Pai Sho?"

The question came from an old man who raised a swaying head. His face was covered in countless age spots, with only a few wisps of white hair clinging to the sides of his skull. His voice was incredibly calm. He looked to be at least eighty, yet he lazily held a smoking pipe, twirling it around his nose. Fortunately, he hadn't packed it with tobacco, which was for the best, or I never would have sat beside him.

"Always welcome."

The second man answered without looking up from the board. He had managed to keep his hair, which hadn't even turned gray yet; his physical build suggested a man who was once quite strong and enduring, but it was his eyes that drew me in. They were deep, incredibly focused. I sat down beside them as the companions exhaled and continued their game as if nothing had happened, offering neither an explanation of the rules nor any tiles. I was left to sit and watch until they finished their round.

"By the way, they say a circus is touring the occupied Earth Kingdom villages right now," the oldest one remarked, apparently resuming a conversation interrupted by my arrival.

"Entertaining the conquered people?"

"No, the soldiers stationed in those territories."

Since the game was new to me, observation became my education. It all unfolded on a circular board divided into squares, played with round tiles bearing various illustrations. Afka sat beside me as well, though with a much more knowing look, as if, unlike me, the rules of the game were entirely familiar to her. Those few hours of quiet observation made it clear that these local elders truly knew a great deal, and their interests spanned a vast array of subjects. However, I didn't rush to speak until I was ready to play.

"Care for a round?" Three hours later, the elder, whom they called Yo, turned to me. He had won, prompting a click of the tongue from his friend, and now he rotated the board toward me with a smile. This was... interesting. The game was significantly more complex than simple chess, sharing some similarities with Go, and it possessed an ancient history.

"With pleasure. The atmosphere here is as serene as the Air Nomad temples where they used to hold world tournaments for this game," I said, testing the waters to see what topics might engage them.

"Getting to those temples was quite a task, though. Just to play, one had to conquer the highest peaks, my bones aren't what they used to be," my opponent remarked.

"A test of spirit," the second man nodded, now watching my match intently. His name was Shu. "King Bumi once showed such spirit; he was one of the few who went to aid the Nomads at the start of the war. Though he tasted the bitterness of defeat there, I believe he was carving the path toward his crown. Going to their aid in a time of need is far more valuable than any game."

I blinked in surprise, looking up from the board. Yo picked up where Shu left off:

"He was young then, but steadfast. I remember that after making many mistakes, he began to achieve great victories. He commanded troops near here and defended the border."

I began to realize how all of this could be utilized.

"Since he defended this area, he must have heard stories of crystal bending from the locals and perfected his skills based on their rumors. As is well known, King Bumi isn't fond of reading and wouldn't seek out skills from books," I nodded knowingly. This time, the old men actually raised their eyes to me. They looked me over carefully and nodded.

I caught the thread of the conversation. No matter the topic, I managed to put in my two copper pieces; fortunately, my knowledge of history and other fields allowed me to unearth many interesting details about both Bumi and world events. Before I knew it, I had practically charmed the old men into telling me stories. They weren't exactly children's tales, but rather embellished attempts to describe various bending techniques.

But one could attempt to recreate something based on them, just as King Bumi himself had done.

We became so engrossed in talk that I practically stopped following the game. The discussions we indulged in gave our time a special significance. The freedom of my reasoning drew the elders' attention; Shu began to cast his sharp gaze my way more frequently. At one such moment, just as I realized I had unexpectedly lost and the pieces on the board had formed a strange pattern, my eyes met those of the meticulous old man.

"You were unlucky," he concluded. It was true; as if by a curse, my opponent always managed to make the riskier moves and bypass me. Nevertheless, a certain lotus symbol formed by the tiles on the board sparked a thought. Could such a thing be a coincidence? I couldn't have been lucky enough for the final position of the pieces to look exactly like that. Someone had clearly steered the game toward its own ends.

This arrangement... the Lotus. A pure flower, the symbol of a vast but mysterious organization. The old men said nothing more; they cast a fleeting glance at the board, stood up, and left. They left me with the board, across which my gaze continued to dart.

"This is... simply terrible." A crushing truth suddenly dawned on me. I covered my eyes with my hands, marvelling at the simple method these old men used to demonstrate something so stark. All my plans, future strategies, and possible ideas would simply crumble due to an endless streak of bad luck and a total lack of experience. I had never once built a long-term plan; all my life, I had made decisions only in the here and now. I could never take fate into my own hands if I didn't learn to think for my opponent.

Anubis cannot play the game called life for me.

"Af," but at that very moment, when the opponent at the other end of the board was gone and I was lost in reflection, Afka hopped into the seat. With her paws, the creature returned the tiles to their places and, sticking out her tongue, waited for me. Still in a state of wonder, I reset the board and, out of curiosity, made the first move. Afka made her counter-move. We played for only a few minutes, not wasting much time on talk, and, to my own disbelief, I lost. Every single one of my tiles was destroyed and captured.

My gaze was hollow. Fun? When you lose to an insolent fox, losing all your soldiers in a clean sweep, it deserves another name – total humiliation, disgrace, the desecration of one's entire lineage. And yes, considering the fact that I was absolutely unlucky, I wanted to throw everything away and...

[Choose:]

[1 — Learn to Play (By honing your skills in a game created by the spirits themselves, you will be able to calculate your opponent's moves. You will be able to join the Order of the White Lotus. This secret organization deals in the dissemination of all kinds of information, providing you with an additional influx of knowledge. You will spend a significant portion of your life perfecting strategy and tactics.)]

[2 — Division of Duties (After speaking with Liu, you realized you cannot become better than a person who has dedicated their entire life to their craft. Only if you invest just as much yourself can any effect be achieved; therefore, you must continue to develop your strength. Among the masses, one can still find someone who will become your loyal tactician and skilled strategist.)]

[3 — Cheat (You have learned to make less than noble decisions...)]

My pupils slowly contracted as they scanned the text. I don't know, perhaps I was just spiraling, but Anubis's choices were mesmerizing, pulling me toward the dregs of society... I can't describe it any other way, why I started to like the "less than noble" decisions he offered so much.

While the first option required my very soul, a mountain of free time, and resources, and the second explicitly took away a vital part of my power (even if it freed up a titanic amount of time), the third... was what I'd call the fun, golden mean.

******

"Oh..."

"Hard to believe," Shu frowned, rubbing his eyes from morning sleepiness. "Am I seeing things?"

"No, our dear guest truly is that miraculously lucky," Yo said, shaking his head as he looked at my calmly seated figure. I felt like a scoundrel, and for good reason – what I was doing was suppressing my "internal truth." I was boldly and shamelessly swindling these innocent old men, beating every single one of them at Pai Sho.

[3 — Cheat (You have learned to make less than noble decisions. Use Afka's invisibility and her legendary intellect to win at Pai Sho and become a member of the White Lotus. If you continue to honor the contract with Wan Shi Tong, you can have Afka develop strategic plans for you, but only when you are on the defensive. You can spend the freed-up time on anything you wish. You will be deeply indebted to Afka.)]

Sorry, guys, but you can't compete against a whiskered dog. First, I'll make you tell me all about the White Lotus, and then I'll use your knowledge to pay off my debt to Afka!