Chapter 2 The Holy Mud

It was getting dark outside. Joy stood up holding the manuscript her father just gave her in her arm, walking quickly through the coach towards her bedroom where she put the book on her desk. Then she thought of something, rushed to her bag on the coat hanger earlier and pulled out a clay figure. It looked like an ordinary small clay figure except that it would be too authentic.

"Baby, I got a gift for you. Look, this is a present I received from Grandpa Gao yesterday. It looks just like me; you have my permission to play with it. "Joy displayed it proudly.

Apparently Baby was intrigued; he reached out his fore- paw to touch the clay figure. The minute he made contact with the Clay, a mild shock made all his hairs up as though there was a danger which threatened him, but instead he felt powerful, full of energy. He screamed and jumped far away in a shock.

"What the hell."

Meanwhile,  Christ’s skin swelling and lifting his skin into tiny goose pimples. The tingling traveled from his feet, and then spread across his body, tensing the muscled in his head and neck. These sensations quickly receded, but they left behind a fulfill feeling of satisfaction. This was the first time he had sensed powerful force outside the Habitat, he resisted the temptation to practice his power.

Baby's movements were a salutary reminder of the reality; he turned around to look at his daughter. Once he laid his eyes on the clay, he could not move them away. It was something he had never seen before, but it also looked so familiar that he had seen it in his whole life. For a while he recalled that it had been recorded in the book- Wilderness which divines to the Shamans as the holy Bible to the Christians.

Could it be The Holy Mud?

According to Chinese legend, Nuwa- the ancient human ancestor Goddess who wanted to add life and beauty to the world, so she set about making man with mud which shaped little figures after her image.  It was said that the leftover mud was also powerful which could nourish all kinds of stuff, except there are merely records to show how to manipulate it. It had disappeared hundred years ago as told.

Christ did not even know if it ever existed. Why was it here? Or was it just mud? Thinking of this, he became somewhat hesitant to rush to see if the piece that his daughter was holding was really the Holy Mud.

Finally he stepped to the direction of his daughter, and grabbed the clay figure to take a closer look. He was pretty sure that the figure was made by the Holy Mud.

"What is this? How did you get it?" He was asking, looking straight at the standing girl.

"What’s wrong? It is just a clay figure. Although I do not understand why Grandpa Gao give it me, it’s for children."

"Mr Gao? Our neighbor?"

"Yes, he called me to his house yesterday; he said that he had to leave town as soon as possible, and he gave it to me as a farewell gesture. He is so nice. "

"Did he say anything about it?"

Joy shook her head with ignorant face.

"Oh, Dad, when Grandpa gave it to me, it was just a ball of mud, but when I touched it, it formed into my shape figure like magic. It was amazing." Joy cried with excitement.

He barely knew Mr. Gao, he was told that Mr. Gao led a solitary life, and he was a short, thin fellow with a slight stoop who always wore a crumpled black shirt. Sometimes they bumped into each other on the road, he would nod as a sign or bow without words. To Christ, he was just a normal old man who lived nearside. Occasionally Joy would go to his house to look after him after school with Baby’s accompany.

Why did he have the holy Mud? Was he one of us too? Why would he give something so precious to Joy?

He already had too many weighing on his mind, a frown creased his forehead. It suddenly occurred to him that he had planned to visit Mr. Gao several times to thank him in person for taking care of Joy, but the trip was never succeed because there was always a matter of urgency, and then he would completely forget about going to visit him again.

"Baby, is he also one of us?" He drew his attention back to the cat.

"I don't think so. How would he be able to hide from me if he has power? I am the best in my kind." Baby was licking his furs.

"What do you mean? Grandpa Gao is a Shaman?" Joy interrupted hazily.

"Maybe, it’s the holy mud. You need to keep it as a secret, and do not show it to anyone else." He returned the Mud to Joy.

"The Holy Mud? Sounds valuable, what is it for?" Joy took over the clay figure.

"I have no idea yet, but we will find out."

The rain had stopped and a star or two was visible over the valley, though it was dark outside, Christ went out straight to Mr. Gao’s house. There were no light, he knocked the gate door so loud that even people far away could hear it, but no one was answering the door. When he looked through the crack into the house, it was empty like no man had ever lived there. He went back with disappointment. Joy would hit the road in a few days; there were a lot of things he had to do.

In the Habitat, the headmaster-Wu Xi was standing in front of the Flash Waterfall which she can see everything happened through it. There was a cat-spirit squatted beside her feet, who was also watching the Flash Waterfall with sharp eyes, all black, not only had four claws, but also a pair of transparent wings on his back.

"The Holy Mud suddenly appeared. Who is the old man? Why can’t we see through him even in the Flash Waterfall? Do we need to get involved? "He looked up at the noble woman, puzzled.

"Just a wild guess, Wu Xing, The Mud belongs to him from the beginning, even though he was dead, you got to say, the gay got a style." She smiled, turned her attention back to the Waterfall again.

Although he would like to say something else, there were few words came out of his little mouse.

Wu Xi was still seriously staring at the Flash Waterfall without a blink, which was showing two girls’ faces- Joy Gao, the daughter of Christ Gao , and Sunshine Su , the daughter of Lisa Su.

Joy was nearly sixteen years old, inherited her father's gift to catch on cats’ language, and had not yet shown any power. While Sunshine was a very talented candidate at fifteen, like her mother, knew the language of dogs and had powers since she was ten.

It has been known that The Powder Regulation of Shamans depends on the age, the younger the talent shows the higher, if you do not get your power by the age of sixteen, it means that you are a Shaman without power.

"It must be one of them. I wonder what will happen if we put them together. It will be interesting." Wu Xi seemed to be talking to herself in a whisper with a meaningful smile.

"Come on, there's preparatory work to do." She had vanished as spoke, followed by the flying cat.

Wu Xi possessed the ability to predict the future. About one hundred years ago, she had foreseen what would happen today. But she could only see part of the future because she was badly injured at the time. It begins with a teenager girl, coming to the Nine-Tower in the Habitat to study; she would change everything because she is both the savior and the destroyer.