From the sky-scraping peak of Mount Singkhon, Diamond Axe Kid strolled down the mountain slope without a care in the world. The little guy moved with a light, quick step—"swift as a sparrow on the wing"—his feet barely disturbing the gravel beneath them. His sharp, bright eyes darted here and there with the natural curiosity of a kid who wants to know everything, while he hummed a tune from the Heavens under his breath, trading bars with the doves that cooed back at him from the trees.
Then his small, sure feet stopped dead in front of an enormous archway: the Ancient City Gate.
The city wall was built from fired clay bricks the color of burnt orange, worn with age. But the atmosphere around it felt wrong in a way that was hard to pin down. Gray clouds hung low, smothering the rooftops of the townspeople's homes in a murky haze—like someone had smeared soot from the bottom of a cooking pot across the whole sky.
Standing at the gate were two big, heavyset gate guards, leaning on iron spears like they were walking sticks. Their eyes were half-shut, like men who hadn't slept in three nights. Their faces were dull and joyless—until they spotted the strange-looking boy. He was wearing bright red wrapped trousers, and slung across his back was a large axe that caught the light with a brilliant flash. Both guards snapped to attention and stepped forward to block his path.
"Hold it right there, kid!" the pockmarked guard barked, his voice rough as gravel. "You want to enter this city, you pay the toll first. Nothing's free in this world anymore, boy."
Diamond Axe Kid tilted his head and stared up at the guards with wide, innocent eyes. "What's a toll, sir? Back in the Heavens, I used to walk right through Lord Indra's golden gates with my axe on my back, and he never charged me a single coin. He'd actually hand me a banana fritter on the way through."
"Oh, give me a break—dragging Lord Indra into this," the goateed guard snorted with a short laugh. "This is the mortal world, not the Heavens! You want through this gate, you put down a silver tical—or you hand over that big shiny axe on your back. Otherwise, go walk around the mountain. Your choice!"
The boy's brow furrowed. He thought immediately of Sage Fireye's teachings—that people in the mortal world were often ruled by greed and crooked thinking. So he decided to test them, keeping his voice soft and guileless. "But sir… my master always told me that gate guards are supposed to protect the people and keep the peace, aren't they? So why are you two running a shakedown on folks who are already struggling? Aren't you afraid of the karma that's coming for you?"
The words were innocent enough, but they hit like a blade. Both guards went pale. Still, greed had its claws in their throats, and the pockmarked one snarled to cover his shame. "Oh, listen to this kid—still smells like his mother's milk and he's lecturing grown men about sin and virtue! Do good, get good? Ha! Do bad, get rich—that's how the world actually works! If you don't know how to strike while the iron's hot and grab what you can, you'll starve to death waiting for your reward. The Black Shaman himself says money is the greatest blessing—the more you have, the more blessed you are!"
"Ohhhh," Diamond Axe Kid said slowly, shaking his head with a thin smile. "So you're the type who goes around mistaking a millstone for a lotus—swallowing every word that crooked shaman feeds you."
He paused.
"Fine. You want a toll that badly? Sure! I'll give you one you won't forget!"
He wasn't bluffing. The kid reached back and drew the Diamond Axe in one smooth motion. Both guards burst out laughing, assuming the boy was about to hand it over like a good little kid. But the moment Diamond Axe Kid gave the axe a single light flick of his wrist, the Diamond Axe's righteous radiance blazed out and slammed into both of them at once!
FWUMP!
Not a drop of blood was spilled. But the power of the Diamond Axe transformed the iron spears in the guards' hands into long-handled brooms—right before their eyes. And that wasn't all. Their bodies locked up stiff as carved stone. They couldn't move a single step. Only their eyes still worked, wide and rolling with pure terror.
"What?! I can't move! My legs—they've turned to stone!" the goateed guard wailed.
"Why is my hand clamped around this broom?! I can't let go! Somebody help me!" the pockmarked guard shrieked.
Diamond Axe Kid waddled over, crossed his arms, and grinned. "Since you two love acting like parasites shaking people down, and since you love the security of cold hard cash so much—I figured I'd help you become real 'stone men' guarding this gate permanently. And those hands that used to reach out for dirty money? Now they get to hold a broom. Maybe you'll actually do something useful for this city for once."
"Divine Kid! We were wrong—please have mercy!" Both guards began to crack, squirming with shame and fear as karma came for them faster than they could have imagined.
"I'm not trying to be cruel," the boy said, his voice gentle but firm. "But this will only wear off when you've apologized out loud to every person you ever shook down—and when you've made a sincere vow never to cheat anyone again for the rest of your lives. Karma doesn't care how fast you run. You can't outrun it."
Both guards burst into tears, nodding frantically and stammering their agreement, shaken to the core by the miracle they'd just witnessed and the swift, undeniable weight of consequence.
Diamond Axe Kid smiled, satisfied. He swung the Diamond Axe back onto his shoulders and stepped through the arch of the Ancient City Gate, leaving the two stone men behind to reckon with their sins. His topknot bobbed as he looked ahead. The dim, heavy air of the city pressed in around him, and somewhere on the wind came the faint sound of people crying. It told him everything he needed to know: the Black Shaman was out there, close, causing suffering—and Diamond Axe Kid was going to drag every last bit of that evil into the light.
*Moral of the chapter: Wealth and status gained through cheating and exploiting others is nothing but poison dressed up in sugar. In the end, the wheel of karma always turns—and it comes back harder than anything you ever took.*
Diamond Axe Kid walked on…