"What will it be like, master when I leave these walls?" "Do you tire of our company here, grasshopper?" "Oh, no, master." "Only...." "Only?" "One day I hope I shall become a priest." "You will." "Sometimes I try to imagine what it will be like when I am a priest and on the outside." "What do you imagine, grasshopper?" "You will laugh at me." "And will that destroy you, if an old man laughs?" "No, master." "Laugh if it pleases you." "Tell me what you have imagined." "I shall be a man and wear the robes of a priest." "And?" "People in need will call on me for help." "Imagine now that you are entering such an adventure." "Do you see that castle up ahead?" "It is the home of a duke." "A duke whose life is in peril and who has sent to me for help." "And you have sent me." "To the very walls of the castle." "Who stands at the palace gate?" "I am Kwai Chang Caine." "I have been called to the side of the grand duke." "Remove yourself." "The grand duke sees only whom he has summoned to his presence." "I have been summoned." "This ring was sent to my Master Po by Ling Tien." "My master has asked me to respond." "You are late, priest." "Ling Tien is dead." "Chun Yen rules now." "Your journey has been wasted." "Up here." "The dove." "Wreath." "The dove." "Wreath." "Your tread must be light and sure as though your path were upon rice paper." "It is said a Shaolin priest can walk through walls." "Looked for, he cannot be seen." "Listened for, he cannot be heard." "Touched, he cannot be felt." "This rice paper is the test." "Fragile as the wings of the dragonfly, clinging as the cocoon of the silkworm." "When you can walk its length and leave no trace you will have learned." "Am I to believe this man, master?" "Is the duke truly dead?" "Have I come too late?" "The ring, grasshopper." "Look at the ring the duke has sent as a token of his peril." "Does it glow?" "Yes, master." "It waxes and wanes." "With the life force of its owner, the duke, it waxes as its strength increases wanes as its strength ebbs." "It is very low now, master." "Then you must hurry." "For perhaps the duke does not have long to live unless you find him and rescue him." "How shall I find him?" "That, you must decide." "Good day." "A priest." "Only a stranger could speak with such hope in Chendo." "is hope forbidden here?" "Now that Chun Yen rules, it is useless." "Chendo has become the home of evil, and I refuse to serve its master." "Today, in the palace, Princess Mei Ming marries one from another province." "I shall not soil my vows by being present." "I am leaving Chendo." "Will you join me in my last prayer?" "Was the death of Ling Tien a sudden one?" "We were told only that he passed on and that Chun Yen was now the grand duke." "His own mother refused to live under the same roof." "She chooses to remain in exile." "Alone, overlooking Chendo." "Along the way, grasshopper, you must remain always alert." "For people, even priests, are not always what they seem." "To the deliverance of Chendo from the tyrant." "How kind and patient of you to wait." "We have business to transact." "is it not unseemly for a holy man to indulge in such worldly matters as business?" "You wear the robes of a priest but your manner is less than priest-like." "The teachings of one temple varies from another." "Tell me, at what temple do they teach thievery?" "Be a harsh judgment for him who steals from a holy man." "Then there will be a harsher judgment for him who forces the proud and noble thief to steal from a holy man." "Your grand duke, Chun Yen, he takes everything for himself." "What can a respectable thief do?" "Perhaps become a respectable, honest man." "You ask me to give up my life's work?" "In an emergency, one must take emergency measures." "Would you give up your priesthood?" "I am not discontent with my lot." "I have never met a clever priest before." "The temple silver." "I was taking it out of Chendo for safekeeping. lt is gone." "Perhaps the good day you feared would never come has dawned on Chendo." "Our friend found this." "It could have fallen from your robe." "Now that it has been returned, my prayer has been answered." "Thank you." "Thank you." "I, too, thank you." "Does the ring still glow, grasshopper?" "Very faintly." "Then the duke still lives." "How shall I find him, master?" "Seek help where you can." "It may be found in those places where help seems most unlikely in those who might seem most against you." "For as your enemies may wear the garb of friends so your friends may seem to be enemies." "Halt!" "You are lost, priest." "I am looking for the mother of Chun Yen." "You are still lost, priest." "I wish to speak to her of Ling Tien." "Nobody sees Madam Chun." "Then I am not lost." "Leave, priest while you are able to leave." "How would it be possible to approach such a one?" "You must wait for the moment, grasshopper." "For at the right time, all may be reached." "And with those who have done evil, master how shall I deal?" "The sage says, "For good, return good." "For evil, return justice. "" "You are men of this village?" "Of the world." "Yet have we not met before?" "One priest is as another." "I speak of the roadside shrine at sunset." "And one shrine is as another." "And a holy man should concern himself with spiritual matters." "The soul of a dead man is a spiritual matter." "We know nothing of a dead man." "Come with me, quickly!" "You're not safe here." "These are the guilty ones." "They are murderers." "I believe you." "But believe me the town guards will come, and it is you they will take." "Come on!" "Why must I be afraid of the town guards?" "Because they and those murderers are under the same command, Chun Yen." "Why would he want to kill an old man?" "You ask too much of a humble priest." "You are no priest." "Who are you?" "I said you were clever. I am Sing Tao of the sainted and honorable Guild of Thieves." "We have thousands across the land." "But in Chendo the new grand duke leaves very little to steal." "So I am alone here." "You say the Honorable Guild of Thieves?" "To the man." "Then I know you will return the ring." "Be careful." "Chendo may now be as dangerous a place for you as it is for me." "My only immediate danger is how to distinguish the thieves from the honest men." "In your actions be bold, be resourceful, be forthright." "For what walls may stop a Shaolin Priest?" "It is not often now that a priest appears in Chendo." "But you must know you face danger coming here." "I am a pariah in Chendo." "Forbidden visitors, by direct order of the grand duke." "I have my own orders, from my master, Po." "I am told to help Ling Tien." "Alas, my nephew, Ling Tien, is dead." "is he?" "I was told that he drowned." "Told?" "The proclamation was read by the palace crier over the signature of the new grand duke." "Where was Ling Tien drowned?" "And what of the body?" "It was never recovered." "And there is only one man who knows with certainty whether Ling Tien is dead." "Chun Yen." "He is my son but the word scalds my lips." "Why do you stay here in Chendo amongst your memories?" "I am of royal blood, and he cannot banish me." "But since I have refused to share the royal palace with him, he forbids me visitors." "A man who would cause his own mother such distress what will he do to his cousin, Ling Tien?" "You think my son has drowned his own cousin." "No, forgive me." "I only mean Ling Tien may yet be alive." "is it possible?" "You spoke of your memories do they tell you of a dove and an olive wreath?" "A dove and olive wreaths?" "A dove and olive wreaths." "I'm afraid I am of no help to you." "You are a great help." "I lead a sheltered life." "I know little of the world." "But I know my son, and I warn you if the old grand duke is alive, he is a prisoner in his palace and you will never reach him." "I must try." "You are quick, priest but you are not invisible." "Bring the wagon!" "To what purpose?" "You will learn at the castle." "is it the grand duke's practice to summon a priest at the point of a saber?" "Come to the wagon!" "We meet again, brother." "Welcome." "What do they want with us?" "You heard the guard." "We will soon find out." "Never have I known a priest being seized forcibly." "You are not a priest." "Never repeat that." "Never." "If I am recognized, I am doomed." "My hands will hang from the palace walls." "I'd be like a bird without wings." "Move!" "Excellency." "I have them both, Excellency." "Good." "Good." "is this how priests are treated in Chendo?" "To be taken by force, like thieves?" "Like" " Like innocent deer snatched from freedom and shackled?" "Before I am finished, you both will thank me." "Who are you?" "Two unknown priests." "No different from thousands of your brothers." "In a few days, you will be famous." "One does not become a priest to seek fame." "You are not seeking it." "I am thrusting it upon you." "That fool of an old priest ran off." "I need a holy man." "There will be a wedding here tomorrow." "You will officiate." "Now then, who are you?" "Kwai Chang Caine." "Your order?" "Shaolin." "And you?" "Ling Wo." "Your order?" "A humble and modest order, Excellency." "All priests are humble and modest." "You should learn that on your first day in the monastery." "You are rather young for a holy man." "Prayer brings peace." "And peace protects the lowly from the world's ravages." "Take them to the west room." "But, Excellency for one wedding you need one priest." "My brother, Kwai Chang, is older." "He has earned this honor." "So farewell." "No." "A princess marries in this palace tomorrow." "Two priests are fitting." "Give them anything they want in their room." "Keep them there until the wedding, guard." "In here." "You wish to leave?" "If I don't, I risk my hands." "My friend, I have grown used to them." "A dark day for Sing Tao." "I thank you, priest." "Before you go my ring." "As the light of the ring sometimes grows dull so your path ahead may sometimes seem obscure." "Still troubled, grasshopper?" "Sometimes, master, it seems as if a wall lies between myself and others." "A wall through which I may see but may not touch." "You feel the fault within yourself?" "I do not know where the fault lies." "But I feel apart." "In your conversation with this other more is left unsaid than is said." "It is so." "Who can know himself well enough to speak all?" "Who is so well-founded to hear all?" "The sage says, "Shape clay into a vessel." "Cut doors and windows for a room." "It is the spaces within which make it useful."" "So we must listen for the spaces between us." "We must hear the silences." "Wait!" "I will go with you!" "Excellency!" "Excellency." "The priests are gone." "Your head will follow them." "Without you!" "No, Excellency, no." "I never left the door." "They escaped through the window." "Window?" "Yesterday a strange priest appears at the palace gate to ask for Ling Tien." "Today two strange priests appear before me." "Come quickly!" "Come!" "Master, how can we find our way when all the paths seem dark?" "The way runs true through darkness, through shadow." "Neither is cause for despair." "The sage has said, "The five colors blind the eye." "The five tones deafen the ear." "The five flavors dull the taste."" "Therefore, the wise man is guided by what he feels not by what he sees." "When our senses are confused and overpowered our deeper feelings may yet keep us on the way." "Who is it?" "The grand duke." "I am the grand duke." "No, Ling Tien, that is finished." "Look at you and look at me. I rule Chendo." "You have betrayed me stolen my birthright." "You are alive only because I am a kind and benevolent man." "My kindness brings me here." "You hold one last card." "The treasure." "Never." "Never an unhappy word." "An insupportable one." "You never thought you would end your days here." "But here you are." "Once again, where is it?" "The treasure belongs to the grand duke." "To me." "You shall never have it." "You are addicted to that word, cousin." "Unless I have that treasure, your daughter's marriage to the Lan Dynasty will unite two great families." "And I will sit at their head." "Leave me." "You indulge yourself." "You speak with the rashness of youth." "The rashness and the freedom." "You act as one with fever." "Now think on this, my cousin." "Weigh your love for your only daughter, Mei Ming, against the treasure." "You know the heir to the House of Lan." "Would you give your daughter over to him?" "Here quench your thirst." "The water will cool your brain." "Drink." "Drink before you answer." "Good, good." "Now you are the sensible cousin I remember." "One could hope for a more dignified entrance." "And a more dignified priest." "What is it, Lutien?" "A priest?" "But how?" "Where did you come from?" "Not from heaven." "It may be that I have reached heaven." "It may be that you lack holiness, holy man." "Open the door. I bring important news." "Who is that?" "Chun Yen." "You've got to help me, please." "I must not be seen." "Must I summon the guards?" "Help me, please." "He must not see me here." "Who are you, priest?" "I am Sing Tao." "The thief of Chendo." "If he finds me out, my hands will hang from the palace walls." "Here." "Hide behind this screen." "One moment!" "It is time you end this exile you have chosen for yourself." "You are much too young to stay locked up in this room." "I am in mourning for my father." "Ling Tien has been dead for two months." "I mourned the passing of my cousin as well as you but there comes a time when the living must return to life." "It is obvious I do not have your strength of will." "Then you must lean on me, my child." "Your wedding day should be a most happy one." "Wedding?" "Oh, did I forget to mention it?" "I will never marry anyone you pick out." "Never?" "I'm bored with that silly word." "You will marry into the Lan Dynasty." "It will not happen." "Your fiance arrives shortly." "Now, he may wish to meet you before you become his bride." "Be ready." "Despair from a princess?" "There will be no wedding." "No." "I am a princess who bears the royal duty." "And I swear on my father's honor I will not allow Chendo to fall to the Lan Dynasty." "Not that way." "We are helpless." "While one lives, one is never helpless." "Trust me, princess." "The dove." "Wreath." "The dove." "Wreath." "At times, the task that you face may seem overwhelming and you may feel unequal to what is required." "Master, I observe others, and they seem to know the way." "Do you?" "I am puzzled and unsure." "I move one way and then another, to no purpose." "And therefore, grieve." "Yes, master." "The sage has said, "Others are contented." "I alone am drifting, not knowing where l am." "I am alone without a place to go." "I am different." "I am nourished by the great mother."" "In an uncertain hour, the wise man acknowledges uncertainty." "The door." "I had to leave." "But it's wide open." "I had to return." "Maybe one must be a priest to understand you." "But it's enough for me that you're here." "I need you, holy man." "And I need you." "I do not wish you harm, but I have prayed for your return." "Ling Tien is alive." "The grand duke alive?" "Where?" "There is a passageway deep in the palace." "There is Ling Tien behind a locked door." "The key hangs about the belt of Chun Yen." "into the jaws of the tiger." "I'll do it or lose my hands for attempting the impossible." "Why have you need of me?" "I have met the most beautiful creature that ever graced this sweet Earth." "The princess, Mei Ming." "But today, she marries the prince of Lan." "A match arranged by Chun Yen." "I see your hands have triumphed over your heart again." "I did not steal this ring." "I pulled it from Mei Ming's fingers." "There is poison here." "The princess threatened to kill herself rather than marry." "I promised to save her." "Help us." "We shall try." "Please." "There is no time to waste." "The prince of Lan arrives soon." "If you are to get the key from Chun Yen's belt his attention must be diverted." "I shall provide that diversion." "Good." "The prince wishes to see his bride before the ceremonies." "Enter, please." "This is not the prince." "This is Jom, the prince's personal bodyguard." "Perhaps the greatest wrestler in the land." "May I now present your fiance the prince of the Lan Dynasty, Prince Lan Wo." "Your Highness." "He's only a child." "Enough." "The bride is overwhelmed by the prospect of her marriage to your exalted person..." "..." "Your Highness, believe me." "Excellency." "I have found the priests." "You may leave them." "Now that the priests have joined us our wedding arrangements are complete." "You choose your entrance carefully." "It is only fitting we should pay our respects to the happy couple." "There are questions which demand answers." "An empty room." "Sudden, unannounced appearances." "We paused to reconsider." "A royal marriage is not a common event." "To leave would be to forfeit a great honor." "So we returned." "What is this?" "Be careful, priest." "This is Jom, Prince Lan Wo's personal bodyguard." "The most illustrious wrestler in the land." "He has known to kill a man for less than the look on your face." "He must kill men often for surely anyone who looks at him would see what I see." "You do not care whom you offend?" "It is I who am offended by this mountain of flesh who calls himself a wrestler." "I believe that even I, a lowly priest, can defeat him." "I am prepared to prove it now." "Why not?" "We need a priest, but we have a spare one." "No, no." "No, not here." "Downstairs." "An entertainment, for you wedding, princess." "Your Highness." "Your father is alive." "Alive?" "Later." "Begin." "My brother begins well." "Let us see how he ends." "Are you quite sure of your man?" "Quite sure." "I am here." "You are a strange priest, holy man." "You roam my palace at will, vanquish my wrestler." "You are certainly Shaolin." "Let us see your sign!" "You are Sing Tao, the thief!" "Guard, I want his hands for the palace wall." "Stop, priest!" "Or the princess dies!" "On!" "After the thief." "You may release the princess." "So you can join your friend?" "I will stay." "You have my word." "Your word and my knife." "Bind the priest." "And hold him until the wedding." "I warn you, priest if you're not in your room this time, Mei Ming dies." "Go to your rest, princess." "This is your wedding day." "You can escape through the window, priest if you wish the princess to die." "Prince, here is your bride." "Her radiance shames the sun." "Let us proceed." "Guard." "Fetch the priest so that he may join these happy two." "Excellency." "He's gone." "The priest is gone." "l told you to guard him closely!" "I bound him with my own hands." "I'll hang your hands from the palace wall!" "Mei Ming, yesterday you said would die before you marry." "Have you a party of this charade?" "Lutien!" "Speak quickly, woman, or you die." "Then I die." "Thief stole my key." "Come!" "Father!" "Oh, Father, what have they done to you?" "Mei Ming." "You must leave, child." "Chun Yen will harm you." "Who are you?" "I am Kwai Chang Caine." "I was sent by Master Po." "My message was received." "Yes." "Can you walk?" "You will never leave this palace, my cousin." "I am old and ready to die but Mei Ming has barely begun her life." "I will not take it from her." "We will do nothing, Chun Yen." "Today you have learned wisdom, old man." "Will you surrender now, Chun Yen?" "Or shall we prepare you a fitting funeral?" "You have saved us." "After all, I am an honorable thief." "Then I know you can deliver the grand duke's cousin to the proper door." "You may trust me." "Who is this savior who has rescued us?" "Sing Tao." "He is truly a prince of thieves." "We find royalty everywhere." "Here is your ring, Excellency." "May it glow on and on." "Send my thanks to my friend, Po." "Tell him I will visit with him soon." "I will prepare the temple for your arrival." "Sing Tao will remain here." "Will you really give up your life's work?" "The price of love is high, but I pay it willingly." "I pray so." "It is." "Now, as a token there is something I wanted you to keep for me." "This?" "That." "So you have saved the life of a duke, delivered the kingdom from an evil ruler and brought together a thief and a princess in love." "Are you not proud of your accomplishment, grasshopper?" "It is a fine thing to have done." "And your life as a priest, are you content with it?" "I can imagine none better."