1 The Circumstances of an Ominous Birth

No one ever expected Hong Wu to become anyone of note, not even Hong Wu. The daughter of a whore, living in the red light district of Heishan City, there was very little chance for her to do anything but follow in her mother's footsteps. There was even the possibility that Hong Wu would be denied the life of a prostitute.

The heavens frowned upon Hong Wu from the moment of her birth. On the night of the most violent storm in a century, heaven's wrath rained down upon Heishan in such a manner that the city's citizens still speak of it only in hushed tones, faces filled with dread. That night, lightning struck the city in a most unnatural way. Buildings were set ablaze, roofs shattered upon impact, and livestock broke out of their pens to stampede through the streets, trampling storefronts and anyone attempting to corral the animals back to the city.

It was on this night that Hong Wu was born. While the rest of the women were busy trying to put out the fires raging through the pleasure rooms of The Red Veil, Hong Wu's mother was left to deliver Hong Wu alone. An arduous and terrifying experience, Hong Wu's mother struggled for hours. After an exhausting labor, Hong Wu finally entered the world to the sounds of thunder, roaring flames, and the screams of the city's frantic citizens. Bloodied, sweating, and drained of any energy, Hong Wu's mother wrapped the newborn in a blanket and held the baby in her arms. Looking at her newborn child the mother whispered some sweet words of comfort drowned out by the noise around them. For a brief moment love shone in the new mother's eyes.

Alas, that would be the last time Hong Wu would feel the warmth of a mother's love, for not a minute later tragedy struck. A rogue bolt of lightning struck the roof of the mother and child surging straight through the clay tiles and rotten wood onto the unfortunate pair. The wild light hit the mother directly; she died instantly. Hong Wu was less fortunate. As the leftover discharge entered the newborn through her mother's tender grasp, the young baby felt pain for the first time in her life. This new sensation was unbearable for someone so fragile, and so, as all babies do, she cried.

Hong Wu wailed and wailed, competing with all the commotion going on outside. No one discovered her until morning. When Madam Ji, proprietor of The Red Veil, finally found Hong Wu, her wails had turned to whimpers. A night in a room with a hole in the ceiling during such a huge storm made the child's blanket wet and cold. The Madam had little hope that Hong Wu would survive. She handed Hong Wu over to one of the other women under her employment and ordered her to feed the child as long as it was still breathing. If the baby died, then there was no loss, but if she survived, then the Madam owned one more girl to monetize.

The damage to the city that night was estimated to have cost the city a full year's earnings. Taxes rose to accommodate the loss, much to chagrin of the populous, and city hall decreed that anything pertaining to the the night of the great storm was forbidden to be discussed. The citizens of Heishan naturally had a great fear of that night, but it was inevitable that the gag order would go unheeded. Many citizens believed it to be heavens anger manifesting itself due to the corruption of city hall. Others blamed the activities of the Thousand Shadows Guild, the true rulers of Heishan City. Others still claimed fault with rumors of a mysterious immortal sect that resided upon Heishan (Black Mountain) which loomed over the city as a constant reminder of the city's residents' insignificance. Whatever the reason, is was agreed that the night of the storm was taboo for all involved.

Against all odds Hong Wu survived her illness, though the events of that night left her body weak and frail. In addition, the lightning that coursed through her left a large, raised, red scar that almost seemed like a second set of veins.

The scar spiderwebbed from the tip of her left index finger, all the way up her arm, and branched in two directions. One half crawled up her neck, her cheek, over her left eye to her temple and around the ear, burning away any chance of her black hair growing on the left side. Hong Wu would always try to hide this part of her face by combing her hair over to her left, but it did little to improve her appearance. The other path led across her chest, down across the right side of her torso and around her back, down her right buttocks and leg finishing towards her ankle.

This unsightly blemish dropped her value in the eyes of the brothel to less than dirt. Many of the women even took to calling the orphan 'dirt.' Combining that name with the color of her scar, Madam Ji named the child Hong Wu (Red Dirt). Marked as ugly and unlucky, there was very little hope that Hong Wu would ever live a good life.

In her formative years, nobody paid much attention to Hong Wu. Much to the dismay of Madam Ji's girls, anyone who was not working was stuck with babysitting. Few took the job seriously; as a result, Hong Wu was often found crying after wandering off and injuring herself from a fall or getting stuck in a place she should not be. Each time this happened Madam Ji would aggressively batter the girl in-charge of Hong Wu that day screaming, "Shut that kid up! What customer is willing to stay in a brothel with a crying child? You're letting her scare away our business!"

With such a disfigurement, it was unlikely Hong Wu would ever attract the eyes of any man. Still, Hong Wu was kept and raised by Madam Ji to the confusion of many of the other girls. Later in life, even Hong Wu herself wondered why Madam Ji spent the little effort that she did to keep her around.

As soon as Hong Wu was old enough to understand words she was given her first orders. By the age of five Hong Wu was tasked with fetching the water, cooking, cleaning the rooms and bedding, running errands in the city, and waiting upon the needs of Madam Ji and her earners. Any slight error, misstep, or tardiness earned Hong Wu a swift thrashing. By age seven Madam Ji had taught her enough of reading and writing to manage The Red Veil's books.

There were many nights when Madam Ji indulged in drink and took her rage out upon Hong Wu. As she hit the young child she would berate her mercilessly for any reason she was in the mood of blaming Hong Wu with. "Watch where you pour that you ugly bitch; that wine is expensive! How could that stupid woman have left me with such an ugly, useless, bastard child! You are a waste of my money! I should have buried you with your mother's corpse! You are cursed by the heavens, cursed!"

Whenever Madam Ji would go off on one of her fits Hong Wu would shrink away and hold her tears in as much as she could, knowing full well that if she were to cry her beating would become all the more vicious. All the other girls kept a healthy distance from Hong Wu, afraid her misfortune would infect them.

As a result, other women of the brothel were no kinder to Hong Wu. These women put on airs they way they wore their jewelry. Many would stick their noses up at Hong Wu, treating her like furniture in the room, acknowledging her existence only when they wanted something from her. Others teased her for her scrawny physique and horrid scar. They would ask her to fetch objects from multiple rooms only to change their minds when Hong Wu brought the various items to them. When Hong Wu served the meals to the girls, some of the younger prostitutes made a game trying to trip Hong Wu as she was carrying plates of food. Any success the girls enjoyed had the secondary reward of watching Madam Ji furiously batter Hong Wu for her clumsiness.

Hong Wu never wondered why she was treated this way; this life was all she knew. What Hong Wu did wonder about was her mother. Living in a brothel Hong Wu was not as oblivious to the origins of life as most children her age. When Hong Wu was seven years old Hong Wu asked Madam Ji about her parents. "Who are my mom and dad?"

"Your parents? Foolish child, you have no parents."

"But, how is that possible I must have come from somewhere."

"Your mother was a stupid whore who angered the heavens and got herself killed. As for your father, who the hell knows!?"

"What was her name?"

"What?"

"Her name, my mothers name?"

"How could I possibly be bothered to remember something so trivial? Quit bothering me."

"Did my mother leave anything? Please Madam, I just want to have something to remem-"

Before Hong Wu could finish Madam Ji struck Hong Wu across the face. "I told you to stop bothering me! I'll teach you to talk back!"

On that day Madam Ji beat Hong Wu harder than ever before. By the time she was done Hong Wu had almost no unbruised skin and even a few cracked ribs. It took Hong Wu a month to recover from her injuries.

Hong Wu learned quickly after this incident that life was easier the less she was seen and heard. Crying would only earn her a beating. As a result of her environment, Hong Wu grew up much quicker than most children.

The constant abuse heaped onto Hong Wu made the petite young girl tougher and more agile than most. By the time she was ten years old the girls who enjoyed tripping Hong Wu could no longer catch her off guard. Being constantly forced to run errands, the skinny girl became very light on her feet. With her sharpened senses and speed, she finished her work fast enough to avoid any extra abuse. Although Madam Ji's discontent for Hong Wu's existence did not lessen, she found less and less to fault in Hong Wu's actions, and so, though the beatings never went away, they did lessen.

This tough life had sapped the energy from Hong Wu. Her body never truly got the chance to develop. While her height remained average, she remained underweight throughout all her formative years. Her features could be considered gaunt, but she always maintained a brightness hidden deep within her eyes, a light that shone dimly but refused to go out.

In the early morning, when Hong Wu was free from being commanded to complete a task, she would sometimes climb to the rooftop where that fateful lightning bolt once stuck. The hole had long since been patched, but the coloring of the new tiles gave away the location where tragedy and fate once met. Hong Wu would lay across this spot and stare into the horizon, wondering about her mother. 'What did mother look like? Who was she? Was she kind? Stern? Did she regret leaving her daughter?'

These questions never left Hong Wu. She would think about her mother until the sun crept over the city landscape. Rather than take time to appreciate the view Hong Wu knew it was a sign that work had to begin if she wanted to avoid Madam Ji's ire.

Hong Wu's life continued in this way until one spring day, in the fifteenth year of her life, a man entered Madam Ji's establishment that would set Hong Wu's life down a path no one could have ever imagined.