Abide With Me

An Nengliang

"Prince  Chengse de Yanjing* of the Aquatic Realm was a renowned ruler, ...is!" she gulped and corrected.

"An able administrator and a keen diplomat, Chengse is loved by our people as well as those of the Marine Realm."

"Tell us about his friends and more importantly, his enemies," asked Lan Zhan, pulling Wei Ying to sit close to him.

Smiling at this,  the Princess rippled the water in the empty trough next to her wistfully with a silvery fin. "I miss him so! His closest friend and advisor is ShuiTa Sa Mi*. He always shares his plans with her."

Pre-empting Lan Zhan's questioning eyebrow, she continued, "ShuTai Sa Mi is the daughter of Chieftain Dena Guna War of Ampara, Land of Otters and Beavers!  Chengse and Sa Mi studied together."

"Any enemies?" asked Lan Zhan.

"I don't think he knew the meaning of the word" said the Princess.

"Tell us when and how disappeared" asked Wei Ying, a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"It was about a month ago" said Zise.

"Chengse was a brilliant scientist. He was always discovering things about the world we live in and kept inventing devices that made life a little easier for common folk."

"What kind of discoveries and inventions?" asked Wei Ying, his interest piqued.

"See the channels and troughs? Chengse got these built throughout our lands so aquatic folk could get to where ever they wanted to go, even over land! And oh! something as simple as the fact that mud crabs grow better when water lilies are planted in the ponds was first discovered by him. He is always reading, experimenting and tinkering with means for solving existing problems!"

"My kind of man...erm Prince!" amended  Wei Ying, with a grin.

"He shared both his wealth and knowledge freely and hence was a popular leader," the Princess finished.

"Do you know what he was working on recently?" asked Lan Zhan. 

"It had something to do with An Nengliang* that we use in some parts of our world. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan exchanged concerned looks.

"That is resentful energy?" asked Wei Ying, a frown marring his forehead.

"Not exactly" said the Princess, gesturing for them to be seated. "We folk of the Aquatic Realm believe that all energy has been provided by the Universe for its children, that is all living creatures. Different beings use these energies differently. So our understanding of concepts and yours could vary."  She paused intently looking at 
Wei Ying. "What is this resentful energy?"

As Wei Ying stiffened, Lan Zhan casually laid aside Bichen and picked up Wei Ying's hand comfortingly and answered in his stead.

"Whenever someone experiences anger or regret or any strong negative emotion, resentful energy is formed from those thoughts. When that person dies the spirit carries that energy. Someone who has developed specific skills can control and manipulate this energy and by extension those spirits, to fulfill their own requirements."

"Ah, I see," said the Princess. "In our realm, we have what is called  An Nengliang, or Dark Energy. This energy is formed when ever goodness or the right way is not followed.

Let me give you an example; the two of you came in here tired and hungry. If I had chosen not to offer you shelter and refreshment, dark energy would have been created. The weight of this dark energy would keep accumulating on my soul till one day, my soul itself would turn dark!"

"In the upper reaches of the Aquatic Realm, sunlight and white spiritual energy are used much in the same way as it is in your world. But in the deeper parts of our world, including the cities under the lake and on river beds, light energy is scarce.