A Tien never cried. A Tien was not supposed to cry. Da Fu had not shed a tear since he was six years old and knew it was a taboo in his culture to cry. A Tien who cried was believed to commit a crime worse than murder or theft or poverty. A Tien who cried dishonored his or her family, ancestors and clans. He or she would be disowned by his or her family and left to fend for himself or herself. Da Fu knew that by heart and since the age of six, had not shed a tear.
Da Fu never shed a drop of tears when the bandits descended upon his family and killed his parents. He was sad for his parents' death but no tears fell from his face. He did not cry when the uncle who took him in and brought him up, betrayed his trust by raping his wife on her wedding day. He was upset by the betrayal but not a drop of water fell from his eyes.
Yet, Da Fu was weeping like a baby now. He could not control the water that fell freely from his eyes. The Anerikans had travelled all the way from Endland to spread about a God who became man to the Tiens in Chyca. And Da Fu's eyes rained tears as he heard the tale of a God, who unlike Long, did not expect to be served, but came to serve instead His creation. A God who died as a man by burning at the stake, all because He loved mankind and wanted to pay for their sins.
Such a God was unlike what Da Fu had grown up with. Long was kind, yes, but he still expected man to keep a distance from him. Yaet, on the other hand, wanted to draw so close to man that He became born as a man Himself, as Lioamb.
Why… why won't the water stop raining from his eyes? Da Fu wondered. It did not matter. Da Fu was determined to be a Lioambite, and if being a Lioambite meant that he would start to cry again like before he was six years old, Da Fu was only too glad to be a Tien who cried.
