Dinner in the Spring Pavilion was communal. Long wooden tables stood in the common area with benches on both sides. And I sat at the end of one table, eating my meal slowly while watching the children who were in their own worlds.
(Hah, a cage with silk curtains.)
I finished my meal and Aunt Qing appeared almost immediately, as if she'd been watching for when I'd finish.
"All done?"
"Yes, It was good."
She picked up my plate and left with a smile on her face.
"Sigh." I moved to a cushioned seat in a corner and Yue Lian also sat down beside me without asking, just dropped onto the seat with a small sigh like me.
"It's so boring here, isn't it."
I nodded.
"Every day is the same. Training. Meals. Sleep. Training. Meals. Sleep. Sometimes we get to use the library and sometimes elders come to teach special lessons, but mostly it's just... this."
"Can't they let you outside?"
Yue Lian shook her head slowly, a deliberate no. We then both leaned back against the wall and sat in silence as the night continued around us.
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DECEPTION SKILLS : ACTIVE STATE
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Aunt Qing began herding children toward the stairs as bedtime approached, the younger ones going first and protesting mildly, then the older children one by one until eventually she reached us.
"Yue Lian, Fu Yang. Don't stay up too late."
"Yes,"
Aunt Qing smiled and then left to make her final rounds around the pavilion leaving both of us alone. Right there Yue Lian turned to me with a knowing and mischievous smile, different from her earlier expressions.
I smiled back, just the right mixture of curiosity. "Will Princess Yue Lian take me outside?" I asked, keeping my voice playful.
Her smile deepened, becoming almost excited. She stood and gestured for me to follow.
And I did as she led me down a set of stairs into the basement, a large space filled with supplies and training equipment.
Yue Lian walked to the far wall and ran her hand along the stone until she found a specific spot. There she tapped it four times in a particular rhythm.
The wall shifted! And a section slid inward with barely a sound, revealing a narrow passage beyond.
"My mother made this for me," Yue Lian whispered."So I wouldn't feel completely trapped."
We stepped into the passage and the hidden door closed behind us automatically.
…
Moving through the short passage we emerged into a small alley behind the pavilion building and the wall closed behind us as seamlessly as it had opened.
We were outside….under the dark sky with stars visible between the rooftops.
"Good."
I walked past her and she followed naturally, we moved through the alley toward the main pathways of the sect, though just as we reached the alley's end, voices drifted from around the corner.
We both stopped and peeked carefully.
It was aunt Qing who stood there with four other women, all middle-aged and probably other sect staff, laughing and talking in relaxed off-duty conversation.
"—such a pretty face," Aunt Qing was saying, her voice carrying easily in the quiet night. "Like something from a painting, those features, I've never seen anyone quite like him."
The other women laughed and one spoke up. "Oh, you have to let us see him tomorrow, you can't keep such a treasure hidden in the pavilion."
"Hahaha."
They all laughed together. I could only watch quietly while beside me Yue Lian giggled, trying to hide it behind her hand.
The group of women moved on, we stepped out and followed a path that climbed higher up the mountain, away from the main residential area.
After a while both of us reached a natural slope where the ground leveled out before rising again.
It was a good place to stop and look out.
"Wow! It's like a painting."
Below us, the town spread across the valley, surrounded by mountains. And above, the sky stretched clear and endless, filled with countless stars.
We sat down on the grass and looked at the beautiful scenery.
"I've never been to the town," Yue Lian said after a long moment. "Father used to tell me stories about it. The markets, the festivals, normal people living normal lives. He said we would go together someday…but then…." She trailed off.
I nodded to her with sympathy, though my senses were elsewhere.
Five presences were following us since we'd left the pavilion. Who could it be but the guards assigned to watch the Spring Pavilion, making sure none of the valuable young disciples got into trouble.
Time passed…..and Yue Lian kept talking, about her past life in the pavilion and her dreams of someday watching the outside world until her words slowed and became quieter and more spaced out.
I glanced to my side.
Yue Lian had fallen asleep, her head resting lightly against my shoulder, breathing slowly.
I stood and lifted her carefully. And walked back down the slope while the guards followed at a discreet distance, retracing our path to the pavilion…..
After laying Yue Lian on her bed, I closed the door quietly and went to my own quarters to rest.
••••
The next day brought a visitor.
Elder Han arrived mid-morning carrying manuals and things with a serious expression. The children gathered excitedly since an elder coming to teach was an event, but Elder Han walked directly to me ignoring the others.
"Come."
We went into a smaller chamber off the main common area, he set down his materials and looked at me carefully.
"Mmm, looks like the Frost Soul Constitution has fully integrated with no signs of rejection or instability."
While he was complimenting me, I noticed the children peeking through the open door with wide eyes, practically drooling at the sight of the spiritual fruits Elder Han had brought.
I picked up the basket, then walked to the doorway."Xiao Hua," I called the girl from yesterday, and she jumped slightly.
Handing her the basket. "Share these with everyone."
Her eyes went wide. "Really?"
"Yes, go, go."
She took the basket and hurriedly ran to distribute the fruits.
Returning to where Elder Han was, he sighed but said nothing.
Elder Han then picked up two manuals from the table, which looked old, very old with worn covers and yellowed pages.
"These are mine, my life's work. Techniques I've developed and collected over decades, methods no one else knows, and combat application's..."
He placed them in my hands, and I felt their weight, not just physical but symbolic, for this was Elder Han's legacy being passed to me.
"I'm giving them to you," he widened his eyes deeply, looking at me." Do you understand what this means.."
Of course I did. Accepting these meant I would carry his lineage. My achievements would bear his name, and after him it will be me.
"Yes. I understand, master."
"I'll come check on you once a month. I can't leave the Medical Hall, so you'll be on your own for daily practice. But I'll verify your progress regularly."
He stood and glanced at me with something in his eyes I couldn't quite identify. Then he left, walking through the common area and past the children who were still enjoying the spiritual fruits.
I stood alone in the training room, holding the two manuals in my hands. Then I tucked them into my robes, where they vanished into my inventory.
( Humph, this selfish geezer.)
That night, I sat on the edge of my bed with Elder Han's two manuals resting side by side. While I was checking the system screen.
_______
[Use Breakthrough Token]
[Yes / No]
This was the token that I hadn't used after the trial and had saved for emergency use.
I looked at it without responding immediately and first straightened my spine. Settled my hands on my knees.
YES
Right then—At the center of my chest, my immature core pulsed once. Then again. Each pulse gets deeper and more resonant than the last.
I could feel its structure with a clarity I hadn't possessed before. The pulse moved outward from the core through every meridian in my body at once.
When it faded, everything felt connected.The core heavier and more present in my chest than it had been a moment before.
I opened my eyes.
The room looked the same. But my spiritual sense had expanded considerably.
Without any deliberate effort, I could already feel the presence of people outside the pavilion walls.
This was the Qi Condensation Peak stage. Where my eight meridians were connected with the immature core.
"Just one breakthrough and.."
After taking a deep breath I leaned back against the wall. Thinking without urgency. Just a fact examined from every angle with the same detached attention I gave to everything that mattered.
First I could not stay here. And also could not leave, making the sect my enemy. If I did they would already know where I would go and I would be searched or may be hunted by them because with me resisded their benefits.
And who would let go of such a huge opportunity to convert their spiritual roots into constitutions, no one.
(All after me just like that geezer.)