“Good morning, Qing Wei.”
“Lucky I made it in time, I don’t even know how long I slept,” Feng Qi thought.
“Well…
Morning?”
Qing Wei looked sleepy; he must have woken her.
“I didn’t wake you, by any chance?”
“No, I woke up a little while ago.”
Feng Qi let out a sigh at what Qing Wei had said.
Golden light fell upon his back.
Feng Qi had noticed just yesterday that her room was furnished far better than his, but today it was far more noticeable.
But suddenly a small detail broke him out of his analysis — the light had been blocked by something.
And a second later, something touched both his shoulders.
Feng Qi flinched, and his pupils narrowed.
He had heard not a sound behind him, yet someone had still crept up at his back.
Feng Qi turned his head back sharply.
There stood a long-haired man with green eyes.
“Leng Yu!
You scared me!” Feng Qi said.
“Ha-ha-ha, sorry sorry,” Leng Yu laughed.
Feng Qi grew wary — Leng Yu had been absolutely soundless; though Feng Qi always listened to and kept watch over what was at his back, he had not managed to hear him.
“A good morning to you too, Leng Yu,” Feng Qi sighed.
“Morning!” Leng Yu said.
And even though Feng Qi had turned toward Leng Yu, he still kept his hands on Feng Qi’s shoulders.
Feng Qi decided not to object, and looked at Leng Yu, and Leng Yu looked at him.
“Since everyone’s here…
Let’s get going already,” Qing Wei yawned.
Feng Qi turned toward Qing Wei, who was standing in the doorway.
“Where to?” Feng Qi asked.
“Where to, where to?
To eat, of course,” Qing Wei replied.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※
All three of them walked down the corridor.
To their right were windows, which let rays of light through onto them.
“Qing Wei, is everything all right with you?” Leng Yu asked without his usual smile.
“Of course it is!
What kind of questions are these?!” Qing Wei said.
“Yeah?
Then forgive me,” Leng Yu apologized with a strained smile.
Leng Yu looked somehow off, as if he could not bring himself to say something.
“Qing Wei, but still—” Leng Yu did not manage to finish.
“I’ve said everything!”
The task of getting closer to Qing Wei looked to be far harder than Feng Qi had initially planned.
But in any case, he would use the best strategy he could.
They were going to eat now, but they had not gone downstairs in order to head for the tavern.
Evidently they had something of their own right here.
Of course this too was very useful information — but it branched off into countless forks.
First, he did not know why they had gone to the tavern yesterday — it could have been simple chance, the impossibility of eating right in the temple at night, or a mere prank of Leng Yu’s.
In short — this was useful useless information.
“Heh-heh, what a paradox,” Feng Qi chuckled.
That said, he really was hungry, so it was even a good thing that they had not gone straight to something like assignments.
But at the moment he had to think over something else — he had potential information about the “vigilante”; of course he would not hand it over to the others, not even to his own “comrades.”
“It can be sold, or it can…”
Be used.
It could be used.
Strictly speaking, this information was not all that important.
But it certainly had its value.
After these thoughts, Feng Qi noticed that they seemed to have arrived.
It was a large hall; they stood on a small stairway, about five steps down, and the steps themselves led into that very hall.
In the distance stood large quartz tables, with matching quartz chairs.
“I don’t think they’re comfortable to sit on,” was Feng Qi’s first thought.
Straight down from the small stairway lay a red carpet, which stretched right across the entire hall.
And to the right and left of the carpet were quartz pillars.
At a couple of the tables sat a couple more people in robes.
That was strange, considering that Feng Qi had not seen numbers on any doors other than his own and Qing Wei’s.
And then there was his number…
“Death, harmony, death, just wonderful.”
But be that as it may, they ate ordinary food and that was all.
Feng Qi was not surprised by such an outcome; after all, not all of his actions were planned by someone.
But he had some sort of strange feeling.
Of course he understood himself, and understood this feeling, but its source was impossible to understand.
“So then, I suppose there’s nothing to be done…” he sighed inwardly.
Suddenly Feng Qi turned toward the others.
“So where to now?”
But for some reason both of them stayed silent in response.
“Qing Wei, I thought you were going to say,” Leng Yu said.
“And I thought you were,” Qing Wei protested.
Though this was only a small verbal and mentally healthy squabble between them, for Feng Qi it was an enormous success.
The fact that they no longer kept silent while walking with him showed that he could stand alongside them.
“What’s the problem with just saying it?!” Qing Wei said.
“Well…
“Uh-huh?”
Feng Qi was extremely surprised by this childish trepidation, coming from both of his partners at the same time.
Since Leng Yu for some reason stayed silent, Feng Qi continued:
“Well for God’s sake, what is it?”
But Leng Yu still kept silent, so Qing Wei took the initiative after all:
“What is even wrong with where we’re going?!”
“In short, Feng Qi, you’re going to be learning how to cultivate now,” Qing Wei sighed.
For Feng Qi this was an anticipated outcome.
He was not surprised, was not vexed, and was not glad.
He had thought about this while still in the cave, but only now could he learn of it as a fact, and not only learn, but use it.
Of course he did not understand the whole essence of the nature of cultivation here, but he would understand at least something.
Feng Qi noticed that they had already passed his room and Qing Wei’s.
They were probably heading either to Leng Yu’s room, or to some other place.
But Feng Qi did not start asking questions.
Repeating yourself, even in his situation, was a bad social mark.
“And it seems we’ve already arrived anyway,” Feng Qi thought as he looked at Leng Yu, who stood by the door.
Leng Yu opened the door without delay; inside was a room resembling Feng Qi’s in structure.
But Leng Yu’s room differed in how well it was furnished.
Leng Yu opened the door, letting Qing Wei through.
He looked at Feng Qi, as though calling him in.
Feng Qi accepted this token of courtesy without a moment’s delay, and walked into the room.
Leng Yu came in after him and slammed the door.
Leng Yu walked a little way forward and turned his gaze to Qing Wei.
“You’re going to do it,” Qing Wei said, looking at Leng Yu.
Leng Yu sighed and sat down on the bed.
“From this moment on, Feng Qi, Qing Wei will be explaining what’s what and why.”
It sounded strange; this time he was not deliberately trying to hide something.
Leng Yu took the lotus position and closed his eyes.
Feng Qi looked at Qing Wei, sitting on a chair, and sat down beside her as well.
“I’ll start with the most important warning,” Qing Wei said.
That was not a good signal for his safety, as a novice.
“Never, do you hear me?
Never spend your spiritual flame completely!”
It was probably good advice, but first he would like to learn what this spiritual flame was.
“It doesn’t matter whether in battle or in cultivation, if you do that — you’ll regret it beyond belief.”
“It seems the spiritual flame is that very energy.
But didn’t she speak about the soul?” Feng Qi thought.
Feng Qi looked at Qing Wei uncomprehendingly.
“All right, then we’ll start with the basics, since you don’t even know that.”
From this moment on, chapters will be released on Wednesdays and Sundays.