The road ahead narrowed as they climbed.
"Would you like to walk on the road, it's so boring inside" one of the twins suggested to the High-Crag girl.
" I don't" she replied.
"Okay, then " The twin opened the door of the carriage was still running, but slowly.And he jumped down.
"Wait" the other twin followed.
Ren looked over the open door, he waited for a minute and glanced at Yan from inside and then jumped down as well.
The others stayed.
Gravel gave way to rough-cut stone slabs set unevenly into the slope. The carriage jolted harder now. Livestock ropes strained. Hooves struck against rock, Vibrations spread.
Ren walked beside Yan again.
“Yan.....When they tested me,” Ren said quietly, “the crystal showed four lines.”
Yan listened.
“Still green.”
A pause.
“They said yours was one line. Also green.”
Yan paused for a second before continuing to walk, Ren was beside him.
“That doesn’t seem right”
Ren glanced at him.
“You don’t seem worried.”
“Why should I? It does not change anything, The world is big, it might just be normal” Yan said evenly.
Ren wanted to say something but did not know what to reply. “But...”
Before Ren could press further
“I see it!”
"I see it"
One of the twins shouted who was walking beside a goat and shouted.
The other nearly tripped running forward.
“I can see the sect!”
The road crested.
And they saw it.
The sect stood along a flattened ridge carved into the mountainside.
Behind it, dark rock rose steeply, cutting off half the sky. Not tall enough to be majestic. Just heavy enough to enclose.
The outer wall ran unevenly along the ridge edge. Long fractures cut through the stone blocks. Some were reinforced with iron braces bolted across the cracks. Others were filled with darker mortar that did not match the original stone.
The main gate stood open unguarded.
Inside, buildings clustered around a central courtyard. Roof tiles sagged at the corners. Scaffolding clung to one wall as if repairs had begun and never finished.
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The carriage stopped and everyone came out.
“It looks deserted,” one twin said.
"Maa"
Before anyone could answer, the silence broke.
A wet, rhythmic sound. Metal striking bone.
Some goats shouted, it came from inside the sect.
The sound echoed across the cracked stone walls.
The livestock behind them shifted uneasily.
Ren went still.
“…They’re butchering.”
Right after, a figure stepped out from the shadow of the main hall.
He descended the steps without hurry. His robes were muted blue, clean, and fitted properly.
His hands were covered with fresh red blood.
He wiped one palm absently against a cloth at his waist.
“So,” he began lightly, glancing once at the herd being led in, “you must be the new disci..”
“Enough, Muchen.”
The second voice came from inside the hall. Calm. Even. It did not rise. It did not need to.
Muchen stopped mid-word but he did not stop smiling.
“These are your juniors,” the unseen voice continued. “Take them to the outer disciple quarters once meal completed”
A pause.
“Not him.”
Zhao stepped forward slightly.
“He is not a disciple, He is a servant”
The courtyard shifted. Muchen’s gaze moved to Yan again. Reassessing.
“Understood.”
Zhao did not linger. He turned his head slightly toward the ash-clad escorts waiting by the gates.
“Take the herd to the lower pens in the storehouse,” Zhao instructed. “Do not mix them with the existing stock.”
The escorts nodded. They drove the animals toward a row of long, windowless wooden sheds flanking the drainage channel. The livestock moved without a sound as the heavy wooden doors closed behind them.
Zhao turned to the others.
“You five. With me.”
Then to Yan:
“You will report to the storehouse after the meal.”
Ren hesitated to leave Yan but Yan did not look at him.
“Go,” Yan said quietly.
Ren obeyed.
They entered the main hall.
Yan remained near the entrance.
The interior was wide but sparsely occupied. Stone pillars bore chips near their bases. The ceiling beams were darkened by years of smoke.
Long wooden tables were arranged across the floor.
Perhaps twelve disciples sat already. Far fewer than expected.
"So you are our new Juniors" The older disciples looked at the newcomers.
"Greetings Seniors" Ren and others bowed.
"Well, stand up, that's not needed" the seniors said while smiling simultaneously.
"Seniors, don't we have very few disciples?" One of the twins asked.
A senior wearing a hat looked at the twin "No, we have many, thousands, we were just got selected to welcome you, that's why only twelve of us you are seeing"
The conversations continued.
"Silence" and they were interrupted by a shout from the senior wearing a hat.
Right at the moment, Elder Chao entered, he walked towards the table and sat on the main seat.
No one spoke until he lifted his bowl, and then the conversation resumed quietly.
Bowls of stew were carried out containing fresh meat and steam as the rich scent filling the hall.
Yan was outside the entrance.
He helped carry two wooden trays from the kitchen to the lower tables along with two girl servants.
After the disciples were served, a smaller bowl was set aside on a side shelf near the wall.
"Servant, take your food" Muchen threw it towards Yan who stepped in the room and left.
Catching the bowl, Yan stepped outside.
The broth was thinner. Grease had separated. The meat was tougher.
When he lifted the bowl, a faint sourness reached him. Not rotten. But old. Leftovers from previous days.
He sat on the stone step outside the hall.
The evening wind cut cooler here.
He took one bite.
The taste was off as it appeared to be stored too long.
He chewed once..but unable to do it twice.
Inside, laughter rose briefly from one of the lower tables.
He set the bowl down beside him.
He could finish the bowl, but he did not.
At the moment, Footsteps approached quietly.
People started leaving the hall, one of the twins glanced at Yan, while the other approached and said, "This is where we separate, see, we will fly while you stay at bottom rags"
"See you servant" the twin said and left.
Then one more person arrived.
Ren.
He stopped beside Yan without speaking. After a moment, he crouched.
From inside his sleeve, he withdrew a folded cloth. He placed it beside Yan.
“I took little,” Ren said casually. “They won’t notice.”
Inside the cloth was a small portion of fresh meat and grain. Still warm.
Yan looked at it. Then at Ren.
“You shouldn’t have.”
Ren shrugged lightly. “ Don't worry about it, they are not going to expel me for a small amount of food, You should eat first”
Yan studied him for a breath longer. Then he took the cloth.
“Eat before it cools,” Ren said.
He stood and returned inside.
Yan remained seated on the step.
He ate the fresh portion slowly, and looked at the Sky specifically at the bird that was flying.
The butchering sounds had stopped. Smoke rose from the rear shed chimney in a thin column.
The sect was functioning.
Yet as he looked across the courtyard at the iron-braced cracks in the outer wall, he understood something clearly.
Structures do not announce failure, they thin.