Misinterpretation

The clang of the bell resonated throughout the sleeping quarters.

Lin Shen awakened alongside the rest of the initiates, but he had noticed something. His body felt heavy and his muscles still ached from the previous day, but something was different.

The pain that was once there had not deepened. It lingered, but no longer spread to the other parts of his body. He lay still for a moment, breathing slowly.

Embryonic Breathing held without effort. That was enough confirmation.

He rose with the others and joined the silent assembly once more. The initiates stood in uneven rows. No one spoke.

As expected, the disciple monotonously read out the numbers and assigned tasks.

"Stone haul. Lower Terraces."

Lin Shen stepped forward and moved aside.

The route split as usual further down. The wider path continued to draw most of the initiates, its smoother stone and incline an invitation to come down.

The narrow passage remained empty.

Lin Shen entered alone.

The pressure closed in immediately, compressing breathing and tightening his chest. He adjusted without thought, breathing slow and contained. The resistance which had once disrupted him, no longer bothered him.

At the bottom, the stones waited.

He lifted the first.

The weight pressed into his shoulders, sharp but familiar to him. He climbed at an even pace, step after step, neither fast nor slow. No overseer followed him down. No one shouted behind him.

By the third trip, he had noticed the absence of any disciples.

The lower route was no longer being watched.

The overseeing disciple had stationed himself near the wider path, barking orders as initiates clustered there. The narrow passage was ignored.

Lin Shen continued working.

An initiate from another group paused near the fork, breathing heavily as he adjusted his grip on a stone. He glanced toward the narrow passage, hesitating slightly.

"It clears faster down there," Lin Shen said quietly as he passed. "They reassign once quotas are met."

It was true.

He did not wait for a response.

By midday, the initiate who had followed him down the lower route had not returned. No stone was carried back up that passage except Lin Shen's own. By the afternoon, no one approached that passage again.

The wider route tightened.

What little space that had existed between initiates vanished as reassigned labour filtered upward. Overseers lingered there now, correcting their pace, barking orders, forcing the initiates' exhausted bodies to move faster and faster, forcing them beyond exhaustion.

The narrow passage was completely ignored, allowing Lin Shen to work alone.

The pauses between each trip he took came naturally, moments where no one watched or counted. He used them to breathe, sealing his fatigue inward and letting recovery overtake damage without stopping.

Later on in the day, a commotion broke out above. A sharp reprimand. Someone was dragged away, stone abandoned on the path.

The lower route remained untouched.

As the day began to draw to a close, Lin Shen noticed the change.

His skin no longer bore the familiar marks of wear and tear, save a few scratches. His muscles no longer trembled like they once did when lifting the stones, fatigue present but contained, no longer threatening collapse.

Food distribution came late. Lin Shen received his portion without comment and ate slowly, standing apart from the others. Nearby, an initiate argued too loudly over rations.

The argument ended quickly.

Lin Shen quietly observed the patterns around him.

Food was not distributed evenly.
He observed who received more, who received less, and who was not present at all.

This was a crude pattern.
But he understood it.

That night, Lin Shen returned to the sleeping hall unnoticed. No one spoke to him, or looked his way. Hey laid down on his thin mat, the cold stone pressing against his back.

The sect functioned in a peculiar manner, anything loud being corrected, anything obvious being controlled, and anything quiet being ignored.

He closed his eyes and pondered upon his day.

"The lower route will now remain empty for the time being."

"That gives me time to cultivate the path of Body Reinforcement until this body can withstand Qi."

"The overseers should watch the wider path if I am correct, allowing me to rest. They always do."

"And as for the pressure, it'll still be there, but I should work through it uninterrupted."