Chapter 62: Founding Disciples
Characters in this chapter.
Pei Liang — Squad Captain over the cultivators.
Wei Bolin — Head of clinic operations.
Lin Zhi, Sun Hai, Cao Yan, Mu Renshu — the second cohort.
We reached the cave at the first notch of the afternoon.
The road climbed a low ridge, dropped through a thin stand of pine, and ended at a clearing where the rock face opened in a narrow split between two shoulders of grey stone. The mouth was no wider than a man with his arms held out, and the air there was a quarter colder than the air behind us. I felt the Qi rise against my chest with each pace I took. By the time I stood at the mouth, drawing breath felt like drawing it through warm honey.
I turned to the cohort.
"The air inside will be heavier than anything you have felt. That is the Qi pooling in the chamber. Breathe the cycle as we walk and let your channels open to it the way you opened them to the river."
Lin Zhi nodded. Mu Renshu's shoulders set forward. Sun Hai was already looking past me into the dark, and his eyes had narrowed.