Chapter 3: Life 4, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1
The guard led me out of the residential area and into a side courtyard near its entrance. This was a much smaller area, but it had the same gray brick and red wall design. It contained only a single building which had an administrative air to it.
It was a wooden building that had been painted a bright red. The building sat half a meter above the ground upon a thick, marble foundation. Red columns were spaced all along its perimeters to help hold up a two-tiered yellow ceramic tile roof. Diverse designs were painted in gold on the red walls, and complex, multicolored patterns adorned the eaves and the brackets that ran between the columns.
I was guided up a few marble steps and into the building. Inside, I found a rather small front room.
The middle-aged man from the previous ceremony, Su YuanFei, sat at the back of the room, overseeing the proceedings. In the middle of the room was a clear orb resting on a pedestal. To the right, a scribe sat at a table taking notes. Finally, behind the orb was an elderly man I had not seen before.
I wasn’t sure about the proper etiquette for this situation, so I gave the elderly man a slight bow and approached. I decided not to speak since that was usually the best course in an unknown environment. If they decided I acted rudely, I would just have to die and try again.
Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. When I neared, the elderly man spoke.
“What is your name?” he asked.
“Su Fang.”
I heard the scribe writing this down.