Chapter 34: Life 58, Age 20, Martial Master 1
After the competition, I did not join anyone else for a big celebration. I didn’t take part in any grand winner’s feast. I simply walked home. On the way, I was stopped by Deacon Ma.
“Follow me,” he said.
He took me once more into the forests around the city. The more I visited, the more disturbing the landscape here became. The fact that he only ever walked straight and there were never any hills or valleys in the path felt more unnatural the more I was exposed to it.
After a short walk, a building appeared in our path. It was a normal building in classical Chinese style. It had gray brick walls and a traditional ceramic tile gabled roof. The only strange thing was that this perfectly normal building was standing in the middle of a dense forest instead of the middle of a city.
We walked inside, and the sounds of the forest disappeared.
Inside the building was a small, quiet reception room. A long wooden counter divided the room in half. Manning the counter was an older-looking man in deacon’s robes.
“Oh,” he said, looking up. “How can I help you?”
“New disciple for the outer sect. He needs to be registered and given his new jade and robes,” said Deacon Ma before I could respond.
“Name?” asked the man.