The sun moved slowly across the sky, each second feeling like a torturous eternity. Li Yuan sat beside the still-unconscious Marcus, a wet cloth in his hand that Anna had used to clean the blood from her husband's head wound.
Ten hours, Li Yuan thought, feeling the sun's shadow shift. Ten hours until sunset.
Around them, the village of Millbrook felt like a living tomb. The children were hidden indoors, the laughter that usually filled the streets replaced by whispers of fear. Drakemoor soldiers patrolled in their black uniforms, like crows waiting for carrion.
But Li Yuan felt something different. Something new.
Within his Zhenjing, he felt a vibration he had never experienced before—like invisible threads connecting him to every person in the village. Not just their presence, but their feelings. Thomas Aldrich's fear hidden beneath his bravery. The simmering anger in Sarah Miller despite her attempt to look calm. Anna's despair, as deep as a bottomless well.
Emotions, Li Yuan realized with a jolt of surprise. I can feel their emotions as if they were my own.
This was different from his usual spiritual sensitivity. This was more... intimate. More human. As if the souls around him were speaking a language without words, and he had just learned to understand the conversation.
"Yuan?" Anna whispered, her red-rimmed eyes looking at his face. "You feel something, don't you?"
Li Yuan was startled. How could Anna know?
"I don't know how to explain it," Anna continued in a hoarse voice, "but since this morning... since you've been sitting here... I feel a little calmer. As if someone understands my pain without me having to say it."
Li Yuan stared at Anna with wide eyes. Is this the effect of a newly emerging understanding?
In his Zhenjing, he felt something warm and gentle—not the flowing of Water, not the space of Silence, but something more subtle. Like a resonance that caught the heart's vibrations and reflected them back with serenity.
Emotion, he realized. The Understanding of Emotion.
Yet this was not like the other sixteen understandings he had fully mastered. It was still raw, not fully formed. He could feel others' emotions, even reflect back a bit of calmness, but he couldn't actively "manage" or control their feelings.
He looked over at Lila, who was sitting beside her mother, her small eyes red from crying. When their eyes met, Li Yuan felt a wave of emotion so pure and innocent—the fear of a child who didn't understand why her world had suddenly become so frightening.
Unconsciously, Li Yuan gave Lila a soft smile. Not a forced smile, but one born from a deep understanding of her fear. And miraculously, Lila stopped crying. Not completely calm, but... more stable.
A balancing aura, Li Yuan mused. My own emotions are becoming clearer, and that's affecting the people around me.
In the distance, Colonel Blackthorne stood in front of the temporary camp, his cold eyes occasionally glancing toward Li Yuan. Even from that distance, Li Yuan could sense something from the Colonel—not just anger or cruelty, but something more complex. There was satisfaction, but also... wariness. As if Blackthorne was waiting for something.
He knows something, Li Yuan realized with an uneasy feeling. But what?
The sound of footsteps approaching made Li Yuan turn. Robert and James walked toward him, their faces grim but their eyes showing the same despair that Li Yuan felt from everyone in the village.
"Yuan," Robert whispered, kneeling beside them. "We've talked it over. If you want... we can try to create a diversion. Give you a chance to escape."
"No," Li Yuan replied firmly. "That will only make things worse."
"But you can't just turn yourself in," James joined in, his voice full of frustration. "They'll use you for terrible things. And if you refuse their orders later on..."
Li Yuan felt a wave of emotion from both men—deep loyalty, helpless anger, and something even deeper. Guilt. They felt guilty for not being able to protect their village, not being able to protect the families they loved.
"You've already done your best," Li Yuan said gently, and somehow, the words brought an inexplicable tranquility. "Bravery isn't about not feeling afraid. Bravery is about standing firm even when you are afraid."
Robert and James looked at Li Yuan with eyes that were slightly calmer, though the anxiety still lingered.
A sensitivity of feeling, Li Yuan mused, sensing how his understanding of emotions was deepening. I can feel what they feel even before they show it. Fear, anger, despair... but also love, loyalty, hope.
The evening wind began to blow, and Li Yuan felt something strange. The wind felt... responsive. As if the nature around him also sensed the emotional tension filling the village. The leaves on the trees shifted in an unusual way, the birds' calls became hoarser, even the ground beneath his feet felt colder.
A subtle reflection, he realized. The world is reflecting the emotions I'm feeling.
Suddenly, Li Yuan felt something different. A sharp, cold wave of emotion—pure killing intent. Not from the direction of the Drakemoor camp, but from within the village.
Li Yuan turned his head quickly and saw David Miller walking stiffly toward the soldiers' camp, a kitchen knife hidden behind his back.
No, Li Yuan thought with horror. He's going to get himself killed.
"David," Li Yuan called out, his voice loud enough to be heard but not enough to attract the soldiers' attention.
David stopped and turned, his eyes glinting with a mix of anger and despair.
"They've taken everything from us," David said in a trembling voice. "They took our freedom, our hard work, and now they want to take you too. I won't let them."
Li Yuan felt David's emotions so clearly—an anger that burned like fire, but beneath it, a deep pain. David wasn't just angry at the soldiers. He was angry at himself for not being able to protect his mother, angry at a world that was unfair, angry at his own helplessness.
"David," Li Yuan said gently, standing up slowly. "I know you're angry. I know you want to do something. But this isn't the answer."
"Then what is?" David turned to face Li Yuan, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Do we just sit and surrender? Do we let them take everything?"
Li Yuan felt David's anger as if it were his own. But more than that, he felt the pain behind the anger—the pain of a boy who had lost his father too early, who had to bear a burden too heavy for his age.
In his Zhenjing, the Understanding of Emotion vibrated more strongly. He began to understand something deeper about anger—that anger is often pain in disguise. That behind every outburst of rage, there is a wounded soul begging to be understood.
And maybe, Li Yuan thought suddenly, anger can also be an understanding.
"David," Li Yuan said, stepping closer with a calm movement. "Your anger... I can feel it. And I understand. But anger without understanding will only create more pain."
David looked at Li Yuan with tear-filled eyes. "Then how do we understand? How do we understand people who take everything from us?"
Li Yuan was silent for a moment, feeling David's emotions, Anna's emotions behind him, the emotions of the entire village gripped by fear. And amidst it all, he felt his own emotions—the anger he had been suppressing for so long began to rise to the surface.
Anger at Baron Harwick who betrayed his own people. Anger at Colonel Blackthorne who threatened innocent people. Anger at a system that allowed power to oppress weakness.
But this wasn't a destructive anger. This was an anger born from love—love for the family who had accepted him, love for the community that had become his home.
Anger, Li Yuan realized with wonder, can also be a form of understanding. An anger born from love for justice.
"Anger isn't always evil, David," Li Yuan said with a voice full of insight. "Anger can be a compass that points to where justice should be. But wise anger requires time, strategy, and a deep understanding."
David looked at Li Yuan with eyes that were beginning to calm down. "Are you going to fight them?"
Li Yuan felt something vibrate in his Zhenjing—not just the Understanding of Emotion, but something new. Something about righteous anger, anger born from love and justice.
The Understanding of Rage, he realized. This is the beginning of a new understanding.
"Yes," Li Yuan replied calmly, but in his voice was a new strength. "But not in the way you think. And not alone."
In the distance, the sun continued to descend toward the western horizon. But for the first time since that morning, Li Yuan didn't feel despair. He felt something else—a clear anger and a deepening understanding.
And in his Zhenjing, two new understandings began to take shape, ready to evolve into a higher realm.
The Ganjing Realm awaited.