In the clean environment, where only nature was blooming, everything was green and quiet. There was no sign of a crowd. Ryan saw clothes hanging on a shrub. He took the opportunity and changed his clothes. He was lucky to get something that matched with the people of the village. He placed his uniform on the same shrub.
Ryan walked forward without thinking. He wanted to find a way to solve the riddle and go back home. He saw that he was going towards a mountain. It was now covered with bushes and shrubs. He walked a little more and suddenly something moved—it was fast. He jumped and fell down on his back.
"A snake!" he shouted.
The snake was big in size—it was a giant anaconda for him. He shouted in fear and crawled backwards as he faced the snake. The snake quickly looked at him and came closer. Its mouth was hissing, and the hiss added even more fear to his mind.
The next second, someone ordered the snake to stop. The snake stopped. Over the rain, Ryan watched—who was it? He saw a monk in orange cloth. There was no hair on his head. The snake stood still. The monk ordered again, "Go away."
The snake quickly turned and crawled back. Going away?
Ryan felt relieved. He quickly got up and looked at the monk with a lot of curiosity and uncertainty. The monk looked simple, but he wasn't. For a person who could just speak and command a giant snake, he was not an ordinary person.
Ryan quickly thanked him for saving his life. He bowed his head and said, "Thank you."
The monk was looking at him with curiosity. His eyes were blank, but they said a lot.
"I might not be able to save you again. It's better if you go back to the village."
The monk was soft and clear at the same time. There was a warmth in his voice, and it assured Ryan that this person was not going to hurt him.
Ryan hesitated before asking. He stood there thinking about whether he should ask the monk for directions, or just go away. Run. He looked at the monk again—whether he could trust him or not.
"I'm looking for a place," Ryan said. And he started with the riddle again:
Where whispers rest and candles fade,
In stone embrace the monks once prayed.
Now silence drapes the wooden beams,
And time walks slow through folded dreams.
No footsteps stir, no chant is sung,
Yet peace still blooms on every rung.
A sacred hush where spirits keep—
An ancient place that falls to sleep.
The man looked at him curiously, and there was silence in the air. None of them spoke. Ryan felt as if the monk was checking him out. The monk looked into his eyes. Then he scanned his attire with his eyes. The few seconds of silence felt like an eternity to Ryan. Finally, the old monk spoke.
"You don't belong to this village, nor to this region. Or to this world."
Ryan was taken aback hearing this. He was awestruck. He did not say anything, but his expression revealed the answer.
The monk replied again, "Follow me."
The monk walked towards the hills. Ryan followed him. Ryan was quite shocked to see—oh, that was behind the bushes! You would have never found it out, but there was a path that just went throughout the mountain range. It was going up the side of the mountain.
As they were going up the mountain, the monk spoke again. "It has been years since we had our last visitor." Ryan looked at the old monk without saying anything. As they walked higher and deeper into the mountain, soon a cold breeze blew through his body. He felt cold, and when he looked ahead, he saw eyes. No—it was snow. He looked around, and the whole place was covered with snow.
He did not understand when the snowfall had started or when the green had turned into ice-cold white. He turned around to look at the place he came from. It was also covered in ice. The whole place was covered in snow, and he was feeling cold.
There were too many strange and weird things happening around him. He better stick to the old monk for his own safety, Ryan thought.
Soon the old monk turned to the left. There was a narrow path, and beside the path, there was a steep slope. It was so narrow, they had to go sideways. Ryan had to move sideways on that path, but the old man was walking with confidence. Just one wrong step and the old man could fall into the steep slope, which showed no end—how steep it was!
Ryan moved his body sideways, going forward somehow or the other. The next second he saw a big cave in front of him. He tried to see what was inside the cave, but the only thing he saw was darkness. The monk walked towards the cave. He followed the monk. They stepped inside the cave. As he took two steps, the whole cave brightened up. He looked behind to look at the path he had turned from and only saw darkness coming from the mouth of the cave.
The cave was completely white in color. It felt warm. Outside it was cold, but as soon as they entered the cave, it was warm. He looked around—there were four pathways that led somewhere. The monk continued walking and chose a path. It was the center-right one. They both followed the path.
As they were walking, the monk looked at Ryan, stopped, and spoke.
"Think before you speak, as you will be speaking to the strongest person in the whole universe. We are going inside the Sleeping Palace."
A notification appeared before Ryan's eyes:
[Destination recognized]
Ryan was tense, hearing the monk's words and seeing the notification appear before him. He realized he was on the right track—but why was he going there? What was he going to do? There were questions inside him, but he kept them aside and went forward with the flow.
After taking a few more steps, the whole background changed. He was inside the Ice White Palace. Everything was white and bluish. It was polished, cleaned—as if he were walking in a heavenly palace. Ryan could see his face on the floor. It was a big hall. Soon his eyes focused on the side. There was a bed, and it looked like someone was sleeping on it. Beside the bed, there were a few people waiting, sitting on the floor. He didn't understand what was going on.
The people who were sitting and kneeling on the floor all had different kinds of attire. Some were wearing royal dresses, which were enough to cover a few, while other monks were sitting beside them wearing just thin pieces of orange clothing.
As he walked behind the monk, they were swinging in front of the bed, where he saw there was an old monk sleeping on the bed. Others were sitting beside him on the floor.
His eyes fell on a boy who was wearing a modern black jacket. He looked closely at the boy. He was wearing clothes that looked a little different from the others. These were not fancy or minimal—but they were modern. It was hard to tell whether he was from this place, or if he had come just like Ryan, from a different region.
Everyone was looking at Ryan because he was a stranger here. Every person's eyes were fixed on him. He kept quiet and still.
A monk got up and asked the monk who had brought Ryan here, "Why have you brought a stranger here?"
The monk replied, "I did my duty as a monk because he asked me about our old Sleeping Monk. That was inscribed to us—the way it was told to us from the beginning."
Hearing this, the other monk looked at Ryan with a little bit of surprise.
The other monk took a step toward Ryan. Ryan observed him. He was older and senior compared to the monk who brought him here. He could tell just by looking at the other monk's eyes—there was calmness.
The monk asked, "What have you come for?"
Ryan stopped because he had no words. He didn't even know how he should explain his situation to them—the people, the monks, and all the ones who were way up. And they might not believe if he told them about a five-faced dice.
Suddenly, a voice appeared from behind the monk.
"He has come at my wishes."
Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice—to see who had spoken.
It was the old man sleeping.
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What will the old man do ?
The monks are waiting for your answer!