That night, the world seemed calm.
But within its stillness, something crept.
San Lie sat alone beside a narrow river.
His eyes were hollow, his hands trembling.
On the fourth day of attempting to "sit" like Heng Zhen,
his spirit felt slowly torn
not by force,
but by a void he could not comprehend.
He believed he could master Yuanqi
as one masters a blade.
But one truth had escaped him:
Yuanqi is not born of control.
It is born of total surrender—
to a balance that cannot be forced.
San Lie growled.
He seized a jagged stone and struck the earth,
as if lashing out at a world that refused to answer.
But what rose
was not the sound of stone meeting soil.
It was a hiss...
The air twisted.
The ground pulsed.
And from the soft fractures of the earth,
a dark mist began to rise—
not like smoke,
but like something ancient
stirring from sleep.
Chaosqi.
Not wild, as it usually was.
But… awakened.
In the Valley
Heng Zhen opened his eyes
before the first scream echoed.
"He touched it," he murmured.
Lu Wen, seated beneath an old pine, turned sharply.
"Who?"
"San Lie. But it wasn't Yuanqi he found."
Heng Zhen rose,
his body quivering slightly.
"He tried to fill the void with his own will.
But his will wasn't strong enough.
So Chaosqi entered."
Then—an explosion from the east.
Trees burned without fire.
The ground heaved, then cracked.
Strange voices filled the air—
not speech,
but the language of something never meant to speak.
The valley people fled.
Some collapsed.
Others sealed themselves inside the caves.
Lu Wen clenched his jaw.
"Is this... the end of us?"
Heng Zhen gazed toward the rising chaos.
He closed his eyes
and sat down.
"Master! We must act!" Lu Wen shouted.
"I am," Heng Zhen said,
his voice steady.
Within Heng Zhen
When his eyes shut,
he didn't retreat into thought—
he entered the pulse of the world.
From its deep current, he heard two tones:
One—
wild, tearing, furious—Chaosqi.
The other—
gentle, trembling, nearly lost—Yuanqi.
But Yuanqi was fading.
Its balance broken.
Heng Zhen began to breathe—
not to summon power,
but to open space within himself.
A space vast enough
to hold the world
without judgment.
And in that open space,
Yuanqi began to move.
In the Outer World
San Lie screamed.
His eyes glowed red.
Blood seeped from his skin.
Chaosqi wound around him
like invisible fire ropes.
Then—
it stopped.
From the valley,
from Heng Zhen's unmoving body,
a single, gentle pulse rose.
It did not explode.
It did not shine.
But all of Chaosqi…
shivered.
The black mist recoiled.
Then melted into the ground.
The voices fell silent.
San Lie collapsed—
but he lived.
The world went still.
Lu Wen stepped closer to his master.
"Master... what just happened?"
Heng Zhen opened his eyes.
"The balance nearly broke.
But it wasn't strength that saved us."
Lu Wen frowned.
"Then what did?"
Heng Zhen looked toward the east.
"Someone...
who was unafraid to be destroyed along with the world.
And for that,
the world chose not to destroy him."
The valley air remained damp after a night of upheaval.No one spoke that morning.No fires were lit.Even the birds were silent as if listeningto something still unspoken.
San Lie opened his eyes with effort.His body was weak.His veins still felt scorched.
But the deepest woundwas not in his flesh it was in the silence of the world around him.
He had not been rejected.But neither had he been welcomed.
Lu Wen sat not far from where he lay,his gaze fixed on the ground.He said nothing.Only waited.
Until finally,San Lie spoke.
"I… was wrong."
His voice was hoarse,like stone dragged across metal.
Lu Wen slowly turned his head.There was no anger in his eyes.Only fatigue.
"Why did you try to force it?"
San Lie swallowed.
"Because I wanted to be like him.But I couldn't sit the way he does.Stillness… it hurt.Silence… it scared me.And I wanted to know, right away,what it felt like to be strong."
Lu Wen took a deep breath.
"But now you understand…Yuanqi is not a path to power."
San Lie nodded.Tears fell.Not out of regret but because, for the first time,he understood:
There is a strengththat only appearswhen we stop chasing it.
Beneath the Stone Tree
Heng Zhen sat as he always did.Not far behind him,a few villagers sat in stillness.
Not because they wanted to imitate him.Not because they were told to.But because they had begun to feelthe world became quieterwhen they stopped pursuing it.
San Lie approached.His legs were still wounded,but he forced each step forward.
Heng Zhen opened his eyes,glancing slightly at him.
"I'm not here to redeem myself, Master,"San Lie said softly."I just want… to sit."
Heng Zhen said nothing.He simply nodded.
San Lie sat.Not with perfect posture.His back was uneven.His breath heavy.
But within his chest,for the first time,there was a small spaceno longer filled with longing.
And in that spacein the softest corner of his awarenessYuanqi… knocked.
In the Air
The sky did not change.But if one listened closely,the wind carried a scentthat had never been there before
the scent of earthwelcoming a new step.
And from afar,beyond the valley,someone else… heard.
The first tremorhad begun to spread.
The morning sun rose behind the mist,casting light on a valleyonce quietnow slowly filledwith the voices of people.
Some sat in silence,like Heng Zhen.Others spoke,debated,even pointed fingersarguing over who was rightand who was wrong.
Beneath the old tree by the river,Heng Zhen slowly opened his eyes.He saw San Lie sitting in silence,his face changed from before:once full of fire,and desire.
Now empty.But not an emptiness born of wearinessan emptiness ready to be filled.
"Master,"Lu Wen approached him."We've tried… but the results are different.Some feel peace, others get angry,and some just feel meaningless emptiness.Isn't Yuanqi supposed to be the same for everyone?"
Heng Zhen looked to the flowing stream.
"Yuanqi is not a single path.It is not a river's currentit is the rain.It falls upon each soul in a different shape.Those who receive it with peace will grow life.Those who reach for it with thirst…will feel only mud."
Lu Wen lowered his head.
"But… how do we knowour path is the right one?"
"There is no right path,"Heng Zhen replied softly."Only a path that is honest."
On the far side of the valley,small groups began to form.Some were teaching ways to sit,ways to breathe,even claiming to share "the method of Yuanqi."
Heng Zhen observed them from a distance.
San Lie stood and approached him.
"They don't understand.They're imitating your results,but they're not touching the root of stillness."
Heng Zhen nodded.
"Their path is not wrongonly… not the same."
Then he added,
"Yuanqi is not meant to be shaped into form.It appearswhen the form is set aside."
The wind passed gently.The world seemed to pause with it.In the distance,a small child sat aloneunderstanding nothing,yet completely at peace.
Heng Zhen smiled faintly.
He knew:Yuanqi had begun to whisper to the world.