CHAPTER 40 — The Choice Beneath Alignment
Part Two
That evening, Zheng Wen Te sat alone in his courtyard.
He allowed his qi to circulate without imposed rhythm.
Natural.
Measured.
Unforced.
The embedded formation observed.
He could feel its thin threads mapping his fluctuations, building patterns, searching for escalation.
Let them measure.
Elsewhere—
In a chamber sealed by layered formations, three elders reviewed crystalline projections from the Hall of Still Water.
"Deviation remains minor," one elder observed.
"For now," another replied.
The eldest among them traced a finger across a flowing stream of spiritual data.
"He does not resist externally," the old man said.
"He negotiates internally."
"That is worse," the second elder muttered.
"Not necessarily," the old man answered calmly. "It depends on what he chooses when pressure increases."
"And if pressure produces defiance?"
The old man's eyes sharpened.
"Then we escalate."
The chamber dimmed.
Decision pending.
Back in the courtyard—
Zheng Wen Te opened his eyes.
Above him, the sky was visible only through a controlled aperture.
Even the heavens were rationed.
He did not pray.
He did not request guidance.
He simply observed.
And somewhere beyond mortal sight—
the absence of prayer was recorded.