Part Three
The visiting leader's gaze shifted subtly toward the Inner Grounds.
"He is watching," the man said softly.
The elders stiffened.
"You mistake observation for invitation," the grey-robed elder replied.
The visitor smiled.
"Or perhaps you mistake possession for authority."
The words landed sharply.
The air thickened.
Spiritual pressure gathered faintly.
This was no longer diplomacy.
It was negotiation through intimidation.
Zheng Wen Te stepped forward.
The elders turned sharply.
He crossed the boundary without waiting for permission.
"I will speak," he said calmly.
The visitors studied him carefully.
"You do not kneel," their leader observed.
"No."
"You do not radiate aggression."
"No."
"You do not radiate submission."
"No."
The visitor's eyes gleamed faintly.
"Interesting."
"I am not an object of interpretation," Zheng Wen Te said evenly.
"Then what are you?" the visitor asked.
He considered briefly.
Then answered:
"Undecided."
The word unsettled everyone.
Undecided could not be categorized.
Could not be recruited.
Could not be controlled.
The visitor's smile faded slightly.
"Heaven does not observe without purpose."
"Then ask Heaven," Zheng Wen Te replied.
The audacity of it silenced the courtyard.
Even the elders felt the tremor.
To redirect interpretation upward—
Was to deny human monopoly over meaning.
The visitor's aura sharpened.
"You presume access."
"I presume nothing."
Silence stretched dangerously.
And then—
The sky rippled again.
Not violently.
Not gently.
Just enough to halt escalation.
All parties looked upward.
No light descended.
No command issued.
But the timing was unmistakable.
The visitor slowly exhaled.
"Very well," he said quietly.
"We will remain as observers."
Not retreat.
Not attack.
Waiting.
The sect elders exchanged glances.
Containment had become multi-layered.
Internal fracture.
External interest.
Heaven's curiosity.
Zheng Wen Te felt it clearly now.
The next escalation would not be local.
It would be cosmological.
And he stood at its center.
Unclaimed.
Unowned.
Unfinished.