Pengfei looked north, out of the opening in his cell. The world lay below him, grey and brown. A hint of tan at the very edge.

  --The horizon must be a hundred li away, at least.--

  His eyes went down, to the steep cliff below him, hundreds of paces to the level ground below.

  --Guess I don’t have to worry about getting murdered in the middle of the night. No one is sneaking up here.--

  He backed away from the edge slowly, not turning his back to the precipice until he was well inside.

  Another day drawn to a close. A little training to pass the time but…

  “Bored, bored BORED!!!!”

  No pleasure to be had in bland food, the quiet vista, or silent stone walls. The only indulgence left to him was sleep.

  The first night of his punishment, Pengfei moved the bedroll to the back of the cave as far as possible. He even considered tying himself to something with the length of rope Chen Ji had used to ‘lower’ him into the cell. He had never been one to sleepwalk nor toss-and-turn, but he couldn’t help imagining himself rolling over the ledge as he slumbered.

  But against his own expectations, he fell asleep easily, stayed asleep, and always woke in the same position. Well away from danger. By the third day, he was able to lay down in the middle of the day after a long practice session and doze away the afternoon.

  Pengfei lay down now, another early evening. Half asleep when something roused him.

  There was a sound and a large shape was blocking the remaining light in the mouth of the cave. Pengfei jumped to his feet and instinctively backed away from whatever it was, but quickly encountered a stone wall. The details were obscured but he could make out four legs and large curved horns. Then, the creature just… walked away. Disappeared from the cave.

  --What the hell was that?--

  Pengfei remained frozen in a stunned silence, looking for any flicker of motion that might suggest the creature’s return. After a few minutes seeing nothing, he cautiously looked around to make sure no other creatures had snuck in while he slept. He found himself truly alone.

  Pengfei crept towards the opening, grabbing a wooden practice sword as he passed the weapons rack. He paused a few strides from the ledge and strained his ears but heard nothing. He slowly slid along the wall, closer and closer to the ledge, straining to see around the rock and out into the afternoon sun.

  He slowly extended his head out of the cave…

  And found himself face to face with a great horned beast, munching lazily on some small clump of vegetation.

  Pengfei froze. The animal seemed aware of him; it was looking him in the face, meeting his gaze with its own strange rectangular pupils. But it made no movements other than its calm and rhythmic chewing.

  --A mountain goat?--

  This particular goat was as large as Pengfei and impossibly perched on the cliff face. Its immense horns circled around from the animal’s forehead until they almost touched the dark brown coat of fur on its back.

  A bleating nearby drew Pengfei’s attention. He turned his head slowly, not wanting to startle the massive creature in front of him. More of the mountain goats were standing on the rock wall below him and still more on the other side of his ledge. None were as large as the great beast directly next to Pengfei.

  With the goats present to lend a sense of perspective, the cliff no longer appeared to be the sheer vertical wall he had first thought it was. There was indeed some angle to it, though it was so slight one could be forgiven for missing it. Regardless, it was enough for the goats to find purchase with their sharp hooves.

  “How do you do that? Did you climb down from the cliff above, or up from the ground below?” Pengfei asked the great Ibex in front of him. The patriarch of the herd took a step and hopped downward to some miniscule outcropping underneath the cell’s opening. Pengfei laid on his belly, reached down his hand, and ran his fingers along the knobby horns curving back out of the beast’s head.

  He observed the mountain goats for a long while as they climbed and jumped along the cliffs. He could soon discern the small indentations the goats might stand on but doubted whether a human could replicate the feat.

  The animals wandered off along the mountainside but Pengfei saw them occasionally over the next few days. They seemed to roam the area regularly. He would peer out over the ledge in between forms of the ‘Heaven Shaking Fist’. He would meditate near the overlook as he attempted the neigong of the ‘Mystical Heaven Infinite Skill’. And when he chewed his dry food he would look for them.

  So Chen Rulan found him on the fifth day of his punishment. The old Taoist master suddenly landed on a small foothold a few paces away, standing against the cliff wall, gracefully balanced on a miniscule piece of rock. Just like one of the goats might do.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He took the disciple by surprise and sent Pengfei stumbling backward, dropping a tasteless grain ball.

  With the way clear, Chen Rulan made one short hop to the cave’s entrance. He looked at Pengfei expectantly.

  “Oh… uh, this disciple greets Elder Chen Rulan.”

  “Yes, there we are.” The old Taoist gave a curt nod and took a bag from his shoulder, handing it to the boy. “Here. Some of your belongings. Changes of clothes, and so on.”

  The elder surveyed the cave as Pengfei slowly came to grips with the man’s abrupt appearance.

  “Elder, how did you get down here?” Pengfei stuck his head out of the cave to look upward for some sign of rope, or perhaps a ladder. “Did you climb down the cliff!?”

  The elder waved off Pengfei’s question and looked around the cave.

  --What does he want?--

  Chen Rulan walked deeper into the cell. He examined the weapons rack and the swords resting on it, shuffled his feet across the smooth stones of the training area to check for cracks, and even inspected the stores of food and water.

  “How have you been keeping yourself busy?”

  “I’ve been practicing my martial arts a bit.” Pengfei said hesitantly, then rushed to add, “And of course I’ve also been reflecting on my mistakes sir, contemplating the Dao – “

  Rulan waved shook his head vigorously at the canned response from the disciple. “No, no, nevermind with that bit.”

  “Sir?”

  “Just… come and show me your progress with the ‘Heaven Shaking Fist’.”

  Confused but obedient, the disciple walked over and stood in the middle of the cavernous room. Pengfei gave a quick bow to his elder, then began the. His body glided through the movements fairly easily with only the occasional minor hiccup or tremble under the older man’s watchful gaze.

  But soon Pengfei forgot anyone else was there. He breathed out with every blow, imagining his fist and foot striking some faceless opponent. His recent experiences had given his envisioned opponents a tinge of realism. Pengfei thought he could feel an adversary’s flesh beneath his knuckles with each blow.

  The elder held up a hand to stop the forms and walked to Pengfei. He held up his palm and demanded the disciple strike it.

  The first probing blow was not satisfactory.

  “A real punch! Come on now!”

  The next several strikes were thrown with more vigor. The elder held up his other palm to receive a different attack, then both, ordering Pengfei to punch, kick, elbow, and knee from various stances.

  The burly man relaxed his arms and sighed. He moved to Pengfei and squeezed the disciple’s shoulders and arms, prodded the muscles of his chest and back.

  “How is your neigong training going?”

  “I’m still trying to feel the qi in my dantian, Elder.”

  “So not even third rate yet…”

  “Sir?”

  Chen Rulan took a step back, appraised the disciple’s confusion. Deeming it genuine, the elder explained. “A rough way to rank martial artists. Third, Second, First Rate, Peak, Transcendent, and so on. It’s fairly arbitrary, but standards for the lower levels are mostly agreed upon. When you can sense your internal energy, you’ll be a Third Rate.”

  --Third Rate… that feels about right.--

  The elder interrupted Pengfei’s self-deprecating thoughts. “If you can’t even use qi, I don’t suppose anyone has taught you any qinggong… And, you still haven’t started learning the sword, not to mention your general lack of fitness…”

  Chen Rulan seemed lost in thought. He ignored the disciple in front of him and tapped his chin pensively for several moments, weighing unspoken factors for an unknown purpose. Then he glanced up and decided to enlighten Pengfei as to the inner workings of his mind.

  “Pengfei, you’re aware that our isolation is only temporary, yes? You know Kunlun will return to the Central Plains soon?”

  “Yes, elder.”

  “You’ll hear more about this later, but the Sect Leader and the Elders feel that the Jin disciples are not prepared. Training is going to become much more rigorous soon and I’m afraid you’re not ready for it.”

  “I thought I was catching up to the others. I did alright against Hongyu and –“

  “No. I’ve seen you in the training grounds. Regardless of winning or losing fights, you’re still far behind the other disciples. As the training becomes more difficult that will only become more apparent.”

  Pengfei deflated. His recent performance against Hongyu and Daoping had given him a sliver of hope that the next several years would not be constant harassment and torture at the hands of more capable disciples. He thought he had done enough to convince any would-be adversaries that he was not an easy target.

  --If he’s right, and the gap widens again…no, I’m not going back to that.--

  “Is there something I can do, Elder?”

  Chen Rulan nodded his head, “Normally, during a punishment like this you would spend your days in isolated reflection…but I think it best we use this time to make up for some of your shortcomings. We can’t fix them all so we’ll have to focus on one or two.”

  “Thank you for your guidance, elder.”

  “I need to return for evening training now. Meet me on top of the cliff at dawn tomorrow to begin.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Chen Rulan gave a nod, walked to the edge of the cave.

  --Oh shit!--

  With a sudden realization, Pengfei followed after the elder.

  “Excuse me, Elder, but how do I get up to the top of the cliff?”

  Chen Rulan didn’t even slow his walk, he just spoke as if it was obvious. “You climb up, of course.”

  “No, but sir, it’s too high up.”

  The older man reached the edge of the cave and bounded up to an outcropping without even a pause or a glance back at the disciple. Pengfei called after him.

  “Sir?”

  “…”

  “These old bastards are trying to kill me!”

  ******************************************************************************

  Jin Neng thrust his practice weapon along the paths and arcs set out in the ‘Swift Dragon Lightning Sword’. Sweat dripped off his brow and went flying from his arms with every swing and stroke.

  The isolation of the cliffs had been a hardship at first. It was only natural to miss what meager comforts that the main compound of the sect provided. He longed for hot food and an open sky. But he had quickly noticed the advantages of the seclusion.

  After stagnating for more than a year, Neng had begun advancing in the straight sword once again. Without the distractions of academics, prayers, meals, and the intrusion of other disciples, he had been able to swing his sword all day. Every day. For nearly a month.

  It was not a long time in the grand scheme of things but it was enough to take him from one level to the next.

  He smiled at the thought of returning to the main compound and testing his progress against the sparring partners there. He wondered if anyone would be a match for him when he returned in another month’s time.

  The night sky was a black void held back by the light of a single lamp. His body and sword were long shadows dancing across the walls. The froze in place as a sound, barely audible, distracted the disciple.

  “What was that?”

  Normally, all sound was lost in the winds blowing along the cliff face. But it came again. A scream, a howl? Barely audible.

  Neng extinguished his lamp and let his eyes adjust to the darkness, standing at the edge of his cell and looking out into the night. After a few moments he could make out the stars and the shape of the cliff surrounding him.

  He searched the shadows for the source of the sounds but saw nothing. It came again, from somewhere to the east but far out of sight. Neng thought it sounds like something dying.