"Wake up! Wake up!"
A faint cry, as if drifting down from beyond the heavens, startled Han Li out of his deep sleep. The instant he opened his eyes, an enormous face loomed directly before him. Han Li gave a start and shrank backward, and only then did he recognize the frightful features of his fellow boy servant, Zhang Tie.
"Come eat something quickly. After supper we have to go see Elder Mo," Zhang Tie said, thrusting two steaming mantou buns into Han Li's hands.
"Where did you find food?" Han Li blinked, then took the buns.
"There's a big kitchen near the valley. I saw everyone going there to pick up their meals, so I got a portion too. After I finished, I noticed you hadn't eaten yet, so I fetched two buns for you as well." Zhang Tie gave Han Li a simple, honest smile.
"Thank you, Brother Zhang." There was genuine gratitude in Han Li's heart. Zhang Tie looked considerably more mature than he did, and the address slipped out before Han Li could stop himself.
"N-no, it's nothing. I'm used to working at home. If I don't have something to keep my hands busy, I feel a bit uneasy. From now on, if you ever need anything done, just say the word. I don't have much else, but I've got strength to spare." Zhang Tie seemed a little embarrassed, his words coming out in fits and starts.
Han Li had skipped both breakfast and lunch, so he was ravenous. He wolfed down a bun in three or four bites, and within moments the two big buns had vanished completely.
"It's getting late. We should go see Elder Mo." Han Li let out a few belches, glanced at the sunset beyond the window, and calculated the time in his head. It was about time to call on Doctor Mo.
Zhang Tie voiced no objection, and the two boys made their way to the room where Doctor Mo stayed.
There, rows of bookshelves lined every wall, densely packed with books of every kind imaginable.
"Elder Mo!"
"Elder Mo!"
Doctor Mo sat with his back against a grand armchair, a book in his hands, reading with great relish. He seemed utterly oblivious to the two boys' arrival, and gave no sign of having heard their greetings. After all, Han Li and Zhang Tie were still children. When Doctor Mo ignored them, they were at a loss for what to do, so they could only stand off to the side and wait.
Only when Han Li's feet had grown numb from standing did Doctor Mo unhurriedly set his book down upon the desk, cast the two of them a cold appraising glance, and take up a cup of tea. He sipped it a few times before speaking at a languid pace.
"From this day forth, the two of you are my registered disciples. I will teach you some basic knowledge of gathering herbs and refining medicines, and perhaps some skills for treating and saving the injured. But I will never teach you martial arts." Doctor Mo's face betrayed nothing as he set his tea aside once more.
"I do have a set of breathing exercises, an oral formula for cultivating both body and mind, that I will pass on to you. They will not let you defeat enemies, but they can strengthen your health and constitution. If you truly wish to learn a few martial techniques, you may go to one of the instructors and study there. I will not object. But when the half-year examination comes, I will test only your progress on this formula. If you fail to meet the standard, you will be sent down to join the outer sect as outer disciples. Have I made myself clear?"
"Crystal clear," Han Li and Zhang Tie answered in one voice.
"You may leave now. Come back again at dawn tomorrow." Doctor Mo waved them off, gesturing for them to go, and picked his book back up.
As he left, Han Li could not help stealing a glance at the volume in Doctor Mo's hands. Unfortunately, he still could not read. He recognized only that the title was written in three large, black characters. They knew him, so to speak, but he did not know them.
As soon as he stepped out of Doctor Mo's room, Han Li could not help letting out a quiet breath of relief. Just now, inside that room, he had not dared to breathe deeply, for reasons he could not explain, and his mind had been wound taut. Now that he was outside, he relaxed at once and felt like himself again.
For the next few days, Han Li was in high spirits. He was, at last, a disciple of the Sect of Seven Mysteries. Even if he was only a registered disciple, it was still better than the fate of the boys who had been sent home. And even should he fail the examination half a year hence, he could still become an outer disciple, just like his Third Uncle. In Han Li's eyes, his Third Uncle was already a man of considerable standing and status, so he did not take the coming examination to heart. In truth, a small part of him secretly hoped he would fail, so that he could leave the mountain early and see his parents and his most beloved little sister again.
In the days that followed, Doctor Mo taught them some medical knowledge in the mornings. In the afternoons, the two boys went to a study hall to learn reading and writing together with the other boys, along with the foundational martial-arts knowledge of the Twelve Meridians, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and the locations of the body's points of vital energy, all the while practicing their horse stance and striking at straw dummies to build their basic skills.
A month later, Han Li and Zhang Tie were separated from the other boys, and had no more time to study anything else. Doctor Mo began teaching them a set of nameless breathing exercises, and practicing the formula consumed almost all of their time. Doctor Mo strictly forbade them from passing the formula on to anyone else, warning that if it leaked out, the both of them would be severely punished and cast out of the sect.
During this period, Han Li learned a great deal more about the Sect of Seven Mysteries and Doctor Mo from what others said. The sect had a Grand Sect Leader named Wang Lu, who was a direct descendant of the Seven Ultimate Ancestor by blood, along with three Vice Sect Leaders. The sect itself was divided into an outer sect and an inner sect. The outer sect comprised four branch halls: the Flying Bird Hall, the Treasure Gathering Hall, the Four Seas Hall, and the Outer Edge Hall. The inner sect was made up of four more: the Hundred-Temper Hall, the Seven Ultimate Hall, the Hall of Offerings, and the Blood Blade Hall. Above these, and ranking only below the Grand Sect Leader while standing on equal footing with the Vice Sect Leaders, sat the Council of Elders.
Doctor Mo, as it turned out, had not originally been a disciple of the Sect of Seven Mysteries. A few years earlier, Grand Sect Leader Wang Lu had been ambushed during an outing and fallen into an enemy's trap. Badly wounded, he had been on the verge of death, and those around him were powerless to help. By good fortune, Doctor Mo, a physician, happened to be nearby, and with his wondrous healing he cured the Grand Sect Leader's wounds and saved his life. Wang Lu was naturally filled with gratitude. When he later learned that Doctor Mo, besides his supreme medical skill, also possessed no mean martial arts, he invited him into the sect, personally selected a small valley in the mountains, and had a residence built there just for him, so that Doctor Mo could settle comfortably within the Sect of Seven Mysteries. In time, Doctor Mo became an offering of the Hall of Offerings. During all the time he spent in the sect, the disciples had never seen him display his martial ability and did not know the measure of his skill, yet his brilliant medicine had saved the lives of many of the sect's brothers. And so, despite his usually expressionless face and his few words, he still commanded the respect of all the disciples.