The monk beside Lin Mu stepped forward with solemn reverence, each of his movents asured under the weight of tenfold gravity. He approached one of the seated figures near the very center of the circle—an ancient monk wrapped in faded ochre robes, his fra frail and thin like the last flicker of a candle fla.
He knelt slowly beside the old monk and pressed both palms together in silent respect.
"Abbot…" the monk whispered softly, "please forgive this disturbance."
The old monk did not respond imdiately.
His body remained perfectly still, breath shallow, almost indistinguishable from death. But then his fingers twitched, a tremor passing through his withered fra. Slowly, his eyes cracked open—cloudy, sunken, yet radiating a deep and ancient wisdom.
His lips parted, voice like dry wind brushing over stone.
"…No visitors. No noise. You know the rules," he murmured, tone laced with faint reprimand.
"I know," the younger monk said gently. "But this… this is different, Abbot."
The old monk's expression furrowed slightly, wearied eyes turning to glance at the intruder—Lin Mu, standing calm and poised under gravity that would crush lesser beings.
And then…
His eyes fell upon the item in Lin Mu's hand.
The mont he saw it—the White Jade Ruyi, held loosely but prominently—his eyes widened with sudden clarity. A jolt passed through his fra, like lightning across a quiet lake. His spiritual sense surged instinctively, and though weak, it pulsed with authority and alarm.
"…The Ruyi…" he whispered, voice trembling. "That… that is the Divine treasure of the Green Lotus Temple. How…?"
He shifted slightly, as if to rise, but the weight pressing down on his body forced him to remain seated. Still, his focus was now locked entirely on Lin Mu.
"Who are you?" he asked hoarsely. "Who can walk with that relic in hand?"
Lin Mu responded with a small bow, respectful yet firm in presence.
"I am Lin Mu," he said. "Bearer of the White Jade Ruyi… and a 'guest' of the Green Lotus Temple. I co not to intrude, but to fulfill a duty."
The abbot blinked, struggling to grasp the weight of his words.
"I bring word and will from the temple," Lin Mu continued, "and have co seeking the Great Burden Monastery. The temple has received no word from you for many years. Your silence has drawn concern. I was asked to look into it."
The chamber remained utterly still, the heavy silence pressing against their ears more than even the gravity.
For a long mont, the old abbot said nothing.
He stared at Lin Mu, peering beyond his flesh, sensing his soul, weighing the truth of his words.
Then, at last, his shoulders slumped ever so slightly, as if the strain of years had finally caught up to him.
"…So they still rember us," the abbot murmured, his voice thick with a mixture of relief and sorrow. "We thought ourselves forgotten."
"You were never forgotten," Lin Mu replied softly.
The abbot closed his eyes briefly, as if absorbing the truth.
Then, with a faint breath, he opened them once more.
"To bear the Ruyi," he said slowly, "ans you are trusted by the Green Lotus Lineage and the Buddhist Path itself. This is no trinket to be held by any re mortal. You are… chosen."
"I only walk the path given to ," Lin Mu answered. "But it is my duty to help where I can. Tell what happened here. Why have you remained silent?"
The abbot's eyes flickered to the sealed pit at the chamber's center. A cold shiver rippled through the gravity-dense air.
"We have remained silent," the abbot said at last, "because words would not suffice. Because even if we cried out… no one could help us."
He coughed, a dry rasp scraping from his throat. The monk beside him quickly supported his back and channeled a bit of spiritual energy to ease his breath.
"We did not rely lose control of the Heart of Gravity," the abbot went on. "We uncovered sothing far older… far darker. Sothing buried within the marrow of this world itself."
Lin Mu stepped closer, eyes narrowing. "You an beneath the seal?"
The abbot nodded once.
"What lies there is not of this age. Perhaps not even of this world. It is… suffering incarnate. A wound upon the plane. We awakened it. By accident. And now we bind it with our lives, our ditation, our will."
"And if you stop?" Lin Mu asked.
"Then it breaks free," the abbot said. "And this world would bleed."
A long silence passed between them, heavy with gravity and dread.
Lin Mu looked around once more—at the monks, silent and calm, their lives now spent in eternal vigilance. A great burden, indeed.
He turned back to the abbot.
"You should have told the temple," Lin Mu said.
"We could not risk exposure. Even our transmissions began to fail, corrupted or distorted by the seal's power. Not even communication jade slips work" the abbot replied.
Hearing this Lin Mu was stunned and quickly took out his own jade slip to try it out, contacting ng Bai.
"It really doesn't work..." He muttered in shock.
Even such a short range communication just outside the doors of the monastery was not working forget the Green Lotus Temple thousands of kiloters away.
"Eventually, we accepted it. That this was our trial. Our karma." The Abbot stated. "We could not afford to let anyone leave the monastery either, as that would an one less head to bear the burden."
Lin Mu stared into the seal, now understanding why the Great Burden Monastery had grown silent.
This was no ordinary trial.
It was penance.
It was war against a formless, ancient shadow.
And they had waged it alone.
But now… perhaps not anymore.
Whatever it was, Lin Mu knew it was his duty to help him. Not only as a Bearer of the White Jade Ruyi and the Calming Heart Sutra, but as a man of the righteous path.
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