Volume One: Initiation into the Dao Chapter Eighty: The Stone and the Tree

"Look, if I'm not mistaken, it should be just up ahead." Li Ling stopped in his tracks, speaking with delight.

Ye Junze had naturally noticed what Li Ling was pointing out as well. After all, the location was marked on their class schedule, and they had now arrived—he was well aware of that. He nodded in response, saying, "This should be the place. Let's go over quickly."

Li Ling wholeheartedly agreed with Ye Junze's suggestion, so he nodded as well and said, "Alright."

With that, the two of them exchanged a silent understanding and walked forward together without another word.

...

It wasn't long before they finally reached their destination. Now, at last, they could see what kind of place it was where their class was to be held today.

Ye Junze's gaze swept over the area, and he easily took in the situation. To be precise, this was their classroom. And just as Li Ling had said, it was outdoors. As Ye Junze drew closer and saw a number of fellow students from the Department of Daoist Studies already waiting there, he was certain of it.

Li Ling, like Ye Junze, was also studying the area. As he looked around, he heard Ye Junze say, "It really is an outdoor class. But what do you suppose is special about this place?"

Thinking Li Ling was asking him, Ye Junze shook his head and replied, "I haven't figured out what's unique about it yet. Let's keep observing for a while longer."

Li Ling nodded in agreement. "You're right. Let's take another look."

With that, the two fell silent once more, continuing to examine their surroundings.

As Ye Junze cast his eyes around, he soon noticed something peculiar. Scattered across the ground were many stones. Ordinarily, finding stones outdoors wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But under Ye Junze's scrutiny, these stones all appeared remarkably similar in both shape and size—it was as if they had come from the same mold. Even so, that alone wasn't enough to make him suspicious. What truly piqued his curiosity was that the stones seemed to be arranged according to some deliberate pattern.

Because of this, Ye Junze stepped back to get a better view.

Moving a bit further away, a thoughtful expression came over his face as he concentrated on the stones before him. For some reason, he felt an odd, rhythmic order emanating from them, as though the stones together formed some sort of formation.

"Could it be another pattern like the rune array we saw before?" Ye Junze murmured to himself.

Then, as though a thought had struck him, he walked over to one of the stones and crouched down, unconcerned about whether his actions would draw attention or comment from others.

He bent down, placing his fingers on the stone. At his touch, it felt cool and smooth—almost like holding a piece of jade rather than a stone. Shaking his head to dismiss the notion, Ye Junze tried to nudge the stone, attempting to lift it, but it didn't budge an inch. Noticing this, he increased his strength and tried again, but the result was the same: the stone remained utterly unmoved, as though it had been fastened firmly to the ground by some means.

Ye Junze then tried each of the nearby stones in turn, but they were all just as immovable as the first.

"Just as I thought," he mused to himself as he stood. "These stones really are fixed to the ground."

The others around them had already begun whispering among themselves, unable to contain their curiosity about what Ye Junze was doing crouched over a stone.

Li Ling, too, had noticed Ye Junze's actions, but seeing how absorbed he was, did not disturb him.

Once Ye Junze stood up, Li Ling finally walked over and asked, "So, did you find anything?"

Ye Junze turned at the sound of his voice, waved a hand, and said, "Not much. But look at these stones." He gestured toward the ground.

Li Ling looked down at the stones, observing for a moment before commenting, "I saw you studying these, so I checked them out myself. Aside from being neatly arranged and looking almost identical, I don't see what else is special about them."

Ye Junze shook his head. "It's not that simple. If you look closely, you'll see these stones are arranged in a specific pattern—and none of them can be moved."

Li Ling, hearing this, studied the stones with renewed focus. After a while, a thoughtful look came over him, quickly followed by interest.

Before long, he seemed to have an epiphany. "Now that you mention it, the longer you look, the more you sense there's something mysterious about them."

"Exactly," Ye Junze replied. "That was my thought as well."

"Let me try the other thing you mentioned," Li Ling said eagerly.

He crouched down, imitating Ye Junze, and tried to pull up a stone with his fingers, but it wouldn't budge. Not willing to give up, he pressed both palms against the stone and exerted all his strength, trying to wrench it from the earth. The stone remained unmoved, and the force of his effort sent him stumbling backward. Had he not caught himself in time, he might have landed embarrassingly on the ground.

Ye Junze couldn't help but laugh at the sight. He stepped forward to steady Li Ling. "Are you alright? I did warn you there was no need to use so much force."

Li Ling waved him off. "I'm fine—I just didn't expect the stone to be so firmly fixed. That caught me off guard."

Ye Junze smiled. "It seems these stones are far from ordinary. I wonder if they're related to the class we'll be having today."

"I think they must be," Li Ling replied thoughtfully, arms crossed. "They're definitely not as simple as they seem."

Ye Junze nodded in agreement.

Then, as if he'd remembered something, Li Ling continued, "Though, now that we're talking about it, I've noticed something else."

"What is it?" Ye Junze asked, curious.

Li Ling turned and pointed to the tall trees surrounding them. "The trees around here seem to be planted in a deliberate pattern too. I can't tell whether it's natural or man-made, though."

"Is that so?" Ye Junze raised his head and followed Li Ling's gesture, examining the trees.

At closer inspection, he indeed found something unusual. The trees encircled the outdoor classroom, enclosing it like walls and a roof. Looking closely, he could see that the distance between each tree was precisely the same, as if intentionally arranged with meticulous care.

Ye Junze mused, "It really does seem as you say—these trees are anything but ordinary."

"Right? Even if we don't know their purpose yet." Li Ling crossed his arms, deep in thought.

Ye Junze nodded. "This makes me all the more curious about today's class. We haven't even started, and we've already found so much. I can't wait to see what happens."

Li Ling nodded in wholehearted agreement. "Absolutely. I'm looking forward to it."

While they conversed, more and more students had arrived, preparing for class.

Among them were Yun Tianhan, Fan Yan, and Lu Renjia, whom they'd met the day before. When Li Ling saw that they had arrived, he immediately waved and called out in greeting.

"Hey, over here!" He waved his hand energetically, raising his voice as if afraid they wouldn't hear.

The three heard him and turned, spotting Li Ling waving and Ye Junze smiling beside him.

They glanced at each other, then, with a tacit understanding, walked over to join them.

When they approached, Li Ling greeted them with a smile. "What took you so long? We've been here for a while!"

Hardly had he finished speaking when the three chorused, "We didn't want to get out of bed."

Yun Tianhan and Lu Renjia exchanged a glance and then burst out laughing.

"Seems we're all of one mind," Lu Renjia chuckled.

"Exactly! I used to think college would let me do whatever I wanted, but now... well, who would've thought..." Yun Tianhan trailed off, wearing a look that said it all.

Everyone broke into laughter once again.

Li Ling turned to Fan Yan, grinning, "What about you, Missy? Were you too lazy to get up as well?"

Fan Yan rolled her eyes at him and replied, "I'm a girl, you know! Girls need time for makeup and all that!"

Li Ling smacked his forehead with mock regret. "Sorry, sorry, my mistake!"

This prompted another round of laughter. Once everyone had finished, Li Ling adopted a mysterious air and said, "You all came too late."

Seeing Li Ling's secretive demeanor, Ye Junze knew what he was about to say and couldn't help but smile.

The others, not knowing the reason, asked, "What is it? Did something happen?"

"Before you got here, Ye Junze and I made an important discovery," Li Ling said, still shrouded in mystery.

"Then tell us! Stop keeping us in suspense," Fan Yan protested, unable to wait.

Ye Junze, seeing her impatience, smiled and said, "Alright, enough theatrics. I'll explain."

Fan Yan replied, "You're much more reliable, Ye Junze. Go on, we're listening."

The other two nodded, signaling their attention.

So, Ye Junze began to recount all that they had just discovered.