The second test was over, but the monastery had one rule no one warned them about:
"If you pass two tests in a single day, your reward is… not a bed."
Jyang blinked at the monk handing out ragged tents and moth-eaten blankets.
"Wait—so we don't even get to sleep inside?"
The monk didn't respond. He just handed Jyang a bent spoon and walked off into the fog.
Ursu blinked from Jyang's shoulder. "This place has some real hospitality issues."
The monastery hills were beautiful—if your definition of beauty included freezing wind, sharp rocks, and the occasional goat screaming like a banshee at 3 AM.
Around a dim campfire, the 30 remaining candidates were trying to figure out how to "be one with nature" without dying.
"Wh-who camps this high up?" cried a chubby boy named Gompo as he tried (and failed) to hammer his tent into the stone ground. "Even the trees gave up growing here!"
"I think I accidentally pitched my tent on a slope," groaned a girl as her shelter slowly slid down the hill with her inside.
"I've never even been outside this long!" another whispered, trying to brush a moth off her nose.
WHOOSH.
Suddenly, a tent nearby collapsed with a loud WHUMP.
Out stumbled a skinny, bug-eyed boy named Tenju, coughing on his own frustration.
"I swear these tents are possessed! I folded it like the diagram said!"
Ursu stared. "You folded it into a hat."
Tenju looked down. The "tent" was now a wearable cone.
"Oh," he muttered. "That explains the draft."
Meanwhile, Jyang was building a half-decent fire thanks to skills he learned from living in a half-burned house. Still, he wasn't exactly thriving.
"This blanket smells like yak cheese," he whispered, nose scrunched.
"Because it is yak cheese," Ursu muttered. "Or used to be."
As night crept over the hills, a weird energy settled over the group.
Shadows grew longer. Owls hooted in strange rhythms. One of the tents started… twitching.
"...Did you see that?" Gompo whispered.
Everyone froze.
In the distance—crunch.
Then again—crunch.
"Maybe it's a monk coming to check on us?" someone offered.
CRUNCH.
A figure stepped from the trees.
Everyone screamed.
Except Ursu. He squinted. "It's just a goat."
The goat screamed back, louder than any human could.
The group screamed again.
The goat walked off smugly.
Later, as the fire burned low, and most of the kids had fallen into restless, awkward positions, Jyang sat awake.
Ursu was snoring on his belly, mumbling something about revenge and tiny eye masks.
Jyang looked toward the dark forest.
Something was out there.
He didn't know why, but his stomach twisted—like a rope pulled too tight.
Then—
Rustle.
He turned.
Nothing.
Just trees.
But he felt it: eyes.
Watching.
A shape moved—too quick to see.
But instead of panic, Jyang smiled slightly.
"Let them come," he whispered, gripping his scarf tighter. "I've survived worse than shadows."
A rock behind him shifted.
He turned fast—but there was nothing there.
Ursu snorted. "If you die, I'm eating your blanket."
End of Chapter 5
Tomorrow: the final test begins. But tonight, sleep comes late… and something watches.