Halfway through sweeping, Liu Xia's stomach growled.
He glanced at the sky—about time for the kitchen to open.
Leaning the broom against the stone steps, he walked inside.
Qingyun Sect wasn't big, but to him, it was already confusing enough.
On the first day, he got lost once and got scolded.
On the second day, he tried to remember the paths—and still got it wrong.
On the third day—
"…Should be this way."
He turned into a small path.
Ten steps in—
He stopped.
Ahead was a medicinal field.
Not the kitchen.
Liu Xia stood there for a moment and sighed.
"Wrong again."
He turned around to head back.
Took two steps.
Stopped.
…Where was the path he came from?
He turned his head.
Behind him wasn't the stone steps.
It was a patch of forest.
Very quiet.
Too quiet.
Liu Xia frowned.
He clearly remembered entering from the stone steps. There was no way he'd walked straight into a forest.
"Anyone there?" he called out.
No response.
No wind either.
The silence felt strange.
Liu Xia stood still, thinking for a moment.
"Did I walk too far in…?"
He took two steps forward.
His foot suddenly slipped—
Almost stepping into a pit.
He quickly pulled back.
Looking down, he saw a formation pattern.
Faint, but still glowing.
Liu Xia paused.
"A formation?"
He had heard about these—some areas in the sect had formations. Wander in randomly, and you'd get trapped.
"…Troublesome."
He looked around.
The forest wasn't large, but his sense of direction was completely messed up.
He took two steps to the left.
Then stopped.
No.
He felt like he had just been here.
He looked down at the ground.
There were footprints.
His footprints.
Exactly the same.
Liu Xia was silent for two seconds.
"Alright."
He nodded.
"I'm lost."
He said it calmly.
Like accepting reality.
He sat down on the ground.
No point walking.
Walking wouldn't help.
"I'll wait for someone."
Silence.
Still silence.
After a while, he got a little annoyed.
"The food in the kitchen's probably going to be gone…"
He rubbed his stomach.
Hungry.
More annoyed.
"Who made this stupid formation?"
No reply.
He stared at the formation patterns on the ground for a while.
Didn't understand them.
But they annoyed him.
"Can you stop looping?"
He said.
Not harsh.
Almost casual.
Like complaining.
—
Space paused slightly.
—
On another layer—
Within a folded dimension made of countless overlapping spaces—
A voice suddenly stopped.
"Huh?"
It had been muttering to itself.
"Wait, was he just scolding the formation? Right? No—was he scolding space? Or not? He said 'stop looping'… does that count as ordering me? Does it?"
It spoke quickly.
Then suddenly got excited.
"Forget it, forget it—do it first!"
—
Back in the forest—
Liu Xia was still sitting there.
He was just about to complain again.
Then suddenly—
The wind moved.
Not normal wind.
It was—
The surroundings shifted slightly.
As if someone had twisted the entire space just a little.
Liu Xia froze.
He stood up instinctively.
The forest ahead… was gone.
In its place—
A familiar path.
Looking further ahead—
The kitchen building stood not far away.
Smoke had just begun to rise.
Liu Xia stood still.
Didn't move.
He looked for two seconds.
Then turned back.
The forest was gone.
The formation was gone.
As if nothing had happened.
"… "
He was silent for a moment.
Then took two steps forward.
Stepped on the ground.
Solid.
Didn't sink.
Two more steps.
Still normal.
He stopped.
Looked down at his feet.
Then at his surroundings.
"…Was I just walking in circles?"
No one answered.
He thought for a moment.
"Probably."
He accepted it quickly.
There wasn't any other explanation anyway.
His stomach growled again.
He stopped thinking about it and headed straight for the kitchen.
—
There were already a few people lining up outside the kitchen.
All were labor disciples.
Liu Xia got in line at the back.
The person in front turned and glanced at him.
"Weren't you sweeping the mountain gate? Back already?"
Liu Xia nodded.
"Yeah."
The man looked at him again.
Didn't say anything more.
When it was his turn, the old cook glanced at him.
"Early today."
"Mm," Liu Xia responded.
The old man ladled him a bowl of porridge and tossed over two dry buns.
"Take it."
Liu Xia carried the bowl and found a corner to sit down.
First bite.
Hot.
His whole body relaxed a little.
That bit of irritation from earlier faded.
As he ate, he zoned out.
Still thinking about what just happened.
Formation.
Getting lost.
And then… suddenly being out.
"Good luck?" he muttered.
Couldn't figure it out.
So he stopped trying.
He kept eating.
—
Meanwhile—
In that forest—
The formation was still there.
Several outer disciples stood inside, looking confused.
"What's going on? The path was just here!"
"I was clearly walking this way!"
"Why do we keep looping back?!"
One of them looked down at the formation.
His expression darkened.
"Someone altered the formation."
"Who?"
"No idea… but the formation core's been changed."
He looked up, toward the outside.
He could just barely see the direction of the kitchen in the distance.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Just now… didn't a labor disciple walk out from here?"
Another nodded.
"Seems like it."
"How did he get out?"
No one answered.
—
In the dimensional layer—
That voice started talking again.
"Wow, that was so easy. I just moved things a little—put the exit right in front of him, and he walked out."
It paused.
"…But he didn't seem to notice?"
It sounded a bit disappointed.
"Ah, whatever. I'll play again next time."
It got excited again.
"Right, right—next time if he gets lost again, I can make it more interesting. Like walking from the sect straight outside the mountain, or falling off his bed and landing on the peak—"
Before it could finish—
A low voice pressed down.
"Quiet."
The space fell silent instantly.
That voice immediately lowered itself.
"…Oh."
After a while—
It couldn't help but speak again.
"…But that was really fun."
No one responded.
—
Liu Xia finished the last mouthful of porridge.
Wiped his mouth.
Stood up.
He glanced outside.
The sky was fully bright now.
There was still a lot of work to do today.
He stretched.
"Let's go."
He carried the bowl and walked out.
His steps were ordinary.
Like nothing had happened.
But what he didn't know—
That moment just now—
Wasn't luck.
It was—
Someone had heard what he said.