Hall Master Yue raised his voice so that all the children could hear him. "Listen carefully. Follow the path through the bamboo grove ahead, and it will take you to the Bone-Refining Cliff of the Sect of Seven Mysteries. The first stretch is the bamboo grove, then comes the rock-face region, and at the end is a cliff. Only those who make it to the top will be admitted into the sect. Those who cannot reach the summit before noon will not become full disciples—but if their performance shows any promise worth noting, they may still be accepted as registered disciples."
Han Li naturally had no idea what a "registered disciple" was. All he understood was that he had to keep walking and that he had to climb a mountain. He squinted ahead. The slope facing them did not look particularly steep, and many bamboo stalks of varying thickness grew along it. Surely it could not be so difficult to climb!
Han Li glanced at the other children. He had no wish to lose to those his own age, and he sensed the mood among them turning tense as well.
Hall Master Yue looked at the rising sun. "It's about time. Prepare to set out. Don't be afraid—your senior brothers will be watching over you from behind. You won't come to any harm."
Han Li turned to look at the young men behind them. So these people were called "senior brothers." They were probably disciples taken on in earlier years. If he joined the sect too, would he get to wear clothes just as proud and impressive as theirs?
While he was lost in these thoughts, Han Li noticed that the other children were already charging into the bamboo grove. Seeing this, he hurried to keep up.
The bamboo grove turned out to be enormous. The thirty-odd children scattered the moment they plunged in. Close behind Han Li trailed a tall, thin senior brother, a cold look fixed on his face, who followed in silence without speaking a word. Han Li was a little afraid of him and dared not strike up a conversation. He simply raised his feet, bent his body low, and steadily made his way forward up the slope.
This bamboo grove did not look like much, but the longer one walked through it, the more exhausting it became. The legs grew heavier with every step, until at last Han Li had to lean on a bamboo stalk now and then to drag himself forward, hoping to save a little strength.
He pressed on stubbornly for a good long while, but in the end his limbs simply gave out. He flopped down onto a mound of earth, gasping for breath.
Catching his breath, Han Li stole a glance back at the tall, thin senior brother. Though the ground was steeply inclined, the man stood completely motionless, seemingly without a speck of dust upon him, as upright and steady as the bamboo itself. He was quite close, watching Han Li in silence from a spot just below him.
There was something unnerving about that cold gaze. Han Li hurriedly turned his head away. Then he heard ragged breathing drifting down from ahead, which told him that those who had climbed faster than he were pausing to rest as well. He lingered where he was a little longer, then, in a hurry, pressed upward again.
The slope grew steeper still, and Han Li's strength drained away more and more. Fearing he could no longer stay upright, he had to bend at the waist and climb on both hands and feet. At least his clothes were sturdy, or the sides of his limbs and the joints at his knees would have been worn through.
At last he neared the end of the dense bamboo, yet that final stretch felt harder and harder. The ground grew steadily rockier, while the bamboos thinned out until there were almost none left.
Finally, Han Li could no longer pull himself along by the bamboo stalks at all. The last part of the journey had to be crawled forward, inch by inch.
The moment he emerged from the grove, an open vista opened before him. Directly ahead rose an enormous boulder, upon which a few small, thin figures were already slowly climbing. Each of them was followed by a senior brother in the same uniform. Han Li did not hesitate. He dashed straight for the great rock face in front of him.
The surface of the giant rock was made of layer upon layer of accumulated stone, badly weathered. In places it crumbled at the slightest touch. There were also many sharp, jutting shards of flaking stone, razor-edged. Within the time it takes to eat a meal, Han Li's hands and arms were already covered in cuts. His sleeves and the knees of his trousers were torn, and the skin and flesh beneath had been gashed in more places than he could count. Though the wounds were small, fine bits of grit had gotten into them, making the pain all the sharper.
The foremost climbers had already pulled far ahead. Han Li thought of his family, of the words his parents and Third Uncle Han had spoken to him before he set out, and could only grit his teeth in his heart once more, and climb on with renewed toil.
Before he had left home, his father and Third Uncle had warned him that the entrance test would be harsh, and that if he did not hold out to the end, there was no way he could ever join the Sect of Seven Mysteries. By now Han Li no longer cared at all whether or not he entered the sect. A fierce, stubborn fire had kindled in his breast; a breath of defiance lodged in his throat, and he was determined, no matter what, to catch up with the others.
Raising his head with effort, he squinted ahead. The one climbing at the very front now was Wu Yan. After all, Wu Yan was more than a year older than Han Li, and he had practiced some martial arts as well. His body was far stronger than the other boys'. That he should take the lead was hardly a surprise.
Han Li scanned the ground behind him once more. There were still many figures moving in the distance, and drawing a deep breath, he quickened his pace again.
He threw every last ounce of strength he had into the climb, yet still he could not draw any closer to the frontrunners. His body grew heavier and heavier. He watched the sun crawl slowly toward the middle of the sky, and by then Wu Yan had already scaled to the very top of the great boulder.
There stood a sheer, vertical cliff, more than thirty zhang high. From its summit hung more than a dozen hemp ropes, each knotted with bulges the size of fists along its length. Wu Yan had already clambered onto one of these ropes and was slowly, little by little, inching toward the top.
Han Li gazed at Wu Yan ahead of him and felt his heart sink. He knew he could never catch up with the leading climbers, and he no longer had time enough either.
The instant this thought crossed his mind, the wounds at his elbows and knees flared into burning pain at once. His limbs went weak. The hand gripping the rock trembled, and suddenly his whole body was slipping downward. Han Li's heart pounded with fright. He pressed himself tightly against the rock face and did not dare move a muscle.
After a while, his panic subsided. He reached out to seize a protruding corner of the stone, tugged at it a few times, found it sturdy enough, and only then allowed himself to feel relieved.
Han Li turned his head instinctively to look back. He saw the senior brother behind him crouched low, arms spread wide, in a posture of protecting him from a fall. Only once Han Li was safe again did the man slowly straighten his body.
A surge of gratitude welled in Han Li's chest. If he really had fallen, all his hard-won progress would have been for nothing! So he rested a moment, then began to move forward again, slowly, toward the thick hemp ropes hanging from the cliff face.
At last he reached an unoccupied rope. The sun had almost reached the very center of the sky, and less than half an hour remained before high noon. By then Wu Yan had climbed onto the summit and stood looking back down. The very moment Han Li reached the bottom of the rope, he happened to meet Wu Yan's eyes. Wu Yan raised one arm, extended his little finger, and made a mocking gesture at the climbers below. Then, with a burst of loud laughter, he turned and left.
A flash of anger flared in Han Li's chest. He snatched hold of the rope and began to climb.
But Han Li's body no longer held a single trace of strength. He could barely even grip the knots.
When, after great effort, he managed to haul himself up onto the last knot of the rope and sit straddling it, his whole body felt soft and limp, as if he could not move so much as a finger. Straining to turn his head, he saw children still sitting on the rock face below, gasping for breath in great gulps, clearly having spent their last shred of strength just as he had.
Han Li could only laugh bitterly to himself. He had greatly underestimated this test. At least he had not fallen to the very back. He turned his head and once again caught sight of that cold-faced senior brother. Han Li hesitated for a moment, then resolved to muster his strength and climb a little higher. Though there was no way he could reach the top before noon, was it not a terribly shameful thing simply to stay frozen here?
Han Li stretched his arms, which had grown stiff, and, summoning the little strength that had recovered, slowly pushed himself upward along the knots. But by now his hands had stopped obeying him entirely. They could not even grasp the rope. He fumbled about for a while, yet made no progress at all.