The light from outside was cut out, and the cave became much darker with only a single torch. Everything in the room reflected an orange tinge, and amidst this light were flickering shadows.
But besides himself and the dancing torchlight, nothing in the room seemed to move.
Still, it was very different from the state of nothingness where he had nothing but his thoughts. He still had his five senses, and light, at least.
'...But what am I supposed to do? With this body?'
He rolled over, attempting to get up but to no avail. He was a newborn. He could not do that much, even if he had memories from his past life.
A few minutes passed, and only then did he notice a strange noise.
'Water?'
It was the sound of water droplets, droplets dripping on water. It would echo, followed by two seconds of silence, before echoing again. It was a consistent cycle, never a moment too late or early.
But aside from this occasional punctuation, there was nothing else.
He rolled over, sliding down the stone bed that was much shorter than he initially thought.
The ground was cold, he could feel it despite being blanketed. It was very cold, to the point where he thought that it was unnaturally so.
'Is it because of my body?'
Perhaps his previous body had been desensitized to the cold. It did make sense. Years of battle and endless war had strengthened his previous body to levels an average man would never reach. And add to that years of training.
'But wouldn't that mean I have to get myself used to pain again?'
He inwardly sighed. The work he had to do was not little. He had the brain of a demonic general, but unfortunately not the body of one.
But regardless, getting his hands and feet out of the blanket, he tried to crawl. Sprawling with his stomach touching the ground, he put all his strength into his four limbs. He let out a shrill grunt as his palms touched the surface.
It was cold. Cold unlike stone, but like ice.
'No, it's colder than ice.'
He glanced at the point where his palms had touched. Steam was suffusing out as though it had just made contact with lava.
'It's not my body. This place is weird.'
But he could not do anything. The exit was blocked out and, with his body, he could not break out. There was no food to eat, and even if there was he would not be able to eat with his body.
'I need milk.' he thought. 'But they killed my mother…'
Amidst his thoughts, the sound of water droplets echoed in his ear once more. He scanned around, and his eyes landed on a small depression at the end of the cave where water gathered.
It was a small pond, and above this pond, a single bead of water swelled before turning into a water droplet, joining the pond.
'So that's where the droplets came from.'
And he noticed something else. The water was emitting steam.
'Then it must be warm, or at least much warmer than the room.'
He put himself back into the silk blanket and rolled over towards the pond. His theory was proven right. The closer he got to the water, the warmer it became. The floor near the pond was no longer extremely cold. It was cold, still, but cold like regular stone.
With hesitation, he dipped a finger into the pond.
'It's thick.'
Seeing as it did not harm him, he did it once again, dipping his short finger
further, submerging it completely.
'Is this… Yin energy…?'
He closed his eyes and focused on his finger. But before another second passed, he suddenly winced and pulled out his finger.
Thick, black veins were bulging out of his entire hand. He was not able to move it. It was frozen.
Before more thoughts could surface in his head, like parasites, the black veins moved towards his wrist, then his hands, and finally his forehead.
It was painful, but not enough to cause him to grunt. He touched his forehead and felt an odd bulge on his forehead. It was hard. Hard and cold.
He leaned into the water, which showed him his face reflected in orange torchlight, and a black, trigonal crystal on the center of his forehead.
'...'
Strange shouts resounded in the distance, past the pile of boulders that blocked the exit. Following that were loud thuds and crunches that seemed to shake the earth.
Elder Hua stood in the cave where the holes were, the nervousness on his face almost as obvious as his bald head. Standing with him were dozens of other elders, all wearing similar expressions as they looked on.
People in dark-blue robes stood beyond the caves covered by boulders, all using strange and flashy techniques to smash themselves a path. Some used their bare fists, and some used sharp blades as though they were blunt weapons. But as strange as they seemed, these techniques worked.
The boulders were broken through with ease.
"This is foolish!" a red-haired elder grunted. "Why are we testing newborns?
Newborns!"
"That's right," the bald Elder Hua added. "They're just gonna cry. Composure comes from experience, not talent."
"That's right!" The other elders nodded, some of them chiming in to share their similar sentiments.
Stuck within those caves were all children they had brought into the sect. Some were kidnapped, some were sold off by their parents, some were children of sect members and some belonged to the elders.
The elders continued their complaints as the sect members finished removing the boulders. A black-haired youth was the first to enter a cave, and he exited carrying a crying child.
The other sect members did the same, entering a cave and bringing out a crying child. As more and more children were brought out, shrill cries filled the entire cave, shrill, irritating, pitiful.
Some elders shook their heads, some covering their faces with their palms as though they were embarrassed.
"E-Elder Hua!" a sect member who had just exited a cave shouted. He held up his hands and beckoned the bald elder to come.
Another elder turned their head. "Elder Hua, wasn't your grandson-"
Elder Hua grunted before scuttling off towards the cave.
The sect member pointed towards the cave as the bald elder neared.
"Why is there no sound?" Elder Hua asked, his voice ominously low. "Where is my grandson?"
The sect member flinched before pointing towards the stone bed. "H-He's right there."
A baby was set on the stone bed, wrapped in a silk blanket the same way he was when he was laid down. It was Jin Hua.
He was not crying.
He was calm.