---
The days that followed were a blur of practice, meditation, and self-reflection. Zhen Lin found himself drawn deeper into the teachings of the Sutra, and the concept of the space between—the void that lay beyond the tangible, the unspoken silence that existed between all things—became his obsession. Every moment of stillness, every pause in thought, felt like a key to unlocking something more profound, something that lay beyond the boundaries of his understanding.
He began to meditate not just on the flow of Qi or the patterns of the universe, but on the spaces—the infinitesimal moments of absence between breaths, the fractions of time between thoughts, the nothingness that existed between one heartbeat and the next. He felt that if he could understand these fleeting moments, these gaps in reality, he could begin to see beyond the veil that separated the mortal world from the true nature of the cosmos.
It was during one such meditation, sitting on the edge of the crystal-clear stream near the village, that Zhen Lin felt it.
At first, it was subtle—just a whisper of movement in the air, a shift in the flow of time that made his senses tingle. Then, with a sudden jolt, it was as if the entire world around him had paused. The water in the stream ceased to flow, the rustling of the leaves above him stopped, and even the wind seemed to hold its breath. The silence was deafening. Zhen Lin felt his heart beat slower, his thoughts slowing down as well, until there was nothing—nothing but the void.
In that moment, he understood.
It wasn't just the absence of sound or motion—it was the absence of all things. It was as if he had reached a point beyond perception, beyond time and space, where the boundaries of existence no longer held meaning. It was a place where everything and nothing existed simultaneously. The Sutra's words echoed in his mind: "The space between is where the truth of existence lies, hidden in the silence."
He reached out with his mind, extending his consciousness into the emptiness, trying to touch the intangible. For a moment, the void felt like a dark abyss, cold and unfathomable. But as he continued to focus, he began to perceive something—a pulse, a faint beat beneath the stillness, like the heartbeat of the universe itself.
The pulse began to grow stronger, and with it, Zhen Lin felt a surge of power unlike anything he had experienced before. It wasn't Qi—no, it was something more fundamental, more primal. It was the essence of existence, the force that underpinned everything, from the smallest atom to the farthest star.
But as soon as he reached for it, the pulse faded, and the world around him resumed its natural flow. The water began to move again, the leaves rustled in the breeze, and the wind returned to its restless dance. Zhen Lin opened his eyes, his breath shallow, his chest heaving from the intensity of the experience.
He had glimpsed the true nature of the void, the space that lay between the building blocks of reality, and for a moment, he had touched the essence of existence itself. But it had slipped away from him, just as quickly as it had come.
He felt a deep frustration welling up inside him. How could he grasp something so fleeting, something so elusive? He had barely touched it, and now it was gone.
---
The next few days were filled with intense training, but despite his efforts, Zhen Lin could not return to that moment of clarity. The void remained just out of reach, a distant memory that mocked his attempts to recapture it. Every time he meditated, he felt as if he were circling around it, but never quite getting close enough to touch it again.
But then, as if in response to his growing desperation, the figure in the dark robes appeared again.
Zhen Lin was sitting by the same stream, his mind heavy with frustration. He had spent hours trying to reach the state of stillness, to access the pulse of the void again, but every time he tried, it seemed to slip further from his grasp.
"Why do you chase it so desperately?" the voice came, calm and unhurried, from the shadowy figure standing a few paces away.
Zhen Lin's eyes snapped open, and he stood up in surprise. "You! Again?"
The man smiled faintly. "Yes, again. You seem to be struggling."
Zhen Lin's frustration bubbled to the surface. "Struggling? I've been meditating for days, trying to reach that place again, and every time I come close, it vanishes. What am I missing? What's wrong with me?"
The man stepped closer, his presence as unnerving as before, but now there was a trace of understanding in his gaze. "You're trying to force something that cannot be forced. The void is not a place to be captured or held—it is a state of being, not a goal to reach. It cannot be grasped with mere effort or desire."
Zhen Lin clenched his fists, frustration clear on his face. "Then how? How do I reach it? How do I stay in that place of stillness?"
The man's eyes softened. "You are still thinking in terms of the physical. The void is not something you can enter or exit; it is not a place. It is a shift in perception. A change in the way you view the world. You must first let go of the idea that you can control it."
Zhen Lin's brow furrowed. "Let go? But I need control. I need to understand it!"
"You are misunderstanding," the man replied gently. "To comprehend the void, you must first surrender to it. You must allow it to consume you. In that moment of surrender, you will no longer seek control, but become one with it. The key is acceptance."
Zhen Lin took a step back, trying to digest the man's words. "So, you're saying I have to give up trying to control it? Just… surrender to it?"
The man nodded. "Precisely. The void does not exist in opposition to the world. It is the world. It is the space between breaths, the silence between thoughts, the emptiness between moments. You cannot force it into existence. You must become it."
The words hung in the air between them, heavy with meaning. Zhen Lin felt a shiver run down his spine. He had been trying to control the void, to define it, to make it something he could grasp. But now, the man was telling him to let go, to stop struggling against it.
Zhen Lin took a deep breath, his mind still churning with confusion, but a part of him understood. The void was not something to be controlled, not something to conquer. It was something to experience, to allow himself to become part of, just as he had allowed himself to become part of the flow of Qi.
He closed his eyes, his body relaxing as he released his grip on the world around him. He let go of the need for control. He let go of the need to understand. Instead, he simply was—a part of the moment, part of the stillness, part of the void.
For a brief instant, everything around him seemed to blur, and once again, he felt that pulse—the faint beat of existence, the heart of the universe. This time, it didn't slip away. Instead, it enveloped him, becoming a part of him.
Zhen Lin finally understood.