Mathematical Bliss (Twenty-Two)
So it probably wasn't simply a matter of excessive particulates.
Struggling to expand his lungs, Fu Qian recalled how he had felt on the way in and quickly reached a conclusion.
Although the place certainly felt suffocating, the difficulty breathing hadn't actually increased smoothly.
It had only become intense all of a sudden, almost exactly when Yin-Yang Head's Old Man smashed his incense burner.
It was possible his body had reached some critical threshold, but with the smoky mirage before him, Fu Qian was more inclined to consider something a little more supernatural.
For example, perhaps he was being rejected by this place because he had been expelled from the sect—and the rejection was growing stronger.
Another point in favor of that theory was that the heaviness in his breathing was almost perfectly mirrored in his mind.
He felt repressed and sluggish. His thoughts were growing obscure and muddled, losing their fluency... and this wasn't even the first time he'd felt something similar.
Earlier, when he had led the Brotherhood's followers to establish their presence, he'd watched the performances of Lady with the Scarf and the other woman. For a fleeting moment during the performance, he'd felt the same sort of discomfort.
And the ultimate form of this discomfort seemed to be the darkness he had experienced earlier, during his inhuman cycle of reincarnation—a darkness that had made him forget he was human.
There was another point, too: the mirage in his field of vision really was disappearing. It seemed he had lost the right to see it.
"How are you feeling?"
As he savored the sensation, Yin-Yang Head's Old Man took the initiative and asked how he felt.
"The Brotherhood has never forced anyone to stay. As long as you can withstand this Heart-Beast Punishment... a