Shuntian Sect

"Master Zhi, does anyone really live in a place this remote?"

After leaving the Mang Army, Master Zhi and his group traveled for several thousand li, stopping and starting along the way atop their mounts, until they reached a desolate mountain region far from the main roads. If not for the beaten dirt path beneath their feet, his companions would have had no doubt that they were lost in some nameless wilderness.

The deep forests on either side of the path were enough to make one's heart tremble. Fearing that savage beasts might suddenly leap from the woods and attack them, Master Zhi's companions uneasily questioned their leader.

Master Zhi rode at the front, utterly unconcerned with the scenery around him, calm and composed.

"The Shuntian Sect believes in following the greater course of events and letting all things take their natural course. It does not seek to change things through human effort, acting without striving. Yet where there are people, there is conflict, and the heart is easily disturbed. A wilderness untouched by human habitation is an ideal place to stay far from the struggles of ordinary people, making it well suited for cultivating a disposition of nonaction," Master Zhi replied, reassuring them.

"Then, Master Zhi, when you joined our Mang Army, didn't your sect condemn you for it?"

Having heard Master Zhi's explanation, one of the attendants voiced the doubt in his heart. As his companions, they did not know everything, but they did know a little about the Shuntian Sect. The sect did not interfere in worldly affairs, yet Master Zhi, as one of its members, had joined the Mang Army and even served as its strategist, offering plans and counsel. Clearly, that did not match the nonaction they had heard of.

The attendant did not mean