By the time Luo Bin woke the next day, it was already broad daylight.
Sinpo Baqin sat on a meditation cushion, tapping a wooden fish, just as he had when Luo Bin and the others first arrived.
Before opening his eyes, Luo Bin had not felt as though he heard anything. Now, crisp tapping filled his ears.
He shook his head slightly. His mind felt exceptionally clear, his awareness sharper than before, and he could hear even the faintest sounds.
Had a single night's sleep really done him this much good?
What had Sinpo Baqin done?
"Little Luo, you're finally awake! You slept so long I thought you'd been sent to the other side." Fourth Master Gray's squeaks came from inside his collar.
Luo Bin let out a soft breath, sat up, and turned to look at Sinpo Baqin.
Sinpo Baqin did not turn around. He continued tapping the wooden fish.
Looking down, Luo Bin saw several meditation cushions laid together beneath him.
In front of him stood a low table laden with beef jerky, tsampa, dried milk, fried rats, centipedes, snakes, and other foods. There was even a pot of milk tea, steaming hot.
The mixture of ordinary and decidedly abnormal food made Luo Bin's eyelids twitch.
For the Black City Monastery, though, the ordinary foods were probably the abnormal ones.
His stomach was indeed empty. Luo Bin picked up a piece of tsampa and took a bite, then immediately poured himself a bowl of milk tea to wash down the loose barley flour.
He ate quite a bit, though naturally he left the unsettling dishes untouched.
"Little Luo, I appreciate you not eating the rats, but you've eaten plenty of snakes, haven't you? Why so fussy now?" Fourth Master Gray kept squeaking.
Luo Bin remained silent.
It was