Master Fang Zheng’s Unique Teaching

It had been a few days since my "training" with Master Fang Zheng began, and I had to admit, things were going better than expected. Not that I had completely figured out mana harmonization yet, but I'd managed to make some progress without embarrassing myself completely.

Well, mostly.

But that wasn't stopping me from feeling a little too confident. I had done something. That was progress, right?

The morning air was crisp, and the courtyard where I was training was quieter than usual. My teacher was nowhere in sight, which was both a relief and a problem. I could finally work in peace. Hehe.

I stood there, ready to give it another shot. No teacher around. Just me and my growing ego.

"Alright, Amon," I muttered to myself. "You've got this. Mana's basically under control now. Time to level up."

Just as I was getting into the groove, Fang Zheng appeared from the shadows, quietly stepping into the courtyard with his usual calm expression. He handed me a scroll with a flourish, his eyes gleaming with a sense of purpose I wasn't entirely sure I shared.

"Your next lesson," he said, without a hint of humor. "Meditate on these words until they seep into your very bones."

I took the scroll with some hesitation. It was covered in strange symbols and cryptic phrases. The first line I read made no sense at all:

"The moon's shadow does not chase the sun, yet both remain in balance."

I blinked. "What does this even mean?"

Fang Zheng gave me a serious look, as though he were trying to impart some profound wisdom.

"Figure it out. Balance is the key to everything. You must understand it before you can grow stronger."

I stared at the scroll, completely baffled. Balance? Sure, that sounded fine in theory, but I didn't even know where to start. How was I supposed to meditate on this?

Hours passed. I kept reading the same line over and over, each time hoping that it would start making sense. But the more I stared at it, the less I understood. The words blurred, and my thoughts began to twist in weird directions.

The moon... laughing? The sun wagging its fiery finger? And the jar-oh, the jar at the back was taunting me.

I was losing it. Maybe this whole thing was a joke.

Fang Zheng, of course, was completely unfazed. He sat across the courtyard, sipping his tea and watching me struggle. He didn't even flinch when I muttered a string of nonsense under my breath, repeating the lines of the scroll like some sort of incantation.

"Balance, Amon," he would say every once in a while, as if those words alone were enough to fix everything. "Balance is everything. Everything in its place."

But the more he said it, the less it made sense. I didn't care about balance. I cared about progress. I cared about power. Why was this so difficult?

At some point, I started to feel the frustration mounting. My mind was on fire, twisting and turning in circles, searching for some meaning that wasn't there.

And I wasn't the only one feeling it.

Fang Zheng, too, began to change. His pacing became more frantic. He'd mutter under his breath, almost imperceptibly at first, but then louder, his words a jumble of confusion.

"The moon," he whispered, "the moon must... must find the sun. But it never will. It can't. They are always apart. No balance... none at all."

I glanced up at him, worried. What was happening to him? Did he overdose on some mushrooms lately?

His usual calm demeanor was slowly eroding, replaced by an unsettling tension. He was still sipping his tea, but now it looked like he was forcing the motions. His hand trembled slightly, and his gaze was unfocused, staring out into the distance like he could see something I couldn't. Something... something wrong.

"Master?" I asked, unsure whether to be concerned or just let him work through whatever mental breakdown he was having.

"Balance... balance is a lie," he murmured, his voice shaking. "Everything is out of balance. The moon cannot stand with the sun, and yet... yet they try. They try to fool us, to make us believe in something that doesn't exist."

I was about to ask what he meant when his entire demeanor shifted. His face contorted with frustration, his eyes wide with a crazed intensity.

"Why do I keep teaching this nonsense?" he suddenly screamed, throwing his tea aside. "I've been wrong this whole time! It's all wrong! Ah, I've been enlightened! The moon doesn't care! The sun doesn't care!"

I froze. Was he... losing it? Was I the cause of this?

He stood up abruptly, hands pulling at his hair, pacing faster and faster around the courtyard. He was muttering something under his breath, his words growing louder with each step.

"It's all a lie! A big, fat lie! Balance? Balance is a concept! A fool's game!" His voice was high-pitched now, manic. "Why did I teach this? Why?!"

I stood there, frozen in place, not sure whether I should try to calm him down or run for my life. His raving continued, his body shaking, eyes wide in fear or madness it was hard to tell.

"Master, I think you might need a nap," I said cautiously.

He stopped suddenly, staring at me with wild, vacant eyes. "Nap?!" he screamed, his voice trembling. "No! I can't sleep! Not when I see it! The imbalance! The chaos!"

The next day, I woke up to find Master Fang Zheng was gone. His bed was empty, his usual tea set untouched. For a moment, I thought maybe I had imagined everything. Maybe it had been a weird dream.

But no. The look in his eyes before he'd gone completely mad had been all too real. Fang Zheng was gone. And the worst part? I think he was never coming back.

Later that day, I was sitting alone in the courtyard, trying to meditate on the scroll (which, to be honest, I still didn't get) when Leeon, the disciple who gave me the recommendation letter, burst into the room. He was panting heavily, like he had run all the way here.

"You won't believe it," he gasped.

I raised an eyebrow. "What? Did someone finally break the record for fastest rock-throwing?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Worse. Master Fang Zheng... he's lost it. The whole sect is freaking out. He's been pacing around the courtyard screaming about the end of balance and the sun and moon being in a cosmic struggle or something!"

My stomach dropped. "Wait, what? He's gone completely mad?"

Leeon nodded grimly. "Yeah, it's bad. He was yelling about wanting a hairy mommy and how balance is a lie. The sect's worried. They're saying you might've broken him, Amon."

I swallowed, feeling a mix of guilt and disbelief. "Did I... did I break him?"

Leeon stared at me in horror. "You didn't just break him, man. You turned him into a madman. What did you do to him?"

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "I was just... trying to meditate on the scroll. That's it."

"Well, whatever you did," Leeon said, shaking his head, "I think Master Fang Zheng's officially cracked. And now... you're probably going to be teaching yourself."