Qian practiced his sword strokes with careful dedication. Each time he moved his sword, Qian tried to be faster and stronger than the time before. He tried to use his qi to empower his muscles but as always, he began to lose control after only a few minutes. Someday his body would be able to use qi as naturally as breathing but for now he still needed constant practice. As he worked two prison guards watched as they snacked on dried meat.  

“Don’t you ever get tired of training?” Hoko, a middle-aged guard with red hair and a thick beard, asked. 

“He was like this even back when we were just patrolmen,” Jantu, a kind woman around Qian’s age with short blonde hair and emerald eyes, interjected.  

“It’s said that fate helps the studious and diligent,” Qian answered. 

“As long as I keep out of the pit and the slums I don’t care where fate sends me,” Hoko commented taking a huge bite of meat.  

“I just wish I were fated to fall in love and live out my days in peace,” Jantu wished staring at the open sky above the courtyard.  

“If that’s what you want then why even join the prison guard?” Hoko questioned. 

“I figured it would be the easy to find a strong husband here,” Jantu began, “And more importantly my parents died and it was either join the guard or starve.” 

“Maybe you could marry the warden and then you’d never have to worry for food,” Hoko chuckled at his own joke.  

Jantu shuddered at the thought as she replied, “I’d rather marry someone lower in position. I just want a quiet life without the stress and drama of bureaucracy.” 

“That sounds nice but I need to go watch some prisoners dig,” Hoko walked off waving as he left.  

“I guess I should go check to make sure none of the prisoners have died in their cells.” Jantu left as well. With the others gone Qian decided it would be a good time to switch training methods. Sitting on the ground, he began to meditate. With every breath he focused on absorbing qi from the world around and moving it around his body expanding his core and meridians. After a few hours Qian decided it was probably time for a break. He could only afford a short break since the imperial rank tournament would begin soon.  

The tournament would be a competition between all imperial guards of the same rank. The winner of each rank would be immediately promoted. It was the fastest way to rise in the ranks without political power or prestige. If Qian could win the rank 2 tournament, he would have access to more resources for training.  It would take place in three weeks for the entirety of the emperor's birth month.  

Qian lived each day like this for the next two weeks. 

Qian rested after training just like he did every day. The prison had been quiet for the most part. A few more rebels had been thrown in the pit but not enough to cause worry. So, it was a shock when Qian saw Hoko running towards him. 

“Qian something happened,” Hoko half shouted as he ran out of breath, “Everyone in the mines is dead.” 

Qian quickly stood up and asked, “What happened? Was it an uprising?” 

“I don’t know but it’s not just the guards of the prisoners it’s literally everyone.” Hoko barely managed to finish his sentence. 

“I’ll go take a look while you report this to the warden,” Qian commanded as he began to walk quickly towards the mine entrance. 

“But the warden’s at a lunch for military officials,” Hoko shouted after him.  

“Then find three guards and tell them to meet me at the mines and then go find the warden or some other high ranking official,” Qian shouted back. 

The inside of the mines beneath the prison were dark and cramped. The occasional lantern dimly lit the cave enough to see a pair of cart tracks that led deeper in. A stench of decay permeated the air but that was not uncommon for the mines. As Qian made it deeper the cave split into several offshoots. Down several he could see the light blue glow of unpolished qi stones that had begun to form. 

Eventually he reached a large circular room that had 8 caves exiting from it. The lanterns on the walls had gone out but the room was lit by a pile of stones at the center of the room. A half-filled cart sat next to the pile. Unlike the other stones these ones were a crimson red color. As Qian moved forward, he noticed that the stones were surrounded by several corpses covered in lacerations. He was now sure that the stones had changed color because they had been dyed with blood.   

Pulling out his blade, Qian tried to look down each of the tunnels but all he could see was darkness. He grabbed a lantern from the wall hit the flint on the edge lighting it. When he crouched next to the corpses, Qian saw what he thought were intricate blade wounds. “Looks like a person did this,” Qian thought to himself as his worries were rising. This didn’t look like melee since many of the guards’ weapons were clean of blood. Whoever did this was quick and thorough.  

Qian heard rushed footsteps as three guards approached him all holding spears and lanterns. As they arrived, they saluted him while attempting look away from the gruesome sight.  

“Let’s see if we can find any hint of what did this,” Qian commanded trying his best to sound confident, “Make sure to stick together and keep an on our rear.” He led the small group down the tunnel opposite the entrance. If he remembered correctly this tunnel would lead further into the maze of caverns. As they walked the guards tried their best to keep from shaking in fear. The guard at the back kept nervously looking behind them and jumping at the movement of his own shadow.  

As the group continued, they came across a few corpses and several rooms identical to the one before including the pile of corpses at the center. Eventually they reached the end of the path where they came across a wall of thick black stone in the shape of hexagonal columns. Everything looked as it had the few times Qian had been down there before. As he turned to begin the journey back Qian saw one of the guards point a shaking finger at the wall.  

In the corner of the wall there was small black hole about 2 feet wide and three feet tall. Qian walked slowly towards the hole. His heart beat quickly as he saw that the darkness in the hole was unaffected by his lantern. Qian knew what was out there. It was the abyss. Qian looked down and saw his darkest childhood fears realized. There long marks in the dirt as though something had dragged itself into the cave.  

A hundred theories ran through his mind in an instant. Had s rebel managed to grab the side of the abyss on their decent? But then how did all those people die? Maybe the resentment of the countless victims thrown into the abyss had seeped in here and poisoned the prisoner’s minds, but the guards didn’t even draw their weapons. It must have been a monster or demon born from evil of the rebels.  

“We’re leaving,” Qian commanded happy to finally be rid of this place,” Once we’re out I’ll need you three to help guard the entrance.”