The assembly barn filled before the afternoon bell. People took places on the benches and stood along the posts, with a clear lane kept open from the door to the table. Ning placed the clinic’s anonymous notes beside Hanlo’s handout and the complete copy from Gu’s archive. Mera sat with the elders. Hanlo stood near the entrance with his brass bell in hand.
Mera opened the meeting. “We are deciding whether someone may hold a public initiation on village land. We are not deciding what anyone may read at home or what beliefs people may hold.”
Hanlo rang the bell once. “This is a rule against my faith. The council wants to put a clerk between a person and the truth.”
Qinghe replied, “I am asking for complete instructions and an honest description of the risks when someone teaches a cultivation method in public. I am not asking the council to ban your beliefs.”
Ning read from the anonymized clinic record. Two patients had arrived with inflamed meridians after practicing the sequence sold on the handout. Their names were not included. The record listed the trembling, fever and weak pulse that the clinic had observed, along with the treatments and follow-up plan.
