"At long last they are coming." The leader of Radiant Palm Cult said, exhaling sharply while pointing a finger at the two figures approaching from the far distance.

The moment he stopped, a third person followed Yung Mai and the regular Jack. Ever since Jim departed from the temple, his eyes opened wide.

Around him, the gentle murmurs of the assembled monks, Radiant Palm Cult standing in their deep wine outfit, Whispering Wind Cult in their pale white outfit, and the Iron Body in their crimson outfit all froze into an absolute silence.

The air thickened, carrying the scent of leaves in a dried earth as it moved at their front.

All eyes at the courtyard fell and locked on the trio moving toward them from the junction, where the stairs started.

At first, they caught the familiar, venerable leader of Shadow Cult, Yung Mai, his white hair flowing like a banner of wisdom as he led the trio.

Beside him, Jack, a known disciple of the cult, also walked with the grace of a destined master. But as they focused on the third figure following the two, their nostrils forgot how to exhale, leaving their faces reddened.

When the third person reached a little bit closer, all the monks stumbled two steps back the moment they saw the deliberate movement the boy carried.

"How is that possible?" Jude screamed, his voice echoing like a thunder clap while he unintentionally loosened his grip on the two flowers he held tight in his hands.

The bouquets tumbled to the ground, letting tiny particles of dust splash in the air and align themselves on the name tags 'Clara' and 'Kai' as the flowers landed face-up.

His heart hammered against his ribs, almost as if wanting to burst as the ray of the sun shone bright on the names.

At that instant, the air flowing through his lungs felt like tiny pieces of glass, choking him while his eyes rolled in circles.

When Yung Mai stopped at the front of the Radiant Palm leader, he lowered he lowered his head and bowed to all those standing in shock.

He raised his head slowly, scanned the faces at his front, and exhaled.

"We've come to honor the departed souls," his voice came in soft but drew the lost attention of the monks back on him.

'That's exactly what I imagined to see on their faces when they see him.' he said low in his head, but his face flickered with a smile that streaked on his lips while he scanned their faces again.

A water savoring sound echoed as the Radiant Palm leader swallowed hard, closed his eyes, and shook his head. And when he cracked his eyes open, he tore his gaze at the boy standing at the back of Jack.

"Yung Mai… who… who… is that?" he said but paused as his face tensed more when he saw the dual eyes of the boy.

He pointed a trembling finger at the boy, which Yung Mai slowly placed his right arm on it and moved it down. As if a magnet was tangled with the Radiant Palm leader's finger, all other members also turned toward the boy's direction.

Some loosened their grips on their staffs and placed their palms on their faces; others turned to each other with confused faces to the boy, while the very few stood there utterly emotionless.

While they remained entangled with movements, Jude broke his silence and moved from the side of his master and stopped by the boy's side.

He brushed his palms across his face once, twice, then twice. In all the movements, he closed his eyes and shook his head, but on the third time, he moved his trembling arms and grabbed the boy's own.

Slowly, he raised the boy's arms upward, still shaking as if he had been struck by lightning.

"Is…. Is…. Is it really… you?!" he asked, his voice echoing in breakages as he scanned the boy's arms to his chest, and to his face covered with blue and black hair.

At that same time, Kai stood there looking at Jude through the strands of hair on his face. A soft breeze erupted from his mouth the moment he tried to speak, "I'm..."

Before he could continue, Jude clung himself onto him, letting his body touch Kai's, and not minding the white cloth wrapped around the boy's left shoulder.

A wind flew between them, carrying a mixture of bamboo leaves and salt the moment they all began walking through the pathway in the bamboo forest.

Slowly, the rays of the sun began to dim, letting long shadows streak on the leaf-filled ground as it moved from canopy to canopy.

….

Meanwhile, at the far distance away from the Western side of Westeros to the Southern part, birds jolted from the branches of the thick trees taking space in the remote side of the barracks.

Leaves spun from the trees and moved through the courtyard filled with soldiers stopped in motion. The more the scream shot in the air, followed by metal and roaring sound, the more sweat traced down the temple of the soldiers standing closer to the entrance of the huge white building.

Inside the building, soldiers, both young and slightly older, rushed toward the elevator door, pressing on the button harshly until the door forcefully opened.

When the elevator reached the basement of the building, where the locked metal door shook whenever the roaring sound echoed, the men wearing black uniforms rushed forward.

They didn't stop until they stumbled at the front of an already opened gate. Without hesitation, they dashed inside, clung their palms on the chain dragging itself forward, then pulled it back.

A clinging sound erupted as the chain got pulled from the front of Max.

A sense of relief flashed on him as his boot stopped screeching on the ground for a while.

Noticing the ground shaking heavily, he tightened his grip on the part of the chain he had loosed his grip on and stood in a firm stance.

"DO NOT LET GO!" he commanded in a ragged cry that forced the men wearing the black uniforms to use all their strength on the chain.

But as the roaring sound shot in the room and bounced back at them, all the men wearing black uniforms got pushed forward, flying straight to the chained Oin.

A bloodied dust splashed in the air when they landed at the front of Oin, but they managed to crawl their way back before Oin's foot nail pierced through the cemented ground.

At that moment, the massive chain held in Max, Mike, and Nich's grip was like a living thing, thrashing them sideways and burning through their bare palms.

The air kept on turning poisonous the more the chained Oin growled, yet the remaining three young men never let go of the chain.

"PULL BACKWARD AND PUT YOUR WEIGHT ON IT!" Max screamed, his voice echoing back at them as if it was stripped and reduced to sheer desperation when it hit the wall surrounding them.

Their boots skidded on the concrete, digging grooves as they hauled back with every ounce of strength. The chain, which was as thick as a man's wrist, kept on vibrating in their bones, almost as if wanting to break loose.

Their blood chilled when the chain snapped forward with a violent pull, yanking them off balance.

"We can't lose him! We can't let him out! Where are the lab technician and the doctor?" Mike said, grunting heavily as his face flushed with sweat from all his effort, while his teeth bared.

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