Beep – Beep!

A car horn erupted loudly at the back of the huge gate of the temple, followed by a blink of bright headlights.

Inside the black Mercedes, two ladies sat in a relaxed posture, their eyes firmly locked on the black door.

"What if we've stopped at the wrong temple?" Jinx turned slightly, her expression locked between fatigue and defeat.

A sigh echoed from Lena's mouth, followed by another beeping sound as she pressed her palms on the round button that had a trumpet symbol inscribed on it.

"Then we keep searching," Lena said calmly. "Until we find him." Lena tilted her gaze from the gate and smiled at Jinx.

'I'm tired. I need to sleep!' Jinx's face showed joy, but her thoughts screamed in her mind so loudly it made her smile falter the moment she turned to the gate.

After letting the horn sound echo for twenty minutes, Lena sighed the moment she saw the door open slightly.

"I thought no one was inside," she said, exhaling, then lowered her head when she saw someone move out of the door.

The tinted window slid down when the figure who'd exited the gate stopped by the car.

"Good evening, sir," Lena said with a soft smile as she greeted the man with one arm tied to his chest.

"Good evening."

"…Excuse me, is this the Western Temple of Westeros?"

"Yes, it is."

"…Then may we speak with Hu—the master of the Radiant Palm Cult?"

"Follow me."

…

'Wow, this place feels good.' Jinx whispered in her mind as she tilted her gaze around the moment she got down from the car.

Silence ruled between them as they neared the door.

The moment they entered, a smile tore on Lena's face when she noticed a few other young men wearing wine-colored dresses.

"Wait here," the young man paused, turned to the two ladies, and gestured to them to sit on the long brown chair fixed at the side of the meditation chamber's door.

"Please, what's your name?" Lena thanked the young man, then smiled at him.

She frowned when the young man entered through the meditation chamber's door without giving her his name.

After ten minutes of waiting, a groaning sound echoed from the side of the door as it opened.

From inside, the young man exited, followed by a grown man with white hair and a beard.

"Hello. Welcome to the Radiant Palm of the Western Temple of Westeros."

Jinx and Lena stood up the moment the old man stood in front of them and bowed, showing him their deepest gratitude.

'This is what a normal person will do when they get visitors. No wonder that guy has one arm broken.' A smile tore on Jinx's lips as she kept her gaze on the back of the young man as he walked out of their sight, leaving them with the old man.

"Good evening, Master Hu." Lena stood up, placed her left arm at her back, and smiled at the man.

"…Good evening, my lady. I was told you came looking for me."

"Yes. My name is Lena—wife of Yung Chin G." At the mention of the name Yung Chin, Lena saw a sudden change in the old man's face.

"…Yung Chin G?"

Lena tilted her gaze sideways, cleared her throat, and then turned back to the man.

"Yes. Do you remember the name? He contacted you years ago, I think… about a child." She placed both hands on her back and stared at the man with a steady gaze.

"…Yes, I remember. The man from Bion City, right?"

"Yes please," Lena paused. "I'm sorry to say this, but he's dead."

A tiny flicker of sadness tore on both Lena and Jinx, but the man kept his smile on.

"…I know."

'How?!' Jinx's eyes widened as she screamed in her thoughts.

"You knew?" Lena's voice cut in with shock.

"…Yes. And I assume you're here for the boy he brought."

Lena and Jinx turned pale-faced at each other and froze.

"Yes," both of them answered in unison.

"…Then you'll need to wait a week before you can see him."

"But why? Can't we see him tomorrow, at sunrise?" Lena's voice echoed in a calm tone.

The man didn't talk; he simply shook his head and tilted his gaze to the left, where there seemed to be the starting point of a descending staircase.

"…No. Where he is, time flows differently."

"…They'll be coming here for a ceremony. You could wait."

Lena and Jinx stared at each other, smiled, then stared at the man. "We'll go to him instead."

The old man's expression changed slightly as he jolted his gaze from the first lady to the second, then smiled.

"…Very well. follow me."

…

Jinx and Lena obeyed and followed the man without negotiating. And when they stopped at the top of a descending staircase, where fog had clutched it completely, Jinx swallowed hard.

"…You'll need to descend these stairs. But—"

Jinx and Lena's faces turned pale as they stared at the man, waiting for him to finish his statement.

"…Any number of days you spend there will count as twice in the outside world."

Jinx and Lena bowed to the man for the last time, then took their first step, descending the stairs.

…

"Yung Chin G," Master Hu said, scraping his fingers in his long white beard as he stared at the two ladies entering the section where the fog was.

Leaves swirled up and descended the stairs the moment Master Hu turned back to the meditation chamber.

Meanwhile, inside the Shadow Cult gate and in the large courtyard, Jack and a few other disciples stood there, practicing the Horse Stance over and over again.

At the remote side of the cult, Yung Mai stood at the side of the building without a door, smiling as he watched the pulsing sword held tightly under Kai's grip.

"Good. You have managed to master the pulsing sword stance." Yung Mai pushed himself forward and began clapping, applauding for the boy's achievement.

Then, a sudden wind swirled up around Kai the moment he lowered the sword and exhaled.

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