The bamboo forest surrounding the Western Temple swayed in the evening wind.

Dust and leaves shot upward as speeding vehicles came to a halt, forming a half-moon structure beneath the bamboo at the front of the Temple's wall.

Black birds exploded from the bamboo canopy, wings flapping and stirring the heavy air as leaves rained onto the cars.

Two of the birds drifted past the walls, crying out as they landed atop the stairs.

At the base of the stairs leading into the fog-wrapped Shadow Cult lands, the half-moon arc door opened without a sound.

Inside, the air was cooler, thicker. The sky here was a deeper indigo, stars shining brighter.

Fish darted beneath the bridge, bubbles erupting from their mouths with each swift movement.

Shadows stretched long at the front of the meditation chamber, swinging sideways like tree branches.

Darkness encapsulated the room so heavily that light had no chance to enter.

Debris fell from the walls and landed softly on the ground as boots slammed the ground hard.

Screeching sounds echoed as Jinx's boots kept sliding on the floor like a tyre.

"Hold my hands well," Kai said, turned and stretched his right arm. "You can't move around if someone who knows the way here doesn't hold your hand."

Air gushed out of his mouth as he frowned and sighed.

"I can't see. How can I hold your hand as you say?" A sobbing sound echoed as Jinx cried out.

"Just stretch your hands forward." Kai counted. He pulled Jinx with immense strength, causing her white hair to flare at her back like flames.

"Take your time!" Jinx screamed as she could barely feel herself flying instead of walking.

Light stabbed her eyes the moment she felt her right arm loosen under the boy's grip.

Shhhew.

A breeze erupted from her squeezed pink lips as she sighed.

Noticing the difference in tone, texture, and the walls, Jinx stretched her arms and whirled around.

"This place seems human-friendly." Laughter bounced on the walls as she whirled around Kai.

Sweat dripped from her chin and landed on the ground like beads the moment she stopped.

She bent down, placed her palms on her knees, and gasped heavily for air.

The pressure in the room bit her skin like a hungry snake.

"There is something here, I can feel it," she said, raised her head, and scanned the wooden structure at their front.

Her eyes widened the moment her gaze flickered to Kai. "What are you doing?" she screamed, letting the walls scream back with a loud echo.

Kai turned, remained half-bowed, and stared at Jinx with a wild gaze. "Nothing."

Kai walked to Jinx the moment he straightened himself. The incense on the table where he stood fell and cracked the moment it crashed on the ground after a gust of wind flew across it.

"Is Oin still in Bion City?" Kai said, his voice echoing softly. He paused the questions reeling in his mind when he saw Jinx's still and emotionless face.

"What's wrong? Is he dead?" he added, closing in on Jinx, then placed a hand on her shoulder.

Jinx raised her water-filled gaze and gasped softly, letting the air that gushed out of her mouth raise the strands covering Kai's face.

She shook her head, then turned her gaze toward the part of the wall that had holes in it.

"He is now…" she paused and closed her eyes.

"Now what?" Kai's expression tensed, waiting for Jinx's answer.

Meanwhile, beyond the sealed walls of the meditation chamber, leaves drifted upward after being kicked by Yung Mai's boots.

The tip of his white robe flared, paddling in the air like sea waves.

Beside him, Lena's boots slammed the ground beneath the bridge at a slow pace.

"So when do you intend to take him out?" Yung said and turned a soft gaze at Lena.

"Maybe in the morning." She gasped, then grunted. Lena lifted her gaze to the cloudless sky and sighed.

"I think you must leave by dawn; there, you can reach the normal world's afternoon." Yung Mai paused his last step and turned a soft gaze at Lena.

"Will you be escorting us as you insisted earlier?" Lena asked, tilted her gaze from the sky to the man in front of her.

"I will be visiting the main temple for a yearly program, but I won't escort you outside."

Silence ruled between them, letting Yung Mai's words soak deep into Lena's mind.

The moon's rays shone bright on the water, letting the water have its share of the moon as its reflection fell in it.

Countless colourful fish erupted from the caves under the platform Yung Mai and Lena stood on and joined the silver ones in the open part of the water.

A door opening and closing sound erupted as Yung Mai and Lena reached the meditation chamber, entered, and passed inside.

The darkness in the room blinded Lena, causing her to stumble backward.

Instead of falling, Yung Mai caught her mid-fall and guided her until they reached the door after the first entrance.

Inside the room, Yung Mai stood still and watched as Lena rushed toward Jinx, who stood there crying heavily.

Yung Mai smiled when his gaze flickered past Jinx and landed on Kai's face.

The smile barely lasted before his eyes caught the broken incense at the front ofthe table, twisting his expression into a grim grin.

'Hm, that only happens when something bad is going to happen.' His face tensed as his mind reeled with memories of times he had seen this occurring and the things that came afterward.

Saliva snaked down his throat as he closed his eyes for a brief moment, then cracked them open.

Yung Mai's cloak flayed as he turned and exited the meditation chamber in a rush.

The space he left behind felt heavier.

"Why are you crying?" Lena grabbed Jinx's shoulder, her fingernail pressing hard on the skin.

A sobbing sound caused Lena's eyes to well up the moment Jinx's head raised slowly.

A growling sound erupted when Lena swallowed her sobs and turned a still gaze at the boy.

"Clara!" Jinx cried out, her body shaking so heavily that everything around her began to shake.

Lena's face tensed when the name rang twice in her head. Her lips trembled as she stared at Kai.

She tightened her arms around Jinx, hugged her, and calmed her down. Then Lena closed in on Kai and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Not knowing who she was, Kai kept a steady gaze on her and scanned her from head to toe.

'Who is she?' He softened his gaze, but his mind never let go.

"Kai," Lena said, her voice echoing like a breeze. "I'm here to take you with me."

Kai's expression tensed again. He flared the lady's arm from his shoulder and stumbled a step back.

"Who are you?" His voice echoed loudly, letting debris fall from the wooden figure behind him.

The table shook slightly as Lena's legs unintentionally slammed into one of its stands.

"Sorry," she stretched her arm, grabbed the incense that almost fallen, and placed it back in the square box.

A soft breeze exited from her when she turned her gaze back to Kai.

"I am Lena, Lieutenant Gray's wife," she said in a voice that made her soul tremble.

Kai's eyes rolled like a ball thrown in a spinning wheel. Memories of Lieutenant Gray bashed into his thoughts, causing his skull to ache.

He scanned the lady in front of him as if she were a god and a devil at the same time.

Footsteps echoed harshly as he kept stumbling back as if he'd seen a ghost.

Wind shot up when Lena stretched her arm, wanting to place it on the boy's shoulder and console him.

She tightened her grip on the boy, pulled him forward, and hugged him.

"I know what's running in your mind." A sobbing sound erupted from her mouth as she increased the hug.

Tears fell from her eyes and landed on the bare skin of Kai's shoulder, then drifted downward toward his waist.

Lena pulled herself back but kept her grip on the boy's shoulder as if the boy would flee the moment she pulled away completely.

She looked eye-to-eye with Kai, then hugged him again.

On the third pullout, Lena's mind reeled with memories of the first time Lieutenant Gray told her on the phone about a five-year-old boy wanting to join the military.

"So it's really you," Lena said in a tear-filled voice that made the room calm, as if it knew emotion.

…

While the meditation chamber drowned in quiet grief, Yung Mai walked hastily toward the building that had part of it broken beyond repair.

The door of the building parted open the moment he stopped by it. Smoky wind drifted upward as if the room had burned before.

Inside the smoke, Jack stood at the centre of the room, his face glistening with shock.

"Jack, come with me!" Yung Mai didn't wait a second after he saw Jack.

He walked straight to the weapon storehouse, where the door also opened for him without bothering to open it.

He inhaled once, twice, then entered. After five minutes, he exited holding a1.8-meter golden staffs in his right arm and a silver spear in his left.

He threw the silver spear the moment he turned and saw Jack standing at his back.

"Master," Jack's voice echoed in a confused tone as he grabbed the spear mid-fall.

"Why this?" he added, spreading his arms wide and still having a confused expression written on his forehead.

A gust of wind flashed out from Yung Mai as he closed the door behind him and stared at Jack.

"Follow us when they are leaving."

Yung Mai tightened his grip on the golden staff, bone-crackling sounds erupting like pebbles blasting.

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