The air in the medical wing was as lifeless as a dead tree in winter.
And at last, the suspicion that had been gnawing at Mo Yan's heart was confirmed.
For a long time, he had distrusted the unusually close ties between his parents and Kinji Yo.
But the agony on Lady Guso Hun's face...and the truths that had been laid bare before all.....were proof beyond denial.
Without a word, Mo Yan seized Yu Sui's wrist.
It was not an act of anger, but of restraint...his grip was hard as stone, the hands of a warrior honed by years of training.
And yet, whenever those same hands touched Yu Sui, they softened....
like petals caressing silk, as if Yu Sui were a doll of spun cotton.
He led Yu Sui away.
His face was flushed red with fury, his eyes gleaming with the darkness of a demon.
He took him far from the suffocating room, to the lotus fields, where no one could overhear.
For the first time, Yu Sui saw Mo Yan lose control.
And he understood...if this rage was not tamed here and now, with the power Mo Yan carried in his veins, he could very well bring the world itself to ruin.
Yu Sui stepped closer, his voice a calm, flowing stream...yet beneath it, a gravity like the warning winds of an oncoming storm.
"Mo Yan… calm yourself… None of this is your fault."
Something inside Mo Yan broke.
It was as if a tightly wound net, straining against its cords, had finally begun to loosen.
He lowered his head and said only....
"Yu… forgive me. I knew the root of this betrayal, yet I could do nothing… Forgive me."
The words stung Yu Sui, but he knew this truth: the entire world could rise against him, every blade could be drawn in his direction.....but never Mo Yan's.
And Mo Yan knew it too.
Yet Mo Yan was trapped in a torment of his own making...
Should he mourn the parents he loved?
Or should he feel relief, knowing of their treachery all along?
Which pain was worse? Which truth was heavier?
Yu Sui understood.
He pulled Mo Yan into an embrace, holding him steady....like a tree in a storm leaning upon another for strength.
But deep inside Yu Sui, another storm had already begun to rise.
And this one whispered a single truth: either the traitors would fall… or he would.
The look in his eyes had changed.
It was as if the true Yu Sui had awakened...
As if the Black Heaven King himself had stepped down to walk the earth.
Moments later, both men had gathered themselves.
And they were ready.
Even if the heavens split open and the earth itself shattered, the Xuemo Sect would not keep them from entering.
What they did not know… was what awaited them there.