The wind howled across the hills as Yue Yun stood near the edge of the western cliffs.
Lan Zhi had gone back to the village to help protect the sick, but Yue Yun had followed a feeling
— one that tugged at his heart, like a voice he hadn't heard in years.
The corruption wasn't just spreading. It was guiding him.
He walked deeper into the forest.
And then, beneath a crooked tree covered in black vines, he saw a figure sitting quietly on a
stone. Robed in dark silver, with eyes that shimmered gold and red.
Yue Yun froze.
"…Feng Lin?"
The figure turned slowly.
It was him.
Yue Yun stepped back. "No. That's not possible. You died during the War of Stars."
Feng Lin — his once sworn brother, his childhood companion in the Sacred Celestial Garden —
stood with a tired smile.
"I didn't die, Yue Yun," he said quietly. "I was forgotten."
Yue Yun's chest tightened.
Feng Lin stepped forward. "They told you I was lost. That I fell protecting the gates. But the
truth is…" His smile faded. "I was sacrificed. Sealed away because I saw something they didn't
want me to see."
"What are you talking about?"
"The Divine Lords are hiding things," Feng Lin whispered. "About the realms. About the true
origin of the corruption. I saw it with my own eyes — before they turned on me."
Yue Yun's fingers twitched. "You… sided with it?"
"I understood it," Feng Lin replied. "It offered truth. It offered freedom. Not chains hidden
behind glowing robes. "Yue Yun shook his head. "You're wrong. There's still light. Still hope."
Feng Lin's gaze softened. "I missed you. Even now."
Then, in a blink, his hand rose — and a whip of dark flame lashed toward Yue Yun.
Yue Yun barely dodged, rolling across the dirt. He landed hard, his mortal body gasping for
breath.
Feng Lin didn't attack again. He just stood there, watching.
"You're still too soft," he said. "But you'll see. The gods are not what they seem." With
that, he vanished into the trees.
Yue Yun lay in the grass, his body shaking — not from pain, but from the truth.
His friend was alive.
And he was now part of the darkness.