That very day, at the Su Tao Jue Temple, when morning broke and everyone had already departed, Master Zu Gushion and Master Chang Shi did not return to the academy. Instead, they headed in a different direction.
Within a thick grove of bamboo trees along the path, Master Lee Wen lay hidden.
He emerged from the shadows....his face pale with shock.
It was clear now.....what they had suspected all along had proven true.
The summons of the parents to the Su Tao Jue Temple… was all part of a plan.
But not one born of malice....rather, a desperate attempt to unearth the truth.
Among the missing children… they already knew Mo Yan. But that, in fact, was the most critical clue.
Someone else feared Mo Yan's return. Someone who trembled at the very thought of his presence.
That was why they had called the parents....so that in the moment when they revealed the names of Mo Yan and Yu Sui, they could catch the flicker of fear, the betrayal glimmering in someone's eyes.
And perhaps… Master Lee Wen had seen it.
He hadn't buried his head in his hands out of grief.
It was disbelief.
He couldn't fathom it.....couldn't accept that someone they called their own would stab them in the back with such cruelty.
It was then that the three Masters decided.....they would no longer sit back and watch.
They prepared themselves to journey directly to the Hei Lin San Sect.
Watching from afar would accomplish nothing.
Without hesitation, they took a small boat downstream, sailing along the river that wound toward Hei Lin San Sect.
It took them four, perhaps five days to arrive.
And without delay, they went straight to their Lord.....Yu Sui.
He was seated alone in his room, head bowed, gently polishing his bamboo flute.
His thoughts wandered, drifting like a melody to the one he loved most.
The same tune lingered in his ears....the one he once played to bare his heart to Mo Yan.
Though Mo Yan was not physically present, his face remained vividly etched in Yu Sui's mind,
so much so that it felt as though he stood right before him.
And these sweet memories would stretch a tender smile across his lips...
like the reflection of the night sky upon a restless river.
No matter how wildly the water stirred, the sky's image never left its surface.
A sudden, sharp sound tore through the silence....the door slammed open.
The three Masters stood at the entrance, grim-faced.
They bowed their heads in respect, then stepped inside, seating themselves across from Yu Sui at the low table.
Their faces said it all.
They had seen and heard something dreadful....
and had returned with truths that could no longer be ignored.