This winter, the snowfall was fiercer than ever before.
Cold winds howled with such intensity, they seemed to rattle even the glass windows in their frames.
Inside homes, fires burned bright...warming not just rooms, but also the hearts that lived within.
But in one quiet house… a mother, having just put her child to sleep, stepped out for a moment to fetch him a glass of water.
When she returned.....
The bed was empty.
The child was gone.
The glass slipped from her trembling hands, shattering across the wooden floor.
Frantic, she searched every corner of the room. Under the bed. Behind the curtains. In the cupboards. Nothing. No trace. No sign.
No prints in the snow. No sound of footsteps.
Her heart collapsed in on itself, panic clawing at her throat.
Despite the freezing cold, sweat streamed down her face.
And then...she screamed.
She screamed until her voice cracked, until her lungs gave out. But no answer came.
She rushed outside.....and what she saw chilled her more than the wind ever could.
She wasn't alone.
Other mothers stood outside too...shivering, wild-eyed, searching, sobbing.
Each had lost a child. Each had the same hollow terror in her eyes.
Within moments, crowds began to form. Word spread like wildfire.
Children were vanishing.
And not just in that village.
Soon, Fuzi Xion Clan, Linyan Clan, Meilan Clan, and Yanlong Clan were all experiencing the same nightmare.
Children....young, innocent, sleeping peacefully in their beds.....were disappearing into the silent snow.
Panic settled like a second storm.
And then, the whispers reached the Xuemo Sect...
And from there, to the gates of Legacy of Peach Blossom Academy.
---
Master Kinji
The news finally landed at the feet of one man:
Master Kinji.
A scorpion-hearted man...one whose poisonous nature had long destroyed himself.
A man of secrets, shadows… and something darker.
Would he help? Could he even be trusted?
He sat still when he heard the news.
His face wore an expression of unnatural calm...not the kind that brings comfort, but the kind that unnerves.
The kind that hides something deep, ancient, and chilling.
Without a word of sympathy, he summoned his officers and departed on an inspection tour.
One by one, he visited every clan.
No emotion. No empathy. Just hollow words and routine checks.
He made a single declaration in every village and settlement:
"This is a serious matter. We will investigate thoroughly."
But his tone held no courage, no warmth, no promise.
His words were not comfort...they were commands.
Cold. Calculated.
As if read from a script long memorized.
People had hoped for some solace...for even a glimmer of hope that their children might be found.
But what they received was emptier than silence.
And then he said something else.
Something none could ignore.
"I do not trust the Hei Lin San Sect.
Keep your distance from them, if you value your safety."
That was all.
He turned and left. No further words. No farewell.
Just that quiet, deadly warning…
One that spread like frostbite into every heart.
The people stood there....torn apart, grieving, desperate.
But on Master Kinji's face, not a single flicker of emotion.
His face held not grief, nor rage, nor urgency....
Only that same cold stillness.
As if the truth itself was carved into his very bones.