Hei Lin San Sect – Medical Department
Inside, the treatment of the wounded parents was underway. The most skilled physicians from the sect were present, along with several distinguished healers invited from the prominent heads of the Yanlog Clan.
The wounds were deep...like fissures in the earth....and blood still flowed like a river, for the injuries were fresh. Though their physical treatment had begun today, the blade of betrayal that had pierced their hearts and souls could not be mended so easily. And the truth they would have to tell Mo Yan and Yu Sui… perhaps death would have been kinder. This pain was far sharper than any wound.
The masters and ladies were kept in separate rooms.....female physicians attending to the women, and male physicians to the men. Everyone else was ordered to wait outside so the treatments could proceed undisturbed.
In Yu Sui's room stood the All three Masters, Su Nian, Duie, Wuzu, Lao Duan, Wey Xiong....and Mo Yan. There were no words to speak; what they had witnessed was more than enough to shake their souls. Their feelings were like trees awaiting spring for an entire year...yet spring never came. The trees could only keep waiting; no flowers bloomed, no leaves unfurled.
Yu Sui's heart boiled within him. Pain, rage, and regret collided inside, and his eyes became two rivers spilling over. Mo Yan stood beside him, silently wondering how he could calm Yu Sui, even as his own heart was weighed down by shock. Everyone here had parents lying inside these rooms.....everyone but him. In his mind a question echoed: Why are they not here? What happened to them? And the others.....those who still had parents but saw them in this condition....felt a mixture of grief and anger gnawing at their chests.
Yu Sui's eyes burned red, his hand resting on his sword hilt as if, at any moment, he might draw it and sever someone's head in one blazing strike. But Mo Yan… he understood well the storm inside Yu Sui. And Yu Sui knew that Mo Yan, too, bore his own storm.
The weight of the moment could be felt by all; the air in the room was heavy with grief, the silence pressing down as though trying to shatter itself.
Then a voice broke through...a voice as firm as stone, yet gentle as a flower's touch. It was Master Chang Shi.
"Lords Yu Sui, Mo Yan, and all of you…
We understand what you are going through. But the truth remains.....we can do nothing now but wait.
You must remain calm, my lords. A decision made in anger births only trouble, never solutions."
With those words, Master Chang Shi signaled to the others, and one by one they left the room...taking their physical presence with them, but leaving their sorrow lingering behind, like the lingering fragrance of a plucked flower.
Only Mo Yan and Yu Sui remained. Mo Yan turned to Yu Sui, his gaze soft, and embraced him. Even within their grief, there was a strange calm in that closeness.
In a low, pained voice, Yu Sui spoke:
"Mo Yan…
You know better than anyone what I could become.
Even so… will you still stand by me?"
Mo Yan looked into his eyes, as though the sky were gazing into its own reflection upon the sea. With gentle words, he placed his hand upon Yu Sui's cheek, his touch as light as a bird brushing past clouds.
"Yu… nothing can change who you are.
And I know you will always do what you have always done.....the right thing.
No matter where you are, no matter how, I will always remain your shadow.
Today. Tomorrow. Always."
Yu Sui melted...not only in Mo Yan's arms, but in the warmth of his unwavering devotion, like a candle melting in its own flame, or a flower intoxicated by its own fragrance.
For a moment...just one fleeting moment...all the pain vanished, leaving only peace behind.
Meanwhile, outside the Medical Department, All three Masters, Su Nian, Duie, Wuzu, Lao Duan, Wey Xiong, and the others stood waiting. Then, the lead physician emerged from within…