The night outside Central City was quiet, the wind brushing gently across the open plain. Lantern lights shimmered faintly from far behind, but out here… only moonlight illuminated the two figures standing face to face.
Chen Yuan.
And The Fox, From The Tree.
The masked man tilted his head as though greeting an old friend.
"Peaceful night, isn't it?" The Fox said casually, hands tucked behind his back. "You've been busy, Chen Yuan. Cloud City rumors, legal trials, surviving beasts… you've grown."
Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes.
"You talk as if you know me."
The Fox chuckled softly.
"Oh, I do. Better than most."
The tone was familiar—too familiar. Playful, steady, slightly self-deprecating, and with a peculiar warmth that made no sense coming from a Tree Hunter.
Chen Yuan's stomach tightened.
"What do you want?" he asked. "Be clear."
The Fox shrugged lightly.
"I have something to show you. But first—" he stepped forward, lowering his stance with lazy grace, "—I need to see just how much you've grown."
Before Chen Yuan could answer, The Fox moved.
A step—
silent as a falling feather.
Chen Yuan barely raised his blade before the Fox's palm tapped his guard, redirecting the strike exactly the way Zhao Ming had in his fight against Pin Sujin.
But cleaner.
Faster.
Sharper.
Chen Yuan staggered back.
This style… it feels so familiar.
The Fox shifted to a sweeping kick.
Chen Yuan countered, turning the blow, but the Fox flowed around it like water, parrying with a calm that felt crafted from patience rather than aggression.
No killing intent.
No malice.
Just a spar.
But Chen Yuan was being outclassed cleanly.
It wasn't the overwhelming dominance of the Bear.
It wasn't the terrifying predation of the Owl.
It was something closer.
Something human.
Something he had felt before.
"You're faster," The Fox said conversationally, dodging another strike with a backward lean. "Your footwork's cleaner. Less hesitation. I'm proud of you."
Chen Yuan's grip tightened.
"How do you know my movements?"
"Because," The Fox replied, sweeping his arm with a practiced redirection Chen Yuan recognized instantly, "I helped shape them."
Chen Yuan's eyes widened.
That stance—
that shift—
that half-step pivot—
He had seen it every day during the Inner Court.
Gu Wen's training.
But how—
Chen Yuan's breath caught.
No.
Impossible.
The Fox parried a final blow, placed a hand on Chen Yuan's shoulder, and pressed lightly, ending the spar as gently as a teacher stopping a student.
"Well," The Fox said, straightening his robes, "that was fun, Chen Yuan, my friend."
He reached up.
Fingers curled around the edge of the fox mask.
And slowly—
almost reverently—
he lifted it off.
Moonlight fell onto the familiar face beneath.
Soft features.
A calm, steady gaze.
A small, reassuring smile.
"Long time no see," he said quietly.
Gu Wen.
Chen Yuan's heart froze.
His partner.
His first companion in the Inner Court.
The one who felt left behind.
The one who blamed himself.
The one who vanished from the story…
only to return as—
A Hunter of The Tree.
The Fox.
Chen Yuan could barely speak.
"Gu Wen…? You—"
Gu Wen nodded slowly.
"Yes. It's me."
The wind fell silent.
Only the truth remained between them.
And it was heavier than anything Chen Yuan had ever carried.