Juin sighed as he opened the doors to his quarters. The affairs and disposal of the elders had taken too much of his valuable time.
He clapped his hands, and the suite lit up, the light responding to his command—the room became clearer to the outside perspective; golden linens lined the windows, a large bed with built-in curtains took center stage of the room. A large couch was placed at the furthest corner from the door, and a door led into another room.
Placed beside the window was a full-body mirror.
Juin removed his coat and placed it on the hanger beside him. "Finally, the hard part is done."
Juin tensed up hearing the voice, and he instinctively bent a knee, his head lowered. "My lord."
"Nothing, sir. I only found that the Guardian Scripture was tied to her genes, and Tiang was the only one aside from her that could use it."
"Before you go, my lord..." Juin said, stopping the figure that had appeared on the mirror from leaving. "What about that thing? I did as you requested."
The mirror's surface wobbled, and a shadowy hand reached from the other side and crossed through the mirror, reaching into Juin's side. Sandwiched between the fingers of the hand was a small vial with a thick red liquid.
Juin quickly crawled to the mirror and accepted the vial with both hands. A smile crept up on his face as he saw the blood. "Thank you, my lord."
The shadowy hand returned to the mirror and disappeared into it; once the fingers retreated into the mirror, the water-like reflection of the surface of the mirror disappeared, and Juin was left alone.
He got up and dusted his pants. His expression warped, and he gritted his teeth. "One day, I'll kill you," he spat, glaring at the mirror.
---
Elsewhere, something else was happening.
Lian'er cracked an eye open and saw the decrepit roof. Her eyes wandered around, and wherever they settled, confusion glazed over even more. The roof, the walls, the cracked windows—everything seemed inadequate; a contrast to her home, which was lavish. She groaned and got up, her hand instinctively clutching the side of her head as a striking pain shot through her.
"I wouldn't be moving much."
Lian'er turned to her left, and her eyes slightly softened when she saw Gaia sitting next to a bonfire. "Gaia, where are we?"
Gaia looked at the flames and clenched her hands. "We are in my home—the one I used before I came to the Sect."
"Why are we here? Why are we not at the Sect?"
"Because Lord Tiang is dead!"
Lian'er's body tensed up, and her face flushed of all color — her father was dead? That was impossible. As senile as he was in his elderly age, killing him would prove to be difficult; however, the look Lian'er wore told her the grim truth of the matter.
She looked at the bedsheets and balled her hands into fists. "Who killed him?"
Gaia chuckled dryly as she stoked the fire, her eyes reflecting on the embers that were created when the burning wood collided. "Your brother, Qingye."
The room fell silent, the burning wood sounds stopped, and a chill covered the wooden house — Gaia turned around and saw Lian'er surrounded by ice. She got up and walked over to the woman whose anger was reflected through the subconscious activation of her ability.
"Lady Lian'er... Calm down!" Gaia yelled as she pushed through the ice, wincing at the rapidly accumulating frostbite.
She reached Lian'er and pulled her into a hug, much to the surprise of Lian'er, who returned to reality, and the freezing wave ended, the temperatures elevating a bit.
"It's okay... I did not want to leave Lord Tiang behind, but his final wish was to bring you to safety... Let us not let his death be in vain."
Lian'er's cold exterior dropped as she heard those comforting words — her fingers twitched, and tears descended from her eyes, caressing her round face on their path to her chin, and she let out a scream that echoed into the forest around them.
---
"Odd! The grounds would be packed by now," Baihan mused as he walked through the Sect, his eyes roaming around the outside corridors.
Baihan had this sinking feeling that something was wrong; having been vacant from the Sect since his father's fight with his sister, he had taken a journey to the capital in order to tend to the family business.
But the silence in the Sect was unnerving — it reminded him of when his mother died and the whole Sect grieved.
The sky was heavily covered by clouds, and in a single flash that heralded across the sky, lighting up the world, rain fell, and Baihan cussed under his breath as he rushed to the main entrance leading into the corridors—when he stopped in his tracks.
"Brother!" Baihan shouted at the shadowy figure standing within the dark hallway.
Baihan was forced to dodge as a blast passed him and exploded on the ground behind him, making the water piling up on the ground sizzle from the heat.
"What is the meaning of this?" Baihan yelled again.
Lightning flashed again, and when the illumination died down, Qingye was standing in the open, facing Baihan.
Flames ignited in Qingye's clenched fists, and he dashed forward at rapid speeds. He appeared before Baihan and threw a flaming punch at the latter, only for the attack to be intercepted by an accumulation of ash that formed a wall blocking the fist of fire.
"Brother, what is the meaning of this?" Baihan questioned, only to be forced to block another flaming fist.
"Snap out of it!"
His cries fell on deaf ears as waves of flame-based attacks—ranging from torrents of flames to fireballs—exploded throughout the courtyard, burning through stone and concrete and even the rain.
Baihan came out of the smoke cloud created when a fireball met his ash, and he landed on the roof of the building adjacent to where his brother was standing. He's not listening to reason. What could've happened? Where is Father? Baihan thought as he analyzed the situation.
His eyes caught onto something — Qingye's eyes were slightly glossed over, and he knew from studying that someone had tampered with the circuit implant in Qingye's mind and subjected him to mind control.
The attacks made sense.
But that didn't answer where his father was.
Baihan sighed and tore off the burnt robes he was wearing. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small capsule—a staple of their family design—and he pressed the capsule, releasing the item stored within.
A set of golden gauntlets, with parts of them engraved with small jewels that were pulsating with Neuro-Qi.
"If you are not going to answer me, I'll force the answers out of you!"