For Faen, Oovi-Kat wasn't exactly far, but it couldn't be called close either. Considering that the wild magic there was fundamentally different from the overall Spirit Realm of Ionia, Faen didn't directly open a portal. Instead, they traveled by horseback.
Speaking of which, given Faen's abilities, riding a horse was absolutely a waste of time. Because even just running, Faen's speed was far superior to so-called fine steeds, or any other beast or bird for that matter. However, after seeing the current state of the Kiilash settlement where Kalan lived, Faen took the opportunity to assess the current ideological trends among the Ionian populace. The humans were mostly fine; although they had been shocked by the war, the war ended quickly, only affecting the coastal regions and parts of the inland. While some people's mindsets had changed because of it, it wasn't the case for everyone.
But the Vastaya were different. As a biological group more deeply connected to nature and Ionia itself, the impact of the Spirit Realm's shock on the Vastaya was much more pronounced. Furthermore, the connections between Vastaya and Vastaya were much tighter than those between Vastaya and humans. Understanding their state would also allow Faen to preemptively gauge some of the thoughts of the Vastaya on the three islands of Oovi-Kat.
Beyond that, there was also a commission from Karma—the Golden Demon, also known as Jhin, had taken advantage of the war between Ionia and the Noxians to break out of prison and escape. In the current turbulent situation where the Spirit Realm was under shock, the minds of the Ionian people were already unstable. The actual damage Jhin caused was relatively minor; at most, an area might see a dozen casualties, and usually, there were only single-digit victims.
Although it might sound like he was disregarding human life, compared to the war Ionia had just experienced, the victims Jhin caused were truly just a drop in the bucket.
The problem was Jhin's pathological pursuit of "art"; his brain was clearly abnormal. And "artistic" death inherently possessed strong communicable traits. Given Ionia's unique city-state situation, the spread and influence of these deaths were further magnified. Although he was just a mortal, through indiscriminate terrorist attacks and artistic slaughter, he managed to pry open and warp the ideological trends of the entire Spirit Realm in the Zhyun province.
This was also one of the reasons why Faen, despite being able to head straight to the Oovi-Kat islands, chose to detour to the Zhyun province.
Along the way, Faen also used Akali to learn a bit about the current state of Ionia, or rather, the Kinkou Order.
"That guy Shen is mostly fine. Although I always feel he's too conservative, the Kinkou Order eats that up. But Usan isn't doing so well."
When mentioning Shen, Akali's voice lacked much respect. This was primarily because, in Akali's eyes, Shen and the rest of the Kinkou Order were somewhat stubborn and inflexible. Even Shen, her master from the previous generation, to be honest, mostly taught ideological concepts to facilitate the future synergy of the "Three Ninjas of Kinkou"—meaning the Eye of Twilight and the Fist of Shadow—so they could work together seamlessly like in the past.
But unfortunately, the current Akali had already become the Rogue Assassin. Having changed masters, she no longer needed to hold back. She bluntly stated her opinion of Shen and the entire Kinkou Order: overly conservative.
After that, Akali continued, "As for Usan... I'm not too sure either. Word is he had some sort of conflict with Great Master Kusho and has now defected. The name 'Usan' has been revoked; on the Order's scrolls, it's been changed to 'The Apostate, Govu.' Of course, that's just on our end. According to other disciples who've seen him, he apparently calls himself 'Zed' now. Sounds pretty murderous, I guess."
Hearing Akali's words, Faen wasn't overly surprised.
Because Usan... or rather, Zed now, had expressed his inner grievances, his disgust for Noxus, and his frustration with the inaction of certain people in the Order on multiple occasions while they were traveling together to retake Fae'lor along the Ionian coast. Because of this, he and Shen—who were as close as brothers—had argued quite a bit. Although they apologized to each other and explained their feelings and philosophies at the end of every argument, both Faen and Shen knew that Zed had never truly let go of his own ideas.
His defection now could only be described as expected. The only thing Faen was curious about was whether Zed had taken the Tears of the Shadow with him.
The Tears of the Shadow sounded like some kind of liquid, but it was actually a special kind of magic, and the origin of Zed's shadow magic in the game. From what Faen knew, it originated during the Rune Wars and was a byproduct of the World Runes' mutation process. Precisely because of this, the mental corruption of the Tears of the Shadow was exceptionally strong. Those with weak wills could easily become puppets of the magic, destroying wantonly. In the comics, Great Master Kusho lost control of the Tears of the Shadow at the very end and was ultimately killed by Zed.
Zed himself, however, perfectly mastered the Tears of the Shadow. It was just that, because his master lost control and he had to kill him, he bore the sin of murdering his master—just like Yasuo. Thus, his defection.
But judging from Akali's information, Great Master Kusho wasn't dead, meaning this matter might not be so simple. After all, according to the original lore, Great Master Kusho had also planned to use Zed to gradually enact a cultural reform within the Kinkou Order—much like Karma wanting Ionia to accept the ideology of a fighting spirit. It was just that Great Master Kusho overplayed his hand and failed to control the corruption of the Tears of the Shadow.
Based on this point, perhaps this so-called defection was just a double act put on by Great Master Kusho and Zed? After all, if one thought a bit more cynically, this would allow the Kinkou Order to undergo an ideological shift while simultaneously removing Zed from the Order's core circle, yet keeping him closely tied to the Order itself. In the future, when his son, Shen, became the new Eye of Twilight, the two could naturally bury the hatchet, strengthening the overall living forces of the Kinkou Order...
Faen wasn't particularly interested in this, but he still used the Mark of the Twin Dragons to warn Karma, just to prevent the Kinkou Order from causing some inexplicable mess.
Upon arriving in Zhyun, Faen headed straight for the area where Jhin was last sighted.
Through traces left in the Spirit Realm, Faen quickly found Jhin's trail. But when Faen and his group followed the tracks to Jhin's location, the situation on the ground slightly exceeded Faen's expectations.
Jhin was already dead.
And the one who killed Jhin was a mute girl from an orphanage who played the etwahl.