The sky above Blackmist Temple was overcast, heavy with the weight of an impending storm.
Li Feng stood beneath the half-dead wisteria tree on the outer balcony of the east wing — a place the monks avoided. The petals no longer bloomed. The leaves had long withered. Yet he came here often.
Perhaps because it didn't bloom.
Because it understood silence.
He felt Jin Yue's presence before he heard the footsteps.
The boy's energy always gave him away — warm, bright, restless.
And too close to danger.
"You knew I would come," Jin Yue said behind him.
Li Feng didn't turn. "You're predictable."
There was a pause. "You left that scroll there."
Now he turned.
Jin Yue's eyes were fierce, shoulders squared in defiance. But beneath that — fear. Doubt. Hurt.
"I did," Li Feng said quietly.
Jin Yue blinked. "Why? You knew what was in it. The mark. Your connection to that order—"
"I never denied it."
"But you didn't tell me," Jin Yue snapped. "You let me believe you were just… just some protector, some cold warrior who didn't care about anything—"
"I don't care."
That silenced him.
But Li Feng's expression shifted slightly, just enough to show the lie behind his words. He exhaled slowly, eyes lifting to the roiling clouds above.
"The man I once was… belonged to a time where survival demanded sacrifice. The Order you read about was real. And I helped build it."
Jin Yue stepped forward. "Why? Why would someone like you—?"
"Because I was angry," Li Feng cut in. "Angry at the heavens. At fate. At myself. I was powerful, and I wanted more. The void offered strength without consequence. Or so I believed."
His eyes met Jin Yue's then — not cold, but dark and weary.
"I destroyed what I built. I buried it. And I was supposed to disappear with it."
Jin Yue swallowed hard. "So why are you here now?"
Li Feng looked at him, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Because something brought me back. Something… or someone."
The wind stirred between them.
Jin Yue's breath hitched, and for a heartbeat, the air thickened with unsaid words.
"I don't care about your past," Jin Yue said finally. "But if you're going to keep hiding from me, lying to me — then how am I supposed to trust you when the real danger comes?"
Li Feng took a step forward. One step — and the distance between them evaporated.
"You shouldn't trust me," he murmured.
"But I already do."
Silence fell again.
Li Feng turned away.
"Then you're a fool."