Hearing Duie utter the words "This is Daoren language", Zuyu froze in astonishment.
Her eyes locked on Duie, and in that single moment, they asked a thousand silent questions.
To the guest, it seemed only natural to assume that Duie had learned this language somewhere.
But the truth… was worlds apart.
Zuyu forced herself to recover.
She would not allow the atmosphere to betray the weight of what had just been revealed.
A faint, practiced smile bloomed on her lips...warm enough to mask the tremor in her heart.
With calm precision, she said,
"Yes… my younger brother can read many languages. Learning new ones has always been his hobby."
Her hand reached out, resting gently over Duie's....like a mother coaxing a frightened child.
She gave him the slightest motion of her fingers, a silent signal telling him to follow her lead.
Duie hesitated, his voice trembling, his thoughts a whirlwind.
He didn't understand why, but he obeyed.
"Yes… it's true. I do enjoy learning languages," he said, pausing as if each word weighed heavily on his tongue.
"And this letter says… that he will be coming to your house in just a few days."
After that, he fell silent.
The wind continued to scatter golden leaves across the balcony.
The weather remained perfect, yet something had shifted.
The warmth was gone...replaced by a quiet heaviness neither could name.
A little while later, the guest rose and departed.
But Duie and Zuyu remained there, unmoving, their tea still steaming faintly on the table between them.
Their faces were pale, the air thick with unspoken sorrow.
Duie's voice cracked when he finally spoke.
His eyes brimmed with tears.
A dull ache burned in his chest.
"Why… why do I know the Chwen language when I've never studied it? If anyone were to find out that I can use Chwen spells, they'd accuse me of stealing forbidden magic and lock me away. And now… this Daoren language… Elder Sister… do you know who I am? Where I came from?"
Zuyu was silent for a long time.
Words seemed to abandon her.
Outside, the world carried on, unaware of the storm gathering in their hearts.
Her eyes shimmered with tears, glistening like water beneath sunlight.
When she finally spoke, her voice was low and heavy with grief.
"You were only two… maybe three days old when Master brought you to the orphanage. I was ten at the time. You were wrapped in red silk, and there was a strange crimson mark on your forehead. You were crying. Master told me you were found outside a temple. Beyond that… I know nothing more.
But I do know this....you are my brother. No matter who you are, no matter where you came from. And there is nothing wrong with the fact that you can understand Chwen and Daoren without ever learning them. Perhaps… it is in your blood."
That was the moment Duie's last wall crumbled.
He leaned into his sister's lap and wept.....like a small child who had lost everything.
In the absence of parents, Zuyu had been his mother.
Yet even greater than the ache of growing up without parents…
was the tormenting question of why they had been abandoned in the first place.
What sin could two innocent children have possibly committed?
---
The present
Even now, Duie's eyes filled with those same tears.
He had no idea when he had slipped so deeply into the past.
He didn't know how long the others had been calling his name.
He didn't even remember being lifted down from his horse.
His gaze never left the green banners fluttering in the distance.
Su Nian was still calling to him.
Mo Yan was checking him over, searching for the cause of his strange state.
Wey Xiong had gone to fetch water.
Wuzu had summoned his spiritual beast, the Fire Fox, to give him warmth.
But Duie… had reached his limit.
His body gave in.
He collapsed, unconscious.
Perhaps his strength had finally run out.
Or perhaps…
it was because the only person who had ever been both sister and mother to him… was gone.