The trio ended up in line, their mouths agape the entire time. For the poor cultivators ahead of them who didn’t have enough willpower to hold their ground, the disciples of Heaven’s Law Sect handed out fish and bread as consotory gifts.

  By this point, the thousands of standing cultivators had queued all the way to the portal, and Yuan Xia could even hear new cultivators appearing from the stone gateway, only to take one look at the long line and walk away in disappointment. From beyond the hidden veil of clouds, the people who didn’t have any cultivation aptitude ambled about, still asking where the entrance to Heaven’s Law Sect was.

  About a day had passed since Yuan Xia stepped foot into Heaven’s Law Sect. He found himself starving, even with the snacks the female disciples distributed. Half of the time, Yuan Xia was hugged in Deng QiuShi’s arms, and the other half he spent thinking as he sat on the clouds.

  As the Sun dipped into the horizon, out of the blue, Shuang turned to Yuan Xia. He opened his mouth, meaning to speak, but all he could manage was a guilty stutter.Yuan Xia tilted his head, questioning.

  “Well….” Shuang coughed, scratching his chin. “Yuan Xia.”

  Deng QiuShi stepped forwards, intending to speak on behalf of her child.“What is it?”

  “I just wanted to know,” Shuang murmured, “is Yuan Xia mute?”In a panicked attempt to expin his train of thought, Shuang raised his hands. “I mean nothing of it, I’m just curious.”

  Before Deng QiuShi could respond, Yuan Xia stepped forwards and nodded. He’d never been ashamed to admit that he couldn’t speak. He only had qualms when it came to his sight. Shuang understood his gesture and gave a curt bow in gratitude.Suddenly, Yuan Xia heard Deng QiuShi chuckle. He looked up.

  “When I first found Yuan Xia as a child, the Doctor told me he had ‘spirit deviation’.” Deng QiuShi had a rueful voice as she spoke gently towards Yuan Xia. “I’d been hesitant about bringing him up here, but now that I see how spirited he is, I’m content with this decision. Maybe after admitting him to the Righteous Leader’s care, I can finally hear his voice.”Shuang hummed in both understanding and confusion. He pointed at Yuan Xia again, this time directly addressing Deng QiuShi.“Then how do you two communicate? Sign nguage?”

  Deng QiuShi shook her head.“No,” Deng QiuShi shook her head. “Yuan Xia has always had trouble with his vision too—his eyes shake in the Sun, and he has a hard time reaching for things. Just a couple days ago, his soul returned, and he motioned to me for the first time. There are many things I don’t know about him yet.”

  “I see.” Shuang fshed a pitying smile as he rested his hand on Yuan Xia’s shoulder. “It’s ok. You’re here now. Anything can be fixed in the JiangHu.”

  Next, Deng QiuShi’s broad palm nded on Yuan Xia’s head, pulling him away from Shuang and into her arms. “Believe in Heaven’s Law Sect. The Righteous Leader will be able to cure you, I’m sure of it.”

  Yuan Xia felt suffocated in the sympathetic atmosphere. A sense of listlessness rose in his heart. The more Shuang and Deng QiuShi conversed, the more he missed his sight. But the way they talked about it—’fixing’ him, ‘curing’ him… it didn’t sit right.Lowering his head, Yuan Xia kicked a small bck pebble by his feet.

  “Ow!” The pebble suddenly shook, morphing into a hideous clump of indigo before rising as a humanoid figure.

  A cultivator? Yuan Xia stepped back. Both Deng QiuShi and Shuang froze in alert.

  Beside the figure, another silhouette emerged. Her stature overpped with her brother’s. They looked exactly the same, like halves of a mirror. The blue hanfu cloaked across the sister’s shoulders flew up as she shielded her twin. A frown painted her handsome face.

  “You’ve given our cover away.” She scolded the brother, her eyes never once lifting from Yuan Xia. “But good job. Blondish hair, dual-coloured eyes; he’s also mute and blind. This might be the one we’re looking for.”

  “Are we taking him, then?” The brother peeked out from behind her sister, a ravenous glint in the timid eyes beneath his square-framed gsses.

  “If not, then what else?” The sister rolled her eyes and dragged him out next to here. The two of them towered over Yuan Xia, casting shadows. Their hands reached out, getting closer, closer….

  At the st moment, Deng QiuShi grabbed Yuan Xia, hiding him behind her back.“What do you mean, ‘taking him’? Taking my son where?”

  Son…. Yuan Xia’s breath hitched.

  The brother tilted his gsses as he examined Deng QiuShi from head to toe. “Double Earth and Fire root. Nothing special.”

  The sister leaned in, gently sniffing at Deng QiuShi’s nape. “They don’t smell reted.”

  Deng QiuShi swatted the sister away, shaking in disgust. But she didn’t mind, and instead, turned to her twin brother with a nod.

  “Get him!”

  The twins lunged at Yuan Xia, with every intent to kidnap the boy away. Shoving Deng QiuShi aside, the sister grabbed Yuan Xia’s arm, and the brother seized his leg. Yuan Xia’s world spun as the twins flipped him onto his back, dangling him like a pig on a stake.

  The Sun hit him face-first, and a burning sensation crawled up his body,

  Wide-eyed, Yuan Xia began to struggle. His weak body made him unable to counter, and worst of all, his reaction time had significantly diminished. Reduced to a near-useless state, Yuan Xia found himself cursing both his rebirth and his inability to see.

  He bit his lower lip in distress.

  Just as the twins began to march off with Yuan Xia in tow, a green figure flew over their heads, nding before them. Shuang held a palm up, stopping them in their tracks. Behind them, Deng QiuShi brandished a marble spear she’d taken from one of the random statues nearby. The twins, trapped on both sides, gnced at each other in panic.

  Yuan Xia snapped out of his daze as he fell to the clouds. He nded softly, and when he looked up, the twins had disappeared, floating into the distance until they became small bck specks.Shuang dusted his hands, huffing at the lost opportunity. He knelt down, held Yuan Xia’s wrist, and pulled him back up. The child’s grasp, warm, brought with it a fragrance of gingko leaves.

  “Are you alright?” He brushed out Yuan Xia’s white sleeves, a vicious glimmer in his viridian eyes. “Anyone that messes with you, I’ll deal with from now on.”

  Deng QiuShi took Yuan Xia from Shuang, lifting him into her arms. The sungsses that had fallen to the floor at some point returned to cover Yuan Xia’s eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I should have protected you better.”

  A conflicted expression creased Yuan Xia’s brows. He didn’t expect Deng QiuShi and Shuang to care so much.The ‘mother’ he couldn’t quite accept yet. The child who had charged into his life without any warning. What did they get out of protecting him?

  He leapt from Deng QiuShi’s arms, teetering as he found his bance. He could stand on his own—he didn’t need anyone to carry him.But Deng QiuShi lifted him again, dissatisfaction apparent in her nasal hum.

  Because of the loud confrontation, the trio attracted a lot of attention.Materializing from the distance, the overworked man in turquoise levitated towards the three. His basket of registration boards y secure in his arms, and Yuan Xia noticed that his eyebags had gotten heavier, almost sinking in his face.

  “I’ve been informed of the ruckus. I would like to apologize on behalf of Heaven’s Law Sect for the disciples’ intrusion.” The man swallowed, a hint of distaste rising on his face. “The least I can offer you is a brief expnation of their actions.”

  Without waiting for a response, the man continued on. He spoke in a hurried manner, implying his ck of patience and time.“Ever since Righteous Leader Hua came out of seclusion, he’s been looking for the Demon Lord… Yuan Xia’s… lookalikes. No one knows why, but because of the rge bonus he promised for even a single thread of information, all of the disciples have been in a frenzy.”

  “That’s strange.” Shuang folded his arms, bringing a hand to his chin. “The Demon Lord died 120 years ago at the Battle of Snow Valley. There’s no point in searching for his corpse. Right, Yuan Xia?”Shuang nudged Yuan Xia with a pyful smile.

  The Demon Lord in question cmmed up and stifled his frantic nods. He had indeed died. His corpse was long gone. Don’t look for him, please.

  “Yuan Xia?” The registration man narrowed his eyes, which disappeared behind his eyebags. “Is that this child’s name?”

  Deng QiuShi hugged Yuan Xia close to her chest. “Yes, but he can’t possibly be the Demon Lord. It’s all just a big coincidence.”

  With a word from Deng QiuShi, the man seemed much more at ease. He nodded, putting his basket down.“I understand. But just in case, Righteous Leader Hua asked that we not only confirm the target’s appearance, but his ability to talk or see as well.” He reached for Yuan Xia’s Dark Clouds. “Please excuse me—”

  A crisp sp reverberated across the clouds.

  Deng QiuShi retracted her hand, gring at the man as a bruise formed on his wrist.

  “How dare you try to take my child’s gsses?” Deng QiuShi had a scary expression as she chastised him. “Who raised you? I would like to talk with your manager.”

  With a stumble, the man took a step backwards. His turquoise eyes widened with confusion. “I’m sorry, I….”

  “Don’t apologize to me, apologize to my son. If he doesn’t accept, I’ll go right up Heaven’s Law Sect to find your so-called ‘Righteous Leader’.”

  “I….” The man gnced down at the basket of registration boards, his hands fidgeting as tears bridled his shes.

  The people nearest to the commotion began to murmur, half anticipating, half rebuking the overworked man for testing such a personal issue.

  A ray of light parted the yer of clouds above, silencing the crowd.

  “What’s this disturbance?”

  From above, a man descended, his fiery orange hair and muted gold kasaya billowing in the wind. He held a Tibetan Singing Bowl in his right hand, and a string of prayer beads rested in his left.

  The overworked man straightened with a start, frantic as he scrambled to fix his appearance.

  “Elder Jing…!”