Dry Leaf

The next evening…

Same place.

The same guava tree.

And the same gentle breeze whispering through the leaves.

With that breeze,

Mo Yan arrived once again.

From afar, Yu Sui saw him

and just like always,

their sweet little bickering began again.

Yu Sui (making a face):

"Oh no, not again!

The guava thief is back!"

Mo Yan, smiling mischievously,

stuck out his tongue

long, childlike, playful.

Yu Sui:

"Look at this shameless boy, sticking his tongue out!"

Mo Yan picked up a guava and turned to leave...

But suddenly

Push!

Yu Sui ran up from behind

and shoved him hard.

Mo Yan tumbled straight

into a pile of dry leaves.

Leaves flew everywhere

some tangled in his hair,

some stuck to his face.

Yu Sui clapped his hands, laughing loudly:

"Look, look!

One more dry leaf in the pile!"

"Mo Yan is a dry leaf... Mo Yan is a dry leaf!"

"From today, your name isn't Mo Yan

it's Dry Leaf!"

"Dry Leaf it is!"

Children's laughter,

the rustling of leaves,

and the innocence of that moment

it all froze in time.

Mo Yan said nothing.

He quietly stood up,

brushing off the leaves from his clothes.

Yu Sui was still giggling.

Mo Yan began to walk away.

Yu Sui also turned to go…

But just then

Mo Yan glanced back at Yu Sui.

There was a gentle smile on his face,

and in his heart, he whispered:

"Today, he gave me the name Dry Leaf…"

"I think… I like it more than Mo Yan."

---

Flashback Ends

---

Grandmaster (softly, with grave clarity):

"And that…

is the power of the Su Tao Jue mantra."

"A bond so unbreakable

it can neither be severed by blade,

nor burned by flame."

"Until you are free from it,

you remain a sealed mark."

"And as long as this bond lives…

you cannot open the door."

---

Only the one who was once called "Dry Leaf"

can truly understand the meaning of that bond…