bai long

Master Shen Jichuan left the room in silence.

As the heavy door closed behind him, four disciples immediately took their positions at the entrance:

Yun Zhi, Ling Yao, Fei Lan, and Tian Miao.

Just then, Tian Miao looked at the others and said quietly,

Tian Miao:

"It's almost time… step away from the door, quickly."

The others looked at him with confusion but obeyed.

Moments later

the door opened on its own.

Inside, Mo Yan sat on the floor in deep concentration beside the table.

He wasn't moving.

His posture calm, his aura still.

Then suddenly

with a deafening roar

Bai Long, the celestial beast, charged out of the chamber like a streak of silver light.

He soared high into the sky

and began forming a massive glowing circle in the clouds,

exactly like the one he had created eight years ago

the night he searched for Yu Sui.

---

Fei Lan stared up in awe:

"Master Bai Long… why does he do this every night?"

"Why does he form that same circle in the sky?"

---

Ling Yao folded his arms, voice cautious yet reverent:

"Who knows… maybe the Young Master is practicing some powerful new technique."

But deep inside,

none of them could shake off the feeling

That this wasn't practice…

It was memory.

It was longing.

It was the ache of a bond still alive.

Even the stars above seemed to stop and look down.

As if remembering, too.