The elders declared
Ming Jing Men Sect
A high council was summoned.
Mo Yan was called before the elders
this time, not as a protector,
but as one who must choose sides.
The elders declared:
"The Black Heaven King has returned.
If you aid him again, as you did in the past...
you will lose your spiritual powers
forever.
You will become nothing more than a mortal."
Mo Yan stood silent for a moment.
His heart wanted to speak,
but duty forced his lips shut.
With a heavy breath, he took the oath.
A spiritual talisman....thin, silver, and ancient....was tied around his forehead.
Its meaning was clear:
"If you break your vow, this charm will shatter on its own.
And we will know...
that you have betrayed us again."
---
A few days later...
A message arrived from the Liuguang Sect.
Urgent.
"People are dying.
Temples are crumbling.
In just five days, 104 lives lost.
And at every death site...
a black pearl is found,
leaking a strange, dark smoke."
Fear spread like wildfire.
A barrier...invisible but unbreakable...
had risen around the entire clan.
No one could enter.
No one could escape.
The message had arrived
not by courier,
but on the wings of a peacock
a sacred messenger bird,
sent only when times were desperate.