true friend

When Duie first saw that all twenty of Mo Yan's disciples had returned to him, he decided to follow them quietly. It was then that he discovered...Yu Sui had returned.

After the disciples entered the sect compound, Duie saw Yu Sui hovering high above the academy.

He recognized him not by his face, nor by his robes,

but by the flute in Yu Sui's hand.

The very same flute that had remained untouched ever since Yu Sui had left Mo Yan.

From that day until now, Yu Sui had not played even a single tune on it.

The silence of his flute had been a mourning song in itself.

And it was because of that silence,

so palpable, so mournful,

that Duie recognized him at once.

In that moment,

Duie made up his mind.....he knew what he had to do.

---

The next day, inside the academy…

Duie was cheerfully narrating old tales of his and Yu Sui's friendship

how they used to break every single rule in the academy together,

how they would get caught, punished, and still do it all over again.

But what he did not tell anyone was why they broke those rules.

It wasn't rebellion.

It wasn't mischief.

It was longing.

Yu Sui had known something no one else did

that the only way to meet Mo Yan, to talk to him,

was outside the academy walls, in the forests beyond.

So he had broken every rule deliberately,

knowing full well that the punishments would be bizarre and absurd.

Because Yu Sui also knew one more thing:

Mo Yan would always come after him.

Even if he never spoke a single word to him.

Even in silence… Yu Sui had found his way to him.