“Shatter!”

  Elder Gan’s shout unleashed a massive sonic boom that rippled through the air.

  The tremor punched through walls, alerting a patrol squad outside.

  “Deacon Gan’s sound blast—trouble! With me!”

  At the captain’s order, the team sprinted toward the detention block.

  Even with the shockwave, the night guards at the entrance slept on, undisturbed.

  The captain reached them first, shaking one awake—no response, only blissful dreaming.

  He glanced down at the shattered bottle on the ground, knelt, and sniffed. “Drugged.”

  Ice essence flared from his palms. His six teammates summoned battle-ready energy and followed.

  A sharp hand signal, and they charged through the doors.

  The piercing sonic burst had torn the illusion apart like a curtain.

  None of them had ever witnessed glamour this powerful—as if an entirely new plane had been woven around them.

  “Ice-element illusion,” Elder Gan muttered. “Peak two-element skill. Wanwan never awakened ice, did she?”

  Deacon Lan stepped from the shadows. The version of him that had stood there all along dissolved into mist.

  Gan wasn’t surprised. Lan’s phantom clones were masterful. But even he had fallen to the ice glamour. Wanwan’s power far exceeded anything they had imagined.

  Lan himself was reeling. He had planned a joint strike with the commander to end the evil cultivator in one blow.

  He never expected Fan Yi to turn puppet, mind unraveled by the spell.

  The instant Rui Guo was hurled through the walls, Lan’s focus slipped—and the illusion seized him too.

  “Aunt Guo!”

  Timo’s heartbroken cry echoed as he raced to the first shattered wall.

  Blood streaked the rubble. Heedless of danger, he scrambled through the gaping holes until he reached the cliff’s edge.

  Below lay an endless void. Faint lights revealed only swirling mist.

  Beast roars drifted up from the depths. Thunder cracked overhead, lightning forking through the clouds, illuminating massive winged silhouettes diving after unseen prey.

  Chilled to the bone by the howling wind, Timo hesitated only a moment before readying himself to leap.

  Elder Gan appeared behind him in a flash and yanked him back.

  “Wind boy—are you trying to die? That’s a bottomless abyss. No one survives the fall.”

  “But… what if Aunt Guo’s alive?”

  Tears streamed down Timo’s face. No matter how he struggled, he couldn’t break Gan’s iron grip.

  With a helpless sigh, Gan struck a precise blow to the boy’s neck. Timo went limp.

  “Commander—Seventh Patrol, Captain Jun Shen reporting!”

  The squad burst in, but Commander Fan Yi stood frozen, staring into nothing, as if trapped in another world.

  “Jun Shen,” Deacon Lan said quickly, stepping in. “Anything unusual outside?”

  “Nothing… except about fifteen minutes ago, I saw Captain Guo return with Timo Yang from the western forest. They landed and came straight here.”

  “No one else came or went?”

  Jun Shen frowned, recalling. He had only glanced over. Knowing Private Zhao’s crush on Wanwan, he had assumed they were sneaking a moment together and paid it no mind.

  “I did see Healer Wanwan chatting happily with Zhao on watch. They’ve been close lately. Has something happened?”

  Lan exhaled heavily. The sleeping guard. The broken bottle. The drug.

  Everything pointed to premeditation. Wanwan had planned her entry.

  Yet Wanwan had been personally trained by Elder Bai—known for her caution. A healer turning traitor was almost unthinkable.

  This case would not unravel quickly.

  “Seventh Squad—with me!”

  “Understood!”

  Earthen platforms rose beneath Lan’s feet. The team leapt down the cliff face layer by layer, vanishing into the fog.

  “At that range,” Elder Gan said quietly as they disappeared, “no one survives a full strike from Commander Yi. May the ancestors watch over Deacon Guo.”

  His electronic eye detached from his gray battle robes, scanning and recording the scene.

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  “Feng Yi… wake up, son. It’s my fault. I never should have pushed you!”

  Gan turned at the anguished sobbing.

  Disheveled and wild-eyed, Fan Yi cradled Timo’s unconscious body, weeping as if the boy were his lost son.

  “You killed Aunt Guo,” Timo mumbled groggily as the commander shook him awake. “You’ll face legion judgment…”

  Gan cut in sharply. “Child—we were all trapped in the illusion. None of us could tell friend from foe. Your Uncle Yi lost his son. The evil cultivator used his grief to control him.”

  Timo blinked, memories flooding back. The commander had screamed “Wanwan!” while hurling fire—at Rui Guo.

  Cold wind howled through the broken walls.

  Suddenly Fan Yi froze, clutching his head as pain lanced through his skull.

  When it passed, clarity returned to his eyes.

  “I… why am I here? What happened?”

  Gan and Timo exchanged grim looks.

  Gan recounted everything.

  Meanwhile, in a clearing far from camp, the air rippled and tore open.

  Wanwan stepped through, fifteen rootless prisoners at her side.

  The fire evil cultivator waited in the shadows, a masked figure in black beside her.

  Without a word, they melted into the darkness.

  Back in the ruined detention block, Fan Yi’s hands shook uncontrollably as Gan finished.

  “You’re telling me I summoned you all in the night to judge the rootless—discovered Wanwan was the evil cultivator—fell to her illusion—and mistook Rui Guo for the enemy? I killed her?”

  He stared at the shattered walls in horror.

  “We arrived thinking the prisoners were rebelling,” Gan said. “We clashed with Rui Guo. Then Wanwan revealed herself—peak two-element, boosted by dark energy. She outclassed us all.”

  Fan Yi dragged a trembling hand through his hair, meeting Gan’s steady gaze.

  “Impossible. Wanwan was only a one-element healer. Ice illusions? Mind control? That’s dark arts.”

  Realization crashed over him. Rui Guo’s absolute defense reflected damage back on attackers.

  He had struck her with everything.

  “Mother of Earth,” he whispered. “She went alone into the Black Forest. Saved those children. And now she’s gone because of me? How do I face the legion?”

  His fingers brushed the broken stone as fragmented memories surfaced—Rui Guo flying backward, defenseless.

  “Was anyone else here?”

  “Deacon Lan took the Seventh Squad down to search for her.”

  Fan Yi walked heavily to the cliff’s edge, staring into the abyss.

  Dread coiled cold and tight in his chest.

  The Tribunal's Summons

  Commander Fan Yi stared into the darkness, turning Elder Gan’s words over in his mind. He genuinely could not remember why he had come here. All he recalled was drowning his grief in sleeping draughts.

  Had Feng Yi died the same way—cut down by friendly fire in some illusion-fueled frenzy?

  No. Elder Gan’s magitech sonic burst was designed to shatter glamours. The Thunderhawk squad had trained against exactly this kind of deception. They would never have been so careless.

  The thought of his son’s broken body made Fan Yi’s fists clench until his knuckles cracked. Bloodshot eyes burned in the dim light.

  The traitor had made their move.

  Who? Rui Guo was gone. He would be next.

  Tension coiled through him like a drawn bowstring.

  Elder Gan stepped quietly behind him.

  Fan Yi whirled, heart lurching—only to see the deacon holding a small herb pouch.

  Wanwan’s pouch. Every healer carried one to ward off insects.

  “Wanwan’s personal item,” Gan said. “The evil cultivator wasn’t using glamour. With Captain Guo’s strength, no illusion could have fooled her.”

  “Aunt Guo… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  Timo’s voice broke. Tears streamed down his face. He blamed himself utterly—he had been useless, helpless.

  Fan Yi looked at the sobbing boy and hesitated.

  Moments ago, he had nearly killed the son of a hero. The memory was hazy, but the guilt was sharp.

  The dark art hadn’t just amplified his rage—it had seized complete control.

  If the truth spread, his authority would collapse. He would be branded a murderer.

  He had already lost his son to duty and promises. He could not let the legion fracture now. Not when betrayal lurked within.

  The boy was the only witness.

  Fan Yi’s gaze sharpened on Timo.

  “The child is in shock,” Elder Gan said smoothly, sensing the shift. “Rambling, confused—lingering effects of the illusion. I’ll take him to Elder Bai for treatment.”

  Killing intent flickered across Fan Yi’s face for an instant. Gan caught it.

  He seized Timo’s arm and pulled him away before the commander could speak.

  In the infirmary, Yue Yang waited alone.

  Lulu still hadn’t returned with news.

  Nothing unusual stirred in the camp, yet Wanwan had vanished entirely—completely out of character.

  The other healers were asleep, exhausted from the day’s work. If the children took a turn, with only Yue Yang on duty, blame would fall on her and the absent Wanwan.

  She kept watch over the sleeping children, rubbing her chilled hand. Why had Wanwan’s skin felt so cold? Was she ill?

  Outside the detention block, Elder Gan dragged Timo past the still-sleeping guard, Zhao.

  Gan shook his head. With everything that had happened, the boy would face discipline too. The tribunal was inevitable.

  He pulled a vial from his pocket and handed it to Timo.

  “Hold it under his nose.”

  Timo obeyed. The sharp scent hit like lightning.

  “Wanwan… don’t go…”

  Zhao jolted awake, mumbling her name.

  By the time he fully focused, Elder Gan and Timo were already through the outer gate.

  “Damn it!”

  Seeing the detention doors wide open, Zhao slapped his forehead and sprinted inside.

  Empty. He shouted for backup. Boots thundered as reinforcements converged.

  “Uncle Gan—Elder Bai’s workshop is that way!”

  Timo pointed as they passed the turn.

  “You’re the only eyewitness to Wanwan’s betrayal,” Gan said grimly. “If even she could turn, you’re not safe in the open. My camp.”

  Before Timo could protest, Gan pulled him into a heavily guarded underground passage lined with armored sentries.

  The iron doors of the Ground Command Center loomed ahead—a place every child dreamed of entering.

  Timo’s excitement warred with worry. His sister would be frantic.

  “Uncle Gan—can someone tell my sister I’m safe with you?”

  “Don’t worry. It’ll be handled.”

  Gan signaled two sentries. “No one enters without my direct order.”

  He shoved Timo through a side door. It sealed with a heavy clang. The guards took position on either side.

  “No one,” Gan repeated. “Not even the commander himself.”

  “Understood!”

  Inside, Timo pressed his ear to the door until Gan’s footsteps faded.

  He turned. He was in Elder Gan’s private quarters.

  A massive map of Watch territory covered one wall.

  Beside it stood a glowing globe of the Spirit Taming Continent. Touch a territory, and a hologram displayed its allegiance and current ruler.

  Timo stared in wonder.

  Through the eastern window, the first ray of dawn pierced the storm clouds, cutting a white path across the sky.

  He sank onto the fur-covered bed—luxuriously soft—and exhaustion claimed him.

  *Tap… tap…*

  A faint knocking from the wall snapped him awake.

  Sunlight now flooded the room.

  *Tap… tap…*

  He pressed his ear to the wall.

  “From inside? A burrowing rat?”

  Before he could puzzle it out, a cabinet door burst open with a kick.

  “That old Gan thinks a lock can stop me? Whose daughter am I?”

  A familiar leather-capped head poked through.

  Lulu.

  Timo’s eyes went wide as saucers.

  “What are you doing gawking? Come on! The tribunal’s here for you!”

  “But… why me?”

  “You were at both evil cultivator incidents. They want to question you.”

  “I’m not a evil cultivator—what do I have to fear?”

  “Old Gan’s orders. Hide first. He’ll stall them. Move!”

  Heavy footsteps echoed outside.

  “Step aside. We’re taking Timo Yang to the tribunal.”

  “No entry without Deacon Gan’s command.”

  The lead inquisitor’s voice grew sharp. “All involved parties face judgment. No exceptions under the iron laws.”

  Lulu hissed, “Go—unless you want to drag your sister down too?”

  Timo couldn’t bear that.

  With Rui Guo’s fate unknown, this was bigger than any scandal.

  He scrambled into the cabinet after Lulu and vanished into the maze of hidden passages.

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