A few minutes later.
Moyu hung up, his brows tightly furrowed.
The mountain's night breeze stirred the leaves into a rustling chorus, carrying wisps of heat as it brushed against him.
Yet Moyu felt cold inside.
When he first heard that Hawk had little time left, Moyu had been startled, but he immediately thought of the curse from the King's Balance.
As long as the phenomenon involved Nen, there would be a way to deal with it. Some solution had to exist.
But after hearing Cheadle's explanation, his heart sank.
The problem Hawk now faced had indeed been caused by Nen, but the phenomenon itself...
Was an irreversible loss of lifespan.
Just like the price Kurapika paid to use Emperor Time...
It was not an injury, so healing abilities could not resolve it.
It was not a curse, so Exorcism abilities could not resolve it either.
This was the end of his allotted lifespan, part of the natural cycle of birth, aging, illness, and death.
It might come in a month, a week, or even tomorrow.
Whenever Hawk closed his eyes, he might sink into death's stillness forever.
Moyu lowered his head. The image of Hawk lying in his rocking chair earlier that day seemed to flash before his eyes, and his brows tightened further.
Right, I have a Counterpoint Keystone.
A sudden spark of inspiration lit a faint gleam in Moyu's eyes.
But that gleam froze a moment later.
"I already used the first Counterpoint Keystone..."
Moyu murmured to himself, then remembered the stone tablet of the Path of Legends. He steadied himself and sank his mind into the Consciousness Space.
Beneath a night sky strewn with brilliant stars, a burning campfire brought light and warmth.
Not far from the fire, a stone tablet wreathed in plants stood quietly.