"Brother, I'm back!"
Deep in the dense forest, the wind howled.
Mu Linsen held Gao Mu securely in one arm while gripping a thick ancient vine with the other, using the momentum to swing through the air between towering old trees.
He moved as nimbly as an ape, the tails of his white suit jacket snapping in the wind, looking rather out of place.
He landed with only a soft sound, without even stirring up dust.
"Brother, here."
Mu Linsen smiled and pulled a bundle from his clothes, handing it over.
Bai Ye took the bundle. Just as he was about to open it, his gaze paused slightly.
The bundle looked very familiar. It had been wrapped layer upon layer in an old child's garment.
The fabric had long since faded to grayish white, its edges frayed and fuzzy. Several tears gaped like dried wounds.
Most striking of all were the bloodstains. Fifty years had swallowed up the vivid crimson, leaving behind only a large patch of black, hardened scab.
The black scab had nearly fused with the child's clothes. Much of what clung to the surface had fallen away, but what had seeped into the fibers remained stubbornly behind.
It was hard to imagine how much blood the child wearing these clothes had bled to stain them like this.
This was no longer merely bloodstained. The clothes had been completely soaked in blood.
Seeing that his brother had yet to open it, Mu Linsen asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Brother?"
Bai Ye drew his eyes away from the bundle and looked at the youth before him. It was as if he saw that small figure from years ago, clutching fragments of the Knight Sword as he fled in panic, hiding from danger and pursuit.
For a god, only a