Mang Tian simply held Tang Wulin firmly by the shoulders, without another word of advice.
At a time like this, any comfort would have seemed pale and hollow. Letting him cry out all the emotions weighing on his heart was the best thing to do.
An unknown amount of time passed before Tang Wulin's sobs gradually faded.
He kept his head lowered, clutching the letter tightly and reading it over and over. But whenever he reached the final words, "Dad and Mom love you," his tears still fell uncontrollably.
Dad was gone.
Mom was gone too.
Na'er had long since left.
The home he had always wanted to return to seemed to have emptied all at once.
"Do you want to find them?"
Mang Tian's voice slowly broke the silence in the Workshop.
Tang Wulin raised his head and looked at his teacher through tear-blurred eyes.
Mang Tian looked at him and said, "If you want to find them, you first need to be strong enough yourself. The fact that a force like that took your father means he has something they need. But precisely because of that, you don't need to worry too much about his and your mother's safety in the short term."
"The real problem is that you're too weak."
"A force capable of making your father return to that path would be anything but ordinary. Right now, you don't even know where they are. Even if you did, what could you do?"
Tang Wulin stared at him blankly, his lips trembling.
Mang Tian's voice was not loud, yet it struck his heart like a hammer, blow after blow.
"If you want to find them, make yourself stronger first."
"Strong enough to earn the right to go to them, strong enough to stand before them, strong enough