Heart Trial and Search

That presence appeared quickly and vanished just as fast.

It was like a chill gust passing through the woods, disappearing without a trace before it could disturb a single leaf.

Gon and Kurapika seemed to notice nothing, but Killua's body suddenly stiffened.

The color drained instantly from his usually cool, composed face, leaving him as pale as Kurapika.

His lively, catlike eyes widened, filled with a terror that someone his age should never have known-a terror that rose from the depths of his soul!

His body trembled slightly, beyond his control.

"Killua? What's wrong?"

Gon was the first to notice. He reached toward Killua's shoulder and asked in concern.

"N-nothing."

Killua's voice was as rough as if it had been scraped with sandpaper.

He abruptly lowered his head and clutched his arms tightly, as though that could give him some small sense of security.

He dodged Gon's outstretched hand, the instinctive movement full of rejection.

"I just... suddenly felt a little cold."

Lin Yan slowly shifted his gaze from the now-empty treetop in the distance back to Killua.

His heart sank.

In that brief instant, his Qi Observation Technique had shown him everything clearly.

When that icy presence appeared, a nearly invisible black thread of qi, thin as spider silk, had suddenly flashed above Killua's head.

One end connected to the back of Killua's head. The other... stretched into the endless void, as though linked to some distant, terrifying being.

It was like a puppet string, and at its other end was the scarecrow who had just stood in the treetop: Illumi Zoldyck.

That thread was the Nen Needle Illumi had planted in his brain.

In Taoist terms, this thing was called an "inner demon seed," one of the most sophisticated methods of mental control.

It did not simply issue commands. It planted a seed of fear directly in the depths of the soul.

Whenever he encountered an enemy stronger than himself, that seed would take root and sprout, becoming an instinctive roar:

Run!

Never challenge them!

Like an invisible cage, it held captive a young eagle that should have soared through the skies.

Illumi's appearance, even for a single instant, had been enough to trigger the needle and make Killua recall the suffocating terror of being utterly controlled.

"Are you really okay? Your face is completely white."

Still worried, Gon circled around in front of Killua to look at his face.

"I said I'm fine! You're so annoying!"

Killua suddenly snapped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

He sprang to his feet, shoved Gon aside, and turned his back on them.

Gon staggered from the shove, then froze in shock, unsure what to do.

He had never seen Killua like this.

"I... I'm going to look around."

Leaving that flimsy excuse behind, Killua ran into the woods without looking back. His stumbling figure soon vanished behind the overlapping shadows of the trees.

"Killua!"

Gon shouted anxiously and started to run after him.

"Don't."

A steady, firm hand pressed down on his shoulder.

Gon turned back to see Lin Yan shaking his head.

"Why? Something's really wrong with him!"

"We have to go check on him!" Gon said urgently.

"It's precisely because we're his friends that we need to give him some dignity and space."

Lin Yan sighed. His voice was quiet, yet it carried a soothing strength.

He crouched down, looked into Gon's clear, wide eyes, and explained earnestly:

"Gon, some battles can only be fought alone. This is called a 'heart trial.'

"He's trapped in a nightmare of his own making right now. That nightmare comes from his family and his past. If you chase after him now, whatever you say will just sound like noise to him. He might even instinctively push you away because you've seen him at his weakest."

A saying from Yangming Philosophy of the Mind surfaced in Lin Yan's thoughts:

It is easy to defeat bandits in the mountains, but hard to defeat the bandits in one's heart.

The demon Illumi had planted was rooted in Killua's heart.

All an outsider could do was stand guard. To truly sever that puppet string, Killua himself would have to see his own heart clearly and make that decisive cut.

"Then... we just wait?"

Gon clenched his fists, unwilling to accept it.

"Yes. We wait."

Lin Yan nodded, his gaze certain. "I believe in him. He isn't someone who goes down easily. Once he's worked it out and settled himself, he'll come back."

Kurapika, who had remained silent against the tree trunk, also spoke weakly:

"Lin Yan is right, Gon. Every one of us has a battlefield we must face alone. Just like me... when I face those Spiders. Sometimes, our friends' trust and patience are more powerful than forced intervention."

Hearing Kurapika say the same thing, Gon finally stopped, though worry still covered his face.

He looked back in the direction Killua had disappeared and murmured, "Killua, you have to come back..."

Lin Yan patted his back in consolation.

His gaze swept over the clearing. The human-body collector Kurapika had beaten half to death was still unconscious. Kurapika himself needed rest, and Killua had run off after his inner demon erupted.

Their once closely knit team now seemed to be falling apart.

"All right. We're too scattered right now. We need to regroup as soon as possible."

Lin Yan changed the subject, his expression turning solemn. "Killua should be all right for now. This is part of his cultivation. But... aren't we still missing someone?"

He looked at the two of them. "Where's Leorio? Have you heard anything from him?"

The mention of Leorio finally redirected Gon's attention.

He scratched his head, his expression just as worried as it had been for Killua.

"We haven't found Leorio either... We haven't seen him since we split up.

"Killua said Leorio drew a girl named Ponzu as his target. Apparently, she's really good at hiding and setting traps. I guess Leorio's still stuck somewhere trying to outlast her."

"That old guy may seem unreliable, but he's hard to kill. He should still be alive."

Kurapika added that, though a trace of uncertainty lingered in his voice.

They had already experienced Zevil Island's dangers firsthand.

Anything could happen here.

"We can't wait any longer."

Lin Yan made his decision at once. "Kurapika, you're exhausted right now. You need rest.

"Gon, stay here and take care of him, and wait for Killua to come back. I'll go find Leorio."

"I'll go too!" Gon said immediately.

"No."

Lin Yan refused outright. "Your job is to guard our 'home.' Kurapika can't move right now. If we both leave, any examinee who comes along could wipe us out.

"You have to stay. You're our last line of defense."

At the words "last line of defense," Gon's expression immediately grew serious.

He nodded firmly. "Okay! I understand! I'll protect Kurapika!"

Lin Yan smiled.

The boy was that straightforward. Give him a clear responsibility, and he could unleash astonishing energy.

With things settled here, Lin Yan wasted no more time.

He walked to the edge of the clearing and closed his eyes.

Within his dantian, the dantian embryo, now marked with a golden line, began to rotate slowly in time with his breathing.

Wisps of true qi were guided upward, flowing into his eyes and ears.

In an instant, the entire world became utterly different to his senses.

The rustling of wind through the leaves separated into thousands upon thousands of distinct tones;

The distant beating of insects' wings sounded as clear as if it were right beside his ears;

Even the movement of earthworms wriggling through the soil could not escape him.

Since the marking had appeared on his dantian embryo, his Listening to the Breath and Qi Observation techniques had advanced another step.

Amid that tangled flood of information, he began searching for Leorio's unique qi.

Each person's qi was intimately connected to their personality, emotions, and physical condition.

Gon's qi was like the sun: pure, warm, and full of vitality.

Killua's qi was like a cat: agile and sharp, with an undertone of coldness.

Kurapika's qi was like fire beneath ice, searing hatred suppressed beneath a rational exterior.

What about Leorio's qi?

Lin Yan searched his memory. Hmm... a little loud and blustery, with a touch of worldly shrewdness, but decent at its core. Like a cup of cheap but warming liquor.

He extended his divine sense like an invisible net, spreading it across the entire island.

Soon, in one direction, he caught a faint trace of a presence that unmistakably belonged to Leorio.

But...

Lin Yan's brows abruptly drew together.

That presence was extremely weak, like a candle guttering in the wind, liable to go out at any moment.

And coiled around it was an... incredibly dense, icy aura of death, tinged with a sickly-sweet, bloody scent!

Something had gone wrong!

Lin Yan's eyes snapped open, a fierce gleam flashing through them.

"Gon, take care of Kurapika. I'll be back soon!"

Before his words had faded, his figure had already become a blur.

Whoosh!

He shot away, leaving only a swirl of fallen leaves swept up by the powerful gust in his wake.