In the hospital.
Third Uncle had been unconscious for a full day and night.
Late at night, when everyone had gone to sleep.
The door to the pitch-black ward suddenly opened.
Third Uncle rubbed his bleary eyes in a daze and slowly rose.
"Who is it?"
At the doorway.
A familiar yet unfamiliar figure stood in the moonlight.
The man wore that familiar braid.
Tall and broad, he wore a roguish grin.
"You little bastard, don't recognize me anymore?"
That familiar voice rang out.
Third Uncle felt as though lightning had struck him.
He looked back in disbelief.
His body was still lying on the bed.
"Am I... dead?"
A jumble of emotions filled Third Uncle's heart.
"If I'm... dead, what will happen to Black Mountain Town? The old man told me to take care of the town."
"You're not dying, silly boy."
Smoke Fiend slowly entered the room and rested a hand on Third Uncle's head.
"You've gotten taller. Stronger, too."
Third Uncle slowly raised his head.
The features of Smoke Fiend, who had appeared in his dreams countless times, who had cared for him and doted on him since childhood, gradually came into focus.
"Brother... Brother Fei."
Third Uncle could no longer hold himself together.
He burst into tears.
Smoke Fiend dying in his arms had been a pain he could never come to terms with for the rest of his life.
A scar he could never forget.
"Boohoo... Brother Fei, boohoo, the old man's gone, and you're gone too. I miss you both so much."
"Brother Fei, take me with you. I don't want to be apart from you anymore."
Third Uncle sobbed.
Only this little head of Black Mountain Town knew the hurt and pain in his heart.
Following the Old Man's teachings, he had been