Weylan didn’t speak in what felt like forever.

  He just stared at Shae. The woman he’d called master. The woman he’d trusted. The woman he’d loved.

  His heart felt hollow. Not shattered—scraped clean. Like something had been carved out of him and replaced with silence.

  He felt like a marionette whose strings had been cut. Everything he thought he was—every memory, every emotion—was tangled in her lies. And now, he didn’t know which parts were truly his.

  Shae met his gaze, her expression unreadable. She was suppressed, but her voice still held its edge.

  “Don’t believe that,” she said. “He’s playing mind games on you. You don’t believe that is true, do you?”

  Weylan didn’t answer.

  Jalen, who had now freed him from her spiritual bindings, stood nearby, arms folded, watching. Same for Tian. They didn’t interfere. This wasn’t their moment. It was Weylan’s.

  Shae stepped closer, her voice softer now. “None of that is true. I saved you, Yanon. I gave you a name and a purpose. I gave you status and strength.”

  “You used me,” Weylan managed to utter with great difficulty. It was as if a knife were in his throat.

  “No!” Her voice cracked. “I love you. I would never do such a thing to you.”

  “Don’t lie to me,” Weylan yelled, tears streaming down his face.

  “I would never lie to you,” Shae said, her voice trembling. “It’s those two monsters—twisting my memories, manipulating your mind. They want to make me look like the villain so they can steal your spirit core for themselves.”

  She almost sounded convincing. And for a moment, Weylan wanted to believe her. But the truth he’d seen—felt—was undeniable.

  “No,” Weylan replied. “You are lying to me. And the worst part is that you have no remorse about it.”

  Shae’s face twisted. “You were nothing before me. A broken boy with no name, no power, and no future. I gave you everything. And now you spit on it?”

  “I would rather be nothing than live a life built on lies,” Weylan said, voice hoarse.

  Jalen finally spoke. “A cunning vixen, even to the end.” With a flick of his aura, he knocked Shae unconscious. He could no longer watch this charade.

  Weylan flinched. “Did you kill her?” His voice trembled. As angry as he was, he still cared. He felt like a fool for feeling that way. But feelings don’t just disappear, even if you wish they would.

  “Is there an issue if I do?” Jalen asked, arching a brow.

  “I know I probably sound foolish asking this… But please, don’t kill her,” Weylan pleaded, lowering his head.

  “Raise your head,” Jalen said, placing a hand on Weylan’s shoulder. “We might have never had a close familial relationship, but we are family. I’ll honor your request. But I can’t let her go. She’d be a danger—not just to you, but to our entire family.”

  Weylan nodded. “I understand.”

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  “So, what will you do now? Return to the Twilight Sect… or go home to the Hewitt family?”

  “The only reason I joined the Twilight Sect was to please her,” Weylan said, looking at his unconscious master and lover with a sad expression. He then looked away, as if it pained him to. “Now, I want nothing to do with it. I don’t even want to see her face again.”

  Weylan tried to hold back his tears, but they came anyway.

  “Good. I’ll take you both back to the Vernon Continent,” Jalen said. “Maybe spending time with family will help to heal your wound.”

  Weylan nodded.

  “You can teleport that far?” Tian asked, surprised.

  “It’s not exactly teleportation,” Jalen replied. “But I can.”

  True to his word, Jalen transported them back to the Vernon Continent. He didn’t accompany them to the Hewitt family though—this wasn’t his reunion to attend. But before they parted, he handed Weylan a list of herbs to help detoxify the daze herb in his system, shortening the time it would take to fully recover down to a year and a few months.

  Tian led the way, guiding Weylan home.

  The Hewitt estate hadn’t changed much.

  Towering gates carved with ancestral sigils. Spirit lanterns flickering along the walkways. The scent of pine and incense drifting through the air. But to Weylan, it felt foreign.

  As they approached the family territory, two powerful auras surged forward—Ronald Hewitt, the patriarch, now at the Mid Star Realm, and Silver Hewitt, an elder at the Early Star Realm. They sensed unfamiliar qi and moved to intercept, expecting intruders.

  But when they saw Tian—and then Weylan—their expressions shifted from suspicion to shock.

  Other elders, high officials, and disciples gathered quickly. Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Many had believed Weylan to be dead. His return was a miracle.

  Tian and Weylan, two prodigies of the younger generation, were welcomed warmly and treated with utmost respect. But Weylan still felt out of place. The way people moved around him, the questions they asked, the reverence in their tone—it all felt distant. Yet he had no doubt now. This was his family.

  Then he met his parents.

  His father, a warrior at the Peak Gold Realm. His mother is a cultivator at Peak Amethyst. They pulled him into a tight embrace, tears streaming down their faces.

  Weylan stood stiffly, unable to return the sentiment. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to—it was that he couldn’t. The emotions didn’t reach him. Not yet.

  Tian explained briefly about Weylan’s condition. About the amnesia. His parents were saddened but grateful. Their son was alive—and had reached a realm of cultivation that few on the continent could even dream of.

  Everyone reintroduced themselves.

  His two older brothers are Gold Realm warriors of the family. His younger brother is just beginning his cultivation journey. Cousins, uncles, and aunts who had been close to him surrounded him with warmth and love.

  Tian was also greeted with warmth by the family. He met some of his own children and descendants—those who had returned from the pocket realm and came to the Hewitt family a few months ago.

  Weylan was home.

  Even if he didn’t feel it yet.

  As the reunion unfolded, one elder stood apart—stern-faced, arms folded, eyes unreadable.

  Martin Hewitt. A now peak gold realm warrior. Uncle to both Weylan and Tian. The man who had returned from the expedition six years ago and reported Weylan’s death.

  He had been taken in for questioning a few times after Weylan’s disappearance because his account had raised concerns not only with Weylan’s parents but also with elders who held him in high regard.

  According to Martin, the expedition had gone awry. They were ambushed by a powerful spirit beast deep in the Vermon wilds. In the chaos, Weylan was tossed into a river by the beast’s tail, and Martin saw the creature dive after him. With no sign of Weylan afterward and no way to retrieve him, Martin assumed the worst.

  His report was accepted by the patriarch and his counsel since there was no evidence to prove otherwise. Mourning rites were held. But some in the family, like Weylan’s parents, had doubts. Quiet ones.

  Now, with Weylan alive, those doubts stirred again.

  Martin was being questioned once more. He retold the same story. And the elders who questioned him had no choice but to believe him—for now.

  Only when Weylan’s memories return will they know the full truth.

  As for Jalen, he returned to the sanctuary. Shae remained unconscious, still bound. Ending her life would’ve been the logical choice—but he had made a promise.

  Instead, he shattered her dantian and cracked her spirit core, rendering her cultivation useless. Then, using his spirit sense, he erased her memories and left her on a remote mountain in the State of Bellini. Whatever fate awaited her was no longer his concern.

  She would live—but never again as a threat.

  With that chapter closed, Jalen turned his attention to the map of the Rale continent. Twelve states stood between him and the border of the mysterious fiftieth state. The sealed territory. The place the Origin Shard had once ignored—but now pulsed faintly in his palm.

  He was ready to face whatever waited beyond the veil.