"What are you doing?" Lan Zhan asks.

"Me? What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Something's happened." Lan Zhan says.

I stand up.

"What?" I ask.

"A messenger from Shi Quing Temple." Lan Zhan says.

"And... I have no idea what the temple is." I admit.

I get out of the boat.

"Cloud Recess has received a messenger from the temple." Lan Zhan says.

"And...?" I ask.

He looks down.

"All the monks are dead." Lan Zhan answers.

That got my attention. I look at him in surprise. 

"Dead? What do you mean dead? Who would kill monks?" I ask.

He handed me a paper with a rune. My eyes widen. It was in reversed and looks kind of like mine. My heart suddenly pounds. 

"You... you don't think it's me?" I ask.

"No, but I would like you to come with me and explain what you think." He says.

"Wait, seriously?" I ask.

"Yes." He grabs my arm.

"I didn't say yes!" I protest. 

~<>~ ~<>~ ~<>~

Lan Zhan practically dragged me into Cloud Recess. I would have been willing to go, if he hadn't dragged me. I do not like being dragged like an animal. Lan Zhan has a history with dragging me. So... I guess it's okay. We enter the Silent Room. I see a monk shaking and looks like a frozen image. He was surprisingly covered in snow. His eyebrows were stinged with ice. I let out a breath. His fingers were ice covered. He turns to us.

"I... I saw him. I saw what he did." The monk says.

"What happened?" I ask.

"A man came in, one from the North Mountains." Xichen answers.

"He destroyed us all. He had come for it. He came for it and took it." The monk says.

"Took what?" I ask. 

"The Shin Nu Dagger." The monk says.