( journey begins ":5 :" Azure Stain )
The man carried the brought-in Yin into a room and laid him down. The helper immediately began a full examination of the child, who remained unconscious. The boy's body was sweating, yet instead of heat, a chilling cold permeated his skin.
Daisho also entered the room. After observing the child's condition, he turned to his assistant. "Examine his entire body. Report to me immediately if you find anything suspicious."
Following Daisho's command, the assistant removed Yin's clothing and began his careful scrutiny of the boy's form. Around Yin's neck was tied a red ribbon. The helper slowly untied it. The moment it came away, the assistant's eyes widened in profound shock.
He rushed immediately to Daisho, who was standing in the veranda, deep in thought.
"Master Daisho!" The assistant hurried to his superior, his face noticeably pale.
"What is it?" Daisho turned toward him.
"You must come with me," the helper insisted, leading Daisho back toward the room where the child lay.
Daisho and his helper returned together to the room where the boy lay. Yin remained utterly bereft of consciousness. The helper immediately drew Daisho's attention to the boy's neck.
"Master," he whispered, his voice strained, "Observe this."
Daisho's gaze settled upon the exposed skin. A slow, creeping pallor was overtaking the flesh beneath the jawline. He pressed his finger lightly to the area; instantly, a chilling, vibrant blue bloomed and spread just beneath the surface of the child's skin.
The sight of the burgeoning blue made the helper recoil, his gaze snapping to his master. "Master!" he breathed, the single word laced with undisguised fear.
Daisho's expression remained a mask of stern resolve. He turned on his heel and moved swiftly toward the door, yet paused on the threshold to deliver a sharp, decisive order to his subordinate.
"This boy is to have no contact with any other soul," Daisho commanded. "Confine his care strictly to this chamber. Maintain the regimen of treatments. Until you receive my express word, he is not to be moved for training or exposed to the others."
With his critical instruction delivered, Daisho wasted no further breath, his figure vanishing from the doorway as he departed the quarters with urgent haste.
The hour had grown late, and darkness crept across the chambers. With the cancellation of the day's exercise, the disciples sat restlessly upon their sleeping mats.
The two boys who had been with Yin were isolated, sitting apart. Two other disciples approached them now, their eyes sharp with accusation.
"Oi... What did you do to Yin?" one boy demanded.
"Did you kill him?" the other pressed, his voice mocking.
Yin's two companions merely sat in silence before their accusers.
"I know you abandoned him just so you could return swiftly, didn't you?" the first boy sneered. "What kind of comrades are you?"
Their taunts continued, but one of Yin's companions finally broke. "We did nothing to Yin! We had no need to!" he declared, his voice rising sharply.
The sudden noise drew the Attendant from the hallway. "What is the meaning of this? Why are none of you preparing for sleep?" he asked, his tone severe. Hearing his voice, the boys immediately quieted and retreated to their assigned mats.
"Your training was suspended today for reasons beyond your control," the Attendant stated with a harsh finality. "But it will resume again tomorrow. Now, sleep, every one of you." He cast a hard scowl over the room before departing.
"Tomorrow, again..." Sai muttered glumly.
"Indeed. This is our path now, Sai," Haru replied, forcing a cheerless smile.
Meanwhile, Jinso sat staring out of the small window, a palpable fear coiling within him. Haru and Sai noticed his distant anxiety and moved to his side.
"Jinso, what troubles you?" Haru asked softly.
"He is afraid," Sai interjected. "Afraid for Yin's fate."
At the mention of it, Jinso turned from the window and settled onto his mat. "Sai, this is not a matter for jest," he said.
"Jinso, why do you fear? Nothing will have happened to Yin. The Master must have brought him back safely," Haru reassured him.
"Then where is he?" Jinso challenged, his eyes wide. "If he was brought back, then where? They could not bring him back because..." He stopped abruptly.
"Because what?" Haru urged him.
Sai laughed nervously. "Because of a ghost, he says. A ghost took Yin!"
"A ghost?" Haru frowned.
"Yes! The Spirit-Devouring Ghost... They are the ones who took Yin," Jinso insisted, his voice trembling with genuine terror.
Haru stared at him, astonished. "The Spirit-Devouring Ghost?"
"Yes... The Soul-Devouring Ones," Jinso whispered, his body rigid with fear. "They are the ones who took Yin. My grandfather warned me never to venture into certain isolated parts of the compound after dark, lest they swallow our very souls."
As Jinso spoke of these ancient terrors in the disciples' quarters, in the secluded chamber, something dreadful was beginning to happen to Yin.
The boy was seized by a violent, uncontrolled tremor. He shook and convulsed until he tumbled from the sleeping mat onto the cold stone floor. His body was undergoing a ghastly transformation; the faint blue from his neck began to crawl and consume his flesh.
Yin lay motionless on the ground, his body utterly still, as if life had been entirely extinguished.
Then, after a silent moment, the boy slowly gripped the edge of the mat and began to pull himself upward. His entire form was now draped in the chilling, unnatural azure hue. Risen, Yin slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes toward the window's moonlight.
The light of the moon caught his gaze—and reflected back, chillingly, as pure, unnatural "blue fire".