Christ remained silent as he carefully stored away the bamboo dragonfly.
He checked the Grand Elder's breathing, finding no signs of life.
Only then did he accept the fact that the Grand Elder, a relic of the past, had indeed passed.
"Grand Elder."
After the Grand Elder's abduction, Christ initially suspected it was Summer's doing. After all, Summer was like an apprentice to
them, having learned alongside Cynthia back in the day.
However, Cynthia was invariably the more gifted, be it in hypnosis or the arts, she was a top-notch prodigy.
Before her eighteenth birthday, Cynthia was hand-picked as the BK's Holy Daughter.
Neither the Grand Elder nor Christ was married, nor did they have a daughter, so they treated Cynthia as if she were their own
flesh and blood.
Ever since Cynthia disappeared, they'd been searching but never had a trace to follow.
Left with no alternatives, Christ instructed his people to start preparing for the Grand Elder's funeral.
Upon hearing of the Grand Elder's passing, Summer knew that besides Cynthia, he was the Grand Elder's only other disciple.
According to BK’s rules, a disciple could inherit the Grand Elder's position within the organization.
Though rarely involved in decision-making, Summer had a solid reputation within the organization. Now, with the title of Grand
Elder upon him, a smirk appeared on his lips.
This was no happy accident, but a carefully laid plan.
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Should Christ pass away afterward, his position would still fall to Summer.
Over the years, the Grand Elder and Christ had overlooked Summer, still thinking he was the gentle disciple from his youth,
unaware of Summer's connection to Cynthia's disappearance.
Summer's phone rang; it was K.
With the Grand Elder's death, and Summer now taking his place, the next step was to ensure Christ's demise as well.
Then the entire organization would dance to their tune.
K's voice was indifferent, "Congratulations."
Summer let out a chuckle, eyes still fixed on the monitor.
"All | can say is these two old men suffered a great loss."
A lifetof hard work, and everything would belong to Summer.
K hadn't suspected Summer was involved in Cynthia's disappearance. Within the organization, Summer had always appeared
gentle, and he was Cynthia's senior disciple, the one she trusted most.
When Cynthia first vanished, it was Summer who had made a big show of trying to find her, leading K to believe the man was on
the opposing side.
They hadn't openly clashed because he vaguely knew this man was also involved with the research base, so they had remained at
peace with each other over the years.
Now knowing that Summer did not regard Cynthia as a cherished sister made things much easier.
Previously, K had been reluctant to move against the Grand Elders, but now he didn't hesitate.
"When do you plan for Christ to meet his end?" K inquired.
"It's simple," Summer replied, pouring himself a glass of whiskey. "I just send that video to Christ, and he'll be critically ill by
tonight."
Unable to imagine the content of the video, K only chuckled.
"To your future triumphs, Summer."
As Christ was busy with the Elder's affairs, one of his men cin with news. "Christ, someone sent a video concerning Cynthia."
Christ's eyes trembled for a moment as he rose from his seat, snatching the USB drive and rushing to his room.
It was indeed a video about Cynthia, but it showed Cynthia being pinned down on a bed by a group of men.
This was deliberately orchestrated by Summer in his attempt to train Cynthia, to instill a fear of being touched.
The men hadn't succeeded, but the video only showed the beginning, and Christ had no idea what happened in the latter half.
So, upon seeing that the woman about to be dishonored was Cynthia, his cherished disciple, Christ shuddered and spat out a
mouthful of blood.
Overcby anguish, he collapsed.
No one knew why Cynthia had left back then. Both Elders thought that given Cynthia's character, she must have encountered a
grave issue.
Yet even so, she should have contacted them over these years.
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“No contact” meant “trouble,” but the specifics were unknown.
Now with the video in hand, Christ knew Cynthia had been held captive, and even worse.
She had been gone for so many years; had she been living like this?
As he was being resuscitated, Christ coughed up more blood.
Just a day before, the Grand Elder had passed, and he had promised to take good care of himself for Cynthia's return.
But after vomiting blood all night, he seemed to see the end of his life approaching.
Burnt out, like a lamp that had run out of oil.
"Give this to Cynthia," he said, raising a small wooden toy in his hand.
Unlike the bamboo dragonfly the Grand Elder had made, this was a carved wooden toy: By flipping a switch, a wooden insect would
pop out. It was Christ's specialty, something he used to cheer Cynthia up.
Unbeknownst to them, Cynthia had also made these two things for Maja, a bamboo dragonfly and a carved wooden trinket, passing
on a tender legacy.
But the two old men never knew of Maja's existence, and to this day, they still didn't know whether Cynthia was alive or not.
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