It was late night by the time Lieng touched down at the monastery. Most of the few people here were asleep by now, and he could here the clear chirping of the nearby crickets. He gave a quick, "Evening," greeting to the guard at the open front gate, and walked straight across the courtyard, moving around stacks of lumber and sheet rock, all part of the re-construction project. It seemed like there wasn't a single wall in the entire complex that wasn't blocked by scaffolding and plastic, and he even had to push aside one plastic curtain just to get to residence hall where his room was. There was no door-- it was destroyed during the attack-- just the curtain.
His quiet footsteps had apparently not been quiet enough. A light flicked on in a room down the hall, and moments later, Neojiisu came out to greet his friend home. "Welcome back," he said, "How did it go?" "Bad," Lieng said, "She got away." "I should have known by the look on your face. Your aura feels off, too." "Yeah." "So what now?" He sighed, "Just have to wait until she pops up again I guess." "That's a dangerous proposition." "Yeah, and she has a new ally, too. A devil named Shinkuza." "Hm. This can't be good." "Definitely not. How's Indigo?" "Recovering." "How much longer?" "We'll give him a week." "Yeah, sounds good. Well, I'm heading to bed. It's been a long day." "I can imagine. Have a good night."
Lieng continued down the hall and Neojiisu stepped back into his room, shutting the door behind him. Once again, everything was silent.
Tong Lieng's worries about Mei Huang gradually slipped away as his anxiety rose over more immediate matters. Indigo's soul was now healed enough to travel, and the three of them were ready to complete the final part of their quest: an expedition to Juin -- back to that fateful cliff where Neojiisu had killed Indigo before, and where Lilian had committed suicide. They would have to go in secret so as not to cause an uproar, but luckily Neojiisu still had some connections.
When Garin heard the voice announce its name on the other side of the phone, he was paralyzed with pale silence. He hadn't heard Neojiisu's voice in years, and he didn't believe it was him at first. But the more he searched his soul and felt out Neojiisu's power, the more he knew it was true; Neojiisu was back. Garin made plans to fly out to Trent immediately, and he brought two extra sets of infiltrator equipment with him (if they were going to sneak into Juin, then they would need a good disguise). He also brought along one other tool of great help: Noelle. He had caught her while she was making her rounds around the hospital. Using stealth and a quiet whisper to pull her aside where he could talk to her privately, he told her everything-- both about Neojiisu, and also about Indigo's resurrection. She couldn't believe it at first, but the look in his eyes told her it was true, so she got ready to leave immediately. It was actually her healing abilities that had brought Indigo back this far.
Now, after spending three straight days of catching up and reminiscing, the day had finally come. The mood was jovial as usual, especially over breakfast, and as they took flight, they got off to a quick start. Lieng noticed, though, the underlying nervousness in each of them. They weren't nervous about being caught-- they each done it hundreds of times, especially because they knew on which energy frequency to operate. Obviously it was Lilian they were concerned about. How would she react? After all, she was a ghost.