EXT. CELESTIAL CLOUD SECT – PALACE SQUARE – DAY
The joyous music of the birthday banquet has vanished.
The floating palace that had echoed with laughter only moments ago now stands in silence.
Outside the palace gates...
Hundreds of people gather.
Men...
Women...
Children...
Some cry openly.
Some kneel on the cold jade steps.
Some clutch pieces of clothing belonging to their daughters.
The atmosphere is suffocating.
MOTHER
(crying)
Sect Master!
Please...
Bring my daughter home!
ELDERLY MAN
She was only fifteen...
She had never even left the sect...
WOMAN
They took my sister...
Three months ago...
We still haven't found her...
The crowd grows louder.
CROWD
Justice!
Justice!
Punish Heavenly Sword Sect!
Return our daughters!
The palace guards struggle to hold the gates.
GUARD CAPTAIN
Everyone, please remain calm!
The Sect Master will address everyone!
No one listens.
The cries become louder.
Some begin throwing flowers and broken jade ornaments toward the palace.
Not as weapons...
But as symbols of mourning.
Inside the palace...
Qiao Tian quietly watches everything through the open doors.
Her hands slowly tighten behind her back.
Beside her...
Xuan Dao's smile has completely disappeared.
XUAN DAO
This isn't outrage anymore...
This is despair.
Qiao Tian nods silently.
QIAO TIAN
How many?
An elder answers.
ELDER
Over three hundred girls...
Within the last ten years.
The hall falls silent.
Even Yun Zhao freezes.
YUN ZHAO
...
Three hundred?
ELDER
And every family standing outside...
Has lost someone.
Yun Zhao lowers his head.
His fists begin trembling.
YUN ZHAO
Why...
Why wasn't I told?
No one answers.
At that moment...
The great palace doors slowly open.
BOOM...
The crowd instantly becomes quiet.
Sect Master Jin Tao walks onto the grand staircase.
He is no longer dressed like a ruler.
His birthday robes have been replaced by simple white robes.
He removes his golden crown.
Places it beside him.
Then slowly bows before his own people.
The entire square becomes silent.
JIN TAO
...
I have failed you.
Many people begin crying.
JIN TAO
As your Sect Master...
I should have protected every family beneath these skies.
Yet...
Your daughters disappeared...
One after another...
And I failed to stop it.
A mother collapses to her knees.
MOTHER
Please...
Save my child...
Jin Tao closes his eyes.
JIN TAO
I swear...
On the name of Celestial Cloud Sect...
Every daughter who still lives...
Will return home.
The crowd slowly raises their heads.
JIN TAO
And those responsible...
Will answer before Heaven itself.
The square erupts.
CROWD
LONG LIVE SECT MASTER JIN!
SAVE OUR DAUGHTERS!
DESTROY HEAVENLY SWORD SECT!
Inside...
Yun Zhao watches his father with pride.
YUN ZHAO
He carries everyone's pain...
Even when it isn't his own.
Qiao Tian quietly smiles.
QIAO TIAN
That's why they follow him.
Just then...
The palace physician rushes inside.
PHYSICIAN
Young Master Yun!
Lady Lian has awakened!
Yun Zhao immediately runs toward the infirmary.
Qiao Tian and Xuan Dao follow.
INT. INFIRMARY
The room smells of medicine.
Lian lies weakly on the bed.
Her face is pale.
Bandages cover both arms.
She slowly opens her eyes.
YUN ZHAO
Lian...
I'm here.
Tears fill her eyes.
LIAN
You shouldn't have come...
YUN ZHAO
Who did this?
Lian's breathing becomes uneven.
LIAN
The Heavenly Sword Sect...
Everyone becomes still.
LIAN
They...
They've built an underground prison...
Hundreds of girls...
Locked inside...
Qiao Tian's eyes narrow.
LIAN
Every year...
Mei Lin chooses the most beautiful among them...
The rest...
Never return...
Yun Zhao grips the edge of the bed.
YUN ZHAO
Why?
Lian begins trembling.
Fear fills her eyes.
LIAN
She...
Uses forbidden cultivation...
She steals their life essence...
Their spiritual beauty...
To preserve her own youth...
Silence.
Even the wind outside seems to stop.
XUAN DAO
Forbidden Yin Soul Cultivation...
I thought it disappeared centuries ago...
QIAO TIAN
No...
Someone revived it.
Lian nods weakly.
LIAN
She isn't human anymore...
She's become...
A demon.
At that very moment...
A disciple rushes into the infirmary.
DISCIPLE
Sect Master!
Scouts have returned!
They've located the Heavenly Sword Sect!
Jin Tao turns toward the room's entrance.
His voice is calm...
Yet filled with authority.
JIN TAO
Prepare the Sky Fleet.
At sunrise...
We march.
Everyone bows.
ALL
Yes, Sect Master!
CUT TO: EXT. HEAVENLY SWORD SECT – UNKNOWN LOCATION – NIGHT
High atop a crimson mountain...
A magnificent black palace overlooks a valley covered in red spider lilies.
Inside...
Young women kneel silently.
None dare raise their heads.
A pair of elegant footsteps echoes through the hall.
Click...
Click...
Click...
A woman in flowing crimson robes walks past them.
Her beauty is almost unreal.
Flawless skin.
Long silver-black hair.
Eyes like molten gold.
This is...
MEI LIN.
She stops before a frightened young girl.
Gently lifts the girl's chin.
She smiles.
A beautiful smile...
That somehow feels terrifying.
MEI LIN
Such delicate skin...
Such frightened eyes...
Youth truly is the greatest treasure.
The girl trembles.
GIRL
P-Please...
Let me go...
Mei Lin softly brushes a strand of hair from the girl's face.
MEI LIN
Don't be afraid...
You'll become...
Part of my eternity.
She smiles once more.
The palace doors suddenly open.
A disciple kneels.
DISCIPLE
Sect Master...
Celestial Cloud Sect has begun mobilizing.
Mei Lin slowly turns toward the moonlit sky.
Her smile widens.
MEI LIN
Good...
I've been waiting for them.
FADE TO BLACK