The moonlit night was cold and clear. A pale frost coated the ground, and the chirping of insects had ceased. The wind was still, the clouds unmoving.
Ronan Warner emerged wearily from the treatment room and shook his head at Master Aerion.
"Her life isn't in danger, but her main pulse has been severed. I'm afraid she'll never be able to practice martial arts again."
A dead silence fell over the crowd at his words.
Alvin Morgan's hand, resting on the back of a chair, suddenly clenched. His face was as white as a sheet, his heart wracked with pain.
Master Aerion stared at him in disbelief for a long moment before asking in a trembling voice, "What about reconnecting her pulse? Like with the Lowell girl..."
Ronan Warner hesitated. "I'm afraid that's impossible. Her meridians are no longer ordinary. Even with all your Cultivation, you wouldn't be able to restore them to their original state."
Master Aerion swayed, seeming to age decades in an instant.
