The red lotus crumbled into gray ash and sank beneath the black water of the Salt Lake. The message from Luna was gone. The night was perfectly quiet again.But inside Elian’s heart, a loud, terrible storm had just begun."Pack the bags, Silas," Elian said. His voice was hard and sharp. It was not the voice of a gentle teacher. It was the voice of a commander. "We are leaving at dawn."Silas looked up at his master. His brown eyes were wide with fear, but he nodded. "Yes, Master Elian. I will run to the clinic right now."Silas turned and ran as fast as he could across the white salt. His small boots splashed in the shallow water.Elian stood alone on the lake for one more minute. He looked at the gentle, glowing green ghost lotuses floating on the water. They were beautiful memories of healing. But the world was not fully healed yet. A dark, terrible poison was growing in the East. The Iron Rot was spreading. And the two greatest heroes of the world, Rick and Luna, were trapped in th

The students and townspeople quickly grabbed each other's hands. They formed a long, unbroken chain of healers standing on the top of the black mountain."Close your eyes!" Elian shouted. He stood in the center, holding Silas's hand on his right and Kira's hand on his left. "Do not push anger into the valley! Do not push hatred! Remember what the Ghost Doctor taught us! Hatred feeds the Rot! We must push pure, clean medicine!"Elian closed his eyes. He took a deep, slow breath."Gather your Earth Qi!" Elian roared. "Gather your Water Qi! Think of the people you love! Think of the morning sun! Now... push the medicine down the mountain!"Three hundred healers pushed their magic at the exact same time.It was the greatest magical surgery ever performed.A massive river of bright, warm green and blue light shot down the side of the black mountain. The magic flowed like a giant, glowing waterfall. It lit up the dark, rusty sky. It crashed down into the valley, aiming directly for the arm

Luna followed close behind him. "Where are we going to hide? The junkyard is massive.""We are going to find the darkest, most broken place in the whole valley," Rick said."Why?" Luna asked, stepping carefully over a sharp, rusted gear.Rick stopped and looked back at her. His eyes were warm, but very serious."Because broken things attract broken people," Rick explained softly. "The people who are the most sick, the people who are the most terrified of the city guards, they will not go to a bright, safe building. They will hide in the deepest shadows with the rest of the trash. If we want to find the people who need us the most, we have to go where the light does not reach."Luna nodded. She understood perfectly. They had to become a part of the junkyard to save it.They walked for two hours. The journey was slow and dangerous.The closer they got to the black walls of the city, the taller the mountains of scrap became. Soon, Rick and Luna were walking through a deep canyon made ent

"A sign?" Luna asked, looking confused. "Rick, you said we had to be invisible. If you paint a big green sign that says 'Doctor Here,' the guards will find us in one hour.""It will not be a sign painted with ink," Rick smiled a secret, knowing smile. "It will be a sign that only the sick can read."Rick walked back out of the giant furnace.He stood in front of the massive, dark iron mouth. The black metal walls rose high above him.He took off his thick leather glove. He raised his right hand.He closed his eyes and dug deep into his soul. He found the warm, beautiful, beating heart of his healing magic.He pushed his green Qi into his index finger. His finger began to glow with a brilliant, blinding green light. It was so bright it cut through the thick yellow smog around them.Rick reached out and pressed his glowing finger directly against the cold, black iron wall of the furnace, right next to the entrance.The moment his finger touched the metal, a loud hiss echoed in the clear

Luna ran to the table. With her one strong arm, she pushed down hard on the man's shoulders, pinning him to the hot iron. "Stay with us! Look at me!" Luna yelled to the man. "Keep your eyes on me!"Blood poured from the cut. It was not normal red blood. It was dark, thick, and mixed with the glowing purple poison.Rick worked incredibly fast. His hands were covered in the toxic blood. The purple acid burned his skin, leaving angry red blisters on his fingers, but Rick did not stop. He did not care about his own pain. He only cared about the patient.Rick grabbed the rusted iron pliers. He pushed another invisible drop of green Qi into the metal jaws of the pliers to keep them perfectly clean.He pushed the pliers deep into the man's open chest."Ahhhh!" the man sobbed, tears streaming from his yellow eyes."I see it," Rick gritted his teeth. "The core of the Reactor Rot. It has formed a solid lump of toxic magic inside his left lung. I have to pull it out."Rick clamped the rusted pli