From Misu's perspective, Kahn had suddenly said sothing incomprehensible, then walked to the lake, sat cross-legged, and began ditating.
She found it puzzling.
She had no idea what he was trying to do.
After a while, Kahn opened his eyes and smiled.
"They're here."
Here?
Before Misu could ask, the scene before her eyes gave her the answer.
The mont Kahn spoke, the entire forest began to undergo a mysterious transformation.
Countless face-like patterns appeared before them, covering the trees, grass, butterflies, bats, and every creature within sight.
Those faces were abstract, yet vivid.
It was as if they were the living expressions of so unseen being.
The scene was strange, yet inexplicably sacred, filling the heart with an instinctive sense of peace.
Misu was no stranger to it.
She had already witnessed this strange phenonon five tis before.
It was the prelude to the Mother of Faces' arrival.
But then, a new change appeared before her, one she had never seen.
A giant wolf spirit appeared in their line of sight.
After it appeared, it sat beside the lake and quietly stared at them, without lowering its head to drink as recorded in the old texts.
Imdiately afterward, masks bearing all kinds of expressions drifted like souls onto the surface of the lake, quickly covering the water.
The lake began to surge.
Then, suddenly, a pillar of water rose from the center of the lake, eventually forming a tall, majestic figure before them.
She said,
"I am the Mother of Faces."
With her heart filled with shock and excitent, Misu bowed deeply and respectfully.
"Thank you for coming, great Mother of Faces."
Like other spirits in the Spirit World, the Mother of Faces possessed an extraordinary appearance.
Her body was more than ten ters tall, her lower half connected to the lake water, while her upper body seed woven from dense vines.
All around her floated masks ford from spiritual essence, each bearing a different expression.
She had three faces, yet the eyes of all three were hidden beneath tangled vines, giving her an air of mystery.
Even so, from the visible lower halves of her faces, one could still discern a softness unique to won.
The Mother of Faces looked at Kahn by the lake, her voice calm and dignified.
"Every season, I cross my forest, never stopping on any path the wolf has not chosen for ."
"But now, young Spiritbender, I make an exception for you."
Hearing this, Kahn bowed respectfully again.
"Thank you for your kindness."
"And thank you for forgiving my offense, generous Mother of Faces."
The Mother of Faces nodded, seemingly pleased by Kahn's attitude, then continued.
"Indeed, you are the most polite, and the easiest to speak with, unlike most humans."
"You Spiritbenders never ask for our help for yourselves, but to aid your own people."
"That noble quality is also comndable."
"That is why I am willing to make an exception."
"Young Spiritbender, have you co to help soone?"
Kahn felt a flush of sha.
He did not think he was that noble.
Fortunately, this ti, he really had co to help soone else, so he could still face the question with so confidence.
He replied calmly,
"Yes."
"I have co to seek your help and learn sothing for my friend."
Misu also spoke from the side.
"Great Mother of Faces, I ca to heal my brother..."
Just then, Kahn's eye twitched.
He suddenly sensed a faint trace of anger in the Mother of Faces' emotions.
Spirits were essentially manifestations of spirit.
Humans with physical bodies could conceal their emotions within themselves, but a spirit's emotions were reflected through its own essence.
Through cultivation, a Spiritbender could sense these subtle changes and respond more appropriately when communicating with spirits.
Kahn's heart sank.
He imdiately felt that sothing might be wrong.
Sure enough, the Mother of Faces said,
"Each season, I grant only one human one request."
"This is an unchangeable rule."
Only one request?
Kahn imdiately felt awkward and looked toward Misu.
Misu was equally stunned, but in the end, she seed to understand sothing.
She sighed and smiled bitterly.
"Kahn, you go."
"After all, you were the one who summoned the Mother of Faces."
"This has nothing to do with us."
"We'll just wait until next season."
Kahn breathed a sigh of relief.
Naturally, he did not want to miss this opportunity.
But if Misu had also refused to give up, the situation would have beco extrely awkward.
Even so, Kahn felt a little guilty that Misu's hope had been wasted.
At that mont, he suddenly rembered the old texts he had studied with Azula.
Those texts had contained several very interesting clues, giving him an idea.
"Great Mother of Faces, we will not violate your rule."
"But please look at her brother's face first."
"I think you may be interested."
As Kahn spoke, he motioned for Misu to remove the mask from her brother's face.
Although Misu was puzzled, she trusted Kahn and obediently did as he asked.
Once the mask was removed, Rafa's exposed face was shocking.
His face was completely blank, without a single feature.
He was a living faceless man.
"Rafa was attacked by an evil spirit."
"It stole his face and left him like this."
At first, the Mother of Faces had shown a trace of impatience upon hearing Kahn's request.
But after Rafa's face was revealed, her attention was indeed drawn to him.
After observing him carefully, she suddenly said,
"That evil spirit you speak of should be my son."
"Your son?!"
The revelation shocked everyone.
Although Kahn had learned from ancient texts that there was so connection between the two, he had never expected them to be mother and son.
The Mother of Faces reached out and covered Rafa's face.
"He began distancing himself from at the beginning of the world, and I have not seen him in a very long ti."
"But this technique is very familiar to ..."
A soft glow lit up the Mother of Faces' palm.
Rafa gradually began making faint whimpering sounds.
Misu watched anxiously until the Mother of Faces removed her hand.
A normal young man's face appeared before them.
"Sister."
Rafa smiled and called out to Misu.
That single word imdiately brought tears to Misu's eyes.
The two siblings embraced, weeping with joy.
The Mother of Faces turned back to Kahn and said,
"So, clever Spiritbender, what is your request?"
Seeing his plan succeed, Kahn also smiled in relief, then bowed again.
"Thank you, generous Mother of Faces."
"I am looking for a woman from the Fire Nation Royal Court."
"Her na is Ursa."
"I would like to ask you for any clues about her."
The Mother of Faces did not disappoint him.
She said,
"Ursa."
"I rember that na."
"She had a beautiful face, yet she still asked for a new one."
"That was quite surprising, even for a spirit."
"So I gave her an ordinary face."
"And she accepted it."
The Mother of Faces displayed Ursa's original face on her hand, then revealed another plain face.
It was the new face she had given Ursa.
But Kahn was shocked.
Because he was no stranger to that ordinary face.
"Noriko?!"
"Noriko is Ursa?!"
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