Kun Mu-Can was screaming once again in his bed, his eyes wide open behind his mask.
His parents looked at each other, unsure of what to do. For weeks he had been screaming like this every night, trapped in a nightmare from which he struggle to wake.
"We need to take him to a healer, Lian-Suki, he's growing weaker and so are we from lack of sleep.
- You're right, we'll go in the morning."
...

"Qi'lao-ito, this is our son, Kun Mu-Can. For weeks now, he has been having a nightmare that makes him scream during the night. We've tried to comfort him and help him as best we can, but still he cannot sleep peacefully. We beg you. Please help us.
- What is this nightmare, young mask?"
Kun Mu-Can's voice barely pierced the silence as he recounted what terrified him so deeply.
"I am accompanied by a kami. We talk as we walk, but then the kami starts to tell me that Ma-Duk is lying to us, that he is evil, that we must turn away from him. I don't understand, I don't want to hear this anymore, so I try to run away, but I can't run, and suddenly..."
Tears flooded Kun Mu-Can's mask.
"Suddenly the kami is in front of me, tearing himself apart with its hands, and from its body emerge jaws that come to devour me."
The healer stared at Kun Mu-Can, shocked by what he had just heard.
"You must see Tao-Sian immediately! She will know what drives you to have such thoughts!"
...

Tao-Sian's voice rose amidst the incense vapors, woothing young Kun Kun Mu-Can and his family.
"Now, Kun Mu-Can, you are safe and nothing can harm you. You will look deep inside yourself and tell us what troubles you. And you will not be afraid; you will be able to go all the way to the roots of your pain.
- I have just returned from my adoption ceremony. I am an adult now, and I am allowed to wander without telling my parents anything."
Tao-Sian suppressed the beginnings of protest from Kun Mu-Can’s parents with a quick frown beneath her mask.
The story continued in a monotone voice betraying no anxiety.
"Im in Knot of Dementia. Suddenly a kami comes to me. I am honored that it takes an interest in me. It gestures for me to follow it, and I obey. It tells me we are going to visit a friend. The pleasure is immense. We turn around a root and..."
Kun Mu-Can stopped abruptly, his eyes wide open, close to breaking out of his trance.
Tao-Sian resumed her chant gently and smoothly, plunging the adolescent back into a cocoon of safety.
"You're not afraid, nothing can harm you. Tell us what you see.
- A huge beast, the color of goo, jumps at me. I hear the Kami say it is his friend. And then I wake up at Zora's altar."

Silence lingered for a long time after the story ended..