Morning light pierced the lingering mist. I stepped forward, crushed gravel underfoot letting out faint crunches. Ye Qingwan followed close behind, while Afu stumbled along at the rear, still muttering about beauty scrolls.
I did not look back.
My hand pressed against my chest, the City Lord Token resting against my heart, its warmth not yet gone. Last night's bell still rang in my ears, but the road beneath my feet mattered more now. Sheer rock walls towered on both sides of the desolate path, and wind blew from deep within the gorge, carrying the scent of grit and rust.
"Young Master, aren't we really waiting for supplies?" Afu panted. "I heard things have been restless near the Black Market entrance lately. The day before yesterday, a merchant caravan was gnawed down to nothing but bones by wolf lizards."
I stopped and took out the City Lord Token. The pitch-black token glinted coldly beneath the morning light, while the mountain-and-river patterns around its edges grew faintly hot. My fingertip swept across the blood jade crystal core, and an exceedingly thin rune mark emerged in the air, like an ink-black thread cutting through the sky.
The three abandoned beacon towers in the distance suddenly lit up with ghostly blue light, like sleeping eyes opening one after another. Rune light spread along the Earth Meridian, making the dust churn in its wake and exposing fragments of an array hub buried for years.
Afu's eyes went wide. "This thing can light lamps too?"
"It is not a lamp." Ye Qingwan's voice was cool. "It is a passage mark. Under the old Northern Wastes system, the City Lord Token can activate the restrictions of frontier outposts and form a temporary safe route."
Her gaze fell on my hand. "Yan Jiuxiao did not give you