Night had fallen.
In this age without electric lights, when the wilderness remained largely undeveloped, there was little light in the world after nightfall. The only brightly lit places were the noble districts in the centers of cities and the areas around churches. Once travelers left the city, the only things that could guide them were moonlight and starlight, just as it was now.
Hao Ren and Lily had easily left the city after nightfall. The ordinary soldiers on patrol were no more than decorations to them. They had not gone far along the main road outside the city when they noticed an open patch of ground by the roadside. A lone, withered beech tree stood there, its dry branches illuminated by the bright moonlight nearing the full moon. A crow perched on one of them, sizing up the two people leaving the city under cover of darkness with its glossy black eyes.
Hao Ren stared at the crow for a while before asking calmly, "Are you here to guide us?"
The crow was startled. It let out a hoarse, unpleasant cry and flapped from one branch to another farther away.
Lily scratched her hair. "Landlord, I don't think it's that one..."
Hao Ren frowned. "Madam Mary told us to follow the crow's guidance. Surely she wouldn't lie about something this basic. That would be rather malicious—completely spiteful and pointless..."
Before he finished speaking, another flapping sound came from behind them. Then a hoarse voice, almost exactly like a crow's cry, rang out: "Hey! Hey! Idiots! Idiots! What are you looking at? The great Kodo is over here!"
Hao Ren turned around and saw an ugly bird at least twice the size of an ordinary crow hopping around on a haystack nearby. A conspicuous black feather stood upright on its