Night March with a Blade
"What happened?"
The sudden gust of Yin Qi and the chaotic, drifting voices terrified everyone present.
All the torches went out, and in an instant, the surroundings became so dark they couldn't see their hands in front of them. Only the bone-chilling wind brushed lightly against them.
They couldn't hear even the slightest breath from the men around them... The shock hit them all at once. Everyone held their breath, afraid to move... They stood frozen in the darkness until a sinister laugh suddenly drifted past them.
"Mother..."
The laugh sounded right beside them. Someone finally snapped, dropped the knife in his hand, and turned to run.
And once that man had broken, the others could no longer hold on either. They scrambled and crawled through the darkness, crying and shouting as they fled toward the village outskirts.
"Don't... don't run..."
Xu Ji was frozen in place too, shouting desperately.
But as soon as he shouted, he realized how tense he was. His voice had gone hoarse, his throat all but choked shut.
He couldn't suppress the panic welling up inside him. He wanted to run, but he gripped the wooden sword in his hand and forced himself to stand his ground.
On this trip back to the city, he had also seen what had happened at home.
His father had been targeted without warning. Never mind the profits they'd once enjoyed; the Incense Master had seized most of the family's property too. All their old friends and relatives had vanished, and who knew what further trouble might come.
His father had secretly stuffed the few valuable things left in the house into his hands and told him to sneak out through the back door. He was to bring them to the Shopkeeper, so he