The Earthen Building

Rustle, rustle...

Behind an empty earthen building in the village, Yu Xing clung furtively to the wall, his clothes rubbing against the crumbling surface and making faint sounds.

His companion, Zhao Yijiu, had melted into the shadows without showing himself. It was as if he could be everywhere at once.

This building might have been the only structure in the entire village that could be called a "building." It had three full stories, each not very tall, but far more refined than the low earthen houses around it.

The wooden windows creaked, and the faint sound of the old master and his apprentices talking drifted from inside.

Yu Xing had actually climbed the outer wall all the way to the third floor.

There was hardly anywhere on the outer wall to place his feet. Anyone who happened by just then probably wouldn't have understood how Yu Xing had climbed so high.

Zhao Yijiu had watched the whole thing in silence from the shadows. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't bring himself to comment on Yu Xing clinging to the wall like a gecko, without a shred of dignity.

The conversation inside came from the second floor. The old master of the puppet show was reminding his apprentices about the upcoming performance. The apprentices behaved properly in front of him and were very obedient.

Yu Xing wanted to take advantage of the troupe being on the second floor to bypass them and search the prop boxes on the third floor.

The first floor was a living room, while the second and third floors held bedrooms. But after the troupe moved in, they began using the third floor to store their belongings. Zhao Yijiu had learned all this without the slightest trouble.

As a shadow, if he'd been alone,