As he spoke, he tremblingly pulled a dark, grimy object from his chest.
"Blood... Blood Axe Gang, please spare me, my lords. This is... this is all I have on me..."
"Blood Axe Gang?" He Xi mulled over the name. It sounded like a gang of bandits.
"We're not bandits." He adjusted the orb of light in his hand, softening its glow so it no longer shone directly into the man's eyes. "We're adventurers passing through. We're just investigating something."
At that, the vagrant cautiously raised his head. His gaze swept over Zoya, who held a dagger, then fell on Bruce beside her, baring his teeth and growling in his throat. The fear in his eyes only grew.
"Ad... adventurers?" he murmured, as if remembering something unpleasant. "Adventurers again..."
"How long have you been living here?" He Xi asked, signaling for Zoya to put away her dagger and giving Bruce a look to quiet him.
Seeing that He Xi and the others seemed to mean him no harm, the vagrant relaxed a little, though he remained pressed against the wall.
"A few... a few years now. E... ever since everyone in town ran away, I've been living here."
"Ran away?" He Xi seized on the key detail. "Why? This place looks fairly large. You could even call it a small town. Why was it abandoned?"
"The Blood Axe Gang... The Blood Axe Gang did it!"
"Grrr..."
His stomach growled, and he swayed. It was hard to tell whether he was hungry or worked up.
He Xi saw him staring at the grimy object in his hand, so he took a half-eaten meat pie from his bag and offered it to him.
"Have something to eat first. Take your time telling us. We want to know what happened here."
The scent