Monsters at the Crossroads

The three of them rushed toward the sound.

"Celia!" Xia Lin shouted without looking back as he sprinted.

"I'm awake already!" Celia crawled out of her sleeping bag, clutching her holy symbol. Her violet eyes gleamed in the darkness.

The four quickly met at the edge of the woods west of the campsite.

A merchant wagon lay overturned by the roadside like a toy mauled by some giant beast.

The carriage had been violently torn open. Splintered boards and scattered goods lay mixed together, soaked in a pool of dark red blood.

Several corpses lay scattered around the wagon in twisted poses, and the heavy stench of blood was nauseating.

"Careful," Kade growled, raising his shield before his companions. "The enemy might still be nearby."

Xia Lin walked straight to the overturned wagon and crouched down to inspect several relatively well-dressed corpses that appeared to be guards and merchants.

[Target: Caravan guard Corpse]

[Cause of Death: Slashing wounds consistent with standard longsword and hand axe attack patterns.]

[Time of Death: Approximately one hour ago.]

[Remarks: A standard roadside robbery.]

"The first victims." Xia Lin stood and pointed at the corpses. "Their wounds were all from ordinary blades. They were part of the caravan and got robbed here."

Then he walked toward the bodies scattered along the path leading into the woods, clad in cheap leather armor. "Then it was the bandits' turn." He pointed at the chaotic marks in the dirt. "Look. The bandits' bootprints all face away from the wagon, toward the depths of the forest. They were running."

Sera's gaze settled on a disemboweled corpse. The tip of her black tail twitched uneasily. "They were being hunted."

Xia Lin walked over to the corpse, and identification information appeared.

``` [Target: Mutilated Corpse]

[Cause of Death: Massive