Dare You Cross Thunder Pool?

Cloud-Coming Residence was abuzz with voices.

The storyteller had returned to his old trade. He sat upright on the stage, gripping a wooden clapper, which he slammed heavily onto the table.

With a sharp crack, the entire hall fell silent at once.

He cleared his throat and said in a clear, resonant voice:

"Honored guests, today I shall not speak of bygone dynasties, nor recount unofficial histories. I shall speak only of how, three months ago, a white-haired immortal came to our Floating Cloud County..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the audience.

Seeing everyone holding their breath in rapt attention, he grew even more animated. Snapping his folding fan shut, he pointed toward the window.

"It all began with the court's Blood Banner Army..."

The hall immediately quieted.

A traveling merchant with a shoulder bag could not help leaning forward and asking:

"Was it that army tasked with purging the Corpse Plague?"

The storyteller nodded slightly, stroking his goatee.

"Precisely. You have likely heard that last autumn, a great epidemic broke out throughout the prefectures. Countless people died. Under the banner of 'purging the plague,' the Blood Banner Army traveled from place to place, slaughtering and suppressing."

"The Blood Banner Army, when all was said and done, was a sharp blade in the court's hand. But honored guests must understand: though the blade was sharp, the hand wielding it was not necessarily clean."

"That day, they surrounded Floating Cloud County and told the outside world that the townspeople had contracted the Corpse Plague. But what was the truth?"

He paused and leaned forward.

"The truth was that they had their eyes on our prosperous county and wanted to use the chance to make a killing."

"Those soldiers entered the city and robbed whenever they saw money, killed whenever they