As Lu Chen and Cao Zhen chatted, a sudden flurry of noise came from the forest.
First came the flutter of startled birds taking flight.
Then came the dull crashes of trees being snapped.
Crack!
Crack!
It sounded as though something enormous was charging out of the woods.
Lu Chen and Cao Zhen turned almost simultaneously.
Their smiles vanished at once.
Cao Zhen clamped a hand on the thick-backed saber at his waist, his gaze darkening.
"Here they come."
Lu Chen also looked toward the outskirts of Scarlet Cloud Mountain.
The vegetation shook there, great swathes of treetops knocked wildly askew.
In the distance, some of the Gao Manor guards stationed along the edge of the Medicine Fields had already paled.
"Something's moving in the mountains!"
"Quick! Sound the gong!"
The next moment, a bronze gong rang out from the watchtower at the edge of the Medicine Fields.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The urgent ringing carried across the entire Medicine Fields.
The herb farmers who had been bending over to inspect their crops blanched, dropping their bamboo baskets and hoes as they retreated.
"The mutant beasts are coming down the mountain!"
"Fall back! Everyone, get back to the manor!"
"Forget the herbs! Save yourselves first!"
Several older herb farmers could not bear to abandon the nearly ripe golden thread grass. They were just turning back for their baskets when the manor's martial guards grabbed them.
"Do you have a death wish?"
"Get moving!"
Chaos erupted in an instant.
The herb farmers retreated while the manor's martial guards advanced with sabers drawn.
They had assumed that even if mutant beasts came down the mountain, it would most likely be at night.
But it was still broad daylight.
And the creatures in the forest were already charging out.
Cao Zhen exhaled and drew