On the street, already sealed off under martial law, there was no sound except that made by the armored soldiers.
No sound came from inside the ox cart either. It was utterly still.
"Sir, what do we do?" The soldier who had called out stepped back twice and quietly asked the middle-aged Hundred-Household Officer standing at the head of the squad, watching coldly.
"Kill!" The Hundred-Household Officer swept his hand down coldly and gave the order.
The soldiers surrounding the ox cart were well trained. Without another word, four of them thrust their blades into the cart from different angles in a flash of steel.
Their blades were rather narrow, but long and sharp. With all four stabbing in at once, anyone inside would have had nowhere to dodge. Death was certain.
Yet when they abruptly pulled their blades out, none of the four bore any blood.
The Hundred-Household Officer's expression changed. "No one inside? Pull back the curtain!"
A soldier immediately stepped forward and yanked aside the hanging curtain. Sure enough, the interior was empty. Never mind a "person" hiding there-not even a shadow remained.
The "person" inside had actually escaped?!
When had he fled? Though the officer had taken a shortcut, others had kept watching the cart. They had left him no opening at all.
Unaware that the fugitive they were pursuing was a Great Demon, the Hundred-Household Officer and the soldiers accompanying him all looked bewildered. There was something uncanny about this. It simply made no sense.
"Talk! Did you stop the cart along the way?" The Hundred-Household Officer walked up to the driver, who had collapsed to the ground and was trembling, and questioned him coldly.
The driver's teeth chattered. Under the officer's murderous glare, he finally managed to get the words out. "Y-yes... yes... no!