Crossroads

In the darkness, hoofbeats drew closer. Flickering crimson candlelight approached with them, like twinkling stars.

"The Crossroads is just ahead. We're almost at Dunwodlin Tower," Renee said, her arms wrapped around Xia Lun from behind. She chattered on. "Did you know the Crossroads is a special place, whether you look at it through philosophy, theology, or mathematics?" "Hmm?"

Xia Lun held the reins and scanned the ruined, desolate reeds around them. "Is that so?"

Over the past few weeks, as they drew closer to Dunwodlin Tower, where the Great Cataclysm had begun, the darkness had grown dense again. Hills, mountains, and waterways had also become more numerous.

A clammy chill hung in the air. It clung to their skin like mites trying to burrow through their pores and into their blood. "A crossroads is a place between places. Those who lose their way eventually gather there," Renee continued, rambling on. "That's why so many ghost stories happen at crossroads. Want to hear one?"

"No."

"Legend says that if someone starves to death at a crossroads, their soul gets lost among endless branching paths. So it follows the first living person it sees home, and then..."

"Look up. See what's ahead," Xia Lun interrupted.

Puzzled, Renee tilted her head and looked forward. A large, rusted iron cage hung at the crossroads, creaking in the wind. Three rotting corpses lay behind its rust-red bars.

Three? Renee blinked her one remaining eye.

Xia Lun, Delis, and I make three living people. A ghost isn't really going to follow us, is it?

The thought had barely crossed her mind before she instinctively tightened her arms around Xia Lun.

"Can you deal with ghosts?"

Xia Lun was speechless. "You can kill ghosts more easily than I can. What are you afraid of?"

"I don't know.