The Lie Unravels

"Who are you?" the Snake-Shaped Freak asked in a low voice.

Xia Lun did not answer at once. He studied the strangely shaped freak.

The moonlight was faint, leaving everything in shadow. In its dim glow, the freak's limbs looked deformed, and its legs seemed to have withered away entirely. Its body was long and supple, like a strand of stretched dough—or a snake standing upright.

Unlike the other two robed Cultists, it wore a sleeveless shirt. Its exposed arms were deathly pale and covered in dense clusters of fleshy blisters, layered over one another like parasite eggs.

"He's Master Danyang of the Way of Sitting and Forgetting!" Big Red hurried to the Serpent Man's side and bent down to explain. "I got it wrong earlier. I thought he was Xuan Yan, but he definitely isn't!"

"The Way of Sitting and Forgetting?" the Serpent Man repeated slowly. It raised one of its three deformed hands and scratched its chin with yellowed, filthy nails. "Master Danyang? A master?"

Its voice was thick with suspicion—and a trace of hostility.

As a successful Merchant, Xia Lun knew the importance of using momentum. By fooling Little Green and Big Red, he had gained the leverage he needed. If he kept it up, the lie would spread and grow on its own.

He needed to say something now to keep it going.

He thought for a moment and was about to continue his bluff, but Big Red spoke first. "He came from outside the Death Fog! He knows how to get through it! My lord, we're saved!"

"Through the Death Fog?" The Serpent Man paused, then let out a soft, strange laugh, as though it had heard an excellent joke. "Heh, heh, heh."

It reached back and slowly gripped the Red-Tasseled Sword hanging behind it.