Xiao Ning'er nodded as well, asking no further questions.
Mingyu said nothing more. It hovered where it was, its ink-black body standing quietly, a sheen flowing slowly over its surface, as though it had returned to that tranquil state.
Shen Fei and Xiao Ning'er glanced at it, then turned and walked toward the village.
Only Mingyu remained in the clearing.
It hovered beside the cave entrance, facing the village, watching Shen Fei and Xiao Ning'er's figures slowly recede.
The two grew smaller and smaller in the dusk, finally turning into an alley and disappearing from sight.
The guards in the clearing withdrew one after another as well, leaving only two soldiers outside the cave entrance. They stood far away, not daring to approach or leave.
Mingyu hovered there for a long time.
It neither turned back into black mist nor returned to the cave. It simply hovered quietly a foot above the ground, its ink-black body standing in the dusk.
Wind blew down from above the rock face, making its edges ripple slightly, but it neither dispersed nor moved.
Then it sighed.
The sigh was very soft, spilling from its ink-black body with a rustling tail, like wind blowing through a hollow bamboo tube. It scattered into the wind and soon faded beyond hearing.
It hovered where it was, tilting its head slightly, as though looking at the lights coming on in the village.
Those lights were small and dim, scattered among the wooden houses. Compared with the lights of countless homes in Glory City at night, they were sparse and lonely, as though the wind might snuff them out at any moment.
Mingyu watched those lights, turning a few things over in its mind.
It was thinking about the Human Race.
Over a thousand years ago, when the Empire