Yin Chao stood up and slipped out through the opening he had entered through.
He still had no leads. Although Yin Rui did whatever she pleased, she was not someone who slaughtered innocents.
It was possible she knew nothing about it, yet she had brought the little boy a revelation...
Could the Priest not be Yin Rui?
But why had she told him that story?
His thoughts wandered aimlessly, and he did not even notice when he reached a residential district.
Not until he saw a young man whose face was covered in acne.
Despite the blazing midday sun, the young man was still wrapped in a thin layer of cloth.
He was not alone. A scattering of people sat or lay along both sides of the road.
Flies buzzed around them, their wings vibrating.
Yin Chao noticed that their bodies and faces were covered in the same pink sores. Some had even begun to ooze pus and rot.
"Are you..."
The young man struggled to open his eyes. "Are you the Priest?"
Yin Chao shook his head. This was already the third person to call him the Priest.
By now, he knew the response by heart. "My eyes just look a little like the Priest's."
The young man smiled, pulling at the sores around his mouth, then withdrew the smile in pain.
"Yes, your eyes really do look like the Priest's," the young man said.
Then, as though recalling something, he said slowly, "I will never forget when the Priest came to visit us despite the plague. The Priest stroked the hideous sores on my face and prayed to the gods for me..."
"I will never forget... never..."
As he spoke, the young man passed out.
Perhaps he would wake up in a while. Perhaps he would never wake