Shi Hao withdrew his finger.
The fine golden thread trembled at his fingertip, then dissolved into flecks of light.
"Let's go. We'll take the long way around."
A long line stretched outside Cloudpiercing City's gate. Spear-bearing guards questioned everyone one by one, and the line crawled like a snail. Shi Hou glanced at it from afar on the main road, then turned and left.
The detour took half a day.
They circled southwest around Cloudpiercing City, crossed two barren stretches of rocky ground and a shallow stream, and climbed the second ridge. By then, the sun was directly overhead.
The view opened up again.
A sprawling estate was faintly visible in the distance. Its walls stretched far, its rooftops rose and fell, and the upturned eaves of a tall building at its center reflected a cold gleam in the sunlight.
The Shi Clan's Second Ancestral Land.
Shi Hou stopped on the ridge and watched for a while.
Then he looked away.
He turned, putting his back to the estate.
"Little One."
Shi Hao was riding Little White, craning his neck to look into the distance. He turned at the call.
"What is it?"
"You're going on alone from here."
Shi Hao's hand stilled on Little White's mane.
Shi Hou pulled a piece of Dried Beast Meat from the Black Pot Space and tossed it to Furball.
"What happens over there is your business. I'm staying out of it."
Shi Hao didn't ask why.
He had known Shi Hou for almost three years. This dark-skinned fellow never wasted words. If he said he was staying out of it, he had a reason.
"Where are you going, then?"
Shi Hou tipped his chin toward the dark, dense forest to the east.
"I'll wait for you in the eastern woods. Come eat every