When Mu You regained consciousness, he found himself in a mountain forest.
It seemed to be late at night. Clouds shrouded the sky, and not a trace of starlight showed in the pitch-black heavens. Only a lonely waning moon shone through the clouds, casting down a pitiful glimmer that kept the forest from being completely dark.
Down the mountain, he could vaguely make out a village and its scattered buildings. But it was deathly silent. Not a single light shone in the sizable village, which seemed to be abandoned.
"Hmm..."
Mu You looked around, a little bewildered.
He knew he was in someone's dream, where anything could appear, but he had expected to arrive in daylight, at least. He did not care how many people there were, but there should at least have been someone alive.
Instead, he was greeted by midnight, the mountains, and an abandoned village... This was far too eerie.
For a moment, Mu You wondered whether he had entered some sort of horror-movie dream.
There was no one around, and staying put would accomplish nothing. Mu You was just about to head down the mountain to investigate the deserted village.
Suddenly, faint crying came from another direction.
The sound came and went amid the wind, seemingly from deep in the forest. Without his Wind Listener talent, Mu You might well have missed it.
Mu You immediately changed direction and went looking for its source.
By horror-movie logic, heading straight toward it would probably lead him to a ghost. But even a ghost could at least be caught and questioned. That would beat fumbling around alone on the mountain.
Mu You moved swiftly through the forest and soon approached the source of the crying. He could hear it clearly now: it was a girl's voice, and she