Pei Ye had also put on a robe, and the wounds beneath it had all been carefully bandaged. He stood with Chang Zhiyuan to answer questions. His tone was calm as he lowered his eyes and recounted everything he had experienced, down to the smallest detail. Neither joy nor anger showed on his face.
Feng Zhi came over after examining the scene, his face dark.
"I've already sent someone to compare the shoeprints at the tailor's shop, but people like these must have come from elsewhere. We probably won't find anything, unless he has some compulsion about keeping his shoes clean." Feng Zhi's voice was gruff. "Besides... that palm strike really was extraordinary. I'm afraid this case is more than we can handle."
"I've sent a letter to the prefectural seat asking for help," Chang Zhiyuan said. "But the messenger just reported back. Last night's rain was so heavy that mud and rocks destroyed the road out of the mountains. Horses can't get through."
"Then we'll wait for Shen Yanping to return and have him send a message to the Immortal Platform by Soul Bird."
"That's our only option." Chang Zhiyuan nodded. "What about your side? What was going on with that beast?"
"The clawprints here are the same shape as yesterday's, but this time there were four victims. And now we know for certain that someone was orchestrating this. Come and look." Feng Zhi led the two of them over. "The brute left bloody clawprints at all four sets of clothes. It still looks as though it ate these four people, but there are no connecting tracks between one set of clothes and the next. It's as if it jumped."
Feng Zhi did not need to explain what came next; both of them could see it for themselves. After eating Lin Jue, the vicious beast of unknown appearance had walked toward Lin Lin. This trail of bloody clawprints, fading from dark to pale, was a little clearer. But it had not eaten Lin Lin. Instead, it had killed him by a rather inefficient means.
Chapter 6: Yu Feng
"That son of a bitch did it on purpose!" Feng Zhi's face was grim as he spat on the ground.
Everyone understood that clearly.
If the murderer could gravely wound Lin Lin with a single palm strike, he could naturally have killed him just as easily. Yet he had deliberately made the dying father watch in despair as his daughter was cruelly devoured, then left him to the vicious beast.
Pei Ye crouched to examine the tracks closely. The beast had been downright stingy with the traces it left behind. Even this clearest trail toward Lin Lin was exceedingly faint. Fortunately, the rain had weakened before dawn; otherwise, even these marks might not have survived.
The clawprints were slightly larger than his own feet. The pads were roughly triangular, with four clawed toes extending from them: three in front and one behind. For some reason, Pei Ye kept feeling that the prints were not quite consistent in shape, as though they were changing. Following the trail with his eyes, it seemed... they were growing larger?
Chang Zhiyuan turned his head and asked, "Which way did it leave?"
"That's the strangest part. We can't find any tracks showing its Coming and Going."
"What do you mean?" Chang Zhiyuan's brows drew tight.
"The criminals' footprints lead all the way to the river. They probably escaped by boat. In the end, the river only offers two directions: into town or out of it. We can certainly investigate those. But this brute left no clawprints at all. It's as though it vanished into thin air after the killings... or never left this place."
The last few words sent a chill through both of them. Yet when they looked around, daylight shone brightly and constables bustled everywhere. Nothing lurked there, waiting for a chance to strike.
Feng Zhi raised a hand and pointed. "Look. The county town is to the south, the broad riverbank to the west, and dirt roads and fields to the east and north. After that downpour, it's all mud. But the clawprints only appear here. I truly can't figure out where the brute went."
"What if it flew?" Pei Ye suddenly asked.
Feng Zhi paused, then rubbed his thick beard. "That doesn't fit either! Yesterday's rain was so heavy that people were afraid their crops would rot in the water. Plenty of them went out early this morning to drain their fields. It was already fairly light by then. If something had flown up from the fields, someone would have seen it."
They thought for a while without finding an answer, then set the matter aside. Pei Ye crouched and repeatedly examined the only long nightshirt. His brows furrowed. "Sirs, something isn't quite right."
"What isn't right?"
Pei Ye pointed. "The other three were only wearing underclothes. The beast's claws could easily have torn those off and left them on the ground, so 'the people vanished completely, but all their clothes remained' doesn't seem unusual. But this victim was wearing a long shirt and trousers. Why are things the same here?"
Feng Zhi's pupils contracted slightly as he understood what Pei Ye meant. A man-eating monster would not peel its prey clean before taking a bite, like someone eating an orange. Would a monster that swallowed people whole, skin and bones included, leave their clothes completely intact? And how had this nightshirt been left with nothing but bloodstains, without a single scrap of flesh or splinter of bone?
An image that made his hair stand on end appeared in his mind: the victim's entire body had dissolved into a puddle of thick liquid, which the beast of unknown form had sucked clean, like a bee drinking dew.
The thought was too horrifying. Feng Zhi shifted his massive body slightly and said nothing.
Just then, hoofbeats stopped outside the grove. They looked over to see Shen Yanping dismounting and hurrying toward them, a book in his hand.
"Everyone, I've found the source of that familiar feeling." Chang Jian's face was slightly pale, his voice gentle. Before he even reached them, he spoke. "That mark truly is a harbinger of harm."
"What proof do you have?" Chang Zhiyuan asked.
Shen Yanping caught his breath, then slowly recited, "The spirit has its desire, inscribes a mark upon my brow; the divining turtle calls it auspicious, in three days I ascend immortal."
Chang Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes. "'Yu Feng: The Spirit's Desire.'"
Feng Zhi's hand stopped stroking his beard as well, and his eyes stared blankly into space.
Only Pei Ye looked around in bewilderment. "May I ask what that means, sirs?"
Chang Zhiyuan explained gently, "It is said to be a poem passed down from the ancient Yu Dynasty. It says that when a spirit favors someone, it draws a mark on their forehead. Divination declares this a good thing, and the chosen person can become an immortal within three days."
Pei Ye instinctively reached up to touch his forehead.
A spirit? A spirit that had existed from the Yu Dynasty six thousand years ago all the way to the present?
"Heh..." Feng Zhi sneered through clenched teeth. "The price of that 'favor' is truly gruesome."
"An elder is fond of a child," Shen Yanping said quietly. "Tigers and wolves are also 'fond' of children."
Chang Zhiyuan frowned in thought for a moment, then turned to the other two. "Now that you mention it, I remember something too. There was a practitioner surnamed Du during the Han era who wrote a brief commentary on this poem. I believe he recorded a ritual. Later, Hu Ye of the Jin era suspected it was half truth and half falsehood, so he classified it among accounts of strange phenomena when compiling his works."
Feng Zhi shook his head, indicating that he remembered nothing of the sort.
Shen Yanping, however, raised the book. "Exactly! It's this book, Du Wuzhen's Three-Dynasty Poetry Notes. He said the ritual was used to sacrifice to a spirit. Over three days, the lives, blood, and flesh of one, four, and seven people respectively-twelve in all-were taken to feast the spirit."
His brows lowered. "But that's all we have for now. I found every book Du Wuzhen wrote, and I'm still going through the others."
Feng Zhi understood. "That's right! One yesterday. This time, the criminals originally targeted four people, but this lad managed to save himself. They went to seize Lin Jue at the last moment to make up the number, only to alert Lin Lin in the process."
"But there is one problem. Young Pei had already left through the north gate by then. Why didn't the criminals come after him, instead of going farther away to Master Lin's home?"
Pei Ye raised his head. This was also the question he had been pondering all along.
I only killed two 'kidnappers.' Since they could find me in the first place, why didn't they keep sending stronger people to capture me?
"Perhaps once this lad woke up, he was no longer a target of that 'spirit'?"
They looked at the Fire Talisman still shining brightly on Pei Ye's forehead and abandoned that conjecture in unison.
Shen Yanping considered it. "The targets are selected not by the murderers, but by the 'spirit.' Those carrying out the crimes have no say in the matter. After young Pei woke, his 'connection' to the ritual had already been severed. The criminals requested another selection. For some reason, the 'spirit' did not choose him again, but selected Lin Jue instead."
It didn't choose me again?
As Pei Ye thought in a daze, last night's dream suddenly flooded back into his mind.
He had no memory whatsoever of how he had left his home and walked out of town, but the dream of riding the hornless dragon in that desperate pursuit and escape remained vivid.
"I will free you from this instance of 'divine favor' tonight." The hornless dragon's words seemed to sound beside his ear.
Pei Ye had never considered that possibility at all. He had treated it as an ordinary dream, thinking he might have kicked a loose stone, or that the pain in his chest and abdomen had woken him.
After all, this lay far beyond a mountain-town boy's understanding of the world.
In all Pei Ye's past imaginings about the world beyond, even the most wondrous had amounted to, "Perhaps there really are sorcerers who can command fire and wield water."
Yet now he was being asked to believe that a divine hornless dragon had truly entered his dream. Such an experience could plunge the boy into profound self-doubt-in the face of such power, were the fist techniques and swordsmanship he practiced really of any use?
But when he recalled it, every minute detail of that divine beast's appearance was clear, as though it stood before him. Everything it had said also fitted seamlessly with the real world.
More importantly, if anything could make him disappear from the sight of that so-called spirit, it plainly would not be the punches and kicks with which he had killed those two men. The black hornless dragon that could enter dreams was far more likely.
Chapter 7: Discussing the Dream
Shen Yanping's gentle voice roused him. "Young Pei, how did you wake up?"
Pei Ye remained dazed for a moment, then recounted his dream from the previous night without concealing anything.
For one thing, Pei Ye naturally trusted these familiar faces he had known for over a decade more than a black hornless dragon that had appeared without explanation. For another, he knew absolutely nothing about such supernatural matters, so he might as well seek Shen Changjian's help.
To his disappointment, however, all three looked equally bewildered.
Feng Zhi knitted his thick brows. "What does this have to do with a dream-what do you think, Shen Yanping?"
Shen Yanping also shook his head. "At least among the Immortal Platform documents I have access to, I don't recall any immortal hunting beast shaped like a hornless dragon that can enter dreams."
"Then let us attribute it to the shock of pain for now," Chang Zhiyuan said. "If we have the opportunity tonight, we can try using pain to wake those who have lost their souls."
"There will be another seven tonight... but this Fire Talisman doesn't seem to appear in advance. How are we to identify whose flesh this 'spirit' finds more palatable?"
The three fell silent for a time.
"I think it may depend on Martial Dao talent," Pei Ye suddenly said slowly.
Shen Yanping's eyes widened slightly. "That makes sense!"
Martial Dao talent was, of course, determined by many factors combined, but all three men understood that the boy meant the quality of the dantian seed.
"I'll go verify that now," Feng Zhi said, taking his leave.
Chang Zhiyuan said, "Shen Changjian, flash floods washed out the road through the mountains. We must send word to the Immortal Platform by Soul Bird."
"When I read about this ritual at home, I already released a Soul Bird. I explained the urgency of the situation and asked the Immortal Platform to relay the message to the prefectural office, requesting that Commandant Jing arrive as soon as possible."
Chang Zhiyuan sighed. "There are quite a few people in the prefecture who could defeat this villain, but only Commandant Jing has the means to arrive in time."
Feng Zhi soon finished checking the victims' identities and gave them an affirmative answer.
"In that case, I'll leave things here to you two for now." Chang Zhiyuan considered briefly, put on his bamboo hat, and had someone pass him a long staff. "I'll go oversee the county-wide notices and screening, and gather potential victims at the county office for protection."
"You're worried they'll seize people ahead of time?"
Chang Zhiyuan nodded. "We cannot know whether they have already fixed on twelve people, or whether their 'god' will select seven only when the ritual begins. If it is the former, they may try to seize them before help arrives."
"But even if Feng Zhi and I make every preparation, I'm afraid we won't withstand more than a few of his moves," Shen Yanping said quietly. "Even if we gather these people at the county office, we might... only be letting him catch us all in one net."
Chang Zhiyuan was silent for a moment. "We cannot simply sit by and watch criminals slaughter the people. At least this way, at most the three of us will die. If we leave them at home, seven entire households will perish. And there is no telling how many neighbors will be caught up in it."
Shen Yanping nodded heavily.
Pei Ye cupped his fist to ask leave. "Sirs, I would also like to go home first."
"You may, but return to the county office as soon as possible for protection." Chang Zhiyuan hesitated, then added, "Young Pei, Master Lin told me about you... please bear your grief. The murderer this time is far too dangerous. Whatever you do... don't act rashly on your own."
Pei Ye was silent for a moment. "Rest assured, Master Chang. I know my limits."
Without waiting for Chang Zhiyuan's reply, he tore off a strip of cloth with a rip, wrapped it haphazardly around his forehead, and strode south.
Although he had been lucky enough to avoid a flare-up of his injury despite spending the entire night in the rain, that certainly did not mean his luck would hold forever. His abdomen was already faintly uncomfortable. If the rain continued tonight, he would surely suffer an attack. Pei Ye had to fetch his liquor and medicine.
Walking along the street, Pei Ye pondered. Although all three officials had been rather dismissive, the conjecture about the hornless dragon dream still stirred his heart. Every line of their conversation remained vivid in his mind.
If such a hornless dragon really existed, where had it come from?
"When one prospers, both prosper; when one suffers, both suffer." Was my fate bound to its own in some way?
He recalled the words, "What happens next will be entirely up to you." Did that mean I was still among tonight's seven?
Last night, the hornless dragon had woken him from his soulless state. Tonight, he plainly would not receive the same help again. According to it, he had to use the so-called [Quail Head] to resist Immortal Lord Spirit Summoning.
Then where could I find the method for using it?
A fated connection...
Pei Ye's brows knitted. He really did feel an elusive familiarity with the word "quail."
Before you continue