Familiar

"This place does seem a little familiar..."

Although Yumen City lay near the Great Ye Dynasty's border, stepping out through its gates did not mean entering another dynasty. There was still a buffer zone between the two countries.

That was the vast wilderness outside Yumen City. Few people lived there, and one could often go half a day without seeing a soul.

Once one passed through that sparsely traveled region, one would reach the largest prefecture in the Great Ye Dynasty's neighboring country: Cang Province!

Lu Mingyue had learned all this while eating downstairs during her ten-day stay at the inn.

It always struck her as somewhat familiar, but she could not recall just where she had heard of Cang Province.

"Never mind. There's a forest up ahead. A fine place to bury bones and bodies!"

Lu Mingyue had walked from morning until noon without figuring it out, so she simply stopped dwelling on it.

By now, few other travelers remained around her. Several dozen meters behind, the two idlers followed closely, each carrying a bundle on his back and a wooden club tucked at his waist.

Several hundred meters ahead of them stood a lush forest, a stretch of wooded hills along the route from Yumen City to Cang Province Prefecture.

By rights, a dangerous place like this should have been cleared long ago for travelers' safety. At the very least, the trees should not have been allowed to grow unchecked.

But because Cang Province was the first barrier along the Great Ye Dynasty's border, this forest could also serve to obstruct enemy troops from the neighboring country if war broke out.

Thus, all these years, the authorities had forbidden anyone from cutting down the forest.

As a result, quite a few graves of the wronged and withered bones lay buried here.

"Sure enough, even the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi is much denser out in the wilderness than inside the city..."

Lu Mingyue had long since had enough of the two idlers following her. Since they showed no intention of leaving after so many days, they were clearly after her life. In that case, she would show them no further courtesy.

Nor did she have the time to keep stringing them along. Now that there was a fine place for murder and robbery, she would hand the two men their opportunity.

Yet as she approached the forest, Lu Mingyue felt that trace of familiarity rise from the depths of her heart again.

"How strange. This is clearly my first time here, so why does this place keep feeling familiar?"

That sense of familiarity, as though she had once visited this place, left Lu Mingyue inexplicably uneasy. Instinctively, she tightened her grip on the Corpse-Wrapping Cloth wound around her waist.

-This Corpse-Wrapping Cloth was her fortuitous opportunity. To keep from losing it, Lu Mingyue had long since folded it into a belt and tied it around her waist.

Strangely enough, she had no idea what material the Corpse-Wrapping Cloth was made of. Though it could wrap an adult's corpse, even after Lu Mingyue folded it over and over, it did not look bulky in the slightest.

"Brother Dali, that bitch is finally heading into Ten-Mile Forest!"

While that trace of familiarity put Lu Mingyue somewhat on her guard, several dozen meters behind her, one of the two idlers-a man with a mole on the bridge of his nose-was staring viciously at her back as he said:

"That bitch actually made us wait ten whole days. Once we catch her, I'm going to vent myself on her good and hard, or there'll be no quenching this wicked fire inside me!"

As for how he would vent himself, that went without saying.

It was not as though the two of them had never done this before.

The other man, burly but with a black birthmark on his left eyebrow, nodded as well and said with a lewd grin:

"That woman looks like she has a fine figure, and she's carrying so much silver. Probably came from a wealthy family. Don't get impatient, Monkey. Neither of us has had a taste of meat in months. Just right for two dragons to sport with one phoenix!"

"Heh heh heh, Brother Dali, you're one to talk. I'm just worried you'll get impatient and play her to death. It won't be easy for us to find another top-quality piece like this..."

Both men had flaws in their appearance. Whether it was the mole on "Monkey's" nose or the black birthmark on "Brother Dali's" left eyebrow, those marks meant that hardly anyone would hire them even as inn attendants.

Unwilling to earn money through hard labor, they had become loafers in Yumen City after growing up.

There were many idlers like them in the city. Since this place lay near the border, a few generations back they might even have descended from soldiers who guarded it. With so many people passing through the city, and the unlucky victims mostly travelers, even the authorities were unwilling to concern themselves with such men.

Neither Brother Dali nor Monkey believed that a young girl like Lu Mingyue could resist the two of them.

Thus, after setting their sights on her, they had even "helped" Lu Mingyue drive off several other groups of idlers who had targeted her. Those were the city's rules.

"Brother Dali, she's gone in!"

"Don't rush. Ten-Mile Forest stretches ten whole miles. We'll follow her farther in before making our move!"

Seeing the sun begin to sink westward and Lu Mingyue enter the lush forest, Monkey grew impatient.

As he imagined how he would vent his wicked fire on Lu Mingyue shortly, he rubbed his hands in excitement and quickened his steps.

Though Brother Dali sounded composed, he lengthened his stride as well, closing the distance to Lu Mingyue alongside Monkey.

A quarter of an hour later, the three of them, one ahead and two behind, had fully entered Ten-Mile Forest. The dense leaves blocked most of the sunlight, casting dappled light and shadow through the woods, while the rustling foliage masked their footsteps.

Finally, another quarter of an hour passed, and Brother Dali and Monkey had come within about ten paces of Lu Mingyue.

The two exchanged a glance. Unable to contain the wicked fire within them any longer, they charged at Lu Mingyue together.

"Hey, bitch! Stop right there!"

"Hahaha! Girl up ahead, your Brother Dali's coming to give you some loving!"

They shouted together, hoping to frighten Lu Mingyue, no longer willing to play this game of following wherever she walked.

But although Lu Mingyue did stop and turn around, not a trace of fear appeared on her face.

Something's wrong!

Both Brother Dali and Monkey felt something was amiss. Men like them, who spent years committing crimes, had a much sharper sense of danger than ordinary people.

"Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-"

"Ah! Brother Dali, save me!"

Before either could stop, however, Monkey suddenly screamed. Branch after branch had coiled around his swinging arms as he ran and hauled him into the air.

"A m-m-m... monster!"

Brother Dali looked toward the sound and was instantly scared shitless. He turned to flee.

"You've already come all this way. Why run now?"

Thank you to dear reader "2021...8209" for the monthly vote! Thank you so, so much! Bookmarks have been growing a little slowly, which makes me sad, but your encouragement gives me motivation~

I was just talking with someone about the New Year. I'll have to spend it alone again this year. Last year, I even said I would go traveling for the New Year this year, but who knew so many unexpected things would happen? When the time comes, I'll probably only have Mingyue in the book and all you dear readers to keep me company for the New Year~