A Chance Encounter in the Valley

Lu Yuan raised his hand, and the group instantly dispersed into the shadows near the rock crevice.

Lin Xiao pointed to the northeast corner, Lu Yuan nodded, and the two of them crept over there. The night breeze carried the faint sounds of voices and crackling firewood.

Thirty feet away, the firelight illuminated several simple wooden houses and shacks leaning against the mountainside. There were about twenty or thirty households, with a small patch of withered fields in front of them. Figures moved about, mostly the elderly, women, and children, with few young and strong people, and all of them had pale faces and injuries. Their Soul Power fluctuations were sparse, with the highest being no more than Soul Elder, and their auras were still weak and unstable.

They weren't pursuers. Lu Yuan quickly determined.

Lin Xiao lowered his voice. "The proportion of Soul Master isn't low, but... they're very weak. Their Martial Soul seem to have some issues."

Indeed. The aura of those Soul Power was discordant; some were violent and uncontrollable, while others were weak and incomplete. What was even more striking was the deep-seated vigilance on their faces, a vigilance towards the outside world and strangers. The arrangement of the houses and the surrounding haphazard stone and wooden fence, seemingly random, subtly formed a rough, angular structure upon closer inspection.

"Who's there!" a low shout exploded.

At the edge of the settlement, a one-armed middle-aged man suddenly straightened up, his gaze sharp as a knife. Several young men immediately gathered around, gripping their wooden spears and chipped machetes tightly.

Lu Yuan stood up from behind the bushes, spreading his hands. "The passerby meant no harm."

Lin Xiao followed half a step behind him, his amber vertical pupils scanning the opposite side, his body slightly hunched.

"Just passing by?" The one-armed man scoffed. "You can 'just pass by' this godforsaken place? How did you find it?"

"An old mine tunnel, the exit is in this valley," Lu Yuan said truthfully. "We were being pursued and retreated here."

Who's chasing him?

"Cloud Mist Sect. Personal Feud."

Upon hearing that they were not from the Inspection Office or a nobleman's private army, the men opposite them relaxed slightly, but did not lower their weapons.

"To offend the Cloud Mist Sect and be banished to the deep mountains, this feud must be quite significant." The one-armed man's gaze swept into the darkness. "It's not just the two of you, is it? Come out, both of you!"

Lu Yuan turned around and made a gesture.

Shen Moxin, Lu Qinghe, Mo Chen, and others emerged one after another. The group was exhausted, but their eyes were clear.

Seeing that the group included both old and young people, as well as a woman wearing glasses, the one-armed man's hostility lessened slightly, but his scrutiny became more thorough. "Where are you from?"

"The border region of the Star Luo Empire, around Maple Leaf Town."

Why did you run away?

"I've offended someone, I can't stay here any longer," Lu Yuan said succinctly.

The one-armed man remained silent for a moment. Behind him, a scarred young man couldn't help but whisper, "Uncle Shi, could they be...?"

"Shut up." The man called Uncle Shi interrupted him, staring back at Lu Yuan. "I don't care why you ran away. Outsiders aren't welcome here."

His voice was resolute. "We are all people who fled from the border between the two countries. Our villages were destroyed by war, we were forced to live by nobles, and some of us were treated as monsters because of problems with our Martial Soul... We finally found a place like this to catch our breath and don't want to cause any more trouble. You should find somewhere else."

The atmosphere froze.

Lu Yuan's face remained expressionless. "What's your name?"

Shi Jian.

"Brother Shi," Lu Yuan nodded, "we were also forced to leave home, and meant no harm. It's getting late, and everyone is exhausted. We'll camp on the outskirts of the valley and not go in. In exchange," he gestured to Mo Chen's backpack, "There are some medicines and dry rations that we can share with you."

Shi Jian frowned. The men behind him, however, kept their eyes fixed on the backpack.

"Uncle Shi..." the scarred young man spoke again.

Just then, a mournful cry came from deep within the settlement.

"Brother Shi! Help! Huzi is dying!"

A woman stumbled towards them, carrying a five- or six-year-old boy. The child was convulsing violently in her arms, his face flushed, foaming at the mouth, and breathing heavily.

Shi Jian's expression changed drastically as he took the child. A probe with his Soul Power revealed an even more grim sight. "Soul Power is surging wildly... Where's Old Chen?"

"Uncle Chen twisted his ankle and is lying down..."

The crowd panicked and were at a loss.

Lu Yuan looked at Shen Moxin.

Shen Moxin adjusted her glasses and stepped forward. "Let me see."

Shi Jian suddenly looked up, staring at her warily.

"She understands medicine and Soul Power manipulation," Lu Yuan said. "The child can't wait."

Shi Jian looked at the child in his arms, whose convulsions were weakening, gritted his teeth, and stepped aside. "Quick!"

Shen Moxin stepped forward, took his pulse, and gently probed with her Soul Power. After a moment, she took out a jade bottle and poured out a pale blue pill.

"Clear Heart Pill, stabilize Soul Power." She fed the medicine into the child's throat, using her Soul Power to aid in its transformation, while her other hand lightly pressed on the acupoints on the child's chest with her five fingers, her Soul Power gently combing through the air.

After a short while, the convulsions subsided, the child's breathing became steady, and he drifted off to sleep.

The woman knelt down abruptly, about to kowtow.

Shen Moxin helped her up and wrote a calming prescription, handing it to her.

Shi Jian held the child and looked at Shen Moxin, his tense face finally relaxing a little. The hostility of the crowd behind him also subsided considerably.

A few moments of silence followed.

Shi Jian handed the child back to the woman, then turned to face Lu Yuan. His gaze swept over Shen Moxin with complicated emotions, then over the crowd behind Lu Yuan, and he sighed.

"... You can stay at the valley entrance for now." His voice was firm, but less cold. "Just stay on the outer perimeter, don't go deeper. Find your own place to camp, and don't go near the fields or houses."

He paused, then his sharp gaze swept over Lin Xiao and Mo Chen.

"Keep your men in check." He stared at Lu Yuan. "Don't cause trouble. The people here can't withstand any more disturbances."

Lu Yuan nodded. "Understood. Thank you."

Shi Jian said no more, waved his hand and led his men back, and whispered orders to strengthen security.

Lu Yuan arranged for the camp to be set up, while he himself remained standing in place.

The moonlight was dim, and his gaze slowly swept over the houses, over the seemingly random but actually obstructive stone and wooden fences on the outside, and finally landed on a few Soul Master talking in hushed tones in the distance.

One person raised their hand to wipe away sweat, an abnormal dark red glow flashing across their palm, like a materialized Martial Soul that they couldn't control. Another person's left leg twisted strangely as they walked, not like an external injury, but more like a physical mutation caused by Martial Soul Mutation.

A crude but effective prototype of defense.

Martial Soul that generally carry "problems".

Lu Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly in the darkness.

This unexpectedly discovered refuge valley is itself a silent mystery.