106 Departure

Two months passed uneventfully. The swift vengeance Cha Ming had expected from Xiao Heilong never came, and he began to grow nervous. During his idle time, he helped the village with its construction. When it seemed like houses wouldn't be built in time for the winter, he accompanied the mayor and a few others on a mission to recruit additional carpenters. He also bought food, clothing, and other provisions, enough to last them a year if need be.

After the first snow fell, Cha Ming knew that it was time to go. He had no way of helping the villagers further, and no way of increasing his strength if he stayed in this remote location. It would be better to go to a major city, both to find ways to surpass his limits and to find information on Xiao Heilong's whereabouts.

The next day, Cha Ming stood at the edge of the village. He wished goodbye to the many people he had befriended, hurt, and helped during his extended stay. Although he would miss the village's calm atmosphere and Li Yin's wise words, there were many things he needed to do.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay a little while longer?" Li Yin asked him. The fatigue that had accumulated over the years had finally faded from his aging face. He was no longer overburdened with injured and malnourished villagers.

"It's time for me to go, teacher," Cha Ming said. "I know there is a place for me in this village, but there's so much more that I can do outside. If I stay any longer, it will be to the detriment of my friends."

He didn't tell the whole truth about Xiao Heilong. It was best if he quietly found the man and defeated him without their knowledge.

Though sad, he found he was excited at the prospect of seeing and experiencing new things. Momentum was like that. Now that he had started moving, he didn't want to stop, lest resistance grasp him with its sharp claws.

Li Yin nodded. "It's good that you know this, and that you know your direction. You've grown up, Cha Ming. Before, you were in a pit of despair and self-blame. Now you've learned to take responsibility for your actions, and you know what it is you should do." Li Yin's eyes turned red as he began tearing up. He hugged Cha Ming tightly and whispered to him, "Take care of yourself out there. It can be a cruel world, but never give up hope."

Cha Ming couldn't help but shed a tear as well. He looked at all the villagers that had gathered, all the children who were sad to see him leave. He had treated half of them in his time as Li Yin's apprentice. He still felt a lot of guilt over the pains they had suffered these past years, but they seemed to have forgiven him. Over half the village had shown up to wish him safe travels.

After saying a few more goodbyes, he turned around and walked through the well-worn path that now led to and from the village. The path was both familiar and unfamiliar. It was lightly covered in snow, but he could see firmly pressed stones beneath the light dusting. It was the same path he had led Lei Dong through, the same path the bandits had taken on their way to the village. Yet as he walked through the woods, he passed three wagons and four horses. Such traffic would have been unimaginable only three years prior.

After leaving the woods, Cha Ming let out a deep sigh and summoned a flying sword, which he used to fly over the river to the next village on his way to the nearest city.

***

A few days later, Cha Ming was already halfway to Quicksilver City. He rested in inns as he traveled and ate meals at dozens of villages, enjoying himself immensely. After all, he had spent three years cooped up a small town and a mine. He yearned for discovery and variety.

He ate today's meal at a quaint inn, whose walls were built with a peculiar but fragrant wood. It also sported a large bar, which was currently occupied by a very large man.

"It's the twentieth time this week, I tell you," the burly man said softly. If Cha Ming didn't have incandescent force, he would have struggled to hear it. "Merchants don't want to come down here any longer. Whenever the Imperial Army makes the rounds to clear them out, they end up settling everything with just a few words." The bartender shrugged to avoid the conversation, but the man continued regardless. "This thieving can't go on. Otherwise, how will I continue my trade? I may as well pack up and leave!"

"Why do you stay around here, anyway?" the bartender said. "A spiritual blacksmith such as yourself doesn't need to live so far away from Quicksilver. Besides, the thieving isn't so bad. No one dies in these exchanges. It's just simple robberies, that's all. And they don't even take everything. They wouldn't even touch your iron."

"But I can't ship my weapons off to other villages," the blacksmith complained. "And what do you mean spiritual blacksmith? I'm just a failure, a second-grade spiritual blacksmith. I'm not worth anything near the capital, so I have no choice but to stay out here to scrape out a living."

The man took a long pull from his mug of ale. "Back to thievery, though. It's not enough that people don't die during the robberies. The merchants are never the same after they get robbed. It's like they lose their will to live. They return to the city, and their businesses go under. Most of them hang themselves afterward. No one wants to make the trip anymore because they fear for their very souls."

The bartender scrunched his brows but didn't reply.

Cha Ming, who had heard everything, sat down at the bar beside the man. He slapped twenty spirit stones on the counter. "Please buy this friend a drink," Cha Ming said.

Seeing the glittering stones, the bartender nodded and placed a pot of wine on the bar. "For yourself?" he asked.

"I don't drink wine," Cha Ming replied. "Tea will do. The best you have." He then turned to the blacksmith. The man looked confused. "No need to be alarmed, friend. I heard the conversation you were having just now, and I've encountered something similar in a faraway place. There was once a village where individuals bewitched soldiers. Have you heard descriptions of the thieves?"

The man hesitated, then nodded.

"Could you please describe them in detail?"

He nodded once more. After taking a swift drink, he spoke in a hushed voice. "It's no secret, and nothing I haven't told half the village," the blacksmith said. "There was once a merchant who was robbed, but instead of heading back, he came to this village. His face was pale. His hands shaking. It was as though he'd seen a ghost. So I asked him, 'What happened to make you look pale as a sheet?' To which he replied, 'I saw the devil. At the bridge crossing Salmon Creek. She was a bewitching beauty, her hair long and black as night, her skin pale as white jade. And her eyes—when I looked into her eyes, I lost a piece of my soul. Barely enough was left over, as though she fed on the feelings of despair that shook me.'

"Then he went on to describe the bandits. They were all women, and they only stole precious metals and spirit stones. The rest they left in the wagon, all packed up and pretty. The merchant and his guards didn't stand a chance. As they rode off, he was left with the great urge to return home and liquidate his assets, then send them to an account in the city. He was overwhelmed, so he stopped in the village for a drink.

"The man stayed for a few days, after which he hung himself in despair," the blacksmith finished.

Cha Ming frowned as he assembled the pieces of the puzzle. He had never encountered a creature that could devour souls, but he had fought some that could bewitch them. Then again, he'd only fought against devil cultivators below foundation establishment. Did their abilities change at higher levels?

He also remembered the gold-gathering formation in Fairweather. Stealing precious metals and spirit stones was something a creature like the Merchant would do. That being the case, it was highly possible that two devils were acting together.

"Do you know anything about the Imperial Army patrol that went out?" Cha Ming asked. "Like the strength of their leader?"

"I'm not sure about that," the blacksmith replied, "but I know that most patrols are headed by someone between initial and middle-foundation establishment. It's the requirement to become a captain in the Quicksilver Empire."

Cha Ming recalled the guard captain in the small village and his impressive cultivation. It seemed that he'd only been a frog in the well. From the maps that he'd seen, the Quicksilver Empire was several times the size of the tiny Song Kingdom. In addition, it was much wealthier. It made sense that the qualifications to be considered powerful here were much higher than his home kingdom.

"Many thanks," Cha Ming said. He drank his tea in a single gulp. He then walked out of the bar and took off on his flying sword toward the east. He didn't want to rush into their dwelling on the mountains, as that would be very dangerous. Instead, he opted for the safer approach.

And for that, he needed bait.

***

A merchant's wagon was racing swiftly toward the west, its horses sweating from exhaustion. They could sense the driver's fear as he whipped them, trying to speed them across the dangerous stretch of road. His friend, a spice merchant, had been accosted near that damnable bridge. Word had spread quickly, and the steady flow of merchants to the eastern parts of the dynasty had dried up.

In other words, demand had peaked while supply remained desperately low. Liu Hao sensed an opportunity, and a merchant so poor as himself couldn't turn down such a potential windfall. He figured he was smarter than the rest of them. He had bought the swiftest horses available and picked up several mercenaries before leaving. Heck, he'd picked up an extra one in the town just before the bridge to be sure.

The special enchanted cloth covering the wagon could resist fire and arrows. The wagon contained chests of holding to maximize its carrying capacity. He brought with him both expensive goods and bulk goods in large quantities. Even simple commodities had sky-high prices due to the decrease in shipments. Liu Hao figured he could earn three times his initial investment on this trip. He would also get to keep the horses, the carriages, and the chests to boot.

Suddenly his horses neighed. The wagon slowed to a crawl. Panicking, he whipped the horses bloody to get them moving, but they refused to budge. They stood there placidly like they were enjoying a good brushing. He had never seen anything so strange in his life.

In the distance, a dozen people approached from the side on horses.

"Dammit," he cursed softly. "You better all be ready to defend the wagon. If you don't, I'll report you to the mercenary association."

The men in the wagon shifted uncomfortably. Ultimately, they drew their weapons. Failing to accomplish a mission had dire repercussions in their line of work, where reputation was everything.

The opposing horses stopped fifty feet away. The merchant looked at their leader nervously; he had heard far too many rumors about what happened to the people they caught. The common consensus was that anyone who met them would go mad. Still, as he looked at her, he realized that things couldn't be further from the truth. A fair-skinned lady such as herself must be in dire straits to resort to a robbery. Perhaps it would be best to just give her his wares and be done with it. He could recoup his losses on the bulk goods he brought. Yes, that would be best.

As he continued looking, her charming blue eyes, deep like endless oceans, met his. He wished for nothing more than to lose himself in them, so he let himself go. He let himself float in the ocean in his dreams, only to realize that it wasn't such a calm ocean as he had imagined. Rather, it was an ocean filled with sharks and other dangerous creatures.

He felt a sharp stab of pain as something bit his foot off. A hideous aquatic creature surfaced and shot him a toothy grin as it munched on his flesh. Unsatisfied, it bit off his other leg and followed up with his arm. He could barely stand the pain. Unfortunately, he didn't faint. It was as though his only path of retreat—losing consciousness—had been cut off. He could only look on in despair as he was eaten alive.

Suddenly he felt a stirring in the ocean. The aquatic creature roared as it abandoned its attempt to devour him and plunged back into the waters. Relieved, he continued floating until he finally drifted off to sleep.