The cave was damp and stifling. Firelight flickered against the walls, casting an unsteady glow over Wei's pale face.
He slept deeply, eyes shut, shoulders curled inward. Now and then his fingers twitched faintly.
Minnow held him, curiosity stirring. Gently, he placed two fingers against Wei's pulse.
The instant his fingertips touched—
The veins along Wei's arm trembled, just slightly. Like a body struck by lightning. Then the reaction vanished.
Minnow's pupils contracted sharply.
Something was wrong.
This was not ordinary weakness.
His gaze dropped to Wei's chest.
The flow of breath there… was broken.
"Three meridians… severed?"
His breath caught.
But in the next moment—
A thread of air, thin and icy, recoiled from deep within Wei's body.
Like a snake hidden in the marrow.
Slow.
Cold.
Violent with something dark and bloodstained.
It struck Minnow's fingertip sharply.
There was no wound—but Minnow still felt it: something someone had left inside this body. It brushed him once… then slid silently back into Wei.
Gone without a trace.
As if it had never existed.
A thin sheen of sweat had already risen across Minnow's back.
He pressed down on Wei's pulse again.
This time more steadily.
More deeply.
Silently, he began to think it through.
The eye meridian is nearly severed… yet a faint side channel has formed.
Like a branch forced open in a dead end.
His vision… might even become sharper than normal.
The ear and nasal meridians have been struck by reversed currents.
The nerves are stretched to their limit.
One more shock… and they could collapse completely.
The liver meridian is the worst.
The energy there was pinned down.
As if something had deliberately sealed it.
Minnow's fingers tightened slowly.
A master's work… but why use such a vicious method?
He did not speak the thought aloud, but a crease formed between his brows.
The fire popped suddenly.
Minnow lowered his head and looked at the person in his arms.
His voice was very soft.
"What's inside you… didn't form naturally."
"But you're still alive."
"That means it hasn't taken full control yet."
He placed his hand lightly against Wei's forehead.
His fingertips were warm.
"You're not alone."
"You still have strength."
"It's just buried under fear."
Closing his eyes, Minnow began to guide his breath.
Little by little.
Clearing.
Suppressing.
Walling off the hidden "snake."
Wei's brow slowly relaxed.
At last his breathing smoothed.
Then, in his sleep, Wei murmured.
The voice was so faint it was almost lost to the fire's crackle—yet every word was clear.
"I'm… so tired…"
"I'm afraid… they're gone…"
"I'm so afraid…"
Like a drowning man, unable to find shore.
A tear slid from the corner of his eye.
Down his cheek.
Silent.
Minnow watched that single tear.
Something inside his chest shifted slightly.
He reached out and wiped it away carefully with the edge of his sleeve.
The motion was almost reverent.
"For a while, you can't push yourself," he murmured.
"If we meet bandits… it will be dangerous."
"But we have to reach a large city."
"The medicine for your liver meridian… might only exist there."
Wei's breathing gradually steadied.
But his lips still trembled faintly.
"Tianjing…"
Minnow froze.
Tianjing?
The Tianjing City hundreds of miles away?
Why would an ordinary village boy have anything to do with a place like that?
Firelight washed over the two of them.
Their shadows pressed close together on the cave wall.
Side by side.
Or perhaps—
Fate had already bound them to the same road.
The firelight flickered against the cave walls, bright one moment and dim the next. Zhang San and Li Si emerged from deeper inside the cavern, half-dragging a gaunt old woodcutter between them. The man wore a tattered straw cloak, his face hidden beneath a wild beard. Bent double, he stumbled as they shoved him forward.
"Damn it! Old bastard runs pretty fast!" Zhang San cursed.
"And he was playing tricks just now," Li Si added. "Hiding in the corner listening to us talk."
The old woodcutter swallowed nervously, his voice trembling.
"Sirs… I… I only came to see if anything was left in the stronghold…"
"See?" Zhang San sneered. "You mean steal."
He kicked over a wooden bucket beside him and drew his blade halfway free with a metallic rasp. The cold gleam of steel flashed in the firelight.
The woodcutter's legs nearly buckled.
"I… I truly can't survive anymore. All the children from our village have gone to Tianjing City. I'm the only one left…"
Zhang San narrowed his eyes.
"Tianjing City? That true—or are you spinning stories?"
The woodcutter shook his head frantically, as if clutching at a lifeline.
"It's true, sir. People in the town say… say the city needs workers now. All the young and strong have gone there."
Li Si raised an eyebrow.
"Needs workers? The kind where they feed you and house you?"
The woodcutter swallowed again, his eyes flickering.
"I heard… you don't even have to work much. Once you arrive, someone takes care of you."
Zhang San's blade tip paused slightly, as if he were considering something.
Li Si narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Why would young people go to Tianjing City? Since when did the government grow such a kind heart?"
The woodcutter lowered his head, stammering.
"Sirs… I don't know. Just rumors… what people say in town."
Zhang San frowned and glanced at Li Si.
"Think there are colleagues of ours in Tianjing City?"
Li Si did not laugh. His cold gaze remained fixed on the old man.
"That joke isn't funny. Why didn't you go?"
The woodcutter's face twisted bitterly.
"They don't allow anyone over forty."
Zhang San snorted.
"Damn it. Since when are the Yuan that generous? A bunch of fools."
He slung the blade over his shoulder. Then his tone suddenly shifted.
"Old man, all that rambling almost let you slip away. Now tell me—what were you doing in Dead Children's Cave?"
The woodcutter's face crumpled miserably.
He swallowed and stammered.
"I… I came with a few villagers… We heard someone crying in the cave at night. When we entered the treasure cavern, our minds were bewitched… None of my companions came back out…"
Li Si smiled without warmth.
"Oh? Then how did you survive?"
The woodcutter nodded quickly, his face pale.
"I… I blocked my ears by luck… but I still fainted. When I woke up… I ran into you two…"
"My lords, I'm just a useless old man. Sick all over. I can't help you with anything. Please… let me go."
Zhang San's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Treasure cave? There's treasure here?"
The woodcutter's voice trembled.
"I… the innermost chamber… it shines with gold…"
Zhang San gave a cold laugh and tapped the edge of the bucket with his blade.
"Enough talk. Take us there."
The woodcutter's throat bobbed nervously.
"My lord… I really can't help… The cave… when the ghosts cry, you lose your mind…"
Li Si narrowed his eyes.
"Perfect. We happen to have someone deaf and mute here. Just the right person to explore a cave."
Zhang San grinned and hooked an arm around Li Si's shoulders. The two men muttered quietly together, greed slowly rising in their eyes.
"Damn it. Treasure in these mountains. Heaven's handing it to us."
The old woodcutter walked ahead, leading the way.
In the shadows where the firelight could not reach, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly—
As if he were smiling.
Or quietly calculating his next move.