“This fog really gives a person the creeps.”
Coachman Hizjo held the reins with one hand and placed the other on his thigh, where an iron sword lay.
“Didn’t they say there are a lot of beasts here? Why is it so quiet?”
Red Curls Famler asked.
“Hush, quieter.”
Golusido also held the bow in his hands ready.
The gray cliff walls on both sides of the road were wet by the fine rain of early spring and looked very sleek.
The mountain road paved with fine stone could accommodate two carriages traveling side by side.
It was the easiest road they had walked on this journey.
As the convoy advanced, the mountain walls on both sides also gradually left everyone’s line of sight and vanished into the dense fog.
The sound of hooves stepping on broken stone produced a long echo different from just now, which showed they were in a wide place.
The dense fog was like a hemispherical cover fastened over everyone’s heads.
At most one could see clearly only a few meters away, giving people enormous psychological pressure.
“Stop,” Golusido said. “I seem to have heard some sound.”
His speaking voice was very small, but everyone still stopped with great tacit understanding.
All was silent.
In the valley there was not even a bit of wind sound.
“Let’s go,” Golusido said. “Maybe I heard wrong.”
No one questioned him or made cutting remarks.
The convoy still advanced in silence.
Bowenros also got down from the carriage and mounted a horse.
Eve sat in the carriage a little uneasy, so she again stuck her head out the window.
Spring rain came in thin threads, mixed in the dense fog.
She looked up toward the sky.
Through the heavy water and fog, in the dimness one could faintly see a whitish sun.
Another sound made everyone stop their movements.
This time everyone heard it.
It was the sound of small stones rolling down from the hillside, very crisp.
Bowenros looked toward the direction the sound came from, then looked at the broken-stone road stretching straight ahead, unable to decide.
“Let’s go a bit faster. This place somehow feels a little strange.”
Hizjo rubbed his forearm, which had broken out in goosebumps.
“Hey!” Golusido shouted loudly.
The sound echoed in the valley.
Someone silently drew the weapon at his waist.
“You think there are people here?” That sturdy-built Haruloba asked him.
“Doesn’t seem like a beast. Either that or a beast as smart as a person,” Golusido said. “I feel the other party has already noticed us.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Leave the main road,” Golusido said.
“You two ride ahead to open the way. Separate a little, but make sure you can see each other. Watch the road conditions. Find a path the carriage can take.”
The roadside was all broken stone as well as newly sprouted plants and fungi.
Famler and Bole rode ahead.
When hooves stepped on the ground, water traces would appear.
The soil was a little wet and soft.
“This ground isn’t great,” Famler said. “If it were our original carriage it should be fine. This one now we’ll only know if we try.”
“Then try.” Golusido was also a little impatient in his heart.
He seemed to hear some sound again.
Hizjo drove the carriage from the main road toward the wilderness.
The three highland horses were all excellent draft horses, their four hooves thick and powerful.
Even on a soft, collapsing dirt road they could pull the carriage forward.
In this way, although everyone slowed their pace, their hearts felt much more settled.
They decided to detour along the mountain foot on the right.
Yuche would not watch them slip away.
The bandits had their own way of sending messages.
Seeing the convoy had already sensed something abnormal, they decided to take the initiative.
Several arrows carrying elemental crystal powder shot toward the convoy.
The targets were all the carriage at the center of the convoy.
The powder burst open at the top of the carriage box and sprinkled a large stretch of fine powder flashing green light.
Right after, two more arrows shot over.
The arrows seemed carved with magic inscriptions.
The instant they contacted the powder they gave off violent light, simultaneously activating the energy contained in the powder, like a discharge coil, raising dense and dazzling purple electric sparks.
This mass of lightning bloomed like fireworks and vanished in an instant.
But everyone saw it clearly.
They all felt a wave of shock.
Though unclear what exactly had happened, they all at the first moment drew weapons and shields.
Hizjo and the three highland horses all twitched and collapsed.
But Eve in the carriage box received no harm at all.
It looked related to the dust that had stained.
The warhorses all gathered around the carriage box.
Bowenros recited a stretch of spell and raised a pale-yellow counter barrier.
A whistle sounded in the distant mountains.
The grass rustled.
Golusido was the first to discover the enemy.
He raised the bow in his hands and loosed an arrow in an instant, then saw that blurred human silhouette advancing bent over topple to the ground.
Thus the remaining bandits bent their waists even lower.
“Don’t show your head,” Bowenros said to Eve, who had stuck her head out of the carriage box.
But he regretted it the moment he finished speaking.
He felt his tone was a little disrespectful, so he added, “My lord, we can handle it.”
An arrow struck the barrier, giving a crisp ding, then broke into several sections and fell to the ground.
The situation fell into a deadlock.
Famler used his clothes to beat at coachman Hizjo’s body, scattering the crystal powder on him that still gave off purple electric arcs.
Hizjo slowly came to, glanced at the three horses lying every which way, and frowned deeply with worry.
After a few more minutes, a mass of white light struck the barrier.
That white light was not fast, yet its power was great.
The sound it made striking the barrier was deafening, making everyone’s hearts tremble.
When the second shot struck, the barrier had already dimmed until it was almost invisible.
“Watch out!” Bowenros saw the third shot of white light already revealing its form through the dense fog.
Yet what no one expected was that at such a critical juncture the barrier actually shattered ahead of time—clearly the other party had used the method of making a noise in the east and striking in the west.
When everyone placed their gazes on the third shot of white light, other attacks from the back pierced the barrier.
Only then did everyone discover in terror that the flying white light had from the start aimed at the core figure in the team—Golusido.
That white light did not look fast, yet it was not something that could be easily dodged.
Golusido watched that white light gradually enlarge before his eyes, then burst open less than a meter in front of him, giving off a heat flow that could scorch everything.
At this moment of imminent crisis, Bowenros stretched out a hand and yanked him off the horse, then raised a small one-way barrier in front.
The two were closest to each other and rolled off the horses at the same time.
The white light impacted the barrier and sent both of them flying out together with the barrier.
Golusido, who bore the brunt, fainted on the spot from the shock of the explosion.
Bowenros was also injured, sitting on the ground covered in blood, but his consciousness was still fairly clear.
The two men’s horses had long since been blasted until their hides split and flesh tore.
Golusido’s one could not even be recognized in shape.
A nauseating scorched aroma and fishy stench filled the air.
After this strike the bandits began to charge.
Some were on foot, some rode horses.
There were actually twenty or thirty of them.
In no time the guards met them at close quarters and began true combat.
Eve huddled in the carriage box, afraid to the extreme in her heart.
A bandit riding a horse raised the crossbow-gun in his hands and shot a three-bladed hook claw with a rope.
That hook claw pierced the carriage boards and fixed itself there.
The bandit tied the rope to the saddle and dragged in the opposite direction.
There was only a crack, and a hole was torn in the side board of the carriage box.
Eve saw the slaughter scene outside and shivered.
Seeing the situation was bad, she had no choice but to jump down from the damaged carriage box and run toward Bowenros.
Although Bowenros was injured, he was still fighting the bandits.
But she had not run far when a galloping white horse actually charged straight at her.
This scene was like crossing the road and meeting a speeding drunk driver.
The other party’s way of running now left, now right frightened Eve so she could neither advance nor retreat.
Her whole person stood stupidly in place.
The one riding was Yuche.
Seeing the target actually stand motionless in place, a smile floated at the corners of his mouth.
He spurred the horse past the girl in the white cloak, bent at the waist, stretched out a hand, and gathered her into his arms, leaving satisfied.
Bowenros had just turned his head when he saw this scene of Yuche carrying Eve off.
At this moment Eve and Bowenros were both looking at each other.
They widened their eyes at the same time.
Almost fire was about to shoot from Bowenros’s gaze, while Eve saw that a bandit behind him had already raised a blade.
“Watch out—” Eve shouted toward Bowenros.
Yet when she shouted this sentence, she discovered the situation was a little off.
The mountain hollow suddenly became so silent that no sound could be heard.
Everyone froze on the spot.
Eve could even see splashing blood and floating strands of hair.
Everything was still.
She broke free from the bandit’s arm and jumped down from the horse.
She could see the dirt raised by the white horse’s four hooves suspended in midair.
The scene was extremely eerie.
Eve’s heart beat fiercely.
She wanted to go over to Bowenros’s side and look, but the moment she turned her head she saw a red object drifting over from the distant fog, frightening her into trembling twice as if shocked.
“Don’t be afraid.” That object drifted and drifted, then stopped on Eve’s shoulder.
Only then did she discover it was a bird, a beautiful red bird.
“Are you a bird? How how how can you talk?” Eve’s body was a little stiff.
She could feel the sensation of the bird’s claws gripping the cloak.
“Why shouldn’t I be able to talk?” The bird tilted its head and looked at her. “What’s your name, little girl?”
“E… Eve, Eve Harvin.” Eve answered stammering.
“Whoa, Harvin!” The bird’s tone seemed to carry a laugh. “Harvin said he can’t go to Klijin, so he entrusted me to look after you. I’m called Jixian. Very glad to meet you.”
The fire bird Jixian spread its wings, tilted its neck, pecked a feather from its wing, and handed it to Eve.
“Here, this is a token of affection. Only this one. Keep it carefully.” That bird could speak the same even with something in its mouth, which showed how different it was.
Eve took the feather.
When she gripped her fingers on the quill, that red feather turned into a slender and sharp red dagger.
“If I didn’t act, the shout just now would have been heard by them. That would affect your image quite a bit,” Jixian said.
“You did all this? This counts as stopping time?” Although Eve had already guessed, she was still very surprised at it.
“That’s right. And I’ve been observing you for a long time. Roughly after crossing the Tianxia River I’ve been following you.” Jixian shook its feathers. “First settle the matter before our eyes. I also can’t maintain this state forever.”
“How to settle it?” Eve looked at the dagger in her hand, then looked toward Jixian. “You… you want me to finish them?”
“How can you be so cruel!” Jixian fanned its wings and hopped straight onto Eve’s head, gripping until her scalp hurt a little.
“I’ll teach you—you aim at their thighs and stab. One stab per person, everyone gets a share. Start with this fellow first.” It pointed at Yuche on the white horse’s back.
“You’re clutching their little lives in your hand, holding the power of life and death. And this thing called power, the more you use it the less it’s worth. So first you have to let them know you have this power, and you have to show it off in front of them, yet not truly use it. You apply a little punishment and can make them fear. Only then can you embody that lofty posture of yours.”
Jixian chattered on without stop.
“Besides, to maintain that well-behaved and lovable image of yours in your companions’ hearts, you likewise shouldn’t kill people.”
“I never thought of killing people to begin with. I’ve never killed anyone…” Eve muttered in a small voice.
She walked in front of the mounted Yuche, looked up at his face, and sighed in her heart.
This fellow really is handsome enough. How did he become a bandit?
“How about we don’t stab him?” For some reason, even knowing the other party was unable to resist, she still felt a little fearful.
Part of Yuche’s personal aura originated from his fierce essence as a bandit, and another part was the same-kind exclusivity brought by that incomparably handsome appearance—in Eve’s subconscious that was deterrence from an excellent same-sex creature.
“Then switch to another.” Jixian did not insist.
It jumped onto Yuche’s head and pointed to the left. “Then start with this one.”
Following the direction it pointed, Eve walked over carrying the dagger.
This person had a head of dirty brown curly hair, his mouth wide open as if about to eat people.
His right hand held an iron sword dragging behind him in a charging pose.
Judging by line of sight his target was Hizjo and Famler.
Eve squatted down to observe his thigh.
This person wore a pair of leather black pants, over which was also a layer of rust-spotted chain mail.
Jixian also flapped its wings over and stood on Eve’s bent rear shoulder.
Its fluffy breast pressed against the back of her head.
It stretched its head long to look at that man as well.
“I suggest striking here.”
Jixian spread its wings, reached over Eve’s head, and pressed the feathers at its wingtip against the man’s extended right thigh.
“This way it can effectively stop his movement and also not make him lose too much blood and die.” Jixian paused, then added, “At least he won’t die before your eyes.”
Eve was like a good student listening seriously to class.
Every sentence Jixian said she nodded once.
At a certain moment she felt a burst of pain from the top of her head, painful enough that her nose stung a little.
“Don’t move around.” Jixian gave a warning.
Only then did Eve realize that just now Jixian had been pecking her with its sharp beak.
She wanted to reach out and lift the chain mail on the man’s leg, but was stopped by Jixian. “No need. Just strike directly.”
So Eve raised the red dagger in her hand, aimed at the spot Jixian indicated, and stabbed down with stiff movements.
This dagger was truly too sharp.
From cutting through metal to sinking into flesh there was almost no resistance.
When Eve came back to herself only the hilt remained outside—she had lived so many years and this was still the first time she had stabbed someone with a knife.
In her heart she could not help feeling a little discomfort.
Looking at the place the dagger had stabbed down, it was as if her own leg hurt along with it.
“That’s enough,” Jixian said.
It stroked Eve’s head with its wing and comforted, “You’ll get used to it.”
Eve pulled out the dagger.
Not a drop of blood seeped out, as if nothing had happened just now.
Besides tension and fear in her heart, there were actually also curiosity and excitement hidden within.
This feeling was like being instigated by someone else to do a bad thing.
Very stimulating.
Soon, except for the several already killed or heavily wounded by the guards, the remaining twenty-odd bandits all received one stab from Eve, including the several hidden in distant large trees and behind piles of rock, all picked out one by one by Jixian.
The place each bandit was wounded was exactly the same.
Eve pushed all the several bandits fighting the guards down onto the ground to avoid unexpected situations.
After finishing all this, Jixian flew back to the original position and stopped on that white horse’s head.
“All right, only this fellow left,” Jixian said.
Strangely enough, Eve had walked this circle and stabbed all the bandits through.
When she turned back to look at Yuche again she felt this fellow did not seem so frightening anymore.
He had a good skin, but in the end he could not avoid taking a stab either.
She did not hesitate.
This time she knew where to strike without Jixian’s direction.
After she finished this stab she casually yanked Yuche off the horse, counting as revenge for just now.
“Good.”
Jixian lifted its head and said, “It’s not early anymore. Look, the sun’s out.”
Eve looked in the direction of Jixian’s line of sight.
What she saw was a layer of glittering water surface in the air, as if this stretch of area they occupied were sunk underwater.
Jixian used its ability to freeze time in this region, yet time outside still flowed.
Rain from the outside world continuously fell into the time-frozen region and gradually accumulated in the air into a layer of water film.
One person and one bird had tossed about so long that by now the sky had already cleared.
“The next matters are simple. Leave the mess to that kid over there.”
The bird lifted its head, its sharp beak pointing toward Bowenros. “You find a place to stand.”
“Stand where?”
“Here.” It pointed at a stretch of green grass in the open wild.
“It can let others notice you at first glance, yet not be overly conspicuous.”
So Eve walked over.
“Have your back to the sun, facing the direction of the convoy. Right, this angle. This can weaken your facial expression and give you a religious kind of mystery. Separate your legs a little, straighten your waist, and that twist braid, undo it quickly.”
Eve smiled bitterly and had no choice but to follow its instructions.
Jixian gave a satisfied cry, then said, “All right, I’ll go first. If something comes up, call my name. Say it. What’s my name?”
“Ji… Jixian.”
“Good.” Seeing the preparations were about ready, this bird leaped up and flew vertically toward the sky above Eve’s head, like a mass of red flame, evaporating that small sheet of rainwater stagnant in midair into a mass of white mist.
The next instant, the still space-time flowed again.
A downpour pressed toward the ground.
Except for Eve, everyone was soaked like drowned rats.
Sounds of falling from horses and tumbling came in succession.
The originally still world suddenly became a chaotic mess.
The rain no longer fell.
Sunlight passed through the clouds and fog, and people’s vision also opened much more.
Bowenros only felt his consciousness a stretch of haze.
The scene of seeing Eve carried off had already reversed.
That golden-haired man riding the white horse at this moment fell from the horse and rolled on the ground.
At the same time from behind came a plop.
Bowenros looked back and saw only that the two bandits who had just been fighting him both lay on the ground, covering their thighs and groaning through clenched teeth.
Bowenros was very bewildered by such a scene.
He turned two circles in place a little at a loss, yet discovered there were already no enemies around him who could fight.
When he looked up forward again and wiped a handful of rainwater from his face, he saw a petite figure standing in the hazy fog.
She wore a white fluffy cloak, black long hair loose and hanging straight to her waist.
The sun passed through a gap in the clouds and sprinkled miraculous radiance that fell on her alone.