Chapter 82 – The Eternal Veil (IV)

Chapter 82

The Eternal Veil (IV)

As soon as I noticed Xi Zhao and the young woman running away, I realized that something was wrong–and thus the worries began.

I’m like that on occasion, you know? Not generally anxiety-prone, but there were occasional bouts in my life when I’d get inside my head just a twinge too deep and find the rowing storm inside I had no business facing.

This time… well, it wasn’t that bad. Them running meant that there was something quite off with the town, but I wasn’t truly worried about anyone–in part because Long Tao and Hua were here, but mostly because I had no doubt in my mind that Elder Qin was monitoring everything silently and would have interfered if he saw something too off.

Hua, too, would never allow any harm to come to Dai Xiu, and now that he could unleash part of his strength (whatever that entailed), he’d be the first to rush to the town and decimate it if need be.

So, I wasn’t so much worried for their safety as I was for the outcome of this fabricated little mission.

It was about five or so minutes later that the two appeared in front of me, both short of breath. Xi Zhao had a rather panicked and worried expression in his eyes, while Cao Qiu was… well, there was pure, raw shock, but it didn’t seem to be aimed at the town or whatever happened to them, but rather at the boy next to her.

“Master!” Xi Zhao quickly greeted.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“No, no,” he said. “We are both fine.”

“Tell me what happened.”

And so he did–he told me about the strange man coming out, inviting them in, Xi Zhao recognizing his voice, him attacking the two of them, and then freakin’ molting like a freakin’ snake. Yeah, no wonder they bolted–I’d have bolted too if some strange dude started laughing as he molted.

Jesus.

Before I could even offer a word of comfort, I spotted two silhouettes emerge from the tall grass–Long Tao and Dai Xiu were back, too, as though the two groups had coordinated it beforehand.

He didn’t seem surprised to see the other two, glanced momentarily toward Elder Qin, and then spoke toward me.

“We’re back, Master.”

“You’re both safe, that’s good,” I said. “Did you manage to see anything?”

“It was strange,” he said. “The streets were full of people, but they all seemed half-comatose. Some were dead, some were on the cusp.”

“Any sign of what caused it?”

“I sensed some strange energy moving toward the big, central pavilion,” he said. “Whatever it is, it’s located in there.”

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“Oh.”

“I think we should be fine just going through the front doors.”

“… what?” It wasn’t me who suddenly asked the question but rather Cao Qiu. “Are you insane?!”

“Hm? What’s wrong with you?” Long Tao glanced at her, frowning slightly.