Chapter 6: Pitch-black Night Shadows
The next day
“Get moving, lads.”
“Pack up all the things, don’t leave a single one behind.”
Just as dawn was breaking, shouts echoed through the merchant caravan’s camp, with several leaders urging members to pack and bundle the goods before loading them onto the horse carriages.
Originally, the merchant caravan led by Fanderxi was set to leave after two days, but considering the existence of that Crimson Giant Wolf, the caravan feared being attacked on the road, so they waited until the cavalry team returned to Three Towers Town before setting off together.
“Hurry up, hurry up, Lord Frien won’t wait for us. If we’re late, we won’t catch up.” Fanderxi came over at this moment to supervise and urge them on.
On the other side of the village, the cavalry team’s members had already gotten up and were gradually moving some of the wounded onto horse carriages, while Frien and the old village chief were discussing matters by the plaza.
“Old Man Pond, I’ll borrow these two horse carriages. Someone will send them back in a while.” He hadn’t brought any horse carriages when he came.
“No problem, but when you return, you’d better bring me ten sets of bow and arrow, plus some iron tongs traps. Fir Village is short on these right now.”
“Those things you mentioned aren’t cheap.” Frien shook his head.
“Even a white ash wood longbow costs 4 silver coins per set, plus arrows, probably 5 silver coins, ten sets would be 50 silver, and the iron tongs probably another 10 silver, that’s 60 silver total.”
“Apply to Baron Holin for it, say that if something happens to Fir Village, next year’s taxes will be hard to pay.” The old village chief leaned on his wooden staff and waved his hand.
With Baron Holin’s strength, overpowering Fir Village would be no problem at all, but this old village chief had high prestige in the area and was Baron Holin’s elder, a friend of the previous old Baron Holin, so unless necessary, the current Baron Holin wouldn’t fall out over such a small matter.
“Alright, got it.” Frien could only agree helplessly.
Around 7 in the morning, the prepared cavalry team and merchant caravan set off together, with a small number of villagers also traveling along, some heading to River Stone Town, others to Jiaoshi City.
In the convoy, Xilutiya and Talil sat in the carriage compartment. Today, Xilutiya wore a red-brown wool cloak with a hood that could be pulled up at any time, and underneath was a newly sewn cotton cloth dress. The cotton fabric material came from a gift by the merchant Fanderxi, though judging by how heartbroken he looked at the time, it must have cost a fortune.
In the Regas Duchy, wool material wasn’t expensive, about three times the price of flax, but cotton cloth was not cheap at all, roughly ten times that of flax cloth. This was because the duchy had plenty of forests and plains, with many villages raising cattle and sheep, so wool was abundant, while cotton cloth was imported from distant foreign countries, naturally commanding high prices.
The plain white silk dress that Xilutiya had originally worn was too precious and conspicuous, so it had been put away, now stored in the small wooden box she was traveling with.
Speaking of the small wooden box, it contained Xilutiya’s silk dress, short sword, hairband, and 3 silver leaf coins—that was all her possessions now.
For ordinary villagers in Fir Village, a month’s income was around 2-3 silver coins, while her 3 coins were rewards given by Frien for her care of the wounded.
Amid the jolting and turning of the wheels, shouts, and commands to the horses, the group drove out of the village and headed west along the road through the wilderness.
On the road.
Xilutiya leaned by the window, watching the distant scenery. There were vast undulating plains and grasslands here, but the distant mountains and forests were also clearly visible, with flocks of birds occasionally flying over the mountain forest, their calls echoing intermittently.
The road was bumpy, and the old-style horse carriage had little shock absorption, so on the road, whenever Xilutiya tried to sleep, she was constantly jolted awake and could only rest occasionally by leaning on the table in front of her.
Across from her, Talil was spirited the whole way, chatting with Xilutiya now and then about local interesting stories, occasionally pulling back the curtains to point outside and tell Xilutiya what places were where and what had happened there.
“See that big stone? Isn’t it abrupt, sticking out in the middle of all this flat ground?” At this moment, Talil started chattering again.
“That was specially quarried from the mountain by Baron Holin’s grandfather when he wanted to build a castle, but the horse carriage overturned halfway while transporting it. The accompanying scholar said it was an ominous sign, so the stone was left unused by the roadside, where it now serves as a useful landmark. Seeing it means River Stone Town isn’t far.”
Xilutiya looked toward the stone and noticed some blackened traces of firewood burning beneath it, guessing that travelers probably camped there overnight from time to time.
After that, the caravan continued onward, arriving at River Stone Town around 3 in the afternoon.
The sound of the river grew from distant to near. The town was surrounded by crude 3-meter-high stone walls, some overgrown with vines and moss. A few idle guards sat in wooden sheds on the walls, their gazes occasionally sweeping over the road and town gate below.
Captain Frien and Fanderxi were both old acquaintances in River Stone Town. After a simple greeting, the caravan entered the town. Compared to Fir Village, the houses here were much denser, many built along the streets, giving it a bit of a town-like appearance.
Arriving at the inn where they would stay, the group dismounted, planning to rest there for the night. It was still early before dark, but past River Stone Town, there were no good places to overnight.
“Let’s go down too.” Xilutiya pulled up the hood of her cloak to cover her striking silver hair, then got out of the carriage with Talil.
The horse carriage was parked in the inn backyard. People from the merchant caravan were busy back and forth—some unharnessing the horses, others pulling some cargo wagons to the marketplace to do a bit of small business before dark, and still others preparing to eat something and rest first.
The cavalry team members were all at the inn. Frien took out a bag of money and had the inn boss prepare food. At this moment, Xilutiya walked in, and he beckoned the two maidens over.
“How was the journey, Tiya?”
“Not bad, the scenery along the road was very fresh.” Tiya nodded.
Seeing she was in good condition, Frien nodded slightly. This child was much better than those pampered noble misses. He remembered the first time he escorted the second Miss Xindu on a long trip; she complained the whole way, giving him a headache.
“Rest well tonight.” He wasn’t talkative. After instructing her, he had Xilutiya go rest in the inn room first, and someone would bring food later.
Xilutiya agreed, but she wasn’t in a hurry to sleep right now and instead strolled around the town with Talil.
River Stone Town had about two thousand residents. The main street was paved with stone bricks, and there were brick houses along the streets. One could see many nearby villagers who had come to town to trade. The two walked less than a hundred meters before reaching the marketplace in town, enclosed by simple fences, with wooden sheds and stalls inside, and two local patrol team members lazily sitting by the doorway.
It was nearing evening now, and the marketplace had thinned out considerably. Xilutiya walked with light, slightly cheerful steps, browsing the various things here.
Talil walked behind her. She was quite familiar with the place and not particularly curious, already thinking about where to get something tasty for dinner.
Food in the village was very simple—just bread and pies from Aunt Moti, while others mostly ate wheat porridge and vegetable soup. Meat was rare, seasonings few, and the flavors especially monotonous.
This trip following Xilutiya to Jiaoshi City was probably her only chance in the past half year to eat things with different flavors.
Xilutiya curiously eyed the various goods on display: vegetables brought by nearby villagers, including common ones like White Wind Root, Purple Turnip, and Black Gravel Wheat, as well as local fruits like Ousang Fruit and Grape Seed Fruit. Ousang Fruit was similar to apples from her previous life but yellowish in color with irregular shapes and many small spots on the skin; Grape Seed Fruit resembled grapes, but with unusually large seeds, leaving only a thin layer of flesh on the surface.
There were also sellers of honey, beeswax, hemp rope, straw sandals, woven baskets, fruit jam, smoked sausage, animal fur, tree sap, and so on.
“The copper coins you use seem all different.” Xilutiya noticed that the copper coins in many people’s hands varied in size and shape.
“Yes, copper coins come in all sorts of styles, and many people don’t want to accept them.” Talil came back to her senses at this moment and explained to Xilutiya.
“Because nobles can mint copper coins too—some are shoddy, some poorly crafted, shapes all irregular. We call them rotten copper coins.”
“What about silver coins?” Xilutiya grew curious at this point.
“Only great nobles have the right to mint silver coins, and they supervise each other, since taxes are basically paid in silver coins or gold coins.”
“Gold coins?”
“Only the king can mint gold coins, with their family badge stamped on one side, representing their credibility and reputation. Even the highest authority in our Regas Duchy, the Duke, has no right to mint gold coins. The gold coins in circulation now all come from the distant Winter Kingdom.”
“It’s said that making gold coins is very troublesome, requiring alchemists and craftsmen to work together, engraving marks inside the gold coins to prevent counterfeiting.”
“I heard sister say there are even more precious special gold coins, but I forgot what exactly.”
After circling the marketplace, the two bought a few Ousang Fruits and a small bag of Grape Seed Fruit, then headed back to the inn.
Once their figures disappeared at the end of the street and entered the inn, a not particularly tall young man cautiously emerged from a corner by the street wall. He stared at the inn’s location for a long time before leaving.
Wool cloak, cotton cloth hem, delicate wrist—is she a noble…
;
Nightfall
After Xilutiya and Talil finished dinner, they sat in the room, with a wooden plate of washed fruit in front of them—the ones they had bought during the day.
“Whew, that bean paste stewed meat tonight was so delicious.” Talil lay on the bed, still rubbing her belly, savoring it.
Xilutiya sat at the table flipping through yellowed and tattered notices. These were ones they had found in the inn lobby upon returning, all long outdated.
‘Bounty notice, capture thief’ ‘Hunt Gale Vulture’ ‘Acquire superior timber’ ‘Seek brightly colored, heat-emitting flower on cliff’…
There was some text below the notices describing the situations and requirements.
Seeing Xilutiya not responding, Talil got up from the bed, walked over, and looked.
“These? Usually copied from guilds in Jiaoshi City and posted in nearby towns or villages to see if there’s any yield. Ah ha~” She yawned; looks like she was getting sleepy after eating her fill.
“If completed, can one get the bounty?” Xilutiya asked interestedly.
“Yes, but the things on the notices are things ordinary people can’t do.” She propped her hands behind her, tilting her head back to look at the ceiling.
Fair enough—if they were really that simple, there’d be no need for bounties.
“Thieves pop up every year, Gale Vultures appear in the years before Xu Feng Season, more dangerous than Ti Lang.”
“Timber—probably some noble or merchant wanting to make furniture.” As she spoke, she grew drowsy again.
“Brightly colored flower… brightly colored…” At this point, she had already climbed onto the bed, leaning against the pillow.
Seeing her about to fall asleep, Xilutiya found it somewhat amusing and didn’t ask more, instead covering Talil with a thin blanket.
After Talil fell asleep, the room quieted down. By candlelight, Xilutiya flipped through these old outdated notices a few more times, then stood up, closed the window prop, and prepared to sleep.
Night deepened gradually, the chirping of insects in the grassland growing more active, occasionally pierced by strange bat calls through the night sky, drowning in the town’s sound of flowing water.
……
In the latter half of the night, a sneaky figure cautiously felt his way to the inn backyard. He first carefully observed the position from a corner, then got moving.
Tonight’s moonlight was dim, the sky dark. The clothes he wore were especially deep in color, shrouding his entire body. If he stood still in the shadows, he was practically invisible.
In such a countryside town, candles were valuable—no one would keep them lit all night. The streets were pitch black; without a torch, one could barely see the ground underfoot.
Thanks to his familiarity with the terrain, this figure moved at no slow speed through the darkness, scaling the fence, using the hay stack in the backyard to climb to a slanted corner of the inn’s second floor. Then he steadied his breathing, hands slightly spread, footsteps as light as possible as he shuttled through the corridor.
He was thoroughly familiar with the inn’s layout and room distribution. He had no interest in rifling through the rooms of those poor travelers, and this time his target was the great fish he had spotted during the day.
She looked all delicate and tender, with a cotton cloth dress peeking from under the cloak hem, and a retainer following—definitely a noble. If he could steal that cotton cloth dress, he’d be set for the second half of the year. If he could snag other jewelry too, he wouldn’t need to work for the next few years.
The risk was high, but the reward absolutely worth it.
Tiptoeing to the target door, the figure first stopped to observe the surroundings, then took out a thin iron wire, carefully inserting it into the keyhole. The faint sound of the mechanism turning was inaudible in the night.
Finally, after a tense spell of picking the lock, accompanied by a slight click, the door lock loosened. Then, with excruciating slowness, he pushed the door open bit by bit, minimizing any possible noise.
At this moment, his heart was at its most tense. If all went smoothly, he should see two sleeping figures.
In the dim environment, his gaze swept around and found people lying on both beds. He breathed a sigh of relief, a surge of joy rising in his heart—looks like tonight was a sure thing.
Adjusting his breathing and footsteps again, he bent down and slowly entered the room, eyes searching for valuables, groping carefully.
Unfortunately, after scanning the entire room, disappointment rose in his heart again. There wasn’t much luggage here—not even a single box besides one.
Didn’t nobles travel with tons of stuff? Especially noble ladies, always bringing plenty of clothes and jewelry—they cared so much about appearances.
Calling themselves nobles with no money? Was it fake? His mood soured, and the patience he had built up began to dissipate.
After searching around, finding nothing of value, his gaze finally fell on the small wooden box by the bedside, where the red-brown cloak coat was still folded on top.
The coat would do, slightly improving his bad mood. He inched step by step toward the space between the two beds.
The short-haired girl sleeping soundly on the right was snoring softly, occasionally smacking her lips. The figure on the left was very quiet, with almost no audible breathing.
When his fingers touched the wool cloak, just as the fuzzy texture met his fingertips, a shock slammed into his lower back, kicking him into the bed frame opposite. The impact pain made him grunt involuntarily.
This massive jolt and impact woke Talil on the opposite side. She groggily sat up, then saw the strange black shadow in the room and shouted in shock.
“Ah—yayayaya—”
First one scream, then continuous shrieks, and by the end, the panic in her voice was gone, replaced by some kind of excitement.
Facing this piercing scream, the black shadow panicked. With no time to grab anything, he prepared to smash through the window and jump downstairs to escape.
Unfortunately, before he could act, the cloak was thrown over, covering his face—the very thing he wanted now an utter hindrance.
Frantically tearing off the cloak, he clambered onto the table nonstop, ready to flee, when an icy touch pressed against his neck, snapping him instantly alert.
Weapon, sword—he judged quickly, then froze his movements.
Stealing at worst meant a whipping, but dying here meant everything gone. As a habitual offender, he knew the difference all too well.
“No, no…” He hurriedly begged for mercy, backing away bit by bit from the window.
Only now did he clearly see who had attacked him. During the day, with the hood on and from a distance, he only knew it was probably a woman.
Now, in the dim room, that snow-white silver hair stood out strikingly, along with those lively eyes even in the darkness. The maiden held a sword in one hand, forcing him to retreat step by step.
So it’s just a little girl… His eyelids drooped, then his figure suddenly withdrew, dodging the swung sword blade.
Such speed—breathing technique?
Xilutiya stared intently at the black shadow before her, strange lights swirling in her eyes.
Then she pressed the attack, thrusting her sword blade straight at the shadow. This time she held nothing back—earlier, fearing she might kill him, she had restrained much of her strength and speed.
Strangely, this thrust from Xilutiya didn’t hit the target as intended, as if stabbing into air. This difference in feedback surprised her a second time.
After these days of practice, she was confident in her sword technique’s precision. Perhaps her strength couldn’t match robust adults, but her accuracy, speed, and skill surpassed many.
Yet the opponent had dodged in such a bizarre way. By now, six seconds had passed since Talil’s scream; others in the inn had heard, some getting up to check and coming out.
Even if Captain Frien arrived, it would take at least 15 more seconds. The man counted silently in his mind, then quickly dodged to a corner on the other side of the room, drawing the short blade from his waist.
15 seconds—plenty to deal with a little girl like this.
The black shadow charged at the silver-haired maiden again, his swinging short blade hard to detect in the dimness.
“Clang—” A crisp metallic clash rang out in the darkness.
Indeed, in such an environment, ordinary people couldn’t see clearly, but this silver-haired maiden was no ordinary person.
With Discernment Eyes, she could clearly see that glint of cold metal even in the dark. In the next ten seconds, the two clashed several times, the crisp sounds of sword blades meeting especially clear in the night.
Noisy footsteps and shouts came from downstairs and the corridor outside. These developments made the black shadow increasingly anxious; his movements grew reckless, eyes even flashing with savage malice.
I didn’t want to do this. He muttered hatefully to himself, then twisted his stance, blood circulating rapidly through his body, granting his muscles greater power, and he burst forward at astonishing speed toward the silver-haired maiden again.
Facing the suddenly ferocious opponent, the maiden’s eyes remained calm, as if already in a state of deep focus. Her figure spun, the short sword in her hand tracing a beautiful, perfect arc in the darkness like a new moon flashing, slashing onto the fiercely striking short blade.
Sparks and shattered iron fragments burst in the night. The black shadow felt his palm go numb as the short blade was knocked flying from his hand. At that moment, the sharp short sword struck again, piercing straight through his shoulder bone. The cold iron blade entering his body filled him with utter fear.
“No, no, please.” He knelt on the ground, hands pressed to the floor, voice panicked as he begged.
This time, Xilutiya didn’t let him off easily. She withdrew the sword and pressed it to his neck again, but now with the tip, still dripping blood.
Viscous blood droplets trickled down his neck into his chest. This strange sensation made him acutely feel his life hanging by a thread, liable to snap at any moment.
He was truly afraid now, no longer attempting resistance.
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