Chapter Seven: Speculation

The Wan Family Village was ablaze with light, torches illuminating every corner. Strips of white cloth hung from the village gate, and bold black characters flickered in and out of sight as the cloth trembled. Four guards stood by the entrance, their heads wrapped in white cloth and bodies clad in coarse mourning garb. Within the village, numerous villagers patrolled back and forth, torches in hand.

After a brief pause at the entrance, Lei Yan strode purposefully toward the village. Traveling alone did have its inconveniences; foremost among them was the lack of information. Wan Family Village would have the latest news, and by asking the right questions, he could gather the details he needed and even inspect the wounds of the victims to deduce the nature of the threat. Furthermore, since all the disappearances had occurred within the village, he could stay put and wait for the culprit to reveal itself.

“Who goes there?” The guards, their nerves frayed from the recent days, shouted upon seeing a figure approach. At night, their vigilance was even greater—the moment they spotted someone, their weapons were raised and pointed at the stranger.

“Relax, friends! I’ve heard of the demon plaguing your village and have come specifically to investigate,” Lei Yan replied with an easy smile.

Many warriors had come here over the past two days, so the guards relaxed and opened the gate. Just then, several people emerged from within to greet him, led by a white-haired elder.

“Sir, this way, please!” The elder’s tone was respectful, though he made no attempt to hide the grief etched across his face. As they walked, he explained, “Wan Family Village has suffered calamity after calamity of late. All our hopes rest with heroes such as yourself. Just last night, one of our people saw a monster with a long shadow. We beg you and the other experts to rid us of this scourge tonight!”

“Rest assured,” Lei Yan said, following behind to offer comfort.

Soon, the elder led Lei Yan to the village’s training grounds—a clearing slightly smaller than the one in Ba’er Village, but now filled with more than a hundred people. In these troubled times, many warriors with passionate hearts sought out adventures and the tempering of life and death. Such strange occurrences always drew their interest. Of course, there were also those who, driven by greed, hoped to profit from the village’s misfortune. They, too, would not let this opportunity slip by.

Lei Yan swept his gaze across the crowd. Many people in mourning clothes stood in disciplined rows around the perimeter, torches in hand, while the warriors were scattered, each staking out a solitary position, betraying little camaraderie. Among strangers, wariness was the norm. Lei Yan’s supernatural senses probed the crowd—only three were innate-level warriors; the rest were merely acquired-level.

As Lei Yan arrived, the warriors regarded him with open hostility, but he paid them no mind. He knew that, at this moment, strength lay in numbers—it would be unwise to tackle the problem alone. In other circumstances, Lei Yan would show no mercy, dispatching his enemies before they even realized the danger. Any threat to Lei Yan had to be eliminated in its cradle.

“Elder, may I examine the children who were attacked?” Lei Yan ignored the warriors and turned to the white-haired elder. Noting the elder’s hesitation, Lei Yan smiled and added, “I merely wish to study the wounds and determine what kind of beast we’re facing.”

The elder pondered for a moment, then nodded. “Very well, sir. Please follow me.”

Lei Yan trailed the elder into an abandoned thatched hut, now used to store the bodies. Rows of children’s corpses lay neatly on the ground, with several adults’ bodies near the door, all shrouded in straw mats.

“Sir, please,” the elder said, stepping aside.

Lei Yan went straight to the children. Lifting a mat, he revealed a blood-soaked corpse, perhaps six or seven years old. The child’s face was deathly pale, eyes wide open in terror and unease. A gaping wound had been carved into his chest, exposing bone and viscera beneath.

“The heart has been removed, and the incision is unnaturally clean, as if made by a sharp blade,” Lei Yan analyzed silently. He lifted another mat, finding a child with identical injuries. Each subsequent corpse showed the same pattern—no other clues presented themselves.

“If this were the work of a snake, how could the wounds be so precise?” Lei Yan’s brow furrowed.

The elder, watching Lei Yan’s expression, seemed uneasy. “Sir, is something amiss?”

“No, nothing,” Lei Yan replied, waving a hand. He moved to the adults, lifting the mat from a robust man’s body. Outwardly, the corpse bore no wounds, but the eyes were wide with the same terror and unrest. As Lei Yan was about to replace the mat, he noticed something dark nestled in the man’s hair. Instinctively, he parted the hair to find two blood clots. Beneath them were two small puncture wounds, side by side.

“These must be snake bites,” Lei Yan mused. “But the children’s wounds are different.”

“There’s certainly a snake involved, but what about the children’s hearts?” Lei Yan left the hut, deep in thought.

“Expert, have you found anything?” A flippant voice called out as Lei Yan returned to the training ground. A wiry youth hurried over. “Name’s Yuan Hou. Don’t bother with these others—they’re all useless. Not one could take me on alone. They’re here just to get themselves killed. So, what’s your name, brother?” Yuan Hou, it seemed, was naturally sociable, acting as if he and Lei Yan were old friends as he threw an arm around Lei Yan’s shoulders.

Those Yuan Hou pointed at glared daggers at him but dared not act, evidently intimidated. Lei Yan smiled. “Lei. And you—how did you know I was an expert?”

“Intuition. I trust my instincts,” Yuan Hou grinned. “You’re different from the rest. Most of these people have no skill, yet they’ve come to hunt a monster. They’re courting death. The shadow that appeared last night moved at lightning speed—every bit as fast as an innate-level warrior.”

“Oh? You can recognize an expert by instinct alone?” Lei Yan chuckled, regarding Yuan Hou with interest. Yuan Hou was one of the rare innate-level warriors here.

“Let’s not talk about that. Did you discover anything?” Yuan Hou asked with a smile.

“I suspect the monster is some kind of snake,” Lei Yan replied offhandedly. The evidence for a snake was strong, though the nature of the children’s wounds remained a mystery.

“Agreed. That shadow last night was almost certainly a snake—a very fast one. Its speed matches that of an ordinary innate warrior,” Yuan Hou replied thoughtfully.