North of Sunfield City, out in the wild countryside.
Just one mountain separates the southern part of the Central Plains from the bitter lands of the Southern Wasteland, but that endless range blocks the boundless desert sands. Here, water is plentiful, vegetation is lush, and with sunshine all year round, forests and rivers are everywhere.
Under the midday sun, a carriage was fleeing for dear life. Two horses pulled the small cart; it wasn’t heavy, but these horses were desert types—short legs, big bellies, great endurance but not much speed. The runaway carriage startled flocks of birds along the way, and soon the sound of pounding hooves came from behind, catching up in the blink of an eye.
The pursuers rode tall, strong horses—more than a dozen burly men in tough gear, all on fine steeds. Plus, these rough-and-tumble types knew a thing or two about lightness skills, so they moved fast as lightning.
"They’re just ahead! We gotta be the first to grab ‘em—don’t get sloppy! That fool’s got something weird about him. If things get hairy, chop off his hands and feet first!" barked the leader, and the whole crew surrounded the carriage like pros. With a swish, iron chains with hooks flew through the air, latching onto the cart tight.
"Break it!" came the order, and with a heave, the crew tore the sturdy wooden cart to pieces. Splinters flew as four or five men leaped from their saddles, swinging machetes at the cart. But when the dust settled, they found nothing inside—completely empty.
One of the knife-wielders hopped onto the front of the cart, looked around, then reached over and plucked a few bugs off the horses’ rumps. "Bloodsucking horseflies—wings ripped off!" Turns out, these bugs had been biting the horses all along, which explained their frantic sprint.
"Damn, slick move—must’ve been the Blind Elder." The leader took the bug and inspected it; the handiwork was clean, a real pro job. "Can’t believe that fool’s tagging along with the Blind Elder. Wild. Quick, double back and keep searching! No way they didn’t leave a trace!"
The burly crew spun their horses around to head back, but then another wave of hoofbeats thundered from behind. This time, more than thirty people showed up in a flash, blocking their way.
"Hahaha, looks like I managed to block you off in the end!" The leader on the other side pointed at them. "Heard you’re chasing after some treasure. Rules of the road say we split it fifty-fifty. Us Arakawa Thirty-Six Bandits can’t walk away empty-handed, right?"
"Hmph, what a bunch of troublesome bumpkins." Their own leader frowned, feeling unlucky—no way they’d get out easy, since the other side definitely wouldn’t let them pass. He was anxious; every delay meant those other folks could get farther away, and that’d mess up everything.
"Who is that Blind Elder, anyway? Three crews have already chased the wrong target. Must be an old hand at this game."
While the two groups squared off, something unbelievable was happening far from Sunfield City, out in the wilds.
There, a Blind Elder was stripping a woman completely naked, tossing her into a spring and groping her all over, then dumping a pile of nasty bugs onto her body.
It looked like something out of a weird art film, but honestly, it wasn’t as sleazy as you’d think. The folks involved were surprisingly chill about it.
"Don’t worry, these blue-spotted slugs wipe out any weird smells. Lots of folks track by scent, but this slug slime covers it up." The Blind Elder spoke up, voice crisp and pleasant—turns out, it was that girl who snuck into the Peculiar Slaves camp at night.
The woman being washed wasn’t all that scared, either. Ever since she came out of that vase, she’d been kind of spaced out—like someone who just got told they don’t have cancer after all. All sorts of wild emotions crashed inside her, leaving her a little dazed.
But having slugs crawling all over her snapped her right back. After so long trapped, her limbs were numb and useless, but everything else was way more sensitive. And of course, a couple slugs just had to crawl to the weirdest places, squirming around and making her blush—like she’d been switched on, glowing in a way she never did inside that vase.
Being alive feels pretty darn good.
"Thank you, miss—I really don’t know how to thank you." She looked gratefully at the Blind Elder. "My name’s Rachel Luo. Someday I’ll... uh..." She was about to promise something in return, but realized she didn’t have much to offer; for now, she could only accept help.
"Rachel Luo? That’s a lovely name." The Blind Elder pulled a slug out of her belly button and dropped it on her leg, then tossed another one off her thigh and onto her chest, flashing a silver-toothed grin. "Don’t be so formal. Folks who don’t treat people like people deserve whatever’s coming. If I see it, I’m not gonna just walk away. Honestly, I was just bored and came to check out the commotion—never thought I’d run into something like this. What a headache."
The Blind Elder picked up a stone and skipped it across the water, full of youthful energy.
Rachel Luo hesitated, then asked, "Aren’t you in danger? I doubt those people will just let it go."
"Eh, what’s there to be scared of? Compared to the folks really out to kill me, the ones at the auction are just big dummies." The Blind Elder pulled out a bunch of bottles and jars from who-knows-where, washing her face with some potion and mumbling, "Honestly, plenty of people want me dead—those guys are way worse. So don’t rush to thank me; sticking with me might be even riskier."
She talked while busily fussing over something by the water. Rachel Luo eyed all those bottles and jars—the blue-spotted slugs had come out of one of them, and she’d seen even weirder stuff earlier. "You sure have a lot of odd things on you."
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"Of course! I’ve been on the run and dodging killers since I was four. It’s been eleven years now. I’m lousy at martial arts, don’t have much inner strength, so if I didn’t pick up some weird tricks, how would I survive?" By now, the Blind Elder had finished tidying up. She turned and flashed a gap-toothed smile at Rachel Luo, whose eyes went wide. She’d always thought she was a beauty, the center of attention, but in that moment, she understood what it meant to truly dazzle with a smile.
It wasn’t a seductive smile, but bright as springtime—wild and free, like a swallow darting across the sky.
On the run since age four, this girl’s been through plenty. She’d picked up all sorts of weird tricks, so she must’ve seen a lot. Yet for all that, she still risked her neck to help others, again and again. Rachel Luo suddenly felt her own suffering wasn’t so unbearable—seeing that bright, springlike smile, her heart felt lighter, too.
What a magical smile.
"Girl, you’re a real stunner," Rachel Luo couldn’t help but praise. "Back home, you’d be called a goddess for sure."
"Haha, you’re probably right." The girl wasn’t shy at all, puffed out her little chest and said cheerfully, "Pretty much the only thing my mom left me. She passed away two months ago, so now I’m on my own." She didn’t look too sad, just sighed and started picking off the slugs. "Alright, that’s enough—my turn now."
With that, she peeled off her outer coat. That old, ragged blind-girl outfit turned into a cute little top in no time—super handy for a quick change.
It’s summer, so she wasn’t wearing much to begin with—just one layer left. Before untying it, she glanced back warily and called out, "Hey, Fool, I’m about to change! No peeking over here!"
Rachel Luo found it hilarious—who talks like that? Imagine in modern times, a girl telling a guy, 'I’m going to shower, so you better not come in~'—it’s basically an invitation. Otherwise, why say it at all?
But here, maybe it was necessary—since that Fool was sitting out on the grass.
When he carried Rachel Luo off earlier, he didn’t seem so dumb—almost like he’d gone from a fool to a half-wit. But once he got on the carriage, he went right back to being a big blockhead. That flash of tiger-like swagger was probably just an illusion, gone in a blink. Now he just followed along, blank-faced, maybe thinking, maybe not—basically a block of wood that could move.
In some ways, that was a big step up—though sometimes a real pain, since he’d stick to you like glue. It’d taken ages to get him to sit and stay put, so now the girl had to add another warning just in case.
But it backfired—just as she spoke, the Fool tilted his head and looked over, suddenly seeming a little less clueless. The girl instantly clutched her chest and squatted down, on guard. "What’re you trying to do?"
But the Fool just picked up a stone from the ground and—whoosh—skipped it across the pond, sending it bouncing all the way to the far shore. Something about the girl’s earlier stone-skipping must’ve inspired him; for a moment, a wistful smile flickered in his eyes.
"Whoa, that’s far! You’re a stone-skipping champ!" The girl gawked, then came up with a safe solution. She dashed over, tossed her coat over the Fool’s head, and clapped her hands. "There we go." Back at the pond, she stripped down and dove right in.
"Ahh, a cold bath on a hot day—awesome!" Like a mermaid, she swam a lap, popped her head out, grabbed a slug, and scrubbed herself down like it was soap, not bothering to cover up. "Let’s all get cleaned up, then I’ll give you guys a disguise—think anyone’ll catch us then?"
She seemed so natural, Rachel Luo hesitated, then finally asked, "Aren’t you worried you might be helping the wrong people?"
"Sure, but I gotta help anyway—I can’t stand animal behavior. But you two definitely aren’t bad folks; I can tell at a glance, been in the game over ten years." The girl sounded totally confident. "You two must be locals—at least from the same area. But you don’t know the story those folks want, or even what kind of story it is, or what it’s about."
"Heh... if only I’d had your instincts back then." Rachel Luo gave a wry smile, lost in thought. Then curiosity got the better of her: "How can you tell?"
"If you knew what kind of story it was—well, the Fool probably doesn’t count, but you for sure wouldn’t act like this. You’d be a nervous wreck. It’s a huge story, hasn’t spread wide yet, but once it does, nine out of ten folks in the martial world would do anything to hear it and get whatever’s in it." The girl grinned, showing her little canine tooth, eyes suddenly dangerous.
Rachel Luo froze, then her years of experience kicked in and she caught on, face changing slightly. "So now, all those people at the auction think we know the story, so..."
"So maybe someone’s already hiding in the jungle, waiting to snatch us. Once they get us, they’ll do whatever it takes to make us talk—and trust me, those methods aren’t pretty." The girl leaned in with a spooky story-teller’s look, then broke into a cheerful grin. "Just kidding! No way anyone’s tracking me that easy. Stick with me, you’ll be fine!"
She was still laughing when suddenly she stiffened, her giggle cut off in an instant.
Rachel Luo knew something was wrong and whipped her head around—only to see the girl staring at none other than the Fool. The Fool hadn’t moved, still sitting there with a coat over his head, looking a bit silly. But he seemed a little taller than before—because there was a person under him, a black-robed figure who’d been at the auction.
Maybe he’d been hiding out, but at some point, he ended up under the Fool’s butt, now lying there with eyes rolled back and frothing at the mouth, totally out cold.
Rachel Luo stared at the black-robed guy. "Miss, I think it’s time we got moving. Fate brought us together—what’s your name?"
The girl was dazed too, but her attention was all on the Fool. "Me? I ditched my real name. Now I go by Fiona Fang."