There was no time to change disguises or tidy up. Fiona Fang threw on her clothes, wrapped a light veil around the immobilized Rachel Luo, and rushed over. Slipping on a pair of deerskin gloves, she patted down the black-robed man and immediately pulled out a bamboo tube. "Firework flare—he's a scout. Fool, where did this guy come from?"
The Fool didn't say a word—he just pointed to the nearby thicket.
Fiona Fang cautiously crept in that direction, then came running back a moment later, looking like she'd seen a ghost. "The closest tracks are more than twenty zhang away—how did you even spot him?"
The Fool's reply was as concise as ever: "Heard."
"Heard?" Fiona's eyes went wide. She pictured it in her head: the black-robed guy sneakily creeping up to twenty zhang away, then The Fool's ears twitching, him strolling over, subduing the guy, and dragging him back to sit on like a stool. The whole thing took less time than her bath—and all without a sound, with a shirt still draped over his head...
This Fool... is kind of amazing, huh?
Rachel Luo sensed trouble. "Miss Fang, is it dangerous?"
"We're okay for now. That thing's just an 'eye' for finding people—the main group isn't here yet. Eye's been blinded, so we're safe for a bit. But who are these people? How did they track me down?" Fiona Fang paused, then said crisply, "Fool, you did great, but next time, tell me right away if something like this happens."
The Fool raised his hand and pointed again in that direction. "Someone's coming—twenty-eight of them."
"Crap," Fiona Fang's face changed. "We've run into experts—it's a 'Net Eye'!"