Seer looked away first. He rolled his eyes and turned his back on Jin Yu.
“You’re an ungrateful bastard. I saved your bastard life.” he criticized, sounding like a father disappointed in his son.
Jin Yu’s brow twitched at the cuss word.
“Thanks, but that doesn’t mean you can follow me. I’ll solve my problems myself.” he said seriously and turned to phase away again.
Excited, Seer quickly turned back and slung an arm over Jin Yu’s shoulder.
“So now you’re grateful and not a bastard?” He grinned from ear to ear, like a child finally given his favorite candy.
Jin Yu’s expression turned dubious.
Isn’t he being way too playful for someone this powerful?
He’s definitely pretending.
Pretend all you want. My system’s always here to snitch on you.
He gave Seer another look before slapping his arm off and phasing away again.
And again... Seer appeared right beside him.
“Stop wasting your Qi. The village’s already burned. Let’s just use our horses.” Seer said, casually picking a leaf from a branch beside him.
As if something clicked, Jin Yu froze in his tracks. His voice dropped into a mutter.
“My stallion…”
He remembered the chaos he’d caused earlier.
Damn it!
I didn’t keep my horse before I did that.
“That’s true. You almost killed them,” Seer added with a tsk. “Especially my precious little one.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
With a flick of his wrist, elegant and smooth, two horses appeared before them. One black, one white.
“You saved them?” Jin Yu’s expression lightened as he walked up to his stallion and caressed its mane. The horse snorted in acknowledgement.
“You’re welcome.”
Seer said with a smile.
-----
The once lively village now lay in complete ruin.
Ash and smoke hung in the air like a thick veil, stinging Jin Yu’s eyes as he rode past the charred remains of the entrance gate. The wind carried the faint smell of blood and burnt wood. Sharp, acrid, and unsettling.
What used to be homes were now blackened skeletons of wood and stone. Roof beams had collapsed inward, and furniture was reduced to indistinguishable lumps beneath layers of ash. Everything was scorched.
Jin Yu dismounted in silence. His boots crunched softly on the debris-littered ground as he walked forward, eyes filled with remorse.
It took a while for him to talk.
“This wasn’t done in a frenzy,” he muttered, scanning the destruction. “It was systematic.”
Seer crouched beside what looked like a shattered cooking pot half-buried in ash. “Yeah, it's too clean. No bodies. No survivors. Just... fire.”
Jin Yu nodded slowly, stepping past a fallen wooden pillar. “It doesn't look like just an attack. They erased the village.”
He stopped by a bloodstained spot near what remained of a home’s foundation. There were long and uneven drag marks.
It looked like something had been pulled... no, someone.
“The Children” he said under his breath. “They took them alive.”
Seer stood, brushing off soot from his robe. “Which means they weren’t the main target. They were... collected.”
Jin Yu’s eyes narrowed in quiet Fury. “Then who the hell wanted them? And why burn the village after?”
Seer tilted his head. “To silence witnesses? Or maybe… to send a message.”
Jin Yu crouched near the center of the village, where the well had collapsed inward. He touched the edge, it was burnt, but not cracked. A fine line of black powder was scattered around it.
“Fire-starting compound,” he said. “it looks refined and controlled.”
He looked back at Seer. “This wasn’t some rogue group. This was professional.”
Seer clicked his tongue, thoughtful. “Probably an organization. And not a small one. But the kind that moves like a shadow.”
A beat of silence passed between them.
Jin Yu’s hand curled into a fist. “I thought I was dealing with bandits. Now I’m not even sure if this was about the kids... or me.”
Seer glanced sideways at him, but said nothing.
Then he muttered, “We need to find out who issued that assassination order.”
“And why they’re cleaning up villages along the way.” Jin Yu added.
Their eyes met. The lightness from earlier was gone.
Jin Yu took out the map and the folded slip of paper tucked behind it. He unfolded both, eyes narrowing as he studied the paper again.
What could I have missed?
Active Retrieval – 1 Subject
Disposition – Pending
Bounty Tier – Crimson
Target: The Nameless
Warning: Do not engage directly.
Observe only. Report location.
He read it twice, then a third time using his spiritual sense, hoping for some hidden inscription, a seal, a symbol, something. But the paper remained unchanged.
His frustration showed in the tightening of his jaw, his brow darkening as he stared at it like it had personally insulted him.
Noticing his expression, Seer stepped closer and glanced at the paper over Jin Yu’s shoulder.
A moment passed, and then his eyes widened, mouth falling slightly open in disbelief.
Without a word, he snatched the paper from Jin Yu’s hand and examined it thoroughly, no longer casual.
Jin Yu’s hope surged. “You recognize it?”
Seer didn’t answer right away. His brows drew closer as he stared straight into Jin Yu’s eyes, his usual playful expression gone, replaced by something cold and grim.
Jin Yu shifted uncomfortably. “What is it?”
“Who did you offend?” Seer asked quietly, his voice heavier than before.
“Huh?” Jin Yu blinked, caught off guard.
Seer lowered the paper slightly, his tone dropping further. “The Poison Valley.”
Recognition struck like lightning. Jin Yu’s eyes narrowed. “It’s them? They were the first ones to attack me when I arrived in this City…”
He paused, trying to remember details. “But I don’t recall doing anything to offend anyone from there.”
Seer handed the slip back. “You probably didn’t,” he said. “A bounty like this doesn’t mean they’re personally offended. It means someone paid them... and that’s worse.”
Jin Yu was quiet. He looked down at the slip again, a chill crawling down his spine.
‘Observe only. Report location.’
Who would do this much… to find him?
And more importantly, who the hell still remembered The Nameless?
