Chapter 95: Beneath their feet
The air thickened as the group looked for cover, pressing themselves into the refuge the shadows gave them. It was damp in there, the suffocation clinging to their skin like something that was alive.
Ru Yi pressed a hand lightly against her chest, trying really hard to steady her breath. The steps were getting closer, each sound of their feet on the wet ground sent bolts of panic through her.
The voices were coming from the opposite side of the tunnel, streams of dim light filtering into the space ahead of them.
Lieyin’s head snapped up when the voice got closer, her body already coiled and ready to strike. But Yexue’s hand pressed against her arm. It was a signal for her to wait.
"No matter what happens, don’t charge forward," Qingyue answered. "This is their turf and we’re outnumbered. We won’t be able to make it out of there in one piece."
"Careful where you step," a voice said lazily. It was Zhou Wen, the village head. His voice was calm and commanding, like nothing in the world could touch him.
Another voice followed, smooth and controlled. Lin Guowei. "You worry too much," he said. "They’re secured well enough."
Ru Yi’s fingers tightened into her sleeve.
Lin Guowei.
The man who had smiled so gently at the gates, before trapping them in a cave with his wife and child.
Zhou Wen stepped out first, his robes brushing lightly against the stone as he entered the space, followed by Lin Guowei and two other men Ru Yi didn’t recognize.
They carried themselves differently. They did not look like villages or guards.
Qingyue and her group pressed deeper into the shadows behind a broken session of the wall, the darkness just thick enough to conceal them.
Lantern light flickered across the tunnel, illuminating the iron rings that were bolted into the stone walls. There were children slumped against them.
Too still. Too thin.
Some barely looked human anymore.
Ru Yi staggered, Qingyue’s hand immediately wrapping around her waist to keep her from falling.
If it wasn’t for the situation, Ru Yi would’ve marveled at how Qingyue’s hand fit perfectly around her, and how she felt hot all over when Qingyue pressed forward, eliminating the small space between their bodies.
Meanwhile, Lieyin swore under her breath. "I’ll kill them all."
Yexue’s face had gone completely cold, her usual calm sharpening into something dangerous. "Quiet."
"Is this all?" one of the unfamiliar men asked, his tone edged with annoyance.
Lin Guowei exhaled. "For now."
"That won’t be enough," the man replied. "You said you could maintain supply."
The village head stepped forward, hands clasped behind his back. "We’ve already sent word," he said. "The bandits will bring more within the week."
Ru Yi’s chest tightened at the realization that she was right. Zhou Wen was the one orchestrating the attack on his own village.
"They’d better," the second man muttered. "Our distinguished clients are not known for their patience."
A pause.
Then quieter. "And they pay too well, we can’t disappoint them."
Ru Yi felt something cold settle in her stomach.
Clients.
This wasn’t evil disguised as desperation. This wasn’t survival. It was a trade.
"Next time," Lin Guowei said, his voice lowering slightly, "we should be more selective. The last batch didn’t last very long."
A dry chuckle followed.
"Fragile things," the village head replied.
Ru Yi dug her nails into her palm. Qingyue’s grip on her waist tightened.
One of the men stepped closer to the nearest chained figure, nudging the body lightly with his foot.
"No movement," he said. "I don’t think there’s any more spiritual energy left in him. He’s useless."
Another figure stirred weakly a few feet away. It was a child, the one that had called out to Qingyue and her group.
"...water..." the faintest whisper escaped their lips.
Ru Yi’s breath hitched.
The man crouched, grabbing the child’s chin and forcing their face up. "Barely alive. I can’t even feel your energy."
Zhou Wen didn’t even look up when he spoke. "Then kill him."
Just like that.
Ru Yi’s world stopped, the scene in front of her tilting at the edges. The words didn’t feel real to her. Didn’t sound real.
The man didn’t hesitate, his steel flashing briefly in the lantern light. A sharp wet sound cut through the tunnel.
Ru Yi flinched violently, her hand flying to her mouth to stop the sound of agony that tried to escape. Her vision blurred instantly. Too fast. Too sudden.
She had never witnessed such cruelty.
The child’s body went limp.
Eerie silence followed, heavy and final.
Lieyin moved but Yexue’s hand shot up and stopped her. Her body was trembling hard, her teeth clenched so tightly her jaw shook.
"Dispose the rest that won’t last," Lin Guowei said calmly, rising to his feet. "No point in wasting the limited space we have."
Ru Yi’s stomach twisted violently. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. All she could hear was that one final sound when steel met flesh.
The men gathered their lanterns and went back the way they’d come, unaware of the women clutching to the last thread of their sanity.
Darkness swallowed the tunnel once more. And only then did Qingyue reluctantly let go, watching through hooded eyes as Ru Yi bent over and threw up all the contents of her stomach.
"This is sick," Lieyin muttered as she started pacing. "How can they have the heart to—" she trailed over, frustration tearing at her.
"We need to find a way to get the rest out," Qingyue said. There was a tremble in her voice. "But it’s impossible to get them all out now without getting caught."
Ru Yi was still disoriented but she pushed through it. "The only solution is to find the records they’ve been keeping, and the letters they used to communicate to the bandits. It has to be somewhere in Zhou Wen’s house."
Yexue nodded. "Once we get our hands on it, we’ll attack. Fast."
"Then we’ll find it tonight," Qingyue said, her voice final. "Zhou Wen thinks he’s untouchable, he won’t see us coming."
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