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V1, Ch 5

"You...." My mind still moved only sluggishly, trying to tell if I should ask about what I'd just heard. Luo Shen had always seemed closed off, and she was impossible to read.

Luo Shen waited for me to continue, her lips pressed in that same hard curve. I was still hyper-alert, and her ragged breathing from moments before still echoed in my ears. Could she be the kind of fanatic to train in the middle of the night? If not, why had she been making such noises......and why did she look so exhausted?

Neither of us said a word, standing together in the hazy flickering candlelight.

"...Nothing, I'm sorry. Good night," I said, unable to withstand the heavy silence. With that paltry pleasantry I turned to leave, but then the night air was pierced by the sudden mournful cry of a horse from the stable below, followed by a confusion of trampling hooves, unbearably loud in the otherwise silent night.

Luo Shen was already striding past me, and she leapt from the second-floor banister at a shocking speed. She pushed open the building doors and was gone, leaving only the dim red light of the lanterns behind her. I rushed after her, but only got to the front steps before an unsteady figure fell from above in front of me. They stumbled, and groaned, "Augh, it's the middle of the night! Ow!"

By the voice I realized it was Xiao Jian. He'd heard the cacophony in the stables from the third floor, thrown on clothes, and jumped from the window, but his qinggong control had been off. He'd twisted his ankle.

He saw it was me, and called "Miss Shishi, help me up!"

I really hated being called Shishi. No one but my mother ever called me that. This bastard had only known me a few days and he was already trying to give me nicknames? I turned away, leaving him to live or die alone, and ran to the stable.

The mist was thick in the air, and I could only make out vague silhouettes. A rank stench filled the air, mixed with a heavy and nauseous smell of blood.

When I arrived at the scene, I found a mess of footprints. We'd had seven horses; now there were only six. The ground was full of blood. It looked like something huge had picked up the horse in its mouth and carried it away.

I looked everywhere, but couldn't find Luo Shen, and I could hear no sound in the stable but the noises of panicked horses, and as their cries became sadder and sadder I became more and more frightened, until the palms of my hands were coated with sweat.

I crouched down to take a better look at the bloody marks on the ground. Apart from the horses' hoofprints, there was something else: the massive pawprint of some strange beast. Marked clearly by the blood, it had only two sharp claws that had extended deeply into the dirt.

It was terrifying. I could almost imagine that ferocious animal standing before me, with its rough breathing, and the rank smell wafting off its body, only a blink away from tearing me to pieces.

My imagination was running away with me, until I smelled a faint hint of cold fragrance drifting on the air. It was only when I went to look that I realized there was a cool hand resting on my shoulder.

I jumped.

I saw then that Luo Shen was standing there, silent, her eyes deep and limpid behind her jade mask. It felt like a sheet of ice cracked off me.

"It escaped," she said quietly, her tone tinged with regret.

"...What was it?" It took me a long moment to gather my energy, fear-sweat still on my neck.

"It was very large, I couldn't catch it. But I saw it ran towards the mountains to the east."

"They're called the Whistling Mountains. Guests, please don't chase it — a horse is one thing, your life is quite another," said a shaking voice. It belonged to an old man carrying a lantern.