Chapter 10: The Caravan’s Strange Night

The sky darkened.

The caravan set up camp at a fork in the road, over a hundred feet from the girl.

They were cooking. The smell of food drifted over.

The others wanted to eat, but the leader stopped them. He picked up some things and walked toward the girl.

As he got closer, he raised his hands to show he meant no harm.

When he reached her, he handed over a wrapped package. It was food.

“We’re merchants from Jiangbei. We trade along the border and the Jiangbei route.” The leader opened the paper. “These are sesame cakes.”

Two brownish cakes with sesame seeds sprinkled on top.

The girl took them, sniffed, then looked.

Noticing her curiosity, the leader forced a simple smile. “We also call them money cakes. Merchants like us usually bring some along. They’re convenient, even if they’re not great.”

The girl nodded and accepted them.

When the leader left, she ate them quietly. They were hard. Maybe because of the cold, or something else.

The taste was bland. Just a little saltiness, a hint of spice. They were bread. Not good, probably just emergency rations for the road.

She managed to finish them.

This was her first time eating. Her body still worked. She could eat. She wondered if she would need to relieve herself like a human.

She was trying to get used to this body that might be her home for the rest of her life.

Whether she liked it or not, she had to understand it.

After the girl accepted the food, the leader came back a while later with a steaming bowl.

“Sorry it’s not much. It’s thick soup.” It was probably too hot. He set the bowl on a tall rock and pressed his hands into the snow to cool them.

The girl nodded. When the leader left, she tried a spoonful, blowing on it. Just as she was about to eat, her silver hair fell in her face.

She tucked it behind her ear.

She put the sticky stuff in her mouth and chewed.

The taste was complicated. Bits of unknown leaves. Something like animal meat. Slightly salty, very mild.

She took another spoonful and poured it back into the bowl. It was thick.

Not like regular soup.

She wondered how it was made. Fascinating.

She ate a few more mouthfuls. No feeling of fullness, no hunger. She finished the bowl.

Her body warmed up a bit. Something unusual happened. Her magical power recovery sped up, though barely noticeable.

Later, the caravan finished eating. The leader came to collect the bowl.

He didn’t leave right away. He sat down, thought for a long time, then asked, “We’re heading to Jiangbei. Do you want a ride? We have some space.”

He scratched his ear. He had prepared a speech, but meeting her golden eyes made him forget what to say.

The girl didn’t know where Jiangbei was, but she nodded. At least there would be more people there.

When she agreed, the leader seemed happier than she was. Anyone watching might think he had ulterior motives.

He talked to her for a long time, though she didn’t say a word. He got used to it.

He told her about the small caravan. Just a few carts piled with goods.

They were old hands at this. They knew their long-haul capacity.

He chatted for a while, then mentioned interesting things in Jiangbei. He hoped she would go there and have fun.

They talked late into the night.

He invited her to rest on one of the carts. The ground was too cold. The carts were more comfortable.

She didn’t refuse.

Night fell. Everyone closed their eyes.

Dawn broke. Everyone opened their eyes.

Last night was not peaceful.

“Where’s the leader?!” someone shouted.

The missing leader made the cold cut deeper.

They first asked the night watchman. He hadn’t heard anything. No animal attacks. No fighting or cries.

Either the leader left on his own, or something supernatural happened.

They split up to search. Past the trampled tracks, they found fresh footprints on the other side of the road.

They followed the footprints for a hundred feet. Finally, they saw a figure.

They were surprised, relieved, and uneasy.

The caravan leader was stripped naked and tied to a tree trunk. His mouth was stuffed with dry grass. He could only grunt.

The girl saw something others might not. Magical energy flowed around the leader. It seemed to protect him from the cold.

His condition wasn’t too bad. Not frostbitten.

Something had protected him.

Indeed, when they untied him and helped him put on clothes, he said he wasn’t cold. But as soon as he said that, he shivered.

The girl noticed the magical energy on him had dissipated.

He hurried to dress, but his clothes were torn. Luckily, another merchant lent him a coat. Back at camp, he found spare clothes. His body was fine.

He was confused about what happened. He had been sleeping soundly, then felt dizzy. When he opened his eyes, he was tied up there. Strangely, he didn’t feel cold.

He was tied up all night until morning.

There were only his footprints on the ground. No one else’s. It looked like he had walked there himself. But he couldn’t have tied himself up. Something else must have been there to tie him.

And what was the motive? They didn’t harm him.

Thinking it over, they couldn’t make sense of it. They quickly drove away, not even bothering to cook breakfast.

The girl sat at the back of the last cart, away from the crowd for peace.

The leader brought her more sesame cakes. He stayed and talked to her, asking her opinion about last night.

She could only shake her head.

She knew only a little more than them. She knew whoever took him wasn’t ordinary. They had cast a warming spell on him so he wouldn’t freeze.

“Do you think they were just playing a prank? Or maybe a warning?” The leader understood her meaning.

She nodded, agreeing.

He thought for a long time. “But I can’t figure out who I offended. If it’s someone from the mystical sects, I wouldn’t have offended them for no reason. I’ve always been upright. I have no enemies.”

The girl pointed at the cargo.

He pondered again, then clasped his hands in thanks. “That’s it. Only that possibility. Maybe I’ve made enemies through business. In trade, you always attract jealousy. You can’t help but offend some people.”

It seemed they had found the problem?

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