Mengyao tied Tao to a tree and allowed her to feed off the grass nearby. He petted her head before heading toward the Su Family residence.

His old residence.

He began to see images of the home before the fire. As he touched the walls, he could hear his family’s voices, laughing and talking with joy. He took a deep breath before blinking his eyes to see the reality: His home had become overgrown with plants and rubble was everywhere.

He remembered the barkeeper saying someone was carrying something away from here. What were they carrying? What did they take?

He continued to walk until he heard the break of a branch. Immediately, his hand was on his sword. He held his breath and waited for whomever broke the branch to attack.

After a few moments, he turned to where he heard the sound and realized it was nothing more than a raccoon, foraging for food. He straightened himself up and shook his head. 

Mengyao did think maybe it would have been better to come at dawn but he knew he needed to see what was taken from his home.

He began to go through each room. He started at the main room first to investigate. He wandered around, moving burnt wood to the side and seeing if there was anything taken. 

Nothing.

He then headed toward his mother and father’s room to see if there was anything missing. When he approached, the image of him jumping into their bed flashed before him before he was brought back to the burnt and destroyed bedroom.

He shook his head.

Get yourself together, Mengyao. You have to see if that person took anything.

Mengyao began rummaging through more debris and glancing around. Surprisingly, his mother’s jewelry box was still on her vanity though covered in ash. He walked over to it and grabbed it. Well, he knew he had to atleast take this.

He was surprised it wasn’t buried under the rubble. Maybe the Gods were wanting him to atleast get this.

He tucked it into his bag of holding as he headed out but he stopped midstep. Wait.

He went back into his parent’s room and noticed something missing. His eyes scanned the room until he noticed a medium sized round spot that had been untouched by soot and ash. 

His eyes widened as he realized exactly what was taken. Though the mirror looked like an ordinary decorative, it was programmed by crystals around the residence to survey everything. His parents kept it in their room to keep an eye on him and his siblings and even the entire residence.

The person who rummaged through the residence must have taken it to cover the truth of what happened.

Mengyao felt anger welling up in his stomach. If he had paid attention before, he could have taken the mirror and found out who killed his parents! The few times he returned to the residence, he mostly took things that were precious and sentimental.

He had a doll his older sister Luli kept, a comb Xiaohui used in her hair and many small trinkets he could get his hands on at the time. 

But he had forgotten the mirror and now it was gone. He wanted to kick himself. He took in a deep breath and shook his head. He was going to find out who took the mirror and why.

Mengyao turned and headed out the residence back to his horse and began to untie her. He looked to the sky and noticed it was beginning to get dark. He thought about making camp but he couldn’t. He had to get back as soon as he could.

“Come on, Tao,” he said, hoisting himself onto the horse and began to lead her down the road back toward the Yi residence.

As night descended on him, he used his magic to cast a light to illuminate his path. He may not have been as powerful of a magic user as his eldest sister, he knew enough spells to protect himself or were useful to him.

As he rode, he heard rustling in the bushes and trees. Mengyao’s guard went up as he pulled out his glass sword, unsheathing it slowly and as quietly as he could. His eyes shifted back and forth, waiting as his horse continued to walk.

He then heard the ping of an arrow as he brought his sword up to block it. Slicing the arrow in half, he jumped off his horse and slapped her behind to force her to start running. No sense in keeping her around and getting her killed.

He held his stance with his sword as he heard more rustling and even cackling.

With no warning, Mengyao saw four bandits descend from the trees with curved swords and tried to attack. Mengyao crouched low before leaping into action.

His sword clashed with one of the men before he kicked one man behind him.

He continued his fight, the glass blade proving to be powerful. His swordplay was as if he were dancing and of course, that’s how he learned to fight. Disguising swordplay through dance was something he knew to do.

But as the fight went on, his energy was beginning to wear out. He tried to find an opening but with so many, they blocked all possible exits.

Just then, daggers started raining from the sky. Mengyao took the opportunity to dodge out of the way and out of range of the daggers. Two men were hit in the face and chest with the daggers while the other two were luckier.

Mengyao held his sword and looked around. Where did those daggers come from?

Just then, he saw a figure flip into the air and the glint of a sword as it came down on one of the bandits and sliced him into two. The last bandit tried to run but as quick as a flash, the figure threw its sword at the fleeing bandit.

The bandit fell with the sword in his back. The figure walked toward the bandit and retrieved its sword. Mengyao heard the smaled jingles of gold and beads as the figure walked back.

From the light that illuminated the path, Mengyao realized who it was.