“Are you okay, Li-Ayi?”

“I am, Ping,” Olivia glanced over her shoulder at the boy sitting behind her. “Why do you ask?”

“It’s just…Mother and you…seem worried.” The arms wrapped around her tightened. “Are we…in danger?”

Observant kid. Either that or Ju and I weren’t as quiet as we hoped. Though Ping, if he had overheard their discussion, hadn’t caught on to what the topic had been about.

After her failed attempt of self-applying brain bleach, Olivia had thoroughly questioned the five cultivators, trying to figure out what exactly her group might be up against.

Unfortunately, the five youths had known little beyond what the message had said.

Something was attacking caravans, though not indiscriminately.

Whatever it was, it liked going after wagons that carried people, though a few attacks had the primary victims being wagons carrying provisions or coins.

The prisoner wagon had been one of the latest victims.

“Why was that wagon using a back road to get around?” Olivia had asked curiously. “Wouldn’t it have been better to use the main road to get where they needed to quicker? Seems counter-intuitive.”

“Not really,” Xue Jielan stated. “The main roads indeed allow better travel, but they are often patrolled by accomplices of the prisoners who may try to free them.”

“And not everyone who travels those roads is expecting a Yao,” Xue Xiawen added. “They are rare, not as rare as Magical Beasts, but not often seen by civilians. Or even by army officials.”

Olivia had wanted to ask what the difference between a Yao and a Magical Beast was but refrained because of trying to get more information about the current problem.

According to the report sent by Xue Sect officials and the summary of reports that Xue Hanfu had recited, it didn’t seem like a normal Yao. Even worse was that many of the few who got away with their lives would die just hours later, a time spent in complete agony.

It struck without warning, and none of the witnesses had caught a glimpse of the thing it was that fast, though a few had noticed a strange sound just before it struck.

“What kind of sound?” Olivia had asked. “Did anyone describe it?”

Xue Yixan scratched his head. “Not really. Everyone that got away was still panicking when they met up with officials. The few that did say it sounded like dried leaves rustling.”

Which could have been the creature getting into a position to attack. Yet something about this bugged Olivia, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what.

“Sounds like it uses echolocation or a heat-sense,” she stated after going over what she had been told. “Given how loud wagons are, it makes sense why they are often the targets. The best way to escape this thing if we come across it is to give it a decoy target that we can use to escape.”

“Like the wagon?” Xue Shun asked. “But, doesn’t Heng-Xiaojie need it?”

“Between getting out of whatever mess we run into alive, I doubt she’d cry over it.”

After talking with Ju, the two had agreed that Ping and Min would ride with Olivia on Chester, their small sizes not a burden to the Arabian. Olivia had even made some minor alterations to Yu’s harness so that all Ju had to do was hop onto the mare, yank a strap and break free of the wagon.

The wagon, with heat talismans active on the inside, would be a loss, but with lives on the line, it was a sacrifice worth it.

Given how intelligent the creature was and its attack pattern, the Xue cultivators all agreed to trail behind the wagon to give the impression of it being necessary.

Olivia was hoping that the ruse would end up being a case of over preparedness, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Li-Ayi?”

“Sorry, lost in thought.” Olivia glanced back, hoping the young boy could see her reassuring smile. “We’re not in danger right now, but we’re being prepared if the danger does come our way.”

“Like the Hungry Ghosts?” Min asked, pausing in her petting Gipp who was perched on the saddle horn.

Olivia nodded. “Exactly. We got lucky that time, but we can’t count on luck getting us out every time. Sometimes we must do what we can to get luck to favor us a little more.”

“You’re Ayi is right,” Xue Xiawen strode up to walk beside Chester. “But don’t worry. We’ll ensure you and your family get to where you want safely.”

Not bringing attention to the scoffs she could hear behind her, Olivia grinned. “Thank you, Xiawen. It’s good to see you confident in your abilities to protect us.”

“But don’t go recklessly endanger yourself,” Olivia added. “You can’t protect anyone if you’re dead.”

At once, Xiawen’s bravado slipped with his sheepish expression, rubbing the back of his head. “Ah…you’re right. Thank you for the advice.”

Olivia waved her hand. “Ah, you would have figured it out on your own eventually. But it’s better to have it bounced off your head a couple of times before it sinks in instead of when you’re in a position where you’ll lose more than gain, and then you’ll have to figure out what to do with yourself.”

“Er…Have you been put in such a position?”

Olivia shook her head. “No, but I’ve read stories about those who have. Perhaps later, I can tell a few of those stories?”

“Ah..thank you. That sounds like a good idea.” Xiawen’s grin turned impish. “Maybe it’ll be enough for Shun not to run off on his own.”

“Xiawen-xiong, that was only one time,” came the youngest cultivator’s disagreement from the other side of the wagon.

Olivia wasn’t the only one who snorted at the outburst. “Now that sounds like a story. Maybe we should do a-”

Her hands clenched the reins as her mouth clicked closed, body racking with sudden tremors.

“Li-Ayi?”

“Li-Ayi, are you all right?” Ping asked with worry.

“Are you feeling ill?” Xiawen asked.

“What’s going on?” Jielan came up from the back of the wagon.

“Li-Ayi is shaking,” Min supplied.

“Buddy shaking, buddy ill?” Gipp chirped.

“Calm down, guys, I’m fine,” Olivia got out, the shivers subsiding. “It must have been a cold breeze or something.”

“I didn’t feel a cold breeze,” Min said.

“There wasn’t one, Min,” Ping pointed out before his expression turned thoughtful. “But…you shook…before Yīn Liáng showed up at the house.”

“Ah! And another last night before the ghosts showed up! I remember Mother asking if you were all right, and you said that you were cold.”

“I’m not sure whether to be impressed or disturbed. Just how observant are you two?” Olivia asked.

“I’m disturbed,” Xiawen said under his breath. “Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, and third-”

Olivia wasn’t sure who jumped higher, but the sudden scream tearing through the air had sent everyone off the ground.

“And third is a pattern,” Olivia finished, throwing a hand over her eyes.