Deep in the outer districts of the Blue Lotus Empire, a simple village nestled between farmland and a forest. The villagers were already awaiting the arrival of the aid after receiving a confirmation letter from the Royal Court.
The village had been dealing with a newfound problem for weeks: Under unknown circumstances, wildlife seemed to flee the forest and venture out into town, causing more than chaos amongst the villagers. Families are afraid that the wolves might catch their children, and the main road to the capital city is blocked off, making it nearly impossible to receive any resources from the outside.
The situation is dire.
"There they are!" A farmer pointed out the road as he and his group spotted the royal horses.
Accompanied by guards, both Huaijin and his trusted aide Fangxu were on their way to deal with the matter by the Emperor's command. The horse's hooves were loud enough to announce their arrival.
The villagers quickly bowed down to the noblemen as soon as they stopped at the front gate of the small town. An older man with broad shoulders and a muscular build stepped forward to welcome the royal guests.
"It truly is an honor to have you come all the way here to our small town, my lord. My name is Zhou Ming, the Chief of this humble village. I hope the journey wasn't too troublesome?"
"No, not at all," Huaijin smiled as he dismounted his horse gracefully. Fangxu followed. In reality, Huaijin had been waiting for a while now to be sent on a mission by the Emperor himself, finally. It was an official order that came to him as a surprise—a chance to prove himself.
"What you have described in the letter is of utmost importance. Such an alarming problem can't be left unsolved when it directly affects the lives of the imperial folk." Huaijin stepped a bit closer, holding out his hand to Zhou Ming.
"Just call me Huaijin."
"Ah… I see." Ming was surprised by the unexpected casualty of what he believed was a royal scholar.
"A pleasure," he replied, shaking Huaijin's hand.
Huaijin grinned widely, his grip on the other man's hand was firm—not out of ill intent, but because he was simply too excited for his first real investigation.
Fangxu sighed when Huaijin completely dropped the customary titles. He decided to just keep quiet and follow along.
They entered the small village as Zhou Ming showed them around. Some of the housing and little shops were still intact, yet a big part of the town was already in ruins. Especially, the farmland has been destroyed by the wildlife. Ming showed Huaijin the plot outside the village where they grew rice and vegetables. The fields that the villagers have worked on for so long—planting and harvesting the season's crops—were all destroyed. They came to a stop directly in front of the livestock pen. The cowshed and chicken coop were now left empty.
"How grim," Huaijin said as he took a good look at the lack of supply. And with the roads blocked to the capital city, this indeed was a major problem for the villagers.
"Unfortunately, nothing was left untouched by the wolves," Ming explained, "we even had an incident where a wolf entered a home because it had smelled some dried meat. Luckily, no one got hurt, but that had us all worried. So we decided to throw out the stocks."
"So you've been eating what? Only rice for the past two weeks?" Huaijin asked.
"That and the bit of vegetables we had left."
Huaijin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Usually, wolves are cautious beings. They stay in the wild, avoiding humans or populated areas.
"And you have yet to understand what's causing this problem?"
"Yes, it happened almost overnight so quickly."
"Hm, I see." Huaijin straightened his back, looking at Ming.
"Could you please show us from which direction the wolves have been entering the village?"
"Of course, follow me."
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"They dug under?" Huaijin asked, surprised when his eyes fell upon the holes in the ground. The fence that separates the village from the forest, made out of bamboo, was nearly destroyed.
"And it doesn't matter how many times I fix it, they keep coming back. We keep our women and children away from this area," Ming replied, his tone sounding a bit frustrated.
Huaijin crouched down to inspect the few tunnels, his silk hanfu brushing against the dirty ground. The holes looked like they were strategically aligned almost.
Gateways to food.
The fence was built on soft soil with no foundation. It wasn't difficult for the wolves to dig a tunnel beneath the bamboo, as it didn't go that deep. The holes were short and shallow, just big enough to squeeze through to get to the other side.
As much as this worried Huaijin, he couldn't help but stop and admire the work of these animals. Something he was seeing for the very first time.
"Wolves are quite smart. Even if we do figure out the reason why they are doing what they are, it won't be easy getting rid of them," Fangxu said, adding to the conversation.
"That is quite true," Ming replied, "though I'm positive that we'll get it under control with your help."
Fangxu and Ming discussed a few things when Huaijin lifted his head. His eyes turned sharp as he looked at the forest nearby.
Did he just hear steps?
He strained to listen, but the sound was faint—so brief he couldn't tell if he had imagined it...
"I would like to go explore some more," Huaijin said as he stood back up.
"The answer lies within the forest, most definitely."
Fangxu's ears perked up.
"I'll send the others to go deeper into the forest. They'll report back when they find anything significant," Fangxu replied firmly, gaining a little look from Huaijin.
Fangxu knew all too well that Huaijin would want to go look for himself, but these were wild animals they were dealing with. As his trusted aide, he had to make sure of Huaijin's safety. It was his duty, no matter how he might look at it.
"Of course. You can rest in the village while we're waiting," Ming said before he led the way back.
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Huaijin sat there inside a little cabin while the other half of the royal guards helped out the villagers with the supplies they had brought along on the journey.
As Fangxu was now occupied with other matters, Huaijin came up with a little escape plan. Eager as he was, he wanted to go look at the problem himself and find out the reason why the wolves were suddenly acting up.
With Fangxu by his side, he was under surveillance, remembering the words he had spoken to him sternly before the start of the journey: "No funny business."
But now he had the perfect opportunity to slip through his fingers. Just for a while, it wouldn't last long. He'll get punished once they're back at the palace, yes, but his curiosity took over nonetheless.
He quietly stood up from where he was seated, sneaking behind Fangxu, whose back was turned. It honestly reminded him of back in the days when he would sneak up on his trusted aide as a child to spook him.
Believe it or not, the always uptight and serious Fangxu had a funny look on his face when spooked…
With a quick yet discreet way, Huaijin slipped right through the open doors before he made his way back to the outer part of the village. A triumphant smirk played on his lips.
After avoiding a few guards along his way, he had finally arrived at the large, destroyed bamboo fence. Looking at the familiar sight of the holes in the ground, he tried to squeeze through the broken fence, wanting to go past it to explore the forest. Though the soft fabric of his hanfu was caught by the sharp edge of the split bamboo, making him stumble. With a silent gasp, he managed to catch himself, yet his dress was now ripped.
"Oh, how great…" he grumbled, leaving the piece of fabric behind as he made his way into the forest.
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The sun shone down on the leaves of the many trees, casting a flowing shadow onto the ground. The plants were bright green, and a few nice flowers surrounded a little pond as the light summer breeze made them sway.
It was warm. Very warm. Almost too hot to bear for the royal scholar whose skin was as pale as a Yiji's. He walked down the path, taking sloppy steps.
"So hot… I'm melting…"
He turned to look at the path he had come from. Maybe I should've just listened to Fangxu. I can't even remember which path I took before this one. It was all in vain, too. I didn't even find any clues… though I did notice one thing: a lack of prey animals.
Huaijin was deep in thought when he turned to look back at the moving water, seeing his reflection in it. The sunlight made the water sparkle so beautifully.
A lack of prey animals? Perhaps the cause of excessive hunting...
And just when he was one step closer to the truth, he heard a branch snapping. With a quick whip of his head, he locked eyes with the very problem Fangxu feared might happen if he'd let Huaijin roam around the forest unattended.
A group of three wolves. Their glowing eyes locked on Huaijin, their mouths foaming.
Their hunger was undeniable.