Xuelei, Tears of Blood

Chapter 32 - Return

The six men trotted right into Zhen Shuren's burnt home. The sound of their horses hoofs echoed on the cobblestones. Jin led the way. The place was huge.

"First the ghost town, now this wretched place," Dao muttered.

"Shh, the walls have ears," Li cautioned.

Dao sniffed. "What walls? Even if they have ears, they would be stone deaf after all this time."

Ren snorted. "You are not making any sense brother."

"No talking. Look around, search for any signs of Xuelei. Jin?"

"This way."

They followed the handsome youth through a maze of buildings until they came to a small clearing.

"Here. This was where I found them. There were bodies everywhere and a pool of blood that I told you all about."

"There are no bodies." Shan threw Jin an inquiring look. "They couldn't have gotten up and walked off."

"I saw them!"

Jin dismounted and walked around. "Someone has taken them away. Look, there are faint traces of blood stains where they fell." Jin pointed triumphantly.

Li crouched by the fading blood spot. Wind and rain had diminished the dark spot, it had almost blended with the natural dark earth around it. The hole that the saber had made when it was plunged into the earth had been covered by dirt. There was only a slight dent which Jin pointed out.

"Someone was here and has cleared the place. Be alert."

The brothers split up searching the area for any clues but it was useless. They could find nothing, not even the grave of the dead men, if they had been buried. It was as if the legend was true, that the vengeful ghost of Zhen Shuren had gobbled them up and left nothing for a decent burial. They were not going to the afterlife for reincarnation. Their souls were lost forever.

Shan shuddered. Qian slapped his brother on the shoulder.

"Owww!!" Shan jumped in fright.

"Snap out of it. There are no such things as ghosts."

"You didn't have to do that," Shan grumbled.

"Nothing."

"We found nothing here too."

All reported back to Li. Their search of the area proved fruitless. There were no traces of Xuelei or the dead mercenaries.

"We will camp here for the night. Maybe the ghost only comes out after dark."

Shuren crouched in the shadows observing the four men talking in low voices around their camp. He grinned. None could sleep. He stayed low and out of sight, his experience cautioning him. He watched for half an hour before he found the other two. They were hidden from view, carefully guarding the group. One was flat on a nearby roof and the other behind a broken wall.

So these were Xuelei's 'brothers'. Not bad. They had sense to put two guards instead of the usual one. Shuren could tell that they were not 'normal' fighters, they moved too quietly.

Maybe he should let the boy go back. They would lead him to the boy's 'Mistress'. Shuren would ascertain of she was the one he was looking for. the one who had taken everything away from him.

He crept back noiselessly, merging with the shadows around him.

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When Shuren entered, Xuelei was at the far end of the room. He was holding onto the walls for support as he made his way unsteadily around the room.