heaven official's blessing Keitteishimai (edited)

puppet. 14

Sitting up, the old man seemed to be more fazed by Kohana than anything else. How long was I out for? The whole thing is patched up, and there is an actual door instead of just a fabric curtain. A fowl smell sifted from the man, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the smell of burning flesh. but it isn't any better either; still, it isn't a horrid reminder for me.

He was ragged with sand in his clothes, with tears and dirt smudges, but no blood. odd. looking to Hong-er, he was sort of glaring at the old man. He and I both know something about the man being off. The man began to panic over escaping Crescent Pass. Wait, why hasn't anyone investigated it?

"What happened there?" Brother asked, Crescent passed. What happened after that day? The man looked down to his left side before turning back to Xie Lian.

"Have you not heard of it?" The old man asked, clearly something is wrong. It may have been about a century or two ago, but it was still there in my mind, waiting to come out.

"If I'm not mistaken, its an oasis, right? I hear the view of the moon is lovely." brother said, his soft voice pleasing to anyone's ears.

"'Lovely'?" The man mimicked something bad that happened while I was away. "Perhaps it was two hundred years ago, but these days it should be called the death pass."

The man looked away from his brother; this man isn't saying anything. Wait, if he 'escaped' then he would have found refuge ages ago. Did he flee all the way here from the dessert? What did you really come here for?

"It's true that half the people who journey through there never return." The man spoke with a hushed, almost torn-sounding voice.

"And why's that?" My brother asked as I struggled to get up; the aid of my child and my friend was enough. managing to stand beside Hong-er. I need to speak to him when Xie Lian isn't here.

"I've seen it with my own eyes. I was apart of a caravan passing through when I met a gruesome fate!" They spoke in a panicked tone, too panicked. He's faking it. "However, something odd happened, and the sixty people I was with were nowhere to be found! No one was left but me."

glaring at the man as Kiyoshi hid behind me, and Kohana was ready to fight. Looking at this man, I could feel Hong-er had the same idea about this man. My brother had a curious expression; this only made me think.What is this man really doing here?

"Mother, what's going on?" Kiyoshi whispered to me, looking down at me. I could only shrug my shoulders with a faint look on my face.

"How long would you say the crescent pass has been happening?" My brother asked the man, and my attention was pulled to them again. My mind is still foggy after yesterday, but I can still see how fake his body language is.

"Honestly, I'm not sure how true it is. But rumour has it, it started one hundred fifty years ago when an evil daoist seized control."

"Hang on," Hong-er said as the man finished. "You claimed you fled all the way from Crescent Pass?"

"I did. I barely made it out alive!"

"ah." Honger and I looked at Xie Lian, who gave a smile while closing his eyes. turning to a bowl beside him before lifting it up for the man.

"You must be thirsty from your travels here." My brother spoke as I shifted Kiyoshi to remain hidden behind Kohana so I could stand with Xie Lian. "Have some water."

slipping beside my brother as Kohana was prepared to use the void and bend it to her will, while my hand rested upon my sword's hilt. The sound from the man wasn't human; it was like filling a sack with water rather than a human swallowing.

"Enough!" the brother shouted, snagging the puppet's wrist as the bowl crashed to the floor, sloshing the water across the floor. "You can't drink it, I see."