Chapter 1: Strangers (1)

Yeonha sat by a rock, staring into the fields before her as she played with the carcass of a small squirrel. She could hear the other kids playing in the distance. She stole a glance and met the gaze of another girl who jolted and whispered to the other kids around her before they walked off out of her sight.

'Hmph, whatever.' Thought Yeonha.

She was an outcast. It wasn't really bullying, but more so the other kids being afraid of her.

Yeonya was the daughter of a hunter and a butcher. Her father spent the whole day hunting in the nearby forest while her mother would butcher the animals he would bring before selling them for money. Their house had been modified to have a small storefront at the side of the house while the three of them lived in the back.

Her father was a strong man, he had told her that he used to work in the military as a scout before he took an arrow to the knee. Unfortunately, this forced him to retire, but this also let him meet the love of his life. Her mother came from a poor family of farmers with no particular skills or wealth. Thankfully, his tracking skills and his crude proficiency in archery allowed him to make a living.

Yeonha often helped her father skin and tidy up the animals whenever he brought them home. The downside of this was that she always gave off a slight hint of blood, a metallic scent that she could never wash away.

'Ah, the sun is setting.'

Their store was about to close. Her mother would close up once the darkness arrived. Light was a rare resource in this world, and keeping the store lit with no guaranteed customers was a huge waste. The small village also knew this and tried their best to purchase whatever meat the store had before the day ended.

As Yeonha stood up to return home for dinner, she noticed a small silhouette in the distance.

'Is that... a woman? and a kid next to her?'

It didn't take long for the silhouette to reveal a middle-aged woman and a small boy with white hair and eyes tiredly walking into the village.

"Miss, could you help us?" Said the woman with hair.

"Maybe." Replied Yeonha.

Yeonha stared at the two as they stared back.

"We just need to get through the night and be on our way. We've been camping on the roads for days and want to sleep peacefully tonight. Is there an inn in this village?"

"No, but we have a spare room. Follow me." Said Yeonha as she turned around and walked to her house.

The woman and the boy looked at each other briefly before the woman smiled.

"Let's go, Haru." She said.

"But moth—"

"Let's go. Haru." She repeated.

The boy, Haru, looked like he wanted to say something, but his mother cut him off before silently walking after Yeonha.

Yeonha glanced behind them to see if they were following her before she noticed what seemed like fear in the boy's eyes.

'Those look like the eyes of the animals before father kills them.' She thought.

The eyes were darting from side to side while trembling.

Maybe it was not the best idea to let them into the village, but there was nobody else around here at this time of the day, and Yeonha wasn't coldhearted enough to decline the two, who already seemed to have had a rough trip from the dirt and grime on their body.

"Mom! I'm home! I brought guests!" Yeonha yelled as she entered the house.

"Guests? Is it a friend?" Yeonha's mother replied before sticking her head out from the kitchen to see the two people behind her little daughter.

She knew everyone in the village, as there weren't many to begin with, but these two were definitely not from here. Though they were covered in dust, dirt, and grime, the white hair and eyes were something that was unseen around these regions.

"Sorry for the intrusion. Is it possible for us to spend the night? I heard there are no inns in this village, and I'm willing to pay for the stay." Said the woman with white hair.

"Hmm..." Yeonha's mother stared at them briefly before her husband called out.

"They don't seem dangerous, let them stay." He said.

Her husband had once been a martial artist. Though he was only a second-rate martial artist, he could sense that their qi was not impure.

"Please come in, we have ox tail soup. Would you like to join us for dinner after washing up? There's plenty for everyone. You can use the room in the back, there's a small well in the backyard, and you can wash yourselves there." Yeonha's mother smiled as she let them in.

"Thank you. Ah, sorry for the late introduction. I'm Hwee-ah and this is Haru." Said the woman with white hair.

"Welcome, Hwee-ah and Haru. There's still some time before the meal's ready, so wash yourselves and unpack first. You can call me Hana, that's my husband over there."

"Shima Jin. Nice to meet you." Yeonha's father stood up as he did a bow.

"Thank you, please excuse us then." Hwee-ah replied before she led Haru to the room in the back.

Yeonha had been staring at Haru the whole time and was fascinated by their white hair.

'He also looks kinda cute.'

He seemed to be around her age.

"Yeonha, where are they from?" Asked Hana.

"I don't know, I just saw them at the entrance of the village and wanted to help them. They looked tired." Replied Yeonha.

"Yeonha, I told you that it was not safe to bring random strange—"

"It's okay, Hana. They just seem like normal travelers and didn't seem to have any evil intent." Her father cut off her mother before sitting back down and resuming his work on a small piece of leather he had been turning into a glove.

Her mother sighed and glanced at her daughter before returning back into the kitchen.

'Why does he look so scared? Is he afraid of strangers?' Thought Yeonha.

---

"We found their trails. They seemed to have walked into a small village northeast of here." A man in black attire reported.

"Good. Send the message to the main army. They should be here by tomorrow." Another man, with blood-red eyes nodded as he replied.

"Understood."

The man with the red eyes smiled. "Glory to the sect."

"Glory to the sect." the black man replied as he bowed.