The town of Xi

"Welcome young masters. We have been awaiting your arrival" the owner of the establishment came down to meet them as soon as they made themselves known. The owners were an old couple well into their last years and they even found it difficult to move around.

Yet they followed the customs set forth by their predecessors and came to meet the nobility. Their modest establishment would not survive should any of these young masters actually find a fault in their service.

"This place feels warm and cosy. I'm sure we will have a comfortable stay here tonight" Xiao Lan bowed to the elderly couple who looked surprised at his gesture.

It was a given since nobility did not bow to others unless they were in the presence of royalty. No, they had far too much pride for that to happen. So when a noble bowed it was a great deal.

Xiao Lan saw Fu Hua from the corner of his eyes taking in the establishment with an awed expression. His eyes seemed to be lost in memory only he could see.

"Would young masters like to take a bath before their dinner? I'll have the servants prepare one for you" the couple was obviously trying to please Xiao Lan, having recognised him as the biggest factor and the likely leader of this party.

Despite his age, he was the one they gravitated toward. Well, maybe it was his age that made him the easiest target to handle.

"We'll all like a bath. Can you have them prepare separate baths for us and our companions?" Since some of the servants and guards had decided to stay behind, they had also been booked inside this inn.

"We'll make all the arrangements" the elder gave Xiao Lan a happy bow and left with a smile. This was a good noble who looked as if he would not cause a lot of trouble for them.

"Everyone, freshener up and meet back here for dinner. We will discuss what to do next after we eat" no one had any complaints about the plan.

After a relaxing bath, they all gathered back in the dining hall which was filled with the aroma of delicious food. Everyone dug in without any further discussion, just like they had in the past.

The rule of 'no table discussions' was one they all had followed for so long that it had become a habit that they all saw too.

Once the food was finished and most of the people had been dismissed, they migrated to one of the bedrooms. Since the inn had limited capacity, they had to make do with two in a room and Xiao Lan had claimed Fu Hua as a roommate much to the amusement of the other two.

But for Xiao Lan, this was a practical choice. Fu Hua had his blood inside him which meant that he could not separate for long distances without dire consequences. It was just practical for them to room together under these circumstances.

"Have you informed Xi Su that we are there yet? Was he not supposed to meet us here right now?" Detective Song caught onto the main point that was sticking out like a sore thumb.

Commander Yuhan had said that Xi Su was supposed to receive them here but there had been no one who had done so.

"I did inform him but he refused to come out here at night. He will meet us tomorrow" That was a weird condition to have but not the weirdest they had ever seen. Still, something seemed fishy about this shallow situation from the start.

Especially when Xiao Lan recalled Fu Hua's request of not staying at the main shrine.

"What do you know about this Fu Hua? You better spill everything before I pry it out of your mouth myself" Xiao Lan growled a little to get his point across. However, it did not come off as threatening but rather cute in this situation.

God, he hated his small body and wanted the curse to be over already.

"This town is not safe at night. When I was still in charge of the reports, there was one every few days about a new attack happening here. Things were busy back then so I handed the case over to the Xi family who was in charge here" This was news to Xiao Lan and even to the captain commander who jolted in his place.

But Fu Hua did not give them time to think over this new information. He continued to spill even more facts they had not known about.

"Since the reports stopped, I had assumed that the attacks had stopped as well. But I found some of those backdated reports mixed up in the recent papers we cleared. Someone really took their time to suppress this topic and I got worried" this was a cause for concern and in more ways than one.

"Recent papers? Yuhan, did you receive any report about this topic?" Xiao Lan had to make sure how deep this situation had become.

"I did get a report from time to time but I usually got a resolved report a few days later so I never paid extra attention to it all. I recently got to know that it even had a written report filed. You should have found me to report this long ago Fu Hua" the attention had shifted once again to the slave.

Fu Hua did not avoid the commander's gaze when he looked over at him. Instead, he met the other full on with his silver eyes.

"You, of all people should understand the conditions we were under then. Do you really think we would have gotten a chance?" the commander went quiet, his gaze diverting from the other's face in a rare moment of guilt.

There was a story there that Xiao Lan was missing. A quick glance at detective Song told him that the other did not know it as well. So it was a personal story between them? It seemed far too important to not come out.

And yet they haven't even gotten a clue to the things. Xiao Lan wanted to ask the other to elaborate further on it but he did not get a chance.

"Let it go. We will come back to this topic later once we have time. Fu Hua, why do you believe the case is not a fluke?" Right, they had more important work to do here. They still were chasing the clued they had been provided with.

"The air here told me. There is some kind of demonic miasma in the air that I cannot place at all. It is too light for any normal person to be able to sense" Xiao Lan had not noticed the change but then again, he was not the most prospective of the people.

However, his two companions tensed up at the news which told him even they had not noticed it yet. A curious development for sure but not unheard of in their group. Fu Hua was really sensitive to these things after all.

"I understand it all now. For the time being, we should stay inside and then talk to Xi Su in the morning. Hopefully, he will be able to tell us more about the issue," Detective Song concluded, not in a mood to deal with such problems.

It was easy for everyone to agree on the topic and then the silence descended over the group. Xiao Lan waited for people to leave them alone so that he could talk with Xiao Lan alone but the night wind picked up outside all of a sudden.

Brakes filled the empty space and the fear descended all over the place. Things were no longer as calm as they appeared to be and people needed help outside.

Then the screams began to sound which jolted the party out of their daze.

"Hurry, people need help here" Xiao Lan led the group outside to take a look at the perimeter. The world was burning in front of their very eyes, the red heat taking all over the landscape.

And in front of them stood a majestic creature which was surely the cause of this all. With the flames igniting his whole body, the flaming wings took off into the air and the majestic horse jumped into the air right above their heads.