Chapter 39: The Patrol Returns

The Western Road Patrol did not return the next day.

By the following afternoon, Lin Yuan had stopped expecting them.

Blackstone continued as usual.

Master Zhou’s workers raised the lower walls of the new inn. Travelers came and went. Hunters visited Duan He’s shop, while westbound groups gathered near the warning board before deciding whether to continue.

There was nothing new to add to it.

That changed shortly after sunset.

Hoofbeats approached from the west.

Five Dusthorn Deer entered Blackstone.

The Western Road Patrol had returned.

And they had brought someone with them.

Lin Yuan stepped outside.

The patrol leader dismounted first.

Dust covered his dark robes, and one sleeve had been torn near the elbow. The other four weren’t in much better condition.

They looked tired.

But none appeared seriously injured.

The sixth man was older, perhaps in his fifties. He wore a faded brown robe beneath a worn leather coat, with a short spear tied beside his saddle.

When he tried to dismount, his right leg nearly gave way.

One of the patrol members caught him.

"I’m fine."

"You’re limping."

"I was limping before you found me."

"That doesn’t make it better."

The older man pulled his arm free and took two careful steps.

The patrol member looked toward Lin Yuan.

"Any rooms?"

"Still full."

The man’s expression fell.

"He can rest downstairs."

"Good enough."

They helped the older cultivator into the tavern.

Several customers were already watching.

The patrol leader looked around.

"Food first."

Lin Yuan nodded.

"Sit."

Whatever they had found could wait until they had eaten.

Lin Yuan brought out meat noodles, steamed buns, and water.

The five patrol members ate quickly.

The older cultivator took his time.

Lin Yuan didn’t question them until the first bowls were empty.

The patrol leader finally leaned back.

"We went past the broken hills."

Two hunters at a nearby table immediately looked over.

One turned his chair.

"You crossed them?"

"Part of them."

"What did you find?"

The patrol leader wiped his hands.

"Almost nothing."

The hunter frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"Fewer spirit beasts than there should’ve been."

Lin Yuan stopped beside the counter.

That was different from every report that had reached Blackstone.

The patrol leader continued.

"We found tracks everywhere. Ashfang Wolves, Ironback Boars, Dusthorn Deer, several smaller species. Most were old."

"But the beasts themselves?"

"Gone."

The older cultivator set down his cup.

"They left their territories."

Lin Yuan looked at him.

"You live out there?"

"Did."

"Where?"

"A hunting camp beyond the southern side of the broken hills."

One of the hunters nearby straightened.

"Red Cliff Camp?"

The older man looked at him.

"You know it?"

"I stayed there last year."

The hunter’s expression changed.

"What happened?"

"We abandoned it."

The conversations around them faded.

The older cultivator continued.

"There were seventeen of us. Mostly hunters. A few herb gatherers. We noticed the smaller beasts moving first."

"When?" Lin Yuan asked.

"About two weeks ago."

That fit the timing.

"We didn’t think much of it at first. Beast territories change."

The man rubbed a thumb along the rim of his cup.

"Then we started finding places we’d hunted for years completely empty."

He glanced toward the hunter who knew Red Cliff Camp.

"Two Ashfang Wolf dens were abandoned."

The hunter frowned.

"Both?"

"Both."

"Any signs of fighting?"

"None."

That was enough to make the hunter fall silent.

Lin Yuan thought of the beasts that had passed through Blackstone.

Different species.

Different sizes.

All moving east.

"What made your camp leave?"

The older man’s expression tightened.

"One morning, before sunrise, every mount in camp started panicking."

Lin Yuan waited.

"Then we heard wild beasts moving through the dark."

"Toward the camp?"

"No. Past us."

"East?"

The man nodded.

"For almost an hour."

He paused.

"Then we felt something else."

"What?"

"The ground."

Several people frowned.

"It shook?"

"A little."

The older man tapped two fingers against the table.

"Slowly."

He tapped again after a pause.

"Then again."

Lin Yuan watched him.

"Moving?"

"That’s what it felt like."

Nobody spoke for several breaths.

The man picked up his cup.

"We waited until sunrise."

"And found what?"

The patrol leader reached into his storage bag.

"A reason not to stay."

He placed a folded piece of rough paper on the table.

Lin Yuan opened it.

Dark charcoal marks covered most of the sheet.

At first, the shapes meant little.

Then one of the nearby hunters stood.

"That’s a footprint?"

"Part of one," the patrol leader said.

The hunter leaned closer.

"One track?"

"Yes."

Lin Yuan studied the rubbing.

Several curved impressions crossed the paper. Each was wider than his fingers.

"Claws?"

"Probably."

"How large was the full track?"

The patrol leader shook his head.

"We couldn’t get a clean measurement. Most of the ground was stone, and the impressions we found were incomplete."

"But bigger than this?"

"Much."

The older cultivator stared at the paper.

"That’s why we packed."

Lin Yuan couldn’t blame him.

"Which direction did the tracks go?"

"North."

Lin Yuan looked up.

"Not east?"

"No."

The patrol leader folded the rubbing again.

"The beasts were moving east. Whatever made those tracks went north."

Lin Yuan studied the folded rubbing for another moment before looking back at the patrol leader.

The patrol had found the older cultivator alone near an abandoned hunting shelter.

His group had split after leaving Red Cliff Camp. Most headed southeast toward another trade route, while he injured his leg crossing loose stone and fell behind.

The patrol found him before turning back.

They had not found whatever made the tracks.

What they had found were more empty territories.

The patrol leader spread a rough map across the table.

He marked Blackstone first.

Then the broken hills.

Several additional marks appeared farther west.

"These are the areas where we found the clearest signs of movement."

Lin Yuan leaned over the map.

The marks covered a wide area.

"If a single spirit beast caused all this, it moved through a large region."

"That’s one possibility."

The patrol leader tapped the map.

"But we’re not assuming that yet."

Lin Yuan nodded.

"What happens now?"

"We return to Green River City tomorrow."

"Then?"

"We report what we found."

The patrol leader rolled up the map.

"After that, they’ll decide whether to send a larger team."

A hunter near the table spoke.

"What do we do until then?"

"Stay near the main road. Travel in groups. Don’t hunt deep west unless you’re willing to accept the risk."

"The road itself?"

"Still open."

The patrol leader looked toward Lin Yuan.

"Your warning is fine. Add that deep western hunting isn’t recommended."

Lin Yuan nodded.

That was something useful he could actually tell people.

The older cultivator slept downstairs that night.

Lin Yuan gave him a bench near the wall and an extra blanket.

It wasn’t a room.

It was better than sleeping outside with an injured leg.

Early the next morning, Lin Yuan walked to the warning board.

He removed the old notice and replaced it.

WESTERN ROAD NOTICE

Increased Spirit Beast Activity

Beasts Have Reached the Blackstone Area

Main Road Remains Open

Travel in Groups

Avoid Leaving the Main Road

Deep Western Hunting Not Recommended

The first travelers to wake stopped to read it.

Two hunters stood in front of the board for several minutes.

They had planned to leave west that morning.

Instead, Lin Yuan watched them cross the road toward Duan He’s shop.

Master Zhou’s workers arrived soon afterward.

The inn had progressed noticeably.

Timber now rose above the lower walls, outlining the first floor. One worker climbed a ladder while another called measurements from below.

Lin Yuan watched them for a moment.

Then something stirred faintly in his awareness.

He stopped.

The Territory Core.

Lin Yuan focused.

The familiar interface appeared.

Territory Core

Owner: Lin Yuan

Territory: Blackstone Wasteland

Core Level: 2

Spiritual Environment: Faint

Territory Revenue: 462 / 500 Low-Grade Spirit Stones

Lin Yuan’s gaze remained on the final line.

The last time he had checked, it had been 307.

Since then, Wandering Cloud Tavern had stayed busy.

Qiao continued selling supplies.

Duan He’s beast-material business had grown quickly.

Travelers delayed by the western road were eating, buying supplies, trading, and staying longer.

All of it was happening within Blackstone.

Lin Yuan dismissed the interface.

His gaze moved across the road.

Qiao’s shop was already open.

Two hunters stood outside Duan He’s business.

Behind them, Master Zhou’s workers were raising another section of the inn.

462 / 500.

Whatever was happening in the west, Blackstone hadn’t stopped growing.

The next Core level was close.