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Snow buntings are birds of the far north, widely distributed across tundra zones and coastal cliffs. They favor bare ground , exactly like this exposed rocky stretch in front of them.
But snow buntings are migratory birds.
Migratory birds appearing here in summer? Perfectly normal. Staying through winter instead of flying south? That was something else entirely.
Troy caught up. "You mean someone is raising them?"
"You've gotten smarter, Troy." Luo Wei raised an elegant eyebrow in approval.
The tips of Troy's ears went red. "I just thought it was strange: nothing to eat out on the ice plain, and they just kept circling."
"Your instincts were right," Luo Wei said, gesturing at the stone houses around them. "And look at these buildings. Empty as tombs, like no one ever set foot inside. Do you really think bandits would be patient enough to strip a place this clean?"
Not a single grain of rice. Not a scrap of cloth. That kind of thoroughness wasn't in a bandit's nature.
"Then where are they hiding?" Troy asked, brow furrowed. He'd walked through this castle himself and hadn't seen a single living soul.
"Where they're hiding," Luo Wei said, a knowing smile on her lips, "I suspect only these snow buntings know. They've been reporting back to someone."
She didn't hesitate. "Troy. Blow the whistle."
"Ah? Oh. Right."
Troy raised the bone whistle and blew. A dark shape shifted across the sky. SCREECH SCREECH. The Griffin came loping back from wherever it had been wandering, tilting its head to peer down at the ground below.
What are you calling me back for?
The massive creature shrieked overhead. Several snow buntings erupted in a panic, gray-black wings beating wildly as they dove straight for the ground.
Luo Wei tracked them without blinking, and a flicker of surprise crossed her face.
They disappeared under the city gate.
The most dangerous place is the safest place.
It made sense. In this entire castle, the weathered soil beneath the gatehouse was the only ground soft enough to dig into. Anyone stepping through that gate would be heard from below. The mountain stone was too hard , without iron tools, you couldn't quarry it.
Luo Wei moved quickly down the stone steps and back to the gate.
She hopped across the flagstone path like a child playing hopscotch, testing each stone with the heel of her lambskin boot. One shifted under her weight. She glanced at the side , a small mouse hole ran along the edge.
"Here."
She looked back at Troy and lowered her voice. "Get your sword ready. We're going exploring."
Troy drew his longsword and gave a firm nod.
Luo Wei crouched down and called toward the gap under the stone. "Is anyone in there?"
Her voice came out gentle. "We're just passing through. We were hoping to stay the night — would that be all right?"
Silence.
She tried again. "You don't need to be afraid. I'm not dangerous. We'll leave first thing in the morning, I promise."
Still nothing.
Something in her calculations had gone slightly off. Luo Wei straightened, stepped back, and looked at Troy. "Move the stone. Watch for traps."
"Got it."
Troy stepped up, bent down, and lifted the flagstone like it weighed nothing. He tossed it aside.
A hole opened in the ground , just wide enough for an adult to squeeze through.
Luo Wei drew her magic wand, kindled a small flame at the tip, and extended it into the darkness below. The cramped space came into view. A pair of brown eyes stared up at her in pure terror, and a second later, the small face vanished out of sight.
The smell hit her like a wall. Luo Wei pressed her handkerchief over her nose. "Troy, go down. I think it's children."
Troy dropped into the hole. A chorus of frightened screams erupted below.
"What does it look like?" Luo Wei lowered her wand into the opening to give him light.
A few seconds passed. Then his voice came up from underground.
"Six children. And one body."
Luo Wei let out a slow breath. "Move aside. I'm coming down."
She jumped, wand in hand. Her boots landed on soft, loose earth.
Down here, the stench was worse. Every breath felt like a punishment.
Luo Wei pinched her nose and swept the light around her.
The cellar was barely ten square meters. Cold. Foul. A pile of waste sat in the left corner. A row of clay pots lined the right wall. The center of the space was stacked floor-to-ceiling with goods.
All the utensils, food, and clothing that had vanished from the stone houses above , it was all here.
Behind the pile, hidden in the shadows, several small children crouched together. Through the gaps in the stacked goods, pairs of wide, frightened eyes peered at her.
Luo Wei moved forward and saw the figure lying beside them: an old man with a grizzled beard and papery, sunken skin. A corpse, to be precise. He was covered in thick hides of cattle and sheep. His skin had gone a bluish-gray. He had been dead for some time.
"Children," Luo Wei said softly, beckoning to them. "Come here. Tell big sister — is it just you? Where are the adults?"
A tiny, babbling voice answered from behind the pile. "Sissy, da gwown-ups all gone."
"Emily, don't talk to her!" another voice snapped. "She could be a witch!"
"But sissy is pwetty?"
"Pretty witches are still witches!"
"Brother, I'm hungry~" a third voice chimed in.
"Eden. You already ate this morning."
"Brother, I'm hungry too..."
"Brother! Emily's tummy is hungry!"
The space behind the pile dissolved into a chorus of hungry complaints.
Luo Wei stepped closer, softly, until she could see them clearly.
Six children. The oldest was six or seven at most. The youngest was barely two, still too small to form a full sentence. The oldest boy had been desperately trying to soothe the rest, but when he looked up and saw Luo Wei approaching, he lurched to his feet and put himself between her and his siblings.
"Don't come any closer!"
Luo Wei stopped. "All right. I won't." She kept her voice even. "But are you really going to stay here? You can't have much food left."
The boy tried to sound fierce. "So what!"
"Without food, you'll starve." Simple. Factual.
"We won't starve! We'll go out and find some!"
"Find some." Luo Wei shook her head. "With those little arms and legs, out in the snow and ice? The only food you'd find is the birds you've got hidden in those clay pots behind you."
The boy went rigid. "Don't you dare touch them. They're my friends."
"I didn't say I'd touch them. I'm thinking through your options. When the food runs out, what do you eat?"
He clamped his mouth shut.
Luo Wei pressed forward while she had the opening. "I told you — I'm not dangerous. I can get you out of here. I can feed you. You don't have to treat me like an enemy."
"I don't believe you." The boy kept his chin up. "Why would you want to help us? Grandpa Pigu said people who are nice for no reason always want something. We don't have anything left to give you!"
"Because I follow the God of Death and Time," Luo Wei said, letting a look of calm compassion settle over her face. "The god asks us to ease suffering. To help those in need."
"I save you asking for nothing in return."
The boy translated this immediately. "So you want to preach at us."
Sharp little head on him.
Luo Wei raised an eyebrow. "You could put it that way."
He grew warier still. "And if we don't believe in your god?"
"Then I might not be able to help you," she said, deliberately.
"Hmph." The boy crossed his arms. "I knew it. That god of yours is an evil god. A real god would never act like that. I'll never follow any God of Death and Time. I follow the God of Wisdom!"
Luo Wei's smile faded.
She drew herself up to her full height. Her dark eyes settled on him, quiet and deep.
"Evil god. True god."
She let the words hang for a moment.
"Tell me, little one , if your true god is so righteous, why hasn't it come to save you?"
➤ Next: What Thing Is That, Let Griffin Me Take a Look?
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