Yaihan landed with grace on a thin platform. Despite the darkness, Yaihan made out the silhouettes of the trail beneath him. Like the path up the plateau, there wasn’t much footing for him to step on. He cautiously took each step while he let the slurred grumbles of the Oni he couldn’t see guide him.

The demon moaned and belched before giggling to himself. His noises echoed throughout the canyon, making it easy for Yaihan to pinpoint his location. The cultivator carefully advanced forward and with each step the Oni’s sounds grew louder. 

Soon, a large black outline blocked the already-limited amount of light in front of him. The demon swayed from side to side, his foot soon stepping off the trail. The Oni yelped as he down the side of the plateau, crashing on every stone along the way. Yaihan crouched and listened as the Oni wailed once his body hit the ground with a thud. 

The cultivator paused, angling his ear downwards. The demon continued to moan. With a sigh, Yaihan leapt further down the side of the formation, launching himself towards the source of the bellowing. Was this a member of a scouting party that got lost? Or perhaps he was part of the group that he and Fei-Lu had slain earlier and was feverishly looking to return to his comrades. Either way, his aching would end soon. 

Yaihan landed carefully again, his feet only making a soft pat as they touched down on the dust. He cracked his knuckles as he ventured towards the fallen demon. 

“D-Dammit,” the Oni groaned. The moon lingered directly overhead, giving Yaihan a somewhat clearer view of the surroundings. THe moonlight gave the demon a white glow as he wobbled back to his feet. He was too focused on setting himself upright to notice that Yaihan was only a few yards away. “I-I need a mender...” he mumbled. 

The demon grabbed his crooked arm and gave it a fierce pull. There was a fierce snap as bone jutted out of his flesh. He fell on his knees, screaming this time as he noticed the extent of his injuries from the steep fall. “Anyone?” he cried in anguish towards the skies. “Is there anyone who can help me?”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Yaihan said. He emerged from the shadows and stood in front of the sobbing monster. 

“Y-You...” the demon muttered, swaying from side to side while his unbroken arm struggled to point at him. “Slave. Go get the rest of my party. T-Tell them I’ve fallen.”

The cultivator paused slaying the demon with a single strike. Instead he inched closer, revealing his full face in the moonlight. The drunken Oni burped in his face, unleashing a foul scent of alcohol and rotten meat on his nose. Despite the putrid odor, Yaihan kept his usual placid expression.

“Are you talking about the ones at the top of the plateau?” Yaihan asked as he pointed upwards.

“O-Of course! Stupid human.” The demon winced as he clutched onto his broken arm again. “Hurry and get me some help! Can’t you see my arm is broken? I think my leg is, too.”

“So you wouldn’t be able to escape and get help yourself?”

“Of course not!” the demon shouted, his upper body moving up as far as it could. “What do you not understand about my command?”

“I’m just trying to analyze the situation. Maybe we could get some of the other slaves to come down and help you.”

“Sure! As long as someone comes down here to get me out of this canyon! I don’t care who, just get me some help!”

“I’ll be right on it,” Yaihan said as he crossed his arms. “Only problem is I’m lost as well. Can you tell me where the other slaves might be?”

The demon slammed his hand a few feet in front of Yaihan, sending a gust of wind that rustled his clothing. “Bah! You ask too many questions! You know Valiax took most of the slaves on his caravan! He left us with the weakest ones! They’re probably with my party... at... at the peak!”

Yaihan lowered his head. “I see. Unfortunately, I didn’t come across any other humans up there. Just... a pile of flesh and bones.”

“Those bastards ate them then!” The demon fell on his back and with his crooked arm covered his eyes and sobbed. “That’s how they got back at me for drinking all the spirits without them! I wanted to enjoy a good meal, too...” 

“You’re saying that there are no more slaves in this canyon then?”

“Definitely not,” the Oni moaned, still wallowing in his own pity. “I told you already. Valiax took the rest to operate on his caravan! You must have been one of the slaves too stupid for Valiax to trust maintain his carriage.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Yaihan replied. He stepped next to the demon’s head. The Oni let his broken arm fall limply to the ground and stared at Yaihan with his water streaming from his eyes. “Well... since I’ll probably die here... I might as well enjoy myself to one last meal.”

The demon’s good arm moved, and in a flash his fingers encompassed Yaihan’s body, leaving only his head visible through his grip. Even though his face was still red from his sobbing, his lips mustered a grin. “You should have obeyed my order and left when you had the chance! You could have lived to see the morning!”

“I’m sure I still will,” Yaihan replied, unfazed despite being in the demon’s clutches. 

“What?” the demon moaned in a drunken confusion. “You must truly be an idiot then!” He tried to lift his wrist, but Yaihan wouldn’t budge from his stance. “What... what kind of trickery is this?” he blurted out as he gave the cultivator another pull. All his might wasn’t enough to move Yaihan. 

The cultivator flexed his arms to the side, moving them as if the demon’s fingers were thin air. Flesh peeled off the Oni’s fingers as his bones bent back from the explosion of sudden force. The demon wailed again as he looked at his mangled digits up close in front of his face. As he turned his head to look at the cultivator, the last thing the demon saw was Yaihan’s knuckle flying towards him. 

It took Yaihan two precise leaps to make it to the top of the plateau. He reached the small platform where he was assigned, his head frantically scanning the area for the druid. 

“Lysa?” he called out. He heard her name echo throughout the emptiness. “Lysa? Where are you?” he called out again, only to receive silence as a response. He jumped down from the watch area and sprinted towards the camp. 

It wasn’t long before he realized something was wrong. The horses were gone. The fire extinguished. He made a straight line for the tent and peered inside. It was empty save for the blankets and pillows strewn about in untidy heaps. 

The cultivator stepped out of the tent and buried his face in his hands before collapsing to his knees. He took one fist and slammed it into the ground, creating a small crater from the blow. “To think... all those years of training and meditation... yet I’m still a fool,” he said to himself. 

“Cyrus! Koya!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, his head shaking from side to side, intending to look for any sign of movement. “Fei-Lu!”

The cultivator got to his feet and placed a finger to his lips. He mimicked the same the whistle that Koya did to get Midnight’s attention. He waited in silence as he looked in all directions for the horse, only to give up after a few moments of pure quiet.

He inhaled. His face turned serious as he turned his back towards the camp and his eyes focused on the direction towards the other side of the canyon. Yaihan marched with his head hung low. 

“I’ll kill ever single one of them,” he said aloud as he began another long trek across the dust.

His journey was cut short when a sharp object tapped against his back. 

“Do not move, Xiwaoan!” a voice called out from behind. To the cultivator’s surprise, the voice came from a human. He slowly turned his head around, only for the sharp object to get pressed tighter against his skin enough to cut through his already worn top. “Take another step and we’ll kill you where you stand!”

Yaihan halted and turned his head forward. “Did you take the others?” he asked.

“Yes,” the deep voice barked. “And you’re coming with us as well!”