“He came on wings, flapping with the sound of death,” Old Man Xiu said, the fire they sat around, casting a eerie light on his face. “The Red Faced demon dropped in and killed people, City officials. Some say because they were corrupt, others say because they had made a deal with the devil himself. But one thing is for sure, the demon left on his wings of death while the city officials blood still ran and the echoes of their screams still spreading across their homes!”

Deng Dandan scoffed at this, “Ridiculous.”

“It’s true!” Old Man Xiu said. “The Red Demon does exist. I saw it with my own eyes!”

“And you’re vision is 100%, old man?” Dandan said.

“What’s that suppose to mean?” Old Man Xiu narrowed his eyes at her.

“Do you believe this nonsense, Captain Lao?” Dandan asked.

“I have no interest in old wives tales,” Lao said.

Dandan giggled at this.

“What I want to know is why those assassins were after you, Xiu Lu?”

Xiu Lu was scribbling on her notebook and looked up at Lao. “What? They-They weren’t after me!”

“I beg to differ,” she said. “The assassin threw a throwing knife at you. When we rushed to that side, that left the other to toss his chained weapon, again aimed at you.”

“Bah! They’re bandits!” Old Man Xiu said. “They’re all stupid.”

“No, they’re not.” Lao said. “Even if we are to assume that they were just stupid bandits who attacked you, even with escorts, they would specifically try to target the strongest first. Get rid of them and then easily pick them off. But none of my squad, who are obviously the biggest threat were attacked. Even your old man is more dangerous than you and he was left alone. So why you. Why specifically attack you?”

“They-They weren’t,” she said. “Honest, I don’t know why they attacked me.”

Lao narrowed her eyes at her. Xiu sweated under Lao’s gaze, gulping nervously.

“Fine, but I will find out the truth.” Lao said before turning to Dandan. “Dandan, please turn off the fire. I’ll take first watch.” She addressed everyone. “We will leave early morning tomorrow.”

Dandan smothered the fire and the three slept. Even in the dark, Xiu could feel Lao’s stare.