At dawn, the corpse was gone.
Cautiously, Ji En slid down, splitting open his back again. He found a stream, washing both himself and the foul-scented bones, hoping to rid himself of whatever drew the creature.
He pressed on, weak but unyielding. Along the way, he discovered wild apricots. Clambering up, he plucked a few. The sour-sweet juice eased his hunger, but soon doubled him over with cramps.
Trouble piled on. As he crouched in pain, hoofbeats rumbled from the north.
He pulled aside. Several riders galloped past—armed men, blades at their sides. The first three thundered on, but the last looked at his gaunt, ragged figure. Pity flickered across his face. He tossed Ji En half a roasted chicken wrapped in paper and two flatbreads.
"Thank you! Thank you, good sir!" Ji En choked out. It was the first kindness he had felt in days.
The rider waved him off and spurred away. Ji En treasured the food, eating half a bread and saving the chicken for night.
At dusk, he roasted the bird over his fire, savoring the long-lost smell—when once again came that dreadful hopping.
Not one corpse this time. Two.
The black-faced creature had returned, with a companion. Both advanced on his fire.
Ji En nearly broke. "Enough!" He scrambled up the nearest tree without hesitation.
The corpses circled and leapt as before, thudding against the trunk.
Ji En sat in the branches, glaring at his roasted chicken, then at the monsters below. He bit down furiously.
But worse came still.
Hoofbeats sounded again from the north—the same riders from before!
His breath caught.
They drew near, spotting both Ji En in the tree and the corpses below.
"Ha! He's up there!" one called.
Another muttered, "Weak as he looks, he won't have gone far. Search!"
A third scoffed. "Use your head. He's long gone north!"
The first voice again: "If we find him, cut him down. Feng Zhenren himself will reward us for the deed!"
Ji En reeled as though struck. Feng Tianyu! Why did he want him dead?
The voices faded. The corpses hopped away after them.
Ji En sat shivering in the branches. Now he understood: Ling Yue's disappearance, Feng Tianyu's pursuit—Soul-Suppressing Alliance sought not gratitude, but his death.