He didn’t know how much time passed since the woman with the scar on her face left. Felt like an eternity, but most likely it’s only been a couple of hours. He figured it out based on how no one came to visit him, no guard shift, no further interrogation, no outside noise-which means that the outpost is undermanned and on night shift-and last but not least, no food was brought to him.

Fuhei’d love some food. Any food. In fact, he hasn’t eaten since morning, and right now, it felt like he’d be fine with chewing on some of Annu’s hay. Mmm, hay. So delicious, so nutritious!

He laughed and rocked on the seat. Curiously enough, the guards who put the shackles back on him neither removed the candle, nor the table, nor the chairs. Perhaps his interrogator didn’t order them to, and these pigs can’t think for themselves without being told what to do every second. He was grateful for that inflexibility, as it allowed him to conclude many operations successfully in the past.

Alas, it seems that his time as a Yawei is coming to an end. Despite his best attempts of pretending to be just some fool who stumbled upon a bald man with a ring, it was quite obvious the Chuhua woman wasn’t buying any of it. She was certain he’s Yawei, and she even deduced he had a hidden base in the sewers.

He looked at his right arm. Fuhei couldn’t even feel the shackles on it. It was completely numb. He raised his wrists to his face and bit his hand. Nothing. Examining his hand in the dim candlelight revealed blood dripping off the bite marks. Good, at least it’s still circulating there. Whether the freshly made wound will heal or not is another issue though.

Suddenly, the earth trembled, and a thunder-like noise echoed in the distance. What now? A black powder explosion? Or perhaps some fool found another magical ring and decided to test it in action?

A self-deprecating smile graced his face. Damn, he really was stupid, wasn’t he? When he found the ring, it felt like a cheat weapon. Every time he used it he could feel tingling in his fingers, but chose to ignore it, thinking it’s just a recoil or something among these lines.

The scarred face was right, he was an utter and complete moron!

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door of his cell. Strong, rhythmical banging, that reminded his teenage mind of something mildly indecent. He decided to resist, and not answer that.

Keep banging, I don’t care.

Soon after that, there was some clicking noise in the lock. It sounded different from the usual sound produced by the turning of the key and wasn’t completely unfamiliar to Fuhei, who had many unique talents.

Could it be!? Someone is picking the lock!?

“Hello! I’m here, help! Help!” he suddenly screamed as loud as he could, realizing it’s not the guards. Did someone come to save him!? What was going on?

The door opened, and two figures entered the cell. One was tall and muscular, the other was comically tiny in comparison, and tagged along like some literal sidekick. The unifying feature was that both of them wore black cloth bags on their heads, with comical openings cut out for their eyes alone.

Despite his rather miserable state, Fuhei couldn’t stop himself from making a joke.

“The circus arrived early this season!”

“Idiot, the circus already left two weeks ago!”

He instantly recognized the deep, booming voice coming from beneath the makeshift disguise. Uncle Yuhei!?

In that case, the person next to him is…

“Hello” mumbled Annu, and waved at him without much conviction.

“It’s not the time for introductions, morons!” screamed the uncle, irritated, and motioned at Fuhei to follow them.

The young fox immediately stood up and did as he was told.

“…The shackles?”

“We’ll take them off later, for now, we need to get out of here!”

“Where to?”

“Your beloved sewers!”

So he knew about Fuhei’s secret identity? Or did he simply figure out Fuhei often disappears underground? So many questions!

…………………………..

The explosion in the merchant’s district was caused by black powder. The smoke and characteristic smell were all the evidence the guards needed.

And the miscreant behind it was….

A hooded figure wearing a wolf mask run past the cordon of guardsmen. It’s Yawei! Chase him!

However, that task was proven to be difficult by the crowd of onlookers that gathered around the incident, attracted by the noise and flame. Many of them were Yaren, still tense after yesterday’s incident. Suddenly someone in the crowd screamed:

“It’s Yawei! Yawei is leading the fight against the humans!”

Encouraged by that, someone threw a stone. A guardsman was hit in the head and knocked to the ground. His comrade, seeing that, picked the stone up and threw it back at the crowd, hitting someone in return.

“Fool, what are you doing!? Don’t act without orders!”

“These xiaren spilled enough of our blood! Isn’t it time to retaliate!?”

So the two groups charged at each other. One was armed with spears, the other had superior numbers. In the chaos that ensued, no one bothered to fight the fire caused by the igniting black medicine-and no one should, because the city of stone was build to withstand far more than just that. The flames contained themselves to the building that was initially torched and soon went out on their own.

However, the flames within human and not-quite-human hearts weren’t so easily quenched. During the quarantine, the tensions between the western and eastern parts of the city reached levels unseen ever before, and the events that transpired on the market plaza only added fuel to the fire. And now, encouraged by the appearance of their rogue hero, it felt like every yaren in the city came out on the streets, eager to take vengeance on the accursed humans who oppressed them so much. Countless torches were lit, and it felt like hell itself awoke to consume Kiyi.

The guard commander, panicked, dispatched all the troops available to deal with the escalating situation. Objective: pacify the rioters at all costs! He knew that right now, his very neck is on the line. He must contain this riot! Hyper focusing on that objective alone, he didn’t give much thought to guarding the now unmanned outpost, even less to keeping an eye on its dungeons.

Yawei kept appearing and disappearing among the rioters, raising morale whenever he was spotted, and successfully catching the attention of the guards, who quickly realized this riot will not end unless the masked wolf is killed or captured.

Dispatching over a dozen guards to chase after him, it felt like trying to catch wind itself. However, finally, they cornered the enemy in one of the dead-end back alleys. His back to the wall, Yawei had nowhere to run now!

“Careful, he has a grappling hook!”

“Idiot, if he had one he’d use it already. Game over, villain!”

In fact, the situation felt quite surreal. They caught Yawei for real! The elusive enemy that caused them so much trouble recently was now right in front of them, at the mercy of their spears!

Suddenly, the miscreant charged waving a large wooden stick at them.

——Wait, a stick? Wasn’t he armed with better weapons before?

The first guard, too surprised to counter, was hit straight in the head and knocked out. Not ceasing the momentum of his attack, Yawei pressed on and showered the fallen man’s partner with a flurry of swing. It looked like some kind of combination, as each attack smoothly transferred into another one.

The guardsman had a hard time parrying the swings of a seemingly unwieldy but nonetheless heavy piece of wood with just the shaft of his spear. Just when it seemed he would share the fate of the fallen friend, several other guards jumped in and surrounded Yawei. Sensing what’s up, the wolf attempted to retreat, but not before being stabbed in the forearm with the tip of the spear, letting out a high-pitched scream, and dropping his weapon.

“You dumbass, there are ten of us! Surrender or…die?”

The confident guard, certain of imminent victory, and so eager to mock the cornered enemy, choked on his own words.

The miscreant extended both his hands forward, seemingly willing to surrender. However, above his palms, a weird ball of distorted air appeared. It seemed to be sucking all the wind and light from the surroundings, and slowly growing in size.

“Wait, isn’t this…”

“Some kind of cultivation power?”

“P-press on, it’s just a trick!”

The guards started slowly backing away, but it was too late, and they were too slow. The ball shot towards them at a frightening speed, and exploded, scattering their bodies into countless pieces of meat and bone. A fountain of droplets showered the only person standing among the corpses, staining their red cloak in an even deeper crimson shade.

…………

“What have you done?” exclaimed Fuhei, after they finally made their way past the enraged and violent crowds of rioting yaren.

“Oh, don’t hold it against me. As you know, I have some financial problems, right? I really needed that reward for your head. But I wouldn’t be myself if I left my own family for death at the hands of these dogs!”

“Your uncle planned everything. He even made an outfit resembling whatever Yawei was wearing and a fake mask for Fengli” said Annu, then added bitterly “She’s distracting the guards as we speak.”

“Frankly speaking, I didn’t plan to involve these kids in the rescue initially, but they just barged into my workshop just as I was working on the mask and insisted on helping me out!”

“Since Fengli is dressed up as Yawei, they won’t think you’re him even if they arrest you again” added Annu, his mind clearly centered on the wolfgirl.

Fuhei couldn’t believe the conversation unfolding in front of him. What are these people thinking? What the hell!?

“That’s not what I MEANT!” he screamed and stopped running. He pointed back, towards the flames and screams they already left behind “Do you have any idea what you started? How many people will die now!? If I’m to be reduced like that, I’d rather rot in that dungeon!”

Hearing that Yuhei turned around, and without saying a word, punched Fuhei straight in the face. The young fox fell down on the ground and didn’t get up for several seconds, as his brain bounced inside his skull like a ping pong ball.

“You fool! Don’t throw your life away!” the large man grabbed him by the collar and slapped him on the cheeks several times “I always knew you’re playing around as Yawei, and allowed it, even as it brought me nothing but ruin! There are things only you can do, right!?”

Fuhei nodded, tears in his eyes. It is exactly as his uncle said.

After that, they made it to the underground waterway without incident. Two heavy backpacks waited for them, apparently, Annu and Fengli packed all their things before commencing this operation and abandoned the inn. Shortly after they arrived, the wolfgirl joined up with them, panting heavily.

“Thank heavens you’re safe!” exclaimed Annu. The heavens were silent, but the cloaked figure replied, her voice distorted through ad-hoc mask that, upon closer inspection, didn’t actually resemble the one worn by Yawei at all.

“Oh shut up.” She took the stupid mask off, and threw it away into the sewage, where it belonged “Where to now?”

“I have a secret hideout further in. Come, I’ll show you, we should be safe in there!” at least for a while, thought Fuhei bitterly, and motioned at them to follow. The annoying shackles were already off, and he could move his hands freely. Well, at least one of them.

The wolf and the sheep nodded and did as they were told. However, the large man didn’t move even a bit.

“….?”

“I’m going to stay behind and help the rioters! Can’t stay idle in this historic moment!”

“…then I’ll help!” offered Fuhei immediately.

“What did I save you for!? And what can you do with your arm like that!? Use your head for a change! Hide, rest and resupply!”

And just like that, Yuhei turned away and ran off, not wasting his time listening to whatever response his nephew give him.

Then the three of them looked at each other, nodded, and also took off. Soon, they disappeared in the dark underground passage.