Hari shot another poisoned arrow in the Boar’s direction.

But the Boar dodged it perfectly, with an impressive leap to the side. Again. What the hell was wrong with that Boar? How could it do that? It was just a Boar, or at least it should be. Was the Boar understanding the Dao of Dodge? That shouldn’t be possible. But according to Jien, some Beasts on Rarik were just normal animals that had awakened to cultivation somehow. He even told a story about a rooster—maybe chicken—that had awakened to cultivation. But, that was just a rumor, Jien's accounts.

Hari didn’t know what to think. An entire category of beasts were farm animals. This was a little too much for her mind. Had Hari found the only Boar that was awakening to become a Beast? That would be horrible luck.

She fired again, her last poisoned arrow. Hari didn’t know if the heat and humidity were affecting her mind, but she could have sworn the boar turned to her and smiled before dodging again. Then the boar emitted a characteristic squealing noise. Of course, Hari interpreted that as a laugh. The Boar was making fun of her hunting skills. And that, she couldn’t allow it. She would chase that Boar until she hunted it, or she would change her name to ‘Bad Huntswoman’ Hari. In the back of Hari’s mind, she considered not making such stupid promises.

Hari left her bow, drawing a dagger—Fushi’s ancient dagger—and surrounded the Boar. As much as she didn’t like to admit it, Hari had only started using bows two months ago. So she was still terrible with them. But she knew her advantage was in melee. Still, she had to get close to that slender and smart Boar. Hari used the trees as a cover, constantly approaching the Boar with silent steps—as silent as she could.

The Boar still didn’t seem to have noticed her presence. It seemed too busy eating some form of root. When Hari got close enough, she dashed towards the Boar.

Got you.

She leapt at the Boar, slashing straight for his throat. But the boar took a side step. Hari reached for it, barely touching its tail. But the Boar escaped and ran toward the forest, disappearing from Hari’s sight with a long, high-pitched squealing noise. Like a laugh from a damn enemy. At that moment, a new and feared rival appeared in Hari’s mind.

I will meet you again, Boar.

Weiyang differed from every city Hari had ever been to. Zhouhei was a mess of vendors and shouting. Guinam was a simple village, too quiet to have anything interesting coming from there. Weiyang was… normal. People greeted each other daily. Salespeople didn’t yell outside their stores for you to come in. There were no street food vendors on the streets. In fact, all vendors had their own restaurants and stores. Everything was methodical. In Hari’s first month in Weiyang, the normality of the place, the overly polite people and the absence of robberies and criminals surprised her.

It just made her think Weiyang had a bizarre secret behind that stillness. Perhaps the people were being secretly coerced into acting that way by a dictatorial and malicious ruler. Or maybe Weiyang had been cursed to look like an ordinary city, but it was actually home to a terrible shaman sought after all over Hyperia.

Hari still wasn’t sure about the shaman, but everyone adored the mayor of Weiyang as a righteous man. How was that possible? Hari even bought bows and arrows, and they were of good quality, not a scam or made from cheap wood. Was she living a dream?

The streets were paved, there was a sewer system and aqueducts that supplied public restrooms and wells throughout the city. Hari no longer had to walk for hours to carry water from the river. The water from the river came to her. Ah, the most important part was still missing. Weiyang was a city in Hyperia, and it possessed a very unusual feature. There was Cold Iron in everything. On the walls, on the floor, on weapons, on wagons, on everyday objects, all had some detail composed of Cold Iron.

With Hari’s bow, Cold Iron completely formed the bowstring, and according to Jien, it projected arrows more accurately than normal bows. What made Hari ponder, if she was so bad with Hyperia bows, how bad would she be with others?

Another thing that caught Hari’s attention was how straight everything was, as if everyone in town had decided they hated curves or details that weren’t harmonized. The houses looked like rectangular boxes; the streets were precise and divided into squares. Why? Where were the flourishes and unique beauty of the builders’ individuality?

There was nothing. Everyone did everything the same, and that was too depressing. Her house looked like every other house in her district. She thought about painting the walls bright red, green, and pink just to give it some personality. But extremely offended citizens advised her not to do so. In the end, Hyperia’s culture was more powerful than Hari’s and, little by little, she adhered to some of their strange customs. Like saying ‘good day’ and ‘good night’ every time she met someone.

Hari stopped in front of her favorite store — The House of Everything of Xiang the Clever. She opened the door and came across one of the few places with character in Weiyang. A strong smell of incense and herbs soon invaded her nose and a man with a long mustache and braided hair turned to her — Xiang, the not-so-clever.

“Good day, my dear Wancheng!” Xiang said with a clap and jumped over the counter, nearly tripping over his long robe. “Coming back from yet another hunt? What brought you to me this time?” he smiled, hugging Hari so closely that she could smell his cheap perfume.

“Good day. Had little succes. I found the most powerful boar I’ve ever faced. I think it had powers, or was the spirit of an ancient warrior reincarnated.” Hari said, enjoying her own conclusion. Of course, her lack of success had nothing to do with the fact that she was terrible with the bow. “But I brought the herbs you asked for.” she took a handful of leaves from her bag.

“Two white stripes on the back and a broken fang? Specifically, the left fang?” Xiang said, with a very serious face of 'I’m very smart.'

“What?”

“The wild boar, my dear Wancheng.” he repeated with a slightly exaggerated emphasis on the word boar. Hari had understood. She was only surprised that he had accurately described the wild boar she had just found.

“I understood. But how do you know it?” Hari asked, confused.

“Yes. So you finally found him.” he said, amplifying his expressions to sound like he was dealing with a more serious matter than he really was. He did that a lot, Hari had noticed. Xiang continued. “The White Death!”

White death?

Hari maintained an impassive expression. That was definitely a very excessive name for a wild boar. “That’s a pretty excessive name for a wild boar, don’t you think?”

Xiang grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. “There’s nothing excessive about,” dramatic pause. “The White Death!”

Hari didn’t change her expression, but inside, she was being convinced by that dramatic moment. “I didn’t know I was dealing with some kind of Weiyang Forest legend.”

“No, my dear. The White Death is more than a legend. It is said that he has already brought the death of dozens of hunters in the last ten years. That he cursed the lands of Weiyang and that disease and plague spread wherever he went.” he gestured at nothing, magnifying his speech. “No one ever survives an encounter with him.”

“I’m alive. And if no one survives, who tells about the legends?”

Silence. Then more silence. Xiang stared at Hari without speaking for a few uncomfortable minutes. He really was taking this matter very seriously. His brows were so frowned that Hari was worried they would touch his nose.

“Oh no. The legends are a lie.” he said, leaning against the counter, making crying sounds. “What’s left of my life now?”

Hari placed a hand on his back to soothe him. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Legends are not always true.”

“Wait.” Xiang suddenly stood up. “Did you touch him?”

“Yes, I touched him before he completely ran away.” Hari did not know what was going through Xiang’s mind. He could think about blue butterflies that ate fish, and she would have no idea. Xiang was just too chaotic.

“So it’s explained. You touched him. Legends are still true. Thank you goddess.” he said, raising both hands to the sky with tears in his eyes, and fully recovered from the supposed trauma in seconds. Hari didn’t understand how her touching the ‘White Death’ could have spared her life, but superstitions had no explanation.

“But what about who told the legends?” Hari provoked. She wanted to know what he would say.

“Easy. They were just like you and touched the White Death.” he breathed a sigh of relief. “Great, now I can go back to believing my mom will die if I step on cracks. It would be terrible if I stepped on one, and she died because of you, my dear Wancheng.”

Suddenly, Hari’s mind searched for all the cracks she had stepped on. She stepped on many. But superstitions weren’t real, were they? She doubted her own logic. No! Superstitions didn’t have a grain of rationality. Hari needed to stand her ground in the face of Xiang’s crazy influence.

After Hari delivered the herbs to Xiang and collected some shallow coins, she and Xiang still talked for a while, discussing the White Death’s possibilities and limitations. The next time Hari found that Boar, she would be ready. In the middle of the afternoon, she returned home. Hari promptly went to Jien’s room. He was still unconscious. This time, his sleep lasted three weeks.

Since the invasion of Zhouhei, Jien was never the same and spent days, sometimes weeks, in an unexplained sleepy state. Occasionally he would wake up suddenly, but no sleep was as long as this one.

Hari lit a purple sandalwood incense in the bedroom and offered a brief prayer, hoping for Jien’s condition.

“Jien, I found information about the location of someone who knows about Sarif. I will travel and search for him. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but Xiang promised he’ll take care of you. He's a little crazy, but he has a good heart and he's honest." Hari paused, looking for some reaction. Nothing. “You said there was a possibility to bring the Fortunate Cultivator’s Treasure back and stop this war. So, that’s what I’ll do.”

Then, Jien took a long breath, opened his eyes, and suddenly stood up. “I’ll go with you.”