.....

Two weeks ago.

Silent Lambs Empire capital, Aurolia city.

At the basement of a tattered house, Silvers and Sasha were hiding from the patrols. The two had detected a group of soldiers waiting for them above, though they pretended to leave. With their soul perceptions already trained to reach 300 meters in range, they could tell that the formation of those lying in wait has secured all of their exits.

"Should we burst out there and risk a quick get away?" Silvers asked for his partner in crime's opinion, "I could overload my artefact and drive all the soldiers mad for a moment, and you can create a tunnel of stone vines to create an escape route for us."

Sasha promptly shook her head. The plan sounded workable, but the risk attached is too high.

She instead wishes for another way, and patiently waited for the opportunity.

Seeing that she rejected this notion, Silvers did not dwell on it but instead tried to approach the situation in another way, "Why do you think they had not charged in for us yet?"

"Probably for the same reasons you already guessed", she whispered, "They are worried about the effects from our artefacts."

The items they took from Fritzgen's Treasury is fearsome indeed. It allowed merely two people to wreak havoc without being in the way of direct harm.

The two waited patiently, by their estimations, Kairos' group would have left on the reed boat by now. Which means, John and Long are free to help them.

A strand of soul perception contacted Silvers and Sasha, and wide grins appeared on the faces of the two. Their reinforcements have arrived.

What happened next was total pandemonium in the city.

None of the patrols expected that more would come. Therefore they were quickly thrown into chaos. People started running towards their hiding spots, seemingly aware of where each of them is. At first, the guards did not believe they would be so easily found. These men and women are familiar with every nook and cranny in Aurolia, and could at least keep themselves out of sight.

But they realised that they have never seen these strange people before, and somehow they can accurately find each of them.

As more people found from their hiding, the patrol teams began to fight them off.

It was this time when two people ran out the tattered house where the patrols had been securing. They quickly identified Silvers and Sasha, the rumoured criminals who burned down the guard house and tried to arouse anarchy.

The nearest guards to the building fought off those trying to hinder them and rushed to stop their target.

But at this time, unbelievable amount of vines appeared, seeking to entangle any that came too closely. However, this 'shield' lasted for only a short moment as more patrol teams arrive. With their help, they blasted down the vines with Ki attacks and chased down Silvers and Sasha.

The people assisting these criminals refused to surrender, but they too were also soon overwhelmed and apprehended. Most of them were killed in the struggle, and only a few captured.

In all, it took five patrol teams to secure the area, dragging the dead to a pile while tying up those alive with binding chains specially made for cultivators. But as they are cleaning up the place, a few guards quickly noticed that something is strange.

At first, only the dead bodies seemed to rot into a pile of mush, but soon even those alive that they apprehended decided it was a good time to melt. After a few minutes, everyone, including Silvers and Sasha had turned into little puddles of goo.

.

.

.

On the other side of Aurolia, four people made haste towards the same river that smuggled Kairos' team out of the city.

It was a terrible situation they were in, massively overwhelmed with soldiers all around. But after John had used his artefact, escape became easy.

What he has is a tiny magical bag that would produce beans once every 12 hours until the bag is filled. Each bean could then be thrown onto the ground to grow into a man-sized puppet. Though it cannot change its size, the puppet controlled by John takes the appearance of anything he wishes, even non-human forms, with the ability to fight. Each bean-puppet is limited to a rank below his cultivation and will last for two hours before they melt into a puddle.

To create obstacles that keep the patrols occupied, John thrown taken out a handful beans to create those 'strange people'. Then, he handed two of the beans to one of the puppets.

These two beans are the ones that turned into the appearance of Silvers and Sasha, to lure the patrols away.

When Silvers and Sasha noticed the decoys that are their exact replicates, they quickly retreated under cover from the chaos to meet with Long and John. In the process, Sasha summoned more vines to provide a shelter from sight and to keep up with appearances. Anyone would be doubtful if the fake Silvers and Sasha were caught without a fight.

When Kairos' group were retreating, even though it is more dangerous, John had wanted to follow. With the effects of his artefact, Kairos was tempted to bring him along. However, he eventually refused the offer. Though the bean bag would provide more than an edge for them to escape, he knows that Silvers and Sasha need John's help more.

It was this refusal that helped Sasha and Silvers escape, and now the four of them have made their way to hide at the walls of Aurolia. A secret path that leads up to a river.

Like Kairos, they plan to escape on a reed boat, but the tides had receded and came again. It will only be another hour till ebb tide once more, the perfect time for them to leave. As they waited patiently, one of the patrols that were scouring the city, made his way too close to the edge and noticed a suspicious spot on the city's wall.

The four captains had disturbed the weeds on their way. If it were normal times, such tracks would be ignored. But, without anyone to serve as a distraction for them like Kairos' group had it gave away their hiding place.

The guard approached slowly, taking out a talisman in his hand to prepare for the worst. Should he spot anything unusual, he only needs to crush it between his fingers and a powerful barrier would form. With it, it would be easy for him to cry for help.

He walked forward with cautious steps until he comes to the small path of flattened grass he found, following it until it led to an empty wall. With the bushes by the wall, unless one pays close attention, it would be difficult to see.

"That's odd. Why would anyone come here if it's a dead end?"

The man shook his head and came closer until he faced the wall directly.

*Rap Rap*

"Seems like solid rock" He knocked on the flat of the wall, but just as he was ready to return, the sound of his tapping changed.

"A hollowed part?" He moved his hands and tapped again, but this time, his hand simply went through.

The patrol was speechless with shock. He turned his body towards where his hand went through until half of his torso went through. It was only then that he realised that there was an optical illusion of an entirely flat wall, when in fact, it is a hole leading into a cavern-like area.

He went in silently, searching the area with caution until he saw an old padded door. One used for the purpose of muffling out sound. Daringly he opened it, immediately hearing the steady splash of a river, and came face to face with four old people.

After entering the city, John and the group did not remove their disguises, as Kairos had instructed. Only when they are confident, there are no more pursuers behind them they could take off the fake wrinkly skin glued to their faces, so that no one could tell their actual appearances.

They had all heard about how the Phrixus would take revenge until every person involved, and their kin, are dead.*

Because of their height as 13 years olds, they had donned the look of shrunken grandmother and grandfathers for their disguises. But with a glance, the soldier could tell that something is wrong.

The place they are at could pass off as an illegal shelter for the homeless, and by itself, it wouldn't warrant much attention even if found. But this place would be unsuitable for those who are so elderly, being so damp and cold due to the river nearby. The guard instantly activated his barrier as planned, but before he could call for help, Long's voice stopped him.

It immediately sounded musical to his ears. A nostalgic feeling burst forth in his heart, like an old friend who he had never seen for years is before him. A delighted smile appeared on the patrol's face, and he wanted nothing more than to catch up the old times with this 'long separated friend'. Then, Long began chatting with him, weaving great and wondrous tales, with incredible adventures and turmoils, and then finally ended off with a barely believable reason why he is here with three others.

The guard wiped a sincere tear from his cheeks, and he laughed merrily exclaiming how great it was to hear from him again, then he bided goodbye.

The tides receded as tides do, and the four made their way safely out of the city as planned.

They hopped off the reed boat down the stream where the river slowed down and heaved a sigh of relief.

The only reason they could deter the last patrol was thanks to Long's artefact is called the 'Happy Mouth', and like its name, it is made of a treasured wood shaped to look like a smile.

It is the counterpart to Silvers' relic that could arouse negative feelings. When Long used this object of power, he could make anyone wants to have a conversation with him in delight.

Even if the person wanted to take his life a moment ago, as long as that person did not have a will powerful enough to resist this mind-altering article, Long could sit down for a long chat and even convince him to leave.

The more captivating the conversation is and the longer the chat's duration causes a greater effect on the victim.

Unfortunately, Kairos did not foresee that the story Long had told, totally sucked, and the patrol soon stirred from that 'happy' stupor', calling the others.

A whole platoon of soldiers rushed out of Aurolia, following the river, tracking the four captains.

.....