The rain had been pouring for three full days. Shen Qing stood in the makeshift stilted bamboo house, watching the turbid floodwaters gradually recede. The water was littered with dead fish, each one hosting a parasitic, golden-thread-like worm in its gills. Nian'an was fast asleep behind her, her small hand clutching the silver snake ornament that Alaina had given her.
Xiao Yu pushed the door open, his straw raincoat still dripping. "I found the path to White Cliff Cave." He opened his palm to reveal a few peacock feathers coated in gold powder. "Follow these markers, but..." The man’s firm jawline tightened. "Something is tracking us."
Shen Qing stirred the dying incense in the censer, suddenly tossing the ash toward the doorway. The ashes formed a vague, humanoid silhouette in the air before quickly dissipating. "It’s an Incense Shadow," she said, her voice tight. "The Yue Family’s ancient texts mention that incense warmed with the blood of a virgin can take on a human form."
Chapter 54