The days after the broken cart seed normal enough, but Yun could not shake that feeling, like soone walking behind him even when the road was empty. He went about his chores sa as always, feeding the goats, hauling water, trying to keep Liang from being lazy, but in his chest was this itch he couldnt scratch. Shen Yu was everywhere, helping everyone, smiling that too calm smile, but the more useful he was the less the village trusted him. Useful n didn't just show up from nowhere. Useful n always had pasts they wanted to hide.
One night the dogs barked loud. Too loud. Not the normal kind of bark when a rabbit hops across the fields, but sharp and wild like they saw a wolf. Yun woke up, his mother still snoring beside the hearth, so he pulled on his robe and slipped out. The moon was fat and yellow, hanging over the village like a watchful eye. Down near the gate, three dogs stood stiff, growling at the trees. The hair on their backs raised like spikes.
Yun picked up a stick, his hand sweating already though nothing moved. He stared hard into the dark line of trees. For a mont, he swore he saw a pair of eyes, pale and shining, not like an animal's, but too high, too steady. He blinked and they was gone. Only branches swayed.
Before he could think more, a voice behind him said, "Go back inside." Shen Yu stood there, silent as a shadow, no lantern, no sound of steps. Yun jumped, his heart pounding.
"You saw it too?" Yun asked, voice cracking.
Shen Yu didn't answer right away. He just looked into the trees a long while, longer than anyone would who wasn't hiding sothing. Finally he said, "Danger doesn't always shout before it cos. Sotis it only watches."
Yun swallowed. His throat dry. He wanted to ask more but Shen Yu's face made him stop. Calm, too calm. Like the man already knew what was hiding in the dark.
The next day villagers spoke in whispers. Chickens missing from pens, goats uneasy, children saying they saw shadows moving at the edge of the fields. Old Guo spit on the ground and muttered about bad ons. Auntie Lin burned incense twice instead of once. No one wanted to say the word bandits, but everyone was thinking it.
Yun tried to keep busy, but the fear hung in the air thicker than smoke. Liang joked too much, like he always did when he was nervous, but even his laughter didn't feel right. At night Yun dread of silver eyes staring down at him, of the stick in his hand glowing again, of stars falling into the village like fire. He woke with sweat soaking his back.
On the third night, it happened again. Dogs barking, this ti louder, closer. Yun and Liang ran to the gate with other n, carrying torches. They found footprints in the dirt, heavy ones, deeper than a man's step, leading from the trees and then back again. As if sothing had co near, watching, then walked away.
"What kind of beast leaves prints like that?" Liang whispered, holding his torch higher.
No one answered.
But Yun noticed Shen Yu standing further off, half in shadow, his face unreadable. The firelight flickered in his eyes, and for the first ti Yun thought maybe the villagers were right maybe he wasn't a traveler at all. Maybe he was sothing else entirely.
That night, when Yun lay awake staring at the roof beams, he realized sothing. The village was no longer safe. The peace he always wanted, the ordinary days, they was slipping away, and no matter how hard he tried to hold on, danger was coming closer with every breath.
And the heavens above, for so reason, had set their gaze right on him.
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