Blind Paragon: Soul Devourer in a Game-Like World

Ch3. Blood Trail

The talisman shone faintly in Yun Kai's palm, its paper edges were rough against his calloused fingers.

It was a high-level Mortal Script Blood Chasing Talisman, rare as a phoenix feather in the Verdant Cloud Kingdom. Its price was enough to bankrupt lowborn nobles and leave commoners weeping. Only the Kingdom's guards wielded such treasures to hunt fugitives or beasts, tracking them through blood's unerring call.

Yun Kai's lips twitched, a ghost of a smirk crossing his face. He'd "borrowed" a few from a guard's stash, a small rebellion against the palace's suffocating schemes.

He knelt, blindfold snug against his eyes, and scooped a drop of the Wild Ash Rat's blood from the forest floor. The coppery tang stung his nose as he pressed it to the talisman's crimson center. Then he infused Qi into the talisman, sparking the script to life.

The talisman erupted in a blaze, flames licking the air like a hungry beast. It shot forward, trailing fire and the reek of blood, searing a path through the Black Stone Forest.

Yun Kai stood, head tilted, nose twitching in the direction it took. He couldn't see the flame's trail, but the bloody stench was enough of a guide for him.

He followed barefoot, robes brushing against the underbrush. Along with the smell, his senses, honed since childhood, perceived the world around him. A meter-wide bubble of perception like a radar, faint but vivid, painted the trees, the rocks, the skittering insects in his mind.

Born blind in a dog-eat-dog world that revered the strong and devoured the weak, he'd endured taunts from his royal siblings, sneers from noble peers, and the elders' venomous pity.

At five, he'd nearly broken emotionally, psychologically, and physically. The weight of their cruelty had pressed him toward a grave act of suicide. His mother's tear-streaked face had stayed his hand, but it was the gift that truly saved him.

A sudden awakening on his fifth birthday, a half-meter radius of sensory clarity. He'd told no one, not even her. By his fourteenth birthday last year, it had grown to a meter, a secret he guarded like his life depended on it.

Because it did.

Ten minutes later, the blood scent vanished. Yun Kai froze, his breath shallow. Massive trees loomed around him, their twisted branches choking the sunlight into feeble rays. He had unknowingly walked into the outer edge of the Black Stone Forest's deeper regions.

His pulse quickened, but his steps stayed silent, instincts sharp as a blade. He'd slipped past multiple Mortal Rank Demonic Beasts on the way, beasts that never sensed the blind boy gliding through their domain. His disability was his shield now, and he was grateful for that.

A twig snapped under his heel, and Yun Kai cursed inwardly, snapping back to the present. The blood trail had led him here, to a clearing where the air hung heavy with gloomy energy. His senses brushed against something cold and still.

He crouched, fingers tracing the ground until they met fur, matted and slick with blood. The Wild Ash Rat's carcass lay sprawled before him, his throwing knife still buried deep in its eye.

Yun Kai frowned. A knife to the eye shouldn't have killed this beast, though. He knew that because the force he used for the throw wasn't enough to cause such damage.

His hand slid along its flank, and his stomach twisted.

A gaping hole was torn open in the rat's side, ribs jutting out like broken spears. The innards were gone, devoured in a single, savage bite. He could tell that from the clean chomp mark that lined the hole.

Bone gleamed wetly in the faint light, the wound's edges were rough as if torn by fangs larger than any mortal beast's. Yun Kai's blindfold hid most of his expressions, but his jaw tightened. A chill slithered down his spine.

"It was probably killed by a Spirit Beast," he murmured, voice barely a breath.

He rose, fingers curling around the knife's hilt. With a wet 'shlick', he yanked it free, black blood dripping onto the leaves below. His senses swept the clearing, searching for tracks, a scent, anything. The air was too still. The random chirping of birds and critters had unknowingly disappeared.

Whatever had done this hadn't gone far.

Suddenly, his ears twitched. Faint sounds of conversation and footsteps stirred from the trees behind him. Yun Kai's grip tightened, his body coiling like a spring as he shot toward a nearby tree and climbed to the top, all within seconds.

His movements were silent, practiced. Years of navigating the palace unseen had taught him how to move like a ghost.

He kept his body still as stone, pressed against the trunk. His meter-wide sensory bubble rippled like sea waves, mapping the surroundings below in sharp, fleeting impressions.

Five figures emerged into the clearing, their presence was like a ripple in his mind's eye. They were four men, their voices gruff and weathered, and one woman, her steps lighter but no less deliberate. He couldn't see their faces, but their forms were clear enough in his senses, like shadows cast in a storm.

They spoke in low, smug tones, words dripping with disdain. Yun Kai's curiosity piqued, and his fingers gripped the bark as he leaned forward slightly, ears straining to catch every syllable.

"Spirit Beasts, Mortal Beasts, doesn't matter," one man growled, his voice rough as gravel. "We round them up and set them loose when the time comes. The royal clan won't know what hit them."

A woman's laugh sliced through the air, sharp and cold. "Those pampered fools in their jade palaces, sipping tea while we work our asses off. By the time they notice, the Verdant Cloud Kingdom will be ash."

Yun Kai's blood ran cold. His senses brushed against something in the leader's hand, a faint hum, like a heartbeat trapped in metal. A beast-tracking device. Its Qi signature released faint ripples, guiding them through the forest's depths.

His mind raced, piecing together their words like a puzzle with missing pieces.

They were planning a devious scheme that was already months in the making. Their intentions were to unleash chaos with beasts as their pawns. And the royal clan, his family, flawed and scheming as they were, was completely unaware.

"Idiots," another man snorted, his voice oily with mockery. "The King's too busy with his Queen and concubines. The princes are squabbling over the citizens' favor. They'll be easy prey when we strike."

"Quiet," the leader snapped, his tone cutting like a whip. "Focus. We need more beasts before the solstice. Spirit Ranks, if we can manage. The distraction has to be big enough to cripple their defenses."

Yun Kai's breath hitched, but he stayed motionless. His heart pounded, each beat a war drum in his chest. These weren't common bandits. They were organized, ruthless, and far too confident.

The group drew closer to the Wild Ash Rat's carcass, their footsteps slowing. The woman's voice rose again, tinged with unease. "What in the eighteen hells did this? Look at that hole. A clean bite right through the ribs."

The leader crouched, his beast-tracking device humming louder now. "Spirit Beast, maybe. Something big. This rat's a mid-level Mortal Rank demonic beast, but it's been gutted like a fish."

"Could be trouble," one of the men muttered, his bravado faltering. "If there's a Spirit Rank beast prowling this close to the outer rim…"

"Then we trap it," the leader said, voice flat but laced with greed. "A beast like that would make our plan even better. Think about it. A Spirit Rank beast unleashed in the capital during the Solstice Festival? The chaos alone would be worth its weight in gold."

The woman giggled in agreement. "The guards would be too busy fighting it off to notice us moving in. We could take down the treasury, maybe even the royal vaults."

"Assuming it doesn't kill us first," another man grumbled.

The leader stood, tucking the device into his robes. "That's why we set traps. Bind it with suppression talismans and spirit chains. We don't need to kill it, just control it long enough to point it at the palace."

Yun Kai's fingers dug into the bark, his nails scraping against rough wood. His mind spun with the implications.

This was a coordinated attack. Using demonic beasts as weapons. The Solstice Festival, when the capital would be packed with citizens, nobles, and merchants from across the kingdom.

It wasn't just a robbery. It was a massacre waiting to happen.