The cold of the Aokigahara forest wasn't just climatic; it was a cold that seemed to emanate from the roots of the ancient trees. Five horse-drawn carts traversed the dense fog, the sound of wooden wheels crushing dry leaves the only calm sound in that march.
At the front of them all, the lead cart imposed absolute silence. Unlike the others, it was entirely covered by a heavy black cloth, sealed with strips of yellowed paper inscribed with blood ink. On the roof, a man wearing a white porcelain mask sat motionless, watching.
In the four carts that followed, the sounds were different: sobs, sniffles, and the clinking of chains.
"Enough of this crying!" roared one of the looters in cart number 3, kicking the iron grate. "If you keep wasting tears, you'll arrive at the market dry, and the value of your blood will plummet!"
"Ignore them, Toshi. He's just nervous because the Divine Dust supply is running low," mocked another guard, who was riding alongside on horseback. "When we deliver this shipment to the Shadows, we'll have enough Dao pills to cultivate our cores to an energy equivalent to ten years. Just imagine... being an innate master without needing to meditate!"
"Yeah... Divine Dust makes everything easier. Too bad the world is running out of 'raw materials,'" replied Toshi, laughing with rotten teeth.
"My father says that those who take shortcuts end up falling into the abyss." Himari's voice cut through the men's conversation like a tuned flute in the middle of a shootout.
She sat cross-legged in the center of the third carriage, comforting a boy who wouldn't stop trembling.
"Your father? That strange man from the village? He probably doesn't even know where we are, little one..." said the horse raider.
"What did you say, little one?" added Toshi, turning to Himari and resting his arm on the railing.
"I said you're lazy." Himari smiled, her eyes shining in a way that bothered the raider. "And I told them to stay calm. There's no point in crying now. Save your breath for when my father arrives. He doesn't like noise when he's working."
Toshi spat to the side and let out a laugh that echoed through the forest, startling the crows.
"Your father? That blind, dark-skinned drunkard we left behind at the inn? Girl, by now he's probably gorging himself on drink, and if he's actually after you, he's either being devoured by wolves or tripped over a root. Do you really think a blind man will find us? We're hidden by the Masked Master's Dao."
"He's not blind," Himari corrected impatiently, crossing her arms and pouting angrily. "He wears the bandana because he's polite. If he took it off, you'd be very sad. And he doesn't need eyes. He smells your wickedness. It's a sour smell, like spoiled milk."
"Are you listening to this, Ren?" Toshi nudged his horse companion. "Her father is a bloodhound!"
"Listen here, little one," Toshi continued, bringing his face close to the railings. "Your father is a nobody. In this world, whoever doesn't have Dao is nobody."
"It's what separates the gods from the worms," the raider replied proudly. "And you are the merchandise that will ensure our Dao never runs out."
Himari sighed, rolling her eyes with a frightening maturity for a child.
"Say what you want. When we get to your base, I'll call my father. And when he arrives, he'll be very angry."
The raider stopped laughing for a second and looked at her with disdain.
"And what will a blindfolded man do against a base full of men armed with Divine Dust?"
Himari shrugged, closing her eyes again.
Meanwhile...
At the "Drunken Lotus" inn, the atmosphere was festive. Afro sat with a mug of sake in his hand, laughing to himself and talking to the walls.
"Life is like the edge of a sword... if it's too sharp, it cuts destiny; if it's dull, we only embarrass ourselves," he philosophized, shaking his head.
The barmaid, a very pretty young woman with her hair tied back, almond-shaped and dark eyes that seemed to read the soul of anyone who owed her money, approached Afro with a piece of paper in her hand. She wore a dark blue cotton kimono, practical for work but which accentuated her straight and determined posture.
"Sir, philosophy is free, but sake isn't. That's twelve silver coins for the bill."
Afro smiled at her and began to feel around in his pockets. He searched the left side, then the right. His smile vanished.
"Oh my! Where's the shine of the metal?" he murmured. "Ah, I remember now! The money's with Himari. She says I spend it all on distilled poison."
Afro climbed onto the table, staggering, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Himari! Oh, little nemesis! Bring the treasure, your father is in trouble!"
The other customers looked on and began to laugh. The maid crossed her arms, looking unfriendly.
"Are you trying to pull a fast one? There are no children here."
"Wait a minute, miss. She must be upstairs practicing silence," said Afro, getting down from the table. "Come with me, I'll prove I'm not a swindler."
Afro started climbing the stairs, and the maid followed close behind, making sure he didn't jump out of any windows.
"If you try to escape, the guards will cut your legs off before you reach the door," she warned.
"Legs are important for walking to the next drink, I wouldn't waste them for so little," Afro grumbled, laughing.
He reached the bedroom door and burst in.
"Himari, pay the girl here, she's very fierce and..."
The room was empty. The windows were open and the cold wind blew the curtains. Afro stood still, staring blankly beneath his bandana.
"Oh dear... she's not here. She must have gone to see the moon," he said, scratching his head.
"Enough! Guards! Call the guards!" the maid shouted into the hallway.
Instead of despairing, Afro threw himself back onto the bed with a sigh of relief.
"Since you're going to call people, tell them to bring another blanket. Do you want to sleep too? The bed is big and I'm feeling very philosophical today."
"You're crazy!" she shouted, as two armed guards appeared at the door.
"Shut up for a second and hold this," said Afro, grabbing his sword and throwing it to the girl.
She caught the weapon with difficulty. The scabbard was made of a black, heavy, and cold material.
"This sword is made of materials you've never seen. I haven't even explored twenty percent of what this blade can do with the Dao. Keep it as collateral. It's worth ten times your entire lodging."
The maid looked at the weapon. Even without knowing anything about swords, she felt that the object had a supernatural weight. The metal shone with an impossible purity. She looked at the guards and gestured for them to back away.
"I'll take it to my master to evaluate. If it's fake, you'll go to jail early tomorrow morning," she said, withdrawing and closing the door.
Afro got up with effort, staggered to the window, and suddenly his stomach churned. He leaned over and vomited everything he had drunk out the window. Down below, a cry of rage echoed.
"WHAT IS THIS?! WHO WAS THE PIG WHO DIRTY ME?!" shouted a man in the street. The sound of heavy, hurried footsteps was heard entering the inn towards the stairs.
Afro didn't even hear him. He threw himself back onto the bed, closing his eyes under his bandana.
"Where the hell is Himari... uh... uh..."
In seconds, Afro was snoring deeply, forgetting the chaos he had just created.
Meanwhile...
In the middle of the dense forest, carriage number two began to rock. A boy's cries grew too loud. The masked man raised his hand, and the carriages stopped with a snap. He descended from the sealed carriage with the movements of a serpent.
Without a word, the masked man opened the gate, pulled the boy by the hair, and threw him against the roots of a tree. The man delivered a sharp slap that left the child breathless.
"Whoever makes noise, stays behind," the masked man's voice carried a terrifying pressure. "Tie his hands and feet. Leave him there."
The raiders obeyed. The boy was abandoned to his fate while the howls of wolves began to echo nearby. The wagons resumed their journey.
In carriage three, Himari exploded.
"You cowards! Give the boy back!" she yelled, banging on the bars.
Toshi, enraged, thrust his arm between the bars to silence her, but Himari sank her teeth into his hand with all her might. The man roared in pain.
"You pest!" Toshi ordered the carriage to stop and entered the cell.
Himari took a deep breath to let out a final cry: "PA—"
Before she could finish, Toshi's heavy hand muffled her voice. He wrapped a dirty cloth around her mouth, squeezing it tightly, and tied her hands.
"I'm not killing this girl now because this beauty will be worth gold," Toshi growled to the others. "But she'll travel gagged!"
Meanwhile...
At the inn, the door to Afro's room was broken down. The man who had been hit by the vomit burst in, huffing and puffing, with a thick piece of wood in his hand.
"Get up, you pig! You'll see what happens to those who defile me!"
He grabbed Afro by the neck, lifting him from the bed. Afro looked like a rag doll, his head drooping to the side.
"Wake up!" the man shouted, preparing to strike with the wood.
Afro opened one eye beneath his bandana. For a microsecond, the atmosphere in the room changed. The air grew heavy. The man felt a deadly chill, but he didn't have time to react.
In a blur of movement, Afro vanished. The man was left holding the void.
Back in the forest...
The silence was broken by a sound of tearing flesh.
The two horses pulling the carriage that Himari had been in were suddenly mutilated. It wasn't a clean cut; it was an explosion of entrails. Blood and horse guts flew everywhere, soiling Toshi's face and the children's clothes, who screamed in utter terror.
The carriage stopped abruptly.
"What the hell was that?!" shouted Toshi, wiping the blood from his eyes in panic.
Amidst the dust and the metallic smell of blood, Himari, even gagged, began to jump for joy inside the carriage. Her eyes shone.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!" (Daddy! Daddy!)
In the middle of the road, enveloped in the dust of the fall, two golden points shone intensely through a gap in the white bandana. Afro was there, swordless, his hands stained with blood and with the expression of someone who had just woken from a nightmare...