The cold of the Aokigahara forest was not just climatic; it was a cold that seemed to emanate from the roots of the ancient trees. Five horse-drawn carts made their way through 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 main wagon imposed absolute silence. Unlike the others, it was completely covered by a heavy black cloth, sealed with strips of yellowed paper inscribed with red ink. On the roof, a man wearing a white porcelain mask sat motionless, watching.
In the four wagons that followed, the sounds were different: sobs, sniffles, and the clinking of chains.
"Enough crying!" roared one of the looters in wagon 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 supply of Divine Powder is running out," scoffed another guard riding alongside. "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 a natural master without having to meditate!"
"Yeah... Divine Powder 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 flute tuned in the middle of a shootout.
She sat cross-legged in the center of the third carriage, comforting a boy who couldn't stop shaking.
"Your father? That strange man from the village? He probably doesn't even know where we are, little one..." said the horse thief.
"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 thief. "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, scaring the crows.
"Your father? That blind, dark-skinned drunk we left behind at the inn? Girl, by now he's probably stuffing himself with booze, and if he's really 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 Dao of the Masked Master."
"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 can smell your evil. It's a sour smell, like spoiled milk."
"Are you listening to that, Ren?" asked Toshi, nudging his fellow horse. "Her father is a hunting dog!"
"Listen here, little one," continued Toshi, bringing his face close to the bars. "Your father is nobody. In this world, those who do not have the Dao are nobody."
"It's what separates the gods from the worms," replied the raider proudly. "And you are the merchandise that will ensure our Dao never runs out."
Himari sighed, rolling her eyes with a maturity frightening for a child.
"Say what you will. When we get to your base, I'm going to call my father. And when he arrives, he'll be very angry."
The looter 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 Powder?"
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 blade of a sword... if it is too sharp, it cuts through destiny; if it is blunt, it only embarrasses us," he philosophized, shaking his head.
The barmaid, a very pretty young woman with her hair tied back, dark almond-shaped 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 is not. That's twelve silver coins for the bill."
Afro smiled at her and began to fumble through his pockets. He searched the left side, then the right. His smile disappeared.
"Oh, my God! Where is the shine of metal?" he muttered. "Ah, now I remember! The money is with Himari. She says I spend it all on distilled poison."
Afro staggered onto the table and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Himari! Oh, my little enemy! Bring the treasure, your father is in trouble!"
The other customers looked up and began to laugh. The waitress crossed her arms, looking hostile.
"Are you trying to fool us? There are no children here."
"Wait a minute, miss. She must be upstairs practicing silence," said Afro, climbing down from the table. "Come with me, I'll prove I'm not a con artist."
Afro started up the stairs, and the waitress followed close behind, making sure he didn't jump out of any windows.
"If you try to escape, the guards will cut off your legs 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 muttered, laughing.
He reached the bedroom door and went inside.
"Himari, pay the girl, she's very fierce and..."
The room was empty. The windows were open and the cold wind blew the curtains. Afro stood still, staring intently from under his bandana.
"Oh, heavens... she's not here. She must have gone to see the moon," he said, scratching his head.
"Enough! Guards! Call the guards!" shouted the maid in the hallway.
Instead of despairing, Afro threw himself back on 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, picking up his sword and throwing it to the girl.
She caught the weapon with difficulty. The sheath was made of a black, heavy, cold material.
"This sword is made of materials you've never seen before. 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 more than all your 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 impossible purity. She looked at the guards and gestured for them to step back.
"I'll take it to my master to evaluate. If it's fake, you'll go to prison first thing tomorrow morning," she said, retreating and closing the door.
Afro struggled to his feet, staggered to the window, and suddenly his stomach lurched. He leaned over and vomited everything he had drunk out the window. Down below, an angry shout echoed.
"WHAT IS THAT?! WHO WAS THE PIG WHO MADE A MESS ON ME?!" shouted a man in the street. The sound of heavy, hurried footsteps was heard entering the inn and heading toward the stairs.
Afro didn't even hear it. He threw himself back onto the bed, closing his eyes under his bandana.
"Where the hell is Himari... uh... uh..."
Within 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 sway. A boy's screams grew louder. The masked man raised his hand and the carriages stopped with a snap. He climbed down from the sealed carriage with the movements of a snake.
Without saying 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 slapped him hard, leaving the child breathless.
"Anyone who makes a sound stays behind," the masked man's voice conveyed terrifying pressure. "Tie his hands and feet. Leave him there."
The robbers obeyed. The boy was abandoned to his fate as the howls of wolves began to echo nearby. The carriages resumed their journey.
In carriage three, Himari exploded.
"You cowards! Give the boy back!" she shouted, banging on the bars.
Toshi, enraged, stuck his arm between the bars to silence her, but Himari sank her teeth into his hand with all her strength. The man roared in pain.
"You little brat!" Toshi ordered the carriage to stop and entered the cell.
Himari took a deep breath to let out one last scream: "PA..."
Before she could finish, Toshi's heavy hand muffled her voice. He wrapped a dirty cloth around her mouth, tightening it tightly, and tied her hands.
"I won't kill this girl now because this beauty will be worth gold," Toshi growled at the others. "But she will 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, panting, with a thick piece of wood in his hand.
"Get up, you pig! You'll see what happens to those who dishonor me!"
He grabbed Afro by the neck, lifting him off the bed. Afro looked like a rag doll, his head falling to the side.
"Wake up!" the man shouted, preparing to hit him with the wood.
Afro opened one eye from under his bandana. For a microsecond, the atmosphere in the room changed. The air became heavy. The man felt a deadly chill, but he didn't have time to react.
In one swift movement, Afro disappeared. The man was left holding the void.
Back in the forest...
The silence was broken by the sound of flesh being torn.
The two horses pulling the carriage Himari was in were suddenly mutilated. It wasn't a clean cut; it was an explosion of entrails. Blood and horse guts flew everywhere, staining Toshi's face and the children's clothes, who screamed in total panic.
The carriage stopped abruptly.
"What the hell was that?" Toshi shouted, 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 were shining.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!" (Daddy! Daddy!)
In the middle of the road, shrouded in dust from the fall, two golden dots shone brightly through an opening in the white bandana. Afro was there, without his sword, his hands stained with blood and the expression of someone who had just woken up from a nightmare...