Murim Recurve

The boy stared in fear, watching the entity reach its hand towards his eyes in slow motion. His body was completely frozen, unable to budge even the slightest. As it also sealed his neck and mouth, he was neither about to shout nor shake his head in protest.

Sha—The Blinded Ghost!

It was the very same Sha that had terrorised Burkurel City for a while. Now, it had travelled to Burfuna City, setting its eyes on a target immediately. Its hands dissolved upon contact with the boy's left eye, seeping into it through the gap between the eye and its eyelid.

A moment later, the Sha pulled out his left eye, making the region it had pulled out from black, as if the nerves within hadn't existed. Tears streamed out from the boy's right eye. He didn't feel any pain, for the Blinded Ghost had taken his eyes using a mystical means.

All he could see was it grabbing hold of his left eye and place it on its body—In a place without any eyes. The Sha then inched its hands towards his right eye, pulling it slowly before placing it on its body.

Re'Kha woke up with a start, pulling down the ribbon on her eyes as her eyes shot open. She was unable to see anything. In the space her eyeballs had used to exist was blackness. Re'Kha sighed and tied up the ribbon, covering her eyes once again as she habitually activated her Wind Qi perception.

"W-What was that?" She inspected her hand, seeing that it looked normal. There was no colour other than grey in her perception, but depending on the intensity of the greyness, she could link it to her memories and identify the respective colour.

Through that, she noticed she was perfectly normal. Even her perspiration was normal, but her limbs were faintly trembling. She was feeling cold. After a moment of observation, she noticed goosebumps forming on her skin.

The inn had a heating system in place. They had a metal tube running throughout the inn, having an outlet in every room. The outlet was a metal spherical exterior grilled by a ceramic cage. It was placed right next to the vent through which air flowed in when all the doors and windows were closed.

When the cold air from the vent flowed over the outlet, the heat from it was transferred to the air. This hot air circulated within the room, warming it up. Somewhere on the ground floor of the inn, within one of their rooms was a metallic tank that housed all the water moving through the pipes.

A small cubical bowl was placed near its bottom, sharing walls with the tank. It had a lid that could be opened and closed. Faint steam leaked out through the gaps in its seams. Three servants were in the room, checking out the heat in the steam based on how they felt while seated there.   

Once they felt the heat wasn't adequate, a servant opened a trunk in the adjacent room, carefully taking out a small gem from within. The gem was only half the side of her little finger's nail, a tiny crystal with an irregular shape.

Using a pair of tongs, the servant carried the crystal while another held the cubical bowl's lid using her gloved hand. They made eye contact as the servant quickly opened the lid while the other gently dropped the crystal within the water, ensuring to release her hold only after the pair of tongs touched the water surface.

She pulled out the pair of tongs as the other servant closed the lid shut while the final servant waved a fan and blew away most of the steam that had escaped out the cubical bowl. Once it was done, the three servants relaxed and enjoyed the warm room.

The moment the crystal came into contact with water, it started to emit heat, raising it to the boiling point immediately. The metal plate common to it and the tank was a conductor of heat, so it swiftly transferred the heat into the tank.

As the temperature within the tank continued to build up, it created some steam that flowed through the pipes, heading to every room as it transferred the heat through the outlets and cooled down, dripping as water. It was a heat pump.

Using her Wind Qi perception, Re'Kha saw that the heat pump was functioning fine. She placed her hand closer to the vent where the metal outlet was placed, feeling hot air hit her, realising the cause, "The chill is stemming from within me."

Re'Kha shuddered, trembling from the cold as her limbs turned numb. Something was causing them to turn cold but, she didn't know what it was. Re'Kha sat before the vent, feeling the hot air slam on her body. Now, she was feeling a bit better, allowing her to recall the nightmare she experienced now.

'That was too realistic. Why was I the Blinded Ghost in the dream?' She felt confused, unable to glean any clues of importance in the nightmare. She was tired and weary, deciding that it was just another one of her nightmares. She was getting them a lot lately, so she didn't wish to break her head trying to figure out its significance, not at the moment at least.

Re'Kha returned to the bed, feeling a chill creep through her body once again. "This is not good. I cannot even diagnose the cause. I should see a doctor in the morning immediately."

She was already consuming the medicines she had stolen from the Ju Clan's western settlement, so earlier, she didn't feel the need to visit a doctor. After all, even the medicines they prescribed wouldn't be as effective as what she had in her possession.

Moreover, she was fairly knowledgeable about medicine. But now, the symptom was something she was ignorant about the cause of, so she immediately changed her decision.

"First thing in the morning, I'll visit the hospital." Re'Kha closed her eyes but was unable to sleep in a seated posture. Since she had to stay in the same spot until the chillness in her body disappeared, Re'Kha activated her Wind Qi perception, wishing to pass the time by collecting information when she noticed guards rush about on the road below, shouting in a fluster, "Three Sha have appeared simultaneously."