The border town had no name that mattered.
Cain stood at the edge of the settlement, his blood sense sweeping across the cluster of wooden buildings, makeshift stalls, and dust-choked streets. The place was a crossroads—travelers from the Blood River Sect's territory mixing with merchants, mercenaries, and the desperate. The air smelled of cooking oil, unwashed bodies, and the faint copper tang that always followed blood cultivators.
"Charming," Su Yao said dryly.
"It's shelter." Cain started walking. "Stay close. Eyes open."
Xiao Lian followed close behind, her new senses stretched to their limit. Through the progenitor bond, Cain felt her discomfort—too many heartbeats, too many unfamiliar blood signatures.
*You'll learn to filter,* he sent. *Focus on the ones that feel wrong.*
*Everything feels wrong,* she sent back.
*That's normal. Pick one.*
---
They found an inn near the town's center—a two-story building with a faded sign showing a crimson crane. The common room was half-full with travelers, most of them keeping to themselves. Cain chose a table in the corner, his back to the wall, facing the door.
Su Yao sat beside him. Xiao Lian took the seat facing the kitchen.
The innkeeper approached—a heavyset man with grey-streaked hair and a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Travelers? Rooms?"
"Two rooms. One night." Cain placed a small pouch of spirit stones on the table. "And information."
The innkeeper's eyes flicked to the pouch, then back to Cain's face. His smile widened. "What kind of information?"
"The Blood Refining Assembly. When does it start? How does one enter?"
The innkeeper's pulse quickened. Cain noticed it—a spike, then a deliberate slowing. The man was trying to control his heartbeat.
*He's nervous. Not about the question. About something else.*
Su Yao leaned forward slightly. Her eyes moved from the innkeeper's face to his hands—clenched at his sides—to the way his weight shifted toward the back door.
"You're lying," she said quietly. "About what, I don't know yet. But your heartbeat doesn't match your words."
The innkeeper's composure cracked. His smile faltered.
Cain's blood sense reached out. Four signatures in the back room. Foundation stage. Armed. Waiting.
*An ambush. Not for us specifically—for anyone asking about the assembly.*
"The assembly begins in ten days," the innkeeper said quickly. "Registration at the eastern gate. That's all I know."
"That's not all you know." Su Yao's voice was cold. "The men in the back. Who are they waiting for?"
The innkeeper's face went pale. He opened his mouth—
A crash from the kitchen. The back door burst open, and four men in grey-and-red patches spilled into the common room. Weapons drawn. Faces hard.
*WARLORD. They've been watching the inn.*
"Blood path cultivator," one of them said. "You're coming with us."
Cain stood. "No."
The fight lasted twelve seconds.
Cain took the first two with blood needles—one through the shoulder, one through the thigh. Non-lethal, but disabling. The third lunged at Su Yao. She sidestepped, brought her flute up, and played a short, sharp note. The dark red core pulsed. The man's sword shattered, and he dropped to his knees clutching his ears.
The fourth turned to run. Cain's blood mist caught him at the door. He reformed in front of the man, a blood blade at his throat.
"Tell your WARLORD," Cain said, "that this town is no longer his hunting ground."
The man ran. His companions followed, limping, clutching their wounds.
The innkeeper had collapsed behind the bar, trembling.
---
Cain knelt beside him. "The truth. Now."
The man spilled everything between sobs. The WARLORD had informants in every town along the eastern road. They were paid to report any blood cultivators heading toward the Blood River Sect.
*"The Seekers are the ones who act on those reports,"* he added, trembling. *"The WARLORD's Seekers are the ones who'd come for you," he added, trembling. "I'm just a lookout."*
Su Yao's eyes narrowed. "Hunters and watchers. Separate roles. That's why Han Xian didn't handle surveillance himself."
Cain nodded. "The assembly. What's happening there?"
"It's a trap—not for ordinary cultivators, but for WARLORD agents. The sect elders know about the infiltration. They're using the assembly to flush out spies."
"The second bloodstone," Cain said. "What do you know about it?"
"Nothing. No one knows. It's in the forbidden zone. The zone is sealed. They say only blood of the Ancestor's lineage can open it." The innkeeper's eyes were wild. "That's all I know. I swear."
Cain stood. "If you're lying, I'll come back."
He walked out. Su Yao and Xiao Lian followed.
---
They found another inn on the town's eastern edge—smaller, dirtier, but the innkeeper's heartbeat was steady, and his eyes held no calculation. He took their spirit stones without comment and gave them two rooms at the back.
That night, Cain sat by the window, watching the street.
His blood sense caught something. A presence at the edge of his range. Cold. Watching.
*Someone's out there.*
He stood and walked to the window. The street below was empty—no figures, no movement. But the presence lingered.
And then he saw him.
A man in a dark duster, standing at the far end of the street, half-hidden in the shadow of a collapsed awning. A wide-brimmed hat shadowed his face, but Cain didn't need to see the face. He knew the stance. The way the man held himself—like a blade waiting to be drawn.
*Van Helsing.*
The man didn't move. He simply stood there, watching.
Cain's hand went to the window frame. His blood nucleus pulsed.
Three centuries. Three centuries since that voice had given orders in a burning cathedral. Three centuries since Cain had stepped through a rift into this world.
*He's here. He followed me.*
The man tilted his head. A glint of light—a silver coin, spinning between his fingers. His lips moved, forming words that Cain could not hear from this distance.
*"We'll meet again."*
Then he turned and walked into the shadows. His hand brushed his side—a small wince, quickly suppressed. *Not yet.*
By the time Cain reached the street, he was gone.
---
Su Yao found him standing alone in the empty street.
"Who was that?"
"Someone from my past." Cain's voice was flat. "Someone I hoped I'd never see again."
"Is he dangerous?"
"Yes."
"Then why didn't he attack?"
Cain was silent for a long moment. The wind carried the scent of dust and distant rain.
"I don't know," he said finally. "Maybe he's waiting for something. Maybe he can't. Either way—" He looked at her. "—we need to move faster."
---
They returned to the inn. Xiao Lian was waiting, her face pale.
"Master," she said through the bond. *"There's something coming from the east. From the Blood River Sect. It feels like… a heartbeat. But huge. Ancient."*
Cain extended his blood sense. Faint—but unmistakable. A pulse, deep and slow, vibrating through the earth.
*A dragon's heartbeat. Or something like it.*
"The forbidden zone," Su Yao said. "The second bloodstone."
Xiao Lian's voice trembled. "There's so much blood there, Master. So much. It's like a lake. Like the pool, but… bigger. And it's *awake*."
The pulse came again. Stronger.
Cain looked east, toward the Blood River Sect's mountain.
*The Ancestor's call. The second stone.*
"We leave at dawn," he said. "Register for the assembly. Find out what the WARLORD is planning. And stay close."
Su Yao nodded. Her hand found his—warm, steady.
"Together," she said.
"Together."