As the Liu clan struggled to regain their bearings by the riverbank, far beyond their encampment Li Wei stood upon a stony ridge overlooking the same valley. The dawn mist clung to his boots as he folded a yellowed parchment over a worn emerald compass. He exhaled softly, his breath forming wisps that vanished into the chill.
"The directions in this domain are warped drastically," he murmured to himself, voice steady despite the fatigue that lined his eyes. "If it weren't for this compass, I'd have been lost by now." The instrument's needle spun erratically before settling toward a faint pulse of spiritual energy in the distance.
The very flare of the teleportation formation that had deposited the Liu clan hours earlier. He tucked both parchment and compass away and began his descent. Though the valley appeared tranquil beneath its shroud of fog.
