---
He adjusted the strap of his bow and ventured further into the deep forest.
The shadows grew longer, the air thicker.
The earth bore faint impressions wide, deep animal footprints half-sunken in mud.
Han Yan crouched beside one, fingers hovering just above it. The print was deep, the edges still damp. His brows furrowed slightly as he studied it, measuring its size against his hand.
It was fresh far larger than what one would expect wandering this close to the village. If it came any lower down the mountain, it would mean trouble for everyone below.
Han Yan straightened slowly, eyes sweeping over the ground. The soil nearby was pressed in uneven patterns faint marks of weight shifting, grass bent in the same direction. Whatever, left the prints had passed through not long ago.
