The distant clatter of hooves drew nearer. At first, the sound seemed to emanate from the locust grove, but a closer listen revealed that the horse was treading not on dead branches and decaying leaves, but on a dirt path.
But the soil, having been baked by the sun all day, had begun to thaw. Now, in the biting cold of night, the slick mud had frozen over into a sheet of ice.
So the sound was that of hooves on ice. If one listened intently, they could even hear the CRACKLE of the ice sheet splintering.
As the group listened intently to the sounds, the horse suddenly seemed to slip, dragging whatever it was pulling down into a ditch.
In an instant, the sound of a horse's neigh and a man's shout erupted, startling even the birds that were wintering in the locust grove into flight.
Chen Lian was so stunned he was rendered speechless. The whites of his eyes showed as he was about to faint dead away.
Just then, the old woman hurried over.
