The second night on the northern road, something hit the camp's perimeter before any of them heard it coming, a wave of pressure that dropped the fire to embers and sent every horse screaming against its tether.
"Down," Xu shouted, and Wei Liang was already moving, pulling Wei Dong flat against the ground as a second wave of pressure cracked the frozen dirt where he'd been standing seconds earlier.
Brigh scrambled for his blade, eyes wide, searching the treeline for an attacker who hadn't yet shown himself. "Where is it."
"Not an it," Xu said, voice tight with something close to recognition. "That's cultivation pressure, deliberate, controlled. Someone strong enough to project it this far without moving from wherever they're standing."
A figure stepped into the clearing from the dark t
