“Aachoo!!”

  “Man, I just don’t get it… what are we even doing on this empty road?”

  “...I don’t know… Achoo! Nobody even comes through this road. And even if someone does… Achoo! Achoo!… it’s always some measly virus of a traveler.”

  “Hah! And robbing such small-time traders isn’t even fun. I want to go back to our old road, where we used to loot properly.”

  “...achoo! Yeah! Back there, along with our people… Achoo! even Chinese and merchants from the Extreme North(1) used to pass. Achoo! It was so much fun robbing them...”

  Two bandits of the White Frost Bandits group were chatting among themselves. They were warming their hands by the flames.

  Along with them were 7–8 more bandits, some guarding the road, some hidden behind trees, and the rest sitting by the fire with those two.

  They once operated in their old territory, between the city of Leh and Khotan, along the Silk Road.

  The Leh route of the Silk Road was the main passage for Chinese and other foreign merchants traveling into India for trade.

  But even that route was sometimes attacked by bandits.

  Among them was one group—the White Frost Bandits. For years, the stretch between Leh and Khotan had been their prime hunting ground.

  But a few months ago, at their Chief’s orders, they had abandoned that territory.

  “Achoo! But why the hell did the chief choose this place?”

  “...No idea. All I know is we’re supposed to deliver ‘that thing’ to... let's say to someone. And In return, we’ll get a huge fortune. That’s the only reason we’re here.”

  “But man, the chief already has ‘that thing,’ so what’s the point of us staying here any longer? Shouldn’t we just head back?”

  “You idiot. Sure, we’ve got it, but the guy who wants it hasn’t shown up yet. Until they come to collect it, we can’t go anywhere.”

  “Man, what rotten luck... Achoo! If the so called, collector of 'that thing' doesn’t show up, why don’t we sell it ourselves, somewhere else? I mean, Achoo!... i-if someone is willing to pay enough for that thing to buy off an entire bandit group, then it must be insanely valuable, right?”

  The other bandit stared for a moment at him, then replied in a low voice,

  “What you say makes sense. But things aren’t that simple. Because the one who ordered ‘that thing’ isn’t just some ordinary guy or group.”

  He hesitated, then lowered his voice even more.

  “Actually… I overheard the our group's leader speaking with the The Chief, and I found out that ‘that thing’ was ordered by, Crimson Heaven Society.”

  “Achoo!...W-what?!!!”

  "Shhh! Quiet! Don’t let that slip out."

  The sneezy bandit froze in shock. Who hadn’t heard of the Crimson Heaven Society?

  They practically ruled the Himalayas. Their martial artists, especially their Society Leader, was among the top five strongest martial artists in all of Martial world.

  If they wished, the Crimson Heaven Society could wipe out the White Frost Bandits in an instant.

  The realization struck the sneezy bandit hard. Now he understood why their group had come so far from their old territory.

  A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead out of fear and shock.

  ‘If ‘that thing’ doesn’t reach the hands of the Crimson Heaven Society, then all of us…’

  “Agh!”

  Just as he was thinking about the situation, a scream rang out. The cry of one of their comrades.

  “Wh-Whose scream was that?”

  The sneezing bandit asked. The other one gave no reply.

  Both of them rose from beside the fire, weapons in hand, and started moving toward the men who were guarding the road.

  Suddenly, another scream.

  Then another. And another, in moments, they heard six screams in total.

  Neither of them could understand what was happening. Their steps faltered.

  They glanced at each other, not knowing what to do.

  Should they go to help their comrades, who were being beaten? maybe even killed, by some unknown mysterious figure?

  Or should they run back and inform their Chief?

  But they also feared their Chief. If they returned unharmed, he’d think they’d fled in fear. And if that happened, death would be certain.

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  Sweat dripped from their bodies. At that very moment, they thought of fleeing.

  Swish!

  But then, from the bushes, a girl appeared.

  Tak! Tak!

  With a swift motion, she struck their pressure points, behind their neck and their eyes rolled back as they fell unconscious.

  She was so fast that neither bandit even saw her clearly before succumbing to her strike.

  Another figure emerged from the bushes, a boy. It was Sharv.

  Sharv looked at the girl, Varsha, and asked,

  “They’re still alive, right?”

  “Yes, don’t worry. I only knocked them out by hitting their pressure points. They’re not dead. By the way, did you kill all the bandits who were guarding the road?”

  “Yeah. I killed them all… There were only six or seven, so I finished them quickly.”

  Hearing this, Varsha’s eyes gleamed.

  She still couldn’t believe that this boy, without possessing internal energy, could be so powerful.

  ‘If he joins us then…’

  Settling scores with the bandits wasn’t Varsha’s true goal. Her real intention was to bring Sharv along with her, or better, to make him one of them.

  ’Tch, suck weak Bandits... Back in my time, there were much stronger bandit groups.’

  A voice spoke from somewhere.

  Sharv was staring at the many, red sacred threads(2) tied around his right wrist.

  Among them, one stood out, completely black. Looking at it, one might mistake him for a devotee of Kaal Bhairav(3).

  But that wasn’t the case.

  Originally, that thread had been red, like the others. And no, Sharv wasn’t a devotee of any god.

  In truth, he had worn those threads since childhood simply because his mother had tied them to him.

  They were, in a way, his mother’s last memento. But putting aside his mother’s memory.

  Its color had turned black because it had become a vessel, for Vijay’s spirit. Through it, Vijay was bound to always remain by Sharv’s side.

  The book The Wall Between Spirit and Man had explained that once a spirit becomes your servant, you must bind it to a vessel.

  Otherwise, wherever you go, it'll follow you. And it's death prana, and Shakti energy will radiate in the surroundings.

  Hence someone, might feel their presence, so having a vessel was important, in a vessel the spirit could suppress its energies easily.

  That vessel could be anything—a human body, or even something small, and commonly used thing like a cloth, or a severed human limb.

  At that time, Sharv didn’t have the luxury to think about what kind of vessel he should prepare for Vijay.

  So, in haste, he made one of his sacred threads into Vijay’s vessel.

  When he did that, Vijay first entered the thread, and then it turned black. Like it lost its scared power or something.

  Vijay couldn’t emerge out, on his own; only Sharv could summon him out. But while bound inside, Vijay could see what's happening outside and still speak to Sharv freely.

  ‘Now, without wasting any more time, let’s question them…’

  Tak! Tak!

  Sharv pressed his finger against the back of the two bandits’ necks, near the spine.

  Because of that, the bandits slowly began to regain consciousness.

  ‘?!’

  Varsha was shocked after seeing this. What Sharv had just done was based on pressure points of the human body. Sharv asked Varsha.

  “What happened?”

  “H-how did you do that?”

  “This?…Oh, this pressure point thing. You taught me this just yesterday.”

  “Yes, but… you already learned it? And you managed to do it on your first try?”

  “Yeah! I mean, there’s nothing too special about it. You just have to press the right pressure points, that’s all.”

  ‘..!’

  ‘Just press the pressure points?...’

  This art was yes, an easy one.

  But it was his first try, and If the wrong pressure point was pressed, it could give other side effects or even kill a person.

  And yet Sharv was able to do it so easily, that too on his first attempt?

  Varsha couldn’t understand, was it a fluke?

  Or...

  Is Sharv some kind of extraordinary genius? The kind that’s born only once in a century?

  If that was true, then no matter what, she had to take Sharv along with her.

  She couldn’t possibly let such a talented boy slip away.

  Varsha was still lost in these thoughts when the bandits’ eyes opened completely.

  “uh?”

  “...what just happened?”

  Finding themselves surrounded by a boy and a girl, they instantly felt the presence of a strong internal energy radiating from the girl.

  They assumed that she must have been the one who killed their comrades.

  On the other hand, from Sharv they felt nothing at all. They simply assumed he must be the girl’s companion.

  Clench!

  One of the bandits clenched his teeth tightly. He never thought he would one day be defeated by a girl.

  But thinking about that wasn’t important right now—escaping from here alive was.

  The sneezing bandit said.

  “Listen… Achoo! We’ll give you whatever you want, just let us go… Achoo! If it’s money you want, we’ll give you that too.”

  The other bandit quickly added.

  “Y-yeah! We’ll give you anything, just let us go! Don’t kill us—if you release us, we won’t even tell the White Frost Bandits’ Chief about you!”

  He deliberately mentioned the name of the White Frost Bandits’ Chief, hoping to scare them into letting them go.

  “The Chief of the White Frost Bandits…”

  Sharv muttered.

  The bandit thought his trick had worked and hurriedly continued.

  “Yes, the Chief of the White Frost Bandits. We’re his men. If you hurt us, he won’t let you live. But if you release us, we won’t tell the Chief anything about you and you’l...”

  Pchk!

  “AHHH!—BASTARD!!!”

  Sharv suddenly shoved his finger straight into the bandit’s eye.

  The bandit screamed in agony. Seeing this, the sneezing bandit grew even more terrified.

  Even Varsha flinched a little at the the sudden action, but she didn’t stop Sharv, she simply enjoyed and watched quietly.

  Sharv’s finger was still buried in the bandit’s eye socket.

  Pchk! Pchk!

  “AHH!”

  He twisted it slightly, speaking in a cold voice:

  “Look, the more you struggle, the more I’ll twist my finger in here. So stay still and keep quiet.”

  “Huff! Huff!...”

  Hearing this, the screaming bandit was forced into silence.

  Slid!

  “Ugh!”

  Pleased, Sharv pulled his blood-covered finger out of the man’s eye. The bandit was in excruciating pain, but he remained silent. He only kept clutching his wound tightly.

  “Did you really think I’d be scared of your Chief?”

  “…”

  “Now, tell me—some days ago, you took a spear martial artist to the Five Lotus Manor, didn’t you? So, tell me why, did you help the spear martial artists? And also, where he went after that.”

  “...I-I don’t know…”

  “What?”

  Shiver!

  The bandit shivered in shock, he stammered,

  “…I-I’m telling the truth, I-Idon’t know anything about him…”

  Before he could finish, the sneezing bandit interrupted.

  “I-I know a little! Achoo! That spear martial artist was an old but powerful martial master. Achoo! He set out to kill someone. As far as I know, we didn’t do much! We just gave him a map and took him to the nearest manor, the Five Lotus. Achoo! If we hadn’t guided him, that spear martial master would have killed us!”

  Grab!

  Hearing this, Sharv grabbed the bandit’s throat and glared at him, asking in a cold, emotionless tone:

  “So you’re saying you gave him a map, and also led him to the Manor?”

  “Y-yes! You heard right, that’s all I know, nothing else. As for where he went afterward, only our Chief knows. Nobody else. I’ve told you everything, please for god's sake, now let me go!” the bandit pleaded.

  But Sharv’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.

  He continued to stare at the man, and then began tightening his grip on the bandit’s throat.

  “...Huff! Please...Let...”

  The man struggled desperately, but soon died at Sharv’s hands.

  Thud!

  Sharv tossed the corpse to the ground, then turned toward the remaining bandit. In a chilling voice, he asked:

  “Tell me, where is your Chief?”

  1. EXTREME NORTH -

  2. RED SACRED THREAD = MOLI THREAD (???? ????) -

  Kalawa or , is a sacred red and yellow cotton thread used in Hindu religious rituals to invoke blessings and protection. Males tie it on their Right hand, while females tie it on their left hand.

  I'll be using the term "Red scared thread", or just "scared thread" from now on insted of Moli thread.

  3. KAAL BHAIRAV (??? ????) -