As night fell, Fan Fan had to stop marching towards Grandi. But when the light appeared again, the first thing he noticed was a huge black smoke column rising from the horizon. Grandi, he thought.
When Fan Fan finally cleared the last mountain obstructing his vision, his fear was confirmed infinitely. There are about twenty buildings in the town. There was a plume of smoke from all but one place. Fan Fan is riding slower now. Whistler seemed unwilling to stay in the remains of the town. Fanfan decided to turn to the east and go directly to Hollinger Farm. He must know what happened to his sister. At the same time, he was worried about what he would find when he arrived.
Fan Fan spent nearly an hour walking around the town, and then went to Mr. Hollinger's farm. As people feared, a huge cloud of smoke hovered over the barns and houses. Fan Fan and Whistler walked along the road leading to the farmhouse. It looks almost intact. A barn was burning in the distance.
Tears flowed down Fan Fan's cheeks, even though he was struggling with the urge to collapse. When he and Whistler approached the main house, nothing moved on the farm. He didn't know what he was going to do, or even what he could do. Fanfan has always relied on Espeth.
Fan Fan plucked up the courage, climbed down from Whistler's saddle, and walked towards the open front door. When he approached, he found that the door was not only open, but missing.
The house was still smoking, and a large hole in the ceiling caused by the fire, light leaked in from the main room. Fan Fan walked in. The room was a mess. The furniture was not damaged by fire, but shattered by something.
Fan Fan could not see the blood or the corpse. He panicked and breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. If not here, where would she be? Fan Fan is moving faster now, becoming bolder because his sister's body disappears. He conducted a quick investigation in all the rooms in the house, and still found nothing.
Outside the farm, Fan Fan found seven bodies, all men. He recognized them, just like Mr. Hollinger, relying on a regular salary to help his farm work. Some of them are men with families. Fan Fan turned his gaze to Grandi, and the smoke billowed in the sky. Fan Fan wanted to know how their wife and children were doing.
A thorough search of the buildings on Hollinger's farm still failed to find Elspeth's body. Fan Fan is happy that she is still missing, at least when she is safe. He must find her. The only other possibility is that Elspeth came here for some reason.
Fanfan knew he had to enter Grandi. He is likely to find the same massacre on the way Hollinger's delegation was killed. He climbed into the saddle and urged Whistler to return to the road. Fanfan reluctantly rode towards the city, no matter what nightmare was waiting for him.
An hour and a half later, Fan Fan rode into Grandi Town. Some buildings are still burned down, but most of them have been exhausted and are still burning. The houses in the surrounding area had nothing but burnt shells. The streets are full of corpses of young people and old people.
When Van Fan and Whistler passed the parliament building, he found a corpse in a velvet vest. He turned the horse over and brought it closer. There is no doubt that the President of the Council, Tom, lay on the dirt road lifelessly. His clothes were covered with bright red stains and dust. There was an expression of horror on his face.
When Fan Fan continued to ride through the town, a strange pattern appeared. Strangely, he could not find any women among the dead. Did the devil knight capture them? Fanfan didn't want to think about why these women were taken from Grandi when they were killed. But if this is the case, then at least Elspeth is still alive.
As he continued to ride into the Grandi Commercial District, Fan Fan heard some sounds from a distance. He still couldn't see anyone. The voice came from a street, so he urged Whistler to investigate.
When Fan Fan walked around the buildings that blocked his view, he saw three people rummaging through the street looking for the clothes of those who were killed. He knew almost everyone who lived in Grandi. These people did not. When Fan Fan understood what they were doing, anger hit his chest—they robbed the dead.
When he pulled out the weapon from the scabbard, his sword made a sound. The men were engrossed in their disrespect for Grandi's fall and did not notice the horses appearing in the street in front of them. But when they heard the sound of hoofs on the hard ground and Fan Fan's battle cry, they raised their heads in surprise.
Fan Fan thrust his heel into Whistler's flank, and the horse jumped out, as if he was just waiting to be released. Fan Fan raised the knife, and he approached the three people. They tried to find their weapons when the boy solved them.
The men are all wearing knee-length crimson robes with white belts around their waists. The loose crimson sè breeches clung to the simple slip-on shoes at the ankles. One was carrying a subordinate, the other was carrying a sword, and the third did not produce any weapons.
Fan Fan approached the unarmed man and swung his sword in a broad arc. He has never used a weapon before. His hands feel awkward. Fan Fan almost fell off Whistler, because the bounce from his saddle, combined with the weight of his weapon, threatened to throw him into the street.
The leaders of these strangely dressed robbers bent down and walked to the middle of the ground, letting Fan Fan's blade pass him. When Fan Fan walked over, the man smiled, but didn't see it. It seemed that the boy's weak attempt to kill him actually amused him.
Fan Fan barely recovered, straightened up on the saddle, and then met the man. Fan Fan wanted to take the sword off this time, he aimed at the man's head, and then attacked suddenly. The man tilted his head at the same time and blocked Fan Fan's arm with a stick.
This blow, coupled with an attempt to ride a speeding horse, sent Fan Fan to the other side of the saddle and down onto the dusty street. His anger and adrenaline gave him faster speed and strength than usual. However, Fan Fan was not the warrior he imagined at all.
When he stood up, the three people formed a close group on the street. The leader was standing in front of the other two, with his flanks on either side. All three laughed at Fan Fan. He found his sword. When Fan Fan pulled it out, it had stopped on the dirt street, still shaking back and forth.
He glanced at the people again, laughed at them, and prepared to vent his anger to these criminals. But in front of them, they didn't seem to be threatened by the heavily armed and angry boy. The leader nodded to Mordecai. He brought his six-centimeter-long pecans to the front, and the wood became circular and fuzzy. This person took it everywhere, and definitely stopped its movement and adopted a defensive posture. Then he rolled up his index finger and challenged Fan Fan.
Fan Fan thought twice before launching another attack. Then he thought about it again, assuming his steel knife could cut the wood into pieces, if he could hit it. Fan Fan seized the opportunity and rushed over. At the last moment, he swept around with his blade. When the man gave up his strike and fought back, slammed behind Fan Fan and played with him.
Fan Fan hesitated, but realized that he was near the leader who was standing there laughing. Without any notice, Fan Fan turned around and turned to the man's neck horizontally. He almost chopped off the man's head. However, the man fell back dexterously, put his hands on the ground behind him, arched his back. In the same rapid movement, his foot hit the hilt of his sword under Fan Fan's hand. The weapon flew out of Fan Fan's hand, and the man finished his backflip and stood up again.
All this happened so quickly that Fan Fan couldn't react. He has no weapons now and his wrist hurts badly. The man followed his movements and jumped into the air. His body was spinning gracefully in mid-air, and he smashed Fan Fan to the other side of his face with the back of his foot. Fan Fan was spinning like a top, like an old man. Falling to the ground like a drunk. (To be continued) (End of this chapter)