The Witch in the Woods: The Transmigration of Hazel-Anne Davis
Chapter 20: Intruders

Chapter 20: Intruders

Zhou Village had seen soldiers before—shouting men with rusted swords and cracked armor, too hungry to be dangerous for long. Hell, they’ve even seen the Yelan army pouring through the mountains like a landslide. Those who survived the Yelan did so only because the army couldn’t be bothered with the villagers unless it was to relieve boredom or stress.

But the men who rode in this time were not like either group.

Their armor was such a dark maroon color that, if it hadn’t been polished to a mirror’s gleam, one would think that they were still covered in blood from their latest conquest. Their formation was silent.

Precise.

Not a single horse stepped out of line.

The Red Demons had arrived.

Villagers lined the edge of the square, gathered under the low arc of the entrance gate, and the branches of the withered cypress trees. They said nothing as the cloud of dust kicked up by the horse’s hooves got closer. They simply watched.

At the front of the army rode three men.

The first, draped in black and crimson, bore no insignia but radiated command. General Sun Longzi, the Demon Lord himself, sat astride a midnight black stallion, his face unreadable beneath the weight of his title.

To his right rode a tall man in a half-mask of silver. The mask, more so than the man, caused the innocent villagers to shudder in fear. Whispers of the Red Demon Army were spread throughout the entire world, and everyone knew that the second in command, the Second Prince, wore the half mask because he had been brutally attacked on the battlefield.

It was said that the sight of the scars made the Emperor so disgusted that he demanded that the Second Prince, Zhu Deming, cover his face at all times. Including when he slept.

Only an actual demon could survive an attack like that and walk away with only scars on his face.

On General Sun’s left, dressed in silks better suited for a brothel than a battlefield, lounged the Third Prince, Zhu Lianhua. He looked bored. Smug. As if Zhou Village were beneath him.

With a silent command, the Red Demon Army came to a sudden stop, and General Sun Longzi dismounted first. His boots struck the dirt with quiet finality.

Zhou Cunzhang stepped forward from the crowd, his eyes never leaving the threat in front of him. His shoulders were squared, and he hid his emotions behind an expressionless face. Bowing only slightly, he opened his mouth. "This land welcomes you, General. But if you are trying to get to Yelan, I must warn you—there is no path here through the mountain."

"No path?" Zhu Lianhua’s voice curled like smoke, his scorn easily heard by everyone. "And yet the villagers return from it each day with fresh meat and herbs in their baskets. Curious."

The tension between the villagers and the army was like a taut string, ready to snap at any given moment.

However, Zhou Cunzhang didn’t so much as flinch. "We go no further than the forest’s edge. Even we do not test the mountain too deeply."

"And why is that?" Zhu Deming asked, his voice even but not unkind.

Zhou Cunzhang’s eyes flicked toward the shaded trails behind the village. "Because we value our lives."

Sun Longzi glanced over his shoulder. His gaze swept the trees and lingered on the villagers. Something was off. Everything was much too quiet. Even the villagers seemed to have a calmness to them that they hadn’t seen in the other villages they passed through.

But before he could speak, a young man stepped forward and went to stand beside Zhu Cunzhang.

Lin Wei stood proud, his shoulders back and his chest out. He didn’t bow. Didn’t stammer. Just looked Zhu Lianhua in the eye with a kind of defiance that had no place in front of royalty.

"You won’t find anything in the mountain," Lin said, voice loud and clear. "Unless you’re looking for death."

Gasps rippled through the crowd as the soldiers behind General Sun looked at each other, each one gripping their weapon as if expecting an attack.

However, the Third Prince’s lips curled up with a sneer. "Is that a threat?" he demanded, his head cocking to the side as if looking at some type of weird specimen he had never seen before.

"Not a threat," shrugged Lin Wei like the Third Prince was nothing to him. And quite frankly, the Capital was a long way away from the Zhou Village; none of these men were nearly as scary as the Witch was. "It’s more like a promise," he continued, a bright smile on his face.

Zhou Cunzhang moved to intercept, placing a firm hand on Lin Wei’s shoulder and tugging him back just as one of the guards stepped forward, his sword drawn.

The silence seemed to stretch on, marked only by Sun Longzi’s long sigh. He was watching Lin Wei now, his expression unreadable.

Zhu Lianhua turned to the General. "We should drag the boy out and beat some answers from him."

A few of the Red Demons behind them stiffened, but Sun Longzi only raised a single hand. "No." His voice was quiet, but final. "The villagers have given us their answer. We need to respect that."

Zhou Cunzhang raised an eyebrow, looking at him warily. For a military man to show that much patience was almost unheard of. Usually, it meant that they were planning something else.

"We’ll set up camp outside the village walls," Sun Longzi said, his tone diplomatic, a slight smile on his face. "We mean no harm, and we do not intend to disturb the peace of this land. The Emperor sent us here because all the borders have been attacked recently. We simply want to ensure your safety."

"You aren’t needed," Zhou Cunzhang said at last, his tone sharper than before. "But we would be foolish if we left ourselves open to attack. Thank you for protecting us." He was practically speaking through his teeth by the time he finished expressing his ’happiness’.

The smile on Sun Longzi’s face was just as artificial as the one on Zhou Cunzhang’s, but neither of the men was willing to back down now that they had gotten this far. "We’ll need provisions," continued Sun Longzi. "Water, wood, room for tents. We’ll even take any food that you can spare."

"You’ll have it," replied the village chief with a nod. "So long as your men stay where they are told. We can’t be held responsible for your safety if you go somewhere that you aren’t supposed to be."

As the Red Demons began moving to the edges of the fields, setting down their packs and building their temporary camp, the villagers watched in silence. Mothers pulled children back, and old men gripped their canes more tightly.

And in the trees beyond the clearing, something studied the General and the Second Prince, his head cocked to the side as he judged the intruders... and found them wanting.