My dao to eternity

The sect posted its first notice within a day of the bell, brief and carefully worded, pinned to every gate and market post across the city by outer disciples who offered no further explanation than the paper itself provided. Mortal residents were advised to keep to their homes after dark. Travel beyond the city's walls was discouraged until further notice. No cause was named.

Li Fan read it twice, then walked the market anyway, gathering what the day's ordinary gossip could still offer even with half the stalls shuttered early. The picture that emerged, pieced together from a dozen half-informed sources, was considerably larger than anything the notice's careful language admitted.

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