Book 1: Chapter 30: Hoodies and Cryptic Words

Yin Hu could see why the girls always took a while to grab the water and get back. The supposedly little bandit town was actually much larger than he previously thought. Sprawling into a mess of roads. Dilapidated houses left and right, tents, huts, makeshift mud homes, and a dozen other types that made a mess of the area.

There was no rhyme or reason behind any of it. It felt odd. Even as distant as his memories were, he was used to the grid-like structure of larger cities. Yes, there were winding roads, but they were in the much richer areas of suburbia.

He frowned as they passed the twenty odd number of skinny refugees sitting in a group. Surrounding a single old lady stirring a large pot of soup or broth. It looked light. More water than anything else. Groups of the refugees huddled together, clearly separated and unaffiliated.

...