After the little squabble with the Xuan family young master, Liam continued walking deeper into Blackstone city.
The streets of Blackstone City breathed with an energy that felt paradoxical at this hour. Predawn should have meant stillness, the quiet lull before the first vendors roused their voices, but instead the city pulsed with life.
Lanterns burned along the main avenue, their golden glow staining tiled roofs in amber. Thin mist clung to the stone roads, curling low like restless serpents as feet and hooves stirred it.
The air smelled of spice and smoke. Roasted chestnuts popped over open braziers; skewers of meat sizzled on iron grills.
Merchants in plain hemp robes shouted prices, hawking steamed buns, healing salves, talismans inked in fresh cinnabar.
Predawn in Blackstone wasn't a lull at all — it was more like an opening act.
Liam walked through it with steady steps, his gaze roaming from stall to stall.
