Improving Control

Nanzhi dusted off her hands and stood, her gaze sweeping over the abandoned cottage. She had expected little—just a forgotten shelter, left behind by someone long gone. The interior was simple, worn by time, yet still sturdy.

Most of the furniture remained—a wooden table, a few chairs, a long bench along the wall, and a stone hearth. No signs of food or personal belongings, only silence and dust. Whoever had lived here must have left in a hurry or abandoned it long ago.

Her attention drifted to the dried bog bricks stacked near the fireplace. There were more than she had first noticed, all neatly piled. The fact that so many had been gathered suggested they had been used regularly.