NO IDEA WHAT SO EVER (no that's not the title...)
an excerpt

The marching of many feet behind him made Lan Huo Dei turn away from the alter, and his thoughts. Several officers strode proudly down the dirt road, common people scattering before them like frightened geese before a bored tiger. The officer’s clean yellow and orange vests stood out starkly against the poor farmers’ gray ragged clothing. Lan Huo Dei quickly ducked into an alley, pulling his reed hat sharply over his blue eyes, which would have marked him out. Not as who he really was, but just different. And even looking just a little different before officers is potentially deadly.