The Strange Killers

After a few cups of strong liquor, the broth in the copper hotpot was still bubbling away, filling the room with steam and the aroma of wine. Shen Jingchuan set down his cup, his expression growing more serious.

"Uncle Lin, there's something I've been meaning to ask. What happened that day when I ran into Miss Qingyao outside the city and found her being hunted down?"

The wine cup in Lin Weiyuan's hand paused. He let out a long sigh, and most of the drunken flush faded from his face.

"It was a strange business. That trip was supposed to be a routine return escort. We were hauling over twenty cartloads of silk and porcelain from the Capital back to the prefectural city. The cargo wasn't particularly valuable. My daughter had said a while ago that she wanted to visit an old friend of hers in the Capital."

"That girl was originally from our prefectural city. Her father was promoted and moved to the Capital the year before last. My daughter pestered me for quite a while, and since it was on the way, I took her along."

"On the way back, we stopped to rest in the provincial capital and met a scholar with an old coachman and a single carriage. He offered to pay to travel with our escort, so we could look out for each other on the road. That sort of thing is common in the jianghu, and two men couldn't stir up much trouble, so I agreed without giving it much thought."

"Who would've thought that, when we were still dozens of li from the prefectural city, people would suddenly attack? More than twenty men in black charged straight at us without a word—but their target wasn't our cargo at all. They went straight for the scholar's carriage."

Lin Yue clenched his fists beside him and cut in:

"Those men were downright uncanny! The three in the lead were freakishly fast. We'd barely moved to stop them when they flashed past us. We couldn't catch up at all!"

Lin Weiyuan nodded, lingering fear still in his eyes:

"That's right. The martial arts of those three leaders weren't from any jianghu school. I saw one of them raise his hand with my own eyes, and a ball of fire sprang out of thin air and shot straight at the scholar.

"I've spent half my life escorting cargo, and I'd never even heard of a trick like that, much less seen one. The scholar's coachman looked unremarkable, but he turned out to be a tough customer too. The force of their exchange sent dust flying everywhere. We couldn't even get close."

"The rest of the men in black were all skilled fighters too. They kept our escort agency's men tied up in battle. There were the three of us, father and sons, plus more than a dozen runners and escorts, yet they beat us down so badly we couldn't lift our heads. We lost several brothers.

"Qingyao took a slash to the shoulder, and it was clear we couldn't hold them off. I told her to run ahead while the three of us covered the rear."

Lin Qingyao lowered her eyes, her fingertips gently rubbing the rim of her cup. She said softly:

"I hadn't run very far before several men came after me. I was wounded, and I was about to reach my limit... Luckily, I met Young Master Shen."

"Qingyao was lucky to survive."

Lin Weiyuan looked at Shen Jingchuan and cupped his hands:

"The three strongest were all focused on the scholar. The ones chasing my daughter were just ordinary underlings, and their martial arts were nothing special. Otherwise, with how uncanny that gang was, I'm afraid even you would have had a hard time dealing with them using nothing but crossbow bolts, Young Master. Still, we really have you to thank this time."

"In the end, they got what they came for—the scholar was beheaded on the spot. They searched him and the coachman, then withdrew at a whistle, without even touching the goods on our escort carts. We dealt with the aftermath. The coachman had been badly wounded and died beside the carriage. We reported it to the authorities, but they couldn't find any leads."

He collected himself, as though pulling free of the memory, and smiled at Shen Jingchuan:

"After we reported it, the county's head constable came with his men and took the two bodies away for burial. They searched the carriage inside and out, but didn't find anything valuable. In the end, the head constable insisted it was unclaimed stolen property and had to be taken back to the county yamen for storage. I told him to go ahead and take it.

"But then he turned around and told me the horse was injured and couldn't pull it back. He said that rather than confiscating it, he might as well sell it to us at a discount, and insisted on a hundred taels.

"He was obviously using the opportunity to extort us. I knew the head constable and didn't want to get tangled up with him and bring trouble on myself for nothing. In the end, I paid a hundred taels of silver, and the carriage became ours.

"As luck would have it, I noticed you had those fine horses but no decent carriage. That one is finely made, and the compartment is spacious. I've already had it cleaned up inside and out. If you don't mind it, take it and use it. I'll have it brought over tomorrow."

Shen Jingchuan thought it over briefly and didn't stand on ceremony. He cupped his hands and smiled. "Then thank you, Uncle Lin."

The drinking only came to an end at around ten that night, when Lin Weiyuan and his two sons took their leave, still feeling the effects of the wine.

As usual, Shen Jingchuan returned to the modern world to sleep. After a hot shower to wash away the smell of alcohol, he dropped straight into bed. Early the next morning, a knock at the door woke him. He opened it to find that the saddles he had ordered a while ago had arrived. Six large cardboard boxes were stacked outside the door, and they were quite heavy.

Without even opening them, he put the boxes straight into his space, then slipped back to the other world.

Yue'er was waiting outside the main hall. Her eyes lit up when she saw him come out, and she hurried over and slipped her arm through his. "You're awake, Young Master? Breakfast is all laid out. Qingshu, Qinghua and the others are waiting."

The two made their way to the central hall of the second courtyard. After breakfast, Shen Jingchuan waved his hand.

"Go and see to your own work. I'm going to the rear courtyard for some quiet so I can think about a few things. There's no need to attend to me."

The maids all obediently acknowledged him and withdrew, and the courtyard fell quiet at once.

Shen Jingchuan went to the rear courtyard, took the boxes out of his space, and quickly tore off the packaging. He casually tossed the empty boxes back into his space.

There were six sets of saddlery in all: three finely crafted riding saddles and three sturdy pack saddles. The leather gleamed with oil, and the copper fittings shone.

He put all six saddles back into his space, went around through the garden in the western side courtyard to the stable entrance, and took them out again.

He pushed open the door. Liu Hu, who was cleaning inside, heard it open and hurried over. At the sight of the gleaming saddles on the ground, his eyes went wide.

"Young Master! Are these saddles for Big Black and the others?"

Shen Jingchuan nodded. "Give me a hand. Let's carry them in and see if they fit."

As the two carried them inside, the three horses came over too. Big Black led the way, stretching out his massive head to rub against a saddle. He sniffed it, then fixed his big, swiveling eyes on Shen Jingchuan, as though he recognized it as something meant for him.

Little Black and Treading Snow followed beside him, their tails swishing gently, looking curious and expectant.

Shen Jingchuan smiled and patted Big Black's neck, then picked out the largest riding saddle and set it on his back.

When Shen Jingchuan had made inquiries, the sales manager had said that the factory made it specially for a breed called the Shire horse. He had looked up the breed, felt it was much like the Whirlwind Horse, and placed the order.

Sure enough, it was a perfect fit. The saddle tree sat securely, and the girth had length to spare. The saddle lay snugly against the horse's back.

The two then tried the remaining riding saddles on Little Black and Treading Snow in turn. Both fit perfectly, and the leather had just the right firmness. There was no need to take them back for an exchange.

They tried the three pack saddles as well. The pack frames were secure, and the straps had length to spare. They could be used for hauling goods and traveling.

After trying the saddles for size, Shen Jingchuan was itching to take a ride and see how it felt. He put the riding saddle back on Big Black.

He had ridden horses in Bashang before. He hadn't known how to ride, so he and a few classmates had pooled five hundred yuan for lessons, and the horse owner had taught them some riding and mounting techniques.

Big Black stood nearly 1.9 meters at the shoulder, and the stirrup hung almost level with Shen Jingchuan's hip. Since he couldn't step into it, he wanted to try mounting with a backward jump.

He took his position on the horse's left side and got into stance. Big Black was so tall that he could barely get any leverage with either hand. But he kept feeling that he was stronger than before, so surely he could jump higher too?