The carriage rumbled out of the county seat. Once it had passed the bumpiest stretch of road and reached the official road, the driver cracked his whip again and again, urging the horse to pick up speed.
Master Qian could not help poking his head out of the carriage window to look ahead and behind. The sun was fine today, and there were only a few damp patches left by the heavy rain two days ago. Everything looked perfectly normal, without the slightest sign that anything might go wrong.
Master Qian let out a breath of relief, pulled his head back in, and sat properly. "Faster."
The driver answered and slapped the horse's rump, making the carriage speed up.
With a smack, something struck Master Qian in the face. He immediately covered his face and looked down, only to see a thumb-sized stone that had fallen into his lap...
He instinctively looked out the window. That stone seemed to have flown in through the window just now.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Master Qian's eyes flew wide open. He threw himself toward the carriage door and shouted, "Stop—"
At the same time, with a deafening rumble, a massive boulder came thundering down from the mountain with unstoppable force. With a crash, the world spun around him. Master Qian was flung out with a whoosh, soaring into the air. He only had time to see a flash of white before, without even reacting, he landed flat on the ground with a splat.
He scrambled to his feet and, lips trembling, looked toward his carriage. A huge boulder had knocked the carriage compartment down the cliff, while the driver and horse had barely stopped at the edge.
The carriage frame had already fallen apart. The frightened horse let out