Arrival

When Chen Chong arrived at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, a maid dressed in green greeted him.

The maid was in her early twenties and of average height. She wore a narrow-sleeved jade-green jacket, with a silk sash of the same color at her waist. Her hair was coiled into a single bun and pinned with a plain silver hairpin. She led Chen Chong through the front hall, around an ornate gate, and toward a courtyard.

The courtyard was enormous.

Bluestone covered the ground, and it was wide enough for three carriages to travel abreast. The walls were high, with iron spikes along their tops. A row of old locust trees stood in one corner, their branches casting a broad swath of shade.

More than a dozen carriages stood in two rows. But Chen Chong's gaze fell on the animals pulling them. There was something different about those horses.

They were shorter and stockier than ordinary horses, standing about five feet at the shoulder, with thick, powerful legs and hooves as broad as bowls. Their coats were dark gray, marked with darker patterns that showed a faint metallic sheen in the light.

Strangest of all were their eyes. Their pupils were vertical, like a cat's, or a leopard's. They stood quietly, neither whinnying nor swishing their tails. Only their ears turned slightly, alert yet steady.

Seeing Chen Chong stare at the horses, the maid explained, "These horses were bred with a kind of Leopard Demon. They have great endurance and speed, can see at night, and ordinary wild beasts don't dare approach when they catch their scent."

Chen Chong nodded. This was the first time he had seen demonic beasts put to human use, and he could not help finding it novel.

Demon Horses. Leopard Demon bloodlines, tamed and bred until they became carriage animals. The relationship between humans and demonic beasts was not limited to hunting and being hunted.

It made him think of Wang Guanyong's Demonization, the demonic beasts that had ravaged the land outside the city, and the demonic beast flesh sold in the Dark Market. This world was more complicated than he had thought.

The carriages on this trip were heavily protected. Their walls were made of two layers of hardwood sandwiching iron plates; their windows had iron bars backed with oxhide; their wheels were clad in iron; and their axles were made of refined steel.

Chen Chong was led to a carriage. When its door opened, he found that the inside was like a small room.

There was a cushioned couch, a low table, tea utensils, hidden compartments, and even a small window hung with a cloth curtain. The couch's cushions were thick, and a pot of tea and two cups sat on the table.

Chen Chong climbed aboard.

At the same time, outside the Welcome Inn.

The instant Wan Qinghe fell, a large force of soldiers surrounded the scene. They moved so quickly it was as if they had been waiting nearby. They poured in from every direction in blue-gray uniforms, sabers in hand, and sealed off the entire street.

The living and the dead were packed up like cargo. The wounded were carried away, corpses stacked on handcarts, weapons collected, and blood washed off the ground.

Some carried brushes and buckets of water, others shovels or lime. Every trace of what had happened was swiftly scrubbed away. Before long, everything looked as it had before.

The stone-paved road was spotless. Parasol leaves were spread over it again, hiding the last dark-red marks.

Word spread that the authorities had wiped out the Clear River Gang. A strange mood settled over Pingyang City. It was not a holiday, yet in some homes, a quiet, furtive sense of celebration began to brew.

Some hung red lanterns in their courtyards. Some bought an extra two pounds of meat. Others brought out wine jars they had kept sealed for half a year. People walked a little more lightly in the streets, and their voices grew a little louder.

In a study at the Wan Residence.

"Most of the Clear River Gang are dead. Wan Qinghe is dead too. So is that Hidden Snake Lu Chengfeng."

Several people sat in the study. At their head was a man in his fifties, dressed in an indigo brocade robe and holding a string of prayer beads. After hearing the report, he nodded and rolled the beads once through his fingers.

"I see."

He paused, then turned the beads again. "Have Wan Qinghe's lover sort through what's left. Get ready to back the next one."

His tone was mild, as though he were talking about changing clothes.

Inside the county office.

A newcomer in a brand-new clerk's uniform stood in the hall, unable to hide his excitement. "With the Clear River Gang destroyed, Pingyang City can finally be peaceful again. What a relief."

An older man with graying hair sat at a desk in front of him, drinking tea.

At those words, the older man smiled but said nothing. He merely lowered his head and took another sip. Two leaves floated in his cup, sinking, then rising again.

The Hundred Treasures Pavilion's convoy wound onward like a long snake.

After leaving Pingyang City, it headed south. The official road was broad and surfaced with gravel. Old willows lined both sides; though their leaves had fallen, their upright trunks bordered two long green corridors.

The convoy stretched for half a mile: more than a dozen carriages, dozens of Leopard Demon horses, and over a hundred guards.

The guards rode with sabers at their hips. Some cleared the way ahead, some protected the flanks, and others brought up the rear. Their formation was disciplined, their pace unhurried.

Aside from a few demonic beasts too blind to know better, no one dared set their sights on the convoy.

But those supposedly blind beasts were each stronger than the last. Sitting in the carriage, Chen Chong watched through the little window.

At dusk on the first day, a one-eyed Wolf Demon burst from the woods. It was as large as an ox, its gray fur bristling and saliva dripping from its jaws.

The guards did not panic. Three men in front dismounted and raised their shields; three behind them drew their bows and loosed arrow after arrow; two on the flank circled around, blades drawn. Their coordination flowed like moving clouds and running water.

The Wolf Demon lunged twice. Arrows pierced its knees, shields checked its charge, and blades from the flank severed its hind legs. In no more than twenty breaths, it lay on the ground. The guards cut off its head and stripped its hide without a word.

Even with his current strength, Chen Chong could not say for certain who would win if he fought it.

Yet watching groups of guards hunt demonic beasts showed Chen Chong another kind of strength.

With that coordination, they slew one demonic beast after another with surprising ease. One on one, Chen Chong could win. But if a group of trained guards surrounded him, he was not confident he could escape unscathed.

The journey continued smoothly all the way to Anyang Commandery.

The commandery city took Chen Chong by surprise.

Its broad roads were wide enough for eight carriages to travel abreast.

The roads were paved with bluestone slabs, each polished flat as a mirror. The wheels rolled over them with barely a jolt. Everything was laid out in orderly fashion.

There was an inner city and an outer city, encircled by a moat three zhang wide and more than a zhang deep. Lotuses grew in the water; though their flowers had withered, their remaining leaves still stood. Defenses were everywhere. An arrow tower stood every fifty paces along the walls, stocked with crossbows and bolts. Every hundred paces at the foot of the walls was a concealed troop chamber sealed with iron bars. The city had three gates—outer, middle, and inner—each with its own barbican. Entering was easy; leaving would be hard.

Soldiers on the walls wore matching black armor. They held long spears and carried short blades at their waists, standing ramrod straight, eyes fixed ahead.

A long line had formed at the gate, but everything was orderly. Soldiers kept the peace, clerks recorded arrivals, and guards patrolled.

The inspections were strict. Seated in the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's carriage, Chen Chong felt as though something examined him when he passed through the gate.

An invisible presence swept down from above the gate. It passed over the carriage, through its walls, and across his body. It lingered for an instant, then moved on.

His skin tightened slightly. The Profound Abyss Dragon-Tiger True Canon stirred on its own for a moment, then settled.

It was as if an eye had studied him from the shadows, seen him, and let him pass.

But he entered without trouble.

The carriage passed through three gates, rolled over the bluestone road, crossed the barbican, and entered the outer city.

People came and went along the streets. Storefronts stood one after another, their hanging signs overlapping in layers.

In the distance, the inner city walls rose against the dusk, taller and thicker than those of the outer city. Flags lined their tops, snapping in the wind.

Anyang Commandery. Chen Chong lifted the curtain, looked out at the city, and took a deep breath. The air held the smoke of hearth fires, the smell of food, perfume, the scorched-iron scent of smithies, and an indefinable restlessness that belonged to a great city.

He lowered the curtain, leaned back against the cushioned couch, and closed his eyes.