"Silver Crow Handwraps?"
"Woven from fine silver thread and black silkworm silk. They're supple, fit snugly, won't hinder your strikes, and are hard for blades to cut."
Fan Sheng said, "The only trouble is the rental fee: three qian of silver a day.
"The deposit is twenty taels. If they're damaged, you don't get it back."
Deng Qing considered for a few breaths. "Staying alive comes first. I'll rent them the day before we leave. Sorry to trouble you to arrange it, Senior Brother."
Fan Sheng waved a hand. "No need to stand on ceremony with me. Oh, and there's something else you should know.
"Things outside are getting worse, and resources are tight at Celebration Hall too. The allowance given to new Named Disciples may be cut.
"Meat and meals might not come as reliably as they do now."
Deng Qing frowned slightly.
His cultivation had progressed only because several sources kept him supplied.
There were Celebration Hall's meals, the meat from Wu Yun, the silver he earned at North Warehouse, and the Medicinal Bath he was about to receive.
If Celebration Hall cut his allowance while meat and medicine grew scarcer outside, his cultivation speed would inevitably suffer.
Fan Sheng shared one last piece of news. "Li Cheng broke through to the Skin Refining Second Layer the day before yesterday."
Deng Qing's heart sank.
Li Cheng's family had ample resources. It was no surprise that he had broken through first.
Knowing that was one thing. Hearing the news for himself still filled Deng Qing with urgency.
Fan Sheng said, "In troubled times, the lower you stand, the greater the danger.
"The jobs someone at the Skin Tempering First Layer can do are mostly guarding warehouses, patrolling streets, escorting goods, and scouting routes.
"To put it plainly, they're the hard, exhausting jobs.
"Only at the Skin Refining Second Layer do you get a little room to choose.
"If you want to stay with Celebration Hall, you need to break through as soon as possible."
Deng Qing cupped his hands. "Thank you for the guidance, Senior Brother."
He understood perfectly: the more chaotic the times, the tighter he needed to cling to the great tree that was Celebration Hall.
However chaotic the county town became, the County Yamen and Celebration Hall still kept a lid on it.
Beyond Celebration Hall's shelter lay refugees, mountain bandits, cults, famine, and bloodshed.
And to hold fast to Celebration Hall, he had to hurry and break through.
Over the next few days, he kept training without pause. Apart from going to Celebration Hall and Wu Yun's place for meals, he barely left home.
The day before their departure, Fan Sheng came to Deng Qing's house and handed him a suit of Leather Armor and a wooden case. He told Deng Qing to assemble at a quarter to six the next morning, then left.
Deng Qing barred the courtyard gate and examined the Leather Armor.
It had seen some years. Its edges were worn, and several scratches marked the shoulders.
Deng Qing ran a hand over it. Though old, the leather was still thick and sturdy.
Extra layers of hardened leather reinforced the chest, abdomen, shoulders, and back.
He tried it on then and there. The Leather Armor restricted his shoulders and back somewhat.
Deng Qing settled into the Tiger-Subduing Fist stance and began to practice. His movements were less fluid than usual, but he could still put power behind them.
After testing the Leather Armor, Deng Qing opened the wooden case. Inside lay a pair of handwraps.
They were thin and dark. Only up close could he make out the black thread wound around fine strands of silver, like a layer of tiny scales hidden beneath the weave.
Deng Qing put them on. As he slipped his fingers into place one by one, a faint coolness spread across his palms.
He tried making a fist. The Silver Crow Handwraps hugged his hands and fingers without hindering his knuckles in the slightest.
Deng Qing sank his shoulders and lowered his elbows. The instant his fingers closed, the fine silver threads across the backs of his hands and knuckles drew gently taut, as though his hands had been wrapped in supple iron.
Deng Qing felt much more assured. With the Silver Crow Handwraps, he stood a better chance if he encountered someone wielding a weapon.
After testing the Leather Armor and Silver Crow Handwraps, Deng Qing went inside and sat cross-legged. With a thought, Clear Radiance appeared before his eyes.
[Heaven Helps Those Who Help Themselves, No Effort Is Wasted] [Realm: Skin Tempering First Layer] [Tiger-Subduing Fist: 71% (Grand Mastery)] [Violet Palace Method: 19% (Initiation)]
Early the next morning, before dawn, Deng Qing got up. He put on his underclothes, strapped on the Leather Armor, pulled a white robe over it, and tucked the Silver Crow Handwraps into his clothes. Only then did he stride toward Celebration Hall.
Not long after he arrived, the other disciples assigned to retrieve medicine from Blackwind Ravine gathered one after another.
Twenty or thirty people stood in the courtyard, along with several carriages.
Deng Qing spotted Wang Wei in the crowd and went over. Wang Wei nodded to him but said nothing.
Before long, Fan Sheng, dressed in black, emerged from the main gate beside a young man in a black robe.
The young man stood tall, his bearing steady.
Wang Wei whispered to Deng Qing, "That's Senior Brother Zhang Yan. He's one step from the Bone-Forging Realm. He's formidable."
Deng Qing said, "The stronger Senior Brother Zhang is, the better our chances on this trip. Looks like Senior Brother Fan is coming too?"
Wang Wei said, "Senior Brother Fan is one of the poorer Initiate Disciples. Of course he'd take a chance to earn money."
As they spoke, Zhang Yan's sharp gaze swept over them. Both hurriedly fell silent.
Zhang Yan said, "Blackwind Ravine lies on the border between two counties. The mountain roads are dangerous, and we don't know what awaits us. We're going only to retrieve the medicine. Don't stir up any other trouble. Follow orders."
After everyone answered in unison, Zhang Yan began counting heads.
When he finished, Fan Sheng asked quietly, "Senior Brother Zhang, hasn't Junior Brother Ma returned to the hall yet?"
Zhang Yan said, "Junior Brother Ma sent word a few days ago that he'd be back from outside around now.
"He's spent years carrying out missions away from the hall and has seen plenty. I left him a letter. If he can catch up with us, this trip will be safer."
Fan Sheng nodded.
Zhang Yan looked up at the sky and barked, "Move out!"
The group headed west at once. On East Street, they met the convoy from Tianshun Apothecary. The two parties joined together and made for the outskirts.
Half an hour later, they left the county town behind. Desolation stretched before them.
Burned-out village houses stood beside the road. When the wind blew, black ash trickled from their cracks.
Farther on, they saw blackened pots and ash heaps left by camps of displaced people. A few lengths of bone, burned white, protruded beside one heap. Whether wild dogs had dragged them there or people had boiled them, no one could tell.
Not far away stood several refugees in ragged clothes.
When they saw Celebration Hall's party approaching, they immediately retreated from the road. They dared neither come close nor beg for food.
Their eyes were sunken, their limbs thin as dead branches. Their gazes stayed fixed on the bundles and bags of rations in the convoy.
Deng Qing warned himself that he had to cling tight to the great tree of Celebration Hall.
The wheels rattled on. Everywhere they looked lay barrenness, decay, and death, weighing on everyone's spirits.
The convoy trudged onward in silence. Half a day later, they finally reached Blackwind Ravine.
Steep cliffs rose on either side of Blackwind Ravine. Between them ran a deep gorge, its floor strewn with jagged rocks and rushing water.
Wind surged upward, carrying a cold, damp mist that scraped across their faces like knives against flesh.
Shopkeeper Zhang of Tianshun Apothecary walked to the edge first. There, he steadied himself against an old pine and leaned out to look down.
Soon Zhang Yan came to his side and looked down as well.
Shopkeeper Zhang explained, "Two days ago, a medicine cart was passing through Blackwind Ravine when the horses were startled for some reason. Cart and cargo went over the mountain road.
"Fortunately, the cart got caught halfway down among a broken tree and some rocks. It didn't fall to the bottom.
"But if we wait any longer and it rains, the runoff will ruin all the medicine."