Assignment

Deng Qing vaguely felt that with Tang Juan around, no matter what martial art it was, once he got started, there would be no technical chasm ahead that he could not cross.

Tang Juan would automatically correct the details of his cultivation. At least, that was true for the Tiger-Subduing Fist.

After finishing his practice, Deng Qing headed straight for the small room beside Five Blessings Butcher Shop.

At this hour in the past, there would always be cooked meat, pig's blood, or big marrow bones on the table.

Today, when he pushed open the door, there was neither cooked meat nor hot soup on the table.

There was only a slab of pork belly, two or three jin in weight, with a note tucked beneath it.

Deng Qing unfolded it and saw that Wu Yun had left it behind.

Wu Yun's note said that the streets had been unsettled these past few days. The butcher shop was temporarily closing, and Deng Qing was to make do with this piece of meat for now.

Deng Qing pinched the note between his fingers, his brows drawing together slightly.

These days, rumors that Donghuang Cult's rebel army was closing in had grown increasingly fierce.

There were far more refugees on the streets, and every shop closed early.

He had not expected even a large shop like Five Blessings Butcher Shop to begin avoiding the storm.

Deng Qing put away the pork belly, locked the door, and went straight home.

Early the next morning, Deng Qing arrived at Celebration Hall.

Fan Sheng came over from beneath the corridor and beckoned to him.

Deng Qing walked over and cupped his hands. "Senior Brother Fan."

Fan Sheng said, "There's an assignment."

Deng Qing took a swift step forward and arrived before him.

Fan Sheng lowered his voice. "North Warehouse is short on men. The hall is sending several disciples over to guard it for a few days. You, Li Cheng, Zhou Tie, and Wang Wei—the four of you will go.

"You'll get one qian of silver a day. When meals are delivered each day, there'll also be an extra large bowl of meat and vegetables."

Deng Qing knew he could not refuse, so he said no more and accepted with cupped hands.

Fan Sheng added, "There isn't much danger at North Warehouse. It's just some powder. The scarce grain and supplies are in the warehouses to the south, guarded by other senior brothers and county yamen runners.

"When you get there, don't run around and don't show off. Guarding the gate properly will be a great merit."

Deng Qing nodded. "Understood."

North Warehouse lay northwest of the city, an old warehouse surrounded by homes.

By the time Deng Qing arrived, Zhou Tie and Wang Wei were already there.

Each had brought a wooden bed and was sitting on it, reading.

Zhou Tie looked up at him and smiled. "Junior Brother Deng is here?"

Wang Wei nodded at him as well.

Deng Qing returned the greeting with cupped hands, then looked around and spread his bedding on a stone platform against the wall.

After making his bed, Deng Qing took a walk around the warehouse.

There was nothing else inside. Only rows upon rows of burlap sacks were stacked in the western corner, their openings tied tightly shut. Occasionally, reddish-gray powder leaked from the gaps.

Wang Wei raised his silkworm brows. "No need to look. It's Redwood Powder, military supplies used at the front lines to mix combustion-enhancing agents."

Deng Qing asked, "Something this important—why have us guard it?"

Zhou Tie set down his book and smiled. "Because the county has no one left to use.

"Besides, important or not, refugees only rob what they can eat or wear.

"So the key point is South Warehouse. I figure us coming here is just going through the motions."

Deng Qing nodded and asked no more.

"Why hasn't Li Cheng come yet? Don't tell me he isn't coming?"

Wang Wei muttered.

Zhou Tie said, "He's the dignified young master of the Li family. It would be normal if he didn't come.

"Besides, he only came to Everjoy County to recuperate. His household registration isn't even in this county."

Wang Wei said, "I've heard that Li Cheng's family background is extraordinary. I just can't figure it out. If he wanted to practice martial arts, there was no need for him to come to Celebration Hall. I refuse to believe the Li family couldn't teach him."

Zhou Tie lowered his voice. "Everjoy County is blessed with fine mountains and waters. Li Cheng came here to nourish his health.

"I heard he caught a serious illness as a child and could never practice martial arts. Who would have thought he would recover while recuperating in Everjoy County?"

Wang Wei snorted. "Ever since Desolate Soil appeared, any strange illness can be cured. Besides, with Li Cheng's family background, even if he did not want to come, the county could do nothing to him."

Deng Qing did not quite understand, but he tried his best to gather information: the Li family was extremely powerful, and Desolate Soil was unusual.

As the three chatted, footsteps sounded outside. More than a dozen breaths later, Li Cheng walked in.

Behind him followed a whole retinue.

Four servants carried in a nanmu bed. Behind them came two meek-looking maidservants, their backs laden with large and small bundles.

The two maidservants moved deftly. They quickly made Li Cheng's bed and hung up the bed curtains.

A man who looked like a steward went to Li Cheng's side and muttered quietly, seemingly intending to leave the two maidservants behind to attend him.

But Li Cheng frowned and waved them away.

Once the servants had withdrawn, Li Cheng turned and cupped his hands toward Deng Qing and the other two. "For the next few days, we will guard North Warehouse together. I hope we can watch out for one another."

Deng Qing and the other two returned the gesture. Naturally, they had no objections.

The first day passed without incident.

Everyone either read, practiced martial arts, or went outside to keep watch.

At noon, people from Celebration Hall delivered food.

Each person received a large bowl of meat and vegetables, along with two jin of coarse-grain steamed buns.

There was plenty of fatty meat in the dish, and a thick layer of oil floated on the soup.

To Deng Qing, this was already an excellent meal. He picked it up and began eating at once.

After finishing the bowl of meat and vegetables, he even scraped the oily soup from the bottom clean with his coarse-grain buns.

While eating, Deng Qing noticed Li Cheng take out and swallow a red pill.

Zhou Tie and Wang Wei each drank a small bottle of strongly flavored liquor.

Deng Qing guessed that those had to be the things they normally used to replenish their qi and blood.

Sure enough, Zhou Tie smiled. "Brother Li really is wealthy enough to use Ginseng Pills. I heard a single pill costs five taels of silver."

As he spoke, he shook his wine pouch. "Unlike us, who can only drink some Red Maotai Wine."

Wang Wei said, "Brother Li, at your pace, how long do you think it will take you to break through to Skin Refining Second Layer?"

Li Cheng replied calmly, "At most another ten days or so.

"That's still considered slow. Good medicine has been hard to get lately, so I can only make do with Ginseng Pills."

Deng Qing's eyes burned with envy. He could not join the conversation at all and could only observe in silence.

After taking their supplements, the three quickly regained a healthy flush. Then, they began wolfing down great chunks of meat.

After finishing the meat and vegetables, they had not touched their coarse-grain buns at all.

Deng Qing asked once. Seeing that none of them wanted the buns, he put those cold, hard buns into his cloth bag.

Then Li Cheng and the other two all began practicing martial arts.

Qi and blood surged between their fists and palms, force spilling outward. As expected, they all cultivated external training methods.

Deng Qing, meanwhile, sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to circulate his qi.

In the blink of an eye, two days passed, and North Warehouse remained free of trouble.

Deng Qing lived quite comfortably.

Every day, there were meat dishes, coarse-grain buns, a place to sleep, and time to focus on cultivation.

To him, these were already rare days of peace.

Li Cheng and the other two found it novel at first, but gradually they could no longer endure it.

They began complaining that the warehouse smelled too strongly of dust, that it was stifling, and that the meals delivered by Celebration Hall were crude.

But with an assignment on their shoulders, they could only endure.

At dinner on the second night, the errand boy delivering food came much later than usual. His expression was poor when he entered. After setting down the food, he said that trouble had broken out outside and several streets were blocked.

Before leaving, he added a warning. "If I come late tomorrow, just wait. Don't open the door carelessly."

Yet no one came to deliver food the entire next day.

The streets were abnormally quiet, like a covered pot—there was clearly fire beneath it, yet no sound of boiling could be heard.

Deng Qing and the other three all realized something was wrong. But abandoning their posts and losing the warehouse was a grave crime, so they did not dare leave without permission.

They waited for another two days, and still no one brought food. Occasionally, miserable screams drifted in from the streets, only to quickly fall silent again.

Wang Wei pounded the bedboard. "We can't starve to death in here."

Li Cheng stroked his smooth chin. "I think we should send someone back to Celebration Hall to investigate."

Zhou Tie shook his head. "From North Warehouse to Celebration Hall, we have to cross three streets. The situation outside is unclear right now. Going out rashly would be fraught with danger."

Deng Qing did not join the discussion. He picked up a coarse-grain bun and began eating it by himself.

Over these days, he had collected all the coarse-grain buns the three young masters did not want.

He had eaten some, but there were still more than twenty jin left.

Compared to the tree bark he had gnawed on before, no matter how hard this stuff was to swallow, it was still proper food.

At last, the three young masters debated for a long time without reaching a conclusion, while the temple of their five organs could no longer bear it first.

As time dragged on, seeing Deng Qing gnawing on coarse-grain buns, all three could not help swallowing their saliva.