Assignment

Deng Qing had a faint sense that with Tang Juan around, once he got started on any martial art, no technical chasm would stand in his way afterward.

Tang Juan automatically corrected the details of his training. At least, that was how it worked with the Tiger-Subduing Fist.

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

At this hour, there was usually cooked meat, pig's blood, or a large marrow bone on the table.

Today, when he pushed open the door, there was no cooked meat and no hot soup.

Only a slab of pork belly lay there. It weighed two or three pounds, and a note was tucked beneath it.

Deng Qing unfolded the note. Wu Yun had left it.

Wu Yun wrote that the streets had been unsettled lately, so the butcher shop was closing for the time being. Deng Qing should make do with the meat.

Deng Qing pinched the note between his fingers, his brow furrowing slightly.

Rumors that the Donghuang Cult's rebel soldiers were drawing near had grown fiercer by the day.

More refugees had appeared on the streets, and every shop was closing early.

He had not expected even a large establishment like the Five Blessings Butcher Shop to start lying low.

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 out from beneath the corridor and beckoned to him.

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

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

Deng Qing hurried to his side.

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

"You'll each get one silver mace a day, plus a large bowl of meat and vegetables with your daily meal."

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

Fan Sheng added, "The North Warehouse isn't very risky. It's just some powder. The scarce grain and supplies are in the warehouses to the south, guarded by other disciples and runners from the County Yamen.

"When you get there, don't wander off or try to play the hero. Guard the door, and you'll have done a great service."

Deng Qing nodded. "Understood."

The North Warehouse stood in the northwest part of the city. It was an old storehouse surrounded by homes.

Zhou Tie and Wang Wei were already there when Deng Qing arrived.

They had each brought a wooden bed and were sitting on them, reading.

Zhou Tie glanced up at him with a smile. "Junior Brother Deng, you're here?"

Wang Wei nodded to him as well.

Deng Qing returned their greetings, then looked around and spread his bedding on a stone platform by the wall.

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

There was nothing else inside. Rows of burlap sacks were piled in the western corner, their mouths tied tight. A little reddish-gray powder had escaped through the seams.

Wang Wei raised his caterpillar-like brows. "No need to look. It's redwood powder, military material used to make incendiary agents for the front line."

Deng Qing asked, "If it's that important, why are we the ones guarding it?"

Zhou Tie set down his book and laughed. "The county's run out of people, I suppose.

"Besides, it's important, but not to the refugees. They only steal what they can eat or wear.

"So the South Warehouse is what really matters. I reckon we're just here to make an appearance."

Deng Qing nodded and asked no more.

"Why isn't Li Cheng here yet? Is he not coming?"

Wang Wei muttered to himself.

Zhou Tie said, "He's a young master of the Li Family. It wouldn't be strange if he didn't come.

"He's only in Everjoy County to recuperate, anyway. He isn't even registered here."

Wang Wei said, "I've heard the Li Family is quite something. What I can't understand is why he came to Celebration Hall to learn martial arts. Surely his family could teach him."

Zhou Tie lowered his voice. "Everjoy County has fine mountains and rivers. Li Cheng came here to recover.

"I heard he had a serious illness as a child and couldn't practice martial arts for years. Who would've thought he'd recover in Everjoy County?"

Wang Wei snorted. "Ever since the Desolate Soil appeared, all sorts of strange illnesses have become curable. Besides, with Li Cheng's family background, the county couldn't do anything to him if he refused to come."

Deng Qing did not quite follow, but he worked to gather what he could: the Li Family was formidable, and there was something unusual about the Desolate Soil.

As the three of them talked, footsteps sounded outside. A dozen or so breaths later, Li Cheng walked in.

A procession followed behind him.

Four servants carried in a nanmu bed. Behind them came two maidservants with lowered eyes, laden with bundles.

The two maidservants worked quickly, making Li Cheng's bed and hanging its curtains.

A man who looked like a steward went up to Li Cheng and murmured something, apparently hoping to leave the two maidservants to attend him.

But Li Cheng frowned and waved them away.

Once the servants had left, Li Cheng turned and cupped his fists to Deng Qing and the others. "We'll be guarding the North Warehouse together for the next few days. I hope we can look out for one another."

The three returned his salute. None had any objection.

The first day passed without incident.

They read, practiced martial arts, or went out to keep watch.

At noon, someone from Celebration Hall brought food.

Each man received a large bowl of meat and vegetables and two pounds of coarse-grain buns.

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

To Deng Qing, it was an excellent meal. He picked up his bowl and ate.

After finishing the meat and vegetables, he used a bun to wipe every last drop of oily broth from the bowl.

As they ate, Deng Qing noticed Li Cheng take out a red pill and swallow it.

Zhou Tie and Wang Wei each drank a small bottle of pungent wine.

Deng Qing guessed these were what they normally used to replenish their qi and blood.

Sure enough, Zhou Tie laughed. "Brother Li certainly has money to spare. You can afford Ginseng Pills. I hear one pill costs five taels of silver."

He shook his own wineskin as he spoke. "The rest of us can only drink Red Maotai Wine."

Wang Wei said, "Brother Li, at your pace, how long until you break through to the Skin Refining Second Layer?"

Li Cheng replied evenly, "Another dozen days at most.

"That's slow, if anything. Good medicine has been hard to come by lately, so I've had to make do with Ginseng Pills."

Deng Qing watched enviously. He could not get a word in, so he observed in silence.

After taking their supplements, the three men's faces soon grew ruddy. Then they tucked into the meat,

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

Deng Qing asked if they wanted them. When none did, he gathered the cold, hard buns into his cloth bag.

Then Li Cheng and the other two began practicing.

Qi and blood surged through their fists and palms, and force burst outward. Sure enough, they all practiced external martial arts.

Deng Qing sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and circulated his qi.

Two days passed in a blink. Nothing happened at the North Warehouse.

Deng Qing was quite comfortable.

Every day, he had meat and vegetables, coarse-grain buns, a place to sleep, and time to focus on training.

For him, these were rare days of peace.

Li Cheng and the other two found the assignment novel at first, but gradually grew restless.

They started complaining about the dusty smell and stifling air in the warehouse, and the coarse food Celebration Hall sent over.

But they were on assignment, so they had no choice but to endure it.

At dinner on the second day, the servant bringing food arrived much later than usual. He looked troubled when he came in and said, as he set down the meal, that trouble had broken out outside and several streets were blocked.

Before leaving, he warned them, "If I'm late tomorrow, just wait. Don't open the door without good reason."

But no one came with food the entire next day.

The streets were unnaturally quiet, like a pot with its lid clamped down: there was fire beneath it, but no sound of boiling could be heard.

All four realized something was wrong. But they had a duty to fulfill, and abandoning their post and the warehouse was a serious crime. None dared leave without orders.

They waited another two days. Still no one brought food. Now and then, a scream rose from the streets, only to fall silent again.

Wang Wei thumped his bed frame. "We can't just starve to death in here."

Li Cheng stroked his smooth chin. "I think we should send someone back to Celebration Hall to see what's happening."

Zhou Tie shook his head. "You have to cross three streets to get from the North Warehouse to Celebration Hall. We don't know what's happening out there. Going out blindly could be dangerous."

Deng Qing stayed out of the discussion. He picked up a coarse-grain bun and began eating.

Over the past few days, he had collected all the buns the three young masters did not want.

He had eaten some, but still had more than twenty pounds left.

Compared with the tree bark he had once gnawed, these were proper food, however hard they were to swallow.

In the end, the three young masters still could not reach a decision, while the hunger in their bellies became impossible to ignore.

As they held out, watching Deng Qing gnaw his coarse-grain bun, all three could not help swallowing their saliva.