A scrawny horse, an old carriage, and a handful of attendants in brown traveled slowly west along the imperial highway, where the snow had yet to melt.
"My lord, another fifty li and we'll reach the Capital City."
A dark-skinned man with a two-piece steel-tipped spear strapped to his back stood beside the carriage and spoke quietly.
A steady, powerful middle-aged male voice came from inside. "There's no need to hurry. A leisurely pace will do."
The dark-skinned man replied softly, "We have to hurry. It's already the fifth day of the new year. The sooner you enter the city, the sooner you can begin preparing for your appointment to the Grand Secretariat. This year's promotions and transfers at court should all be settled before the Lantern Festival."
The middle-aged man inside replied with unhurried ease, "The Great Learning says: 'Only after knowing where to stop can one find resolve; with resolve comes stillness; with stillness comes peace; with peace comes reflection; and with reflection comes attainment.'"
The dark-skinned man pondered this for a moment, then cupped his hands. "Your subordinate has learned much."
His words had barely faded when heavy, rapid footsteps suddenly sounded behind them.
The dark-skinned man’s heart tightened. Reaching back to grip the two sections of his spear, he looked over his shoulder and saw a figure like Big Black, a giant rat, charging toward them like the wind, trailing billowing dust.
Startled, he planted his feet and was about to shout when the figure swept past without a backward glance. The gale it stirred sent his loose hair flying...
"What just shot past?"
"Looked like a person..."
"That thing could be a person?"
The other brown-clad attendants were startled too. They rubbed their eyes hard and stared uncertainly at the dust ahead, unable to believe