In the northwestern desert, yellow sand swept across the sky.
A sand lizard raised its head and warily surveyed its surroundings before darting into a crevice.
The rocks had weathered so badly that they trembled whenever the wind passed, as though they might collapse at any moment.
In the dry riverbed, cracked earth wound away into the distance.
The sky was gray and hazy. Veiled by windblown sand and yellow dust, the sun was no more than a faint halo.
This was the Gan-Liang Ancient Road, just over two hundred li from Qin Prefecture City.
Several figures slowly emerged in the distance along the deserted ancient road.
The man at their head wore a battered bamboo hat. His bearing was upright, his steps firm and powerful.
The two young men immediately behind him matched his pace without the slightest sign of fatigue or slackening.
A handsome young man in somewhat finer clothes followed, leaning on his sword. He drew a ragged breath, gritted his teeth, and kept up.
Bringing up the rear was a fat man with his head hanging low, looking utterly listless. A black cat lay on his shoulder.
"Dazhi, keep up..."
"Okay!"
The fat man lifted his head with a mournful expression, glanced ahead, and slowly shuffled forward.
Little Black Cat, lying on his shoulder, seemed to give him a disdainful look, then sneezed, shook itself, and leaped into his arms.
The travelers were Fang Yizhi, He An, Feng Chun, Gu Qingzhou, and Fan Dazhi.
Fang Yizhi had been tasked with investigating the secret passage into Qin Prefecture. He had originally intended to take only He An and Feng Chun. After all, they would be venturing deep into enemy territory, where more people would only make things harder.
But when Gu Qingzhou heard about it, he volunteered