Ren Ye, Ai Fei, Old Liu, Xu Bangzi, Little Bat, and the three Jing Mountain men left Qingliang Prefecture during the snake hour.
The eight of them rode eight fine horses out of Qingliang Prefecture, heading straight into the depths of Lingnan Prefecture.
Mountains rose and fell along the way, their scenery as beautiful as an earthly paradise, but unfortunately, none of them had any time to admire it.
They galloped all the way until the beginning of You Hour that afternoon, when they reached a town beside an official road and stopped at a very small inn.
They were already a hundred li from the borders of Qingliang Prefecture.
Once inside, Little Bat told everyone to stay quiet, then shouted at the innkeeper himself, "We're down from the mountains. Bring out your best wine and meat, but don't put any extras in the food, or don't blame me for tearing down these three shabby rooms of yours."
"Yes, yes, of course. Please wait a moment, gentlemen. It'll be right out," the innkeeper replied politely.
Sitting on the south side, Old Liu asked curiously, "Extras meaning...?"
"Some dirty tricks commonly used in the underworld. Kidnapping, extortion, that sort of thing." Little Bat explained with a guileless smile, "People here have always been fierce. Put them in plain clothes and they're commoners; put steel sabers in their hands and they're bandits. Everyone needs to be careful...!"
Old Liu was speechless. "What a chaotic place. Sounds pretty exciting, though."
Before long, the food arrived: four cold dishes and four hot ones, including braised beef, rustic roast chicken, and more. It was neither lavish nor particularly tasty, but at least it would fill their stomachs.
While they ate, Ren Ye asked Little Bat quietly, "How's the investigation into that coachman surnamed Zhang going?"