Epigraph
An old friend invited me, the mountain my companion. A thousand miles west I came, and only then beheld Mount Lu's true face. Wine-loving Yang Xiong cared not a whit. Heaven sent the neighboring elder to soothe these eyes weary with poverty and sorrow.
Like a startled swan, blown apart again. A painted boat lay across the river; I gazed until the southern bank vanished from sight. To the earth's corners and heaven's ends, neither near nor far. One clear song-let pear blossoms fill the air.
(Silk-Curtain Song. Song dynasty: Zhou Zizhi)
Early that morning, Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue left Divine End Peak.
They walked eight hundred li in one stretch, passed South Pine Pavilion, and ate a hotpot meal in Yunji Town.
Zhao Layue ate seven plates of crispy pork and drank three jars of fruit wine. Jing Jiu merely blanched a few leaves of greens, and even used the plain broth.
That afternoon, they set off again, walked several hundred more li, and arrived outside the prefectural capital of Shangzhou.
Shangzhou City was not particularly large, but five official roads converged there, making its location extremely important, so the imperial court governed it very strictly.
Guards stood watch outside the city gates. Though they would take a few copper coins to let people through faster, they did not relax their inspections of travelers.
Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue stood beneath the farewell pavilion outside the city, watching the gates for a long time.
They had a very troublesome problem they could not solve.
How were they to enter the city?
Jing Jiu once again recalled the travelogues and imperial regulations he had read years ago, and found that there was still no other way.
"We'll fly straight in on our swords. There should be