Black Dragons Carrying the Coffin

It was the shen hour, and the setting sun slanted westward.

The sky was about to darken.

Xu Da returned after escorting Ma Qiu and his party to the county yamen. Only then did Wang Qilin and his two companions pay their visit.

He wrapped his ghost-head saber in hemp cloth and strapped it to his back, then checked his reflection in the water vat before leaving.

Mm, I look even more like that fellow called Yang Guo now.

The general's residence was some distance from Niu Er's home. It stood alone on a stretch of wasteland outside the township, a grand residence with spacious courtyards, white walls, and glazed roof tiles that gleamed in the sunlight.

The vermilion gates stood two zhang high, but instead of the usual stone lions flanking the entrance, there were two strange beasts.

The one on the left resembled a civet but had thick, powerful tiger paws. The one on the right was stranger still, with two ox heads and eight legs.

Seeing Wang Qilin study them so closely, Xie Hama asked in surprise, "Your first time here?"

Wang Qilin nodded. "Yes. There's something sinister about this area. Look northwest-all those earthen hills. They're said to be ancient tombs, with all manner of demons, ghosts, and evil beings hidden inside."

Xie Hama looked toward the earthen hills to the northwest, his gaze deep.

The two chatted animatedly, but Xu Da said nothing. He merely stared at the red-lacquered gates.

"What are you looking at?" Wang Qilin asked.

Xu Da said gravely, "These gates. I'm afraid I couldn't kick them open!"

Wang Qilin rolled his eyes. "If you dare kick open the general's gates, the three of us can all take a trip to Earth together."

"What?"

"Nothing. Knock!"

Polished bronze mirrors bright enough to show a reflection were set into the vermilion gates, and two bronze tiger heads held the door rings in their mouths, imposing and stern.

His six elder sisters did not own a single bronze mirror between them, yet this household used bronze to decorate its gates. Wang Qilin could not help marveling.

The gap between one person and another is bigger than the gap between a person and a dog!

The gates slowly opened, revealing the face of a rough-skinned old man with white eyebrows and white hair. "Who goes there?"

Wang Qilin took out his bloodwood seal. "This humble official is Wang Qilin, a Minor Seal of the Heaven-Listening Bureau. I have come expressly to pay my respects to General Huang."

The old man accepted the bloodwood seal. "Please come inside first, gentlemen. I will inform my master."

A Minor Seal of the Heaven-Listening Bureau was a ninth-rank official, while the Huang family's old general, Huang Huaji, had retired from the position of General Who Guards the State, a secondary second-rank post. Even the officers under him who polished his military boots and carried his chamber pot ranked above the ninth grade.

So Wang Qilin had no idea whether the old general would even see him.

Fortunately, the white-haired, white-bearded old man returned and called to him. "Lord Wang, my master invites you in."

Xu Da tried to follow, but Xie Hama blocked him with a half-smile. "Where are you going? The general invited Lord Wang!"

"What about yours truly?"

"Find somewhere warm and stay there!"

With a sweep of his sleeves, Xie Hama flew up onto the gatehouse.

A carefree, unfettered wandering immortal.

The largest residence Wang Qilin had seen before was the Zhang Family Medical Clinic in Crouching Dragon Township, but that had only two successive courtyards.

The general's residence was a truly grand estate. A garden lay just beyond the entrance, surrounded by towering walls stretching in long, unbroken lines, with tightly packed buildings of varying heights inside.

After passing through two arched gateways, they saw an open training ground equipped with stone locks, sabers, spears, swords, and halberds. The neighing of fine horses carried over from farther away; presumably, there were stables inside too.

Wang Qilin silently marveled. He would have something to talk about the next time he bragged.

But large as the general's residence was, there were few people about. It was very quiet.

So if he had to choose between living in the cold, quiet general's residence and his family's thatched cottage overflowing with warmth, he would choose the general's residence.

He really could not choose the thatched cottage against his conscience.

The old general waited in the reception hall.

He was simply dressed in hemp clothes, his white hair casually tied with a strip of cloth. He looked nothing like a great general in that outfit, more like an old village carpenter, and neither his appearance nor his bearing differed from those of an ordinary person.

"Would this be Lord Wang? A truly outstanding young man. Quickly, bring him a seat."

Only when the old general spoke did he display the bearing of a renowned commander. His voice was resonant, his tone firm, and his words decisive, brooking no argument.

A maid served clear tea, and the old general steered their conversation, but spoke only of family matters and things Wang Qilin had seen and heard in the Heaven-Listening Bureau.

They chatted for quite some time without getting to the point. When the old general finally changed tack, it was to dismiss his guest.

Wang Qilin grew anxious.

We haven't even gotten to business yet!

He forgot about etiquette and said directly, "General Huang, this humble official received word that there has been some unrest in your residence and that I was needed to investigate."

"Where did this information come from?" Huang Huaji asked.

"Someone secretly wrote me a letter..."

"Where is the letter?"

"That is the strange part," Wang Qilin said. "After I read the letter, it burned up on its own. That was precisely what aroused my suspicions. After much hesitation, I decided to take the liberty of visiting."

There was no scent of lies in his sweat, and no one guessed that he was talking nonsense.

Besides, by steering the conversation earlier, the old general had already drawn out his entire background. He knew the young man before him was a country bumpkin who had joined the Heaven-Listening Bureau less than a month ago.

What schemes could a little country bumpkin who had never even left his township before joining the Heaven-Listening Bureau have in front of a second-rank dignitary? What lies would he dare tell?

Unfortunately, he did not know that Wang Qilin had lived on Earth, where lies were everywhere. Wang Qilin had personally seen a girl lying in bed, panting as she claimed to be out running-and running in slippers, at that.

Huang Huaji frowned in thought for a while before saying slowly, "I have lived my whole life openly and honorably, and I disdain lies, so I will tell you: it is true. But you cannot handle it. I must resolve it myself."

"You underestimate me, General..."

"Show our guest out!"

The old general was generous. Before Wang Qilin left, he gave him a gift: a long-handled Miao saber of the kind used by elite frontier soldiers.

"I noticed you weren't carrying a weapon, Lord Wang, so I'll give you one to defend yourself. You must be careful serving in the Heaven-Listening Bureau. Never let your weapon leave your side!"

Wang Qilin reached behind his back. "I have..."

His hand found nothing.

The ghost-head saber was gone.

At some point, the Furnace of Creation had sucked it inside again.

He thanked Huang Huaji, strapped the long saber to his back, and left in disappointment.

Seeing him emerge, Xu Da asked, "How did it go?"

Wang Qilin shook his head.

Xu Da looked disappointed. "So the Huang young lady's beauty was just a rumor too?"

"Rumor, my ass! I mean there's no hope with this matter. The old general said the trouble at his residence is a family matter, and outsiders can't interfere."

After saying this, Wang Qilin looked up at the gatehouse. "Daoist, come down. Careful someone doesn't mistake you for an assassin and shoot you full of arrows."

Xie Hama stood atop the gatehouse, gazing into the distance. He looked a while longer before coming down. "My lord, guess what I saw up there?"

"Two big fleshy worms wrestling?" Xu Da asked expectantly.

Xie Hama sneered. "Follow me."

They went around the residence's outer wall, and a stretch of countryside appeared before them.

It was early spring, and the vegetation had yet to turn green. Large swathes of the wilderness were withered yellow. The cold wind blew through the mournful grasses and trees with a rustling sound.

Auspicious County was a hilly region, and both Paifang Township and Crouching Dragon Township had many low hills. A large stretch of such hills lay northwest of the general's residence, and a funeral procession was winding through their depths.

The funeral procession was rather strange. There was no suona music, no paper money scattered to clear the way, and no one wailing. Just one person carrying a soul-summoning banner, followed by eight people bearing a large red-lacquered coffin.

Stranger still, the eight pallbearers wore neither mourning clothes nor mourning cloth, but were dressed entirely in black. From a distance, their attire looked just like that of Wang Qilin and his companions.

"Our colleagues?" Xu Da asked.

Xie Hama shook his head. "No. This is Black Dragons Carrying the Coffin."

"What does that mean?"

"Once the black dragons arrive, life and death become uncertain. They are members of the Black Yao, and this is Carrying the Coffin to Wander the Heavens. You may not have heard of the Black Yao. They are an ethnic group from the Western Regions, and they have a custom of carrying the coffin of the deceased through many places over many days."

Understanding dawned on Xu Da. "No wonder the tribes of the Western Regions are called grave-roaming peoples. So that's their custom."

"The Black Yao People aren't nomads." Xie Hama narrowed his eyes as he watched the figures in the Black Yao funeral procession. "Interesting. To think one of the Black Yao People has died. The trouble at the general's residence may well be something serious."