Escort Mission

The old hunter pinned the map under his wine bowl, refusing to let Helian Yuan see the whole thing just yet.

"Deliver one chest of medicine and two bundles of iron goods to the old camp in Blackwater Ravine," he said. "Three silver coins. Put them in the shed on the north side when you get there, then come back and tell me whether the door's still there."

Helian Yuan looked at him. "Who's receiving them?"

"Someone will."

"Who?"

The old hunter lifted his wine bowl, revealing one corner of the map. "Why so many questions? Don't think the pay's enough?"

Helian Yuan pushed the three silver coins back.

"Let me copy the map, and I'll deliver them."

"The map's worth ten."

"There's no one left at the old camp."

The wine bowl stopped halfway to the old hunter's mouth.

Helian Yuan continued, "If someone were really waiting for medicine, you'd give me a name. You only want me to check the door, which means the medicine is for someone going in later, or you don't know who'll take it either."

The old hunter stared at him for a moment, then set down his bowl.

"People who are too clever die young."

"People who say less live longer."

The bartender behind the counter couldn't help letting out a laugh. The old hunter turned and glared at him, then spread out the whole map.

"The old camp was originally built by a caravan from outside the mountains. They pulled out ten years ago, and hunters occasionally stayed there afterward. Last month, someone asked me to deliver medicine and iron goods there, saying he'd collect them from the shed himself. My leg's no good, and there aren't many people in town willing to make the trip to Blackwater Ravine."

"Who asked you?"

"He wore gray gloves and didn't give a name."

"How much did you get?"

"That's none of your business."

Helian Yuan got up.

"Sit down," the old hunter cursed. "Twenty coins. He gave me twenty, and I'm giving you three. What, think I'm making too much?"

"I just want to know how much he's willing to pay for a delivery no one will sign for."

Twenty coins were enough to hire two level-three warriors to travel an ordinary mountain road, yet all he wanted was for someone to put a chest of medicine in an abandoned camp. Either the chest itself was more important than the payment, or someone at the old camp couldn't easily enter town.

Helian Yuan sat down again. "The map and three coins. I won't open the chest."

"Even if you dared open it, I couldn't stop you," the old hunter said. "But if there's something inside you shouldn't touch, don't come back looking for me."

"Who decides the route?"

"The red line on the map."

"I'll take my own."

"Suit yourself. Just get the goods there."

The deal was settled.

Helian Yuan didn't treat this as an ordinary escort job. With three silver coins, he had bought a legitimate reason to enter Blackwater Ravine, as well as the limits of what the old hunter knew about the old camp.

The medicine chest wasn't large, and it was sealed with wax. The two bundles of iron goods were mostly iron nails, door hinges, and several lengths of new chain. The new chains had no numbers on them, but their size was very close to that of the old chain in the bear's den.

Before leaving town, Helian Yuan asked the old hunter, "Why didn't they take the iron goods when they abandoned the camp ten years ago?"

"I heard someone died."

"How?"

"Any more questions will cost extra."

Helian Yuan didn't press him.

He followed the eastern road until the afternoon, then left the red line on the map and detoured along the north side of the stream valley. The red line marked the caravan's old road, which suited packhorses and was also the likeliest place to leave wheel ruts. Since the gray-trimmed attendant's carriage had headed east, he didn't want to run into it head-on along the same road.

The fog in Blackwater Ravine hung lower than it did outside, clinging to the water without dispersing. The tree bark was black, and rust-colored water seeped from the soil underfoot. Every so often, Helian Yuan looked back to make sure the same footprints weren't following him.

By evening, he found the old camp.

The northern shed was still standing, though half of one wall had collapsed. Its hinges were new, however, and the wooden door bore none of the gray-white marks left by long exposure to rain.

Someone had repaired it in the past few years.

Helian Yuan didn't go inside immediately. First, he circled the camp.

Three pit traps were buried in the grass on the west side, evenly spaced; warning ropes had once hung from the trees to the south, with wear marks on the bark all at the same height; to the east, a stone road led into the thick fog, wide enough for two small carts to travel side by side.

This was no temporary hunting shelter.

It was more like a transfer point with a fixed patrol route.

He set the medicine chest in front of the northern shed, its wax seal intact. He stacked the two bundles of iron goods against the wall as the old hunter had instructed. Once he had finished, Helian Yuan didn't leave immediately. Instead, he tied a thin thread to a small stone in the dust at the bottom of the door.

If someone opened the door, the stone would be dragged inside.

He also wedged a dry leaf between the medicine chest and the wall. If someone moved the chest, the leaf would fall.

The markers wouldn't prevent anyone from collecting the goods. They would only tell him whether anyone had been there.

He didn't entirely trust the old camp's roof. First, he prodded the crossbeams with his short spear to make sure there were no loose stones, then moved his sleeping spot to the side of the door. If someone came in, he wouldn't have to step over the fire to get up; if the roof collapsed, the side of the door was also the shortest way out.

The two bundles of new iron goods contained six short lengths of chain. While it was still light, Helian Yuan felt their dimensions through the oilcloth without unwrapping them. Both ends of each short chain had openings where links could be attached. They didn't look like they were for repairing a door, but rather for replacing damaged binding chains. The old hunter's term "iron goods" had been far too broad from the start.

He noted it on the back of the map, using only six short dots. If someone took the map, they would think they were just route markers.

After nightfall, fog drifted into the shed along the ground. Helian Yuan banked the fire, keeping its light from passing through the window opening. The pit traps around the old camp all faced outward, except for one beside the eastern stone road, which opened inward-it wasn't meant to stop magical beasts from outside the mountains entering the camp, but to stop things in the camp from running east, or things to the east from escaping back into the camp.

The direction was so obviously wrong that it seemed like an explanation left on the ground.

Before dark, Helian Yuan had lit a small fire in the collapsed shed. The wind blew from the stone road to the east, carrying the smells of oil, rust, and some kind of old animal dung.

Late in the night, a warning rope suddenly made a faint sound.

He first banked the fire in the ash, leaving only a little red glow that could be blown back to life. If the medicine chest was bait, whoever opened the door would most want to see an immediate reaction from inside. Instead, he waited until the footsteps outside stopped completely before changing position through a crack at the back of the shed.

There were only a dozen or so paces between the northern shed and the collapsed wall, but three places where a person could hide. Helian Yuan gently placed an iron nail behind the door, then lay down beside the farthest water trough. If the door was pushed open, the nail would make a sound first; if the visitor circled around behind, he could see the figure in the fog.

Helian Yuan already had his short spear in hand.

The sound didn't continue. Nor were there any beast roars outside.

He peered through the crack in the door and saw a figure dart past the northern shed, pause for a moment, then retreat into the fog.

The footsteps were light, but the sound on landing came from boot soles, not claws.

Helian Yuan waited a long time before opening the door.

That made it look even more like a probe. Someone truly there to collect the medicine wouldn't need to linger at the door for so long; someone merely confirming the goods' arrival wouldn't deliberately leave a complete footprint either. The other party might have wanted the person staying in the shed to give chase, or to let whoever came later know that a third person had already been there.

The medicine chest was still there, and the dry leaf hadn't fallen. There was only one clear footprint in the mud in front of the door, its toe pointing east. The tread didn't match the boots of the gray-trimmed attendant in town.

The visitor had only confirmed that the goods had arrived, without taking them.

Helian Yuan memorized the length of the footprint, then walked a dozen or so paces along the stone road. Half of a collapsed fence stood beside the road. On its inner side were claw marks of varying depths, as though many magical beasts had struggled in the same direction.

Beyond that, the map was blank.

He didn't venture farther in at night.

After returning to the collapsed shed, Helian Yuan spread the old hunter's map across his knees and used a stick of charcoal to add the first stretch of the stone road on the eastern side.

The old camp wasn't the destination.

Nor had the three silver coins bought him a simple escort job.

They had bought an entrance someone had deliberately left off the map.