Dexius Town
"That's them." Ma Ding sat on his horse, his face expressionless. "Follow them."
The whip cracked, and the horses started running again.
After running for another ten miles or so, a patch of low bushes grew by the roadside ahead, and a thin layer of dust floated on the road surface.
The first horse stepped on it, and there was a soft "plop" sound as if it had broken something.
Commander He's expression changed. "This is bad!"
It's too late.
The thin layer of ash rose with the horse's hooves, almost invisible in the moonlight, and a faint, sweet scent drifted on the wind, like dried mugwort mixed with some kind of medicine.
The first few horses swayed and slowed down, and the soldiers on them stared blankly, their bodies leaning to one side.
Commander He yanked the reins hard, trying to shout, but his throat was too weak. His eyelids were heavy, his mind was a complete blank, and his last thought was "poison," but his hands and feet were already beyond his control.
thump.
Someone fell off their horse.
Then came the second and third sounds, and the horse could no longer stand; its front legs buckled and it collapsed to its knees.
Ma Ang was at the back of the group, completely bewildered. He was about to ask a question when he collapsed weakly onto his horse's back, his face pressed against the horse's neck, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.
The moonlight shone on the official road, where more than twenty horses lay sprawled on the ground, and more than twenty people slept in the roadside grass, their snores rising and falling like thunder.
Xiao Wu peered northwards through the carriage curtain for a long time. "Senior, what did you put on the road earlier?"
"We sprinkled some medicine on the road." Dugu Bo spat out the grass stems. "It won't hurt anyone, it's just to let them take a nap."
Half an hour later, a chorus of coughs erupted along the official road to the south.
Commander He to wake up. He struggled to his feet twice before finally managing to get up, his throat parched. The soldiers sat up one by one from the grass, clutching their heads and groaning.
Ma Ang woke up last, and jumped up as soon as he opened his eyes. "What happened? Where are they! Where are they!"
The official road was deserted, with only moonlight and a ground covered with hoofprints.
"They got away! They got away!" Ma Ang grabbed Commander He's collar. "How did you chase them! What kind of commander are you!"
Commander He pushed his hand away and said in a muffled voice, "There was pesticide on the road. We didn't even see what it was before we all collapsed."
Ma Ding sat on a roadside stone, his robe covered in bits of grass, rubbing his temples. He wasn't angry; instead, his face had an indescribable gloom.
"Uncle!" Ma Ang rushed over, "Say something! Let's keep chasing them! Follow the tracks! They can't have gone far!"
Ma Ding looked up at him.
"What the hell are you chasing?"
"Are they just going to leave those three out-of-towners like this?"
"What's it to us?" Ma Ding slowly stood up, brushing the straw off his robe. "The old tailor's gone, that land's an unclaimed property, it belongs to the government. I'll submit a document tomorrow saying the shop is ownerless and should be transferred to the prison warden's name."
Ma Ang was stunned for a long time. "But... but I was beaten..."
"We've already taken the beating, what else can we do?" Ma Ding straightened his sleeves and walked towards the horses. "Those guys aren't Soul Master, yet they managed to beat seven thugs like this, and they even dared to set a trap and poison me while I was chasing them. Ang'er, we shouldn't mess with people like that."
"I don't care!" Ma Ang cursed, shouting into the darkness to the south, "I'll remember this! That brat! Those two girls! Don't let me see you again! If I do, I'll kill you!"
The shouts drifted away on the night wind, struck the trees by the roadside, and dissipated almost completely.
Ma Ding mounted his horse and looked down at him.
"Alright, that's enough for now, let's go back."
"Uncle!"
"Go back." Ma Ding's tone turned serious. "If the patrol battalion asks about this commotion tonight, I'll have to make up an explanation. If you cause any more trouble, things will get complicated."
Ma Ang stood on the official road, his chest heaving for a while. Finally, he kicked a stone by the roadside, his toes aching. He grimaced and cursed something before mounting his horse.
The group turned back towards Suotuo City, the twenty-odd horses running listlessly, and the soldiers rubbing their temples.
The carriages carrying Dugu Bo and his entourage did not stop all night.
There were no torches at night, Dugu Bo wouldn't allow them to be lit.
The two horses followed the reins in his hand, their wheels rolling over gravel, the sound muffled in the night, carried away by the wind only after they had gone a long way.
Xiao Wu slept on Lin Chen's shoulder for a while, but was woken up in the middle of the night by the jolting. She mumbled "Have we arrived yet?" but fell asleep again before getting an answer.
Dugu Yan, wrapped in a blanket, leaned against the other side, arms crossed, her head nodding slightly.
Lin Chen wasn't asleep. The mountain wind seeping in through the cracks in the carriage carried a metallic smell, which grew stronger the further south they went.
After daybreak, the mountains on both sides of the road appeared lower, the trees thinned out, and patches of gray-brown jumbled rocks were exposed. When the sun climbed to its zenith, a crooked street appeared ahead.
"We've arrived." Dugu Bo reined in the horses. "Dexius Town."
There was no city wall at the entrance of the town, only a crooked wooden pole with a faded old flag hanging on top. The flag was embroidered with a blurry leopard pattern, and the edges were torn by the wind, but no one cared.
Xiao Wu peeked around and asked, "This is the town? There aren't even any city walls?"
"Walled areas need to be checked; unwalled areas are better for business." Dugu Bo gestured with his chin towards the flag. "Seeing it means you've entered the town."
The town is built on a hillside, with houses of varying heights scattered across the slope, like a stone box carelessly tossed out. The streets are narrow and paved with gravel; after a rain last night, the mud is ankle-deep when car wheels roll over them.
Looking further up, the houses thinned out, replaced by rows of abandoned mine entrances, their dark openings starkly open, densely embedded in the mountainside.
The people on the street were more diverse than I had imagined. There were hunters carrying furs, men with iron chains around their waists, lone travelers wrapped in dirty cloaks, caravans driving oilcloth wagons, and a few merchants with southern accents squatting against the wall sharing a pancake.
Most men wore wide-brimmed leather hats, the brims pressing down to their brow bones; women wore colorful striped scarves, the colors so dazzling that they made one dizzy when the wind blew.
"Old buddy, move in, don't block the way," someone shouted from behind.
Xiao Wu was taken aback. "Who is he calling 'old buddy'?"
"Call me whoever you want." Dugu Bo drove the car to the side of the street. "In this place, people call leaving 'getting by,' call friends 'old buddies,' and even insults include 'southern brat.' You'll get used to it."
A restaurant on the street had a wooden sign hanging outside that read "Red Pot Stew".
The four of them went inside and sat down. The waiter brought out a clay pot. When the lid was lifted, the soup was bright red, and a spicy and sour aroma hit their noses.
"Red peppers, dried game meat, and a handful of sour fruit, stewed for two hours." The waiter placed a stack of rock cakes on the corner of the table. "Rock cakes sandwiched with cheese and salted meat, paired with strong liquor—that's how people in the mountains eat them."
Xiao Wu scooped up a spoonful, and the spiciness made her gasp as soon as it entered her mouth. She grabbed a teacup and gulped down half of it, tears welling up in her eyes, but she still couldn't bear to put the spoon down.