Luzhou had Shuzhou’s most characteristic terrain — the larger towns nestled in the flatlands between mountain ranges. But that flatland was relatively narrow, and at its lower points, there would inevitably be rivers. So most towns were backed against high mountains with a great river at their door.

Choosing to settle in such terrain was largely out of necessity. Fortunately, *rely on the mountain, live by the mountain; rely on the water, live by the water* — livelihoods weren’t too difficult to sustain.

Yue County sat at the southern foot of Bowang Mountain. It was a sizeable county seat, built into the mountain, with nearly a hundred thousand people living within the city.

When Cao Lie’s company arrived at Yue County, dusk was already falling. The garrison troops inside the city knew a column was coming from the main camp, so the gates were still open.

The acting official currently in charge of Yue County was a Ning Army platoon commander named Liu Juan. Technically a platoon commander was sixth rank — already higher than most county magistrates. But the area was desperately short of personnel. Dantai had assigned a fifth-rank general to serve as acting county magistrate — who had since been assassinated. So Liu Juan had been left in charge.

When Liu Juan saw Cao Lie, he wasn’t sure what to call him — but seeing that a Hawk-Eye General from the Military Intelligence Division and a *Qianban* from the Court of Justice were all attending him as subordinates, he could guess this was someone of extraordinary standing.

After introductions, Liu Juan reported the situation.

“The General was killed while resting at night.”

Liu Juan led Cao Lie into the room where the General had been killed. Nothing inside had been moved — save for the body, which had been buried. Everything else remained as it was at the time of death.

“The General must have sensed someone entering and woke up — got out of bed to reach for his sword.”

Liu Juan pointed toward the bed: “The General’s sword was right there hanging at the headboard. But when we heard the General cry out and rushed in, he was already dead on the floor — and the sword hadn’t moved from where it was.”

Cao Lie listened while carefully examining the room. From the window to the bedside was roughly one *zhang* in distance. The murdered general, getting out of bed, only needed to reach out to grab his sword.

This alone was proof enough: the killer was a person of extraordinary ability. The speed with which he crossed from the window to the bedside and struck the killing blow was faster than the General could reach for his blade.

Based on the original report, the General’s fatal wound was at the chest. From the wound’s shape, the weapon used was either a dagger or a sword.

A single strike. Clean.

Cao Lie looked toward the window, closed his eyes, and replayed the scene in his mind.

A black-clad figure — using a dagger or a long sword — pried open the window’s latch through the gap. As the window opened, the General heard the sound and immediately sat up.

But the black figure moved like a shadow — crossing to the bedside and killing with one thrust.

Cao Lie opened his eyes and stepped to the window to examine it. On the windowsill, he found traces left from the night of the killing.

The killer had planted both feet on the sill for leverage, splitting the wood — visible proof of how explosive that launch had been.

Cao Lie pulled himself up onto the sill, settled into position, and after a moment of focus, took a sword in his right hand. He pressed both hands against the sides of the window frame, then launched himself off with feet and hands simultaneously — right hand holding the sword, but not impeding the push.

His body arced inward. When he landed, he was still over a step short of the bed.

He looked down, studied the floor carefully, and found footprints roughly half a step in front of him.

In other words, the killer was slightly more powerful than himself.

Cao Lie looked at his men: “Split up. Li Poju and Li Chenzhou — take people and gather accounts from everyone in the county yamen. Ask clearly what each of them saw that day.”

Li Poju and Li Chenzhou bowed: “Understood.”

Cao Lie looked to Ye Xiaoqian: “Come with me to the back.”

They left the study — Cao Lie departing through the window, since the killer had left the same way.

Nearly twenty days had passed, and two rains had fallen since. Any traces from that night were long gone.

Past the courtyard wall was an open area of tall wild grass — hard to see into even standing close. Cao Lie searched carefully and found the flattened grass where the killer had fled.

Through this clearing lay a stretch of forest — a perfect escape route. Once inside that woods, no tracker could follow, not even a hunting dog.

“From here you can see the mabang’s stronghold up on Bowang Mountain.”

Liu Juan pointed upward.

The stronghold sat at mid-mountain. Standing at the treeline and looking up, one could see the mabang’s ochre-yellow banners still flying.

“The way it looks…”

Cao Lie murmured to himself. “Either someone is deliberately drawing our suspicion toward the mabang — or the mabang’s men killed the General and walked away without a care, not taking us seriously at all.”

Through the forest lay a small mountain path. Winding upward for about seven or eight *li*, it led to the mabang’s stronghold.

Cao Lie was scanning the surroundings when a shadow seemed to flicker behind one of the trees.

He was about to alert Ye Xiaoqian when he noticed Ye Xiaoqian had already slipped to the back of the group, used the others as cover, and circled around into the forest from another direction.

Cao Lie couldn’t help but feel a quiet admiration — this seventeen-year-old *Qianban* seemed to be more capable than he’d anticipated.

But what he hadn’t expected was that the figure managed to slip away from Ye Xiaoqian.

Ye Xiaoqian had barely come within three *zhang* of the person when the figure sensed him, turned, and bolted. Ye Xiaoqian gave chase — but stopped at the treeline, choosing not to pursue further. Bowang Mountain was full of places where mabang sentries might be concealed.

The people of Shuzhou said: fiercer than the wild beasts of the mountains were the mountain bandits — a wild beast might kill one or two people, but bandits entering a village meant slaughter, leaving no survivors. And fiercer still than mountain bandits were the mabang men, because they made their living dealing with mountain bandits every day. If they weren’t fierce enough, how would bandits ever fear them?

There were over a thousand mabang outfits of varying sizes in Shuzhou. The largest counted several thousand strong; the smallest just a handful. The greatest of all was the Tiger Gang, also called *Descending Tiger*, for their banner bore the image of a tiger bounding down the mountain.

The stronghold on Bowang Mountain was the Tiger Gang’s headquarters. The fortress was said to hold over eight thousand men, each one seasoned and ferocious. With a single word from Chief Luo, every mabang in Shuzhou would converge from wherever they were. Within no great time, he could muster tens of thousands. Even those eight thousand hardened fighters — twenty thousand Shuzhou troops hadn’t dared make a direct assault.

Mabang men knew the mountains too well, and knew far too well how to kill within them. In a real fight, it was hard to say how many mabang would fall — but those twenty thousand Shuzhou troops would likely leave very few survivors.

Liu Juan explained: “Shuzhou’s mabang, in order of size, are the Tiger Gang first, then the Wolf Gang, then the Bear Gang… The great majority are named after wild beasts.”

“The Wolf Gang’s headquarters is in Dongxi County, about two hundred *li* east of here — inside the county seat, with roughly five thousand men.”

“The Wolf Gang’s chief, Sun Zuoyi, is Luo Jiuhong’s sworn brother. The two have been running the mabang trade together since their youth.”

Cao Lie took note and nodded. After examining the terrain thoroughly, they returned to the county yamen. Li Poju and Li Chenzhou had already questioned everyone present on the day of the killing.

“Based on the intelligence gathered so far,”

Li Poju said, looking at Cao Lie, “the killer is seven to eight parts likely to have come from the Tiger Gang’s stronghold.”

Cao Lie looked at him: “Go out and make discreet inquiries. Find out whether any of the Tiger Gang’s stronghold has a skilled fighter who is left-handed.”

Li Poju asked: “How did you deduce that, my lord?”

Cao Lie: “From the windowsill. When the killer launched himself, his left foot pressed down harder — the wood was more deeply cracked on that side.”

“When I was on the sill, I held the sword in my right hand. With either a dagger or a sword in hand, when you drive off the frame, the weapon’s handle knocks against the wall. When I tried it, it left a mark on the right side. But I checked the left side too — there was a mark there as well.”

Cao Lie: “This alone doesn’t confirm the killer was definitely left-handed. But it’s worth checking.”

Li Poju acknowledged and began dispersing his men to make inquiries among the city’s residents.

“Don’t ask the ordinary residents.”

Cao Lie said. “The reason this has been hard to investigate is that every resident here has benefited from the mabang’s protection. No one is going to volunteer information to us.”

He smiled: “Go to the gambling dens. Go to the pleasure quarters.”

He looked at his own attendant: “Bring me two thousand taels of silver.”

Moments later, a small chest was brought in. It would have surprised many to know Cao Lie had traveled with that much ready cash.

“Take this silver — pick twenty people, each gets a hundred taels, and have them go separately. A hundred taels goes a long way for entertainment in a place like this.”

Cao Lie: “Women who’ve been paid well tend to be rather talkative.”

Li Poju looked at the silver and couldn’t help but say: “No wonder our Director Gui said that following Lord Cao is great fun — when we asked what kind of fun, he said we’d find out eventually.”

Cao Lie laughed: “Then go have your fun.”

Ye Xiaoqian: “What about me?”

Cao Lie looked at him: “You? You’re too young. You don’t go to places like that.”

Ye Xiaoqian: “…”

Once everyone had left, Cao Lie lowered his voice to Ye Xiaoqian: “Spread word outside. Say I intend to hold court here in the county yamen for seven days. Anyone who can provide useful leads should come directly to the county yamen to find me. Useful information — one hundred taels reward per person.”

He leaned closer: “Once that’s out, find someone roughly matching my build and appearance.”

—