Several months had passed, but Shen Diao had grown again. On the way to the Yanshan Camp it had been roughly four hundred jin; by now it was probably five hundred.

Five hundred jin of animal charged straight through the city gate.

Yu Jiuling had said that the city gate was blocked and the magistrate’s life was in immediate danger — Li Chi had no time to think things through carefully.

He had heard the name Yue Huanian before. People said he was among the finest officials in all of Jizhou. Some said he was among the finest in all of Dachu.

But in Dachu as it was now, good officials did not get good lives.

“Watch out!”

Li Chi shouted to draw attention.

The dark-clad fighters who had been aiming at the townspeople ahead turned their heads. They saw something large and black bearing down on them.

By the time they realized it was a massive wild boar, Shen Diao carrying Li Chi had already charged through the gate.

“Shoot!”

Liu Yingzhan, without looking to see who it was, gave the order immediately.

But Shen Diao was too fast. The fighters who hadn’t had time to nock their arrows were simply bowled aside.

Li Chi didn’t slow down at all. He rode Shen Diao straight through the crowd toward Yue Huanian’s position. The townspeople scattered in alarm.

—

Meanwhile, back with Proprietor Su’s convoy.

A man whose features did not resemble those of someone from the Central Plains came to stand before Proprietor Su. He looked at him and asked: “What exactly is going on?”

Proprietor Su shook his head. “I’m still not certain whether the transport company’s people are deliberately causing trouble. They shouldn’t have any reason to.”

The middle-aged man was around forty, with the characteristic features of someone from the Western Territories — but a frame far more powerfully built than most Western men carried. He wore the brocade robes of a Central Plains gentleman, which gave him an incongruous appearance.

“We cannot afford more delays. My junior martial brother is waiting in the city. You Central Plains people have a saying: delay breeds change. We must reach Pingchang County as quickly as possible.”

Proprietor Su was evidently wary of this man. His tone when speaking to him was consistently deferential, and he nodded quickly. “I’ve already had people urging things along. The transport company’s people are pulling the overturned cart back up now. We should be moving shortly.”

The Western man nodded, apparently not a person of many words, and returned to sit in one of the rear carts.

Proprietor Su looked up and wiped the sweat from his brow. The pressure this Western man exerted on him was palpable. One of his subordinates said quietly: “Boss, where does this Western outsider come from?”

Proprietor Su said: “He’s Liu Yingzhan’s senior martial brother.”

He paused, then continued: “Liu Yingzhan’s school comes from the Western Territories and has considerable influence there — it’s called the Camel Sect. The sect’s master is also the national preceptor of the Tubo Kingdom. Many years ago, Tubo suddenly submitted to Dachu as a vassal state, abandoning their previous belligerence entirely. They began sending embassies to the capital every year, bearing enormous quantities of gold and silver as tribute.”

“Liu Yingzhan was one of the earlier arrivals — reportedly he came to the capital over ten years ago, somehow attached himself to the Yuwen family, was retained by them, and was sent to Jizhou last year to work under the Prince.”

“Liu Yingzhan told the Prince that his senior martial brother’s martial arts were virtually unmatched in the Tubo Kingdom, and that if the Prince could recruit him to serve, it would be a great asset. The Prince, always in need of capable men, had Liu Yingzhan bring him.”

Proprietor Su looked back. “His name is Jing Yanli. When Liu Yingzhan is in his presence, he doesn’t dare breathe too loudly.”

The young errand boy thought about Liu Yingzhan, that domineering and ruthless man, being terrified of someone — which gave a fairly vivid sense of what Jing Yanli must be.

—

Inside Pingchang County.

Li Chi rode Shen Diao up to the crowd and pulled up, somewhat disheveled. In truth, this was Li Chi’s first time riding Shen Diao in any serious capacity — at a full gallop, at that. And there were no reins. How was he supposed to stop?

He tried first grasping the pig’s bristles and pulling back. Shen Diao barely reacted, barely slowing.

Watching a collision become inevitable, Li Chi reached forward in desperation and hooked two fingers into the pig’s nostrils, pulling upward.

Extraordinarily effective.

Shen Diao stopped as though it had been fitted with brakes, four trotters grinding along the ground for some distance before coming to a halt.

“No time to explain everything — which one of you is Magistrate Yue?”

Yue Huanian said: “I am. And who are you?”

“My friend told you earlier that someone would come to help you.”

Yue Huanian thought: so this is the jianghu acquaintance that young man mentioned. People from the jianghu are indeed… unconventional.

“Get on the pig first — talk later.”

Li Chi hauled Yue Huanian up behind him, then smacked Shen Diao and said: “Run!”

Shen Diao turned its head and looked at him blankly. Li Chi thought: I’m sorry for this — then grabbed two or three of the pig’s bristles and yanked with force. Shen Diao squealed in pain and lunged forward.

Qiu Qingche, gravely wounded, stared in bewilderment.

At that moment, from behind the still-dazed fighters, a line of horses came thundering in. One rider saw there was no room to stop and pulled the reins sharply upward — the horse sailed clean over the heads of the crowd.

Zhuang Wudi, seeing that Li Chi had finally halted, had barely begun to breathe easy when Li Chi went charging off on the pig again and appeared to be abducting someone.

Zhuang Wudi spurred his horse and resumed pursuit.

Li Chi rode the pig with Yue Huanian through the streets. Zhuang Wudi gave chase behind them. A mass of dark-clad fighters gave chase behind Zhuang Wudi.

The fighters swept through without sparing the townspeople a glance. Their target was Yue Huanian, not ordinary citizens. For a moment the scene became somewhat less grim than it had been.

About half a quarter-hour later, as the townspeople were still trying to make sense of things, Li Chi came riding back on the pig — having evidently shaken off both the fighters and Zhuang Wudi.

Li Chi reached forward to hook Shen Diao’s nostrils. Shen Diao, apparently startled, applied its own brakes before Li Chi’s fingers got there.

“Neighbors!” Li Chi called out. “Go now and drop the north gate’s stone. If these people are allowed to leave, there may be trouble for everyone. Drop the stone — seal them all inside!”

Magistrate Yue’s hair had come loose. He thought it through and agreed with the logic. He started to say: “Everyone, listen to him — go quickly and drop—”

Then Li Chi pulled out another bristle. Shen Diao squealed and charged forward.

What followed for the next shichen or so was not, if one were honest, particularly exciting: Shen Diao running through the county town, dodging and hiding, sprinting and stopping, while the dark-clad fighters ran themselves dizzy trying to find them.

After about a shichen, Li Chi finally encountered Zhuang Wudi, who had been looking for him. They conferred and decided to first find a safe place to hide Yue Huanian, then deal with the fighters.

“Magistrate Yue,” said Li Chi, “in your judgment, where would be relatively safe?”

Yue Huanian thought it over. “The courtyard we just left. Those grain store killers won’t expect us to go back there.”

Li Chi nodded. “Then let’s go there.”

Following Yue Huanian’s directions, they arrived at the courtyard shortly. Li Chi looked at the ordinary residential property and decided it was not good defensive terrain.

He spotted a woodpile outside the door. He climbed over and dug out a hollow in the pile, instructed Yue Huanian to get in, and told him that no matter what happened, he should not come out unless Li Chi himself called for him.

Yue Huanian looked at the woodpile with a blank expression.

“Will this… actually work?”

“Trust me,” said Li Chi. “I have experience.”

He pushed Yue Huanian into the pile and wedged the wood back to cover the opening.

Li Chi looked at Zhuang Wudi. “This has to be finished inside the city. We can’t leave survivors. If anyone gets away, it traces back to the transport company and we’re implicated. Their people have been scattered in the chase — we split up and move fast. Kill them all and there’s no one left to testify. Then we leave quickly.”

Zhuang Wudi looked at him, nodded: “Understood.”

Then he turned and walked away.

“Be careful,” Li Chi called after him.

Zhuang Wudi didn’t turn around. As he walked, he said: “You too.”

Li Chi glanced at Shen Diao and smiled. “Thanks to you.”

Shen Diao glanced back at him, a somewhat aggrieved look in its eyes.

Li Chi looked up. The Dog was circling overhead.

He gave Shen Diao a pat and said: “Go find the Dog.”

He whistled. The Dog high above immediately began descending at tremendous speed. Shen Diao, seeing the Dog coming down, trotted happily toward it — and as it ran, it swung its haunches like a dog.

Five hundred jin of swinging haunches, surprisingly perky.

Li Chi turned and ran, climbing nimbly up the face of a wooden building and taking a position on the roof. Looking in all directions, he heard a dull thud from the north — the townspeople had evidently dropped the north gate’s stone.

He reached into his deer-skin pouch, felt around, and pulled out the demon-face mask. He fit it over his head. Drew a long breath.

Then stepped off the edge of the roof.

The killing began.

In the street below, a group of dark-clad fighters was searching. They heard hoofbeats — unhurried, growing closer.

The group stopped immediately, weapons raised and ready. Presently, from a side street, Zhuang Wudi appeared on horseback, long blade on his shoulder, expression perfectly calm as he looked at them.

He raised his left hand and curled a finger.

The group erupted in fury. Twenty or thirty of them surged toward him — why would they be afraid of a lone man?

About a quarter-hour later, Zhuang Wudi rode out of the area with his blade on his shoulder. On the ground behind him lay several dozen bloody figures.

On the other side of town, Li Chi was crouched on a wall, watching a few dark-clad fighters pass below. He had expected them to spot him — they walked directly beneath him and never looked up.

He thought about whistling to draw their attention. He brought his fingers to his mouth, forgot he was wearing the mask, and shoved his fingers into the mask instead of his lips.

Not at all impressive.

Couldn’t whistle. He tried snapping his fingers instead — three attempts, all silent.

He coughed.

The fighters looked up immediately.

This was the last time they would turn around in their lives.

—

Liu Yingzhan led a group through the search for Yue Huanian. Rounding a corner, he found twenty or thirty of his men lying on the ground — each killed with a single strike, each strike at the throat.

His expression darkened immediately.

A little further on, more bodies on the ground. These were somehow different from the first group — no blade wounds, no blood.

Liu Yingzhan crouched down to examine them. Every corpse had one temple caved inward: killed with a single focused punch, crushing force, instant death.

“Skilled fighters.”

Liu Yingzhan stood, exhaled slowly.

“Whistle — call everyone back!”

—