Suishui City, a centuries-old ancient city in Qingzhou, served as a harbor checkpoint connecting the merchant houses of the Great Shi Dynasty with the islands of the Eastern Sea. Together with Guiyi and Lüjin, it was known as one of Qingzhou’s three great cities.
On this day, several people slowly approached along the yellow earth ancient road three li outside Suishui City. At the very front was a green-robed man with long hair covering his face, carrying a curved long cloth bundle on his back. With each step he took, the long cloth bundle bounced accordingly. The green-robed man suddenly stopped in his tracks, his cold and sharp eyes gazing toward Suishui City looming like a colossal beast through the mist, letting out a long, gentle sigh.
Finally arrived. The green-robed man was none other than one of the Great Shi Dynasty’s Four Great God-Catchers—Green Blade Catcher Meng Rui. To reclaim the red coffin containing his younger sister Meng Wan Xiang, he had traveled day and night from Jinxia County. (See “The Most Mystery” Issue 117: “Phantom Prison”) The mysterious green-eyed masked person had left a letter mentioning Suishui. His sister should be in Suishui, Meng Rui thought to himself.
Twenty steps behind Meng Rui, there was a creaking ox cart. On the cart shaft sat a young man of about twenty years old, listlessly flicking his whip. Beside the ox cart was a little girl who appeared to be eight or nine years old, playing with a polished small stone ball. The surface of the stone ball had concave and convex patterns that, when spun rapidly, showed moving images that seemed to come alive.
Behind the ox cart was another man around fifty years old, dressed in brocade robes and silk garments, his eyes darting about restlessly, as if he had done something guilty.
The little girl suddenly shouted: “Look! There’s a big bird, so big and beautiful!”
The several people on the ancient road simultaneously raised their heads. Indeed, a bird with a bright red belly darted out from the woods. The flying bird circled several times, then suddenly stuck up its rear and dropped a pile of bird droppings. The people below were still looking up with their necks craned when the bird droppings landed squarely and precisely on the face of the brocade-robed man.
A moment of silence!
Then came the brocade-robed man’s roar as he flung off the bird droppings and vigorously wiped his face with a handkerchief. The little girl laughed and shouted without any restraint: “It stinks!”
The listless young man also perked up, waving his whip gleefully at the misfortune.
“Such rotten luck!” The brocade-robed man’s face turned green. Furiously dropping this remark, he hurriedly jogged forward.
The young man driving the ox cart stifled his laughter for a while, then continued slowly driving the cart.
The little girl seemed to have lost her small stone ball while laughing heartily. She crouched by the side of the ancient road searching for it. Meng Rui also collected his thoughts and headed toward Suishui City.
Year 145 of the Great Shi Dynasty, November 20th, fifty li south of Suishui City in Qingzhou, this was where one of the Great Shi Dynasty’s six great military camps was stationed—the Nanhu Military Camp.
At the Hour of the Snake, a fierce wind swept through the mountain valley where the Nanhu Military Camp was located. In the sound of the wind, two flatbed carts slowly drove into the camp, proceeding to the heart of the military camp. A burly man seven chi tall lifted the tent curtain and emerged. On his red, weathered face, a pair of large eyes frequently flashed with sharp light. He used his giant spirit god-like palm to flip open the white cloth on the flatbed cart. Beneath the white cloth were five corpses with ferocious faces, all wearing the coarse clothing of ordinary fishermen.
The red-faced burly man was none other than General Dongfang Shangwu. Dongfang Shangwu clenched his fists until they cracked, tilting his head and saying: “How many is this now?”
A young man beside him replied: “Reporting to the General, twelve have already died.”
“Those reckless thieves dare to kill people in the Nanhu Camp’s jurisdiction.” Dongfang Shangwu’s eyes filled with murderous intent as he said coldly, “Chi Yun, you are the Nanhu Camp’s strategist. This matter is entrusted to you.”
“Remember, I don’t need to know the process, only the result.”
Dongfang Shangwu turned and entered the tent. On the distant horizon, a large expanse of white clouds was changing into various shapes, dancing wildly with the fierce wind, frenzied and unbridled.