Chapter 6
People from Kyoto
Once they left the Ice Valley, Zhao Bao's mouth never stopped.
He talked about everything from whether wolf meat was delicious to which wine shop in Tiemenguan was the cheapest, and then about how his wife made stewed mutton and how Zhang Hu had gotten drunk and slept at the city gate, where a passing stray dog licked his face.
Zhang Hu had been holding back all the way, but finally turned around on horseback and roared, "Can you shut that damn mouth of yours?!"
Zhao Bao retorted confidently, "I wasn't talking to you! I was talking to the horse!"
He then patted the horse's neck, "Right, Old Huang?"
The horse snorted.
Xu Xian, mounted on his horse, glanced at Zhao Bao.
"Zhao Bao, although the imperial court allows marriage between humans and demons, you still need to find someone of the opposite sex. Your horse is male, and you've been chatting enthusiastically with it the whole way. It might be a bit difficult to develop feelings for it."
Zhang Hu was stunned for a moment, then laughed so hard he almost tumbled off his horse.
"Zhao Bao, did you hear that? Brother Xu said that's called a beast complex!"
Zhao Bao's face turned red with anger, and he stammered, "How can you call it a 'livestock complex' when it comes to mounts? Old Huang has been with me for many years..."
Su Changqing sat on horseback, his shoulder wound having been re-bandaged by Xu Xian. He was in better spirits now and shook his head and smiled.
Listening to the bickering of the people in front of him, Yun Qi suddenly spoke up.
"Do your inspection team members always act like this when they're on missions?"
Xu turned to look at her. "What?"
"Investigating a case while performing stand-up comedy."
Xu shook his head. "I don't know. It's my first time on a mission with them. It's unrelated."
...
Not far from the Ice Valley, a caravan approached from the opposite direction on the official road.
Seven or eight horses, a dozen or so people, carrying large and small cargo boxes, with a faded merchant flag flying on the wagon.
The leader of the group was an old businessman in his fifties, with a face full of wrinkles, clearly a veteran who had been trading goods in the northern border for many years.
Upon seeing Xu Xian and his group, he cautiously reined in his horse, sized them up, and then clasped his hands in greeting, asking, "Did you all come from the north?"
Xu nodded.
The old merchant's expression changed. "Then you should turn back. There's a pack of snow wolf demons to the north. We encountered them yesterday evening and almost got away. There were more than a dozen of them, and the leader was a male wolf that was bigger than an old ox."
He pointed to the cargo box on his truck, which had several deep claw marks; the wood was torn apart.
"Look at these paw prints—we lost two horses to escape."
Zhao Bao blurted out, "Snow Wolf Demons? We just killed three last night!"
The old businessman glanced at him, then at Xu Xian, and chuckled.
"Young man, you jest. A three-headed snow wolf demon—even a border army captain wouldn't dare claim to kill three by himself. You'd better hurry back to the city before nightfall..."
Xu Xian chuckled, tore the wolf skin off Zhao Bao's horse, and casually tossed it in front of the old merchant.
The wolf pelt was laid out on the ground, almost covering half of the official road.
The old merchant was startled. He dismounted, squatted down to touch the wolf pelt, looked up at Xu Xian, the leader, stood up, and bowed deeply.
"I was blind and offended you with my words. Please forgive me, sir."
Xu Xian rolled up the wolf pelt and threw it back onto Zhao Bao's horse. "Put it away."
Zhang Hu raised an eyebrow at him. "Didn't you already put on an act?"
Xu Xian glanced at him, his eyelids twitching.
"You should learn something."
...
After traveling for ten days, the walls of the Iron Gate Pass finally appeared on the horizon.
Upon arriving at the North Gate, Xu Xian noticed something amiss. The two veteran guards who usually stood watch had been replaced by eight fully armed imperial guards. There was also an extra table at the city gate, where a clerk was sitting and registering the names and reasons of all those entering and leaving the city.
Xu Xian had been working at the Iron Gate Pass for so many years and had never seen such a scene before.
The Imperial Guard Captain stopped him.
"Road permit".
This man was in his early thirties, with an old scar on his chin and sharp eyes; he was clearly a veteran who had been on the battlefield.
Xu Xian handed over the waist token of the Inspection Department. The captain looked at it over and over twice, then looked up and glanced at the three strangers behind Xu Xian.
"Are you Xu Xian?"
Xu nodded. "It's me."
The captain's eyebrows twitched. "Who are these people in the back?"
"The survivor of the mission, found in Ice Valley."
The scarred captain paused for a moment, then stepped back to make way. "Eunuch Gao is waiting for you at the Inspection Department."
Xu Xian frowned slightly. "Who is Eunuch Gao?"
The captain shook his head. "You'll find out when you get there."
Zhang Hu walked over. "It sounds like someone from the palace. What should we do?"
Xu composed himself and said, "Let's go see them first."
...
There were twice as many yamen runners at the entrance of the Inspection Bureau as usual, and the constables patrolling the streets walked twice as fast. Everyone's face was tense, and even the old gatekeeper who usually dozed off at the entrance was standing straight with his eyes wide open.
As soon as Xu Xian entered, he saw Cao Zhengde hurriedly come out from the main hall to greet him. Cao Zhengde had a sallow complexion, his eye bags were heavier than three days ago, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He could tell at a glance that Cao Zhengde hadn't had a good night's sleep in the past few days.
Upon seeing him, Cao Zhengde's eyes lit up. He quickly walked up to him, about to speak, when his gaze swept over the three strangers behind him. His expression brightened with surprise.
Are there really any survivors?
Xu nodded, "We did not fail in our mission; we were lucky."
"Alright, alright! You little rascal..."
Cao Zhengde laughed, and was about to say something more, when he suddenly changed his mind.
"Eunuch Gao is in the side hall. He's the Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, sent by His Majesty to investigate the case. He wants to see you. Hurry up."
Xu first handed Yun Qi and the other two over to Cao Zhengde.
"Sir, the person is in your care. Please be extra careful."
Cao Zhengde nodded. "Zhang Hu, take the three envoys to the side courtyard and have ten men protect them."
"Yes."
...
When Xu Xian followed Cao Zhengde into the side hall, he saw a eunuch in his forties sitting in the main seat. He was fair-skinned, beardless, and very well-maintained, with long, slender fingers. He was slowly blowing on the tea leaves while holding a cup of tea.
Four guards stood behind him, their hands on the hilts of their swords.
Mr. Xu clasped his hands in greeting and gave his name.
Eunuch Gao put down his teacup, looked him up and down, and a smile crept onto his lips.
"So you're Xu Xian? That lowly official who crawled out of a pile of corpses? I heard you even found survivors in the Northern Region? Not bad, quite capable."
Xu Xian mentally labeled this eunuch Gao as a smiling tiger.
Eunuch Gao put down his teacup, stood up, and walked to Xu Xian, the two of them only a step apart.
"Mr. Xu, we have a question."
He abruptly changed the subject, his tone turning cold.
"How can you, a mere lowly clerk outside the official ranks of the Inspection Department, move freely in and out of the Northern Ice Plains? How can you find the survivors and save them so conveniently?"
He paused, looked away from Xu Xian's face, turned and took two steps back, then suddenly turned back again.
"In my opinion, either you knew their location beforehand, or you colluded with the assassins and deliberately staged this self-inflicted injury!"
Such strong hostility suggests that this eunuch might be up to something!
Having thought to himself, Xu Xian clasped his hands in a respectful greeting.
"Your Excellency, the reason I can move freely in and out of the Northern Region is because I only search the peripheral areas and have not ventured deep into the heart of the demon realm..."
"Finding the survivors is a combination of luck and tracking tire tracks, skills that everyone working in the Inspection Division has learned."
He met the gaze of the eunuch, "As for 'saving them at just the right time,' if I had been a quarter of an hour later, they would have been killed, and I'm afraid I wouldn't be standing here to be interrogated by you, sir."
"If you don't believe me, you can send someone to the Ice Valley to investigate the scene, or you can ask the Di envoy. Every word I said has evidence to support it."
Grandpa Gao choked for a moment.
He was used to people being obsequious in front of him. Every local official in the Inspection Department bowed and scraped before him. This unofficial clerk was not intimidated at all, and even dared to use evidence to argue his case.
A sinister glint flashed in his eyes, and he was about to lash out when suddenly the sound of orderly hooves came from outside the Inspection Bureau.
He talked about everything from whether wolf meat was delicious to which wine shop in Tiemenguan was the cheapest, and then about how his wife made stewed mutton and how Zhang Hu had gotten drunk and slept at the city gate, where a passing stray dog licked his face.
Zhang Hu had been holding back all the way, but finally turned around on horseback and roared, "Can you shut that damn mouth of yours?!"
Zhao Bao retorted confidently, "I wasn't talking to you! I was talking to the horse!"
He then patted the horse's neck, "Right, Old Huang?"
The horse snorted.
Xu Xian, mounted on his horse, glanced at Zhao Bao.
"Zhao Bao, although the imperial court allows marriage between humans and demons, you still need to find someone of the opposite sex. Your horse is male, and you've been chatting enthusiastically with it the whole way. It might be a bit difficult to develop feelings for it."
Zhang Hu was stunned for a moment, then laughed so hard he almost tumbled off his horse.
"Zhao Bao, did you hear that? Brother Xu said that's called a beast complex!"
Zhao Bao's face turned red with anger, and he stammered, "How can you call it a 'livestock complex' when it comes to mounts? Old Huang has been with me for many years..."
Su Changqing sat on horseback, his shoulder wound having been re-bandaged by Xu Xian. He was in better spirits now and shook his head and smiled.
Listening to the bickering of the people in front of him, Yun Qi suddenly spoke up.
"Do your inspection team members always act like this when they're on missions?"
Xu turned to look at her. "What?"
"Investigating a case while performing stand-up comedy."
Xu shook his head. "I don't know. It's my first time on a mission with them. It's unrelated."
...
Not far from the Ice Valley, a caravan approached from the opposite direction on the official road.
Seven or eight horses, a dozen or so people, carrying large and small cargo boxes, with a faded merchant flag flying on the wagon.
The leader of the group was an old businessman in his fifties, with a face full of wrinkles, clearly a veteran who had been trading goods in the northern border for many years.
Upon seeing Xu Xian and his group, he cautiously reined in his horse, sized them up, and then clasped his hands in greeting, asking, "Did you all come from the north?"
Xu nodded.
The old merchant's expression changed. "Then you should turn back. There's a pack of snow wolf demons to the north. We encountered them yesterday evening and almost got away. There were more than a dozen of them, and the leader was a male wolf that was bigger than an old ox."
He pointed to the cargo box on his truck, which had several deep claw marks; the wood was torn apart.
"Look at these paw prints—we lost two horses to escape."
Zhao Bao blurted out, "Snow Wolf Demons? We just killed three last night!"
The old businessman glanced at him, then at Xu Xian, and chuckled.
"Young man, you jest. A three-headed snow wolf demon—even a border army captain wouldn't dare claim to kill three by himself. You'd better hurry back to the city before nightfall..."
Xu Xian chuckled, tore the wolf skin off Zhao Bao's horse, and casually tossed it in front of the old merchant.
The wolf pelt was laid out on the ground, almost covering half of the official road.
The old merchant was startled. He dismounted, squatted down to touch the wolf pelt, looked up at Xu Xian, the leader, stood up, and bowed deeply.
"I was blind and offended you with my words. Please forgive me, sir."
Xu Xian rolled up the wolf pelt and threw it back onto Zhao Bao's horse. "Put it away."
Zhang Hu raised an eyebrow at him. "Didn't you already put on an act?"
Xu Xian glanced at him, his eyelids twitching.
"You should learn something."
...
After traveling for ten days, the walls of the Iron Gate Pass finally appeared on the horizon.
Upon arriving at the North Gate, Xu Xian noticed something amiss. The two veteran guards who usually stood watch had been replaced by eight fully armed imperial guards. There was also an extra table at the city gate, where a clerk was sitting and registering the names and reasons of all those entering and leaving the city.
Xu Xian had been working at the Iron Gate Pass for so many years and had never seen such a scene before.
The Imperial Guard Captain stopped him.
"Road permit".
This man was in his early thirties, with an old scar on his chin and sharp eyes; he was clearly a veteran who had been on the battlefield.
Xu Xian handed over the waist token of the Inspection Department. The captain looked at it over and over twice, then looked up and glanced at the three strangers behind Xu Xian.
"Are you Xu Xian?"
Xu nodded. "It's me."
The captain's eyebrows twitched. "Who are these people in the back?"
"The survivor of the mission, found in Ice Valley."
The scarred captain paused for a moment, then stepped back to make way. "Eunuch Gao is waiting for you at the Inspection Department."
Xu Xian frowned slightly. "Who is Eunuch Gao?"
The captain shook his head. "You'll find out when you get there."
Zhang Hu walked over. "It sounds like someone from the palace. What should we do?"
Xu composed himself and said, "Let's go see them first."
...
There were twice as many yamen runners at the entrance of the Inspection Bureau as usual, and the constables patrolling the streets walked twice as fast. Everyone's face was tense, and even the old gatekeeper who usually dozed off at the entrance was standing straight with his eyes wide open.
As soon as Xu Xian entered, he saw Cao Zhengde hurriedly come out from the main hall to greet him. Cao Zhengde had a sallow complexion, his eye bags were heavier than three days ago, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He could tell at a glance that Cao Zhengde hadn't had a good night's sleep in the past few days.
Upon seeing him, Cao Zhengde's eyes lit up. He quickly walked up to him, about to speak, when his gaze swept over the three strangers behind him. His expression brightened with surprise.
Are there really any survivors?
Xu nodded, "We did not fail in our mission; we were lucky."
"Alright, alright! You little rascal..."
Cao Zhengde laughed, and was about to say something more, when he suddenly changed his mind.
"Eunuch Gao is in the side hall. He's the Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, sent by His Majesty to investigate the case. He wants to see you. Hurry up."
Xu first handed Yun Qi and the other two over to Cao Zhengde.
"Sir, the person is in your care. Please be extra careful."
Cao Zhengde nodded. "Zhang Hu, take the three envoys to the side courtyard and have ten men protect them."
"Yes."
...
When Xu Xian followed Cao Zhengde into the side hall, he saw a eunuch in his forties sitting in the main seat. He was fair-skinned, beardless, and very well-maintained, with long, slender fingers. He was slowly blowing on the tea leaves while holding a cup of tea.
Four guards stood behind him, their hands on the hilts of their swords.
Mr. Xu clasped his hands in greeting and gave his name.
Eunuch Gao put down his teacup, looked him up and down, and a smile crept onto his lips.
"So you're Xu Xian? That lowly official who crawled out of a pile of corpses? I heard you even found survivors in the Northern Region? Not bad, quite capable."
Xu Xian mentally labeled this eunuch Gao as a smiling tiger.
Eunuch Gao put down his teacup, stood up, and walked to Xu Xian, the two of them only a step apart.
"Mr. Xu, we have a question."
He abruptly changed the subject, his tone turning cold.
"How can you, a mere lowly clerk outside the official ranks of the Inspection Department, move freely in and out of the Northern Ice Plains? How can you find the survivors and save them so conveniently?"
He paused, looked away from Xu Xian's face, turned and took two steps back, then suddenly turned back again.
"In my opinion, either you knew their location beforehand, or you colluded with the assassins and deliberately staged this self-inflicted injury!"
Such strong hostility suggests that this eunuch might be up to something!
Having thought to himself, Xu Xian clasped his hands in a respectful greeting.
"Your Excellency, the reason I can move freely in and out of the Northern Region is because I only search the peripheral areas and have not ventured deep into the heart of the demon realm..."
"Finding the survivors is a combination of luck and tracking tire tracks, skills that everyone working in the Inspection Division has learned."
He met the gaze of the eunuch, "As for 'saving them at just the right time,' if I had been a quarter of an hour later, they would have been killed, and I'm afraid I wouldn't be standing here to be interrogated by you, sir."
"If you don't believe me, you can send someone to the Ice Valley to investigate the scene, or you can ask the Di envoy. Every word I said has evidence to support it."
Grandpa Gao choked for a moment.
He was used to people being obsequious in front of him. Every local official in the Inspection Department bowed and scraped before him. This unofficial clerk was not intimidated at all, and even dared to use evidence to argue his case.
A sinister glint flashed in his eyes, and he was about to lash out when suddenly the sound of orderly hooves came from outside the Inspection Bureau.