What surprised Wu Yundi even more was the bulging saddlebag strapped across the beast’s lower back, which he only now noticed.
Wait. Could this animal actually belong to someone?
That absurd possibility flashed through his mind a dozen times, though only a few breaths passed. Carelessness was fatal in such a situation, and hesitation meant defeat.
His battle experience told him to bring his opponent down quickly and rescue the injured man. But confronting such a frightening, powerful beast would almost certainly mean a fierce fight. His chances of victory were slim, and he might lose his own life.
He had to think carefully. Fighting was the worst possible option. Surely there was another way.
It was the middle of the night. Finding reinforcements would be difficult, let alone getting them here in time to save the injured man.
Strangely, though the ‘great tiger’ remained deeply wary of Wu Yundi, it had shown no intention of attacking. Its eyes seemed to be studying him. Trained to detect hostility, Wu Yundi sensed very little malice in the beast.
For a while they stood at an impasse.
Wu Yundi steadied his breathing and looked around, trying to find an opening.
He noticed that the nearest cell door stood open. The blood on the face of the man on the ground had already clotted. The angle obscured his features, though there was something vaguely familiar about him. Even if Wu could not recognize his face, the coarse-cloth work jacket and slender, tall build were distinctive…
“…He Yi?!” he exclaimed.
Wu Yundi finally recognized him, and the hand gripping his dagger nearly trembled. Opposite him, the ‘great tiger,’ actually the snow leopard, lost some of its suspicion.
If Wu Yundi had been responsible for imprisoning He Yi, he would not have reacted that way or recognized the injured man only now.
Xue Ci stopped watching Wu Yundi and returned to nudging He Yi’s neck, hoping to wake him.
Wu Yundi could only stare. The beast now ignored his drawn weapon and even turned its back, utterly dropping its guard. Anyone faced with such a peculiar situation would have been stunned.
Xue Ci even lifted He Yi’s clothes with a claw and leaned closer to sniff for other bleeding wounds. He could not understand why He Yi remained unconscious when he had already licked the injury on his forehead until it healed.
There were mostly scrapes across He Yi’s body and a broad bruise at his waist, but nothing as severe as the wound his forehead had suffered. A snow leopard’s saliva could only heal external injuries. Xue Ci grew weaker the longer he licked him, his low growls trembling with despair.
Wu Yundi observed them in silence for a long time. Hearing the beast’s uncontrollable, mournful cries, he summoned his courage, took a candle, approached, and examined He Yi as well.
The beast did not attack.
Wu Yundi murmured, “There really aren’t any open wounds. But he still won’t wake up. Perhaps he struck his head and suffered internal injuries.”
Something in that assessment seemed to give Xue Ci an idea. His great fluffy tail suddenly lifted. After gazing toward the dungeon entrance for a moment, he gave a single ‘Awoo,’ turned, and raced away, vanishing from Wu Yundi’s sight in an instant.
“…” If the lingering cold had not been so sharp that it made him shiver, Wu Yundi might have thought the whole encounter a hallucination. Then he looked down at He Yi, lying pale and motionless on the cold, sandy floor, and reality returned in full force.
He had no time to think about the beast or where it had gone. A physician was his priority. He straightened He Yi’s clothes, lifted him carefully onto his back, and left the dungeon with its lonely candle flame.
A new moon was emerging and the southern sky was gradually paling. Far away, at the Northwestern Main Camp, however, the sky remained pitch-black.
Many soldiers were already assembled on the training ground in orderly ranks. Commander Qin arrived late, and a subordinate approached with a report on the morning’s absences.
“Who hasn’t come today?”
When Qin heard Xue Ci’s name, he strode straight into the assembled ranks and searched them himself.
He knew it! The day before, Qin had refused Xue Ci permission to leave camp. Even then he had suspected the young man would not accept it so easily. Now Xue Ci had missed training, probably intending it as a declaration of defiance.
He sent a man to summon Xue Ci from his tent, only for the soldier to return with news that Xue Ci was not there.
Qin’s eyelid twitched. Remembering the outrageous time Xue Ci had slipped out of camp to dig mushrooms from the sandy ground for a snack, he could hardly contain his anger.
The worst part was that he could not let others find out, or he would be unable to protect Xue Ci and would have no explanation for Yundi. He had never expected the boy to be this daring. Qin did not know whether to admire Xue Ci’s courage or himself for still worrying about him.
*
In the county town.
At this early hour, pastry stalls were only just opening along the streets. Yet parents had already gathered at the academy to see their children off to study. The pupils would be away for five months.
Zhang Zhitong had spent the night in the county town. Now he brought his grandson to the academy gate, helped him shoulder a heavy trunk, offered some advice, and watched the boy wave and cross the high threshold.
Only when his grandson disappeared completely from sight did Zhang Zhitong rise slowly with the support of his walking stick and head back.
On his way he happened to encounter a carriage belonging to the Xing family. Great clans did not traditionally display heraldic crests, but their carriages and other vehicles had different designs reflecting their family style and status.
Two strings of bronze ginkgo leaves hung in front of this carriage. That alone identified it as belonging to the Xing family branch in the capital. Had the decoration been golden ginkgo flowers, it would have belonged to the main family in Jiangcheng.
Zhang Zhitong stopped, leaning on his cane. He watched the carriage head toward Guluo Town and fell into thought. After a moment he climbed into the carriage waiting for him at the end of the alley and told the driver, “Take me to the escort agency.”
In Guluo Town.
Early that morning, Zeng Qianqian knocked on He Jie’s door and woke him. “Son, get up. Two of your men have come to see you.”
Her tone sounded gentle, but her face on the other side of the door was extremely sour, betraying her irritation.
“I know… How annoying.” He Jie had slept well and resented being woken. When he reached the outer room and saw the exhausted faces of Zhang Wu and Ning Fuwen, his mood worsened. “What do you want?”
The two hesitated until Zhang Wu was pushed forward to speak. “We thought we’d come fetch you and go to the office together.”
He Jie knew exactly what they were doing. He often skipped the morning drills. They wanted to make sure he came with them so he could not abandon yesterday’s affair and leave it entirely in their hands.
He Jie sneered. “Come on, then. Let’s see whether that unlucky bastard is dead yet.”
The two exchanged uneasy looks and followed him.
But as soon as they reached the entrance to the underground cells, something was wrong. They had locked the door the previous day. Why was it standing open now?
He Jie rushed in first. The other two followed a moment later and looked for candles. The candles from the night before had burned down. After a struggle they found fresh ones and lit them, only to be stunned by what they saw.
The iron door of the cell where He Yi should have been locked had been broken open. Now it stood wide, the floor covered in drag marks and footprints. He Yi himself had vanished.
“…Where is he?!” all three exclaimed together.
The man they were so concerned about had already been taken by Wu Yundi to his own home, a blue-brick, tiled house with a little courtyard. After settling He Yi, Wu ran between the clinic and a physician’s residence until he finally persuaded Physician Ma to come.
Physician Ma examined his patient by looking, listening, asking questions and feeling his pulse. His conclusion was much the same as Wu Yundi’s preliminary assessment. The only visible injury was at his waist, which he treated with medicinal oil and warm compresses. Blood had stained He Yi’s face and behind his ears, but there was not a wound on his head. The physician could only suspect internal injury.
“I’ll prescribe something for internal injuries. Remaining unconscious this long could be very serious…” After cleaning the dirt from He Yi’s face, Physician Ma noticed how handsome and young he was and sighed again.
“I don’t know how long he’s been unconscious. Put some plant ash beneath him and have someone watch him. He may lose control of his bladder.”
“Understood.” Wu Yundi asked Granny Liang from next door to help. Physician Ma returned to his clinic to prepare the medicine, while Granny Liang boiled it and helped administer it to He Yi.
Wu seized the opportunity to return to the office. He did not see the head runner He Jie there, but that was hardly unusual. He summoned the other officers and questioned them one by one.
“Do you know who brought a prisoner in yesterday?” Wu questioned five or six men, but each claimed ignorance.
It was not until the ninth man that he finally obtained a clue.
“The head runner and Fuwen brought someone back yesterday, but they said not to enter the man in the records until you returned, Inspector, and took him straight to the underground cells.”
On further questioning, Wu learned that the prisoner He Jie had brought in had been young and strong, unconscious, and bleeding from the head. That description clearly fitted the He Yi he had found in the dungeon. Yet nobody knew anything of the great beast. It had seemingly appeared from nowhere.
Then again, it had vanished just as suddenly. Perhaps an equally sudden arrival was not so extraordinary.
“Ning Fuwen, come here,” Wu Yundi called.
Ning Fuwen, who had been waiting nearby to be questioned, stiffened all over. His face turned ashen. Lowering his head, he hurried toward the inspector.
Meanwhile, Xue Ci had rushed all the way back to Chongzi Village. Now utterly spent, he staggered a few steps and collapsed to the ground. The white fur of his chest and belly gathered dust and mud, but he had no strength left to care. He could only stare at the devastated vegetable garden before him, panting for breath, unable to make a sound for a long time.
“Yao herb…” Still in his snow-leopard form, Xue Ci began searching the garden. He could still sense the grass, which meant it was alive. As expected, it remained where they had planted it. But because it had been trampled into the earth, its leaves were no longer held upright, and no yao dew had collected upon them.
With his enormous paws, Xue Ci pushed aside broken branches and stems covering the grass. Then he carefully supported its leaves with the pads of his paws, spreading them upright again.
Yao herb did not need watering. Yet several drops of liquid suddenly fell into the soil. The sunshine was bright, and those drops had not fallen from the sky. They had gathered at the corners of the snow leopard’s misty gray-blue eyes before trickling down, one after another.
The snow leopard’s back was bowed with grief. Behind him, the big goose peeked out cautiously, frightened yet hesitant, as though it wanted to come closer.