[Eh...?] Riku stared, then realized that the army captain was wielding a blade, and his movements were at least visible to Riku. He couldn't make out what the blurry figures were doing, and Master Huang likewise was moving too quickly, but the army captain was badly injured and moving slower than the rest, barely fending off the occasional attack.
Then an arrow whizzed by, almost reaching a blurry figure as it struck at the captain. The blurry figure slipped past before it could reach, but in doing so, slowed down enough that the captain managed to raise his blade and block the blurry attack in time.
[67%...]
Riku turned to see Shui nocking a bow, blood running down his head, taking wobbly aim as he tried to help from afar. He fired a second arrow. And a third. And a fourth.
[Silken Stream Archery Technique Observed. 5%... 10%... 15%...]
Abruptly, Shui stopped. The sounds of battle stopped. All that remained were the sounds of men groaning. Riku turned back to the front to see Master Huang checking on the captain. The blurry figures were nowhere to be seen.
"What...?" Riku rasped.
"We were ambushed." Shui gasped, slowly sitting down.
"Why... did they... stop?"
"Maybe help arrived... or they ran out of time." Shui grunted. "Ninth Stage Journeymen... shouldn't be... that strong, that fast."
"Ninth Stage Journeymen?" Riku closed his eyes, but that only made the dizziness worse. "But even Master Huang couldn't stop them."
"They were using drugs. But the effects only last a short while."
That explained a lot. Using such pills, they were able to hold down even Master Huang for a while, but once time ran out, they had to flee.
***
The casualty count was high. Of the 25 Army soldiers, 15 dead, 3 in critical condition, 7 seriously injured. Of the 10 Outer Disciples, 6 dead, 1 in critical condition, 3 seriously injured. Of the Closer Disciples, 2 seriously injured, 1 (Shui) moderately injured. Even Master Huang himself had been wounded.
As for the logistics staff, including the drivers... no survivors.
They loaded the dead into one wagon, the critically hurt into another, and then they limped their way to the nearest village. There, Master Huang paid the local chief to help them bury their dead.
They also bought food and tended their wounds. Exhausted, the caravan rested for the rest of the day and spent the night at the village to recuperate.
The next morning, the three of the wagons were gone, including the armored wagon. The only one left was Master Huang's personal wagon. The villagers were gone too.
"Those villagers stole our wagons..." Shui gaped.
"But they didn't steal Master Huang's. Why?" Jin asked.
"Probably didn't want to anger a Master. Their real objective was probably the armored wagon. The other two wagons carried all the army supplies and equipment. Master Huang's wagon only carried his luggage and ours. The amount of anger stealing his personal vehicle would cause, compared to the value of our luggage... it wasn't worth it."
"But... the tax collection..." Riku spluttered. The entire armored wagon was gone!
"Don't worry about it." Master Huang coughed lightly. "That wagon wasn't carrying the tax."
"What?" Riku blinked.
"The tax is in my wagon." Master Huang explained. "The armored wagon carried valuable goods, and losing it will be a heavy loss, but we can recover it later. The important thing is the tax must reach Baron Tarn on time."
Riku had question marks popping up all over his head like bubbles, but his questions went unasked as Master Huang gave his orders.
"Kagura, Ardent, track the stolen wagons. Bounty, stay in the village with Altan while he's in critical condition. We'll pick you four up on the way back. If you don't see us by the time Altan is able to travel, you can return by yourselves. Shui, Jin, Riku, you're coming with me."
The army captain made similar arrangements. All his wounded soldiers stayed at the village to recover, while the captain himself accompanied Master Huang and his Closer Disciples.
They took turns driving the wagon on the remainder of the journey. Riku and the army captain took the first shift. The captain took the reins and Riku just sat beside him, ready to take the reins at half-time or if the captain needed a break.
"What's your name, warrior?" the captain asked Riku as they headed out.
"Huang Riku. And you?"
"Zhizhu Sparass." the captain said, casually.
Riku froze. "Zhizhu...? Are you...?"
"The eldest of the Spider Brothers? Yes, that's me." Sparass shrugged. "There's no need to make a big deal out of it. Compared to the likes of the guys who trounced us earlier, I'm merely cannon fodder."
Two questions popped into Riku's head at the same time. One of them was 'Did you kill Tu'?
But instead of asking that risky question, what Riku asked was the other one. "Who were those guys, exactly? Ninth Stage Journeymen couldn't possibly be mere bandits."
"Only one of them was Ninth Stage. The second was Fifth Stage and the third was Second Stage. That was the one trying to kill me." Sparass coughed. "If I'm not mistaken... based on the tattoo of the serpent-tailed man... they were members of Naga."
Naga again! "Who are they and what do they want?"
"Obviously they wanted the tax." Sparass snorted. "As for who they are... they're just gangsters. No more, no less, no matter how strong they are or what kind of tales they inspire. They're gangsters. Period!"
If it were the first time encountering them, Riku might have accepted his assumption, but the previous attempt on Master Huang suggested otherwise. For some reason, it was starting to look like Naga was targeting Master Huang specifically. As to why... Riku still didn't know.
He wasn't even sure if it was really Naga targeting Huang, or someone else was behind them. For all he knew, they could be just hired thugs. High end, very strong hired thugs, but nevertheless, hirelings.
Who would want to target a Magistrate? Any number of convicted criminals or hopeful criminals, old enemies, ambitious politicians eyeing possible gains, maybe even someone like Elder Ji, or the equivalents in the Zhong or Wu Clans for the sake of the land under the Magistrate's protection. The possibilities were too many to count.
Heck, for all anyone knew, it was some jealous ex-girlfriend hiring thugs to beat up the guy who dumped her ten years ago.
But back to the conversation, Riku snorted. "At least you managed to hold one of them off a bit. I didn't even manage to hold up to a single shot."
"Don't kick yourself too hard. They were a whole rank above you and doped to boot."
Master Huang's voice came from inside the wagon. "Speaking of holding one off, Captain Zhizhu here really saved the day. If he hadn't held off the third attacker, the three of them together could have overwhelmed me and then killed everybody. You really should thank him."
"Uh..." Riku scratched his head. "Thanks."
Sparass lowered his voice, glancing back as he said, "I don't think it's necessary. I doubt even all three of them together could have taken down Master Huang. Don't underestimate the Magistrate. He's stronger than he lets on. If he didn't take a few blows for me, he wouldn't even have gotten hurt."
"Really?" Riku mused. "How well do you know Master Huang?"
"Not very. We've worked together a few times. He seems a decent sort, very cautious. He always holds back some of his strength in reserve. I've never once seen him go all-out. He's reliable as an ally and he does his job right."
"So... he doesn't trouble you or anything?"
At that, Zhizhu Sparass frowned. He turned to Riku, and said directly, "We didn't kill Huang Tu. It was a children's quarrel, nothing more. My brothers might have beaten him up some, but they wouldn't have killed him. Whoever killed your predecessor... it wasn't us."