The cart was moving at a comfortable speed, not too fast or too slow. Long Ju's legs were propped up on a wooden crate, her eyes closed, and her hat covering her ears. As she was enjoying the soothing cart ride, the younger merchant nudged her arm. "Wake up, Little Tiger!"
Long Ju opened her eyes with a start. The younger merchant looked anxious. "I'm sorry!" He said in a rush, "But I think you're going to have to stand up."
Long Ju looked around at their surroundings.
She was just starting to feel rested when she noticed they had stopped in the middle of the road. Long Ju could see a figure walking towards them. It looked like a man, maybe mid-thirties, who was wearing a black cloak with a hood.
Jin Xiao was the one who had seen him first. "Look out, Little Tiger!" he said frantically.
Long Ju narrowed her eyes. This was suspicious. Why was this man approaching them?
"Wait, maybe it's not what it looks like," Jin Xiao suggested.
Long Ju looked at him with an expression of doubt. "Really? Who walks up to an escort company in the middle of nowhere with a black hood on their head?" she asked, her tone still cautious.
"I'm sure he has his reasons!" Jin Xiao responded. "Just wait."
Long Ju looked back at the man. What was he going to do? She felt her hand instinctively gripping her sword handle.
The man had come to a stop beside them. Was he going to ask for a ride?
"Toll: 20 pieces of silver," he said, unceremoniously.
Long Ju was not impressed. She had been right on the mark, he was definitely someone sent to collect a toll. She raised her chin, a little annoyed by his attitude.
"A toll?" Long Ju asked, still sceptical.
"Yeah, this is a toll road," he said with a slight smile, as if it was normal to have a toll in the middle of nowhere.
"What is the toll even for?" she asked, irked.
"For safe passage," the man responded, with a flat expression.
Behind him, Long Ju noticed another man coming out of the thick forest.
Jin Xiao nudged Long Ju again. "Don't worry, Little Tiger, this is also part of the business. There's no need to always fight," he whispered.
Long Ju sighed and watched as Jin Chen reached into the bag for some silver coins. She couldn't believe they were paying a toll at this suspicious place.
The man examined the coins, then nodded at them. As soon as he saw the coins, he started walking away.
"Hey, I have a question... why the cloak and hood?" Big Bear asked curiously.
"Today's going to rain." was the bandit's seraphic answer.
The man quickly disappeared, and Long Ju heard Jin Chen curse under his breath. He turned to face her. "It's a good thing we paid the toll."
"Why? Was he going to rob us?" Long Ju asked.
"I'm not... sure, but that road is known for bandits. They were probably just a vanguard. You can never be too cautious," he explained. "I know you could kill them, but if we stop to fight every little thief on the road, we'd die of exhaustion and leave a trail of corpses behind us. Not to mention, sooner or later we'll have to use this road again. Today it's two bandits, the next time maybe two hundred."
Long Ju nodded, then thought about something new. How did the bandit know about the rainfall? She could see the sky was sunny and there weren't any clouds in sight.
As if in answer to her silent question, a few drops of rain began to fall. Long Ju's eyes widened as she looked up at the sky, which was still partly sunny and partly cloudy.
"Wow," she said in amazement.
"The sky just changed like that," Jin Qiao said with a slight tremble in his voice.
The two of them looked back at where the bandit disappeared into the forest, in astonishment. How could he have known that it was going to rain? Was there something more to the cloak and hood than met the eye? Maybe he was a fortune-teller or one of those scholars who could predict the weather.
Jin Chen looked at them chuckling, "Birds," he said.
"Birds?" Long Ju asked in confusion.
Jin Che shook his head with a hint of amusement. "There are no birds in the sky, they're all in the trees," he said, gesturing towards the forest around them. "When they start to take cover, it means it's about to rain. Despite the sun shining so bright, we have seen none flying almost all day. It means it's going to rain hard."
Long Ju still looked unconvinced as she watched the birds flying around the trees. "I always thought it was the clouds that told you about the rain."
Jin Chen gave a light laugh. "Clouds come too late," he said. "If you wait for them, you'll get caught in the rain."
Long Ju was impressed by Jin Chen's sharp senses. She had never thought of the sky as something to keep an eye on. In fact, she had considered the sky as simply a backdrop for the world and never paid much attention to it. But now she realized how much she had been missing.
"How come you never told us about this before?" Jin Qiao remarked to Jin Chen, looking at him in surprise.
"Why would I tell you about it? Your eyes are only on the ground and on the path ahead of you. You never look up." Jin Chen said dryly. "Don't worry, according to the map, we'll reach a village soon."
"Hmph, well, we should've known." Big Bear said reluctantly.
Long Ju looked up at the sky again, noticing the dark clouds moving in. The surrounding trees were rustling as the wind picked up, and the birds were all hiding behind the branches.
The atmosphere began to change as the winds became more and more intense. Jin Xiao turned to Jin Chen and asked, "Are the birds always right about the rain?"
Jin Chen chuckled. "No, not always. But if a group of birds gathers in the trees at the same time during a clear sky, it's almost certain."
Long Ju thought once again about the clever bandit. She almost felt bad for him. With the Long Clan and the Azure Wind Sect on her tail, it was obvious what was going to happen to all the bandit gangs in the area. Both groups were going to ravage any suspicious group while chasing her, trying to find any trace of her passage. It was the main reason she felt at ease leaving the small settlement and Madam Zhang's tavern. She was leaving the clean-up to her pursuers.
Long Ju could see the dark clouds overhead now, making it difficult to look straight at the sky. The refreshing drizzle was also turning into proper rain. As the group left the thick woods, they could see small farmhouses dotted across the fields. The village in the distance sparkled in the sunshine coming through the clouds.
"That looks like the right place," Jin Chen said, pointing to a cluster of wooden dwellings and small fields with rice paddies. "We're getting close."
Long Ju couldn't help but notice his expression when he observed a point beyond the village. It was almost as if Jin Chen was afraid of something. Little Bear and Big Bear were also starting to get worried.
As if in answer to the group's growing tension, a low rumble of thunder rumbled from beyond the tree line. As the light rain turned into a downpour, a cold chill came over them and the wind whipped around them. Long Ju could see the village was much closer now, and as the lightning flashed behind the clouds, so the rain fell harder. Big Bear could only think one thing.
"It's going to be raining cats and dogs," he grumbled, looking at the dark clouds moving towards them. But the weather wasn't what worried him the most.
A flash of lightning lit up the trees just enough for Long Ju to notice something in the bushes not far from the village. Many pairs of eyes, glowing in the shadows.
As the thunder rumbled in the sky, the rain began to pour. Long Ju looked at Jin Chen with a worried expression, as the thunder sounded like footsteps and the downpour began to pour down. She pointed to the set of eyes she could see in the bushes.
"Jin Chen, what's in the shadows?" Long Ju asked, her voice full of trepidation.
"Snakes. Don't worry about them, they won't attack. They're just scouts, they check who comes inside the village."
This little detail didn't reassure anyone, and Long Ju was still worried about the snake-like eyes she could see in the bush.
As if on cue, the bush rustled and a snake the size of a human arm was revealed, writhing in the shadows.
Long Ju's eyes widened. "Is he safe?" She asked, unsure whether it was a deadly snake or if it was there to protect the village.
Jin Chen sighed. "It's fine, that snake is harmless. It's part of their sentry system." He said in a nonchalant voice.
"What the hell kind of village is this?" she shrieked, shocked.
Long Ju looked at the ground in fright, not trusting the snake in front of her. As she was distracted, two more snakes suddenly popped out of the bushes, one on each side of the path. Long Ju was now completely surrounded by reptiles, each as big as a human arm, writhing about in the bushes.
"This is a secret clan village." Jin Chen said. "They're very wary of outsiders, due to their secret traditions."
Then the door of a small farmhouse nearby flew open and a couple of armoured soldiers rushed out, shouting something.
Jin Qiao jumped off the cart and exchanged a few words with the soldiers, showing the Rose Company token. That seemed to calm them down.
The token seemed to have a great effect on the villagers, and the two guards lowered their weapons. Long Ju could see Jin Qiao speaking with the village guards, but Long Ju was too distracted by one of the snakes crawling towards her.
Long Ju stood still, looking at the snake with wide eyes. "Don't move," Jin Chen said calmly. "They don't attack people."
Long Ju nodded, still too afraid to move. She saw Jin Chen walk over to the snake, and then gently lift it out of the bush.
When Jin Chen took hold of the snake's head, its eyes rolled up into their sockets and it relaxed in his hand.
"You can touch it." Jin Chen said to Long Ju. "See? It's completely harmless."
Long Ju looked at the snake's lifeless eyes and was still too afraid to touch it. "Why do they trust you?" she asked him.
"They know I mean them no harm." Jin Chen replied. "And they know if I hurt them then the soldiers will rip us apart. They are protected and they know it. Smart little fellows."
Long Ju finally worked up the courage to touch the snake, and she was surprised to find it wasn't as slimy as she expected. She still looked at it with a hint of restlessness, but now she felt a lot more comfortable around the villagers. The rain was still pouring down and the men were looking at them with unfriendly gazes, but Long Ju felt less threatened.
Long Ju waited in silence as the village leader discussed the current situation with Jin Qiao. The rain was getting harder and the sky darker, and soon they would have to get a shelter.
As the rain continued to pour down, the village leader turned to face her. With a calm voice, the leader asked, "Do you all agree to stay here for the night?"
Long Ju could feel a chill running down her spine, but she nodded slowly and said, "Yes, we agree."
Long Ju the Bear trio followed the village leader to a courtyard used to host foreigners, where they would stay for the night. They could feel a sense of unease hanging in the air of the courtyard. The villagers were whispering to themselves, and a couple of children were peering at them, their eyes filled with curiosity. Long Ju looked at the children and then at the armed warriors surrounding them. She could feel the tension in the air, but she sighed helplessly. Having a roof over their heads in this storm was the most important thing. Who knew how long it would last? She hoped everything would go smoothly.