Being the bodyguard to the Military Governor was nothing more than a job to Yan Liqiang, which included walking and feeding steeds.
Huangfu Qianqi already had a horsekeeper. Hence, every time Yan Liqiang visited the Military Governor's Office, the attitude of the horsekeeper towards Yan Liqiang immediately reminded him of the scene where Sun Wukong was assigned as the Protector of the Horses to watch over the stable [1].
However, Yan Liqiang wasn't some delicate boy either. Following the principle of 'how a man may find instructors for himself' [2], he was always polite to that horsekeeper every time he saw him. He wasn't ashamed to ask and learn from his subordinate too. In just these two months of being a bodyguard, Yan Liqiang had managed to learn most of the skills needed to take care of rhinodrake steeds from that horsekeeper. That in itself could be considered as quite an achievement.
The last time Yan Liqiang saw Huangfu Qianqi was the previous month. Every year, after early autumn, was the time when the Dark Ram Tribe's cavalry caused the most incidents at the border of Gan Province and Feng Province, but the people of Dark Ram Tribe called it a 'food hunt' [3]. There was news that the extent of the disturbances that the Dark Ram Tribe had been causing was increasing. So when Huangfu Qianqi saw the weather had gradually started turning cold last month, he went on a patrol to White Stone Pass in the western part of Pingxi Prefecture, bringing along with him a few bodyguards and a group of cavalry.
The outskirts of White Stone Pass was close to Vast Cloud Mountain. Although there was no common boundary between the Dark Ram Tribe and Pingxi Prefecture and the number of disturbances from the Dark Ram Tribe over this period of time were few enough to be counted with just a hand, Huangfu Qianqi was still quite concerned. Since it was his duty, he could only personally take a trip there to check up on things.
Due to the fact that Yan Liqiang still had to attend martial arts academy, Huangfu Qianqi had a meeting with him before he left. He gave him some encouragement and had him stay back in the end.
Huangfu Qianqi had four rhinodrake steeds. During his trip this time, Huangfu Qianqi brought two along with him, leaving the remaining two in Pingxi City. Therefore, Yan Liqiang still had to visit the Military Governor's Office once a week as always to take care of Huangfu Qianqi's two other rhinodrake steeds.
"Since it was snowing last night, we will need to lay some hay in the stable today to keep the ground dry and clean so the rhinodrake steeds can sleep better. Ordinary horses sleep while standing. Rhinodrake steeds usually do the same too, but on cold days, they will lay down and sleep with their feet curled up like a rhinoceros. Close all the windows you can in the stable. If it snows heavily tonight, feed every rhinodrake steed about half a jin of small black beans soaked in white wine during night feeding. That way, the rhinodrake steeds won't thin down over the winter and remain full of energy everyday…"
In the stable of Military Governor's Office, Yan Liqiang was cleaning up together with the horsekeeper. They dressed the floor of the rhinodrake steed's stables in dried rice straw and filled the feeder with their dinner. They then brushed the two rhinodrake steeds until they were shiny and smooth. The horsekeeper explained while working with Yan Liqiang, passing his knowledge on feeding the steeds to him.
Yan Liqiang dusted his hands when they were finally done with the two rhinodrake steeds and went to the pond at the side to wash his hands. He then took off the overalls he wore when he was doing all the manual work. "Uncle Hu, I'll be calling it a day and going home. I'll come again in a few days. Until then, please take care of this place!"
"No trouble at all…" The horsekeeper, Uncle Hu, gave him a sincere smile. "I have to thank Young Master for the beef and wine you gave me today. They must have been frightfully expensive!"
"Hahaha. It would have been improper of me to come empty-handed when Uncle Hu is imparting your valuable knowledge on feeding the horses with me. I'll bring some better wine for Uncle Hu next time!"
"Young Master, you will definitely have a very promising future ahead of you if you follow the footsteps of the Military Governor…"
"Haha, thank you for your kind words, Uncle Hu…"
Yan Liqiang exited the Military Governor's Office through the side door after bidding farewell to the horsekeeper. By now, the sky was already getting dark, but it was still snowing and the temperature seemed to be even colder compared to the daytime. The number of pedestrians on the streets had reduced considerably and quite a number of shops by the street had already closed. Only a few places like restaurants, eateries, and taverns were still open. The lanterns that still hung outside the shops made one felt a lot warmer on such a cold night.
Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, right into the collar of Yan Liqiang's clothes. The iciness jolted Yan Liqiang wide awake all of a sudden.
Yan Liqiang pulled the dog fur hat onto his head and wrapped the scarf around his neck another couple of rounds, leaving only half of his face exposed. He took a glance at the streets on either side. During the daytime, the streets still had people pulling their rickshaws, but now not even one of them could be seen. There weren't any pedestrians either. He figured he was only left with the options of walking back to Three Yuan Street.
Fortunately, it wasn't that far walking in the Pingxi City. It would take only a little more than an hour at most for him to walk back to his home.
Yan Liqiang walked along the streets at an unhurried pace in the direction of his small courtyard.
...
After half an hour, the sky was completely dark and Yan Liqiang was already very far away from the Military Governor's Office.
For the sake of returning home a bit earlier, Yan Liqiang took the shortcuts he rarely used. They were the smaller streets and alleys around residential areas aside from those few bigger streets in the Pingxi City.
As soon as Yan Liqiang had just passed through the small alley within the commercial area, he heard a horse carriage coming from behind him and automatically moved aside to give way to it.
The horse carriage passed by Yan Liqiang without stopping, as it continued moving forward to its destination.
Yan Liqiang took a glance at the horse carriage. It was quite old with a rather long carriage. It seemed like it was a wagon for transporting goods and a coachman was seated in front, speeding it up with the whip he was waving in his hand. He didn't notice Yan Liqiang who was walking by the roadside in the blowing wind and snow either.
There was a small restaurant right ahead of the road. The row of lanterns hanging outside brightly illuminated the road outside of the restaurant. Yan Liqiang who was trailing behind the horse carriage abruptly stopped dead in his tracks when he felt stabbing pains from the piercing light and stared at the retreating silhouette of the coachman.
Right at that moment, he caught a fleeting glimpse of that coachman's silhouette under the light of those lanterns hanging outside the restaurant. Just very briefly, he could clearly make out the silhouette at the back of that coachman's head.
The coachman was also wearing a dog fur hat and a very thick cotton-padded coat. However, part of the coachman's skin was showing in-between his hat and his coat.
The coachman had lost his right ear, the side of his hat laid flat against his face. A snake-like scar which hadn't faded yet could still be seen on the few inches of exposed skin on his neck, around the area right below where his ear was supposed to be.
This coachman with a missing ear and sporting a scar on his neck… Wasn't he the Shatu man who had lost his ear from being whipped by Yan Liqiang that day at the entrance gate?
Although he didn't see the face of that coachman, with that person's missing ear and the scar on his neck, there was no way he could make a mistake about it.
That Shatu man wasn't wearing their normal attire right now, but was instead dressed in Chinese attire and had covered himself tightly. For him to be driving a horse carriage out this late at night to a district that was so far from where the other Shatu people lived in was nothing but fishy.
The first thing that came to Yan Liqiang's mind was if this was a trap. On a second thought, he decided to deny that thought. That was because he was using a shortcut today and he had decided his most of the routes he took spontaneously. Even if these Shatu people knew he was going to leave the Military Governor's Office today, they wouldn't be able to predict which road he was going to take and set a trap in advance to wait for him.
The horse carriage drove past about fifty meters away from the small restaurant, then took a turn to the left, into another road at the side.
After a few ideas flashed rapidly across Yan Liqiang's mind, he increased his pace and lightened his footsteps to exhibit the 'Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps' technique. Very swiftly and silently, he made his way to where the horse carriage had taken a turn and chased after it...