The carriage left the inner city swiftly. Several government-issue warhorses stood waiting at the gate, held by civilian constables.
Xu Qian and the others mounted the fresh mounts and charged through the outer city's streets and bustling markets. Within half a shi-chen they cleared the outer walls, and the six riders pushed their horses to full speed, racing toward Daqing Mountain.
*Government horses really do run fast — we're pushing fifty li per hour. Could the horses in my past life ever match this?* Xu Qian mused.
Was this the difference in spiritual energy density between worlds — the kind of thing you'd see in a novel?
The theory held water. After all, Qi Refining was fundamentally a breathing technique.
They reached the outskirts of Daqing Mountain by noon, tied their horses to roadside trees, ate a quick ration, then followed a narrow sheep-trail into the mountains.
Six people sprinting at full pace brought them within a quarter-hour to the river running along the mountain's base.
After a brief search downstream, they found several blurry footprints — roughly three chi long, one and a half chi wide, with four toes.
Lü Qing and her two colleagues unslung their packs, produced explosive charges, and distributed them to Xu Qian's trio.
"With the claw prints as center, we'll toss charges downstream while you go upstream — try to force the creature out of the river."
This had been the plan all along.
The Great Feng Dynasty maintained iron-clad control over gunpowder. The formula was classified, and every material needed to produce it was monopolized by the court. Even Night Watchmen and seasoned constables like Lü Qing only knew the barest hints of the composition — mostly by smell.
Both groups lit their charges and hurled them into the water.
*BOOM!*
A muffled detonation shook the air, sending river water spraying several zhang high.
When the charges ran out, the six stood on the bank watching the churning brown current. They waited a long while, but no monster surfaced.
"It would help if we had a warlock from the Directorate of Celestials," Xu Qian sighed.
The Qi Observation technique could detect a monster's position by reading its demonic aura.
Song Tingfeng let out a derisive snort. "Warlocks of the Directorate are even more high and mighty than us Night Watchmen — they answer only to His Majesty himself. Don't expect them to lift a finger for a small case like this."
*High and mighty? I don't think so. You've never seen the way they look at me with reverence.* Xu Qian simply nodded.
The two groups regrouped. Song Tingfeng shrugged. "Looks like it won't come out. My suggestion: we go into the mountain. If there really is something in Daqing Mountain, we'll find it."
Xu Qian added, "Check the lime-burners' extraction zones first."
Lü Qing considered this and nodded.
The party split into two groups, advancing single-file with several dozen paces between them.
Song Tingfeng jerked his chin toward Lü Qing's retreating figure and whispered to Xu Qian, "That female constable from the Prefecture — what a figure. Look at that rear, tight and firm, powerful legs. She could squeeze the soul right out of you. The girls at the Bureau of Music are pretty and delicate, but too soft."
*Agreed. A martial woman like that — toned midsection, smooth curves, taut thighs, probably faint abs... reminds me of my wife Tifa.* Xu Qian weighed his words carefully. "But she seems to bind her chest habitually. That's not good — it can cause sagging and deformation."
Song Tingfeng blinked, then burst out laughing. "I knew you noticed too! I've been dying for a companion with your sense of humor. Zhu Guangxiao is a clam who won't crack no matter how many times you hit him."
For men, crude banter was an endlessly entertaining way to pass the time.
Zhu Guangxiao glanced over and said nothing, as usual.
The lime-burners primarily quarried the main peak. The party spotted the exposed rock face from a distance — like white patches on a face. Years of extraction had riddled the towering summit with holes.
They searched the mountain aimlessly for a long stretch, finding nothing of value.
While pausing to drink, Lü Qing spoke: "Daqing Mountain has excellent limestone and rich vegetation. The lime-burners can fell timber on-site for fuel. Opening a kiln is convenient — dig, burn, crush, all in one place. With a river at the foot, transport is easy too. Fewer logs, better lime, half the effort for twice the profit."
The other Prefecture constable added: "That's why the taxes are so crushing. Once they were banned from quarrying, their livelihood vanished."
*Which is why they brought the case to the Prefecture...* Xu Qian fell silent for a moment, then sighed: "Excessive taxes breed refugees. The fat of the people is the tastiest food there is."
The group went quiet. No one dared respond.
Song Tingfeng coughed and changed the subject. "The monster won't leave the water. Searching the mountain with this few people won't work. Constable Lü, any suggestions?"
He might have been lusting after her body earlier, but Song Tingfeng wasn't the type to dismiss a woman's competence just because she had a great figure.
Lü Qing deliberated. "We split into three groups of two. One group finds the village elder in nearby settlements. Another returns to the capital to rally search parties. And I'll petition the Prefect to get a warlock from the Directorate of Celestials."
"That wastes too much time," Xu Qian waved his hand. "Send one person to fetch the village elder. The rest stay here."
Lü Qing frowned slightly.
Xu Qian glanced at her. "If nothing turns up, I'll handle getting a warlock from the Directorate."
He said it with such confidence... Could the Directorate's warlocks actually listen to him?
Lü Qing studied Xu Qian for a moment, then nodded faintly and sent one colleague to fetch the elder.
In less than half a shi-chen, the Essence Refining constable returned with an old man.
"This old one is surnamed Zhang, village elder of Hegou Village outside Daqing Mountain," the man said with a somewhat awkward bow, his voice agitated. "I've been waiting for you honored sirs! If you hadn't come, the villagers would have starved."
The matter had dragged on for nearly half a year.
Lü Qing fixed him with a sharp, commanding gaze. "I'm asking you — where did the last group of over ten people die when they entered the mountain?"
"To the south..." The elder pointed toward the mountain range's southern flank. "They entered from the opposite side of the river."
Song Tingfeng's interest perked up. "Are there kilns on that side too?"
After their earlier survey, they'd found the densest concentration of kilns near the river. Lime-burners taking the long way around wouldn't dare set up kilns on this side — if the monster came ashore, no one could escape.
The elder nodded. "A few scattered spots. Not as many as here."
"Take us there," Lü Qing commanded.
"Yes!" The elder seemed genuinely afraid of this female constable.
They headed south along rugged mountain paths, the climb difficult. With the elderly village leader slowing them down, their progress was sluggish.
"This is the spot." The elder stopped on the narrow trail and pointed ahead — an area of cleared ground.
Piles of rubble, felled vegetation, and several cave-like kilns used for burning limestone.
The group searched the area but found no useful leads. Someone had already cleaned it out.
Song Tingfeng and Lü Qing exchanged glances and shook their heads.
Xu Qian said: "Let's check inside the kilns."
They fashioned torches from local materials, drew their blades, and entered the kilns with caution.
They'd assumed these were shallow lime-burning kilns, but the passage kept going. After walking for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they realized something was wrong.
These weren't kilns at all — they were hand-hewn tunnels.
Song Tingfeng narrowed his eyes. "Kilns don't need to be this deep. Someone was clearly mining for something. And there's no smoke residue on the walls."
Lü Qing beckoned the village elder forward and demanded: "What is this?"
The old man looked bewildered. "I... I don't know..."
Xu Qian held his torch aloft and studied the rock wall, then examined the ground carefully. He picked up a palm-sized chunk of white mineral.
*They were mining this?*
*This doesn't look like limestone.*
Xu Qian squeezed his palm, channeling qi. With a sharp *crack*, the white mineral crumbled to powder in his hand.
He held the powder over the torch flame and scattered it into the fire.
*WHOOSH!*
The torch erupted into a towering blaze, bright yellow tinged with deep purple.
*Saltpeter?!*
Xu Qian's pupils contracted.
The sudden flare startled everyone inside the cave. Blades unsheathed in rapid succession.
Lü Qing realized it was Xu Qian's doing and glared at him with barely contained anger. "What are you doing?!"