The Horse of Blue Wind
“If we follow this road west for another two hundred miles, we’ll reach the well-known YunXia[1] mountains. That mountain range stretches for over a thousand miles, traversing the two prefectures of Quan Zhou and Yun Zhou. That’s why, once we enter the mountains, we’ll be much safer.” Shi Mu answered readily, obviously having already made the plan beforehand.
“The YunXia mountains? I have no doubt that it’s a good hiding place. But we still have a long way before we get there, can we make it? Will the Jin Clan catch us on the way? After all, I’ve heard the big clans all have special tracking horses. They’ll definitely beat our ordinary ones.” Zhong Xiu was enlightened by Shi Mu’s idea, and answered, blinking her eyes.
“That’s beyond our power. But we left immediately, upon Jin Tian dying, so we should have outstripped them for, say, at least, half a day’s journey. But whether we can make it or not, I’m not quite so sure myself, we can only try our best. Miss Zhong, be careful, I’m gonna quicken the horses now, hopefully, they can run to the last moment of the hundred miles’ journey.” Shi Mu said in a serious tone.
Hearing this, however, worried she might be, Zhong Xiu could only draw the curtains shut and sit back in the carriage. Shi Mu did not waste any time whipping the two heavy horses fiercely, at which the two black horses galloped on at an even higher speed after letting out a sharp neigh. It wasn’t long before the grey carriage finally became a black spot, disappearing into the distance.
......
At the same time, a carriage, covered entirely by a black cloth, was coming from downtown toward the west gate of Feng City. The three horses carrying the carriage looked rather strange, their bodies totally red with hair that looked like a blaze of fire. They are the well-known tracking horses, called the Tracking Blaze Horse, which could serve, both as a riding horse - covering a thousand mile a day - and a fighter, who would spout fires from its mouth when incited.
The cart driver was a blue-robed man sitting at the front of the carriage, wielding a shiny black whip. Three riders, on the same strange type of horses, were following behind the carriage, and one of them was none other than the Fifth Master of the Jin Clan. He had a short beard and was wearing a grief-stricken look on his long face. One of the other two riders was wearing a yellow cotton robe and sitting on the horse like a giant monkey, his ears sticking out and his cheek like an ape. The last one had unusually large stature. Wearing a long silver robe, his eyes were bright and piercing. The three riders, and the carriage, all went at a gallop, as if in a great hurry, passing through the west gate at full speed.
But now and then, the monkey man would jump down and try to identify some fresh trails on the road, before he mounted the horse and galloped forward again.
......
“The Fifth Master of the Jin Clan has set off with their hunters and eagles! Good, then we shall depart immediately from the north gate. We’ll take a detour and catch up with Shi Mu earlier than them. Although they are good at tracking, how can they beat our Qian Li Xiang[2]? We’ve already scattered some of the tracking incense in Shi Mu’s cart.” Near the north gate, a group of ten riders was already prepared, and the leader of these men, in an embroidered dress, laughed as he heard the report from a servant.
“Third Uncle, if we can really catch Shi Mu before the Jins, do let me break his legs myself.” A proud youth in the group said ambitiously, ready to break Shi Mu’s legs.
This group was made up of the Wu Clan’s men. The leader was the Third Master of their family, Wu Tong; the proud youth was Wu Hua, who was previously engaged to Zhong Xiu.
It was quite a coincidence: The Wu Clan had been planning to kidnap Zhong Xiu after the enrollment test, so they had been keeping watch on Shi Mu’s manor, and naturally, got the first news that Jin Tian was killed by Shi Mu in an accident. Therefore, the Wu Clan was now quite relieved. They had had been holding some fear that Shi Mu was remotely related to the Jin Clan. Now all they had to do was reach Zhong Xiu before the Jin Clan did.
Wu Hua’s participation was, of course, of his own will. The Wu Clan riders were all riding peculiar horses, each with blue shiny hair as if covered faintly by a layer of shimmering blue light, and this type of horse was another famous tracking type, the Horse of Blue Wind. It was said that this peculiar type of horse had some blood relation with the Fox of Wind, so they could produce gusts of wind once they’d reach a certain high speed. So they were, no doubt, one of the fastest horses around. And that was why the Wu Clan had so much confidence in beating the Jin Clan in finding Shi Mu first.
After a short time, the Wu Clan riders also poured out from the north gate and took a detour, which allowed them to get in front of the Jin Clan trackers.
At this time, other big clans and gangs had also got the news of the accidental murder of Jin Tian by Shi Mu, which, though surprising many, was soon forgotten among the ceaseless discussions about the enrollment test.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login