Five Moons Later ...

Wuying yawned as he walked back to their shared room. It had been close to two moons since the three of them had gotten used to the new routine, and separated to lead their own patrols in the Old Trade Town on their own. Lieutenant Yen Ah Man was more that pleased to leave everything to them so that he could have more time to rest, and to recover from the Shadow Poison that had overwhelmed him a while back.

Of course, he did not have to lead any patrol himself, since the Captain had made him an Undercaptain, and took him out of rotation so that he could deal with the administrative details. And the small chores like the resupply missions and the mail runs, to Kongmin Town and Tortoise Mountain.

Which was more than enough to make the grey-eyed fellow pleased with his new subordinates. Although he did promise to help them pick up a few local delicacies and sundry items whenever he visited the town.

An arrangement that had already lasted more than four months!

Not that it bothered Wuying, to tell the truth. He had written Yue Ling every moon since he got to the Gate, and she had yet to reply yet. It was getting a little irritating, to tell the truth. But he didn't really care. He would hold up his end of the promise, if not for anything else.

Besides, it would help her fend off her grasping aunts, and that was all that mattered to him. After all, he owed the Yue family of Kongmin Town far too much already! He would barely have made the cut as an ordinary White Tiger Guard soldier, rather than an officer, if it had not been for their help.

Although he would have rather preferred to have been a simple trooper, rather than an officer, on days like these! It was rather boring, having to help Lieutenant Ah Man and the handful of boys who knew how to read and write properly, to sort the mail.

Which was why he had taken about half the morning, before he finished. And could finally return to the third floor to his own rooms, to read the ones that he and the other lieutenants had received.

Wuying had actually expected the Captain to have shifted operations to the reclaimed sectors of the Old Trade Town by then, to tell the truth. But someone must have talked him out of the idea. And he had kept things where they were, at the somewhat battered and dilapidated old building just within the Gate.

Compared to the rest of the Kingdom, the delivery of mail in the West was still more troublesome at White Tiger Gate than it was in most other places. So the Captain had made arrangements for a team to go East to Kongmin Town, the nearest large town on the map, to do a quick pickup every moon. That seemed to serve the Garrison better than having to rely on the somewhat haphazard manner that the postal service dealt with the Gate. And those on mail duty had also enjoyed their brief visits to proper civilization again.

And since it only happened about once every two moons, weather permitting, it was a duty that was rather heatedly contested. Which was probably why Lieutenant Ah Man was feeling so pleased. The Captain had agreed quickly, when the trio quiet suggested that the more senior man be taken off the routine patrols, to help deal with the training and the running of the Garrison. Without Yen Ah Man being told about it. It seemed to have pleased the blond man, to see the older lieutenant kept away from the Taint.

But Wuying's reason for being a little pleased at having to take on the extra duty was a rather simple one. It was rather tiresome, to tell the truth, trudging all the way down to the ground floor from their officers' quarters to deal with the mail. He was just feeling a little bored, sitting in the room, and listening to Junhe whine.

Junhe was wrapped in blankets and sniffing when Wuying returned from the mail room on the ground floor. There was a bit of a noise where the men gathered to share what they got from their loved ones, elsewhere in the Kingdom. And there were many who had news to share as well.

"Oh? The mail? Anything from my brother?" sniffed Junhe as Wuying stepped into their shared quarters. In actuality, it was as good as an entire North end of the third floor, since the room was meant to be for five men. However, there were only three of them, and so things were a little more spacious. And a little colder in the bleak season.

"Your brother sent us his usual report. And I think a little more than that. For you, at least. Your envelope is almost twice as thick as mine or Qian di's. I can only guess that he's giving you a lot more details," Wuying laughed as he walked over to the man covered in the blankets, "Or else he's giving you instructions on what else to put into your next letter. The mail run next moon has been announced too. Lieutenant Ah Man will be heading over personally again, to set up stores for the cold season. So you had better start writing, eh?"

"Aw, not again! Are you still going on about that shrimp's instructions? I wrote him, didn't I? It's not like I promised him three pages every time! Besides, we were busy!"

"Not that busy! And you have to admit that he has been taking good care of us. I mean, our money has grown and he has even managed to squeeze us into the more lucrative routes. Is it too much trouble to follow some of his simple, easy-to-do, instructions? Think of how proud your grandfather must be!"

The man's face went red at that, and Wuying laughed as he tossed him his letter. He had one too, and from the writing on the envelope, it was likely to be from Lei Dongsu as well. Wumu Qian, strangely, had two. And Wuying was pretty sure that the other one was in a woman's hand. That was strange. He had never mentioned a love of his own.

"Bah! The little shrimp must be out to squeeze the old man for yet more coin. Curse it! He probably wants me to whine about how cold it is here, and to beg for funds so that I can afford a proper heater!"

"Ah! Since we are sharing a room, I will admit that it would be handy. Make sure to add something about the atrocious price of coal too. No point in having a burner if we cannot afford to burn anything in it!" Wuying laughed back.

Which was enough to make Junhe growl with frustration as he tore the thick letter apart. And leaving the more senior man to return to his own bed.

But he had just reached it when he heard the man cry out again. And he turned to see Junhe throwing off the blankets. "What has he been doing? This is unheard of! We've been only here for about five, six moons, haven't we? So we have only been paid six times! That means that I've put in a hundred and eighty gold pieces. That's all. So that's we shouldn't be too far from that, considering that we're supposed to take on slow, steady investments. How did he manage to bring that up to two hundred and sixty? He made eighty, ninety gold pieces in that time? Has he been robbing the bleeding Salt Gang?"

"What do you mean?"

Wuying tore open his own letter and read quickly. It was true. The dry manner that Lei Dongsu affected in his letter notwithstanding, it reported that his own share had gone up by the same amount. "Due to some recommendations made by an esteemed Master of the trade routes, we have managed to ... Esteemed Master? Who is he talking about?"

"A powerful or influential merchant, or a Merchant House. I wonder who he has ended up owing favors to? This is not so small, piddling trader, my friend. We are talking about some really powerful and immensely rich people here. On par with the Nine Dragons or the Red Peony ..."

Junhe's voice trailed off then, and he buried his nose into the document once more. Prompting Wuying to put his own down. He wasn't going to get much out of the sparse words that Dongsu had put into his. Junhe, on the other hand, may be able to get more out of his brother's more expressive missive. "What is it?" he asked.

"No, no. My brother's too careful to let anything slip. We still don't know who is behind this, but he seems confident that we're not in any danger. He did mention that there were some other worthies who had thrown in as well, and so benefited from the arrangement. That means that he has been rather careful with our coin."

A laugh from the doorway answered him at that. And both turned to see Qian about to step inside. The man was covered in dust and mud, and Junhe shouted at him to stop before he got any further, and spilled what was on his clothes and his boots all over the floor.

"Oh. I had not realized that it was that bad," Qian apologized as he backed outside once more and started to brush off the stains from his expedition, "I suppose I should go down and take a bath, hey? But you were talking about Dongsu? Something about him being careful with our money?"

"Indeed. It seems we are now worth two hundred and sixty-three pieces of gold each," Wuying told him, since he knew that the man was truly concerned about his state of finances, "We seem to have done better than expected when he managed to back the right Merchant Houses. Of course, with your heavier commitment, you would be worth even more."

"Ah! That is good news! I wish we could have pushed more of our pay his way. We could have done with less reserves, truly. But then again, who knew that we would have such a good haul at the Old Trade Town ruins? These last three months have been exceptional, according to the sergeants." He stepped carefully back inside then, and slowly put away his spear. His own, since he had more that earned enough to had it crafted to his specifications.

"Well, since we can't do that now, we can always put some of our spare money into the Guard's little investment fund here. The profit isn't great but it's better than nothing. And we are not due a furlough until midwinter. That's almost two moons away," Junhe told him with a sigh.

Wumu Qian laughed, as he picked out his bath things. "I'll do that. A little profit is better than none at all. But I think you are more concerned about how it opens the door for you to get a few meals in the Purple Peony! The women there have a good thing going for them there!"

Junhe and Wuying chuckled at that. They had come to terms with the situation in town, as well as with the whorehouse. Especially when they discovered the quality of the food that they served. Apparently, they had hired some really good cooks from the Red Phoenix Sector, and even the ones working at the Garrison canteen had not dared to insult them.

Then the one just returned from duty stopped, and turned back to the two in the room. "Oh, before I forget: the Captain wants to meet us. He said something about a mission, about something that might require all three of us. I had the impression that it won't be across the Gate, but somewhere else in the Sector. Well, with winter almost here, most of the Garrison is getting ready for the bleak cold season. And we have been plagued by bad weather across the Gate too. Half of my troops' injuries on my last mission were due to slips and falls."

"A mission, elsewhere in the Quarter? Thank the Gods! At least I won't have you two trying to teach me to swim, or pushing me into the river again! It's too bloody cold!"

*

It didn't take long for Qian to finish bathing, and Junhe took advantage of the fact that they still had some heated bathwater to go and warm himself up. Which left Wuying alone with the youngest of their trio in their room, working on his next letter. He made it a point to write Yue Ling whenever he could. After all, he had promised.

But the frown that he saw on Qian's face made him push that task aside. The Northerner looked as if he had just bitten into a pear, and found it tasting like meat. He was clearly torn between surprise and delight. Which he expressed in his usual, unusual fashion.

"What is it? Bad news?"

Qian shook his head then, but he lifted it from what he was reading all the same. "No, no. I have just received word from home. My sister-in-law had just sent me a letter," he told Wuying, in a somewhat distracted voice.

The older man smiled. So that was who the other letter had been from. It made sense too, to see Qian so delighted at having news from home. "Ah. Good news then?"

"It appears ... It appears that the financial situation at home have been ... resolved, in a way. You will remember that I mentioned my sister-in-law's late father, the merchant Sen Kongwa?"

Wuying nodded. It was the death of the man that had caused most of Wumu Qian's financial troubles after all, and why he had joined the Royal Guard. Was this about the case then? Have they found the brigands responsible?

"Well, you will remember that I had said that there were a lot of people calling at my brother's home who ... had cause to claim some debts that he had owed? That there was a lot of money flowing out because of that? Well, the truth of the matter is, there were also debts that were owed to him! But having joined the nobility ... My sister-in-law could hardly go after these debts herself, without dragging my brother's good name into the mud, you see."

"Ah."

"But now there is a group that had approached her and bought out the debts. At a discount, of course! But she had managed to recover a good part of the money, so my brother and her are more than comfortable. She is berating me for wasting my pay on ... that land-lease that my brother owes. She has also written to tell me not to worry about them now, and to take care of my own health! Can you believe that?"

Wuying's head went blank. "Wait a minute! Someone bought her out of the contracts? So that they could go after the debtors themselves? Who would do that? It's a lot of work! And for how much profit? How much did she lose? Fifty, or sixty percent?"

"Closer to thirty, if I read this correctly. Curious, isn't it?"

"Very strange," he agreed with a sigh, "Especially if she only had that to say. It's like warning you off from taking too many risks." There had to be more, of course. It was obviously a thick letter. But Wuying wasn't about to pry.

"Well, you could write her back, and try to find out more."

But the younger man shook his head. "On what we are making now? I can't afford that! It would cost too much!"

"Only if you use a special courier. You could stick to normal mail, and Lieutenant Ah Man is heading over to Kongmin in another moon. That just cost four or five silvers ... Oh, wait! That's to Kongmin Town."

"Exactly! Getting a message all the way back to Yexing Ya will cost me a gold piece at least!"

Then Wuying laughed, and pointed at the letter that the younger man held in his hands. "Well, according to your sister-in-law, you can well afford it! And it's not like you have been particularly spendthrift with the coin that you've made here. That will only cost you - oh, one-sixth of the next Shadow Beast that you kill? How many did you take down last night?" he asked, grinning.

"It's still money! And I am not that rich yet!" Wumu Qian sniffed.

"Well, you'll not have a chance to get rich, if we miss our meeting with the Captain. Come on! It is almost time, so we had best be heading over to the other building. Second Brother Junhe said that he would meet us there after his bath, so I'd rather not be the ones who show up late!"

*

Captain Jinnan Kermulong did not have to wait very long for all of the trio to arrive at his now familiar office. All three of them had been summoned to the same with frequency, given the rate at which they had been clearing the White Tiger Trade Town of it Shadows. Something that evidently pleased the green-eyed, blond-haired man.

Which he did not bother to hide, from the way that he treated the three young lieutenants. After all, he had simply gestured at the chairs in front of his desk, and immediately started his briefing, without even waiting for them to be seated. He would not have shown that sort of casual manners if it had been someone else, as Lieutenant Ah Man would have told them.

"Well, to put it simply, we've had reports of Shadow Creatures inside the Quarter. And I want you three to go see if there is any truth in this. If so, you are to help to deal with the problem. But not to dig too deeply. I'm content if we can keep a lid on this for now. We will need to clear the Old Trade Town first. But the cold and the wet will make that place more inaccessible. So we shall have to stop our operations there anyway."

The Captain was seated at his desk at the Guard Headquarters, and the trio were assembled before him again in full uniform. Albeit with the slight adjustments here and there. Their time at White Tiger Gate had showed them the sort of leeway they were allowed, in dealing with the blond-haired man, when it came to the same. They had all begun wearing the warmer, thicker versions of the same, now that it was getting colder.

"Creatures inside the Sector? But how? I am certain that we had not let a single one pass! And with the Bridge secured ...," Wumu Qian shook his head at once, "That's impossible!"

"Ah! I believe that you have misunderstood me. I did not mean that they had just come across. Indeed, I am proud to say that there has been no successful incursions during the last seventy years, since I took over the Watch here at the Gate," the Captain replied, smiling as he did so, "These are remnants from a ... much older attempt to invade the Realm."

"From the Night of Black Frost then? But that was close to a hundred years ago! And I had heard that all of the foul creatures had been found and destroyed!" Junhe gasped.

"Actually, I was referring to the second intrusion. And that was a hundred and thirty-two years ago. Or a hundred and fifty-three. The more recent date was recorded when the Shadow Beasts were destroyed or driven back across the Gate. The ones that I was referring to, were handled by the Long-lived, without the assistance of the Kingdom. But I will not go into that long and boring story.

"In any case, as such notifications show, some of the Shadows may have remained in the more remote areas withing the Realm. Of course, the event that I was talking about occurred during the reign of King Chosong the Blessed. May the Heavens guard his soul. And you know what happened towards the end of that period."

Wuying nodded at that. The King had died fending off the Beasts in the Western White Tiger Sector, and when he died, the Court had fled back to the Royal City, to decide his heir. That meant that the rest of the Army had floundered then, and some of the Beasts had been left to fortify themselves in the woods in the Westlands. Which seemed to be the case here.

The Captain noted their reactions and gestured to the map that he had laid out on his desk. The trio got up and stepped forward then, to take a closer look at the same. There were marks drawn on the same that indicated where there were likely to be Shadows hidden in the Westlands, and the Shadowed Woods was one of them.

"Some of the Shadow Beasts may have hidden themselves in the abandoned mines and dark forests there, and we have had no meetings with the Hidden Folk who live in there. So we could only presume that they had things under control. Until now. They claim that there are ... some of the Beasts in the forest, and they have not the resources to deal with them. And so they are seeking our help.

"They had been applying for aid from the Blackwood Forest to the North before this, it seems. But that Northern Hold has ... ignored their request. Apparently, there are no nobles in this place and the settlement is run by their elders. And it has taken them this long to decide that if Blackwood was not going to help them, they should turn to other means. Hence, they had taken a bit of time to turn to us instead."

The Captain's hand moved to cover the stretch of forest marked on the map, between the White Tiger and the Red Phoenix Quadrants then. "I am concerned because of the proximity between the Shadowed Woods and the Southlands. If the situation is worse than we believe it to be, it could spread across the border. That is what I wish to avoid."

Then he pointed to a Keep that was marked on the border itself. Or so close that it hardly made a difference. "The Shadowed Woods lie just outside the Forest Hold of Blood Hell Grove further to the Southwest, and the Forest Folk there have generally held to themselves without bothering anyone. And they hunt, and kill, the Shadow Creatures that move about in the areas that they protect. However, about six years ago, the Shadowed Woods had experienced a sudden influx of the same - they call them Abyssal Creatures, by the way. Although they are close to what we call the Shadow Beasts. Well, the increased burden of dealing with them have led to ... problems for the same."

"Six years ago? They took that long to get to us?"

Junhe sounded a little angered at that, but the Captain merely shrugged. "These are the Long-lived, and they had thought that Blackwood would be quicker to respond," he told the younger man, shaking his head as he did so. "Well, that is besides the point."

The Captain smiled again then, and gestured at the three of them. "Rather than dispatching a whole troop, I've decided to send you three. You are officers, and you have already shown what you can do, with dedicated soldiers behind you. You should be able to deal ... Or learn to deal with different peoples with different livelihoods. Besides, there are various villages and small towns along the way. You could take a look at each of them, and remind them that we are here.

"As for the Beasts in the Shadowed Woods, I shall leave that to your discretion. It would be pleasant if we can secure their alliance, if we can. Or at least, find out more about their problems. Besides, I doubt that the Abyssal Creatures there are going to cause you any difficulties," he laughed.

Wumu Qian saluted at once. "Of course, sir. We understand and shall prepare ourselves at once." The other two responded as well, but a little more slowly.

"Excellent! And just so that you are properly motivated, they are offering a hunter's fee - three gold coins or its equivalent, for every one of these Abyssal Beasts destroyed. So you might consider this as a sort of mercenaries' contract. And I'm sure that the Garrison's share will be well-appreciated in the General Funds!"

* * *