As the saying goes, mountains are farther than they appear. The rickshaw puller ran all the way from the docks to Shuangfeng Gorge, a journey that took him well over four hours.
He didn’t rest for a single moment, not until the sun had slowly climbed from over the river to its zenith.
By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, the rickshaw puller’s expression was unchanged, though his breathing was a little more ragged than before.
He braved the elements year-round, pulling his cart from dawn till dusk. He’d traveled countless long roads; a distance like this was nothing more than a bit of extra legwork.
A faint noise came from behind him.
The rickshaw puller turned to see the old gentleman had already stepped out of the cart and was standing before him.
"Thank you."
A hand reached out, holding something out to the rickshaw puller.
He instinctively glanced down. In the man’s palm lay a gleaming gold coin.
The rickshaw puller froze.
"This... This is..."
He opened his mouth to speak, but when he looked up, all he saw was a retreating figure clad in black.
Lu Yun was already heading for the stone steps leading up the mountain. The rickshaw puller, cradling the gold coin, stood frozen in a daze.
It wasn’t that Lu Yun was feeling generous; it was simply the only thing he had on him.
Besides, Lu Yun was in a hurry and couldn’t be bothered to wait for the man to find change, so he just let it be.
As for money? To the Lu Yun of today, it was merely a number.
If he ran out, he could always "borrow" some from the scum of the earth. In this day and age, there was no shortage of those types—the kind you could borrow from and never have to pay back.
Around nine in the morning, the stone steps leading up Shuangfeng Gorge were bathed in pleasant sunlight. A cool mountain breeze rustled by, and the path was bustling with people, as lively as a country fair.
Ahead of him were several wealthy merchants dressed in silk robes, followed by seven or eight ramrod-straight bodyguards. They laughed and chatted loudly as they walked, openly discussing business and the latest trends within the Westerner concession.
Behind them, a group of maids and servants carried picnic baskets and blankets, clustered around several wealthy young ladies in fashionable Western-style sun hats.
Their cheerful chatter and light laughter filled the air as they admired the surrounding scenery.
Farther back still, a few blond, blue-eyed Westerners in well-tailored suits ambled up the path with their families.
A little girl in a lace dress sat perched on her Western father’s shoulders, pointing at a distant peak and chattering excitedly in a foreign tongue.
Lu Yun walked past them all, ignoring the looks he received.
His destination wasn’t the pavilion at the summit, nor was it the stone steles carved with the works of poets and scholars.
It was on the other side of the peak, at the location marked on his map.
There were no stone steps there, no railings, no signs of human intervention whatsoever.
All that remained were faint paths worn into the earth by herb gatherers and hunters countless years ago.
After so many years, these trails were either completely overgrown with weeds and thorns or had become steep and treacherous. One wrong step could send a person plummeting into the abyss below.
On a wide landing midway up the stone steps—a place normally for tourists to rest and enjoy the view—a crowd had gathered.
"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you?"
A burly, middle-aged man pointed at someone on the ground, his face contorted with rage as he cursed, "You were just standing there, then you suddenly crash into me! You got a death wish or something?"
On the ground, a tall man in a simple yellow tunic was curled up in a corner by the steps.
He clutched his stomach, hissing in pain, but stubbornly refused to make a sound.
A circle of onlookers had formed around them. Some craned their necks to get a better look, while others whispered amongst themselves, but not a single person stepped forward to help.
"Uncle Shan."
A crisp, feminine voice called out from the center of the crowd.
All eyes turned toward the voice. Several bodyguards in black tunics were gathered around a young woman.
The woman was about eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in a fashionable, long white Western-style dress. She wore a matching sun hat and carried a small handbag.
Her features were refined and her eyes gentle; one look was enough to tell she was the young lady of a wealthy household.
She glanced guiltily at the man on the ground and whispered, "Is... is he alright? Is it serious?"
"Don’t worry, Miss."
The middle-aged man in the lead, who wore a black robe, gave a slight bow. "I didn’t use lethal force," he said in a measured tone. "Besides, this fellow is with the Yellow Heaven Corps. They’re a tough, thick-skinned bunch. Forget one punch; he could fall from here and still not die."
"The Yellow Heaven Corps?"
The young lady was taken aback.
Uncle Shan nodded, his gaze falling on the man on the ground, a flicker of vigilance in his eyes.
"These madmen run around all day shouting ’The Azure Sky is dead, the Yellow Sky shall rise!’ They stir up trouble everywhere, constantly causing disturbances in the concessions, and attacking Westerners and the locals who live there. They just raise hell wherever they go."
Of course, there were some things Uncle Shan left unsaid.
’The real reason the Yellow Heaven Corps can run rampant in the city without consequence is that the higher-ups in Nanling Province turn a blind eye. They even secretly encourage them. For one, it allows them to use these madmen to cause trouble for the Great President up north and the Daxia New Country’s General City Affairs Bureau. For another, it makes life difficult for the people from the Western Countries, keeps them from getting too comfortable.’
At this thought, his brow furrowed. He spoke bluntly, "Miss, for these madmen to show up at Shuangfeng Gorge today... I’m worried something uncontrollable is about to happen."
"We should head back now, lest we worry the Master and the Young Masters!"
The young lady’s expression changed. The enthusiastic look she’d worn just moments before vanished completely.
She instinctively took half a step back, her grip tightening on her handbag. "Oh... then... then let’s go. I don’t want to climb anymore."

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