South of Gray Ridge, the royal highway climbed toward Cloud-Crest Pass. Thirty thousand people had come to a stop where the road narrowed between walls of limestone. Wagons loaded with bedding and salted pork had tangled with handcarts. Oxen bellowed. A pot rolled under a wheel and broke.
Four realm-arks hung above the pass. They were built of ancient hardwood plated with gold-trimmed bronze. White banners with silver cranes streamed from the masts. Heavenly Sword students circled on flying blades.
A small skiff had come down on a rocky terrace. Guards were loading chests of mountain ginseng and refined red stone. When people climbed the bank toward it, a student cut a trench in the road with sword qi. Sharp pieces of limestone scattered into the crowd.
“Thirty paces back,” he called through a jade talisman. “Come any closer and you’ll be put to death.”
Judge Lu of the Cangzhou Western Circuit knelt at the foot of the gangway. Mud stained the knees of his formal robes. He held up a rosewood box. Inside were twelve pieces of white jade and three fire-essence pearls. His clerks stood behind him with the seals and registers of seventy-two towns.
“Deacon Song, there are three hundred thousand people between here and the border posts,” Lu said. “The northern granaries are burning. Give us two arks. Take the children, at least. Let them wait in your outer valley until this is over.”
