Chapter 149

The morning mist of Bailongtun in Bozhou was laced with the scent of saltpetre and sulfur, and Shen Xitang’s black leather boots crushed the scorched edges of the *Yang Clan Tusi Genealogy*. Xiao Heng’s Xiuchun Saber cleaved through the basalt battlements of Feilong Pass, and half a fractured bull-horn bugle from the Miao frontier suddenly phosphoresced in the mountain wind. Inside the horn, amidst the Yi script, was unmistakably concealed the seal script of "Great Jin Heavenly Mandate." "Lord Thousand-Householder, look at these patterns." Her fingertips brushed across the cracks in the horn. "This patina dates from a tribute by the Shuixi Pacification Commissioner during the Jiajing era, which ought to be stored in the Guiyang Prefecture armory..." The mountain path suddenly resounded with bronze drums. Thirty crossbowmen disguised as Gelao tribesmen rushed out from behind hanging coffins, and the trigger mechanisms of their Zhuge repeating crossbows were identical to the abandoned weaponry of Yang Yinglong’s old subordinates. Xiao Heng’s scabbard shattered a crossbow mechanism, and what burst forth was not a bolt, but a rolled-up *Loushan Pass Defense Map*, every page bearing the red-inked "Great King of Liang" seal of She Chongming!