ZNG101 Trailing Pao Cao
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These are the words of Shung Li to Shung Hsu and other great men of Qinglu.
Most honored grandfather, as you know Xiang Liu, Shung Lo, Toad and I returned with Pao Long to Hongye a few day ago to pick up the trail of his wife, Pao Cao, who had been abducted by members of the Imperial Guard. I am ashamed to inform you, Pao Long, that we lost Cao’s trail: we were not quick enough to reacher her before they made it to the Old Imperial Road and the rains began. There are other matters, of which I must now inform you.
It was not the Imperial Guard that abducted Pao Cao, but common bandits dressed to look like Imperial Guard. Combat with them revealed that they were not well trained. In many cases, their Guardsman clothes did not fit properly and were shabbily kept. During our return to Qinglu, we ran into three members of the Imperial Guard who were in search of several missing Guardsmen. We informed them of our belief that they had been killed by these bandits.
Our first encounter with the bandits was in a clearing about two hours march north of Hongye village. There were eight dead, fallen in a circle around the outside of the clearing. They died not by man or beast; there was no evidence of sword, club, teeth, or claw wounds on their bodies. They looked as if they’d had their chi sucked out of them--their bodies were dried and shriveled. It was evident that several had fled in disarray, but a majority of their survivors continued north (toward the Old Imperial Road).
We caught up with them at the waterfall. They were eight in number and only half were disguised as Imperial Guards. We did not see Pao Cao with them. We overcame half of them, but half fled. The battle did not leave any survivors to question. Although we did not see Pao Cao with them, we determined no better course of action than to pursue these bandits. Toad and I continued on; due to injuries sustained, Liu and Lo returned to Hongye. As Toad and I continued north, the footprints of a woman alongside the bandits was eventually confirmed.
We followed their trail to the bridge near the Hu clan’s village. Along the way we found two bodies hanging from trees--one a farmer, one a warrior. Both been clawed, including deep gashes to the neck; both were drained of blood, although we found no blood on the ground near the area. The warrior also had burn marks on his arm. Their identities as Hu clan were confirmed when we stopped by their village during our return.
We believe the cause their death to be a black demon. Toad and I encountered the demon as we crossed the bridge over a creek near the Hu clan. The demon was over seven feet tall, dressed as man, but his skin was black, tough, and scaled. His eyes were blue (as were a black bird’s that watched us as we buried one of his previous victims). His claws were sharp enough to cripple a man in one swipe (as Toad learned; but since he has the chi of two men, he continued to fight with no loss of force). He could attack with lighting from his hands, the source of the burn marks on the Hu warriors arm. It took our combined efforts, but Toad and I dispatched him. His body turned to a foul black liquid and sank into the rain-soaked ground.
Indeed, it was during that battle that the rains started. When we got to the Old Imperial Road, the bandits were nowhere in sight. Having no trail to follow any longer, we decided to turn back and see what other information we could gather.
We found the black demon’s lair--a small cave in a low cliff. We found this quarterstaff, the wax-sealed box, a bed roll, and a bucket stained with dried blood. The Imperial Scouts were unable to identify the seal, but believed it was an old style of writing. The coins within the box are from a time before the Qin dynasty. (As many of you know, Qin precedes the current Han dynasty).
We informed the Hu clan of their murdered kin. While there, a Hu man informed us that his new wife, Hu Xiao, had also recently been abducted by “Imperial Guardsmen”. His story is identical to Pao Long's in every meaningful way. In both case, one woman was taken--a young bride taken before she’d born any children. We informed the Hu Clan of everything we knew about the bandits and the black demon. They recognized neither the quarterstaff nor the sealed box.