The Mountain Pass lived up to its name. It wasn't a road; it was a scar carved into the face of the cliff. To the left, jagged rock walls scraped the sky. To the right, a sheer drop into a misty abyss. The path was barely wide enough for two carts, let alone a herd of skittish cattle.
Darkness had fallen an hour ago, turning the already treacherous trail into a gauntlet of shadows. The only light came from the flickering torches carried by the rangers and the lanterns hung on the chuckwagon.
"Slow and steady!" Li Wei's voice was hoarse from shouting. He rode alongside the lead cows, his horse picking its way carefully over the loose stones. "Don't let them look down! Keep their heads up!"
The cattle were nervous. The smell of the precipice, the cold wind whistling up from the valley, and the unnatural silence of the mountains made them jittery. They bunched together, their flanks brushing against the cliff wall, the clicking of their hooves echoing loudly.
Atlas, the massive prize steer, seemed unbothered, plodding forward with the confidence of a king, but the lighter calves were trembling.
"Boss!" Li An hissed from the rear. "The heifers are balking! They won't cross the gravel patch!"
Li Wei rode back. A section of the trail had crumbled away, leaving a strip of loose, shifting shale. To a prey animal, it looked like unstable ground—dangerous.
"We can't stop," Li Wei said, checking the moon. "We stop, we freeze. We freeze, we die."
He looked at the rangers. They were exhausted, their faces pale in the torchlight.
"We need to smooth it out," Li Wei said. "Rangers! Dismount! Clear a path!"
The men jumped off their horses. They grabbed branches, blankets, even their own coats, and laid them over the shifting gravel to create a visual path.
"Walk them over!" Li Wei ordered.
He dismounted and grabbed the lead rope of the first heifer. He walked backward, facing her, tugging gently. "Come on, girl. It's solid. Trust me."
The heifer snorted, pawing the ground.
Su Qing, who had been riding near the wagon, dismounted. She walked up to the animal's side. She didn't push; she just placed a hand on its shoulder, humming a low, steady tune—a lullaby she used to sing to her younger siblings.
The heifer's ear flicked. She turned her head, smelling Su Qing's familiar scent. She took a step. Then another.
"Good," Su Qing whispered. "Keep going."
One by one, the cattle crossed the improvised bridge, guided by the touch of a noblewoman and the voice of a scholar.
***
**POV: Chef Gao**
It was 3:00 AM. The chuckwagon had stopped on a rare flat stretch of the pass. The fire was small, smokeless, and built in a pit dug into the rock.
Gao moved like a ghost. He didn't have the luxury of sleep. The Boss wanted "high energy food" for the morning push.
He pulled a cast-iron pot from the back of the wagon. Inside was a thick sludge of beans, salt pork, dried beef bits, molasses, and chili peppers. It had been simmering for hours.
"Jerky," Gao muttered, checking the drying racks inside the wagon box where the heat from the stove kept the air moving. The thin strips of beef were hard as wood.
He took a piece and bit it. It was tough, salty, and spicy. It made his jaw ache, but it woke him up instantly.
"Coffee," he grunted. He poured the thick, black sludge into a tin cup. He tasted it. Bitter. Burnt. Strong.
*The Boss loves this mud,* Gao thought. *But it keeps the men moving.*
As he stirred the beans, he heard a sound from the camp. It wasn't snoring.
It was music.
***
**POV: Li Wei**
Li Wei sat on a cold rock, his guitar resting on his knee. His fingers were stiff from the cold, but he needed to play. It wasn't for him; it was for the herd. The cattle were restless, shifting in their sleep. Predators—wolves or mountain lions—were likely watching from the ridges. He needed to create a presence, a sound that said *we are here, and we are not afraid.*
He strummed a chord. It rang out clear and lonely in the canyon.
He didn't sing a raucous drinking song. He sang an old trail ballad, translating the lyrics on the fly.
*"The moon is high, the trail is long..."*
*"The fire is warm, the coffee strong..."*
*"Lay down your head, ye weary steer..."*
*"For morning light is drawing near..."*
His voice was rough, unpolished, but honest.
Su Qing sat nearby, wrapped in a blanket. She watched his fingers on the strings. The music was unlike the court tunes—complex, plucked instruments playing ancient melodies. This was simple. It was the sound of a heartbeat.
"It's a sad song," she whispered during a pause.
"It's a song about the road," Li Wei replied softly. "About missing home, but loving the sky. Cowboys... we're always moving. The cattle understand it. It tells them everything is okay."
He nodded toward the herd. The cattle had settled. Their heads were down, chewing their cud. The nervous energy had dissipated.
"You are a strange man, Li Wei," Su Qing said, shifting closer to the small fire Gao had built. "A scholar who wields a shovel. A noble who sings to cows."
"I'm just a rancher," he smiled, the firelight dancing in his eyes. "And you? You crossed a shale slide in the dark to calm a heifer. That's not typical Magistrate daughter behavior."
Su Qing looked at her hands. They were dirty, her nails chipped. "I... I like it out here," she admitted. "In the city, I am just a piece on a board. Here, I am useful. When I touched that cow... I felt its heart beating. It needed me."
"The ranch needs you, too," Li Wei said. He reached out and covered her cold hand with his warm, calloused one. "I need you."
The air between them grew heavy, charged with the unsaid. The wind howled, but near the fire, it was warm.
"Rest now," Li Wei said, squeezing her hand before pulling away. "We ride in two hours. We need to clear the pass before the sun hits the peaks, or the heat will bake us against these rocks."
***
**POV: Old Zhang**
The dawn broke grey and cold. Mist clung to the mountain peaks.
Zhang stood at the front of the line, looking down. The pass was widening. The rocky terrain was giving way to grassy slopes.
"We're through," he announced, his voice a croak.
Behind him, the column stirred. The smell of Gao's beans and coffee wafted through the air, acting as a wake-up call more potent than any trumpet.
"Eat up!" Gao shouted, ladling the thick stew into bowls. "It's called 'Trail Stew'. Eat the meat, drink the broth, suck the bones!"
The rangers ate in silence, their jaws working mechanically. They were exhausted, their eyes bloodshot, but they had made it.
Li Wei mounted his horse. He looked back at the trail they had conquered. The ruts of the wagon, the trampled gravel.
"Alright," Li Wei shouted, finding his energy. "The Royal Hunting Grounds are just beyond that ridge. We made up the time. We're back on schedule."
He looked at the rangers. "I see tired faces. I see sore backs. But I also see the toughest men in the Empire. You brought a thousand pounds of beef over a mountain in the dark. You didn't lose a single head."
He pointed to the valley below. "There are nobles down there. Generals. Ministers. They are sleeping in silk tents. They are eating delicate pastries. They have no idea what's coming."
"We're bringing them a storm," Li Wei said. "We're bringing them the West."
"Move out!"
The herd groaned and began to move, descending from the harsh mountains into the rolling plains of the Royal Preserve.
***
**POV: General Zhao**
General Zhao sat in his large, silk-lined command tent. He was finishing a breakfast of congee and pickled vegetables.
"Report," he barked, wiping his mouth.
A scout entered, looking nervous. "General. The Scholar's herd... they have descended from the North Pass."
Zhao paused, his spoon halfway to his mouth. "The North Pass? At night? With cattle?"
"Yes, sir. They crossed the shale fields. They have arrived at the perimeter of the Hunting Grounds. They are... early, sir."
Zhao slammed his spoon into the bowl. The porridge splattered.
"Early?" he roared. "I broke the bridge! I forced them into the mountains! They should be days behind, limping in with half-starved cows!"
"They... they look healthy, General. And their wagons... they have a strange kitchen on wheels. The smell of the food... it drew our sentries' attention."
Zhao stood up, his hand resting on his sword hilt. "Li Wei," he growled. "The Iron Bull does not like to be surprised."
He walked to the tent flap and looked out. In the distance, a cloud of dust was settling on the edge of the valley. And amidst the dust, he saw the unmistakable black shapes of the herd.
"They are here," Zhao muttered. "Good. It saves me the trouble of hunting them down. I will crush them on the field of honor."
He turned to his aide. "Prepare the horses. Today, we inspect the competition. I want to see this 'Emperor of Beef'."
**[System Alert: Journey Complete.]**
**[Location: Royal Hunting Grounds Perimeter.]**
**[Time Remaining: 12 Hours before Opening Ceremony.]**
**[Herd Condition: Tired but intact.]**
**[Quest Update: Set up Camp and Prepare for Inspection.]**
**[Warning: Rival Faction nearby.]**
Li Wei rode into the valley, the mountains at his back. The race was over. The real game was about to begin.