Chapter 2: The Backwater Post

Chapter 2: The Backwater Post is the second chapter of Longma Warriors.

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## The Backwater Post

After Mazhanshi had finished talking with her father, she went to her room and get herself ready for the journey she had to undertake.  She packed her yingbi purse and her scrolls, and then grabbed her sword and sheathed it.  She then grabbed a few meat and fruit rations and a waterskin and then went down out of the palace.  She walked to Baolei's outer wall where she rented a horse and began her trip.

Mazhanshi knew that Sishui was a trek so she planned to stop at Luzhou for the night and rest there.  So she rode through Shamo's hot desert throughout the day, eating her food and drinking her water wisely.  After traveling for most of the day and into the evening she made it to Luzhou.

Luzhou is a rest stop built around an oasis.  It had a few stables for horses and a small inn hewn into a huge stone run by longmas of her clan.  Mazhanshi took her horse to the stable, grabbed her things, and went into the inn for the night.  "Welcome, just passing through?" the innkeeper asked?  "Yes.  One bed for the night.". Mazhanshi said before handing her a few yingbi from her purse.  After paying, the innkeeper showed her to her bed.

Since it was still a while before lights out, Mazhanshi pulled out one of her scrolls to study it.  The scroll she looked at had a picture of 6 figures on it.  On the left side of the scroll were a white dragon and a white horse.  They were looking at a white humanoid figure, presumably a longma.  Also in between them was a sword with a white blade.  She then glanced at the right side of the scroll.  It depicted a black dragon and a black horse.  They were looking at a black longma and a sword with a black blade was in between them.  After looking at the scroll and pondering it, she put it away, blew out her candle, and went to sleep for the night.

The next morning, Mazhanshi woke up and got some more food and water, got her things, and set out towards Sishui on horseback.  It took another day of her traveling across the desert, but eventually she arrived at Sishui.  Sishui is a port town with a harbor.  A small bay was adjacent to the town with the wall in close sight.  A huge archway in the wall with a working portcullis allowed ships to come and go.  Mazhanshi went into town.

The town was covered with shops and sailors .  Mazhanshi was told that her friends were waiting for her at the harbor, so she went there.  Upon arriving at the docks, she saw them.  One was short with orange hair and wore a gray long sleeved shirt and red pants.  He also owned two swords.  Another was taller with a yellow top and green pants and had a green vest.  He wielded a dagger.  The third had red hair done up in a bun and had a purple top that bore her midriff and purple pants.  She wielded a scimitar.  Mazhanshi called out to the three of them.  "Cike, Suojiang, Nulieren, good to see all of you.". The three of them took notice.  "It's good to see you, Mazhanshi.". Cike said.  "Same here." she replied.  "I see you got Junfa's messages and made your way here." Suojiang said.  "At any rate, our scouts found the steed in Caoyuan." Nulieren said.  "We have a boat that can take us across the ocean to get us there, but it will take a couple of days."

Nulieren then gestured to the boat.  It was a sizable brown vessel with 2 masts, gray sails, and a couple of cabins on board.  "There's room for us on board as well as our target.  Now let's get on board.". Nulieren said.  All 4 of them gathered their things and went on board the boat.  An hour or so later, once everything was ready, the boat cast off and left Sishui, passing underneath the wall on the way to Caoyuan.