The next day Ning Chen was up early.

He went out to the courtyard, worked through some hand-to-hand drills, then ran the Thirteen Ghost-Shadow Blades a few times over.

Then he led Diaochan out the gate.

On the way he bought a few steamed buns and ate them in the saddle as he rode.

He arrived at Liu’s Forge in the outer city.

The moment Liu Tiehu saw Ning Chen, he came hurrying over with a wooden case in both hands.

“My lord, everything you asked for is finished. Please have a look!”

Ning Chen took the case and glanced inside. Liu Tiehu’s work really was good — the pieces were reasonably fine — though he’d still have to file them down carefully himself once he got back.

On his way out, Ning Chen noticed there were files in the shop and asked for one, along with an iron rod a little longer than a chopstick.

The drawing, of course, went with him.

“You didn’t tell anyone?”

“Rest easy, my lord,” Liu Tiehu said quickly. “This humble commoner forged every piece of it with his own hands.”

Ning Chen nodded, satisfied, and then put a scare into him. “This stays secret. Not a word, not if they beat you to death… If you let it out, it’s a crime that puts your entire household to the sword.”

Liu Tiehu went white and swore up and down that he wouldn’t. “Rest easy, my lord, my mouth is shut tight. It will never get out.”

Ning Chen grunted, then rode Diaochan to the Inspectorate.

“Ning Chen, so you’ve finally shown your face… Geng the Purple Coat said that the moment you turned up, you’re to go see him.”

Feng Qizheng said it as soon as he spotted Ning Chen coming in.

Ning Chen took that in and said, “I don’t have time right now. Go find me a hammer.”

“A hammer?”

Ning Chen nodded. “Hurry. It’s for something big.”

Feng Qizheng agreed and went off, coming back before long with a hammer.

Ning Chen took it and headed out the door with the hammer swinging in his hand.

“That looks like a man about to go start a fight.”

“Come on, let’s follow him. Ning Chen’s not right in the head — don’t let him cause a disaster.”

Anyone willing to kill the Empress’s own brother was, to their minds, proof enough of that.

Feng Qizheng, Chen Chong and Gao Ziping went after him.

And the moment they got outside, they watched Ning Chen take a hammer to the hitching post by the gate and knock a chunk clean off it.

The three of them looked at one another.

“Ning Chen, are you sick in the head? What are you smashing the hitching post for?”

Feng Qizheng asked it out of pure curiosity.

Ning Chen picked up the broken-off piece of stone, smiled mysteriously and said, “You’ll all find out soon enough. I really do envy you for knowing me… because what comes next is you witnessing a miracle.”

The three of them stared at him blankly.

Chen Chong walked over, felt Ning Chen’s forehead, then felt his own. “No fever. So why’s he talking nonsense?”

To them, Ning Chen was babbling like a man possessed.

Ning Chen went back into the Inspectorate and sent Feng Qizheng to fetch the gunpowder he’d had ready… then asked for an empty room.

Feng Qizheng and the others watched Ning Chen walk into the room and shut the door behind him, and their faces filled with worry.

“I think there’s something wrong with Ning Chen.”

“Something wrong? He’s off his head. You don’t think he’s got a ghost in him, do you?”

“Should we get him a spirit-woman to drive it out?” Gao Ziping said.

Feng Qizheng said, with total seriousness, “I don’t think it’s a ghost. I think he shot his brains out the night before last.”

Every mouth in the group twitched. Nobody had anything to say to that.

“What are you all standing around here for? Has Ning Chen come in?”

Geng Jing came over and, finding a crowd gathered, asked out of curiosity.

Feng Qizheng and the others hurriedly bowed.

“Geng the Purple Coat, Ning Chen is here… but he’s shut himself in a room. Very secretive about it. Nobody knows what he’s doing in there.”

Geng Jing paused a moment, then pointed at the room beside them. “That room?”

Feng Qizheng nodded.

Geng Jing went to the door and knocked. “Ning Chen, come out. I need to see you.”

“Piss off, don’t bother me!”

Ning Chen’s voice came through the door, distinctly irritated.

Feng Qizheng and the others were struck dumb, staring at each other in blank astonishment.

Geng Jing’s face went black. Has this brat eaten a bear’s heart and a leopard’s gall? He’d talk to me like that?

Ning Chen must not have recognized my voice. Geng Jing supplied himself with a reason, then spoke again. “Ning Chen. Do you know who this is?”

This time there was no sound at all from inside. Ning Chen simply ignored him.

Geng Jing stood there black-faced, grinding his teeth.

He turned and asked, “What is the boy doing shut up in there?”

Gao Ziping shook his head. “We don’t know either. He got here, smashed the hitching post out front… and then shut himself in that room.”

“He smashed the hitching post? Why?”

Gao Ziping and the others all shook their heads together.

Chen Chong said, in a low voice, “Geng the Purple Coat, we think Ning Chen’s got a ghost in him.”

Geng Jing felt a jolt of alarm, and in spite of himself he began to worry.

If something happens to Ning Chen, how do I explain it to His Majesty?

“Geng the Purple Coat,” Gao Ziping said, “we were thinking. Should we find Ning Chen a spirit-woman to drive it out?”

Geng Jing thought about it and gave a slight nod.

And right then Ning Chen’s voice rang out. “You’re the ones with ghosts in you… Could you all stop chattering outside my door?”

Geng Jing set his face. “Ning Chen, you get out here… What are you skulking around in there for?”

And once again his words were ignored.

Geng Jing was seriously angry.

They waited all the way to noon before the door creaked open and Ning Chen finally came out.

He was drenched in sweat and looked thoroughly worn out.

In his hand was a strange-looking iron contraption, something like — they couldn’t have said what.

“Finally. This backward world… thank heaven I’ve got a pair of clever hands. Gentlemen, congratulations. You are about to witness our Great Xuan enter the age of firearms.”

They all looked at him with deep concern.

There really did seem to be something the matter with Ning Chen’s mind.

Gao Ziping’s face was full of worry. “Ning Chen, are you all right?”

Ning Chen smiled. “Relax. I’m fine!”

As he said it, he raised the flintlock and sighted on a tree in the courtyard about as thick as a man’s thigh.

Fifty meters by eye. The range shouldn’t be a problem.

“Ning Chen, what the hell is that thing you’re holding?”

Ning Chen grinned. “A gun.”

Feng Qizheng leaned in and couldn’t stop himself from jeering. “You call that a spear? It hasn’t even got a head on it. You’d do better with a brick.”

Ning Chen smiled his mysterious smile. “Who says you can’t run a man through without a head on it?”

“All right, everybody cover your ears!”

Ning Chen was about to fire when he realized he had no way to cover his own right ear.

“Old Feng. Cover my right ear for me.”

Feng Qizheng grunted his assent and reached over to cover Ning Chen’s right ear.

Ning Chen raised the gun and fired.

A crack of thunder.

The blast came like a bolt out of a clear sky. Fire flashed, black smoke rolled up, and the sharp stink of gunpowder spread through the air.

The ball struck the trunk in the distance. Bark burst away from it, and the terrible force of it shook the whole tree, dead branches and leaves rattling down.

Every man there went white at the sound and stood there with his ears ringing.

Feng Qizheng had it worst of all. He was closest, he hadn’t covered his own ears, and the blast left him seeing stars and hearing nothing at all for a long moment.

Ning Chen glanced back at him with a nasty little grin at the corner of his mouth. “Thanks, pal!”

Then, quietly, he rubbed his wrist. The recoil and the shock of this piece of junk were far too much — it had nearly torn the web of his hand open.

He walked quickly over to the tree to have a look.

The ball was buried in the trunk, three inches into the wood.

Ning Chen was a little disappointed. It had less stopping power than he’d expected.

Still, with no precision instruments to build it with, getting it this far was already something. For the moment, it would do.

(End of Chapter 83)