Under the autumn sunset, the weather was exceptionally hot and dry.
The party, led by County Yamen Chief Constable Zhang Yan and the He brothers, finally arrived near Qingxi Town after pushing onward with all haste.
They had traveled for four to five hours, covering over a hundred li, and everyone in the group was gasping for breath.
Their clothes were long soaked with sweat, mixing with the dust from the road to stick clammily to their bodies, a thoroughly uncomfortable feeling.
The horses pulling the carts neighed restlessly from time to time.
The leaders, Zhang Yan and the others, were all Martial Artists, so they still had plenty of stamina and showed little sign of fatigue.
But traveling in this hot, dry weather left their throats feeling like they were on fire. No amount of water seemed to help.
Zhang Yan walked over to a slope by the main road, untied the waterskin from his waist, and took several large gulps.
Turning to look at the exhausted group, he sighed and said:
