It was a good year for the harvest, so Nie Xueqing granted her subordinates a ten-day holiday. The group of rough men scattered with a roar of excitement, some heading for women, others for the gambling dens.
This was my first time spending the New Year away from home, and in the uniquely atmospheric Hanzhou at that. I wrote letters to everyone back at my sect and handed them to the brother in charge of mail. Just as I was planning to head out for a stroll to take in the scenery, Nie Xiaoyan slipped into my tent like a clever little spirit. She dragged me out to visit the ice market held upon the Cloud-Sky Pool at the foot of Tutai Mountain.
From the air, the Cloud-Sky Pool looked almost like a perfect circle. Legend had it that an ancient powerhouse’s magical mirror had fallen here, gouging out the crater. The lake water was deep and clear, and in the depths of winter, it froze into a layer of ice dozens of feet thick, drawing small vendors from far and wide to set up their stalls. Since it was right at the end of the year, nearby residents also came to buy New Year's goods and watch the street performances, making it exceptionally lively. Xiaoyan and I watched the animal trainers and the wrestling matches, tipping them both, and then spent the rest of the time snacking on sugar-syrup figures while shopping. Xiaoyan bought some local big-head fish, saying she would stew a soup for Sister Qing and me that evening.
"This fish is actually called the Peng fish. They swim upstream from the deep sea. Their heads only swell up like this during the twelfth lunar month; they’re quite slender the rest of the year..." I remembered eating this fish at Haida Restaurant in the capital. Wei Qingming had told me about it, and the words slipped out before I could think. Xiaoyan laughed heartily, her face full of admiration, but the memory of her made me sink into a brief melancholy.
We walked a bit further. Seeing me distracted and unconsciously gesturing with my hands, Xiaoyan slapped my hand away. "When you're shopping, shop! Are you still thinking about sword moves?"
I suddenly pulled her into my arms, raising my hand to rest lightly against her throat. "I just can't figure out why that strike didn't sever his windpipe..."
Xiaoyan coughed, though she wasn't in a hurry to break free. She said casually, "Isn't that simple? At such close range, your two-foot sword was too long. It wasn't nimble enough."
I slapped her shoulder in delight. "Exactly! That’s it! Xiaoyan, your intuition is amazing. It’s a pity Sister Qing doesn't let you practice martial arts!"
"And here I thought you were a refined person..." Xiaoyan fanned the air in front of her nose as if smelling something foul. "Hanging around Sister Qing really is a case of 'near cinnabar, one turns red; near ink, one turns black.' What’s the point of all that fighting and killing?"
I had once said those very words to Wei Qingming. I fell silent, and only after a long while did I whisper with a smile, "Yes. Having someone stand before you to shield you from the wind and rain is actually the greatest happiness."
The local custom for New Year's Eve was to light bonfires in the open, drinking, singing, and dancing. After the dancing... one would find someone they liked and crawl into a tent together. Nie Xueqing was twice my age, but she played harder than anyone. In one night, she downed five large jars of Shaodaozi while competing with others. Even if she could use her internal energy to process the alcohol, she was bound to get drunk. I watched with a shaking head and a smile, only for Xiaoyan to lean in, poking my cheek with a mischievous look. "Which tent is Sister A-Zhi going to crawl into tonight? And with whom?"
I nearly choked on my wine. Blushing, I said, "Me? No, no, forget it." Thinking of my Master’s potential reaction to me "losing my chastity"—that would be the equivalent of costing someone their life for nothing... Seeing Xiaoyan's unyielding gaze as she rubbed her chin while scouting the crowd, I shot her a look. "Young in years, but quite the busybody, aren't you?"
Those words seemed to step on her tail. She yelled huffily, "I'm fifteen and you're seventeen! Who's really that much older than whom?"
"If we're counting by birth year, I'm twenty-one," I said with a grin, holding up two fingers. "Once the year turns, I'll be twenty-two."
Xiaoyan laughed and threw an arm around my shoulder. "If you're going to count like that, then since the demon race has long lives and only reaches adulthood at a hundred, you're only about four or five years old right now. Just a little baby!"
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so I changed the subject. "Fine. If you've taken a fancy to someone, go find them."
She grabbed me instead, pushing me toward the crowd with a wicked grin. "I'm finding one for you!"
I looked at the young man in front of me with immense embarrassment. Fortunately, thanks to my diligent training over the past two years, my body had instinctively steadied itself, otherwise I would have tumbled right into his arms. He was a tall, sturdy youth, over eight feet tall. His skin wasn't particularly dark, suggesting he came from a decent family and didn't have to spend too much time in the sun. I looked at him closely; his features were handsome and heroic, nothing unpleasant about him at all, yet my heart didn't feel even the slightest ripple.
Blushing, he raised his wine bottle toward me. Although I gave him face by taking a sip of my own wine, I didn't clink bottles with him—a clear sign of rejection.
Xiaoyan popped up again, shouting discontentedly, "Is this one not handsome enough?"
"He's just not my type," I shrugged. Xiaoyan stubbornly dragged over one after another, but I rejected them all with a cold face. Finally, losing my patience, I craftily tried to scare her off. "Stop looking for me. Right now, whenever I see a human body, I instinctively wonder where the openings are for a blade or which weakness I can kick. I'm only thinking about how to kill someone in three moves; how could I have the heart to sleep with them?"
As expected, Xiaoyan was disgusted. She spat at me in annoyance and vanished into the crowd in the blink of an eye, heading who-knows-where.
Finally, I had some peace and quiet. Just as I was about to find a place to sit and think, I saw Nie Xueqing swaying toward me with a wine bottle. Despite the winter cold, she had her collar open, revealing her pale collarbones, and she was grinning at me.
One look at the way she sat down told me that while she was trying to act steady, she was actually completely wasted. I reached out, snatched her bottle, and tossed it aside, blocking her from reaching it again.
"A-Zhi!" she bellowed as soon as she opened her mouth. "Don't... drink alone! Which one... do you like? This old lady will... catch him for you!"
"Sister Qing, you're quite drunk."
"Who says I'm drunk!"
"Still saying you're not? You usually call yourself 'this old man,' saying 'this old lady' is useless because women always lose out in a shouting match!"
Nie Xueqing seemed defeated by my logic and sat there blankly without speaking. I smiled and stood up. "You all enjoy yourselves. I'm going back to sleep. I have something serious to discuss with you tomorrow."
She gave a soft "oh," looking more submissive than I had ever seen her. Just as I was about to take a closer look, she snatched up the wine bottle, took a massive swig, and grabbed a passing handsome guy to plant a kiss right on his mouth...
I covered my eyes, muttering "stye in the eye, stye in the eye," and ran back to my small tent. When I lifted the flap, Xiaoyan was actually sitting inside.
"Sister Qing is definitely going to..." She left the rest unsaid, but her expression was calm. "It's not convenient for me to be in her tent."
I gave an "mm," poked the brazier to brighten the fire, and added enough charcoal for the night. Then, I quickly stripped off my outer robe and crawled into the bedding. Xiaoyan burrowed in like a cat, saying she was cold. I didn't think much of it; there was only one quilt here, so we had to share.
She squirmed around in my arms, sniffing here and there, and said with a giggle, "Sister A-Zhi, why are you so warm?"
"I am a cat... a Pallas's cat, after all. My body temperature is higher than a human's."
Under the flickering yellow light of the charcoal fire, Xiaoyan's face looked bright and rosy. She stayed quiet for a moment before suddenly wrapping her arms around my waist, asking mysteriously, "Sister, did you really not like a single one of them?"
"Hmm?" Between the warmth and the wine, I was so drowsy I was nearly asleep, but I still answered patiently. "That's right."
"Do you already have someone you like?"
"Yes."
"What are they like? Tall, short, fat, thin? Rich or poor?"
I asked curiously, "How is it that at your young age, your standards for judging people are so superficial?"
Xiaoyan was stifled for a moment, then nudged me. "Just tell me!"
I thought about it in silence, then smiled. "A person who embodies the finest qualities of every man and woman in this world."
Xiaoyan seemed dazed by the answer. "What kind of description is that..."
She continued to mumble, but I fell asleep to the sound of her voice. The last thing I heard through the haze of sleep was her calling my name and saying something about having someone she liked too...
Waking up early the next morning, I found Xiaoyan still asleep. I tucked her in, washed up briefly, and left the tent to give Sister Qing my New Year's greetings and cheekily ask for a red envelope. Nie Xueqing glared at me. "Oh, you still want a red envelope! I managed to dodge it last year, but I guess there's no escaping it this year!"
Despite her words, she had actually given me a red envelope the first time we met in the new year when I returned from my sect last year. I grinned and clung to her like a spoiled child, while she made a face and refused to give it. After a long verbal sparring match, I finally pretended I was going to weep and kowtow three times to show my "filial piety." She couldn't stand the sappiness, spat in mock disgust, and threw the pre-prepared red envelope at me.
I shouted a "thank you kindly" and happily counted the spirit stones inside with a greedy grin. Nie Xueqing then said, "You said last night you had something serious to discuss? Out with it."
"Oh!" I said in surprise. "You actually remember? You were so drunk!"
She rolled her eyes. "Stop farting around and speak!"
I coughed, tucked the bag of spirit stones away, and solemnly pulled an object from my robe. In the morning sun, Xiaolian looked like a thin icicle, trapping ten thousand rays of light within it, sparkling like fire crystal. Nie Xueqing let out a low whistle. "So that one was Han'guang, and this is Xiaolian. Girl, you're loaded! And you still care about my red envelope?"
I explained the dilemma that had been bothering me for the past few days. "For an assassin, a two-foot sword like Han'guang is still too long. Xiaolian perfectly makes up for that deficiency, but I don't know... if Sister Qing could point me toward a matching martial technique?"
She nodded decisively. "I have one. Let's go to the courtyard."
On the morning of the Lunar New Year, the brothers on guard duty remained strictly at their posts. Everyone else was wearing a festive expression, visiting relatives and friends to offer greetings. Everyone, including me, gave the Big Boss their New Year's greetings, and Nie Xueqing and I kept smiling and saying "Happy New Year."
She stood in the center of the yard and raised a hand to call over a young man. "Come play a few rounds with me."
He was one of the most skilled brothers among her subordinates, named Guo Lexian. Usually, everyone called him "Da Hao" (Big Good), likely because such a refined name didn't sound "bandit" enough, so they changed "Xian" (Virtuous) to "Hao" (Good)... Hearing the command, Da Hao nimbly drew his broadsword and, without needing a signal, swung it toward Big Boss Nie.
***
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