After Gui Mao finished bandaging Bing Xu, he noticed the man’s face was deathly pale and his frame as gaunt as withered wood. Having not seen him for only a few days, he had already thinned past the point of recognition. Gui Mao asked casually, "How many days has it been since you last ate?" He didn't really expect an answer and prepared to head out to find some food.
The daily diet in Night Walk was not particularly good, consisting mostly of plain rice paired with light vegetarian dishes to prevent the shadow guards from developing any detectable body odors. But Bing Xu was currently in need of nourishment, which left Gui Mao fretting for a moment. He sighed and muttered to himself, "If I’d known it would come to this, I shouldn't have traded for sugar last time; I should have kept it to trade for meat."
Hearing this, Bing Xu struggled to process the words for a moment. Suddenly, he scrambled to get up, pushed his pillow aside, and lifted the bedding. He fumbled around the bedboards for a while until he managed to pry loose a small square brick. From the cavity, he pulled out a small wooden box, took something out, and pressed it into Gui Mao’s hand.
As soon as Gui Mao took it, he wanted to throw it away in disgust. It was a piece of moldy cane sugar. He had no idea how long it had been sitting there, but it smelled terrible.
"What kind of strange hoarding habit is this..." Gui Mao tossed it aside and wiped his hand on his clothes, suppressing a wave of nausea.
Bing Xu pointed at the moldy sugar and said, "Gui Mao."
Seeing the steady, meaningful look in his eyes, Gui Mao thought seriously for a moment before it suddenly clicked. "Wait, is this the piece I gave you last year?!"
Bing Xu nodded.
To keep expired food hidden under the bed like a precious treasure—Gui Mao thought to himself that this man’s brain must not have broken just recently; it had likely been broken for a long time. He said helplessly, "It’s long past edible. Hurry up and throw it away, or it’ll attract bugs."
To his surprise, Bing Xu actually nodded. "Oh."
Gui Mao felt a sense of relief at his cooperativeness.
Having discarded the troublesome sugar, Gui Mao noticed another tattered paper bundle inside the hidden compartment where the wooden box had been. Something familiar was peeking out. Seeing that Gui Mao was interested, Bing Xu pulled that out as well and stuffed it into his hands.
Gui Mao opened it to find a small bundle of fine iron tokens, each engraved with the "Returning Cloud and Waning Moon" pattern unique to Night Walk. Stacked haphazardly together, there were dozens of them.
Merit tokens? Weren't these the very tokens used to exchange for rewards?
It was the first time Gui Mao had ever seen this many merit tokens at once, and he couldn't help but gasp. The other man, however, didn't seem to find them precious at all, giving them all to Gui Mao.
*Bing Xu...* Gui Mao looked up, studying the wretched and senseless man before him, his brow furrowing. The codenames of those in Night Walk were ranked according to their combat skills and performance upon entry. While the standard order of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches went Jia-Zi, Yi-Chou, Bing-Yin, Ding-Mao, and so on, the ranking in Night Walk was different: the top six of each cycle started with the character "Jia," the next six with "Yi," the third six with "Bing," and so forth. For this man to be ranked within the "Bing" group showed that his initial strength was extraordinary. Gui Mao himself started with "Gui," which placed him at the very bottom of his cohort.
He had once been so powerful, yet one could only imagine what kind of inhuman, cruel torment he had suffered during the Great Trial to fall into such a state...
"I'm going to get you something to eat. Stay here and be good." Gui Mao pulled a single token from the stack and wrapped the rest back up as they were, pressing them into Bing Xu’s hand. "You traded your life for these, after all. Keep them safe."
Bing Xu watched blankly as Gui Mao stood to leave, then began crawling toward him again.
"Hey, I’ll be right back! Do you really not understand? Why is it so hard to get you to stay put?" Gui Mao pressed him down helplessly. He looked around for a moment until an idea struck him. He scooped up a bowl of clear water and sat by Bing Xu’s side. "Look."
Bing Xu followed his gaze. A crescent moon was reflected in the bowl.
Gui Mao said, "See it clearly? This beautiful pearl is my treasure. It’s very fragile, so help me look after it carefully."
As he spoke, he pressed the bowl into Bing Xu’s hands. As the bowl changed hands, the water rippled slightly, and the reflection of the moon blurred.
Gui Mao immediately said, "Ah, look, you almost broke it! I told you it’s fragile. Hold it steady and don't move."
Bing Xu focused with absolute intensity, his nerves taut as he stared at the reflection in the bowl, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
Amused by how easily he was fooled, Gui Mao took the opportunity to leave quickly.
Gui Mao went to the courtyard to find the manager, handed over the merit token, and requested a few side dishes. When he returned to the room, he indeed found Bing Xu maintaining the exact same posture as when he had left, still clutching the bowl with extreme nervousness.
He heard Gui Mao return but didn't dare move. Even his voice was cautious and trembling, tinged with a hint of a sob. "Gui Mao..."
"I'm here, I'm here. Good boy." Gui Mao took the bowl and tossed the water out with a flick of his wrist before setting it on the cabinet.
Once the bowl left his hands, Bing Xu couldn't stop his entire body from trembling. He began to gasp for air.
Gui Mao offered some insincere comfort. "You did a great job. Thank you." He stroked the man’s messy, coarse hair, finding that amidst his pitiable state and dullness, there was actually a bit of cuteness.
Bing Xu’s face flushed slightly. He clenched his fists and stared at him foolishly.
When the simple food was delivered, Gui Mao helped him up and fed him. At first, he had to give an instruction for every bite and chew, but eventually, Bing Xu seemed to grasp the concept, and the process became much smoother.
Gui Mao thought: *He’s not entirely stupid. With some care, perhaps he can become a normal person again.*
After clearing the dishes, Gui Mao found Bing Xu’s dirty, greasy appearance an eyesore. He brought some warm water and held him down, intending to wash his hair. The long hair had long since matted into clumps that couldn't be combed through. Bing Xu didn't know how to take care of himself either; he only knew how to poke a hole through the mess of hair to expose his eyes so he could see, which looked truly ridiculous. Gui Mao took it upon himself to grab a pair of shears and cut it all off.
"They say our bodies, hair, and skin are gifts from our parents, and to damage them is a lack of filial piety. Fortunately, neither of us has a father or mother, so we don't have to worry about that," Gui Mao said as he held Bing Xu in his arms to keep him from moving. He had no experience, so his craftsmanship was naturally poor. The cut was jagged and uneven, looking as if it had been gnawed on by a dog. Once finished, he pushed him back to take a look. "Pfft, so ugly, hahahaha!"
After the haircut, he washed the hair again. Once it was dry and styled a bit, it looked much better. He then gave Bing Xu’s whole body a wipe-down. Bing Xu was a youth like him, yet he was half a head taller, and his muscles were tighter and more solid. As Gui Mao handled him, he could feel that the explosive power within this body was far greater than his own.
What a waste.
The Master said that Night Walk was a place where only the strong survived. For the first time, Gui Mao felt that statement was absolute nonsense.
Bing Xu had been tended to by him all evening; he was now well-fed and looked like a new person. Gui Mao studied him with satisfaction. His features were sharp, and the short hair made him look much neater. Although he still looked sickly, he now appeared at most like a man of few words, rather than a fool who inspired immediate revulsion.
Gui Mao tucked him back into the blankets and told him to go to sleep. Bing Xu lay quietly, but his eyes remained glued to Gui Mao, showing no intention of resting. Gui Mao waited for a moment, grew impatient, and tapped his sleep acupoint. Only then did he return to his own room.
The next day, Gui Mao woke up early as usual. Outside the window, the moon still hung high. He sat up, only then remembering that there were no training sessions scheduled for these few days, so he lay back down.
It was the beginning of the New Year, the coldest time of the year. The wind rustled outside as snowflakes began to drift down. Those in Night Walk all possessed excellent endurance; being exposed to sun and rain was common, so they naturally did not fear the bitter cold. Gui Mao lay with his legs crossed, quietly watching the falling snow, when he suddenly thought of the fool next door.
When he had wiped him down yesterday, the man’s skin had felt like ice and his bones like jade, cold to the touch. In this kind of weather, a normal person might not feel much, but for him, it might be very difficult to endure.
Gui Mao rolled out of bed and went next door. Bing Xu was still in a deep sleep; it seemed he was indeed exhausted. The other colleagues in this room had all moved across the hall long ago, complaining that the smell of medicine was too strong and not wanting to deal with the eyesore of a fool. Thus, the room was cold, desolate, and miserable, leaving Bing Xu all alone.
Gui Mao sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed and reached out to check his temperature. As expected, he was freezing. In his slumber, Bing Xu sensed the source of warmth and couldn't help but lean toward it.
Gui Mao chuckled and pushed him back. He then fished another merit token from under the pillow and muttered to himself, "If you can't make it through these few days, you won't be around to enjoy these anyway. I'll just take the liberty of deciding for you."
He exchanged the token for a basin of charcoal fire and several thick quilts. He lit the charcoal at the foot of the bed, and the room gradually warmed up.
"So warm." Gui Mao hadn't sat by a fire in a long time either. Squatting by the bed and watching the dancing sparks, he felt a trace of lingering attachment to this warmth. He dazed off for a moment, murmuring, "It’s just a bit of heat, yet it feels this good? I thought I had long since grown used to the cold..."
Bing Xu still hadn't woken up, and he pressed toward him again.
Looking at the thick layers of quilts piled on the man, Gui Mao felt an itch to try them out himself. He simply crawled in. Bing Xu’s body, which had been icy just moments ago, quickly warmed up in his embrace. Holding him, Gui Mao accidentally fell asleep again in that rare, precious warmth.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 彩筹 | Merit tokens | Literally "colored tallies," used as currency/merit points in the organization. |
| 天干地支 | Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches | The traditional Chinese system of timekeeping and ordinal ranking. |
| 甲、乙、丙...癸 | Jia, Yi, Bing... Gui | The Heavenly Stems used here as rank prefixes (1st, 2nd, 3rd... 10th). |
| 大试 | Great Trial | A significant, likely brutal, examination or selection event in Night Walk. |
| 身体发肤，受之父母，毁之不孝 | Our bodies, hair, and skin are gifts from our parents; to damage them is a lack of filial piety | A famous quote from the *Classic of Filial Piety*. |
| 冰肌玉骨 | Skin like ice and bones like jade | A Chengyu describing a cool, refined, or beautiful physique. |
