Along the muddy path tracing the water’s edge, Qin Jiuye sprinted with everything she had.
The jars and tins wrapped in tattered oilcloth clattered against her back, their rhythmic banging drowning out the thundering of her heart. They became the drumbeats of a charge, urging her to go faster, faster, and faster still...
Finally, the withered willow tree by the water came back into view. She couldn't tell if it was a trick of the light, but the tree’s reflection in the lake seemed deeper and more ominous, stretching toward the center of the water like the long, black tresses of the woman sitting beneath it.
Then, she saw the youth kneeling on the ground.
The white-clad youth named Yu Xiao stood beside him like a messenger from the underworld, while the black-clad youth prostrate at his feet seemed like nothing more than a shadow beneath his heel.
Qin Jiuye’s breath hitched. Before she could even process where this suffocating sensation came from, she began to scream at the top of her lungs.
She shrieked Zhu Fuxue’s name. She didn't know if doing so would actually help, but she felt that if she didn't do something right now, she would explode on the spot like one of those fire-bombs the Dragon King’s men had thrown.
As her voice tore through the air, the three people by the water turned in unison to look at her.
Qin Jiuye looked at Li Qiao, and Li Qiao looked back at her.
She had run the entire way. Half the hem of her skirt was soaked through, and her tattered shoes were caked in mud. She clearly hadn't taken the path through the thickets but had waded directly through the wetlands.
The atmosphere was visibly worse than when she had left. She shot him a quick glance, a silent inquiry as to what had happened. Though he yearned for that gaze—so full of concern—he didn't dare meet her eyes, merely lowering his head in silence.
He heard her drop a tattered cloth bag onto the ground before she spoke, gasping for air.
"Gate Master Zhu... I’ve kept you waiting. I’ve brought the items... they’re all here. Would you... would you like to count them now?"
This village girl... she should have left when she was told to. Now that she had insisted on crawling back to be a nuisance, she couldn't blame anyone for being ruthless.
Zhu Fuxue’s displeasure was written clearly across her face. Her legs, hidden beneath her skirts, shifted as she crossed them in the other direction. Seeing this, Yu Xiao immediately took it upon himself to issue orders on his mistress's behalf.
"We are discussing important matters. If you have nothing else, take your silver and withdraw."
Qin Jiuye’s lips curled into an even more fawning smile, but her feet didn't move an inch. Instead, she retreated to the side of the black-clad youth and continued with a hangdog expression.
"It’s not that I want to stand here and be an eyesore, but tonight is just so lively. When I passed the lake just now, I heard the heroes of the Lingxiao Sect chasing after several other experts. I’m not very good with directions, you see? If I leave now, I might run into one of those heroes. I’m a coward who can’t keep a secret when frightened; I’m afraid that if someone interrogates me, I might accidentally let slip the Gate Master’s whereabouts and cause a misunderstanding..."
Zhu Fuxue’s voice rang out suddenly, carrying a hint of gritted teeth and a touch of disbelief.
"You dare threaten me?"
Before the words had even fully landed, Qin Jiuye let out a sharp cry and threw herself theatrically to the ground, looking terrified out of her wits, almost as if she had lost her mind.
"I wouldn't dare! I truly wouldn't dare! Gate Master is wise, I didn't mean it that way! I’m just clumsy with words... just clumsy..."
The woman’s voice was truly grating, and her constant blubbering was comparable to the pipa music of that old thief Kongyin from the Panshi Dharma Temple. Listening to it for too long made one’s eardrums ache with irritation. Such a wretched voice had remarkable carrying power in the dead of night; it wouldn't be surprising if it drew people from miles away.
Zhu Fuxue barked a sharp command. "Shut up!"
The wailing stopped instantly, the transition a bit too seamless.
Zhu Fuxue narrowed her eyes, her gaze lingering between the woman and the youth beside her. Then, she broke into a smile, her voice turning soft and seductive once more.
"These items of yours are indeed a mess; they do need to be counted. Since you two siblings are so close, I imagine you help each other often. Let your younger brother count these Tianxu Pills and bring them to me personally."
In this confrontation, the winner and loser had long been decided. But the one with the upper hand was in no hurry to pluck the fruit of victory. Instead, like a cat, she intended to toy with the defeated "mouse" beneath her claws. It was a cruel, perverse hobby.
But thanks to this perverse hobby, the "mouse" found a way to survive.
Qin Jiuye wiped the saliva that had flown out during her fake wailing and suddenly turned to the white-clad youth, Yu Xiao.
"This hero looks like a celestial being, with eyes like stars and a face like the bright moon. As the Gate Master’s right-hand man, you must be far more reliable than us crude folk. I wonder if the hero is willing to share the Gate Master’s burdens? Or is it because this small matter is so insignificant that the hero is too lazy to act, and thus stands there in silence?"
Before she had even finished, Yu Xiao’s expression shifted. He almost couldn't help but turn toward Zhu Fuxue, his eyes filled with panic.
Zhu Fuxue continued to smile without a word. Yu Xiao’s face turned pale, and when he looked back at Qin Jiuye, his entire aura had turned dark and sullen.
"There are many insidious arts in the martial world. Who knows if your goods are safe? You refuse to let your brother handle them—could it be you’ve hidden poison or tampered with them? My Gate Master acts with caution so as not to fall for a villain’s trap. If you keep making excuses, you must be hiding something."
This Yu Xiao was also a clever one. In a few short moments, he had devised a counter-strategy, tossing the "hot potato" back at her and labeling her a "villain" in the process.
As Qin Jiuye’s mind raced for a solution, she shrank her neck slightly and stole a glance at the youth beside her, who had remained silent.
His face still wore that same numb expression from when she left, but a closer look revealed his temples were soaked with cold sweat. His left hand braced him against the ground, while his right hand hung limply.
Qin Jiuye’s heart skipped a beat. She was on his left and couldn't see the state of his right hand. Just as she was about to check, the youth stood up.
Li Qiao walked step by step toward the oilcloth bundle on the ground. He crouched down and reached out to unwrap it.
To be precise, he used his left hand and three fingers of his right.
Qin Jiuye’s gaze fell upon those two deformed, swollen fingers. Her throat tightened, and even her breathing became heavy.
She had known from the start that she was dealing with no saint tonight, but only at this moment did she truly understand the meaning of the word "evil."
She wanted to ask him: *What happened just now?* But she felt such an inquiry would be hollow. Whether she asked or not, whether he answered or not, it held little meaning for their current situation.
After a long while, the youth used his mangled fingers to line up the medicine bottles from the bundle. Then, in a hollow voice, he spoke.
"Seventeen bottles of pills. They are all here."
Zhu Fuxue nodded, her red lips parting slightly.
"I see the bottles, but I do not know if the pills inside are of the correct count and quality. Trouble yourself to count them out for me, one by one. Be careful not to let them touch the sand, or I shall have to hold your elder sister accountable for the fault."
A bottle held at least a dozen pills, sometimes more than twenty. The pills were small and smooth; one needed strength in their fingers to pinch them one by one, or they would easily roll away. If the person’s finger bones were broken, this was nothing short of bloodless torture.
But it didn't matter. He had done things more agonizing than this.
Li Qiao blinked and lifted his swollen, deformed hand to open the first bottle.
In the years gone by, he had opened that azure porcelain bottle countless times with a broken body.
The contents of that bottle were both the continuation of his hopeless life and the shackles that bound him to purgatory. Within that tiny bottle, he saw his sinful and desperate existence. There was nothing else.
He loathed himself for his desperation as much as he craved the bottle's contents.
Perhaps one day, he could possess a different kind of desperation—driven by something other than survival, wielding his blade for a purpose other than slaughter.
Perhaps only then could he truly escape all of this.
A bean-sized pill rolled between his trembling fingertips, catching in the sweat-dampened lines of his palm and blurring into a dark spot.
In the next instant, a pair of thin, bony hands quickly pinched the pill from his grasp.
"I’ll do it."
The woman beneath the withered willow radiated a terrifying killing intent. Instinct and fear made the small figure tremble, but she stubbornly refused to step aside. She forced the bottle from the youth’s hand and repeated, "You leave it. I’ll do it."
For a moment, the shore of Lake Lixin fell silent. Moonlight flowed between heaven and earth, rushing toward the distant horizon she had just looked upon.
Qin Jiuye took a deep breath, and her body suddenly stopped shaking.
She set the medicine bottle down and skillfully felt for his finger bones. With a crisp, decisive motion, she snapped the displaced bones back into alignment. The fingers, turning purple and swelling from the trauma, could barely bend; a single mistake might leave him permanently disabled. Yet the youth didn't utter a word throughout the process, allowing her to handle him with the same trust he had shown countless times before.
Qin Jiuye lowered her gaze to his mangled hand, focusing on the minute details.
There was sand and mud embedded under his fingernails—marks left only when fingers are dug into the earth with all one's might.
And he was a person who loved cleanliness. No matter how dilapidated the place they slept, he always kept his surroundings spotless. She had given him Jinbao’s old clothes to wear, and those clothes never saw a new grease stain or speck of dirt.
He also cherished his left hand; he rarely used it when dealing with others. Though she had never mentioned it, she understood this in her heart.
Now, treated this way, he endured in silence. There had to be an unspeakable reason behind it. And while she didn't know what that reason was, if he could endure it, what could she not endure?
Qin Jiuye gritted her teeth and turned, slowly kneeling on the ground. When she spoke again, she no longer used that feigned, foolish tone, but spoke with a slightly pleasing smile.
"My brother and I are all each other has in this world. He’s had a stubborn streak since he was little and he's clumsy to boot. How could he do this job well? If the Gate Master doesn't mind, I will measure the medicine for you."
As she spoke, she unhesitatingly picked up the medicine bottles and began counting the pills with practiced ease, calling out the numbers as she went.
Li Qiao’s hand slowly dropped. His gaze rested on the dark spot in his palm, but he felt the spot was beginning to blur. All of this was because he had heard her say those words: "Bound together."
He suddenly felt his eyes, which were usually so cold, become inexplicably hot and stinging.
This feeling was too foreign to him. He didn't know why he was like this.
Beneath the withered willow, Zhu Fuxue said nothing, but the aura around her shifted.
It was as if the cat had finally grown bored of toyed with the uninteresting mouse and decided to make everything eyesore-inducing disappear.
Several dark shadows slithered out from the folds of her layered skirts like the exposed tails of giant pythons. The moonlight dimmed for a moment, and the reflection of the withered branches in the lake seemed to freeze, even the ripples of the water becoming sluggish.
"Why is it that as soon as you speak, I find everything has become so dull?"
Hearing this, Yu Xiao stepped back inconspicuously. He was all too familiar with that tone and didn't want to be caught in the crossfire when she began her slaughter.
A spine-chilling killing intent crawled out from the lake, slowly creeping up the shallows and slithering toward the thin, small figure who didn't know the heights of heaven. Yet the latter seemed completely oblivious, or perhaps like a mouse paralyzed by fear before death, she remained rooted to the spot.
What she didn't know was that the youth behind her was staring at her fixedly.
She knelt in the mud, her thin spine nearly piercing through her coarse cloth clothes, which in turn pierced his eyes, causing his numb gaze to shift into bewilderment.
He didn't understand why she was doing this. He hadn't explained anything to her; he hadn't used his usual flowery words to sugarcoat the situation, nor had he held a knife to her throat to threaten or terrify her... yet she still stood firmly in front of him.
No one had ever been willing to do this for him. Not even himself.
The wind blew from the lake, carrying a faint scent of blood, seemingly a harbinger of slaughter. But the faint scent of mint on her body diluted that metallic tang, giving his hand—trembling from injury—a sudden surge of strength.
That bewilderment was slowly replaced by another terrifying emotion, one that usually only appeared when he was driven into a corner, his eyes seeing red.
He couldn't bear this. It was even more unbearable than if he were the one kneeling there.
His breathing quickened, his hands clenched tight, and bloodshot veins spread through his eyes like wild weeds, threatening to turn into a sea of blood.
It was killing intent—an uncontrollable, surging intent to kill.
At this moment, he forgot the survival rules carved into his very marrow. No matter who sat beneath that withered tree, he only wanted to draw his blade and take her life.
Zhu Fuxue’s slender fingers slowly spread like eagle claws, while the youth’s hand gripped the hilt of his blade.
He could see Yu Xiao looking at him, a triumphant smirk curling his lips.
A fight was inevitable, and the outcome seemed certain.
The killing blow was about to be struck.
Suddenly, a somewhat familiar female voice rang out from the nearby reed beds.
"Shopkeeper Qin."
The voice carried a hint of cold arrogance and impatience, but mostly a sense of urgency.
The killing intent was interrupted. The people by the lake turned as one toward the intruder who had appeared out of nowhere.
Qin Jiuye also turned at the sound. When she saw Jiang Xin'er's familiar figure, tears nearly welled up in her eyes.
"Miss Jiang!"
The thin woman’s voice was trembling and hoarse, sounding quite wretched. Jiang Xin'er's face stiffened, and she instantly regretted jumping out after hearing the commotion.
She had been scouting the nearby lakeshore according to plan. The martial artists fighting on the lake had made things easier for her. However, before long, she had spotted a familiar figure.
She had been able to spot Qin Jiuye at a glance simply because, among a crowd of martial arts experts, a normal person’s chaotic footsteps and lack of technique were far too glaring.
The Young Master had said that Qin Jiuye was working for Qiu Ling and told her to keep an eye out if she saw her. Although she didn't travel outside the manor as often as others, she had an instinctive sense for trouble. Thus, even though she had seen the woman, she hadn't really wanted to get involved in this mess. But for some reason, she remembered the glimpse she'd caught at the Lotus Market earlier that day and noticed the youth wasn't with her. After some thought, she decided to come and see, and sure enough, she had stepped right into this disaster.
Thinking about it now, she even suspected the other party had planned this.
This Shopkeeper Qin had treated herself like a wild duck used as a decoy, intentionally dragging her feet and making noise near the shallows to draw someone in. She didn't care who it was, as long as they could resolve the current predicament.
Jiang Xin'er looked at the woman who was currently wiping her nose, then at the youth behind her. Her emotions were complicated for a moment.
She had never seen such a scene.
A master who could barely save herself was willing to protect a useless cur.
"Miss Jiang?"
Qin Jiuye’s hesitant voice sounded. Jiang Xin'er snapped out of her brief contemplation and finally acknowledged the address. Carrying her long saber, she walked straight toward Qin Jiuye, never once looking at Zhu Fuxue.
"My Young Master is looking for you for questioning. What are you still dawdling here for?"
Qin Jiuye looked expectantly at Jiang Xin'er, then turned her gaze to Zhu Fuxue, fearing the latter hadn't understood the situation. She was about to use her eyes to convey something more when she was suddenly pulled up from the ground.
"What are you doing face-down on the ground? Did you drop some silver?"
Before Qin Jiuye could speak, Zhu Fuxue, who had been silently observing, finally spoke up lazily.
"Can't you see we are discussing business? Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to barge in like this?"
Only then did Jiang Xin'er look toward the woman under the withered willow, as if she had only just noticed her.
"I had an appointment with her first. And who might you be? You don't look young; don't you even understand the principle of 'first come, first served'?"
Zhu Fuxue’s expression instantly turned ugly.
In the martial world, only two types of people spoke with such a tone. One was the strong, and the other was the fool. And fools didn't live to be this woman's age.
Zhu Fuxue narrowed her eyes, her face remaining impassive, but her mind was racing.
The youth’s true level was unknown, but from his restrained attitude, it wasn't hard to see that he wasn't entirely confident in killing both her and Yu Xiao at once; that was why he had endured. But now that this saber-wielding woman had entered the fray, the situation had changed instantly. Two against two—it was hard to say who would win or who would die.
If it were just the "siblings," she could have spent the whole night here seeking amusement. But she didn't want to truly exhaust herself tonight, especially since the main event of the past few days hadn't even begun.
Zhu Fuxue gave a light laugh, and several shadows silently vanished back into her skirts.
The stagnant lake water began to ripple slowly again, and her voice became lazy and relaxed.
"Yu Xiao, I’m a bit tired."
Seeing the turn of events, Qin Jiuye didn't dare breathe too loudly. she hurriedly cupped her hands and said, "In that case, we won't disturb the Gate Master’s rest."
Having said that, she hurriedly stood up on trembling legs and scurried behind Jiang Xin'er in three quick steps. The latter shot a glance at Li Qiao, clearly a silent urge to move.
The killing intent finally faded completely from the youth’s eyes. He turned back into that inconspicuous, obedient younger brother, following behind Qin Jiuye with his head lowered as they prepared to leave.
Seeing this, Yu Xiao couldn't hide his resentment. He stepped forward, seemingly intent on forcing them to stay.
However, he only managed to take three steps.
After those three steps, the saber-wielding woman in front suddenly turned around.
Her features seemed frosted over in the dim moonlight. Her long saber had left its sheath at some unknown point, held in both her hands like the tusk of a giant elephant on an ancient battlefield.
A cold sneer escaped Jiang Xin'er's lips, and a sharp killing intent instantly radiated outward.
"With just you, you dare try to stop me?"
The woman’s voice was cold and hard, sounding like grit rubbing against bone.
But in the martial world, if one possessed absolute strength, there was no need for conversational finesse. After all, whoever held the blade held the right to speak.
Yu Xiao couldn't help but take half a step back, then realized what he was doing and gritted his teeth to stop himself. But in the end, he didn't dare say anything more. He could only watch as the woman led the "siblings" away from the lakeshore, disappearing into the night.
"What a pity. He was right there for the taking, yet he slipped away."
Zhu Fuxue’s voice sounded suddenly, right beside him.
Yu Xiao turned his head stiffly, and his cheek was instantly met with the woman’s cold, sharp fingernail. The crimson nail brushed against his face with a touch of nonchalance, yet it already made him tremble uncontrollably.
He suppressed the fear rising in his heart and tried his best to respond in a deep, pleasant voice.
"The Gate Master took an interest in him, yet he didn't know his own fortune. He’s just a pretty face; he’s truly not worth regretting."
Zhu Fuxue’s movements paused, and her long finger slid down his neck toward his collar.
"What, weren't you the one who took the initiative to keep him here? Are you going to play dumb with me now?"
He had thought that after everything that had happened, Zhu Fuxue would certainly not remember this matter. But in the end, she had merely been playing along with his act.
An act he thought was clever, a manipulation of his mistress.
He had intended to test the youth’s depth, but he was wary of those seventeen paper flowers at the Lotus Market. That was why he had intentionally made things difficult, aiming to drag his mistress into the water to back him up.
But his little tricks for manipulating hearts were, before this woman, more transparent and bare than a freshly peeled clove of garlic. He thought his little scheme had succeeded, but in the end, he had only pushed himself further into the fire.
The veins in his neck throbbed violently under the woman’s nail. Yu Xiao found it hard to breathe, and sweat broke out on his forehead. The lash marks coiled around his waist and legs began to ache dully again.
He almost uncontrollably fell to his knees, his lips trembling for a long while before he found his voice.
"Yu Xiao wouldn't dare! Yu Xiao was only... only thinking of the Mistress!"
Zhu Fuxue’s voice sounded above his head, carrying a hint of innocence and malice.
"Thinking of me? Truly?"
"Yes! Yu Xiao felt he had seen him before at the Lotus Market and worried he was an assassin sent by an enemy, so I intended to test him. But seeing his cowardly display just now, he doesn't even count as a third-rate character. He’s truly not worth wasting time on..."
Indeed, it seemed no martial arts expert could endure such humiliation.
But that was the problem.
The youth was too good at enduring. Either he truly was just a lowly ant struggling to survive, lacking the ability to resist... or he was a hibernating scorpion, merely biding his time to kill his prey.
And taming a scorpion was far more interesting than taming an ant.
Zhu Fuxue’s gaze fell upon Yu Xiao’s constantly moving lips, and it seemed that only at this moment did she feel completely bored.
"Shut up. You're too noisy."
With that, she turned around and walked toward the shimmering distance with one bare foot.
Yu Xiao looked up in shock, having no choice but to pick up the discarded embroidered shoe and follow after her.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 相依为命 | Bound Together | Lit. "to depend on each other for life." A phrase describing two people who have only each other to rely on. |
| 天枢丹 | Tianxu Pills | A type of medicinal pill. |
| 凌霄派 | Lingxiao Sect | A martial arts sect. |
| 磐石法寺 | Panshi Dharma Temple | A Buddhist temple/sect. |
| 空音 | Kongyin | A character mentioned as a "thief" from the Panshi Dharma Temple. |
| 璃心湖 | Lake Lixin | The name of the lake where the scene takes place. |
| 姜辛儿 | Jiang Xin'er | A female character who intervenes to help Qin Jiuye. |
