The torrential rain had left the countryside in shambles. The rural paths and muddy tracks for horses were tangled together like a messy ball of yarn; at a glance, not a single clear road could be seen.
Taking one last look back at the lonely courtyard at the end of the wooden fence, Qiu Ling set off, walking out of the muddy little village.
His great dappled horse with the white forehead was tethered under a large tree nearby. The carriage that had been parked in the shade was gone, leaving behind only a mess of wheel ruts.
He felt a strange sense of relief. In the next moment, a red figure flipped down from the dense shade nearby, landing before him in the blink of an eye.
"Is she alright?"
Qiu Ling did not look at Jiang Xin’er, merely nodding slightly.
"She will be fine."
Time could fade all things; he understood this truth better than anyone.
Having said this, Qiu Ling walked toward his horse, but the red figure stepped forward to block his path.
"The reason the Governor failed to return to the shipyard in time was because Zhou Yaxian invited you to the Tide-Watching Pavilion at Scarlet Cloud Beach for a talk. Is that not so?"
This time, Qiu Ling finally turned to look at her, his voice as cold and hard as ever.
"In the world of the martial arts, you might be able to help him. But in matters of officialdom, you would do best to stay out of it."
Jiang Xin’er instinctively took half a step back at his words.
Ultimately, the man before her was her nominal master—the kind of person a disciple of the First Villa under Heaven was meant to serve for a lifetime. Even if he just stood there without saying a word, a primal fear stirred in her heart.
But at this moment, another urgency overrode her fear, causing her to speak up hurriedly.
"Does the Governor intend to fully align himself with the government from now on? What benefits have they promised you? Are they planning to use *that thing* for something? What would the Old General think if he knew? And the Young Master..."
"Presumptuous." Qiu Ling glanced at her. His voice was low, but his tone was more severe than ever before. "Staying by his side all these years has made you far too bold. You are not helping him this way; you will only get him killed. Do you understand?"
Jiang Xin’er stood frozen for a long time before finally shaking her head.
"I do not understand. I only know that the Governor looks miserable, but the Young Master is also suffering. I only want to do something for him. If the Governor feels my actions are improper, then tell me what is proper. If you only wish to reprimand me... Xin’er will endure it."
As she finished, she lowered her head deeply, as if waiting for an "answer" or a "punishment" to descend.
Finally, the man before her spoke again, his voice carrying an undisguised exhaustion.
"I will not place the Qiu family in a disadvantageous position for any matter or any person. I believe he is the same. Go and ask him: after witnessing the state of those patients in the shipyard, does he still intend to seek that secret formula for our father?"
The woman in red was stunned. She seemed to understand something; though reluctant, she bowed her head and departed.
Qiu Ling mounted his horse and galloped into the rain.
Whether it was Jiang Xin’er, Xu Qiuchi, or Qin Jiuye—or anyone else currently around him—everyone was running themselves ragged for that damned secret formula, even paying a tragic price. Yet, to those standing on the outside, looking on with cold eyes, the truth they were fighting so hard to obtain was as insignificant as a grain of sand on a chessboard. It didn't even require a hand to brush it away; a single gust of wind would return everything to its original state.
The words Zhou Yaxian had spoken to him that day in the Tide-Watching Pavilion still echoed in his ears. When the man had asked him to "take over" the First Villa under Heaven, he hadn't immediately grasped the deeper meaning, his mind still occupied with investigating the case.
"Your subordinate suspects the mastermind behind this has other motives. Using the First Villa as a front might just be a distraction. The priority is to capture this person to understand the full scope of the matter..."
"This person holds a position at the Academy and hails from the First Villa?"
Qiu Ling paused, then nodded in admission.
"Precisely."
"Then that is that. As long as he is connected to the First Villa, this matter cannot be separated from Di Mo. This is the inevitable outcome. Even if it isn't the case now, it will be in the future. Do you understand?"
Qiu Ling was stunned, finally understanding the subtext. The worry on his face only deepened.
"The Supervisor may not know, but this secret formula is an extremely dangerous thing. It should be immediately seized and handed over to the Bureau of Metals and Stones. If it leaks, the consequences will be catastrophic..."
"Do you know what those in high positions hate most? It is not negligence, but alarmism."
Qiu Ling froze, momentarily at a loss for words.
He understood Zhou Yaxian’s implication. No matter how dangerous a thing was, few would care until an incident occurred; at most, it was merely a tool for power struggles. Especially for those who had spent a long time at the top, they felt nothing was beyond their control. The commotion stirred up by a mere remote corner of the martial world was nothing more than noise outside the hall. Moreover, when faced with a blade delivered to one's door, the most urgent task was never to return the blade to its scabbard, but to scramble for the hilt and use it to eliminate rivals.
And now, Zhou Yaxian wanted him to grasp this blade.
"If you do not do this, someone else naturally will. The result will be the same. Do you intend to give this opportunity to others for nothing?"
"I would rather not have such an opportunity." He clenched his fists, refusing to bow his head. "I have reasons why I must investigate the secret formula. Even if the Supervisor had not come, I would not have backed down. Whether it is Ding Miao or the Liang family, I will investigate to the very end."
"And what of the Prince Xiaoning’s Manor?" Zhou Yaxian’s voice was flat, yet it sounded exceptionally piercing in the heavy air before the storm. "What if Liang Shi’an and Liang Bozhong are merely pawns? If the participants behind all this go far beyond them, do you still have the resolve to walk this dark path to the end?"
The young Governor fell into silence once more. Zhou Yaxian’s voice continued.
"It is true that General Pingnan values old ties and has protected you all these years. But do you think the General alone could have protected the Qiu family for so long?"
"My father has guarded Jiugao for many years. I have never seen an old friend come to visit, nor even a single letter. Who else would be willing to protect us in secret?"
This was only natural. After all, the Emperor’s attitude was cold; who would dare to appear too warm?
However, as if knowing exactly what he was thinking, the other man exposed the truth in the next moment.
"On the surface, His Majesty ignores the affairs of Jiugao, but for the Qiu family, is this not a form of protection? A general without military power is a hunting dog with its claws pulled. Furthermore, your father is upright to a fault; the Black Moon has no fewer than eight or nine enemies out of ten in the court. New grudges and old scores all need to be settled—this is the real reason the Black Moon has been unable to rise again. No matter how the events of those years ended, the late Emperor ultimately felt a sense of guilt toward the Qiu family. But once Qiu Yan dies, these old sentiments across generations will vanish like smoke. The Qiu family will lose its protection entirely, and there is no telling what end they will meet."
The cruel truth was unsheathed like a dagger; the closer it came, the harder it was to withstand.
"I have military merits. I am willing to serve at the border. If only given time..."
"How many battles are there left to fight on the Xiang-Liang border? These years, the Xiang-Liang region has held tight to salt and grain to maneuver among the six border nations. The so-called 'flourishing of civil arts and the decline of the military' is exactly the result His Majesty desires. As for the First Villa under Heaven, it was originally a hidden chess piece the late Emperor kept in the martial world to help him control the situation outside the court—to be used for clandestine operations when necessary. But as time passed, this piece grew too large and began to sprout a malignant tumor. Now, the general trend is simply the fruit falling when it is ripe. Whoever can be the first to find a pretext and twist off this rotten fruit will be the one to ease the Emperor's burdens. Such an achievement far outweighs a dozen military merits. If you knew how many ships sent from the capital have been entering and leaving Jiugao to observe during the three days of the Sword Appreciation Assembly, you would understand how many people in court are eyeing this fruit that is about to hit the ground. You have already touched its lifeline; do you intend to hand this opportunity to others at the final moment?"
Zhou Yaxian’s words echoed in the Tide-Watching Pavilion for a long time before receiving a response.
"So, the Supervisor did not come today to ask for my will, but to give me orders."
Just like many years ago.
The Qiu family had never had a choice. They didn't then, and they didn't now. The only difference was that this situation had been transferred from his father to him.
Zhou Yaxian did not deny it. At this moment, he had completely discarded personal emotion, becoming that immovable banner guiding everything toward a predetermined conclusion.
"I want you to personally investigate this matter thoroughly. When necessary, I will have the General assist you from the sidelines. But the conclusion of this matter must point to the First Villa under Heaven—and only to the First Villa."
Zhou Yaxian’s methods were beyond doubt. A man who spent his years maneuvering in officialdom did not strike lightly, but when he did, there was always an echo. Everyone in the capital knew Prince Xiaoning was a madman, but the dignity of the Imperial Family had to be preserved. No one ever dared to say a word against that absurd prince, nor did they dare to mock or lampoon him.
However, since the charges had been woven, they had to fall on someone’s head.
This time, the Imperial Family would use the First Villa under Heaven as the sacrificial lamb for their wrath.
Unlike the "invitation" Di Mo had handed him, Qiu Ling understood that what lay before him was a truly rare opportunity. As long as he seized it, the things he wanted to do for the Qiu family and even the Black Moon might become possible.
"But..."
But the matter of the secret formula was still unclear. Could all of this truly end with the capture of those few ships? Clearly, the hidden Ding Miao and the Prince Xiaoning’s Manor behind him were the true culprits. Even though he knew this, was he to pretend otherwise, becoming a man who fished in troubled waters and sought unearned fame? How was he to face his subordinates to whom he had given oaths over wine? How was he to face the people of Longshu who were still kept in the dark? And how was he to face *her*, who had said she would walk the same path as him...
Zhou Yaxian saw the wavering heart of the man before him and raised his hand to stroke the teacup filled with clear tea.
"Though the Golden Osmanthus of Longke is expensive, gold is common while this tea is hard to find. Only officials of the fourth rank and above are qualified to receive a small portion of this quality of new tea."
Zhou Yaxian did not continue, but what he had said was enough.
Some things were no different from drinking tea. If he wanted to do things by his own strength alone, passion was useless; no one would be willing to listen to his petitions or his accounts of crimes.
What Zhou Yaxian wanted him to do was to become a person who was *qualified*.
"You entered the army at nineteen. Although you have always followed the General, I have essentially watched you grow up. I know your character best. You are loyal and pure-hearted, as is Commander Qiu. But in this world, good people can never beat bad people. That is why you need someone like me." In the distance, figures could be seen galloping toward them across the shallows. Zhou Yaxian looked at him one last time. "I do not like to leave things unfinished. Before the matter of the water conservancy concludes, I hope you will not make me wait too long. One month as the limit—how about it?"
For him, one month was indeed enough time to handle matters, but it was far from enough time to discard certain things.
It was not enough for anyone.
If regrets and longings remained in the heart, no one could ever truly be ready to say goodbye.
A general setting out for war never reveals his wounds until victory is won or he lies dead on the field.
Before everything was completed, he had always hidden his hesitations and hardships well; even his brother, with his clever mind, could not detect them.
But just now, in that dilapidated house in the small village, she had seen through everything with just a single glance.
She understood his difficulties, so as soon as he spoke, she agreed.
Or perhaps, she too was facing the choice of whether to cut off her longings. After all, the patient who needed her medical skills most was no longer there.
****** ****** ******
The sky was gloomy. Even looking out from the broken window, one could not judge the hour by the light.
After the oil lamp on the table burned out, time seemed to stand still.
Faint footsteps paced at the door, sometimes further, sometimes closer, interspersed with a rustling sound—the sound of someone fiddling with the string of chili peppers hanging by the door that never seemed to dry.
Qin Jiuye finally opened her eyes and spoke with a raspy voice.
"If you have something to say, speak. I am injured, not deaf."
"You're awake? I... I was just afraid of disturbing your rest. The Governor specifically told me to be nicer to you." Jin Bao plucked at the dried skin of a chili pepper, trying his best to act nonchalant, though his eyes uncontrollably stole glances toward the bed. "Actually, it’s nothing major. I was just thinking... since he won't be back for a while, shouldn't his things be cleared out? They're just taking up space. I’ve gathered some of them; take a look when you have time?"
In truth, even if those things weren't thrown out, that person likely wouldn't stay at Guoran Ju anymore. That brat had done such an awful thing; how could he have the face to return? Heaven truly had eyes. Thinking back to how miserably he had been oppressed, how he had even "cursed" the other in his deepest sorrow, saying he should never be allowed to step over the threshold of Guoran Ju again—now, it seemed it was actually coming true.
The fat apprentice’s thoughts were not hard to guess, but the apothecary shop owner remained silent for a long while.
In fact, when he first arrived, he had almost nothing on him. That rusty blade had fallen into Heart-Glazing Lake during the previous fight. All that remained were some old clothes he had worn, more than half of which were Jin Bao’s old clothes, altered to fit him and thus unable to be "returned to the original owner."
Qin Jiuye did not turn her head. She only lifted a single finger from beneath the covers and pointed toward the broken wooden stool by the window, where she often used the light to mend clothes.
"They are all clean, laundered clothes. It would be a waste to throw them away. Just leave them on the stool."
Jin Bao was quiet for a moment, clearly dissatisfied with her decision, but he did as he was told reluctantly. Finally, he pulled out a few wild fruits from somewhere, wiped them with his hem, and handed them to her, asking habitually:
"How long are you going to be out of commission this time? Tell me in advance, so those folks in the village don't come looking for you and scold me when they can't find you."
He only intended to complain about having too much work, too little food, and not enough sleep, hoping to gain some small advantage. He didn't expect his boss to say directly:
"One day. Two days at most. Once I can get up, hang the sign for consultations out."
Jin Bao was stunned, seemingly failing to react.
"You... you're not leaving? Didn't the Governor say he was waiting for you? He said the matters over there could wait until you were ready. And that Second Young Master..."
"Have they all left the village?"
Jin Bao’s rambling was cut off. Thinking of those two sons of the Qiu family, who were like dragons and phoenixes among men, he was truly baffled by his boss’s sudden cold attitude. After a long pause, he nodded.
"They left long ago."
"Did they leave separately or together?"
"Separately, of course. One rode a horse, the other took a carriage. They aren't traveling the same path."
The boss on the bed stopped speaking.
She seemed to have fallen asleep, or perhaps she had simply fallen into silence.
She wasn't surprised at all by Teng Hu’s departure without a word. For a person who only ever thought of himself, leaving was the normal thing to do.
It just seemed that everything had happened at once.
Teng Hu’s departure, Li Qiao’s loss of control, the Qiu brothers taking different paths—every single one was a cold, hard fact telling her that the "alliance" formed days ago to investigate the secret formula had collapsed overnight. Like that great rain, it had surged and washed everything away, leaving no trace.
Perhaps seeing that she hadn't spoken for a long time, Jin Bao’s voice rang out again, sounding hesitant.
"Are you going to sleep? What are we eating tomorrow? I see the rice jar is hitting bottom again. Since it’s hard for you to move, it’s better if I make a trip into the city to buy some..."
The gluttonous apprentice leaned against the doorframe, counting on his fingers and making his little calculations.
Qin Jiuye caught a glimpse of his shadow twisting against the wall and suddenly felt a bit fortunate that the person by her side right now was Jin Bao.
Only when facing that transparent, blank-sheet-of-paper face could she briefly forget the complex and heavy past.
In this tiny Guoran Ju, which seemed to have regained its coldness and peace, there lingered an unresolvable sorrow of parting and the regret of paths diverging. But for Jin Bao, this was just a simple, ordinary dusk.
He knew nothing of the complex, tangled, heavy, and dark matters, and he never would. He was still thinking about what to eat for the next meal, thinking about his Miss Fang, thinking about slacking off and the endless chores.
"Tomorrow, we eat chicken."
After an unknown amount of time, the woman on the bed spoke in a low voice.
As soon as she spoke, the figure at the door instantly perked up, then looked over with a face full of disbelief.
"Really? You mean it? I’m going to find Auntie Zheng then. Once that chicken is killed, it won't come back to life..."
"Really. The silver is in the crack between the bricks under the stove. If you take even one extra copper, you're in for it."
When she had first saved that youth, she had thought that once she got the silver, she would have a good meal of chicken. Having suffered so much now, she finally had to make up for what she was owed.
Jin Bao had never received such a command before. Overjoyed, he rushed out the door, likely knocking over several bricks under the stove in his haste, and vanished beyond the courtyard gate in an instant.
The chickens in the village grew restless, as if sensing a threat. The villagers, however, remained silent in their post-disaster exhaustion. Dusk had just fallen, and the surroundings were already quiet. The summer cicadas, having exhausted their voices, no longer chirped. The entire small village fell asleep in its weariness.
A gust of wind blew, wrinkling the water-logged melon fields. The old peach forest rustled, shaking off a night’s worth of rain.
The kind-hearted villagers had raised a few earthen mounds under those old peach trees. Buried beneath them were the bodies of a dozen or so young men and women.
They had no names, no hometowns, and no relatives to visit and sweep their graves during festivals.
What awaited them was an endless silence. Until the final moment of their lives, they had never opened their eyes to truly look at this world.
Most assassins of the First Villa under Heaven met such an end. That should have been his end as well.
But he had met her.
The youth’s tall, thin figure flashed by. In the next moment, he had bypassed the few guards at the village entrance and stepped silently into that familiar courtyard.
His ears twitched. He easily caught the sound of her light breathing through the sound of the rain. It was only a few dozen steps from that broken wooden gate to her room, yet he walked with great difficulty. When he reached the door, he stopped abruptly, hesitating outside, not daring to enter.
His lingering footsteps pressed a pit into the messy mud by the door. On the other side, the apprentice’s thunderous snoring came intermittently. He peered into the room through a crack in the window, seeing at a glance the empty water bowl and the untidy corners.
Taking a deep breath, Li Qiao finally pushed the door open gently and stepped inside.
The walls of the simple room were dark, save for a few grey bricks on the floor that shimmered slightly from the owner’s frequent scrubbing. In the corner sat several wooden basins to catch leaks. Half-read medical books were piled haphazardly at the foot of the bed. On the broken wooden stool by the window, a set of laundered men’s clothes was neatly folded. The worn spots had just been mended; he could almost see the fine stitches on them and smell the faint scent of mint.
Everything was so familiar, yet everything was so blurred, like a dream that had started from nowhere and ended abruptly.
The effects of the medicine caused her to curl up and sleep deeply. Two bronze mirrors lay quietly by her pillow. He saw his shadow flash across one of them but did not dare to stop and look closely.
He did not know if his appearance had also changed like He Yuanzhou’s. He was afraid that one day he would turn into a monster like the other; he was even more afraid of appearing before her in such a monstrous form.
At this moment, he finally understood what Gongzi Yan had meant by "a life worse than death, like a chestnut roasting in the fire."
It turned out there truly were things in this world more terrifying than Qingfeng Powder.
The reason He Yuanzhou had killed Kang Renshou was that after she fell ill, almost no one was willing to stay by her side except for the physician who treated her. The reason Qin Jiuye was lying there bleeding was that after he lost control, she was the person closest to him.
He also finally understood the words Qiu Ling had spoken to him that night.
Liking someone was not enough; what mattered was whether one could stay together.
He had stepped into the small courtyard of Guoran Ju countless times. From the same spot, he had watched her from afar a thousand times. But the moment he had tackled her into the mud, using his teeth to bite her neck and suck her blood, all beauty had become as murky and untraceable as rain hitting the ground.
He had personally turned this, his only refuge in this life, into a hell.
To this day, he still firmly believed that the only person who could solve all this was her. But he did not dare to wait. He was afraid that during this long wait, he would turn into a monster first, and then, in his chaotic ignorance, kill her and swallow her whole.
Losing her, he might have only one path—death.
But leaving him, her life still held countless possibilities.
Aside from his own worthless life, he had never truly possessed anything. When someone handed him a heart, he didn't even know how to keep it. He was afraid of hurting it if he held it too tight, yet worried it would grow cold in the wind if he let go even a little.
In the end, he was afraid. Afraid that the more he wanted to possess something, the more he would destroy it.
She had said that the human heart was the most precious thing in the world; once broken, it could never be made whole again. If that were the case, should he have stayed away from all this from the very beginning? She was already living such a hard life; it was bad enough that he couldn't give her the life she wanted, so how could he let her fall into an even worse situation?
Li Qiao walked to the corner, organized the scattered medical books, added oil to the dying lamp on the table, refilled the empty water bowl with fresh water, mended the drafty window, and leveled every wobbling table and stool leg. Finally, he picked up the clothes on the broken wooden stool and tucked them into his robe.
His departing steps were nailed to the floor; he could not bring himself to leave just like that. Taking a deep breath, he finally turned and walked step by step toward that grey bed.
Looking at the figure sleeping quietly upon it, he seemed to see himself—the one who had been lying on the bed, a bloody mess, months ago.
That spring three months ago, when he first met her, he never imagined the day of departure would look like this.
The twenty-three years of his life had been spent in countless wanderings and partings.
But he had never understood the true meaning of "parting." He had simply gone from one place to another, passed through crowds, and endured from sunrise to sunset.
He didn't care if he could ever return to the places he had been, see the people he had met, or recall the times he had experienced. He moved forward in chaos; whether he looked ahead or back, there was only darkness.
Then one day, she appeared without any warning.
If his chaotic, dark life had ever been lit by a flickering lamp, it was the sound of her footsteps as she walked toward him through the rain, holding an umbrella.
Only, he hadn't realized it then, not until the day of parting finally arrived.
He watched her without moving, not even daring to blink.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment, yet it also seemed to move faster and faster, like a river rushing into the sea.
Never in his life had he looked at a person so seriously, so closely. Never in his memory had there been such a vivid face, such a moving scent, such a warm temperature.
He wanted to break down everything about her, crush it, and swallow it whole. Only then could he ensure not a single detail was missed.
Then, he slowly extended a finger of his left hand, carefully passing through the empty air to lightly touch the center of her forehead.
He wanted to know if he would still exist within her in the future.
His finger slowly moved down, hovering in the air over her quietly closed eyes.
He wanted to know what his final image looked like in her eyes.
Down, further down, his gaze and finger both stopped at those tightly pursed lips.
He wanted... he wanted...
Before he could figure out exactly what he was thinking, he had already made a move.
He tilted his head slightly, approaching her face in a posture that was almost prayerful.
The faint scent of mint surrounded him. His lips stopped just a fraction of an inch from hers, but that tiny distance was something he could not cross, no matter what.
He could only stop there, looking at her face—from the mole at the end of her eyebrow to the slight dimple at the corner of her mouth, from the eyelashes dusted with fine specks to the yellowish, soft strands of hair at her temple. He could not look enough; he could never finish looking.
The blue light of dawn behind him grew brighter. The early birds had begun to chatter in the branches.
The woman on the bed frowned slightly. her breathing hitched, and then she turned over shallowly. The shadow that had been a fraction of an inch away finally pulled back.
He had to leave.
Li Qiao stood up, stepped back a few paces, and took one last look at the person on the bed.
With just this one glance, he felt he had used up all the strength of his life.
He had only this one chance for a glance. He had to grasp this sole opportunity firmly and etch her image into his heart forever.
If he were never to see her again, he would have to live the rest of his life on this final glance.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 督监 | Supervisor | Referring to Zhou Yaxian's official rank/role. |
| 金石司 | Bureau of Metals and Stones | A government department likely dealing with alchemy, minerals, or poisons. |
| 孝宁王 | Prince Xiaoning | A member of the imperial family mentioned as a potential mastermind. |
| 龙窠金桂 | Longke Golden Osmanthus | A high-grade tea mentioned by Zhou Yaxian. |
| 果然居 | Guoran Ju | The name of Qin Jiuye's clinic/residence (Indeed Clinic). |
| 平南将军 | General Pingnan | A title for a general, likely referring to Qiu Ling's father or a close associate. |
| 襄梁 | Xiang-Liang | A geographical region or border area. |
| 龙枢 | Longshu | A place name, likely the broader region or capital area. |
| 听潮亭 | Tide-Watching Pavilion | The location of the meeting between Qiu Ling and Zhou Yaxian. |
