Outside Wenchun Alley, just a street away from Tingfeng Hall, the night patrol had converged beneath the agreed-upon stone bridge.
Beneath the bridge, the water flowed silently; above, the moon hung full and bright. The sound of iron hooves approached from the distance, shattering the moonlight reflected on the ground.
The rider dismounted in one fluid motion. Several young officers waiting beneath the bridge bowed in unison. One stepped forward to report in a low voice—it was the Governor’s Assistant General, Lu Zican.
"Reporting to the Governor: fifteen minutes ago, someone fled Tingfeng Hall and headed toward the north of the city. The individual used insidious methods and moved as silently as a ghost. They ambushed our men with hidden projectiles. Zhang Min and Zhou Li gave chase for two districts before losing the trail. I request the Governor’s order to place the north city under martial law and conduct a thorough search for this person."
Qiu Ling remained silent for a moment before speaking tonelessly.
"I ordered you to personally lead the men guarding Tingfeng Hall. Why were you not there?"
Lu Zican’s face, thick with beard and whiskers, turned visibly red. After a long pause, unable to hide his shame, he dropped to one knee to beg for forgiveness.
"After nightfall, I noticed movement in the east of the city and diverted men to investigate. I did not expect it to be that thief who has been causing such a stir lately. That person has been causing chaos in the city for a long time, acting with increasing arrogance, no different from the bandits who rob travelers outside the city. I truly could not allow him to remain at large, so I went to apprehend him personally..."
"You fell for a ruse to lure the tiger from the mountain," the young Governor said, his voice calm and devoid of any discernible anger or reproach, as if he were merely analyzing the situation. "The opponent came prepared. Not only did they grasp the layout of our defenses during the curfew, but they also understood the temperaments of you and your men. They are no ordinary foe."
Lu Zican buried his head even deeper.
He didn't know what had come over him lately; he seemed to be repeatedly provoked into making blunders. He hadn't been like this before. It had to be that ill wind brought in by that boy surnamed Li, blowing even his whiskers crooked.
"This subordinate has handled matters poorly. I submit to the Governor’s punishment!"
"Poor handling of duties shall be dealt with by military law. For now, do not waste my time with nonsense," Qiu Ling said as he took a marked map of the city from his person and handed it to Lu Zican. "This is a simplified map I have marked. Take Shaoheng and immediately search several key stone bridges and docks. Do not overlook the shallows near the riverbanks. The rest of the men will close the net according to the previous deployment. Regardless of whether you find anything, you must return to the manor to report before dawn."
For a city that lived off its waters, the word "road" often meant far more than just streets and alleys.
Lu Zican understood instantly and hurried to take the map. The men shouted their acknowledgment in unison, mounted their horses, and scattered into four or five squads according to their pre-assigned numbers, galloping off in all directions.
Lu Zican was the last to leave. Before departing, he couldn't help but turn back to add, "There was quite a commotion inside Tingfeng Hall just now. If the Governor is worried about Miss Qin and the others, perhaps you should go take a look."
Having said this, as if fearing his Governor would rebuke him or add another mark to his record for the night's failures, he squeezed his horse's flanks and sped away from the stone bridge.
Silence returned to the bridge. Qiu Ling stood in place for a long time before turning his gaze toward Shouqi Street.
The back street of Tingfeng Hall, which was a chaotic mix of people during the day, was now empty. In the darkness, only a faint, blurry light could be seen within the hall. Faint voices drifted out, gradually returning to stillness.
He stood there watching for a long time, until the courtyard was completely silent and the lights were extinguished. Only then did he turn, mount his horse, and depart.
****** ****** ******
Once the hour of the Rat had passed, a wind began to rise over Jiugao City.
The moon emerged briefly from the clouds before vanishing behind the dark haze again, causing the entire city to shift between light and shadow.
In a quiet stream at the junction of the city's southern and northern sectors, a shadow silently cut through the water's surface. It moved so fast that even the newly sprouted grass by the river was undisturbed; to an unobservant eye, it would have seemed like nothing more than a river fish surfacing for air.
Finally reaching the end of this waterway, the shadow slowly approached the bank and rose from the water.
The shadow's movements were slow. Water droplets slid off the specialized fish-skin diving suit, making almost no sound.
The figure stepped out of the river, quickly stripped off the diving suit, and stuffed it into a backpack. Then, they hurried onto the stone bridge by the shore. On the arch of the bridge, two mottled characters were faintly visible: "Liaowu."
The bridge was short and narrow, its every corner visible at a glance.
Across this bridge lay the North City. And tonight, the North City was destined to have no one notice a shadow emerging from the water.
A smirk tugged at the corner of the shadow's mouth as she stepped onto the bridge.
"The night road is difficult to travel. My Young Master invites the lady for a carriage ride."
Suddenly, a cold and haughty female voice rang out from behind.
The shadow froze but did not turn around immediately. When she spoke, her voice was also that of a woman.
"Are you here to mock me?"
A woman in red stood on a branch of an old mulberry tree at the foot of the bridge, clutching a blade. Her hem fluttered slightly in the night wind, looking like a war banner unfurling in the dark.
"It is your own lack of skill. My Young Master is kindly offering to help you; why must you speak with such malice?"
The woman in black on the bridge laughed, her voice turning even colder afterward.
"No matter how poorly I fare, it is not the place of a rejected brat like you to ridicule me. Provoke me again, and I will flip my hand and pierce a few holes in that little face of yours, and we shall see how you serve your Young Master then."
In the martial world, those who were truly capable and ruthless did not waste time on words. They chose to strike directly, leaving the opponent no chance to speak again.
Jiang Xin'er had not understood this principle before. In the past, if someone had provoked her like this, her anger would have flared, and she would have charged with her blade, refusing to stop until one of them was dead.
But now, having received guidance from a "master," she could see through the opponent's current predicament. She paused thoughtfully for a moment before slowly speaking.
"My manager said you are the type who would rather suffer than lose face. I didn't believe it before, but seeing you today, I realize it is true."
The person on the bridge said nothing, but the emotion in her exposed eyes was terrifying.
However, she could not afford any more delays. The woman in black suppressed her emotions and began to walk forward, seemingly ignoring Jiang Xin'er entirely.
In the next instant, the red figure flipped down from the tree. In a single leap, she had closed the distance behind the woman in black.
"You were never my match to begin with. If the Young Master hadn't told me to invite you, I would have cut you down and dragged you away long ago."
The woman in black retreated with a nimble sidestep, a cold sneer escaping from beneath her face mask.
"You wouldn't dare! You and I came from the same place. If the Manor Lord finds out, do you think the Qiu family can protect you forever? Besides, what are you? Just a dog. What master would be willing to offend the Manor Lord for the sake of a dog..."
"I don't keep dogs, only ducks."
A man's relaxed and pleasant voice rang out from a carriage on the opposite side of the stone bridge.
The carriage was parked beneath the misty willows and moonlight. The carriage curtain flickered open and shut along with the sound of a fan being snapped, bringing a waft of warm fragrance with the wind.
"Since I have kept her, I will protect her. As long as she is by my side, even if your Manor Lord comes in person to demand her, I cannot hand her over."
The woman in black’s eyes darted around as she held her breath and scanned her surroundings.
"The moon is dark and the wind is high; the night is deep and the dew is heavy. Does the Second Young Master not fear being snatched away by a night-walking ghost to be eaten as a snack, coming here all alone?"
Xu Qiuchi’s voice sounded even more amused.
"Why must the lady speak so harshly? I was worried that after your scouting mission at Tingfeng Hall, you wouldn't know the way to my manor, so I came specifically to meet you. Besides, how could I be alone? Is Xin'er not standing right there?"
The woman in black had already made up her mind. After a feint, before Jiang Xin'er could entangle her again, she flicked her wrist and sent three silver needles flying straight toward the person in the carriage.
The person behind the curtain seemed completely unaware, allowing the poisonous needles to punch a row of small holes through the thin fabric. There was no further sound.
The woman in black smirked. However, in the next moment, the curtain was gently lifted. A pampered hand, wearing a purple jade thumb ring, reached out, as leisurely as ever. But tonight, that hand did not hold the beast-bone waist fan; instead, it held an embroidery hoop the size of a wooden basin.
The hoop was framed with fine bamboo, and at a glance, it looked no different from those noble ladies often played with, except that the embroidery cloth on it appeared exceptionally thick, like the skin of a drum. Upon closer inspection, the "embroidery thread" was neither common silk nor gold or silver wire, but the most ordinary thick hemp thread.
Currently, three poisonous needles were stuck in the cloth. As Xu Qiuchi turned his wrist, the three needles glinted coldly under the moonlight.
The words the woman in green had said when she gave him this object seemed to echo in his ears. He raised his hand and gently brushed over the embroidery hoop, his voice tinged with a hint of regret when he spoke again.
"The Ciyi Needles are indeed tricky and interesting. But since you have inherited these needles, you should know their origin. These needles can pierce solid rock and penetrate heavy armor, yet they fall short specifically against layered cloth and fabric. Especially material made with a base of starched rags, stitched densely with thick hemp thread, commonly known as..." He paused intentionally here as he removed the items from the hoop. "...commonly known as a shoe sole. This was the last trace of true sentiment that Jiang Ci could not discard, even while practicing the art of killing. And since you lack such sentiment, I suppose you cannot comprehend it."
In the martial world, what greater humiliation was there than being told to one's face that they understood nothing of their own weapon? Especially when the speaker knew no martial arts at all—a pampered young master who didn't even have the strength to lift a blade.
Even as cunning and enduring as the woman in black was, she could not ignore the mockery and ridicule in his words. The anger in her eyes, visible above the black cloth, was impossible to hide.
She wanted to teach the owner of that voice a harsh lesson, but Jiang Xin'er already stood before the carriage like an iron tower, and the person inside the carriage became even more emboldened because of it.
"I have heard that in ancient times, there was a martial arts master who used a single hemp-soled cloth shoe to break the most prized technique of a Sword Obsessive. You needn't feel ashamed of this."
The embroidery hoop was slowly lowered, and a face with a half-smile emerged from behind the curtain.
Xu Qiuchi’s voice rang out again. Though still pleasant, it now carried a touch of chill.
"You fancy yourself clever, yet you do not know that my elder brother loves nothing more than to toy with clever people. You surely don't think his defenses were truly so lax that he simply let you slip through half the city during a curfew to enter Tingfeng Hall, do you?"
The woman in black indeed stiffened. Recalling the unusual smoothness of her actions tonight, her resolve finally began to waver.
Seeing her silence, he continued unhurriedly.
"He is different from me. He has been by our father's side since he was a child. He knows every hidden sentry and every defensive post within these city walls perfectly. No one knows this city better than the Qiu family. You thought you meticulously planned an escape route, but you didn't realize your plan was part of his."
As if to prove Xu Qiuchi’s words, the faint sound of horse hooves echoed from her back right, rapidly approaching.
The hoofbeats did not hesitate or pause; they were coming almost directly toward her location, and by the sound of it, there was more than one rider. She had lost the advantage of a surprise attack; if she wasn't careful, she would be drawn into a fight, and tonight's matter was something she absolutely could not allow to be exposed...
The woman in black remained silent for a moment before finally speaking.
"Why help me?"
"Though I am an idle man, I do not engage in losing business. Helping you naturally comes with conditions," Xu Qiuchi said, picking up his waist fan again. He fanned himself while making a show of looking toward the distant alley entrance. "You can choose to get in the carriage, and we can chat while listening to the wind and admiring the moon; tonight's matter will then be a little secret between us. Or you can choose to walk back to the manor, attracting several tails you can't shake and troubles you can't escape. You are a clever person; you surely know how to choose. Am I right, Miss Xinyu?"
The night wind rose again, blowing the hem of the black-clad woman's clothes aside slightly, revealing a hint of hard-to-notice purple beneath.
****** ****** ******
The quieter the night, the crisper the sound of hooves striking the bluestone pavement.
Following the marked map, the young Assistant General galloped with his men to the first important checkpoint.
This was the closest stone bridge leading from the south of the city to the north. The Li Water and the Daixiao River converged nearby before flowing southeast, while the upstream to the northwest had numerous branches, making a thorough search time-consuming and difficult.
If one wanted to enter the North City, this was the most direct shortcut via the waterway.
Lu Zican dismounted. The dark clouds parted slightly at that moment, and under the moonlight, the Liaowu Bridge was visible from end to end. Not a single soul could be seen on the empty bridge.
Refusing to give up, he climbed down to the narrow, hidden areas beneath the bridge to search carefully, but still found nothing.
The river flowed quietly; not even a single fish blowing bubbles could be seen in the calm water.
Behind him, the young officer with high brows, deep eyes, and a half-deer-tail ornament on his head gazed into the distance from his horse, then looked down at the map in his hand.
"Brother Lu, since no one is here, let us hurry to the next location. The Governor instructed us not to linger too long in one place."
Lu Zican stood at the head of the bridge. He twitched his nose, trying to distinguish a faint scent in the night wind.
It was a fragrance. An expensive, bone-warming scent.
"No, someone was definitely here just now."
Du Shaoheng scratched his head, remaining motionless on his horse. His gaze was still fixed on the dark alleys in the distance.
"Even if someone was here, they are gone now. The priority is to give chase..."
Lu Zican’s tall figure swayed slightly as if he agreed. He was about to leave when he suddenly stopped.
"Wait," he walked quickly to the lush willow tree by the bridge and crouched down, his body almost pressed to the ground. "There are fresh carriage tracks here."
Du Shaoheng frowned and finally dismounted, leaning in to look.
It was a small patch of moss growing in the shade of the tree roots. Now, a track had been carved through the moss, turning up fresh soil, with a few small clumps of dirt still scattered about.
Du Shaoheng clicked his tongue, speaking with a hint of disbelief.
"It's still during the curfew. It's one thing for a lone person to flee, but how could someone be brazenly wandering about in a carriage?"
Indeed, anyone who heard such a deduction would shake their head. But the truth often hides within those "impossibilities."
Tonight's failure was frustrating, but it was also stimulating. Lu Zican’s thoughts raced.
What if the carriage appeared from somewhere nearby? Even if it retreated, it would be quick. If they encountered the night patrol, they could simply park the carriage deep in an alley and stay quiet, pretending no one was inside; that would actually be less likely to attract attention.
"Who knows? Perhaps this thief is even bolder than we imagined, and has an even greater background," Lu Zican said, stroking his beard as he stood up. He didn't rush to a conclusion but looked around before pointing to a prominent large residence to the north. "What place is that?"
Du Shaoheng glanced at Lu Zican, seemingly finding the question a bit amusing.
But then he remembered his Governor’s habit of remaining silent whenever family matters were involved, and he felt a sense of understanding.
After a pause, he followed Lu Zican’s hand and looked toward the massive silhouette in the night.
"Reporting to the Assistant General, that is the Qiu Manor. Our Governor’s own home."
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 陆子参 | Lu Zican | Assistant General under Qiu Ling. |
| 杜少衡 | Du Shaoheng | A young officer/subordinate under Qiu Ling. |
| 了无桥 | Liaowu Bridge | A small bridge connecting the south and north city sectors. |
| 鱼皮水靠 | Fish-skin diving suit | Specialized waterproof gear for swimming/diving. |
| 姜辛儿 | Jiang Xin'er | The red-clad woman serving Xu Qiuchi. |
| 慈衣针 | Ciyi Needles | A specialized type of hidden projectile/needle weapon. |
| 江慈 | Jiang Ci | The historical/martial figure who created the Ciyi Needles. |
| 心俞 | Xinyu | The identity of the black-clad intruder. |
| 绣绷 | Embroidery hoop | A frame used for embroidery, used here as a defensive tool. |
| 邱府 | Qiu Manor | The residence of the Qiu family (Qiu Ling and Xu Qiuchi). |
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