Traversing the mountains at night was a peril among perils.
Beneath her feet were slick rocks and sodden meadows; above her head was a boundless darkness that swallowed the stars and the moon.
In a daze, she felt as if she had returned to Jingbo Tower, standing once more within that silent, pitch-black, and frigid stone passage.
Only this time, the end of the darkness would not hold light or a gentle breeze, nor would that person be sitting amidst the spring scenery of the lake, waiting for her to draw near.
In this current darkness, the only person she could rely on was herself.
But the long night would eventually pass, and the dawn would eventually come. Would it not?
Xiao Nanhui gritted her teeth and swung her dagger, driving it into the jagged rocks to haul herself over the mountain ridge with every ounce of her strength.
Upon the silent summit, only a thin mist drifted with the clouds and rain.
Then, she saw it—beside a mountain path nearly buried by mud and stone beneath the ridge, a familiar, thickset figure sat upon a rock.
The silhouette was slightly hunched, remaining utterly motionless.
Joy flared in her heart, and she called out tentatively.
"Bolao?"
The figure did not move.
Anxious to find Xiao Zhun’s whereabouts and thinking the other was playing a prank on her again, she felt a flicker of impatience as she struggled down the ridge.
the moment her feet touched the mountain path, Xiao Nanhui sensed something was wrong.
The road was scarred with furrows of varying depths, and half of the adjacent cliff had collapsed. Everywhere were the marks of a violent struggle.
She took a few more steps forward. Her foot struck a hard object, producing a sharp, grating sound.
She moved her boot and discovered half a blade driven deep into the earth.
Her heart gave a sudden thud. Her pace quickened, and in three strides she reached the rock, hurriedly turning the person over.
The two short, thick eyebrows on that large face were furrowed. Only after a moment did the eyes beneath them slowly open.
"Why are you here?"
Xiao Nanhui let out a breath of relief, then asked urgently, "What happened? Did you see my foster father..."
Her voice cut off abruptly. She stared blankly down, her gaze falling upon her left hand.
At first, she thought the damp sensation was from the rain, but rain was never this warm or viscous.
Deep crimson coated her palm, stained by the night until it looked like ink.
The hunched figure finally moved, but only enough to force his body slightly to the side.
"The Marquis... he was taken by that bastard in purple. Go, hurry... maybe you can still catch them..."
"Shut up!" Xiao Nanhui’s voice was more vicious than it had ever been. She tried to tear a strip from the hem of her dark tunic, but whether it was because the fabric was too sturdy or because her hands were shaking so violently, she could not rip it free.
"Don't bother. If wrapping a few rags worked, what would we need doctors for?"
Bolao spat out a mouthful of blood as he spoke, his expression filled with an unprecedented weariness.
"Damn, he really strikes hard. If I were even half as ruthless as him, maybe I would have been your master back then."
Xiao Nanhui’s face was as pale as paper. She forced her trembling arms to prop up the short, stout body.
"Let's go. We'll find a doctor..."
"Forget it." Bolao pulled his arm back and idly felt his hair. Her bun was still there, as round as ever. "I hate the smell of medicine most of all. Didn't you brew all of Aunt Dai's medicine?"
Xiao Nanhui clenched her teeth. She wanted to speak with anger, but when she opened her mouth, her voice carried the hint of a sob.
"Are you... are you stupid?! I told you to follow and watch, not to come here and die!"
"Keep it down, you're too loud." Bolao’s voice grew lower and lower. "I didn't do it for you. I did it for the sake of the grapes..."
The warm rain fell upon her face, bringing a drowsy comfort.
"Xiao Nanhui, don't seek revenge for me. You can't beat him."
She raised a short, mud-stained finger, leaving a few prints on that sorrowful face.
She sighed, looking at the watery traces on her fingertip.
"What are you crying for? Being stubborn is the tradition of the Andao Academy. It's not like you just found out today..."
Xiao Nanhui’s nails dug deep into the wet sand before her. She felt as if something sour and hot was wedged in her throat; it took a great effort to speak.
"You aren't one of them. You don't have to listen to them. Just listen to me. Don't die. You aren't allowed to die. You aren't allowed..."
Bolao suddenly laughed.
"Then beg me..."
Xiao Nanhui’s lips trembled. A broken sound emerged from deep in her throat, hoarse as if it belonged to someone else.
"I beg you. I beg you. I beg you..."
Bolao’s smile remained fixed on her lips, but her eyes slowly closed.
"Then I'll consider it..."
The late spring rain fell. She felt the body in her arms finally grow cold, yet she remained in that posture, her mouth repeating that single phrase.
"I beg you... I beg you..."
However, no one heard her plea.
She imagined that in the next instant, the person in her arms would open one eye to peek at her, then smugly turn around to face her with their backside, loftily raising that big head to say something like, *Since you begged me, I suppose I shall...*
But none of it happened. And no matter how long she waited, it would never happen again.
A bolt of lightning flashed across the horizon, illuminating the dagger in her hand and the broken blade scattered nearby.
She tilted her head back, opening her eyes to the raindrops falling from the heavens.
The rain fell into her eyes, rolling down mixed with her tears, leaving a searing trail behind.
***
The cloud-shrouded Douchen Ridge was so dark that the contours of heaven and earth were invisible. Only a lone lantern flickered in the mountains, which, upon closer inspection, belonged to a carriage traveling along the mountain path.
The driver sat leisurely at the front, yet the wheels pressed so close to the cliff’s edge that it seemed they might plunge into the abyss at any moment.
Suddenly, he pulled the reins, stopping the two blindfolded horses and waiting quietly for something.
Before long, a faint whistling sound approached from the distance. Three dark shadows leapt up from beneath the left cliff, landing on the edge.
The moment the "Flying Threads" were retracted like spider silk, Xiao Zhun’s feet hit the ground. Seizing the initiative, his long spear pierced through the curtain of rain, lunging straight for the man on the carriage.
The momentum of this thrust was fierce, but the most profound aspect of spear technique lies in the "follow-up." A follow-up means that even if one move is dodged, there is another, technique following technique until the opponent reveals a flaw.
Yan Zi understood that it was not wise to entangle himself with the opponent now. He drew his longsword and met the spear strike head-on.
A massive clanging of metal echoed through the mountains. The swordsman and the general stood their ground, the webs of their thumbs numbed by the impact as they re-evaluated each other's skill.
Yan Zi stood with his sword held horizontally across the carriage frame, his tone cold.
"We saved your life, yet you turn your blade against us. Truly impolite."
Xiao Zhun glanced toward his rear from the corner of his eye; the Flying Thread assassins had vanished.
He tried to keep his thoughts clear, refusing to be trapped in this bizarre and twisted situation.
"Why save me?"
The man on the carriage paused, seemingly considering how to answer the question with precision.
"Are you asking about this time, or the time ten-odd years ago?"
Xiao Zhun’s expression shifted slightly.
"The events of that year... you had a hand in them as well."
"Yes and no." Yan Zi nodded, then shook his head. "We were not the ones who wanted you dead; you surely know this by now. As for the rest, I cannot tell you yet. However, if you return with me..."
The light in the general's eyes grew cold.
"And if I refuse?"
"Are you certain?"
Yan Zi retreated half a step unhurriedly, raising his hand to lightly lift one side of the carriage curtain.
Xiao Zhun’s pupils contracted, and his breathing became heavy.
"Aunt?"
The woman behind the curtain was pale and sickly. The scar etched across her face made her look like a cracked porcelain vase that might shatter into pieces at any moment.
For Xiao Dai to appear here, she could only have been abducted from the Xiao Manor. If the manor had been raided, then...
Xiao Zhun called out in an anxious, low voice.
"Aunt, where are Du Juan and Chen Si?"
Aunt Dai’s gaze remained dull. She seemed unable to hear Xiao Zhun’s words or see the person before her. It was unclear if she was in shock or had been drugged.
"Are you speaking of those two servants?"
The purple-clad swordsman, who had been silent, suddenly spoke as if remembering something.
Xiao Zhun’s palms tightened, his voice dropping even lower.
"What did you... do to them?"
"Killed them." The man blinked, like a child who had accidentally knocked over an oil jar—his chagrin tinged with a hint of innocence. "They were useless, yet they stood stubbornly before me and wouldn't be driven away. I had no choice but to kill them."
"What?"
"I said I—"
Before he could finish, a silver light flashed before him. He instinctively retreated and spun to dodge, but the silver light suddenly changed direction, sweeping horizontally to strike his wounded ribs and knocking him backward.
Xiao Zhun did not stop, gripping his spear to thrust again. The figure that had been struck flipped nimbly, landing swiftly atop the carriage roof.
The wound on his ribs began to bleed from the blow, yet his face showed no pain; instead, it held a trace of excitement.
"The Xiao family spear technique is indeed interesting. You and I should truly trade a few rounds." He seemed to remember something, and his face showed a bit of annoyance again. "Pity it cannot be today. We have a journey to make."
Before his words could land, the man opposite him shouted in rage.
"You killed the people of my household, and you expect me to go with you? In your dreams!"
"You will come with me." He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and turned toward the carriage. "Come out."
There was no movement inside.
Yan Zi sighed. He formed a palm with his left hand and struck, piercing through the carriage roof. A woman's scream immediately erupted from within.
Upon hearing that voice, Xiao Zhun’s expression changed instantly.
Yan Zi’s fingers hooked like claws. He reached into the newly made hole, grabbing and pulling. A woman in white prisoner's robes appeared in his grip, her dark hair disheveled and her expression wretched.
He gripped the woman’s hair, practically dragging her out of the carriage.
"I forgot to mention, I brought one more person out of the city. It took some effort to find her. Bai Heliu was disappointing, and the Bai family is useless now—keeping them is just a hassle. If you don't come, I'll kill her."
As he spoke, he exerted force, lifting that beautiful head straight up. Yet from beginning to end, Bai Yun stubbornly refused to make a sound.
Xiao Zhun’s movements faltered. The fury in his eyes gradually dissolved into a hollow, scattered light.
What flashed before his eyes was not the blood-stained face of Bai Heliu from moments ago.
It was a time from long, long ago, when he stood by the main road of Que City, beneath the plum trees and the bustling sunset, looking at that profile.
After an unknown amount of time, he finally lowered the head of his spear.
"I will go with you."
The purple-clad swordsman nodded with satisfaction and finally released the woman’s hair.
"Very good."
As the woman fell heavily to the floor, Xiao Zhun stepped forward quickly and leaned into the carriage.
Bai Yun had already fainted; she did not respond no matter how softly he called her name.
Yan Zi leapt gracefully down from the carriage roof, about to turn and scout the path ahead. Suddenly, movement came from the base of the cliff behind him.
At first, he thought it was a returning companion, but he soon realized something was wrong.
Mud-stained hands hauled onto the mountain path, and then a figure approached like a mountain demon.
The sound of falling rain masked her footsteps and breathing, but it could not hide her killing intent.
A bolt of lightning tore through the night sky, illuminating the dark shadow.
The woman’s tied-back hair was half-undone, plastered to her face like wet rags by the rain. She held only a dagger. Because she had sprinted all the way through the thorn-choked rocky cliffs, her arms, head, and neck were covered in bloody scratches of various sizes. There was a gash on her lip, likely from a fall.
Yet none of this wretchedness could diminish the fire in those eyes. The whites of her eyes were shot through with blood from lack of sleep. It was the color of hatred and rage.
"You are..." Yan Zi frowned slightly, finally remembering something. "You are one of the Emperor's people?"
Xiao Nanhui did not speak. She did not want to waste a single word on him.
There was only one voice in her heart.
*Kill him. Kill him. Kill him!*
She lunged forward with all her strength. A hidden bolt from the crossbow in her right sleeve aimed for his vitals, while her left hand gripped the dagger in a reverse hold, driving straight for the bloodstain on the purple-clad man's ribs.
She had discarded all forms and techniques, and even the principles of offense and defense. Now, the only things driving this exhausted body were hatred and fury.
With a crisp *ting*, the flying crossbow bolt was snapped in two. Yan Zi did not move from his spot. The hilt of his sword slammed down hard, striking three inches below the woman’s shoulder blade. His other hand reached out like a ghost, accurately pinching the ulna of the hand holding the weapon.
The sharp blade extending from her fingertips was only half an inch from his body, yet it could not advance another hair's breadth.
Unwilling to give up, Xiao Nanhui ignored everything and forced her wrist to twist back, enduring the pain of her bone being crushed to strike at him again. But the opponent had already turned his blade, swinging it upward with steady force.
Xiao Nanhui was thrown back by the immense power, her waist slamming into the cliff wall behind her. She instantly spat out a mouthful of blood.
"The rumors say that silk spun by Xusem silkworms, woven with a double-warp, can withstand the sharpest blades. Seeing it today, it truly lives up to its name." Yan Zi’s gaze fell upon the woman’s tunic, now a mess of filth. "That garment saved your life, but next time, I can simply slit your throat."
The woman, coughing up blood, pushed herself up from the mud. Her dark tunic had been slashed into rags, with only the frog buttons protecting her neck still firmly in place.
She remained silent, her eyes filled with an infinite hatred. That hatred made her lose all sense of pain, all judgment of danger, and all desire for life.
She only wanted to kill the man before her, and for that, she was willing to pay any price.
She charged at him with a roar, her footwork and stance long forgotten, seeking only to drive her dagger into the enemy's vitals.
Yan Zi narrowed his eyes. The longsword in his hand hummed, the sword-qi forcing the rain aside as the tip of the blade lunged forward like a starlit dragon.
*Clang.*
Xiao Nanhui’s wrist went numb, and her dagger fell. At the same time, the sword aimed at her was parried away. The overflowing sword-qi severed a section of the harness, causing the two carriage horses to startle and fret.
Then, she heard that familiar voice speak from not far above her.
"You cannot kill her."
Yan Zi glanced at Xiao Zhun, seemingly weighing how much time it would take to conclude this unexpected interruption.
A moment later, he turned and jumped onto the carriage, reconnecting the severed harness.
"If she follows again, I will have no choice but to kill her."
Xiao Zhun said nothing more, casting his gaze toward the woman standing alone by the cliff.
"Foster father..." she murmured, her mouth opening as light seemed to return briefly to her eyes.
But in the next instant, Xiao Zhun leapt onto the carriage.
He stood at the rear, half-turning to look at her.
His face was blurred in the darkness, or perhaps it was because mud and rain had fallen into her eyes, making it impossible to see the person before her clearly.
"Go back. Do not follow any further."
She stood nearly frozen. Sensing the carriage start to move, she suddenly lunged forward like a madwoman, grabbing hold of the carriage frame.
"Foster father, come back with me..."
Her voice trembled, carrying a plea that bordered on humble.
Yan Zi watched coldly as he drove the carriage forward. The woman at the rear was dragged along the ground, leaving a long trail behind.
She stubbornly refused to let go, her eyes fixed on the man standing at the back of the carriage, as if doing so could make him change his mind, as if doing so could make someone tell her that all the despair and pain of this moment was merely a nightmare.
Finally, the figure slowly crouched down. A rough palm gently grasped her hand where it clung to the frame.
It was just like many years ago, when he had come galloping across the Gobi, taking her hand and bringing her to this city, giving her a home.
"Nanhui, I cannot go back with you."
"Why? Why can't you?"
She knew why.
She already knew the answer, yet she still had to ask him.
How she hoped to hear a different answer from his lips.
How she hoped he would tell her he was just leaving for a while and would be back soon.
"From now on, take care of yourself. If there is ever a day we meet again..."
The hand covering the back of hers suddenly exerted force, prying her fingers away one by one.
Finally, her palm was empty, and she collapsed into the mud.
The figure receding on the carriage said something else, but she could no longer hear it.
"Xiao Zhun!"
She screamed his name with all her might.
This was the first time in her life she had ever called him by his name.
She poured every ounce of strength into those two syllables, as if pouring out all the closeness, reliance, and longing she had felt since the day she met him.
*Don't go. Don't leave me alone.*
Could he hear the words she had yet to speak?
He must have heard them.
That increasingly blurred silhouette seemed to pause for a moment, but in the end, it vanished with the carriage, never once looking back.
She crawled there in the mountain mud like a gravestone overgrown with weeds, like a ghost that had lost its soul, like a child who had been discarded.
She hoped the passage of time would liberate her from this darkest of moments, but no matter how much time passed, her heart still ached just as it had when he left.
Two double-hours ago, the moon had passed its zenith.
Today was the ninth day of the fourth month—her birthday.
One year ago today, she had sought a fortune and received a slip.
*Gazing at a lone lamp amidst the mountains, the path is hidden by the abyss on all sides.*
*Seeking the person within the shadow of the lamp, yet the wind rises and clouds shroud the moon.*
She had torn the fortune to pieces, yet she still could not escape this ordeal.
Today was the day the ordeal came to pass.
She had believed so firmly in the bond between them, believed that time would weave a warm armor for her to ward off all loneliness and hardship, yet she had forgotten that no companionship can last forever.
The meeting of two people is like the moment two birds cross paths—it carries the destiny of their gathering, but also the fate of their inevitable parting.
Dark clouds gathered overhead; a brief sense of suffocation hung between heaven and earth.
A torrential rain poured down, washing everything away.
His silhouette, their past, all the beauty and preciousness they once shared—in an instant, it was all submerged in the great rain, along with her tears.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
伯劳 | Bolao | A character name; literally means "Shrike."
燕紫 | Yan Zi | A character name; literally "Purple Swallow."
肖黛 | Xiao Dai | Xiao Zhun's aunt, also referred to as Aunt Dai (黛姨).
白允 | Bai Yun | A character name; Xiao Zhun's former love interest.
斗辰岭 | Douchen Ridge | A mountain range/location.
胥蚕 | Xusem | A fictional or specific type of silkworm/silk known for its durability.
安道院 | Andao Academy | A specific institution or school mentioned in the text.
车轓 | Carriage frame | The sideboards or frame of a carriage.
应劫 | 应劫 | To meet one's predestined ordeal or calamity.
