The process of memory formation is always somewhat magical.
Sometimes, you might share tea and wine with a group of acquaintances seven or eight times and still fail to recognize one or two of them on the street. But if you have ever been hunted by a complete stranger, you would know them even if they were ground into ash. This remains true even if the encounter took place in pitch darkness while you were fleeing for your life.
This was exactly how Xiao Nanhui’s memory was jolted awake.
Back in Muerhe, she and Bolao had scouted the Zou residence by night, only to be pursued by the household guards. It had taken considerable effort to escape that ordeal. The lead guard back then had been exceptionally diligent, chasing her through three or four gates and five or six courtyards.
She never would have imagined that over a year later, she would encounter him again in a dilapidated inn at Dafeng Ferry.
The burly man dressed as a herdsman clearly had no idea how he had exposed himself, and the others lying in ambush with him were equally clueless. They had drawn their blades only because the green-clad swordsman heading for the stairs had drawn his.
In truth, Ding Weixiang had merely drawn his weapon. Had he intended to strike, this standoff likely wouldn't be happening at all. His decision not to act immediately was surely based on his assessment: among those gathered in the inn, there were no true masters.
At this thought, Xiao Nanhui’s posture instinctively relaxed. She looked directly at the man and asked point-blank, "Are you from the Zou residence? Why are you here? Where are the others?"
The man hadn't expected his background to be exposed so abruptly. His expression shifted, but his words remained evasive. "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
Xiao Nanhui smiled.
It seemed the Zou family had frequently engaged in robbery and murder; this head guard had likely hunted so many people that he no longer remembered a "petty thief" like her.
However, before she could step forward to identify herself, the man standing silently beside her spoke. "Since you intend to receive guests, why has the host not yet appeared?"
Xiao Nanhui paused. These words weren't meant for the people in front of them. It seemed someone had anticipated their arrival, perhaps even knowing this inn was a frequent stopping point for a certain person, and had occupied it in advance to wait for them.
The inn fell silent. A draft whistled through the building, blowing open the broken door. The door groaned on its fragile hinges, letting in a gust of cold wind, fine rain, and dust that forced everyone to squint.
But in such a situation, who would dare truly close their eyes? Everyone strained to keep watch, fearing that a single blink would cost them the chance to strike first.
Of course, the Emperor was not among those people.
He stood with his back to the door from beginning to end. After waiting a moment without receiving a response, he made a move to step onto the wooden stairs leading to the second floor.
Just as he was about to take that step, the door to the familiar "Heaven" suite was pushed open with a bang. A pale-faced youth stepped out.
The youth clearly had the features of someone from Chizhou—refined with a hint of gloom—but his clothing was vibrant and strange. He wore a felt hat and tall boots, his skirts adorned with colorful dyed ribbons and animal teeth. Tied at his waist was a supple whip of snakeskin, its tip stained a deep, venomous red.
The youth looked down from his high vantage point, carefully scrutinizing the three uninvited guests. After some deliberation, his gaze finally landed on Ding Weixiang, who was still holding his blade.
"Are you the... 'extraordinary figure' Grandmother told me to wait for?"
Xiao Nanhui slowly turned her gaze toward Ding Weixiang. At this moment, the guard did indeed look the most imposing of everyone present, and the blade in his hand was the most dazzling weapon in the room.
The poor guard, thrust into the eye of the storm, could only look slowly toward his master. Unfortunately, his master had no intention of clearing up the misunderstanding, so he had to harden his resolve and continue the charade.
"May I ask whom the young master is waiting for?"
The youth braced his hand on the second-floor railing and flipped down directly. His leather boots landed on a tabletop, making the wine pots and bowls rattle and clatter.
Xiao Nanhui arched an eyebrow. What a clumsy display of light-body technique.
"If you ask me, must I answer you?"
Xiao Nanhui couldn't help it; she let out a snort of laughter.
The "Young Master" who was being mocked instantly flew into a rage. "What's so funny?!"
Xiao Nanhui suppressed her smile, though her attempt at a serious expression only made her look more provoking. "If you won't answer, then don't. Who cares to know?"
The man beside her remained as calm as still water, but his words only added fuel to the fire. "Since you do not know whom you are waiting for, perhaps you should stay here and think it through. We shall find another place to stay."
With that, the three of them turned in unison, heading for the door without so much as a glance at the guest from the Heaven suite.
"How—how bold! I haven't finished speaking! Where do you think you're going..."
Hearing the rush of wind behind her, Xiao Nanhui instinctively dodged to the side. A blood-red whip crackled like lightning past her ear, less than an inch from her face and barely half a foot from the Emperor's neck.
In that split second, she noticed that the tip of the whip wasn't a solid red; it was covered in many small, densely packed, strange characters that only appeared as a solid color from a distance.
She didn't know what was peculiar about the weapon, but she knew she was tough enough that a single strike might not do much. But if it hit *him*...
Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile.
Before Ding Weixiang could retaliate, she snatched the tip of the whip. With a sharp tug, she pulled the youth toward her.
The boy was clearly startled, but his shock quickly turned into the humiliated rage of someone whose weakness had been exposed. "Let go!"
She gave a cold laugh, her grip on the whip tightening.
The man beside her said softly, "It's fine. Let go."
Only then did she release her hold. The youth, who had been straining against her pull, stumbled back several steps and landed hard on one of the burly guards.
Nothing is more shameful than a master proving to be incompetent and making a fool of himself in front of the enemy. Xiao Nanhui felt that the most embarrassed people in the inn right now were the roomful of guards still holding their poses with drawn blades. They hadn't put their weapons away yet, and they didn't know where to look, so they could only glare fiercely at the floorboards or the fat innkeeper hiding under the table.
The youth was truly angry now, the animal teeth on his clothes trembling with his rage. "Do you know who I am?!"
Xiao Nanhui picked at her ear, but before she could throw out a few more taunts, the man's voice sounded from behind her.
"I know."
The only person in the entire inn not carrying a weapon walked straight toward the youth. His steps were light, his movements slow, and his posture gentle as he spoke. But if one met his eyes, they would see depths like a dark abyss and a chill like distant stars.
A person with such eyes had no need for weapons.
"The hour is late. Every moment wasted is a moment of fatigue gained. It would be better to set out early. Or has your Shen family declined so far that you cannot even provide a boat to carry guests?"
The Shen family?
Xiao Nanhui froze. This jumping, babbling brat was actually a member of the Shen clan of Huozhou?
The youth was also stunned, seemingly torn between whether this revelation restored some of his dignity or made his situation even more embarrassing. After a long silence, he stood up and regained his initial air—a mix of casual arrogance and rebellious defiance.
"If you say anything you shouldn't to Grandmother, I'll throw you into the river to feed the fish!"
Of course, he seemed to realize his words lacked any real threat. Before the sentence even landed, he had already walked out of the inn.
Outside, the rain had stopped, though the wind still blew. The large herd of cattle and sheep that had blocked the road half an hour ago was still mostly in the same spot. The lethargic, gentle animals were drowsy in the humid heat; some had even wandered into the stables to steal beans from the troughs.
Seeing this, the youth raised his whip and gave it a light flick in the air. With a crack as sharp as a thunderclap, the herd was instantly startled awake. As if divided by an invisible wall, they jostled and pushed to either side, carving out a path.
Xiao Nanhui watched in wonder. His fighting skills were mediocre, but his sheep-herding skills were quite impressive.
In the distance, the lazy-looking shepherds heard the whip and straightened up in respectful salutation. Only then did Xiao Nanhui fully grasp the situation tonight.
Whether it was the livestock blocking the road or the ambush prepared in the inn, it was all designed to delay them in Yueyuan Town. Tonight, there were no boats leaving the Dafeng Ferry docks; if they wanted to leave this place, they had to step onto a deck belonging to the Shen family.
But looking at the ground covered in manure, Xiao Nanhui’s expression became complicated. It was a pity that such a grand plan to lure them into a trap had been turned into a farce by a dim-witted brat.
The youth ahead was oblivious to her thoughts. He coiled his whip, seemingly forgetting his previous humiliation, and looked at the three of them with the same gaze he used for his sheep.
"Are you coming or not? Do I have to invite you?"
Xiao Nanhui knew they had no choice but to go, but she still couldn't resist a verbal jab. "You little brat, where exactly are you taking us?"
The youth turned back in a fit of pique, his hand twitching toward the whip at his waist. After a struggle, he restrained himself and threw back a single sentence.
"My surname is Shen, and my name is Shen Linlin. As for where we are going, you will know once you are on the boat."
***
In the sixth month, the Hun River was swollen with water, rushing toward the east until it nearly merged with the violet horizon. Tonight’s moon was terrifyingly large, hanging low in the sky as if it might fall into the rolling waters if it grew any heavier.
The pointed prow of the boat cut through the turbid river, as if traveling between the shores of the underworld. The people on board sat upright with solemn expressions, looking as though they were heading to a banquet hosted by the King of Hell.
The less people spoke, the quieter it became; the quieter it became, the less anyone wanted to be the first to break the silence. This was how a deathly stillness was born.
In the art of playing dead within silence, no one on the boat could rank higher than the Emperor. Next was Ding Weixiang, followed by the guards from the inn, and then perhaps the Shen youth. At the very bottom...
Xiao Nanhui cleared her throat. She was suffocating from the silence and had already finished an entire pot of tea from the bamboo table in front of her. Finally, she had an excuse to speak.
"Excuse me, is there any more tea?"
There was still no response from the others on the boat.
The man sitting across from her finally opened his eyes, his voice as calm as ever. "When traveling, do not be so fastidious about small matters. Do not make things difficult for our host."
As soon as these words were spoken, the youth at the prow could no longer sit still. "It's just a pot of lousy tea! Who said I wouldn't give it to you?! Where's the tea? Bring her tea!"
The sound of footsteps approached across the deck, and a pot of steaming tea was instantly placed before her.
In the art of speaking words that pierced the heart, Xiao Nanhui was indeed far outclassed. She sighed inwardly and reached for the teapot, but her gaze suddenly froze on the face of the middle-aged woman serving the tea.
If meeting a head guard from the Zou residence at the inn could be considered a coincidence, then meeting the mistress of the Zou household on this boat could hardly be called an accident.
Zhao Ximei’s eyes were downcast, lacking even a fraction of her former arrogance. The practiced way she turned to withdraw made Xiao Nanhui stare after her for a long time.
Shen Linlin noticed her gaze and let out a cold snort. "What is there to see in a pathetic wretch from a ruined home?"
Those few words instantly confirmed Xiao Nanhui’s suspicions. The overnight disappearance of the Zou residence had indeed been the work of the Shen clan.
When she hadn't received a reply to her letter back then, she had felt something was wrong. Had she not personally been to Muerhe and gotten lost in the Zou residence, she might have believed the story of them simply moving. But she had seen how large the Zou family was. How could such a household simply vanish?
If an enemy had come to slaughter the entire family, what enemy would be so meticulous as to clean the scene and remove the bodies, making it look as if nothing had happened? If they had moved because they caught wind of trouble, it seemed logical on the surface but was even more nonsensical in reality. There were at least a hundred people in the Zou residence; even if they dismissed the servants, packing the family's valuables would take weeks and dozens of crates. How could they vanish overnight from the city under everyone's noses?
But if someone else had intervened, the situation changed entirely. And the person intervening had to possess power greater than the Zou family—power that was substantial even within the context of Huozhou.
"Did you kidnap the Zou family?"
"What do you mean, kidnap?" The youth glanced at her, clearly dissatisfied with her choice of words, his tone tinged with disdain. "The Zou and Xiong families have swallowed plenty of gold and silver in Muerhe over the years. They were merely yellow sheep that grew too greedy. Once they are fattened up, they must be slaughtered. If left alone, they would have grazed the entire prairie bare."
With these words, Shen Linlin finally showed a glimpse of the true Shen clan character.
So this was the Shen clan’s method of governing the northern prefectures. If they sent their own clansmen to watch every state and prefecture, they wouldn't have enough manpower, their methods might lack force, and the commotion would inevitably cross the Emperor's bottom line.
Instead, they chose to let local clans grow powerful, watching them from the shadows. Once a local power expanded to a certain point, the Shens would find an opportunity to slit their throats and wipe them out. This allowed the exploited commoners a chance to recover, and within three to five years, a new "fat sheep" would emerge, starting the cycle anew.
And if one stepped back ten thousand paces to look at the Shen clan sitting upon this fertile land, were they not themselves a great fat sheep raised in the north by the Imperial family? It was just that this sheep was cleverer, knowing not to let itself grow too fat or strong, lest it become the meat and oil for the national treasury to survive the winter.
*Greed and profit-seeking are the roots of a kingdom's ruin and a person's death.*
In the end, it was all just a game of balance.
Xiao Nanhui looked up to check the man's expression. He had clearly known about the Shen clan’s actions all along; he showed no reaction to the news. Or perhaps he had known from the start that the Shen clan would be waiting for him here, and the legendary "weaver of ribbons" was the very person they were about to meet.
After an unknown amount of time, the sound of the water slowed, and the boat’s speed decreased. She looked out at the water by the moonlight and realized the boat had entered a wide expanse of water. Large areas of mudflats and reed beds were visible, with narrow sampans weaving in and out, looking even busier than the Dafeng Ferry docks during the day.
On both banks were endless forests of fir trees. The tall, pointed silhouettes of the trees merged together, looking like the claws and fangs of a giant bear.
Surrounded by black water and fir forests. She knew where this was.
"We've arrived," Shen Linlin’s voice came from the prow, sounding somewhat urgent. "Get off the boat quickly, do not delay!"
Xiao Nanhui glared at him. He hadn't seemed so hurried when they set out; what was he rushing for now?
Ding Weixiang was the first to disembark. After observing the surroundings, he helped the Emperor down. Xiao Nanhui followed closely behind. When she reached the edge of the deck, she realized the boat hadn't so much docked as it had run aground. There was no gangplank between the boat and the shore; to disembark, one had to step directly into the mud.
Was this an unintentional lack of hospitality or a deliberate show of dominance?
Shen Linlin, who had already walked dozens of paces away, continued to urge them on. Xiao Nanhui had no choice but to hitch up her skirts and leap from the boat.
As soon as her feet hit the ground, she realized these flats weren't muddy like ordinary river silt. The ground was soft and fine, like a shallow beach of sandstone. Under the moonlight, she could see that the sandstone was a deathly, dull black, just like the water they had passed through.
In her daze, several trackers passed by pulling ropes. They lined up empty small boats near a nearby river inlet, where a group of men pushing mud-sleds were loading crates of dark material onto the vessels. The crates were about half a person tall and filled to the brim. When the men lifted a crate, their feet sank halfway into the flats, and they had to stop to catch their breath after moving just one.
Xiao Nanhui paused, suddenly realizing what the black stone beach beneath her feet—and the contents of those crates—actually were.
The name "Black Wood" wasn't a literal description of the color of the ancient fir forests. It referred to a specific resource produced here, the same black substance the Emperor had mentioned in the carriage, the one hidden within the woven ribbons.
It was coal.
*The sunny side of the mountain yields red copper; the shady side yields Stone Nié.*
Since ancient times, coal had been an essential resource for smelting and forging iron, and iron was the foundation of an army. Was this the reason the Shen family had managed to endure since the previous dynasty? But surely the current dynasty knew? Why wasn't it regulated?
As she pondered, the group ahead suddenly stopped.
Xiao Nanhui was confused, but when she looked up, she realized the darkness ahead wasn't just a lifeless mudflat. If a herd of cattle or sheep was no great wonder, then the scene before her was truly a rare sight.
She had never seen so many deer in her life.
Red, camel-brown, gold, and black—their colors varied. Tall, short, sturdy, or lean—their sizes varied. Young, old, male, or female—their forms varied. The only thing they had in common was that they were all standing silently on the flats, staring directly at them through the night.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of deer—why were they all looking at the same spot at the same time?
Beyond her wonder, Xiao Nanhui felt a sense of the uncanny.
*Clack, clack, clack.*
The sound of hooves treading through water approached as an exceptionally large figure emerged from the herd. It was a massive adult stag. Its enormous antlers were like small trees, swaying slowly with the deer's steps. Reddish-brown fur covered its body, save for a white ring around its muzzle.
The deer slowly lowered its head. Without the obstruction of the antlers, Xiao Nanhui finally saw that there was a person sitting on its back.
It was a petite young woman, dressed almost exactly like Shen Linlin, though she had no whip at her waist. In its place hung a massive bronze bell.
Shen Linlin stepped forward, his voice tinged with impatience. "Shen Yangyang! I've brought the people. Make way, quickly!"
***
