Yuan Sanniang had been watching the servant called Old Zheng outside the second-floor private booth for nearly half an hour.
Old Zheng had a pockmarked face and was perhaps not yet fifty, yet he looked well over sixty. His habitually scruffy face was exceptionally vacant today; his swollen eyelids were propped open as he stared unblinkingly at the booth not far away.
Though Old Zheng had only joined the boat six months ago, he claimed to have been in this trade before. His manner of receiving guests was beyond reproach, and he didn't seem like someone who lacked worldly experience. Why, then, did he look so intimidated today?
Either he was eyeing the tips, or he was eyeing the guests' private wealth. It was always one of those petty schemes.
Thinking this, Yuan Sanniang stepped onto the second floor. Before the man could react, she grabbed him and pulled him two steps back into a secluded corner.
"Look at you, you shallow-eyed wretch. Have you never seen an official higher than a County Lieutenant? To be so spineless! If everyone on my boat were as greedy and lazy as you, how would I ever do business?"
Old Zheng kept his head down and didn't speak. He only occasionally lifted his eyelids, still peering toward the private booth.
Amused by his audacity, Yuan Sanniang turned to look behind her.
"I’d like to see just what kind of immortal is worth your—"
The words died in her throat. Her expression froze, and her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the second booth by the window.
The man in the booth wore moon-white robes, dressed with elegant simplicity. Aside from a single jade hairpin, he wore no other adornments. His long arm supported his frame as he leaned slightly, his head turned away. His gaze did not fall upon the alluring figures of the dancers in the center; instead, his left hand idly plucked at the strings of a zither on the table. The sounds he produced made one feel as though they had lost their very soul.
She was staring in a daze when, suddenly, a face slowly moved into the center of her vision—it was the woman beside the man.
The woman looked at her expressionlessly, her cheeks puffed out and stuffed full of food, completely blocking the man’s face from view.
Yuan Sanniang felt inexplicably guilty. Just as she was about to withdraw her gaze, the man pulled the woman into his arms and pointed to his own lips, seemingly signaling for her to feed him the peeled mandarin oranges on the table.
The woman grinned and broke off a segment of succulent fruit, but stopped half an inch from his mouth. With a quick turn, she stuffed it all into her own mouth instead. Then, with a darkened face, she pushed the man away and stood up. Seeing this, the man pushed aside the zither and rose to follow her. The evening breeze over the river caught his moon-white robes, making his silhouette appear even more supple and ethereal than the slender willows on the banks.
As the two left the booth for the deck, Yuan Sanniang’s gaze followed them as if stuck to a spider's thread, moving from inside to out, from one side to the other, until the two figures vanished into the night at the bow. Only then did she snap back to her senses with a start.
She slapped her own face hard.
What was happening? Could it be that the River God of the Jushui was truly manifesting?
She had been in this business for over a decade and had seen all sorts of people; how could she lose her composure like this? It must have been that extra cup of osmanthus wine she drank tonight that had muddled her head.
Yuan Sanniang shook her head. When she turned around, Old Zheng was already gone. She cursed under her breath and hurried toward the ship's small kitchen.
Nothing could go wrong tonight.
***
On the deck, Xiao Nanhui caught a glimpse of Yuan Sanniang’s departing figure out of the corner of her eye. Only then did she drop the squashed mandarin in her hand and began to carefully scan her surroundings.
The man’s voice sounded behind her. "Are you angry?"
"Don't start."
She deliberately avoided looking at him, acting as though she were at a critical juncture and had no time for distractions.
But the person behind her was clearly not so easily dismissed. He pushed his talent for playing the victim and acting pitiful to its absolute limit.
"She wanted to look at me; what could I do? If you're unhappy, I'll cover my face next time. If that's still not enough, you can just lock me in the inn..."
Xiao Nanhui knew that if she didn't do something soon, he would completely "frame" her as a heartless and unjust person.
She turned quickly, placing her hand over his lips to signal for silence.
Inexplicably, the boisterous sounds of strings, flutes, drums, and laughter all vanished. The atmosphere turned instantly quiet, leaving only the sound of the river water lapping against the hull.
She carefully peeked out from behind the fluttering gauze curtains. The private booths, which had been filled with song, dance, and noise just moments ago, were now devoid of musicians and dancers. The feasting guests were slumped over their tables, appearing as though they had been drinking merrily one moment and fallen into a deep slumber the next.
She instinctively covered her nose and mouth, but after sniffing carefully, she detected nothing unusual.
A movement came from a corner of the booths—a pot-bellied man with a jade belt and a young woman wearing a veiled hat. Looking at them, Xiao Nanhui realized that there were distinctions even among the private booths.
Only the "honored guests" who had provided the paper flowers were drinking pure, untainted wine. The others had likely been drugged.
As Xiao Nanhui was pondering this, Jia Han carefully approached from the other side of the gunwale.
"Is it about to begin?"
She was about to speak when she realized she was still covering someone’s mouth. She hastily lowered her hand. The latter glanced at her without speaking, but raised a finger to touch the corner of his mouth.
Jia Han looked at her, then at the quiet man. Suddenly, he seemed to understand something and instinctively stumbled back half a step.
The two of them, however, were now in perfect sync. They bypassed him on either side and walked forward together.
"It's starting. Let's go."
Jia Han took a deep breath and only followed after a long pause.
The pleasure boat had stopped on the river at some unknown point. The surroundings were pitch black, making it almost impossible to distinguish the water from the shore. Only a lone lamp at the bow mirrored the full moon in the sky.
Under the oil lamp, the twin girls stood behind Yuan Sanniang. Together, they lifted a paper boat half the height of a person and carefully placed it into the river.
There was no wind tonight, and the river was calm. The paper boat bobbed with the current but did not drift far. Inside the boat, half a lamp's worth of oil was visible, dark as the river water itself.
Yuan Sanniang led several servants dressed in coir raincoats and masks, chanting something toward the water, followed by a series of indistinct incantations.
Xiao Nanhui watched with a bewildered expression, finally unable to resist whispering to the person beside her.
"What is she reciting? Scriptures? Spells? Or a sacrificial prayer?"
Su Wei paused for a moment and answered truthfully, "I don't understand it."
If even he didn't understand it, who would? It was likely just gibberish.
The tension in her heart eased by thirty or forty percent, but Jia Han, who didn't know the tricks of the trade, remained worried.
"The people on these pleasure boats are all registered prostitutes. There haven't been any major incidents before. If you two hadn't mentioned it, I truly wouldn't have known this was connected to the River God. Seeing it today is truly terrifying..."
Xiao Nanhui waved her hand, signaling Jia Han to say no more and simply watch.
She had staked out this place for days to get here; she couldn't let it fail at the last moment.
The baffling ceremony finally ended. Yuan Sanniang signaled for the first "honored guest" to step forward.
"May I ask what is on the guest's mind that he wishes to consult the Master about?"
The pot-bellied man whispered something to the girl in purple, while the girl in pink took a brush and wrote a line of delicate script on a blood-red letter.
When the man finished speaking, following the girls' signal, he took three cloth bags from a box behind him and placed them one by one into the paper boat in the water.
Xiao Nanhui narrowed her eyes and watched closely. Unsurprisingly, she saw a glint of gold peeking from the bags.
The person beside her clearly saw it too. The hand that had been tightly gripping hers finally began to loosen.
No one understood these hidden matters better than they did. Whether it was a god of the mountains, the rivers, or anywhere else, they did not care for gold. What they desired was far more precious.
The one before them was clearly not a god.
The pot-bellied man stepped back, and the mysterious young woman came forward. She followed the same procedure, but her offering was even more lavish. The paper boat grew heavier, sinking halfway into the water and spinning involuntarily in the current.
Finally, the girl in purple signaled for the next person to step forward.
"May I ask what is on the guest's mind that he wishes to consult the Master about?"
Xiao Nanhui thought for a moment, walked up to them, and asked politely, "I would like to ask... where is this River God Master from?"
The girl in purple didn't move. The girl in pink behind her didn't move either. Both stared at her with dark, unblinking pupils.
Finally, Yuan Sanniang moved. She grabbed the oil lamp from the bow and threw it with unerring accuracy at the paper boat. The lamp shattered, and the boat caught fire, the oil igniting instantly. It became a ball of fire in a heartbeat, exploding with a loud bang and sending sparks flying in all directions.
Xiao Nanhui grabbed the person beside her and ducked. Jia Han, having no one to look after him, was a step too slow. His robes caught fire slightly, and he hurriedly patted out the flames.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Yuan Sanniang vanished instantly. The remaining girls and servants fled in different directions. However, for the sake of their "divine" performance, the pleasure boat was now pitch black without that oil lamp. Screams and the sound of trampling rose one after another.
In the confusion, Xiao Nanhui protected her companion as they retreated into the cabin, instructing Jia Han to proceed as planned. Jia Han hurried to the stern and gave a shout. The county officers who had been lying in wait along the riverbank lit their torches. Several fast boats emerged from the reed marshes and rapidly closed in on the pleasure boat.
Conducting business on a boat in the middle of the river was secretive, but it also made escape difficult when things went wrong. At this moment, Yuan Sanniang was like a turtle in a jar. They only needed to wait a moment, and she would surely be caught.
Yet, for some reason, Xiao Nanhui felt something was wrong.
As she was pondering this, the deck suddenly lurched. The entire hull tilted, and a massive cracking sound echoed from deep within the cabin, followed by more panicked cries.
*No way. Are they trying to take us down with them?*
She couldn't sit still any longer. She stood up to investigate, but was suddenly grabbed.
She turned around. The handsome gentleman in moon-white was looking at her with a heavy gaze.
"What are you going to do?"
Xiao Nanhui looked at Su Wei’s expression and, realizing something, patted his shoulder reassuringly.
"Something feels wrong. I'm going to see who scuttled the ship. Stay here and don't move. Jia Han’s men will be here soon."
But the other person was clearly not focused on that. The temperature in his voice dropped to freezing.
"Jia Han brought thirty or forty men. Does he need you? Are you familiar with the layout of this boat? Are you a good swimmer? Should I have just let you swim across the Dafeng Crossing back then?"
She was momentarily speechless, but seeing the man’s stern and sharp manner, she felt a bit bewildered.
She had only instinctively wanted to settle things quickly and find out the truth; she hadn't thought much about it.
"I'm not that incompetent. When we escaped from Bijiang, I even carried Wu Xiaoliu across an icy river..."
The torches in the distance had not yet arrived. she spoke urgently with wide eyes, unable to see the man’s face, which was nearly merging with the darkness of the night.
Another heavy cracking sound rang out, and the floor tilted even more sharply. The musicians and dancers who had been hiding somewhere suddenly swarmed onto the deck. In the chaos, the entire world seemed to sway from side to side.
The hand gripping her arm did not loosen; instead, it tightened. Xiao Nanhui hadn't expected this imposing pleasure boat to be so fragile. Worried about her companion, she decided to get him to safety before making her next move.
She took his hand, kicking aside small tables and furnishings that were rolling around, and roughly pushed through the chaotic crowd toward higher ground.
They were almost at the stern, and Jia Han’s figure was visible nearby as he directed his men. She was about to call out when a person suddenly emerged from a narrow door leading to the lower deck.
The person seemed to be in a great hurry. He only looked up after taking a few steps and froze upon seeing Xiao Nanhui.
The passages leading out of the cabins on this boat were built very narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time.
Meeting on a narrow path, both parties could have been satisfied if one simply stepped aside. At this moment, she had no intention of making things difficult for a mere servant. Her only thought was to regroup with Jia Han, so she took the first step to bypass him.
But unexpectedly, the pockmarked servant suddenly drew a fish-gutting knife from beneath his hem and lunged straight for the person behind her.
Xiao Nanhui moved at the sound, narrowly pulling Su Wei away to dodge the strike. But the man lunged again, heedless of his own life.
This time, she showed no mercy.
*Jie Jia* had been kept warm against her back for long enough; it was time for it to taste the wind.
The thin, narrow blade slid out from the collar at the back of her neck, cleanly cutting through the opponent's attack. Then, she reversed the blade and struck the man three inches below his ribs with the hilt.
The man stumbled back half a step, coughed a few times, and looked up. His gaze fell once more upon the person behind her.
The moment she sensed his intent, a frenzy she hadn't felt in a long time suddenly rushed to the crown of her head.
She knew that feeling well. It was her killing intent.
After everything she had been through, she had become tolerant and peaceful. But there was one thing she still could not tolerate: someone pointing a blade at him.
It had not been easy for them to reach this day. If someone wanted to destroy it all, she could not let them live.
The moment the man lunged at her again, *Jie Jia* turned into a streak of light and pierced through his throat.
The servant clutched his neck, stumbling back toward the railing. In the moment before he tumbled off the ship, his two grey-white eyes were still fixed on her in a death stare.
A splash sounded, and the river instantly swallowed the corpse.
***
Jia Han’s boats finally arrived. Yuan Sanniang and her hesitant subordinates were caught red-handed. By the time everyone returned to the shore, most of the pleasure boat had sunk into the river.
Jia Han’s men were still patrolling the water, convinced that the "River God" wouldn't leave the gold in the paper boat behind. But as the sky began to lighten, they still had nothing to show for it.
Nothing unusual could be seen on the dark surface of the river—not even a fish coming up for air. Just as Jia Han was about to order a return, a commotion finally came from the water.
"Caught him!"
In an instant, everyone’s eyes turned toward the river. Two or three officers were escorting a mud-covered figure toward the shore.
The "River God" of the Jushui River had come ashore.
Like a shrimp in a net, a perch on a hook, or a turtle turned on its back, he was tied up without a shred of dignity and tossed onto the pier.
Yuan Sanniang had initially insisted she knew nothing about the River God. But seeing the last of her accomplices caught, she lost her nerve. She still refused to admit she had scuttled the ship to flee, claiming she only ran a shady business and had done nothing truly wicked.
Everyone was exhausted after the night's ordeal, except for Xiao Nanhui, who was full of energy, looking as though she could fight for three days and nights without sleep.
"Give it to me straight, and maybe you'll suffer less."
She had spent her recent days in the dungeon studying diligently and had inherited much of Li Siyou’s expertise. She was quite skilled at interrogating people.
The short "River God" with the handlebar mustache was already dejected and didn't want to repeat his confession for the umpteenth time.
"Auntie, I've told you but you won't believe me. Just let me go. Wouldn't it be better to let the officers take me away?"
Xiao Nanhui had her own plans. How could she let him go without a clear answer?
"Then what did you want those young boys and girls for?! Speak! Did you..."
"I've been wronged, Heroine!" The mustache didn't even have the strength to beg for mercy; he was practically whimpering. "There were only three little beggars in total. I paid them three taels of silver to act in my play. I never laid a finger on them."
"Act? You're a grand fraudster playing at being a god; why would you need three toddlers to act?"
"It's true! If you don't believe me, send someone to find those little brats and ask them. Even if this River God isn't famous, he's still a deity. If I didn't put on a real show, who would believe me or listen to me?"
Xiao Nanhui crossed her arms and scrutinized him.
Aside from being a good swimmer, she really couldn't see any talent in him. But because of that, the doubt in her heart grew deeper.
"If you couldn't get things done, no one would believe you, no matter how grand your human sacrifices were."
The man blinked guiltily and finally whispered, "It wasn't me... it was someone else."
Her arms slowly lowered, her voice turning heavy. "Who?"
"You know the Shen family, right? How glorious they were back then! Who would have thought they'd meet disaster at the start of this year? They say it was the wish of the one in the Palace. He said he was a servant who escaped from the Shen family in Huozhou..."
Xiao Nanhui’s expression changed, her gaze turning sharp. "Where is he?!"
The man was so frightened he began to stutter. After a long pause, he pointed a finger toward the river behind him.
"He was just... just killed by your sword!"
The image of the pockmarked servant and his strange reaction flashed through Xiao Nanhui’s mind, and she finally understood the reason behind it. But on the river not far away, the tilted pleasure boat had been completely swallowed by the water, leaving only a few torn paper flowers floating on the surface.
She exchanged a look with Su Wei, who already understood her thoughts.
"You said he helped you play the River God. How did he help?"
The man glanced at the quiet gentleman questioning him and instinctively wanted to make up a lie, but he was immediately glared back into submission by the fierce woman beside him. After a long pause, he confessed reluctantly.
"I'm not sure how he did it, but he seemed to have a bit of foresight. He was very accurate with small predictions. He didn't like showing his face and wanted to make some big money, so he asked me to do it for him. I came up with the River God idea, and he thought it would work..."
"And did he... keep anything hidden? Something he wouldn't let you see?"
"I think so. It was in a broken porcelain bottle about the size of a palm. But he always kept it on him and wouldn't let anyone else touch it. I only caught a glimpse of it from a distance. I really don't know what was inside."
Xiao Nanhui studied the pathetic "River God" and felt he wasn't lying.
She knew exactly what kind of people the Shens were. If they wanted to hide a secret, they would never let an outsider know.
But now, perhaps no one would ever know what was truly inside that bottle.
***
The sun rose, and the banks of the Jushui River were busy once again, looking no different from any other day.
The large ship heading north to Huling was set to sail today. Many passengers were bustling about, and the nearby market was doing a brisk trade.
As was her custom, Xiao Nanhui bought many supplies. Just before boarding, she remembered something, hurriedly gave Su Wei a few instructions, and rushed back into the market.
Half a quarter-hour later, she returned to the pier, but the man was nowhere to be seen.
At first, she thought he might have been bored and gone for a stroll. But thinking back, he had never been interested in anything else; he could sit perfectly still in a carriage for a hundred miles.
Could he have... run into trouble?
Although people had been secretly making arrangements for them throughout their journey, it was impossible to guarantee that nothing would go wrong. Being caught and thrown into the county dungeon was proof of that.
Though he was far calmer and more intelligent than she was, he didn't understand the dangers of the martial world, nor did he have much experience navigating it. If he had just run into some common thief, it would be fine, but if...
She didn't dare think further. Her steps grew wider and more urgent as she plunged into the market, searching from shop to shop.
After an unknown amount of time, sweat had broken out on her forehead. Finally, as she turned to look around, she saw him.
Three or four alleys away, he stood quietly by a fortune-telling stall. The hem of his moon-white trousers was half-soaked.
She pushed through the crowd and reached him with difficulty, grabbing his arm and saying urgently, "Why did you run off alone without telling me? I've been looking everywhere for you!"
He didn't answer her question immediately.
He had actually seen her running around with a face full of anxiety just now.
But he hadn't made a sound.
He watched her quietly for a moment before speaking slowly. "Actually, I saw you when you passed the fishmonger's stall earlier."
Xiao Nanhui froze, not reacting for a moment.
But her nature was simple and direct, and in the blink of an eye, she found a very reasonable explanation for herself.
She raised an eyebrow and stuffed the mandarin she had just bought into his hand.
"I get it..."
Wasn't it because she had been petty on the river earlier and refused to feed him that mandarin because of Yuan Sanniang?
However, as the man’s dark eyes looked at her, there was a flicker of a long-unseen, hidden pain.
Before she could clearly see what that pain was, she was pulled into his embrace.
"No, you don't."
The month-long, purgatory-like ordeal years ago still caused him to wake up from nightmares in the middle of the night. Only after frantically grasping her hand could he find peace.
It wasn't fair.
She didn't understand the agony he had suffered. Even if it were only a ten-thousandth of that pain, he wanted to see her look as though she were afraid of losing him because she couldn't find him.
She was indeed confused, and in her confusion, she found it a bit funny. She instinctively reached out and patted his back.
"What's wrong with you now..."
But in the next moment, he released her. When he looked at her again, he had returned to normal.
"Another letter came from Wei Xiang."
As soon as he changed the subject, she indeed forgot to argue. She hurriedly took the letter tube, opened it skillfully, and scanned the lines.
"There are three more reports from Zhangzhou. They say a fox spirit has taken human form at the foot of Wuxi Mountain, traveling a thousand miles a night to kidnap beautiful women. This doesn't look right to me; it sounds more like a common kidnapper. And this one..."
As she spoke, she noticed he was being excessively quiet and looked up.
"Are you even listening to me?"
The man was peeling one of the mandarins she had bought, nodding with a composed expression.
"I'm listening."
Xiao Nanhui lowered her head and read for a while longer. The other person was still eating with gusto, showing no intention of responding to her.
Finally unable to bear it, she snatched the remaining half of the mandarin and stuffed it all into her mouth.
"Am I the descendant of the Qiu family, or are you?! The Emperor isn't worried, but the eunuch is—"
She stopped halfway, realizing something was wrong.
But he was already laughing. His features were vivid and spirited, and the orange-red juice of the mandarin brightened the curve of his lips.
"Who is the Emperor? And who is the eunuch?"
Her head was spinning with anger, and she spoke without thinking. "You're the Emperor, and you're the eunuch too!"
He wasn't ashamed; instead, he seemed proud.
"Husband and wife cross in the same boat. Since your swimming isn't great, I'm afraid you have no other choice. I don't mind, but I fear you're shouting quite loudly, my lady..."
"You... you... you!"
In terms of the thickness of one's skin, she truly had a long way to go in her cultivation.
"The ship is sailing."
The counterattack the woman had been brewing came to nothing. She pulled the man along as they hurried across the pier. Two figures, tightly entwined, were reflected in the ripples of the water, startling a flock of drowsy waterbirds into flight.
Beside the sunken boat, white sails passed slowly by.
The ship sailed further and further into the ripples, until it vanished where the light of the sky met the color of the water.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 袁三娘 | Yuan Sanniang | Madam of the pleasure boat. |
| 老郑 | Old Zheng | A suspicious servant on the boat. |
| 簪花小楷 | Zanhua Xiaokai | A delicate style of small regular script calligraphy. |
| 解甲 | Jie Jia | Xiao Nanhui's sword (literally "Unarmor"). |
| 未翔 | Wei Xiang | A contact or subordinate of the protagonists. |
| 漳州 | Zhangzhou | A geographical location. |
| 乌溪山 | Wuxi Mountain | A geographical location. |
| 裘家 | Qiu family | Xiao Nanhui's ancestral family name. |
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