The wind howled past her ears as Xiao Nanhui looked down upon the city of Muerhe shrouded in night. Below, the Hun River wound its way into the distance. She suddenly understood why poets of old loved to climb to great heights to compose their verses; the view from above changed with every shift of day and night, every transition between sun and rain. It was truly different at every moment.
"Brother Yao, you have worked hard."
She whipped her head around. Zhongli Jing, dressed in black robes, sat upon the only intact section of the roof ridge of Pingxiao Tower. He looked at her with a clean, composed expression that bordered on the compassionate.
Of course, had it not been for the blood-stained Ding Weixiang wiping his blade behind him, she might have been able to convince herself that this was indeed a moment of fine scenery and a beautiful night.
"You were the one who tampered with the lamp oil?"
Zhongli Jing lowered his gaze. Below the high tower, the fires of the Youyin Altar could no longer be coaxed into a roar. Only scattered points of light moved about—the torches of those clearing the scene.
"That was not oil. It was water."
"How can water burn?"
The man stood up and brushed the dust from his robes. "What burned was the layer of oil floating atop the water. Once the oil was spent, the fire naturally went out."
Xiao Nanhui felt a surge of irritation. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? When the lights went out, I thought I was dead for sure."
Zhongli Jing lightly lifted the hem of his robes and walked toward her. The tiles beneath his feet clattered and groaned as if they might collapse at any second. Just watching him made her heart race, yet he—a man with no martial arts foundation—seemed entirely unconcerned.
He walked close enough that she felt she would fall if she retreated even an inch. Finally, he stopped and spoke in a low voice, "Do you not trust me?"
Clearly, he was the one in the wrong, yet his question made her falter. "It’s not that..."
"Wipe your face." Before she could say more, a damp cloth was suddenly pressed against her face. It carried a familiar scent. The man’s voice sounded near her ear: "After today, those in this city who harbor the same goals as us will surely have reservations. We should use this interval to settle our business quickly. What do you say, Brother Yao?"
"Since you’ve arranged everything so clearly, why bother asking me?"
Xiao Nanhui snatched the cloth away. It was stained with blood—the markings the priest had painted on her face. She actually wanted to find a mirror to see what exactly was on her forehead, but she knew it wouldn't be good to be seen with such a face. After a moment's thought, she rubbed her skin vigorously.
Not far away, Ding Weixiang was bent over a beam, fiddling with something. Now seemingly finished, he stood and gave Zhongli Jing a gesture. Xiao Nanhui narrowed her eyes at the master and servant, thinking she needed to be more cautious.
"This..." Xiao Nanhui pulled out the box she had been clutching and gave it a shake. "I’ll keep this for now. You don't have an objection, do you?"
Ding Weixiang said nothing, looking only at Zhongli Jing. The latter showed no emotion, nodding calmly. "It matters not."
*It matters not, it matters not.*
You certainly are open-minded, she thought. Everything "matters not" to you.
She didn't care to guess what he was up to. She looked around; during the day, it had taken her nearly an hour to climb to this height. Yet, when Ding Weixiang had brought her up just now, it had seemed to happen in the blink of an eye.
As she was thinking, an exquisite mechanical chain snapped onto her waist with a *clack*.
She looked up to meet Ding Weixiang’s expressionless face.
So he had used this to bring her up? She knew it; how could anyone’s lightness skill be so great that they could leap five stories from level ground? It had to involve external tools.
"There is only one Flying Shuttle Chain; this one is for you. I will take my master down from the other side."
With that, the man turned toward Zhongli Jing. The master gave her a fleeting look, a hint of a smile seemingly playing at the corners of his mouth. But before she could see it clearly, the two of them leaped together, vanishing completely into the chaotic darkness of the night.
Xiao Nanhui stood frozen in place, lifting the chain at her waist to examine it.
How... how do you use this thing?
***
The hour of the Tiger had not yet passed, and the hour of the Rabbit was fast approaching. At the end of the night, the darkness was at its thickest.
This year’s Zhu Ming Festival was truly extraordinary. Not only had two "Flower-Plucking Priests" fought on the same stage, but lives had been lost during the final ceremony. The crowds of spectators had returned to their dwellings much earlier than in previous years. The children, free of worry, had fallen into deep sleep after their play, leaving the anxious adults to huddle over candles, whispering about everything that had just transpired.
On the other side of a stone bridge, the old city district of Muerhe was silent.
Among the dark, dilapidated houses, the scattered flickers of light looked like ghost fires.
Xiao Nanhui trimmed a section of moldy, damp wick and refilled the lamp with oil before finally lighting the only lamp in the room.
She held the lamp up to look around. Aside from a bedframe in the corner that looked ready to fall apart, the place was almost empty. The man had said this used to be a tea house, but she couldn't see the slightest resemblance.
Hao Bai seemed to have been waiting for them for a long time. There wasn't even a chair in the room, so he sat on a stone block he had dragged inside, rubbing his hands together.
"Where is Bolao? Has she not arrived yet?"
Hao Bai replied with a grin, "I asked her to handle some matters. She might be delayed a bit, but she should be here soon. Well? Did you get the item?"
Zhongli Jing gave Ding Weixiang a look. Understanding the command, the servant stepped outside to keep watch. Xiao Nanhui slowly pulled out the box and signaled for Hao Bai to clear the only "table" in the room.
Hao Bai had clearly been warming that spot with his backside for a long time. Having finally gotten it warm, he was a hundred times unwilling to move.
Xiao Nanhui stepped forward and simply hoisted him up, setting him aside. After the day's twists and turns, her patience was exhausted; she didn't even want to waste half a sentence.
The day felt exceptionally long, and everyone seemed unusually silent. The three of them gathered around the stone block, staring at the square box atop it. For a moment, no one moved.
No one was a fool. The precedent of Master Zou’s near-death state was right there. No one knew if there were traps within the box, or where they might be.
After a long silence, it was Zhongli Jing who spoke first.
"If you two do not mind, I shall open it."
Hao Bai swallowed hard. "Are you sure you want to do that?"
Zhongli Jing’s face was like still water. "It matters not."
*It matters not? Even this matters not?*
"Wait." Xiao Nanhui instinctively grabbed his wrist.
His hand was somewhat cool, but his skin was very fine. She only touched him for a moment before quickly letting go.
The man raised an eyebrow at her. She spoke somewhat hesitantly, "Even if you can obtain that sarira, the poison is truly strange. I see that Master Hao is only making medicine based on an ancestral recipe; he probably can't guarantee a hundred percent recovery for everyone, nor do we know if there will be lingering complications. Look at how miserable Zou Sifang was. If... I mean, if it can't be cured, wouldn't you be throwing your life away?"
She didn't know why she blurted those words out. This man knew her identity and was perhaps a threat, but she simply felt that no one should treat their own life so cheaply.
Beside them, Hao Bai was uncharacteristically silent, which served as a tacit agreement with her words.
The room was quiet for a moment. Zhongli Jing studied her with a strange look in his eyes. After a beat, he withdrew his gaze. "I saw Master Yao’s momentum when seizing the flower earlier; you hardly seemed to hold your own life in high regard. Why bother advising me now?"
Xiao Nanhui was choked into silence, feeling as though her good intentions had been treated like dirt. The man ignored her and reached toward the plain-looking box.
The bronze latch was undone, and the lid opened with a creak.
Everyone held their breath, but nothing happened.
Inside the box lay a square jade seal, lustrous and white as fine jade.
A jade seal. It was indeed a jade seal.
Zhongli Jing’s pale hand picked up the seal, deftly turning it over in his palm.
"It seems we are a step too late."
Xiao Nanhui froze for a moment, confused. "What do you mean, a step too late?"
Hao Bai didn't seem surprised. He rested his chin on his hand and added, "A step behind someone else in getting this box, that's what."
She found it hard to believe. She stared at the flawless jade in his hand, unable to look away. "Could it be that this is..."
Zhongli Jing’s tone remained flat, showing no sign of frustration at his miscalculation.
"Indeed. This is a fake."
Xiao Nanhui snatched the box from the stone block and inspected it up and down. "Impossible! I took it from Zou Sifang’s hands myself. From that moment until Ding Weixiang found me, my hands never left this box..."
Thinking of the hardships she had endured today for this small box, she felt on the verge of a breakdown. Unless...
"Unless the jade seal Zou Sifang handed me was a fake from the very beginning!"
She was stunned by her own deduction. So Master Zou still hadn't seen reason! He was hiding his own selfish motives in the shadows; they had almost all been played for fools.
Zhongli Jing, however, looked at Hao Bai, who seemed to be lost in thought. He suddenly asked, "What does Master Hao think?"
Hao Bai didn't seem to expect to be called upon. He said vaguely, "There were many people at the ceremony. It's hard to say for sure with such things."
"I am not asking you how it was swapped, but rather if you also feel this seal is a fake." Zhongli Jing paused, then lowered his eyes. "But looking at it now, it seems Master Hao knew from the start."
Hao Bai was startled, then realized he had been trapped. He thought about it and decided there was no harm in speaking now; staying silent would only arouse more suspicion.
"I do know that the jade seal does not look like this. That is why I realized it was a fake the moment the box was opened."
To Xiao Nanhui’s ears, this sounded like a blatant lie.
"How old are you? Even your great-great-grandfather might not have seen that seal, let alone you."
That familiar look of internal conflict reappeared on Hao Bai’s face. "That is a long story. I have indeed never seen the physical object, but someone among my ancestors did. Furthermore, I have seen written records describing the seal’s appearance. Several details do not match the one before us, so..."
An ancestor had seen it? Wasn't he just a wandering doctor? Why would the ancestor of a wandering doctor have seen the Heirloom Seal of the Realm?
Just as Xiao Nanhui was finding this strange, there was a sound at the door. Ding Weixiang walked in, followed by a figure. It was Bolao.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
玄衣 | Black robes / Dark garments | Traditional formal or somber attire.
凭霄塔 | Pingxiao Tower | Lit. "Tower that Reaches the Clouds."
飞梭链 | Flying Shuttle Chain | A mechanical tool/gadget used for climbing or rapid movement.
寅时 | Hour of the Tiger | 3:00 AM – 5:00 AM.
卯时 | Hour of the Rabbit | 5:00 AM – 7:00 AM.
传国玉玺 | Heirloom Seal of the Realm | The ultimate symbol of imperial authority in Chinese history.
