When Xiao Nanhui returned to the Sun Manor, the guards were much denser than they had been in the early morning. It took her considerable effort to scale the walls and slip back into the courtyard where Tian Wei’er had previously stayed.
The moment her feet touched the ground, Wu Xiaoliu’s voice rang out in the courtyard.
"Where did you go?"
Xiao Nanhui froze. Turning around, she saw Wu Xiaoliu sitting on the stone bench where they had eaten cakes the night before, his eyes fixed intently on her.
Before she could answer, he asked again, "Where is the young miss?"
Xiao Nanhui remained silent for a moment before speaking truthfully. "I sent her away."
A flash of despair crossed Wu Xiaoliu’s face, quickly replaced by his previous dull sorrow. It seemed he understood exactly what had happened without needing another word of explanation.
Seeing his reaction, she offered a soft word of comfort. "But haven't I come back? If you have nowhere else to go, you can leave with me."
"Leave for where?"
"Somewhere the Sun family can't find us."
Wu Xiaoliu suddenly chuckled at this, then shook his head. "No. I cannot go where you can go. You have such skill, and you come and go as you please. I am just a fat man who doesn't even dare to kill a chicken."
Xiao Nanhui felt a sudden sense of helplessness as she watched the uncharacteristic Wu Xiaoliu. After a long pause, she stepped forward, wanting to persuade him.
"I was the one who dragged you into this. I will surely find a way to keep you safe."
Wu Xiaoliu did not respond, his head hanging low. He picked up the teapot from the stone table, poured two cups of overnight tea, and handed one to Xiao Nanhui.
"Drink some water first."
Xiao Nanhui took the cup. As she drank, she began to tell him her plans. "The Sun Manor isn't actually the best place to stay right now. It looks grand on the surface, but in reality, it's constrained by the Bai family at every turn. Furthermore, most of the guards are hired mercenaries—they are numerous but disorganized, and sooner or later, someone will swallow them up. However, that Pan Mei’er seems to have some real backing. I don't know what her stronghold is like, but perhaps we could head there first to scout the situation..."
As she spoke, she suddenly felt her tongue becoming tied. She paused, thinking something was stuck to her lips, but when she reached up to touch them, she realized they were going numb.
By the time she realized what was happening, her vision had already drifted toward the bright sky.
The *feng shui* of Lingxi was truly cursed; she had only been here for half a month and had already fainted twice.
Blurred voices drifted in and out. She seemed to see Wu Xiaoliu’s unnervingly calm eyes swaying above her head.
"I'm sorry... I just feel that you can't protect me for a lifetime. In the end, the only person one can rely on is oneself. Don't you agree?"
She opened her mouth, a silent sigh escaping her: *Appearances are truly deceiving.* These days, one couldn't even trust a fat man.
Finally, her eyelids grew too heavy to hold up, and she slipped into total darkness.
****** ****** ******
When Xiao Nanhui opened her eyes again, her hands and feet were bound. The Pingxian and the dagger she had hidden inside her clothes were gone.
Beneath her was coarse, abrasive grit, and the walls around her were of the same texture. The only opening was a small air hole the size of a bowl near the ceiling, through which a faint light filtered.
This was a natural stone chamber used as a dungeon—far more solid and reliable than any iron bars.
The only entrance to the stone room was a man-high opening, sealed by a massive wooden barrel that could only be pushed from the outside. Just as her gaze fell upon it, the barrel slowly rolled aside. A figure entered carrying a bowl, and the barrel was immediately closed from the outside behind him.
Xiao Nanhui didn't need to look up to know who it was.
The porcelain bowl of water was placed on the ground right before her eyes, and a voice followed.
"Drink some. I don't know if they'll give you any water later."
She didn't move, staring blankly at the contents of the bowl.
"How do I know this bowl isn't drugged as well?"
The two fat legs standing before her crouched down. Wu Xiaoliu sat on the ground, watching her quietly for a long time before he spoke. "Actually, aside from the fact that I belong to the Sun family, I haven't lied to you about anything else."
Xiao Nanhui finally looked up, meeting that somewhat unfamiliar fat face.
"Someone once told me that only fear makes people speak the truth. It seems our relationship was simply too harmonious."
Wu Xiaoliu paused, then picked up the bowl himself and drained it. "I want to go back to the West City so badly. They left me in the East City to fend for myself. I'm a stupid one; in all these years, I haven't been able to catch so much as a stray cat or dog to bring back and complete my mission. You delivered yourself to my door. You can't entirely blame me."
"Why didn't you expose me when we first arrived at the Sun Manor?"
"You hadn't done anything then. For a time, I even thought it was quite nice having you with me at the Sun Manor. But you let the young miss go. I..."
"Fine, say no more."
Xiao Nanhui suddenly lost the patience to listen.
They were never the same kind of people to begin with; it would have been strange if they could have walked the same path. Besides, discussing this now was utterly meaningless.
For a moment, silence filled the stone chamber.
Just as Wu Xiaoliu stood up to take the bowl, the wooden barrel at the entrance moved, and two people walked in.
The one in the lead was Magistrate Sun, and the one following him was Pan Mei’er.
Wu Xiaoliu prostrated himself in the dust, stammering his greeting. "G-Greetings, Excellency. Greetings, Chieftainess."
Pan Mei’er bypassed Magistrate Sun and stepped forward, kicking the water bowl aside. Her voice remained soft and seductive. "I heard Magistrate Sun caught an internal thief, so I came to watch the fun. But why is it so quiet? This isn't interesting at all."
Magistrate Sun said nothing, gesturing to the two servants behind him. They hauled Xiao Nanhui off the ground and threw her onto a nearby torture chair.
Her backside had just endured the torment of the grit floor, and now being pressed into this bronze chair was truly more than she could bear.
Magistrate Sun looked at her with measured deliberation. He personally shoved her legs into the bronze box-plates, securing them. Only two thin leather cords remained on the outside.
Xiao Nanhui couldn't see what agonizing devices were hidden inside those plates, which only made the anticipation more grueling. It seemed Magistrate Sun was no stranger to the work of interrogation; he had clearly put a great deal of ingenuity into these instruments.
Pan Mei’er stepped forward, fiddling with the two beads on the leather cords, still wearing that smiling expression.
Xiao Nanhui looked at her, wondering if this woman was simply born with such a face. Otherwise, she truly couldn't see what was so funny about the current situation.
"What is your name?"
The woman spoke. Xiao Nanhui licked her cracked lips and whispered, "Yao’er."
"Yao’er?" Pan Mei’er’s voice hovered above her head. "This face of yours is quite interesting."
She continued to lie shamelessly. "Yes. Since I was a child, people have said I look like the Lady Bodhisattva in the temple who saves people from suffering."
"A Bodhisattva?" A cold, hard hand clamped onto her jaw from below, forcing her to look up. "Then look at me. Do I look like a Bodhisattva?"
Xiao Nanhui blinked.
She hadn't been able to see clearly from a distance at the banquet, but now that she was close, she didn't want to look at all. If any temple had a Bodhisattva that looked like this, forget about incense offerings—the temple would likely be struck by lightning.
Since she had no intention of telling a single word of truth today anyway, she decided to keep lying through her teeth.
"You do."
The pressure on her jaw vanished. Pan Mei’er let out a strange laugh, quite different from her previous voice.
"Not only is your face interesting, but your words are too. I wanted to give you an easy and quick end. If there's anything you want to say, why don't you tell me now?"
"What does Chieftainess Pan want to hear?"
Pan Mei’er’s fingers nimbly circled the leather cords. "How about we start with whose dog you are? You know, even a dog has its own territory. If it doesn't stay honestly in its own place and goes wandering around someone else's, it's bound to be caught and turned into stew. Don't you agree?"
Xiao Nanhui was silent for a moment, then she lifted her head and looked at Pan Mei’er with a grin.
"I don't keep dogs. I don't understand a single word you're saying, Chieftainess Pan."
The seductive smile instantly vanished from Pan Mei’er’s face, as if a monster had shed its human skin to reveal its true form. She gave the long cords a violent yank.
A piercing screech of metal on metal rang out. Rows of iron teeth and steel needles suddenly sprouted from the sides of the box-plates, clamping firmly onto Xiao Nanhui’s ankles. The steel nails pierced through flesh and embedded themselves into the bone.
A heart-wrenching agony surged through her. She clenched her teeth, broken groans rolling in her throat.
Wu Xiaoliu watched blankly from the side, his face gradually turning pale.
The smile returned to Pan Mei’er’s face. Her long, hard fingernails scraped across the two iron clamps, making a grating sound. "Oh? Looking at this, it seems you've had some training."
Xiao Nanhui knew that today was destined to end badly, so she no longer had any reservations. She looked up at Pan Mei’er and began to laugh as well. "Chieftainess Pan had better use a bit more strength. If you can snap my bones, I'll save money on shoes in the future."
Even though she had seen many interrogation scenes of all varieties, Pan Mei’er’s face contorted for a fleeting second.
Magistrate Sun, however, remained expressionless from start to finish. He reached out and scooped a ladle of liquid from a nearby vat. It was a dark, murky mass, soaked with unknown herbs. He poured it directly onto Xiao Nanhui’s legs.
The liquid trickled into the torn wounds, and all the previous pain was magnified in an instant. This time, the agony overrode her reason. She heard her own screams echoing through the secret chamber, stopping only when her strength was spent.
Wu Xiaoliu had been standing by, watching. At first, he was numb, but then his body began to shake violently. Now, he finally couldn't help but collapse onto the floor.
His knees were weak as he scrambled forward, his mouth letting out broken murmurs. "E-Excellency, she just wanted to earn some silver. She was blinded by greed and helped the Tian girl elope with that outsider. Please, in your great mercy, spare her this once..."
Magistrate Sun tossed the empty ladle back into the vat, his face still wearing that skin-deep smile. "Xiaoliu, you are an honest man. You shouldn't get involved in these things. The situation is unstable now. No doubt Tiancheng has sent many people to sniff around Bijiang. We must make preparations to prevent those with ulterior motives from infiltrating. If something goes wrong later, wouldn't we and the Bai clan suffer together?"
Magistrate Sun’s words were like a spear pointed directly at Xiao Nanhui’s identity, but the pain currently dominating her body left her unable to offer a rebuttal.
What surged through her mind at this moment, however, was the sight of Tian Wei’er and Jia Han’s receding figures amidst the swirling yellow sands.
In the past, she had often wondered: Why are there so many bad people in this world and so few good ones? Why do the wicked live long while the good die young?
Actually, the answer was very simple: To be a good person, one must pay a price.
She hadn't understood this truth before, but now, she finally did.
"Why have you stopped talking? Weren't you a top-tier interesting person just a moment ago?"
Pan Mei’er’s features swayed before her eyes. It seemed to be that same smiling face, but the smile was utterly twisted.
Because of the pain, sweat poured down her face like rain. The ginger-mixed kudzu powder she had used for her disguise was mostly washed away, turning into murky droplets that fell before her eyes.
She struggled to make her thoughts function again, and a bold idea broke through her logic.
Gasping for air, she fought to control her tongue so it wouldn't fail her from the pain. "Magistrate Sun... as for who I am, you should ask Chieftainess Pan."
Magistrate Sun’s fleshy face finally showed a different expression.
"Oh? Chieftainess Pan, do you know who she is?"
---
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 西城 | West City | A location mentioned by Wu Xiaoliu. |
| 东城 | East City | A location mentioned by Wu Xiaoliu. |
| 天成 | Tiancheng | Likely the name of the capital or the central government. |
| 碧疆 | Bijiang | A regional name (lit. Green Border/Frontier). |
| 刑椅 | Torture chair | A specialized chair used for interrogation. |
| 箱板 | Box-plates | The part of the torture device housing the spikes. |
| 葛根粉 | Kudzu powder | Used here as part of a disguise/makeup. |
