No light moves through country like dawn moving through a mountain forest.

As the sun slowly climbs, its gentle radiance filters through the canopy — and emerges, on the other side, as countless sharp blades.

A pale gold light routs the darkness, and those blades are the weapons of that pursuit — light hunting shadow.

The blades broke free of the woodland and fell across Young Master Cao Lie where he stood in the clearing — and there they softened again, settling over him like a faint gold border traced along his edges.

He stood gripping the Jingzhe blade with both hands, chest rising and falling with each slow, deliberate breath.

Around him, seven or eight fiercely loyal guards remained standing — each one of them, Cao Lie included, drenched in blood from head to foot.

And surrounding all of them: a dense carpet of bodies.

Mu Fengliu had been right about one thing — with the numbers he had brought to encircle Cao Lie’s few dozen, killing them all would certainly be faster than the Baishan Army could fight its way up the mountain.

But he had been wrong about one thing: the loyalty and courage of the Shanhai Army soldiers, measured against Cao Lie’s people, fell laughably short.

When the Baishan Army began driving upward from below with full force, how many of the Shanhai Army’s men still had the will to hold their ground?

Cao Lie and his people were formidable enough — they had cut down hundreds. But that ferocity alone could not hold off two-plus-ten-thousand through to the end.

When Cao Lie was fighting with his eyes gone red, he raised the Jingzhe blade toward the Shanhai Army soldiers and roared:

“The Baishan Army is closing in from below — you will all die here!”

That shout snapped them awake.

They suddenly realized: Mu Fengliu had already fled. Why were they still here throwing away their lives?

The encirclement thinned as men peeled away and ran. The world grew quiet.

But Cao Lie and his people didn’t move freely even then. In the darkness, any sudden movement risked being cut down by the Baishan Army by mistake.

So they stayed in place until dawn. Only when the shouts and clash of steel had faded entirely could Cao Lie truly let out his breath.

There had been a moment, in the thick of it, when he had genuinely believed this was where he would end.

But he hadn’t been afraid. Perhaps it was the weight of the moment. Perhaps he felt there were things for which he owed a debt, and this was the settling of it.

Even so — surviving was, in the end, a cause for joy. When the darkness passed and the killing sounds fell silent, Cao Lie threw back his head and laughed.

He was a man born to live with a fierce, free spirit — but he had never felt the kind of freedom he felt in that moment.

In the sunlight, Nie She returned, a chest in hand, threading through the woodland, stepping through those blades of light.

When Cao Lie saw him, the laughter grew louder still.

Nie She stopped a short distance from him, surveyed the bodies blanketing the clearing, and let out a slow breath. “I actually shouldn’t have gone.”

“There’s no ‘should have’ and ‘shouldn’t have’ in this,” Cao Lie replied. “I shouldn’t have stayed here either — but you went, and I stayed, and the outcome was good. That’s enough.”

Nie She set the chest down. Cao Lie looked at it. “Did you bring me Mu Fengliu’s head in that?”

Nie She gave a slow shake of his head. “No.”

He paused, then added a few more words.

“He’s in two pieces. Inconvenient to carry.”

Cao Lie stared at him for a moment — then burst out laughing again.

Nie She looked at the chest. “I didn’t open it. I don’t know what’s inside. But the fact that Mu Fengliu rushed back at all costs to retrieve it tells me the contents matter.”

Cao Lie said: “They don’t.”

Nie She said: “He risked going back for it. How can it not matter?”

Cao Lie smiled. “It’s just money. What’s so important about that?”

Nie She: “…”

Cao Lie pointed at the chest. “It’s yours.”

Nie She shook his head. “I need money. But I’m not going to use the Shanhe Seal’s money anymore.”

Cao Lie said: “Foolish.”

Nie She smiled faintly. “I can’t have my daughter grow up knowing the money that raised her was money her father earned through killing.”

The ease with which he said it told everything about where he was in that moment.

Cao Lie said: “This money wasn’t earned through killing. It would be a waste for it to fall into the wrong hands — better you put it to use.”

Nie She still shook his head. “It’s just money. What’s so important about that.”

Cao Lie laughed out loud. “All right, I won’t press you… the money you won’t take for your daughter because it came from killing — but surely you wouldn’t refuse a gift from her senior martial brother?”

Nie She narrowed his eyes slightly.

Cao Lie reached into his robe and produced a pair of jade pendants, then unclipped an iron token from his belt, and placed them all in Nie She’s hands.

“The jade is clean — it belonged to my mother, part of the dowry she brought when she married my father. He later gave it to me, and I’ve worn it ever since. At the very least, when hard times come, you shouldn’t have to let your daughter go without because of money — that would be the one thing that should never happen.”

Nie She hesitated, but didn’t immediately refuse.

Cao Lie continued: “The iron token is mine — the symbol of the Shanhe Seal’s Young Master. It may or may not still carry weight, but it may or may not be useless either. When she grows up, she’ll need to be married off eventually, and if she goes into marriage without much money of her own, won’t that break your heart?”

Nie She looked even more uncertain.

Cao Lie opened the chest, took out one of the documents, and held it out to Nie She. “This is her senior martial brother’s advance gift for her future wedding dowry.”

He gestured at the pendants and token. “Those — consider those to be from you, for her.”

Nie She couldn’t hold back a smile. “If you ever become a father, you’ll be a good one.”

Cao Lie said: “I’d say I’d be just a little better than you.”

He closed the chest lid. “The rest — I’m going to give to someone who needs it. The right person.”

Nie She asked: “Who?”

After a brief silence, Cao Lie said: “What if I told you it was the man responsible for my father’s death?”

Nie She froze.

Cao Lie let out a long breath. “He didn’t kill him with his own hands — but my father died because of him. The Shanhe Seal fractured because of him. I have been in hiding because of him…”

He laughed at himself quietly. “I honestly don’t know what I’m thinking, choosing to send him these things.”

Nie She found himself without words for a long moment.

Finally, Nie She said: “I have to go. I promised them I wouldn’t come back too late.”

Cao Lie nodded, then said with quiet sincerity: “Don’t let me find you again.”

Nie She said: “I won’t be easy for anyone to find. If you do find me someday, it will only be because… what I hope for is that when my daughter is old enough to be married, her senior martial brother knows the way to our door — so he can be there to see her off as family. It’s always better for a bride’s family to look a little full and impressive.”

Cao Lie smiled. “So you’re angling for a very large red envelope from me.”

Nie She laughed outright. “It had better be very large indeed. And if by then I have many more children — then that means many, many large red envelopes.”

In the sunlight, Nie She walked away. His figure disappeared into the deep of the forest.

Cao Lie understood: after this parting, the two of them would likely never meet again.

He would not intrude on Nie She’s life with his wife and children. And Nie She had accepted the gifts — which meant he had accepted both the good intentions and this farewell.

Cao Lie stood without moving for a long time, until his men came to ask if they should be going.

He gave a quiet sound of agreement, let out a long breath, then smiled and said: “Do any of you ever think about what it would be like to spend the rest of your days as idle rich men with money, no responsibilities, and nothing to do but spend it?”

A cluster of blood-soaked men began to laugh.

“Right now what I want is to find a bathhouse somewhere. A good long soak. With someone to scrub my back — and obviously not any of you.”

Cao Lie stepped forward. “I’m sure you’re all thinking the same thing.”

Outside Dragon’s Head Pass, Zhuang Wudi led his men out through the city gates. At roughly a few *li*’s distance, the Baishan Army forces had come to a halt.

A small group rode toward them, clearly without hostile intent.

Zhuang Wudi told his men not to follow him up, then rode forward alone.

As he drew near, the rider at the head of the Baishan Army group clasped his fists: “I am Baishan Army General Tan Tuohai. Am I addressing General Zhuang?”

Zhuang Wudi returned the salute. “I am Zhuang Wudi.”

Tan Tuohai said: “We have defeated the Shanhai Army — their remnants have scattered and fled. I came specifically to report this to General Zhuang.”

Zhuang Wudi clasped his fists in return. “Our thanks to the Baishan Army’s brothers.”

Tan Tuohai said: “We fought for our fallen comrades, and to rid Yanzhou of a scourge. For the time being, we won’t be leaving the area around Dragon’s Head Pass — but please be assured, we have no hostile intentions. We simply need to wait here.”

He looked at Zhuang Wudi, his tone carrying a note of appeal: “If General Zhuang agrees — could you spare some provisions? Our food supplies are running short.” He paused. “I should mention — the reason we’re staying is that we’re waiting for someone.”

He dropped from his horse and bowed deeply: “I beg General Zhuang’s help in sending word to our little lady. Tell her that a group of troublemaking old men from the Baishan Army are waiting at Dragon’s Head Pass, ready to accept whatever punishment she sees fit. To be beaten or scolded — we’ll accept all of it.”

Zhuang Wudi said immediately: “Don’t worry. When I get back, I’ll dispatch a messenger to Yuzhou as fast as possible with the news. But it’s a long journey back and forth, and winter is nearly here — you can’t camp outside through the cold. People will die.”

He jerked his chin toward the gates of Dragon’s Head Pass behind him: “Come inside. Spend the winter in the city. Ring in the New Year together. Wait for your little lady here.”

Tan Tuohai went still. His eyes filled with disbelief.

He blurted: “But… but that… surely that isn’t…”

Zhuang Wudi said: “Prince Ning has said it before — a brother’s brother is also a brother. General Shen’s brothers are naturally our brothers as well. Prince Ning has also said: we don’t do things that make people feel their loyalty was wasted. Your little lady is our General Shen. That makes all of you my brothers and friends, Zhuang Wudi’s.”

Tan Tuohai could barely contain his emotion. His greatest fear had been arriving only to find that the Ning Army couldn’t accept them.

Without Shen Shanhu to return and hold them together, their only option had been to wait — and a force without direction quickly falls apart.

“Go on,” Zhuang Wudi said with a smile. “Go back and tell the Baishan Army brothers — come inside and spend the New Year with us.”

On the city walls.

Zaoyun Jian watched from above as Zhuang Wudi spoke with the Baishan Army riders in the distance. The two of them kept bowing and saluting back and forth, and he found himself unable to stop smiling.

He said to Old Zhenren: “Old Zhenren, care to guess what they’re talking about — all that bowing and saluting?”

Old Zhenren considered for a moment, then offered four words as his summary.

“Mutual admiration and affection.”

Zaoyun Jian blinked. He squinted at the old man. “The views of your monastery are quite… open-minded.”

Old Zhenren curled his lip. “Nonsense. Can they compare with you lot?”

Zaoyun Jian: “Hmph!”

Old Zhenren let out a chuckle. “No more fighting. Thank heavens.”

Zaoyun Jian said: “The New Year is nearly here — after New Year it’ll be the Year of the Ox. Let me toast you something in advance, Old Zhenren.”

Old Zhenren said: “Toast away!”

Zaoyun Jian said: “Then — may you have an auspicious Year of the Ox, Old Zhenren.”

Old Zhenren: “An auspicious Year of the Ox? What kind of auspicious?”

Zaoyun Jian: “Hmm?”

Old Zhenren: “Can the Year of the Ox only be *good to use*?”

Zaoyun Jian: “????”

—