Shen Zhuxi’s heart was pounding like a drum. She hurriedly shoved Li Wu inside and immediately shut the door behind them.

“What’s the rush? I’m not going anywhere.” Li Wu sat down casually on the bench in front of the table, reached out a hand, and in one swift pull, Shen Zhuxi found herself caught between his two legs.

He gripped her with both knees, pinched her chin, and looked her over carefully from head to toe.

“Shen Fool, have you gotten thinner?”

“I have not!” Shen Zhuxi said, her face flushing red.

He brought his face close to hers, his gaze bright and intent. “…Then look and see whether I’ve gotten thinner.”

Shen Zhuxi’s heart thudded, as though it might leap out in the next moment into those longed-for eyes.

Li Wu watched her. After a moment, he broke into a grin.

All the turmoil she kept buried in her heart — the shyness, the startled joy of reunion after so long apart — it all seemed utterly exposed under his all-seeing gaze.

Shen Zhuxi felt as though she had been scalded. She jumped to her feet, flushed, and broke free of the hold he had on her.

“How did all of you get here?” Li Wu asked.

Shen Zhuxi gave him a brief but clear account of meeting Xiao Hu after they had been separated, and everything that had happened since.

“Is this tiger surnamed person male or female?” Li Wu frowned.

“She’s not surnamed Tiger — that’s — never mind, it doesn’t matter.” Shen Zhuxi said. “I bandaged her wound myself. She is clearly a woman.”

“Impossible —” Li Wu said without even thinking. “Her chest is flatter than mine.”

“Why were you looking at someone else’s chest for no reason?” Shen Zhuxi was displeased.

“I was trying to rescue you. Was I not supposed to find out who was in charge in there and which people mattered?” Li Wu said. “That Xiao Hu — sitting down, she spreads her legs wider than I do. Even a random old woman would seem more like a woman than she does.”

“Whether or not she seems like a woman, she is a woman.” Shen Zhuxi had no desire to dwell on this particular topic and changed the subject. “How did you get inside?”

“Everyone’s up front watching Master Niubi. The back of the mountain had practically no one standing guard. I walked right in —” Li Wu said with undisguised contempt. “This broken stronghold has holes everywhere.”

“So can we leave tonight?” Shen Zhuxi asked hopefully.

“Leave? What’s the hurry?” Li Wu said. “We came all the way here — why leave empty-handed?”

Shen Zhuxi gaped at him. “What else do you have planned?”

Li Wu raised one foot, crossed it over the other knee, and gave it a self-satisfied jiggle.

“This mountain man has his own scheme.”

……

“The Scholar of the Precious Pearl once taught me the art of reading the flow of energy —”

Da Hu cut Niuwang off. “The art of reading the flow of energy? What is that?”

“It’s reading feng shui.” Niuwang said, “These ignorant country folk haven’t even heard of such a thing…”

“Master Niubi, what did you just say?” Er Hu asked.

“This monk is reciting an incantation!” Niuwang addressed the main courtyard where the stronghold master resided. “The feng shui here is inauspicious!”

Er Hu swallowed his confusion about why a monk was reciting incantations and said urgently, “That’s easy enough to fix! This room, this arrangement — whatever the Master says to change, we will change!”

“That won’t work —” Niuwang shook his head. “It is the eight characters of your Hu family’s fate that are at odds with Pingshan. No matter how you rearrange the room and its furnishings, it will do nothing.”

“Aren’t you a Buddhist monk?” Xiao Hu said with a contemptuous expression. “And Buddhist monks are concerned with eight-character fate readings?”

Niuwang replied with complete conviction, “What of it, this monk being a Buddhist monk? Reciting sutras doesn’t stop this monk from doing fate readings. How can a person throw away something passed down from their ancestors?”

“Master, our surname is not Hu — we simply have the character for tiger in our names.” Da Hu corrected him. “And furthermore, you don’t even know our eight characters, so how can you say they conflict with Pingshan?”

“What your names are doesn’t matter.” Niuwang said. “What matters is this monk looked at your faces and saw at once that your family’s eight characters are at odds with Pingshan. If the conflict in your family’s eight characters cannot be resolved, your father will not recover no matter how much medicine he takes.”

Er Hu harbored his own skepticism — how could anyone determine eight characters through face reading?

But now was not the time to pursue that question. Regardless of whether Master Niubi had divined the eight characters through face reading or some other method, so long as he had a way to wake the stronghold master and change the old man’s mind about who should succeed him, Er Hu could manage to stay patient even if this dragged on for four or five more days.

“Please, Master — show us the way, and we will take care of the rest ourselves!” Er Hu said with a respectful bow of his hands.

Of the three siblings, Er Hu was by far the most eager.

Niuwang was satisfied by his attitude. He rubbed his smooth bare head and, with the profound air of an otherworldly sage, offered measured guidance:

“A person’s eight characters are fixed at birth and cannot be changed. But a family’s eight characters — those can be altered through what comes after. Change your family’s eight characters, and not only will your father recover without treatment, but the future of Pingshan Stronghold will grow ever more flourishing from this day forward!”

“Master Niubi, you have yet to even see my father,” Da Hu said suspiciously, “and yet you dare to declare that you can cure him?”

“Why wouldn’t I dare?” Niuwang looked as though he had been personally affronted, puffing out his eyes and saying loudly, “What this monk alters is fate — of course what this monk looks at is heaven. If you don’t trust this monk, then let this monk go down the mountain right now!”

“Master, please calm your anger!” Er Hu said with a bow of his hands. “My elder brother is simply the impatient sort — Master, please don’t take it to heart… If I didn’t trust the Master, why would I have gone to such lengths to invite you up the mountain?”

“Then tell me —” Da Hu said, half-skeptical. “How does one change an entire family’s eight characters?”

“The eight characters of your Hu family, taken together, conflict with Pingshan. All you need is to add one more set of eight characters that, when combined with yours, does not create a conflict — wouldn’t that resolve it?”

“We’re not the Hu family… never mind.” Er Hu said. “Master, do you know whose eight characters would pair with ours favorably?”

“This…”

For once, the usually fast-talking Master Niubi showed a look of difficulty.

Er Hu’s only desire was for the stronghold master to wake up and change his mind about naming him the successor. He wasn’t above prying open Niuwang’s mouth even if there was a genuine difficulty, let alone when the man was simply building suspense.

But for now, he still had his patience.

“Master, please speak plainly. Point us in the right direction, and we will figure out the rest ourselves!” Er Hu said.

Da Hu wasn’t sure whether the monk before him could truly defy fate, and worried that one misstep might leave him branded with the name of one who killed his own kin — after all, the Hu family — hmph, after all, their stronghold had flourished for generations in Pingshan, and they were considered a name of some standing among the bandits of Yingzhou. Reputation had to be maintained. So he remained cautiously silent, without interrupting Er Hu’s eager questioning.

And if the bald fraud turned out to be nothing more than a charlatan — watching that conniving, wolfish-hearted little brother fall flat on his face would be a pleasure in itself. Why not?

“I have calculated it from every angle, and there is only one person whose eight characters can bring good fortune to your family —”

“Who?” Er Hu’s face was a picture of impatience.

“My younger sibling.”

“The Master has a younger sibling?”

“A monk can’t have siblings just because a monk has no wife?” Niuwang’s eyes widened in indignation.

“That’s not what I meant…” Er Hu said with a placating smile. “The Master’s meaning is — if we were to take in a sworn sibling, that would resolve this crisis for my father?”

“A sworn sibling won’t work.” Niuwang shook his head. “Heaven knows it would only be nominal — a set of eight characters acquired by a sworn relationship would not count.”

“Then…” Er Hu was puzzled for a moment before understanding dawned. “The Master is suggesting we form a marital alliance?”

“Who in the blazes wants to form a marital alliance with you — this is a last resort with no other option!” Niuwang said.

“So after all this, what you call defying fate is actually a marriage for good luck?” Xiao Hu said.

“You, young one, have no idea how to speak! When a monk arranges such a thing, you call it a lucky marriage? If you don’t trust this monk, this monk is quite happy to leave!”

Niuwang made to leave, and Er Hu hastened to block his path.

“Little brother, you are being far too discourteous! If you drive the Master away in anger, do you have any other way to help Father recover?”

Xiao Hu was unmoved and laughed coldly, “This bald donkey may not be able to make Father recover either.”

“What harm is there in letting him try? The Master proposed this method because he has absolute confidence in it — any person of ordinary sense and sound mind would not go about speaking empty words in a den of bandits.” Er Hu spoke with veiled threat and deliberate significance. “Master, would you not say so?”

Niuwang patted his own chest and declared, “If the method this monk has proposed proves useless, you may all tear off this Niubi’s head and use it as a ball to kick around!”

“Might the Master tell us — where does his younger sibling currently reside? What is their age? And their appearance?” Er Hu puffed out his chest with an air of satisfaction. “This junior is twenty-two this year, and as it happens, not yet married.”

“What a coincidence!” Niuwang clapped his hands in exclamation. “This monk’s sibling happens to be twenty-two as well!”

Upon hearing the age, Er Hu’s brow furrowed. “Twenty-two? Are you certain, Master? Twenty-two?”

“Would this monk really misremember a sibling’s age?” Niuwang said. “This sibling of mine, their age is admittedly not on the young side…”

He shifted his tone and said with emphatic conviction:

“But their needlework is unrivaled, they are well-versed in poetry and literature, and skilled in the culinary arts — truly able to grace a grand reception hall or manage a household kitchen. Except for carrying children —”

Both Da Hu and Er Hu’s brows drew together.

“…And the brief period afterward when they cannot be on their feet,” Niuwang made a quick recovery to cover the truth that had slipped out, “they can do anything and do it well.”

“No need to worry about that — if they marry into our stronghold, there would naturally be no need to do hard labor,” Er Hu said.

Xiao Hu spoke up. “If she is truly as wonderful as you describe, why is she still unmarried at twenty-two?”

“She has a formidable fate! I was afraid she might bring misfortune to another family, so I kept putting off the marriage — but your Hu family also has a formidable fate, and the two combined would make for an exceptionally auspicious match. If not for this, would this monk really be willing to let a sibling enter your household for luck?”

Niuwang spoke with such convincing detail that Er Hu was ninety-nine percent persuaded.

He pressed further, “The Master has still not told us — what does she look like?”

“When choosing a wife, one seeks virtue. What does appearance matter!” Niuwang said. “This sibling of mine is handsome in appearance…”

“Handsome in appearance?” Er Hu said with an uncertain look.

“If there is any flaw to speak of… they are just a bit on the large side.”

“How large?” Er Hu asked.

Niuwang glanced over his slight, paper-thin frame. “Larger than you.”

Er Hu went pale.

Niuwang patted down his monk’s robes and said, “This matter is one where sooner is better than later. Your father is already struggling to hold on. Given that we have this fateful connection, this monk will take the loss and you will gain the blessing. So long as you send the betrothal gifts tomorrow evening, this monk will bring the sibling here by the following evening!”

The one who had been the most eager all along — Er Hu — did not answer immediately.

He looked toward Da Hu beside him and said, “Elder Brother, none of us three brothers has yet taken a wife. It would not be proper for a younger brother to start a family before you. This opportunity has dropped from the heavens — Elder Brother mustn’t decline.”

Da Hu had just been inwardly rejoicing that Er Hu was tripping over his own feet, only to find Er Hu picking up the stone and aiming it squarely at his.

Da Hu gave a hollow laugh and said, “Father is still ill, and I have just been named young master — I haven’t a moment’s rest dealing with the stronghold’s affairs. How could I have the energy to take a wife right now? It is rather little brother who — since you haven’t managed to establish yourself, you ought to start a family first. As the ancients say, first the family, then the career.”

Er Hu’s smile twitched at the corners. “If ‘family before career,’ why does Elder Brother not start his family first?”

“My late wife has been gone only three years. I still cannot forget her face and voice. To rush into marriage would only wrong someone else —”

“To be candid, I already have someone I am devoted to. Elder Brother should start his family first —”

The two went back and forth a few rounds of courteous refusal, neither willing to take hold of this burning coal, both wearing the smiles of brotherly harmony on their faces while cursing each other roundly in their hearts.

“Wait — little brother too has yet to marry, what if —” Er Hu thought of something, and a flash of delight lit up his eyes.

Da Hu and Er Hu both turned to look at Xiao Hu.

“Don’t look at me,”

Xiao Hu said:

“I’m impotent.”