The cave was pitch-black, with only a torch every dozen or so steps.

The flickering firelight leapt about in the dark passage, lending the atmosphere an even more eerie and unpredictable quality.

Shen Zhuxi and Dong Miji searched along the way for the nowhere-to-be-seen Li Kun. Passing by the previous stone chamber, Shen Zhuxi couldn’t help but steal a glance inside.

In the dim light, the old woman was collecting the pulpy remains from the floor into a clay pot, while the female clan chief stood to one side with a deep frown, saying nothing. The shadows of the two figures stretched long across the stone chamber, half cast onto the uneven stone wall.

Sensing that the two of them were passing by, the female clan chief cast a look in their direction that conveyed no discernible emotion. After a brief crossing of gazes, she looked away again.

The old woman’s mumbling, indistinct chanting sounded even more frightening in the eerie surroundings. Shen Zhuxi quickly quickened her pace and moved past the stone chamber.

“Ahead, be careful.” Dong Miji turned around and considerately warned, “Have worms, won’t bite, not afraid.”

Shen Zhuxi immediately became nervous. She very much wanted to stop where she was, but thinking that Li Kun might have gone ahead first, she had no choice but to keep following Dong Miji forward.

Before long, Shen Zhuxi walked with trembling legs across a stone bridge. Beneath the bridge there was no water — the stone pit below was filled with countless venomous snakes, scorpions, and the same worms that Li Kun had crushed earlier. A vivid dark-red moss grew along the edges of the pit and on the underside of the bridge. The venomous creatures kept well away from the moss and stayed at the bottom of the pit. The rustling sound Shen Zhuxi had heard earlier was coming from the pit floor.

An indescribable stench of blood rose from the pit. As the venomous creatures crawled about, the white bones at the pit bottom were faintly visible. Shen Zhuxi’s flesh crawled. She pulled her gaze away and fixed her eyes hard on the empty space ahead, sprinting across the stone bridge as if in flight.

After this, they searched every stone chamber in the cave, large and small, but still found no trace of Li Kun.

Shen Zhuxi was filled with worry. Dong Miji summoned the tribal guards who were patrolling just outside the cave, exchanged a few words with them, and the guards hurried off. Before the time it took a stick of incense to burn, the guard came running back and reported on what they had found.

“Tribesperson, saw Li Kun. Very angry, went out. Left, not at home.” Dong Miji translated with difficulty the news obtained from the guard.

Shen Zhuxi could only pin her hopes on the temporary campsite by the river, hoping that by the time she returned, Li Kun would already be in the cookhouse secretly eating dried meat.

She bid farewell to Dong Miji, asked him to apologize to the clan chief on her behalf, and then hurried back to the temporary campsite by the river.

Things did not go as she wished. She had hoped this would turn out to be a false alarm, but what she received was the news that Li Kun had not returned.

Li Kun had gone out together with her, and now only she had returned alone. If Li Kun’s intellect were normal, things might have been manageable, but he was like a seven-year-old child — knowing only play, not knowing how to take care of himself. Now he had gone missing in these remote mountains and wilderness. How would she explain this to Li Wu?

Shen Zhuxi endured the torment in her heart, sitting in the tent with a furrowed brow, eyes glistening with tears. She hadn’t yet steeled herself for facing Li Wu, but Li Wu had already lifted the tent flap and walked in with a face full of joy.

“Silly girl, let me tell you some good news…”

Before Li Wu could finish, Shen Zhuxi couldn’t hold back and let her tears fall.

Li Wu’s latter words cut off abruptly. He stared wide-eyed at her, thinking she had been wronged by the Rong tribe in some way, and was immediately about to draw his longsword and go pick a fight with the Rong tribe.

Shen Zhuxi quickly grabbed hold of him and said, choked with emotion:

“Diao’er is angry at me and doesn’t know where he’s gone…”

“Diao’er is angry at you?” Li Wu asked again in disbelief. “How could Diao’er be angry at you?”

Shen Zhuxi gave a rough account of what had happened in the stone chamber. She hoped Li Wu would tell her why Diao’er was angry, but Li Wu was equally baffled.

“If only I hadn’t said those things…” Shen Zhuxi reproached herself.

“This has nothing to do with you — he just threw a childish tantrum. Once we find him, a few coaxing words will fix it.” Li Wu pulled her into his embrace, wiped the tear drops from her face with his fingertips, then softened his voice to comfort her. “He’s such a big person — even if a tiger came, he could take on two at once. Are you really worried something might happen to him? It would be a mercy if he doesn’t cause anything to happen to others!”

“But we can’t just leave him out there alone…”

“Don’t worry,” Li Wu said, “Have you eaten lunch yet?”

Where did Shen Zhuxi still have any appetite for food? She shook her head, tears still in her eyes.

“Eat something first, then I’ll accompany you to go find him — alright?” Li Wu coaxed. “Otherwise, if you faint halfway, won’t I just have to carry you back?”

Shen Zhuxi listened to his advice, quietly wiped away the remaining tears in her eyes, and when a soldier brought two portions of rations, she ate her own share of dried meat and vegetable porridge, tasting none of it.

Li Wu was as good as his word. After she finished eating, he had a soldier bring a swift horse, then selected a few dozen light cavalry to accompany them, and with Shen Zhuxi mounted behind him, rode out of the camp.

After the search party left the camp, Li Wu divided them into several groups to search for Li Kun’s whereabouts. Before the various units set out, Li Wu gave a particular instruction: “Remember, your task is to find the person. Unless absolutely necessary, do not come into conflict with the indigenous people here.”

The light cavalry responded in unison and then dispersed.

Li Wu took six light cavalry riders and headed into the forest to the west.

Shen Zhuxi leaned against him in his embrace — she felt almost no swaying at all. She thought of his face full of joy when he had entered the tent, and asked:

“What was it you were going to tell me just now? What good news?”

Li Wu held her with one arm, the other hand on the reins. While his gaze swept back and forth searching the surrounding landscape for any movement, he answered her question: “Today we discovered a cave guarded by Rong tribe members behind a waterfall to the east. Our initial assessment is that the other side of that cave leads directly to the Swallowing Heaven Cave you mentioned.”

“There are six Rong tribe members in total guarding the cave. As long as we take them down, we can leave this place through the Swallowing Heaven Cave.” Li Wu said.

“But there is miasma inside the cave. Even living creatures that get too close will be poisoned to death…”

“That miasma is nothing to worry about —” Li Wu said at once, “I saw with my own eyes that those six Rong tribe members were constantly burning something, and they kept fanning wind into the cave with banana leaves — as long as we subdue those six people, are we still afraid we won’t find the antidote to pass safely through the toxic mist?”

Even so, Shen Zhuxi was still somewhat uneasy.

“When do you plan to act?”

“Once the Rong tribe has cured Diao’er, we’ll leave.” Li Wu spoke of this with annoyance, cursing under his breath. “We could have made our move tonight — damn that rascal’s hide, did he itch for trouble just to torment me?”

“When we find him in a moment, don’t lose your temper first.” Shen Zhuxi quickly said. “Diao’er must have had his reasons for being angry. Let’s ask him clearly first.”

The two of them called out Li Kun’s name while scanning the surroundings with their eyes for any sign of him.

A giant of nine chi — wherever he tried to hide, it wouldn’t be easy to stay hidden.

After about half an hour, Shen Zhuxi’s sharp eyes spotted the corner of Li Kun’s clothing behind the trunk of a tree.

“Diao’er!” Shen Zhuxi quickly patted Li Wu and called out, pointing toward the direction where Li Kun was hiding.

Li Kun peeked out from behind the trunk with one eye and looked carefully. Upon realizing that Shen Zhuxi was not feinting but had genuinely spotted his whereabouts, Li Kun turned without hesitation and ran.

“Think you can run?!” Li Wu dug his heels into the horse’s flanks and gave immediate chase.

It wasn’t long before the swift horse’s four legs caught up with Li Kun’s two. No matter how Li Wu called for him to stop, he wouldn’t listen. Li Wu gradually worked up a real anger.

“Li Diao’er! If you keep running, you’re telling me you don’t acknowledge me as your Big Brother anymore!” Li Wu roared.

Only then did Li Kun come to a sudden stop, glaring down at the ground with sullen reluctance.

Li Wu dismounted first, then helped Shen Zhuxi step down to the ground. He turned and strode toward Li Kun; Li Kun responded by backing away warily. The distance between the two of them didn’t close.

“What madness has gotten into you? I told you to protect your sister-in-law, and you turned around and ran off yourself. If something had happened to either of you, would you want to be the death of me from worry?” Li Wu said.

Li Kun hung his head in an awkward silence, kicking at clumps of dirt on the ground — as if those dirt clumps had Li Wu’s face on them.

“Speak!” Li Wu demanded in a thunderous voice.

Shen Zhuxi uneasily tugged at his arm, using her eyes to urge him not to lose his temper.

“What do you want me to say!” Li Kun finally spoke. He raised his head, both aggrieved and furious.

“Who are you angry at?” Li Wu asked.

Li Kun puffed up his cheeks, and after quite a while, finally said in a hard, clipped tone: “You both!”

Li Kun’s answer startled Shen Zhuxi.

“Both of us?” She glanced at Li Wu, then said, “Diao’er, weren’t you angry because of what I said?”

Li Kun grew even angrier, and gave Shen Zhuxi a look that was both hurt and aggrieved, his eyes glistening with tears.

“Angry at both!” he said, his voice thick with the edge of tears.

“Diao’er, what’s wrong with you?” Shen Zhuxi couldn’t help but step forward. “Did I say something wrong that hurt you?”

“You look down on me!” Li Kun cried out in grief, and great streams of tears burst from his eyes.

“We have never looked down on you!” Shen Zhuxi immediately said.

“You do look down on me! You and him both!” Li Kun wept. “You’re just like them — you all think I’m stupid!”

“We never thought you were stupid!” Shen Zhuxi hurriedly denied it.

But Li Kun couldn’t hear her words at all.

“You do think I’m stupid!” he sobbed. “I’m not sick, yet you insist on giving me medicine! It’s because you think I’m stupid!”

“Who the hell thinks you’re stupid — stop making drama out of nothing —” Li Wu said. “What’s wrong with making you smarter? Others who want to get smarter don’t even have this opportunity. What do you have to be unhappy about?”

“I don’t want to be smarter!” Li Kun roared, face streaked with tears, “A smart Diao’er is not Diao’er! That’s not me! I don’t want to become someone else!”

He cried out with heartbroken anguish: “That’s not me!”

In that moment, Shen Zhuxi understood the reason for his outburst in the stone chamber: it was because she had said the treatment could make him as smart as he used to be.

But Li Kun did not believe that the smart person he used to be was him.

“That’s a fake Diao’er! You were both tricked!” Li Kun said between sobs. “I am the real Diao’er. You were both tricked…”

“The real Diao’er isn’t as smart as Big Brother. The real Diao’er doesn’t want to pass the military examination. The real Diao’er does whatever comes to mind. The real Diao’er only wants to live together forever with Big Brother, Piggy, Third Brother, and Little Rui. The real Diao’er only wants to eat Big Brother’s noodles every day… The real Diao’er and the fake Diao’er are different…”

“You don’t understand —” Li Wu cut him off.

“I do understand! I do understand!” Li Kun cut Li Wu off with an even louder voice. His tears came flooding out, and cries of despair and sorrow surged up from his throat together.

“I understand…” he said through his tears: “If the fake Diao’er comes back, the real Diao’er will disappear…”

Shen Zhuxi froze. Li Wu was rooted to the spot as well.

“Diao’er… doesn’t want… to disappear…”

He lowered his head, and his tears fell like beads of a broken string.

The tears ravaged his face — white patches here, grey patches there from the streaking — and his trembling, weeping voice was so desolate, so grief-stricken and helpless, that Shen Zhuxi felt a pang in her chest and found it hard to breathe.

Li Wu stood motionless, both hands clenched tight at his sides. He looked at Li Kun in silence, grief welling up in his eyes.

“Diao’er…”

The moment Shen Zhuxi opened her mouth, she choked on the words.

She had only thought about curing Li Kun — about bringing him back to the Li Kun he used to be. But she had never considered whether Li Kun himself would want to go back to who he had been before.

Asking herself honestly: she would not want the Shen Zhuxi from several years ago, before the palace coup, to replace the Shen Zhuxi of today.

All the more so — how could she ask the Li Kun who had planned carefully before acting, who had aspired to pass the military examination, to replace the Li Kun who only wanted to live quietly, and could be happy for an entire day simply because there were innards to eat?

They had been too presumptuous — so presumptuous that they had self-righteously taken control of Li Kun’s life without ever asking for his wishes.

She had thought she was healing Li Kun.

Perhaps, she had also been killing Li Kun.

Was it to exchange the Li Kun of today for the Li Kun of the past, or to let go of the Li Kun of the past and keep the Li Kun of today?

The Li Kun Shen Zhuxi had known, from the very beginning, was the one standing before her. The Li Kun who was resourceful and brave, mature and steady, existed only in Li Wu’s accounts. For her to make a decision — that was not difficult.

What was difficult was for Li Wu — who had known both Li Kuns.

What was difficult was for Li Wu — who was destined to choose between the Li Kun who had saved his life, and the Li Kun who was as close as a brother.

Looking at that face that could not hide its sorrow, Shen Zhuxi could not guess the answer.