The great gate of the waystation lay directly ahead — yet at this moment, the courtyard was a jumble of people, friend and foe impossible to tell apart, and I dared not call out recklessly for help.

Seeing the deep night beyond the gate and the dense fog rolling in, I had no room left for hesitation. I bit my lip and ran straight for the exit.

A figure flashed out from an angle to my side. The darkness deepened around me — a broad-shouldered silhouette loomed over me. Before I could look up, a hand clamped across my mouth, and I was dragged into the shadows beneath an eave.

“Your Highness, do not make a move. I have been sent by Prince Yuzhang to meet you here. My orders are to ensure Your Highness’s safety.”

I went rigid, staring with disbelief.

What had he just said — Prince Yuzhang? He mentioned Prince Yuzhang?

In the dark I could not make out this man’s face, but the heavy frontier accent of his voice struck me as oddly familiar.

Before I could recover from the shock, the man hoisted me over his shoulder as though I weighed nothing at all, and strode back the way I had come.

I lay draped across his shoulder, unable to move, while a thousand frantic thoughts spun through my mind in the wake of the blow this revelation had delivered.

The moment we stepped back into the courtyard, he threw his voice wide: “Which wench made a run for it? I’ve caught her now — she’s mine!”

“Damn it all!” The voice of the man with the long, thick beard rang out. “Thank you, brother, for catching her — without you I’d have lost good silver.”

My vision blurred as I was tossed across to the bearded man.

He caught me and wrenched my arm up behind me. Pain split through my shoulder — yet in my heart, grief and relief flooded together in a rush I could not separate.

I made a show of desperate struggling, and under cover of it, studied the man who had caught me with careful eyes.

The man in the gray jacket and tall boots gave a dry laugh. “No need for thanks — though I can’t give back a living person for nothing.”

The bearded man laughed along, produced a small piece of silver from his sleeve, and offered it over. “A little something — buy yourself a drink, brother. This is our first time running a trade route. We’ll be counting on your good graces along the way.”

The man in gray accepted the silver, spat on the ground, and gave a grunt. “A pretty little thing, this one — she’ll fetch a good price, I’d wager.”

He said this and reached out to grab my chin.

The bearded man’s grip tightened almost imperceptibly. He shifted smoothly to put himself between me and the other man, and chuckled, “Truth be told, brother — this one’s touched in the head. We’ll be glad to be rid of her. Can’t expect much profit. But once we’ve wrapped up this bit of business, I’ll stand you to a proper meal.”

The man in gray burst out laughing, and before he walked away gave me one last look, his expression frankly covetous. “Fine-looking face, such a pity she’s not right in the head. You’d best watch her closely — business is almost done, you don’t want the silver to slip through your fingers now.”

The bearded man went on smiling as he dragged me back inside.

My arms were twisted behind my back, pain grinding through every sinew — yet I kept turning over the man’s parting words in my mind, my thoughts rising into turbulence.

He had said the business was almost done — two days from now. Those words carried great weight.

If he was truly sent by Xiao Qi, then Xiao Qi must already know Helan Zhen’s plan. They intended to make their move in three days — and Xiao Qi’s men had already quietly infiltrated and were positioned nearby, ready to intervene at any moment. Within two days, they would strike first.

This was Xiao Qi. This was the husband I had married.

I closed my fist tight in silence, my palm slick with sweat, my chest surging with a rush of feeling I could not name — was it relief? Was it a bittersweet ache? Or longing?

He had come after all. He had still come for me.

I had long since accepted that I had been abandoned — that I had been pushed into an abyss and must not hope for rescue from anyone. And yet here, at the point of deepest despair, I glimpsed through the darkness one brilliant thread of light, scattering the blackness before me. The very person I had least dared to count on had appeared at the most critical moment.

I bit down hard on my lip, yet could not hold back the smile that rose.

The face and voice of the man in gray came back to me again and again. I racked my memory — and then, like a flare going off in my mind, it came to me at once.

It was him — I had seen this man before.

The day we set out in the wagons, there had been a man whipping that weeping, pleading woman — and when I recalled it now, that man had been this very person.

Understanding broke over me, and I nearly cried out.

Could it be that from the moment I was taken to that grassland encampment, Xiao Qi had already known their whereabouts?

While they went to every length to conceal themselves within a convoy of camp followers, Xiao Qi had already quietly laid his own arrangements, simply waiting for them to walk into the trap.

My chest clenched suddenly, as though lifted to the top of a cloud only to drop straight down to the valley floor.

Why? What was Xiao Qi trying to do?

Did he know that I was in desperate danger, living from one terrified moment to the next?

Had he given any thought at all to my safety?

The cheeks that had flushed hot with excitement and joy a moment before gradually went cold — and then my whole body began to chill.

The fire had been put out. The corridor lay beneath a haze of smoke and scorched wreckage.

The bearded man shoved me into Helan Zhen’s room.

Everyone was assembled within. They stood with hands at their sides, silent, not a sound among them.

Helan Zhen sat in a chair, robed in white, his expression blank.

Xiao Ye knelt on the floor, her appearance disheveled, still bearing marks of smoke and fire upon her.

Helan Zhen clasped his hands behind his back and walked slowly forward. He did not look at me; his gaze passed over her briefly and without expression. “Xiao Ye — tell me how she escaped.”

Xiao Ye wrenched her head up and stared at me, as though her eyes were bleeding.

“It was my own carelessness. She seized a moment to set fire to the room and fled in the confusion.” Xiao Ye bit her lip and shrank slightly inward.

Helan Zhen glanced sidelong at me, and rather than anger, a smile came over his face. “What a fierce woman. Very good — very good indeed.”

I met his gaze with composure, my heart far calmer today than it had been on any previous day, and utterly without fear.

He turned his eyes to Xiao Ye, the smile narrowing. “A moment’s negligence, and you nearly ruined everything.”

Xiao Ye shuddered, brought her forehead to the floor in a deep bow, and said, “I know my offense. I await the Young Master’s punishment.”

His expression hardened. “What use is punishing useless people?”

Xiao Ye’s eyes swam with tears, but she pressed her lips together stubbornly, refusing to let herself cry.

Helan Zhen turned his back, and did not look at her again. He said coolly, “Light punishment will not serve as a warning to the others. Suotu — break her right hand.”

The color drained instantly from Xiao Ye’s face. Her eyes went wide and empty, her gaze fixed on him, her body gone rigid.

The bearded man stepped forward, expression set, his right hand spread like a hawk’s talon, knuckles cracking with a sharp and terrible sound.

“Don’t — don’t cripple me. I still need to serve the Young Master — don’t cripple me—” Xiao Ye snapped awake as if from a nightmare, flung herself forward and seized the hem of Helan Zhen’s robe, driving her forehead to the floor again and again, each impact jarring and painful to witness.

The large man grabbed her by the hair and wrenched her right arm behind her back. One more instant and the arm would be snapped clean.

“Stop.” I called out.

Helan Zhen turned to look at me, cold-eyed.

“My escape had nothing to do with anyone else. Even if you had stood guard over me yourself, I would have found a way.” I raised my chin and met his gaze. “Helan Zhen — is all you are capable of finding fault with the innocent, and tormenting those weaker than yourself?”

He stared at me for a long moment — then a strange, fleeting smile crossed his face, like spring wind passing over the surface of a still green pool. “Very well then. I will guard you personally.”

At first light, the party set out immediately and rode hard for Ning Shuo.

Helan Zhen rode in the same wagon as me, as before. The whole journey he kept his eyes shut in focused stillness — sometimes resting, sometimes lost in some private thought.

This time, I was at last properly bound, with a cloth packed into my mouth.

Once we crossed into Ning Shuo territory, Helan Zhen became markedly more cautious and alert — which told me plainly how deeply he feared Xiao Qi, even now.

Knowing that Xiao Qi’s men were nearby, I could not help but feel a warmth spreading through me, even without knowing exactly what he intended to do.

A heart that had hung suspended in fear for so long settled back at last into its proper place.

I was no longer alone.

Even surrounded by wolves, I could already see the distant, faint glimmer of firelight ahead.

Xiao Qi — Xiao Qi — that name circled through my mind without pause, unwilling to leave.

The wheels rolled on. With every turn we drew closer to Ning Shuo. And somehow — unexpectedly — I felt the faintest thread of anticipation.

My husband. What kind of man was he, truly?

If we were to meet here in this place — what would he do? What would I do?

I was still deep in danger, yet my mind was full of nothing but scattered, wandering thoughts.

By midday, the wagon began to slow. Outside, voices mingled with the neighing of horses — the faint, muffled sounds of a busy and lively place.

Through the thick curtain I could see nothing, and the noise outside was too jumbled to make sense of. I leaned forward, pressed close to the curtain, and listened with all my attention — then breathed in deeply, as though hoping to catch even a single trace of something familiar in the dry, cold air.

Was this Ning Shuo? The place where that man was…

The thought bloomed before I could stop it, and I caught myself with a start, heat rising to my cheeks.

The wagon entered the city, paused briefly, then raced forward again at full speed for some time before gradually slowing to a stop.

Someone tapped twice on the carriage door from outside. Helan Zhen gave a nod in return, then knocked back against the side of the wagon — a signal that all was safe.

He pushed me out of the wagon. I barely had time for a single glance before a hood was pulled over my head, plunging me into darkness again.

In that one glance, I thought I had glimpsed the outline of barracks buildings far in the distance.

My feet carried me across several thresholds, turning left, then right, until at last we stopped.

The hood was pulled off. Before me was a clean, neat side room; outside the door lay a small courtyard enclosed by white-plastered walls beneath gray tiles.

I was greatly surprised, and looked around — but there was no sign of Helan Zhen anywhere. Only Xiao Ye stood before me, cold-faced.

The entire day, Xiao Ye remained at my side without a moment’s absence. Guards were posted outside the door, and Helan Zhen had vanished entirely, as though he had ceased to exist.

All was still as stagnant water — while beneath the surface, invisible currents churned and surged.

As night fell, I lay down in my clothes, fully dressed. Xiao Ye stood at the door with her blade.

Moonlight from the frontier sky came in through the window and lay across the floor, cold and pale as frost.

When my gaze met Xiao Ye’s from time to time, the chill remained — but the sharpest edge of her hostility had faded.

“Are you not tired?” I tossed and turned in the sleepless dark, and finally sat up. “Why not sit down and talk for a while?”

She ignored me.

I let out a quiet sigh. Something inexplicable sat heavy in my chest.

“I owe you a debt,” she said. Her voice was cold, and she did not turn her head. “If you have any last wishes, you may tell me now, before you die.”

I was taken aback. I tried to laugh but could not. For a moment, I could not think of a single wish.

The faces of my elder brother, my parents, and Zidan floated before me. If I truly died here, at least there would be those who grieved for me.

I shook my head and smiled a small, bitter smile.

“You have no wishes?” Xiao Ye turned, staring at me with surprise.

In that moment I felt suddenly absurd, almost farcical. Eighteen years of life, gold halls and jade trappings, a glittering existence — and in the end, not a single wish, not one thing left undone that I needed to cling to.

Even if one day I disappeared from this world, my parents, my elder brother, Zidan — they would grieve, yes. But once the grief had passed, they too would go on living, spending the rest of their days in comfort and honor and growing quietly old. Nothing would really be different.

Was that what I had been so proud of — that glittering life of mine?

“Reporting to the Young Master!” Outside, there came a sudden sound of movement.

I hurried to sit up properly, pulling the blanket around me.

The room flooded with light. In the open doorway stood Helan Zhen, hands clasped behind his back.

Behind him stretched a pale wash of moonlight, throwing the white of his robe into high relief — sharp, solitary, the image of a man set apart from the world.

“Young Master!” Xiao Ye knelt in greeting, yet she did not step aside — she held her ground before the doorway, neither blocking him fully nor yielding.

“Stand down.” His face was hidden in deep shadow, like a specter merged with the night, impossible to read.

Xiao Ye shivered. Her voice came out low and trembling. “I beg the Young Master’s forgiveness for my presumption — but allow me to say just one thing.”

Helan Zhen looked down at her. “Go on.”

“This servant’s life is worth nothing. I only beg the Young Master to keep the greater purpose in mind, and not be led astray by a woman’s beauty.” Xiao Ye lifted her head and met his gaze, tears in her eyes but her chin set with stubborn defiance. “We have waited so long for this revenge — so many people have died to bring us to this day. Young Master, have you forgotten the blood debt of the Helan clan?”

Helan Zhen was silent. Moonlight fell across his face, and the pallor of it was frightening.

“I have not forgotten. Nor do I dare forget.” His voice came out quiet and flat.

The words had barely left his lips before he strode into the room and, with one swift, sweeping blow of his palm, sent Xiao Ye flying.

She crashed into the corner of the wall, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and crumpled to the floor.

I jumped down from the bed in shock, forgetting in my panic that I was barely dressed, and rushed to help Xiao Ye up.

Blood was running from the corner of Xiao Ye’s mouth. Her face had gone the color of paper, and she was shaking too hard to speak.

“Helan Zhen!” I turned on him, stunned and furious, unable to comprehend how a person who appeared so spotlessly untouched — white robes, composed expression — could hold another person’s life so cheaply.

He looked at me with cold eyes and called toward the door. “Someone come — take this wretched girl away.”

The guard outside immediately dragged Xiao Ye out. As she was pulled through the doorway, she managed to open her eyes a fraction — and gave me a faint, desolate smile.

Helan Zhen walked toward me and lifted the hand that had just struck Xiao Ye to touch my face.

There was nowhere for me to retreat. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

“Killing people is actually very simple,” he said, looking at me, and gave a slight smile. He pushed a loose strand of hair away from my face. “No matter how many people I kill, it doesn’t touch me. But when I think about killing you… I am not at peace.”

In the darkness of Helan Zhen’s deep black pupils, in the moonlight, there flickered some strange and unsettling light — and in the depths of those eyes, I saw something heavy and sorrowful pressing down without release.

“Why does it have to be you?” He drew nearer, closer and closer.

“Every time Heaven grants me something beautiful, it makes sure to destroy it before my eyes. The more you want a thing, the more surely you will not have it. They were not wrong about me — I was born under an ill star, a cursed creature. Everything I have ever loved will be destroyed before my eyes.”

His gaze was frantic, unrelenting, leaving me nowhere to retreat.

“Look at me.” He gripped my jaw with force, staring at me with a kind of dazed intensity, full of something frantic and spiraling. “A’Wu — A’Wu… do you despise me too?”

Did I despise him?

The cruel, venomous taunts from before. The erratic cruelty and abuse. The torments he had visited on me — did I despise all of that?

The plaintive look in his eyes. The white-hot fury when he spoke of his family. And even the warmth of the cloak he had draped over me in the wagon — did I despise those things?

His gaze drifted over my face, lost and lingering.

“Except for Old Tian, only you have seen me when the illness takes hold… Does that make me seem pathetic?” He bowed his head with a bleak smile. “For many years, no one has treated me that way… After Mother died, no one ever fed me medicine like that again.”

In this moment, he looked only like a lost and desolate child. Not a trace remained of his usual cruelty.

“Your hands were warm… only that little bit of warmth, and I suddenly couldn’t bear for you to leave. I couldn’t bear it then, and I can’t bear it now.” He took hold of my shoulders, slowly — so slowly — and drew me into his arms.

There was something in his eyes, some strange force, that seemed to hold me in its spell.

I pulled free of his embrace, but did not rebuke him — only stood quietly, looking at him.

He released me as well, and watched me with the same steady calm.

“Helan Zhen.” I met his gaze, looking deep into his eyes, and for the first time called his name in a soft voice. “Why must it always be killing? Why must there always be vengeance?”

A faint mist rose in those pitch-black eyes.

“Let me tell you a story.” He tilted his face up, a faint smile at the corners of his mouth, and sat down at the edge of the bed with a pull of my hand, leaving me no choice but to join him.

“Helan once had a princess, beautiful and of the highest blood — so exalted that to look at her twice would have been a kind of desecration.”

He looked down at me. “You look like her.”

“The Helan King gave her in marriage to the most noble warrior in the entire clan. On her wedding day, a Turkic prince who had come to witness the ceremony saw her beauty — and in the middle of the wedding, seized her away before everyone’s eyes. The Helan King, afraid to offend the Turks, did not dare act. Her father, mother, and brothers could only stand and watch as she was violated. She was too weak a woman to resist. After she was dishonored by the Turkic prince, she gave birth to twins — a son and a daughter.”

Helan Zhen spoke as though recounting some distant tale, the words flowing easily, a faint smile still resting at the corners of his mouth.

“She and her two children were seen by the royal clan as a great and lasting shame. The Helan King refused from that day on to acknowledge her place, and drove her and her children from the palace. Only the loyal captain of her palace guard stayed by her side, helping her raise the two children and teaching her son to read and to fight.”

I watched the sharp, solitary lines of Helan Zhen’s profile, and felt something ache quietly in my chest, a sorrow I could not quite name.

“The children grew. The three of them depended entirely on each other, sustaining themselves through humiliation, living a life of hardship and difficulty. Then the Turkic prince sent men to find them — and took her son away by force.”

I said without thinking, “Why? Had he refused to acknowledge the child before?”

He gave a cold laugh. “The Turkic prince had no sons after years of marriage. Only then did he remember that he had left a son behind in Helan from one night long ago.”

I said nothing.

“Not long after the boy was taken to the Turks, the Central Plains went to war with them. Helan was caught between two powers and suffered the ravages of both — the people were already exhausted, unable to go on. The child was in the land of the Turks, knowing his family was suffering and able to do nothing.”

He tilted his face upward. At last, he could not hold back the tears — they slid in silence down his face.

“Before Helan City fell, the Turks had already collapsed in on themselves and scattered for a thousand leagues. The child pleaded and pleaded — and finally the Turkic king allowed him to take a guard and ride back to Helan to save his mother.” His voice caught suddenly, and the pupils of his eyes contracted sharply.

I turned my face away, steeling myself against what I had already sensed was coming, yet still what I most dreaded to hear reached my ears.

“He was too late. By one whole day… Helan City was already a mountain of corpses, a river of blood. Every member of the royal clan — more than three hundred people — had been put to death. Not one woman or infant had been spared. He had still held one last sliver of hope — that because his mother had been driven out of the royal clan, she might not have been among those killed. But when he rode to the village where his mother had lived, the entire village had already been turned to ash. After the fire burned out, in the rubble of what had been their home, he found two charred bodies — his mother, clutching his sister, both of them dead.”

My heart clenched painfully, and as vividly as if I had seen it myself, I could make out that horrifying image — that young man, frantic and wild with despair, among the ruins, letting out a raw and shattered cry.

Helan Zhen still had his face tilted upward, as though he had turned entirely to stone.

He gripped my hand with bone-white fingers. His hand was ice-cold, without a single trace of warmth.

“Everything I had ever loved turned to ash that day. From then on there was no nation, no clan, no home. I became a ghost wandering between worlds, with nowhere to go back to. Suotu — my mother’s captain of the guard — found me again, and together with a handful of palace servants who had miraculously escaped, they gathered around me, named me their Young Master, and swore to give their lives to take revenge for the Helan clan.” His eyes held a wildness that flickered like a dark fire. “Absurd — why should I take revenge for the Helan clan, that Turkic bastard cast out and abandoned by his own people? What kind of Young Master was I? It doesn’t matter, though. None of it matters. Bastard or Young Master — as long as I can avenge my mother and sister, I am willing to do anything. The person who killed them will pay a price a hundred times more terrible in return.”

His face was the color of ash. His eyes were red. His expression had twisted into something barely recognizable.

I had no words. Yet tears had begun to gather slowly in my eyes.

Here was a person carrying a body full of wounds, who had searched and strained for a single thread of warmth without ever finding one; who was full to the brim with hatred, yet who was also utterly alone and helpless.

And yet — his hatred, his vengeance, was directed at my husband.

And I had become a piece in his game of revenge.