Following the long human queue for half an hour, Xiao Nanhui squinted through the wind and sand before she could barely make out the water well in the distance. Compared to the hungry, thirsty crowds swarming around it, the well looked like a single grain of rice in the middle of an anthill — shriveled and pitifully small.

Those who had come to draw water had sent out their male household members, and sometimes one was not enough — they came in groups and factions, because drawing water had become a pitched battle in itself, and one careless moment could mean coming away not with water but with injury. Mixed in among the crowd were some women too, shoved behind by those who had come later yet pushed in front of them, not daring to utter a word for fear of involving themselves further.

Xiao Nanhui watched with cold eyes for a while, and her feelings were less than pleasant.

If not for Xiao Zhun, she would have been one of those people. Watching helplessly as she was bullied, without even the strength to fight back.

“Hey! Hey, you there. Move aside. Stop blocking the way!”

A rough, harsh voice came from behind her. Xiao Nanhui turned her head slightly to look back.

A group of men had pushed their way up from behind — about seven or eight of them, moving as a gang. They had been cutting the line the entire way and had now shoved their way up to her position.

The few people behind her in line were mostly elderly men and women without much strength. Seeing this group approaching, they immediately stepped aside — clearly this was not their first encounter with them.

The man at the front of the group had an imposing build. Seeing that Xiao Nanhui was slow to yield, he planted a palm on her shoulder and bore down with concealed force.

He had clearly looked at her slender frame and concluded that, unlike their pack of burly men, she wouldn’t have the strength to resist. He was putting on a show of power.

Xiao Nanhui had no water to drink, her mouth was dry, and her mood was foul. Without thinking, she lifted her foot and brought it down, hard — right onto the instep of the man behind her.

She was a martial practitioner. The strength in her feet was not that of an ordinary woman, and she put seven or eight parts of her force into this one stomp. The man let out an immediate cry of pain and dropped to the ground clutching his foot.

“You — you dare stomp on me?!”

Xiao Nanhui turned around, her face a picture of bewilderment, as though she had only just noticed the person on the ground. She then quickly switched to a frightened, timid expression. “What’s happened to this gentleman? Don’t tell me I accidentally stepped on him? My fault, my fault entirely — I haven’t had a proper meal in days, my legs have gone weak from standing, I must have stumbled backward.”

Several others in the crowd, clearly from a different faction, had already caught the meaning beneath Xiao Nanhui’s words and were delighting in the spectacle. “Gu San, if your body’s not holding up you’d better not come out here causing trouble. Even a woman has you howling like that — you might as well stop showing your face around here.”

The burly man called Gu San, his dignity thoroughly punctured, redirected his fury at Xiao Nanhui. He propped himself up on one leg, swung his fist, and came at her.

Xiao Nanhui feigned alarm and ducked low, causing Gu San to lose his balance. Xiao Nanhui subtly grabbed his waistband and gave a slight, strategic nudge of force. The large man toppled to the side — and fell, with perfect accuracy, directly on top of a woman standing nearby.

This woman, however, was no ordinary woman. One could tell as much from her robust calves, on prominent display. One could tell even more from the fact that no one had dared cut in front of her in the line. What happened next confirmed all four suspicions.

Sure enough — the woman let out a sharp shriek, and when she stood up again, it was as though an iron tower had risen up from the midst of the crowd.

“Gu San, you worthless wretch! Taking liberties with your old auntie here — I’ll drag you back and show you to your wife today, you creature with a human face and the morals of a pig or dog!”

Gu San was sturdy enough, but in front of this woman he came up short by three measures. He was hoisted up like a small chick and flung bodily through the air before he could get a word out. The crowd gained a number of eager spectators, and the whole affair added a touch of novelty to their unbearable days.

Xiao Nanhui dusted herself off and walked forward as though nothing had happened.

The last remaining well in Suyan’s eastern city was ringed tightly by a barrier of wooden horse obstacles. The ground around it was scattered with caltrops to prevent anyone from sneaking in. The well itself, protected so heavily, also appeared slightly taller than an ordinary well — because the wind and sand had been piling up around the well mouth year after year, and only by raising the rim ever higher could the well be kept from being buried.

The two people tending the well were a middle-aged couple. The man held an axe in his hand and was not of especially imposing height, but was clearly sharper than those Gu San types by several measures. Whether collecting water or resting, that axe never left his side.

His wife sat nearby, guarding an iron frame of some sort. Those who came to draw water could bring only one water container, and each vessel would be gauged against this iron frame. Any container that exceeded the measure even slightly was not permitted. As for whether the container would actually be filled all the way — that depended on the mood of the person drawing it up. Those willing to offer some copper coins might have their container filled to seven or eight tenths; those who offered nothing might find it less than a quarter full, if that.

When it was Xiao Nanhui’s turn, the woman at the well pushed the bamboo basket in front of her out of habit, thin lips pressed tightly together, her crab-like eyes locked onto Xiao Nanhui’s waist, calculating how many copper coins might be lurking there.

It had to be said — when it came to conducting business, Yaoyi was so much more capable than these two it was laughable.

Even now, with what she was buying being life-sustaining water, just the sight of these two faces was enough to make Xiao Nanhui unwilling to part with a single copper.

She gave the woman a dopey smile and gestured to indicate she was utterly empty-handed. The woman glanced at her, let out a cold laugh, and pulled the bamboo basket back — and in passing gave her husband at the well edge a look.

The man sauntered unhurriedly over to the well and picked out the most decrepit bucket from the pile of broken pails, gave Xiao Nanhui a provoking look, attached it to the rope, and dropped it down.

They waited a long time. The rope for drawing water was still unwinding round after round, going deeper and deeper without touching bottom. Xiao Nanhui knew — this well did not have much longer left in it.

When the rope was finally pulled back up, Xiao Nanhui’s heart sank along with what she saw.

The bucket held only the thinnest skim of water — calling it water would have been generous; it was more of a mud broth, murky beyond description, and emanating a faintly troubling odor. Xiao Nanhui hesitated and decided not to transfer it into her water skin. She was newly arrived and susceptible to the local conditions, and this water quality spelled danger at a glance. She still had things to do and could not afford to trip over this hurdle.

Her hesitation was noticed by those behind her. An old woman ventured to speak up: “Young lady — you’re not taking the water?”

Xiao Nanhui looked at her and passed her the bucket.

The old woman was first disbelieving, then, coming to her senses, hurriedly transferred that bucket of water into her own jar with both hands, afraid someone might snatch it away.

Xiao Nanhui had been about to say something as a warning but in the end kept her silence.

If there were a way to find cleaner water, who would be enduring this torment here?

Xiao Nanhui took the wooden bucket back from the old woman, and with a light, precise toss, sent it crashing hard to the ground, kicking up a great cloud of dust that set the couple at the well coughing and choking. When the dust settled and the man looked up, axe in hand, to find the person who had just been drawing water — she was nowhere to be found among the crowd of desiccated, skeletal figures.

~~*

Most of the large households in the eastern city had by now moved to the western city. Only one family of the Tian surname was still holding onto their old estate, though by the look of things they would not last more than a few months longer.

Wealthy households typically had private wells dug within their own courtyards, and each private well required a substantial annual payment to the government. In the past, when the authorities still functioned, unregistered private wells had been strictly forbidden. But from about a year ago onward, even the sitting county magistrate had fled with his entire family, and the city had gradually descended into chaos. Those families wealthy enough to hire guards had managed to avoid disaster; those who had not acted in time had been overrun one after another by desperate, waterless mobs. The few households with their own wells had at first fought fiercely to defend them, but in time the dead had died and the injured had scattered, and even those who survived had been reduced to city refugees, begging for water wherever they could.

Fear had spread through Suyan’s eastern city. The city’s original five wells had been drained dry one after another. New wells could not produce water. In periods of several months without rain, the bodies of refugees who died in the city piled up like hills; only the dry climate had prevented an outbreak of malaria so far.

Xiao Nanhui turned things over rapidly in her mind, already extending her arm to stop a woman passing by.

This woman had just been standing behind her in line — the one who had shared a little water with her. Now, seeing Xiao Nanhui return and stop her, she couldn’t help but show fear on her face, and hugged the water jar in her arms a little tighter, trying to speak but saying nothing.

Xiao Nanhui knew what she was thinking and spoke low: “I don’t want your water.”

The old woman froze. Genuinely uncertain what this person with her repeatedly peculiar behavior intended, she still dared not breathe.

“How long have you been living in this eastern city?”

The old woman thought for a moment, then answered in a hoarse voice: “Since I was born.”

Xiao Nanhui nodded. “I want to ask you something. There’s said to be a great family in this city with the surname Tian — do you know where they are?”

The old woman raised her dulled eyes, as though she did not know why she was being asked this, and answered with wooden obedience: “The big families used to be in the city’s northwest. Probably at the intersection of Broad Street and Miao Lane.”

Xiao Nanhui nodded and turned to go. She caught sight of the water jar in the woman’s hands and couldn’t resist adding a word: “That water needs to be boiled before drinking.”

The old woman didn’t move, still staring blankly at her. Xiao Nanhui walked quite some distance and looked back to find her still standing in the same spot.

Xiao Nanhui sighed quietly to herself and turned to walk northwest into the city.