Yu Ruoshui’s medicinal ointment proved remarkably effective — barely half an incense stick’s worth of time had passed after it was applied before the burning pain in Qin Yao’s shoulder eased considerably.

Qu Chen Shi was overjoyed and kept praising Yu Ruoshui as the greatest physician of the age. She promptly had servants brew the herbal medicine he had left behind and brought it for Qin Yao to drink.

After two doses, Qin Yao felt much more at ease throughout her body. Overcome with drowsiness, she pulled her blanket close and drifted toward sleep.

Seeing this, Qu Chen Shi quietly led Yelvdaniang and the others out of the room on tiptoe, so that Qin Yao could rest properly.

But who could have known that in the middle of the night, Qin Yao would be jolted awake by the cold? She curled herself into a ball beneath the blanket, half-asleep and half-awake, thinking vaguely that summer was nearly here — why was it still so cold?

The chill grew heavier and heavier. The quilt, which normally felt thick and substantial, now felt as thin as a sheet of paper. Qin Yao’s teeth were chattering so violently she could no longer sleep. Clutching the blanket around herself, she sat up, intending to call Caiping to bring her another quilt.

She had just lifted the curtain when something ice-cold and slippery brushed across her face and flew past her, darting straight out toward the doorway.

Every hair on Qin Yao’s body stood on end. She snapped backward with lightning speed, dodging the thing’s touch, then leapt to her feet and shouted: “Who’s there!”

But the movement was too abrupt — it pulled at the wound on her shoulder, draining the color from her face with pain. Yet the dark shadow was on the verge of escaping, and she had no time to dwell on the pain. She bolted after it at once.

The shadow moved with terrifying speed. In the blink of an eye it had flown to the doorway and vanished into the darkness.

By the time Qin Yao pressed her hand to her shoulder and chased it all the way out into the courtyard, there was nothing left but the silver-frost moonlight blanketing the ground — not a trace of the shadowy figure remained.

Qin Yao stood panting beneath the covered walkway, her heart uneasy and full of doubt. When she had lifted the curtain just now, though the room was dark and the thing had fled so swiftly, she had caught an involuntary glimpse of a pair of hollow black eyes staring back at her. Those eyes were cold and filled with resentful malice — like light from the depths of hell, utterly devoid of any human warmth. They could not possibly have belonged to a living person.

Yet ever since she had carried the Soul-Devouring Bell to protect herself, no ghostly entity had ever dared linger within a single zhang of her. This alone made it clear that whatever had visited just now possessed considerable cultivation — it was no ordinary malevolent spirit.

From behind her came the sound of hurried, scattered footsteps. Caiping, Caiyou, and several other maidservants came rushing over in disarray, still pulling on their outer garments. “What happened, young miss? Is something wrong?”

Caiping and the others were all young and timid. Why subject them to fear and anxiety for nothing? Qin Yao shook her head. “It’s nothing — I had a nightmare.”

She turned and went back inside. What had just happened was out of the ordinary. No matter what, she had to ask her master to come to the house tomorrow.

After all the commotion of the previous night, Qin Yao developed a fever the next day. Her old wound had not yet healed, and now a new illness was added on top of it — this time she could not even get out of bed.

This was the first time in all these years that Qin Yao had fallen ill. The Qu couple was beside themselves with anxiety and urgently summoned the family physician to take her pulse. Qu Ziyu also took leave from the Hanlin Academy so he could stay home and keep Qin Yao company.

The whole household was in an uproar when a servant suddenly announced that the Jinghai Marquis had arrived.

Father and son exchanged bewildered glances. The Qu family had always had very little to do with families of such noble standing, and Marquis Qin Cheng was famously disinclined toward socializing. What on earth could have brought this cold-faced marquis to call on them in person?

Qin Yao, however, guessed it was most likely because she had stepped in to rescue Qin Yuan at Dayin Temple the day before — the Jinghai Marquis had come to express his gratitude on his daughter’s behalf.

Father and son Qu made their way to the front hall, where they indeed found Qin Cheng directing his attendants to carry in gifts — silks and satins, precious ginseng, bird’s nest, and other tonics.

Qu Enze suppressed his bewilderment and stepped forward with Qu Ziyu, smiling in greeting: “This official has been remiss — not knowing of the Marquis’s sudden visit, we failed to come out to meet you. Please, Marquis, do not hold it against us.”

Qin Cheng let Qu Ziyu guide him to a seat and indicated he had something to say privately to father and son. Once the Qu household servants had withdrawn, he smiled and said: “The purpose of my visit today is specifically to express gratitude to your daughter. Yesterday at Dayin Temple, had your daughter not intervened in time, my little girl might well have been injured by that scoundrel. After returning home yesterday, my daughter told me the whole story from beginning to end, and it was only then that I learned of your daughter’s chivalrous and righteous spirit.”

So that was it. Qu Enze could not help but let a father’s pride show on his face. He stroked his beard and laughed. “You flatter her, you truly flatter her.”

“After hearing my daughter’s account yesterday, I sent someone to fetch a physician skilled in treating external injuries to come examine your daughter. But when he arrived, I learned that the Virtuous Glory Princess had already invited the renowned physician Yu Ruoshui to the house. Knowing that Yu Ruoshui’s medical skills are celebrated throughout the realm, I was confident that with him attending her, there would be no cause for concern, so I withdrew the arrangement. My daughter should have come with me today to offer her thanks in person, but she was feeling rather unwell after the fright she received yesterday, and so I have come in her stead. Is your daughter feeling better now?” Qin Cheng inquired with evident concern.

Qu Enze replied with a note of worry: “The external injury itself is not a serious problem, but last night my daughter also caught a chill and developed a fever. She has little appetite, and today she seems worse than yesterday.”

“Oh?” Qin Cheng’s expression tightened. “My household has an elderly physician who has been with us for many years. My daughter was born with a weak constitution, and thanks to his careful treatment and nourishment over the years, she has grown considerably stronger. If the Grand Historian Qu does not object, I would like to have this physician come take a look at your daughter.”

Yu Ruoshui’s prescription yesterday had been aimed at Qin Yao’s external injury, but what she was suffering from now was a common cold. Although Qu Enze had every wish to invite Yu Ruoshui back for another visit, his rank was too low — he dared not overstep boundaries so casually. Summoning an Imperial Physician of that caliber on his own initiative was an entirely different matter from a princess having him come to call. Now that the Jinghai Marquis was proactively recommending his household’s skilled physician for Qin Yao, Qu Enze had no reason to decline such goodwill, and he rose at once to offer his thanks.

Qin Cheng sent a servant to summon the elderly physician to the Qu residence with all haste. The two parties conversed for a while longer before Qin Cheng took his leave.

Before long, the physician arrived from the Qin household to take Qin Yao’s pulse. After a single prescription, her fever dropped considerably and her mind cleared. The anxiety that had gripped the Qu family finally began to ease.

That afternoon, Qu Chen Shi fed Qin Yao her medicine while chatting idly.

“You know, the Jinghai Marquis is a truly devoted man. Among all the young noble sons of Chang’an back in those days, the young Marquis Qin was the most outstanding of all of them. One year when he returned to Chang’an from a military campaign, I went out with a few neighbor girls to watch the procession. There were so many generals in the column, but it was this young marquis whose appearance and bearing stood above all the rest — he looked like someone stepped straight out of a painting. Come to think of it, when he later married the youngest daughter of the Weiyuan Earl’s family, those few friends of mine were heartbroken for quite some time.”

Qin Yao raised a graceful eyebrow. She hadn’t expected this Marquis Qin to have been not only a doting father but also the object of countless women’s admiration across Chang’an.

Qu Chen Shi sighed and continued: “By all accounts, he and his wife grew up together as childhood sweethearts and were deeply attached. After their marriage, the Marquis cherished his wife like a rare treasure — he often took her out for outings, and everyone who saw them together said they were a match made in heaven. Alas, good times don’t last. Who could have known that his wife would be so ill-fated—”

Qin Yao was listening intently and asked: “What happened?”

Qu Chen Shi sighed. “I only heard it secondhand. The story goes that one year the Marchioness was with child when the Jinghai Marquis was ordered to lead a military campaign. By the time he returned, his wife had died in childbirth, leaving behind only a daughter. The Marquis and his wife never even got to see each other one last time.”

At that moment, Qu Ziyu happened to walk in. Hearing his mother’s words, he frowned at first, but then reflected that Qin Yao would soon be entering Yunyin Academy and would inevitably have dealings with young women from distinguished families. Knowing something of each household’s history in advance could only be useful. He smiled and shook his head, then lifted the hem of his robe and sat down nearby, picking up his tea and listening along.

“And that wasn’t all. After the Marchioness passed away, everyone assumed that no matter how devoted a couple they had been, the Marquis would grieve for three or five years and eventually move on. But who could have imagined — all these years, he has treated that one child his first wife left behind as the very apple of his eye, pouring all his heart into raising his daughter, and has never taken a second wife.”

Qu Chen Shi finished speaking with a long, wistful sigh: “The husband-and-wife bond in this mortal world — you can’t have everything at once. There’s a saying that goes something like: the deepest love seldom lasts long, and the sharpest minds most easily wounded. How many perfectly matched unions are there in this world where both people and the moon are whole and bright?”

Just as she finished speaking, a servant announced that the Daoist Qing Xuzi had arrived.

Fearing her master might avoid entering the inner chamber out of propriety, Qin Yao hurried to get out of bed. Qu Chen Shi could not dissuade her daughter, and relented only after draping a heavy cloak over Qin Yao’s shoulders, before allowing her to go out to the outer room.

A’Han had come along with her master. Master and senior disciple were seated in chairs, drinking tea with composed bearing.

Seeing Qin Yao come out, Qing Xuzi swept her from head to toe with a sharp, burning gaze. Satisfied that his disciple appeared unharmed, the thunderously dark expression on his face softened somewhat.

A’Han, however, bounded over to Qin Yao in two or three strides, urgent distress written plainly across his face: “A’Yao! What on earth happened? How did you end up injured just like that?”

Having said this, he only then noticed Qu Chen Shi and Qu Ziyu standing nearby and immediately fell over himself trying to bow in greeting to Qu Chen Shi, his face flushing scarlet with embarrassment.

A warm current slowly washed through Qin Yao’s heart. She smiled and said to A’Han: “It’s fine — just a surface wound. Senior Brother, look at me — I’m perfectly all right, aren’t I?”

A’Han was, by nature, straightforward and guileless. Upon hearing this, he stared at Qin Yao again and again, and seeing that his junior sister truly did not look like someone who had suffered a serious injury, his brow smoothed out. “That’s a relief! You have no idea — when Master and I heard the news, we were so worried! When we were leaving the temple, Master put his shoes on the wrong feet—”

“A’Han—” Qing Xuzi bellowed.

A’Han froze, staring at his master’s ashen face, thoroughly at a loss, unable to fathom what he had said wrong this time.

But Qu Chen Shi was all smiles as she listened. She adored A’Han’s candid, artless nature and knew that these two master and disciples genuinely cared for Qin Yao from the bottom of their hearts, without a trace of pretense. She was deeply moved.

Seeing A’Han still standing there looking utterly bewildered, she quickly smiled and drew him down into a seat, personally picking up some of the fruit on the table and offering it to him, while directing Caiping and the others to promptly brew a pot of white-tip silver needle tea — the Daoist Qing Xuzi’s favorite.

Qu Ziyu dismissed the servants, then turned to Qing Xuzi: “Yesterday’s incident involved the reputations of several princesses and commandery princesses. His Majesty has issued a decree of silence — no one present at the scene may discuss the matter privately. As a result, very few people at court today are even aware of what happened at Dayin Temple.”

Qing Xuzi nodded. As it should be. The common people had always loved to spread rumors and gossip, particularly about secrets involving the palace’s noble young women. If something like this got out, who knew what scandalous tales might be woven from it.

He was extremely protective of those under his care. If A’Yao had not been involved, it would be one thing — but since the matter had touched on his own disciple’s reputation, he naturally preferred as few people as possible to know about it.

“What was the background of those bandits? If several women of the imperial family were traveling, they would have had palace guards with them. And Dayin Temple is no small mountain shrine — how did those brigands manage to get inside?” Qing Xuzi raised the question that had been troubling him.

Qu Ziyu frowned. “Judging by the situation yesterday, the bandits’ target appeared to be Commandery Princess Yishu and Yishu alone, from beginning to end. A’Yao was simply caught in the crossfire. But when I think it over carefully today, I find too many things that don’t add up. The Commandery Princess has not yet come of age and has only recently returned to Chang’an — it seems unlikely she would have made enemies. So why would anyone scheme so carefully against her?”

Qu Chen Shi cut in: “My son, you are young and inexperienced — what do you know of the ugliness in such matters? I’ve heard that this Commandery Princess Yishu is a rare natural beauty despite her young age. It would not be surprising if some shameless scoundrel had set his eyes on her and committed an act of outrageous boldness. It’s lucky that wretch didn’t succeed — otherwise a perfectly good young woman’s life would have been ruined.”

Qing Xuzi seemed to think of something, and let out a loud, contemptuous snort: “If you ask me, this whole affair is connected to that old bald donkey Yuan Jue — nine chances out of ten. Dayin Temple has enjoyed imperial patronage for so many years, pouring money into renovations inside and out, and yet it couldn’t keep out a single group of thieves? More likely Yuan Jue was colluding with the bandits from the inside, then turned around to play the innocent victim crying out for help!”

A’Yao mentally rolled her eyes. Her master was clearly letting personal grudges color his judgment. Abbot Yuan Jue had spent years carefully cultivating Dayin Temple to its present standing and had only recently managed to forge ties with the imperial family. Why would he risk it all for some trifling gain? If it ever came to light, wouldn’t that be like picking up a rock to drop on his own feet?

Qu Ziyu had thought the same thing, but he was by nature steady and measured, and would not lightly damage someone’s face. He simply smiled faintly and lowered his head over his tea.

As they spoke, the dinner hour arrived. Qu Chen Shi pressed Qing Xuzi and his disciple warmly to stay for the evening meal. Qing Xuzi initially prepared to decline, but when he saw Qin Yao throwing him meaningful looks, he hesitated a moment and then changed his answer to acceptance.

Qu Chen Shi was delighted beyond all expectation and hurried off personally to the kitchen to prepare vegetarian dishes.

Qu Ziyu still had a pile of Hanlin Academy business waiting to be handled. Seeing now that Qin Yao was considerably better than she had been in the morning, he excused himself to Qing Xuzi and rose to go to his study.

Qin Yao saw that there were at last only the three of them — master and disciples — left in the room. She promptly told Qing Xuzi and her senior brother everything about the previous night’s events, not leaving out a single word.

“Something like this actually happened?” Qing Xuzi was both startled and furious.

Qin Yao nodded. “Ever since I began studying the Dao under you, Master, almost no evil spirit has dared approach me. An entity bold enough to enter a house and intrude like the one last night — I’ve never encountered anything like it before. I believe that if I hadn’t had the Soul-Devouring Bell to protect my body, that ghost would not merely have been peering through the curtain at me. It would have acted against me long ago.”

A’Han stared with wide eyes: “What ghost would be so brazen? But A’Yao, don’t be afraid — with Master and Senior Brother here, we absolutely won’t let that ghost succeed.”

Qin Yao shook her head: “I’m not afraid of it — I’m just puzzled. Where did this ghost come from? Why has it come after me for no apparent reason?”

Qing Xuzi sat with a shadowed expression, thinking aloud: “That ghost failed to achieve its goal last night. It will not let the matter rest so easily — it may well come again tonight.”

A’Han was alarmed and said urgently: “Then — then what do we do? A’Yao is injured right now. What if the ghost hurts her? What are we going to do?”

Qing Xuzi furrowed his brows in thought, and once his mind was made up, he looked toward Qin Yao: “A’Yao — tonight, A’Han and I will not return to Qingyun Temple. We’ll stay here at your family’s estate and wait for that ghost to walk into the trap. If it truly comes, your master will be here. I want to see for myself what kind of evil spirit could be this formidable!”

Chang Rong felt that the most comfortable season in Chang’an was late spring. It had none of the damp chill of early spring, nor the stifling heat of early summer. The breeze was both cool and soft against the skin, and the sun was not so harsh. If he could choose, he would want Chang’an to be late spring all year round.

Unfortunately, he had no heart to appreciate such a spring evening tonight. Since the morning, he had been running back and forth between the Qu estate and the imperial palace seven or eight times. Every time there was any movement at the Qu estate, he had to rush back to the palace and report to the young lord.

After a full day of this, even with his youth and robust health, he was exhausted down to his bones.

Around dusk, the little Daoist nun’s master and senior brother had arrived in a hurry. Since entering the estate, they had not come back out, and by all appearances intended to stay at the Qu residence overnight.

Chang Rong was somewhat uncertain — should he go and tell the young lord about this?

The night grew darker. The people of the Qu estate seemed to have retired for the night. Inside and outside the compound, everything was quiet.

Chang Rong watched for a while. Seeing nothing unusual stirring at the Qu estate, he thought it over and decided to hold his position for now. If something truly happened, it would not be too late to go to the palace and report to the young lord then.

Having reasoned it through, Chang Rong stretched out a long, lazy stretch, yawned, and said to Wei Bo: “Nothing will probably happen tonight. Let’s trade off in a while and take a rest — keeping this up without a break, even someone made of iron couldn’t endure it.”

Wei Bo had a naturally dark complexion and was by temperament good-humored and talkative, which made him get along well with Chang Rong. On hearing this, he jerked his chin toward the Qu estate and said: “The young lord really is devoted to this young miss of the Qu family. Even when Commandery Princess Yishu was injured yesterday, the young lord never showed this much anxious concern. Honestly, I don’t understand what the young lord is thinking — with a commandery princess like that as a perfectly suitable match, he ignores her completely in favor of a Daoist nun. It’s like throwing aside a tree peony to go pluck a lotus blossom.”

Chang Rong said nothing. His thoughts were somewhat complicated. If you talked about talent and family background, of course the little Daoist nun couldn’t compare to Commandery Princess Yishu — but watching her from the sidelines over these recent days, her conduct had consistently left him with a new admiration for her. Take what happened yesterday at Dayin Temple: with those violent brigands in front of her, her martial ability was quite sufficient to have gotten herself out unharmed. Yet she had deliberately taken a blow to stall the attackers and had ended up wounded as a result.

He scratched his head in mild frustration, and a twisted sort of feeling arose in his heart for the first time. The young lord was well-read and knowledgeable about many things — as Grand Tutor Liu had praised him, he was someone who carried a vast landscape within his chest. Judging by the young lord’s usual discernment of people, whoever he recognized as worth his regard was generally no ordinary person.

Thinking of it that way, Chang Rong felt something that was almost chagrin. Had he been too clever for his own good all along?

This question had no easy answer. Chang Rong puzzled over it for a moment, then decided to set it aside. He suddenly rose and said: “It’s nearly midnight. I’ll go catch a rest in the carriage — call me if anything happens.”

Wei Bo agreed: “Go on. We two just have to endure these two nights — tomorrow night it’ll be Wang Liang and Lü Qinhuai’s turn.”

Chang Rong nodded, turned, and walked toward the carriage.

The carriage was parked at the entrance of a narrow alley. Behind it stretched a pitch-black lane that seemed to extend without end. Chang Rong glanced idly into the alley and seemed to catch a glimpse of a human figure flash and disappear.

His face darkened. He swiftly drew the saber at his waist and walked into the alley with held breath.

Over on Wei Bo’s side, sensing something was off, he hurried over with a fire-starter and asked quietly: “What is it?”

The fire-starter illuminated the scene before them. The alley was completely empty — not a single soul, not even the shadow of a ghost.

A sense of deep suspicion welled up in Chang Rong. Taking the fire-starter from Wei Bo’s hand, he checked every corner of the alley carefully, and only when he had searched each nook did he slowly slide his saber back into its sheath. “Nothing,” he told Wei Bo. “My eyes must have been playing tricks on me.”

The two men turned and walked back out.

After walking for a while, both of them felt something was strange. The alley seemed much deeper now than when they had entered it — though it was only a few hundred paces, they could not seem to reach the entrance no matter how far they walked.

Just as unease was beginning to set in, an icy, bone-chilling wind scraped past Chang Rong’s ear. It was both sharp and hard — like the edge of a blade raking across his earlobe, nearly slicing him open.

“Hiss—” Chang Rong hissed in pain, jerked out his sword, and spun around with furious eyes: “Who’s there?! Dare to play ghost tricks in front of me!”

Yet behind him lay nothing but silence. Except for the occasional swaying of tree branches, there was nothing unusual anywhere — as though everything that had just happened had been nothing more than a hallucination.

He turned quickly to look at Wei Bo, and saw that Wei Bo’s complexion was extremely unsettled, as though he had witnessed something utterly terrifying.

His heart gave a sharp lurch. He lowered his voice and asked: “What did you see?”

Wei Bo looked carefully around in every direction, then said with a white face: “Just now, when we were walking toward the alley entrance, I happened to glance over toward your side — and I thought I saw a long-haired woman following behind you—”

Even Chang Rong, brave as he was, could not help but have his expression change at those words.

Wei Bo swallowed, and continued: “I got a fright and suspected I’d seen wrong, so I quietly moved the fire-starter closer to your side for another look. This time I saw her more clearly — there was absolutely a woman there, no mistake about it. When she realized I’d spotted her, she gave me this cold, sinister smile. And the most terrifying thing of all was that she was practically pressed against your back — yet with your level of cultivation, you hadn’t sensed a thing. That’s when I knew this woman was most likely, most likely—”

Not human! A chill crept up Chang Rong’s spine.

“I was desperate, trying to think of how to deal with this foul thing, when the woman suddenly dissolved into a dark, murky shadow and flew past you, heading toward the entrance of the alley—” And then Chang Rong had drawn his sword and started shouting curses.

“What in the world.” After quite a long pause, Chang Rong managed to force out those words, still shaken. “First time in my life I’ve run into something this strange! Did you see where that shadow went?”

Wei Bo thought about it, and then his expression suddenly tightened: “That shadow flew all the way to the gate of the Qu estate — and then I blinked, and it was gone.”

It vanished right at the gate of the Qu estate —

The two men fell silent, then simultaneously looked up and said: “This is bad — Miss Qu is in danger!”