As it turned out, Colonel Meng Wan was true to her word. After He Simu and Chen Ying woke up and had breakfast, and after the physician confirmed they were unharmed, they were politely escorted out of the Governor’s mansion. Supposedly, it was a military-restricted area, no civilians allowed.

Chen Ying tugged at He Simu’s clothes, anxiously asking: “Miss Xiaoxiao, will we still have food to eat?”

This child couldn’t go three sentences without mentioning food. It seemed he had truly suffered hunger before.

He Simu patted his head and smiled: “Of course we’ll have food, and much better than what you ate before.”

She held Chen Ying’s hand and first went to find his father’s body. The young general had ordered the collection of bodies throughout the city, moving them to several abandoned mansions, and inviting families to claim their deceased. Bodies unclaimed after three days would be buried together.

Seeing the countless bodies laid side by side in the mansion, making one’s eyes dizzy, He Simu secretly cast a spell, following its guidance to directly locate Chen Ying’s father’s body.

As soon as Chen Ying saw his father’s body, he began crying again. Wiping his tears, he said: “Father suffered so many injuries, I can hardly recognize him… Sister, how did you spot him from so far away at first glance…”

“I’m an adult, and adults have better eyesight than you,” He Simu replied without changing expression.

Chen Ying lay on his father’s body and cried for a while, clumsily but earnestly tidying his father’s clothes, using a damp cloth to clean his father’s face and limbs. In the process, he discovered the bite marks on the corpse’s neck, his lips trembled, and he broke into loud sobs again: “I’m too late! Wild beasts have already damaged Father’s body!”

The “wild beast” He Simu stood nearby, wondering where this child got so many tears. She patted Chen Ying’s head and kindly said: “When you’re done crying, let’s take your father away for burial.”

They registered with the supervising officers and soldiers, then took Chen Ying’s father’s body out, dug a hole in the cemetery behind the city, and buried him. The cemetery behind the city had crooked, dispirited-looking trees growing all around, with wild grass flourishing. However, it was quite lively now, with many citizens burying their loved ones here. Crying sounds rose one after another. Because so many had died, there almost wasn’t enough space.

He Simu found a wooden board and sat on the small mound in front of Chen Ying’s father’s grave, helping Chen Ying write a tombstone.

Chen Ying couldn’t read a single character and could only pronounce his father’s name. He Simu transcribed the characters based on the sounds.

When He Simu inserted the wooden board into the mound, it seemed to finalize everything. Chen Ying felt that his father truly could never lift this board and return to him again. His emotions completely sank, and he stopped talking, only silently shedding tears while scattering paper money on the grave.

“Why cry for him? He should be crying for you. He has concluded this life and will be reborn, while you, little one, must continue living alone in this chaotic world. Any way you look at it, you’re the more pitiful one,” He Simu sighed.

The usually talkative child said nothing, just wiping his tears.

He Simu sighed, squatted beside him, and casually took a stack of paper money, scattering it toward the sky.

The paper money from her hand seemed to be enchanted, swirling in the air for a moment. The pale, thin paper sheets flashed in the sunlight and suddenly transformed with a rustle into countless white butterflies, flapping their wings and flying about.

Chen Ying, who had seen little of the world, was immediately dumbfounded. Citizens burying their loved ones nearby also exclaimed in wonder.

He Simu encouraged him: “You throw some too.”

Chen Ying hesitantly took a handful of paper money and scattered it into the air. As the paper money reached mid-air, it too suddenly transformed into butterflies, fluttering upward like dancing snowflakes.

Chen Ying was startled and sprang to his feet, looking at his hands in disbelief: “I… this is…”

“What are you looking at? It’s just a magic trick,” He Simu laughed.

Chen Ying hesitated, then exclaimed delightedly: “So Miss Xiaoxiao is a magician!”

“I suppose so.”

He Simu snapped her fingers, and the butterflies rode the north wind, fluttering away. Chen Ying opened his mouth wide and turned his head to watch the direction of the departing butterflies. He Simu also turned to look.

At the end of the butterflies’ flight path, in the slanting sunlight, stood a youth with a posture as straight as a tall pine.

He wore a veiled hat with black gauze draping over his shoulders, dressed in a silver-gray round-collared robe with narrow sleeves. The cuffs and chest were embroidered with ink-colored celestial patterns. His hair was neatly bound with a silver crown, and two light white ribbons hung down from outside the veiled hat.

—This was what He Simu saw. Truthfully, she didn’t know what color his clothes were. Perhaps they were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, or violet, but in her eyes, there were only black, dark gray, light gray, and white.

The evil ghost’s world looked like this—there was no concept of color.

The butterflies fluttered past the youth’s head. He slightly turned to avoid them, his ribbons tracing an elegant arc.

The youth looked at He Simu and smiled brightly: “What an amazing magic trick.”

He Simu stood up, her gaze lingering for a moment on the Po Wang Sword at his waist, then moved to his faintly visible face beneath the veiled hat’s black gauze.

Just as she was thinking about how to approach this young general again, he had delivered himself to her doorstep.

She smiled gracefully and bowed in gratitude. This body originally belonged to a sweet and cute girl, and when she smiled, she appeared even more innocent and captivating.

“For saving our lives yesterday, General, my brother and I have no way to repay you. We bow in thanks.”

“I am a general protecting Great Liang. Saving citizens is my duty. Why does the young lady need to thank me?” He held his index finger to his lips and said: “Please don’t call me ‘General.’ If it alarms other citizens, that wouldn’t be good.”

Wearing a veiled hat, without official robes or attendants, he apparently didn’t want to be recognized. He Simu’s eyes shifted quickly, and she said: “Are you making an incognito inspection?”

He didn’t deny it, his gaze turning toward several soldiers overseeing the cemetery in the distance.

Because of the numerous deaths, to prevent disputes over insufficient cemetery space, some soldiers had been stationed here to maintain order. The rule was first come, first served, but some people wanting good plots would bribe the soldiers to drive away families who had already dug graves and were preparing to bury their loved ones. The soldiers were quite practiced at this, refusing no one.

Families already suffering misfortune still oppressed each other at this stage.

He Simu turned to look at the youth, but his expression was unclear.

“But the young lady has good eyes. We met hurriedly yesterday, and today I’m wearing a veiled hat, yet you recognized me at a glance?” he turned his head and asked He Simu.

He Simu responded straightforwardly: “Of course. Your illustrious reputation and gallant bearing have long filled this humble woman with admiration.”

Hearing this, the young general folded his arms, supporting his chin with his hand. As if finding it amusing, he said leisurely: “Is that so? An illustrious reputation? Then what’s my name?”

“…”

Wasn’t that precisely the question she had been prepared to ask him?

The young general didn’t press further. He lowered his head and smiled, saying: “The young lady needn’t flatter me. If I truly had an illustrious reputation, I should have prevented Liang City from being massacred. My name is Duan Xu, ‘Xu’ as in ‘feng lang ju xu’ (achieving the highest military merit), my courtesy name is Shun Xi.”

Duan Xu, Duan Shun Xi.

This young general, though so young, already held a high position. He should have been proud and lofty, looking down on common people, yet surprisingly, he was without airs.

He Simu smiled and said: “This humble woman is named He Xiaoxiao, and this is my adopted brother, Xue Chen Ying.”

“Miss Xiaoxiao,” Duan Xu repeated. He walked two steps closer to the siblings, about to say something when He Simu caught sight of someone standing on a high pavilion nearby in her peripheral vision. She shouted: “Watch out!”

Almost as she opened her mouth, Duan Xu quickly moved sideways. The Po Wang Sword left its scabbard, spinning once in his palm. With a flash of silver light, it deflected the arrow shot from the high building, then returned to its scabbard in an instant.

“Hu Qi assassins!”

The guards shouted as the black figure on the high building vanished in a flash. Many soldiers went in pursuit. Duan Xu, however, wasn’t in a hurry and still smiled as he returned the sword to his waist: “It seems I’m recognized not only by Miss He but by others as well.”

When he turned back, the young lady who had just warned him was already tugging at his clothes, while her brother clutched her garment, both cowering behind him, trembling.

He Xiaoxiao, with tears in her eyes, looked touchingly delicate as she said: “That was truly terrifying.”

“…It’s alright now. Thank you for saving me, young lady,” Duan Xu reassured.

He Simu clutched the corner of his clothes and said: “Although I’d like to be like the general and say thanks aren’t necessary, my brother and I have no family left. Yesterday we were driven out of the Governor’s mansion, and now we’re without shelter, facing homelessness and hunger. Furthermore, it’s about to snow, and we haven’t even found a place to stay tonight.”

Chen Ying, gripping He Simu’s clothes, realized this was the critical moment in determining whether they’d have food today, and frantically nodded in agreement.

This young general had a belly full of Confucian classics and was an upright person who likely wouldn’t refuse such a pitiful young lady and her poor, helpless adopted brother. Duan Xu looked at He Simu, then at Chen Ying, and indeed said: “Very well. A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring. I will naturally arrange accommodation for you and your brother.”

After a pause, he looked at the sky, seemingly puzzled: “Did Miss He just say it’s about to snow?”

“The weather has been strange this year. If the Guan River can freeze over, snow falling on a clear day isn’t surprising. Though the sunshine looks good now, the weather is about to change,” He Simu, having secured Duan Xu’s promise, contentedly released his clothes and pointed to her eyes: “These eyes of mine have always been quite sharp.”

Effortlessly achieved. If Duan Xu hadn’t been present, she would have applauded the assassin’s attempt, and she had indeed returned the favor in kind.

Duan Xu seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, already dodging her warning. Originally, the arrow wouldn’t have hit him. However, He Simu used a spell to make the arrow deviate slightly in mid-air, still aiming for Duan Xu, thus forcing him to draw the Po Wang Sword.

He Simu held Chen Ying’s hand, pleasantly returning to the city with Duan Xu.

The Po Wang Sword was a pair of swords, ebony inlaid with silver, carved with silver-engraved incantations. Normally, the two sword hilts served as each other’s sheaths, combining to appear as a single sword. Double-handed weapons were inherently more difficult to master than single-handed ones, yet Duan Xu had wielded them skillfully just now. The one that had cut down the incoming arrow was even the left-hand sword, demonstrating his considerable martial prowess.

When the Po Wang Sword left its scabbard, she saw clearly that it gleamed with a dazzling, sharp light. Normally, it was a blunt, unsharpened sword, only gaining an edge after recognizing its master.

He Simu discreetly examined Duan Xu from head to toe.

Though lacking spiritual cultivation, he could control the Po Wang Sword. It seemed this young general possessed an extremely strong destiny and was greatly favored by the Po Wang Sword.

Strange indeed, why would the Po Wang Sword look upon this young general with such favor?

The previously bright and clear sky suddenly changed color, becoming overcast, and then heavy snow began to fall, landing on the sparsely populated streets, adding to the desolation of Liang Prefecture city.

He Simu stretched her sleeve to cover Chen Ying’s head, saying: “You’ve only just recovered from being unconscious for a day and night. If you catch a cold, I won’t be able to take care of you.”

No sooner had she spoken than she felt a weight on her head, and then black gauze obscured her vision—Duan Xu had placed his veiled hat on her.

She turned to see Duan Xu holding the brim of the hat. Through the black gauze and falling snow, he smiled and said: “Miss He has also just recovered from fainting. Be careful not to catch cold.”

His eyes were round and bright, seeming to contain a layer of light. When he smiled, he revealed neat white teeth, a natural display of youthful vigor.

He Simu held the veiled hat and smiled faintly: “Thank you, General.”

Duan Xu released the hat brim and turned to walk forward into the wind and snow. His back was straight, his steps light, as if nothing in this world was worth worrying about.

Truly like the moon in the mountains, snow on a sunny day, and a youth in the world.