Qingmian County. A branch office of the Mu Camp.

Fang Biehan had neither made any promises to Master Ye, nor had he made things difficult for him. He ordered his men to arrange lodgings for Master Ye, then returned to his own room alone.

His heart was genuinely troubled at this moment, because what had started as the two of them seeking revenge for their friend had somehow taken a different shape entirely.

He felt torn — on one side was Jiang Wei, on the other were his own men.

Even a man like Jiang Wei was willing to give up everything he had fought so hard to gain. What, then, was there that Fang Biehan himself could not give up?

Of the three of them, Jiang Wei had always said Fang Biehan was the least likely to accomplish great things — too lazy, too self-righteously aloof, never quite fitting in with anyone else.

Among the three, Jiang Wei had always been single-mindedly climbing upward. Over the years he had indeed done things that betrayed his conscience.

And Mo Lili had always been the one standing firmly by Jiang Wei’s side. Fang Biehan often joked that Jiang Wei had put some enchantment on him. Whatever Jiang Wei did, Mo Lili believed it was right — and Mo Lili had been shaped enormously by Jiang Wei’s influence. In other words, Mo Lili was Jiang Wei’s sharpest blade.

Merely surviving in an environment as complex and brutal as the Mu Camp was already no easy feat — and yet Jiang Wei had clawed his way up to the rank of Liao Officer. That alone spoke to the man’s tenacity and resilience.

If Jiang Wei could give up everything for Mo Lili, then Fang Biehan was willing to give up everything too.

But now he was in a bind, because the men under his command were truly innocent.

To kill so many innocent people for the sake of avenging Mo Lili — that was a threshold Fang Biehan’s conscience could not cross.

What he had never anticipated was that his own men would dare go directly to seek out the spy sent by Prince Ning, Li Chi. In that moment, he realized he had underestimated the raw, instinctive will to survive.

Master Ye, for his part, was in no hurry. He knew this was the only opening left to him. If no one within the Mu Camp could be persuaded to cooperate, then this plan of infiltration would never succeed.

That they had happened upon Fang Biehan’s desire to avenge Mo Lili was, for the Court of Justice, a stroke of genuine fortune.

Yet Master Ye did not let his guard down. The enemy was extraordinarily formidable — their organization no less tight-knit than the Court of Justice itself, their capacity for execution no less fearsome.

The very moment you believed you had seized a thread of hope, there was every chance it was a trap the enemy had laid for you.

The Mu Camp… the Mu Camp was not only the hands of Pei Qi, Military Governor of Shu Province — it was his mind as well.

Master Ye had already prepared himself. This might very well be a pit dug just for him — and yet he had no choice but to step in.

Just then, there came a knock at the door.

Master Ye said, “Come in.” Mu Camp Banner Officer Pei Shujian pushed the door open, stepped inside, then gave a slight bow toward Master Ye.

“What brings Banner Officer Pei here?” Master Ye asked.

Pei Shujian glanced outside, then turned and pulled the door shut behind him.

“Master Ye.” He sat down across from Master Ye and lowered his voice. “I suspect Chief Banner Officer Fang may not agree to your proposal. And not everyone here at this branch office is willing to surrender to Prince Ning either. The longer we wait, the more trouble may brew. If Master Ye is willing, those of us here could follow you and leave.”

Master Ye felt a faint stir in his heart. He could not yet determine what Pei Shujian’s true intentions were. Was he trying to go around Fang Biehan?

“There is something Master Ye may not know,” Pei Shujian continued. “Fang Biehan’s friend — the one called Jiang Wei — is one of the three Liao Officers of the Mu Camp. That man has never been known to shy away from any means necessary to get what he wants. And he only just left — he hasn’t gone far at all. I suspect our Chief Banner Officer Fang may go after him.”

Master Ye said, “You mean Fang Biehan intends to catch up with Jiang Wei, explain the situation, seek his opinion, and only then make his decision?”

“Yes,” Pei Shujian replied. “But none of us trust Jiang Wei. That man would do anything for his own advancement.”

Master Ye said, “I understand your feelings right now, and I would be more than glad to take you all away from here as quickly as possible. But if we simply leave like this, with nothing to show for it…”

Pei Shujian said, “Sir, every one of us knows the terrain of Shu Province intimately — we’re living maps. How can you say there’s nothing to show for it?”

Master Ye said, “But if we can’t even breach Kao Shan Pass, there will be no way to put your knowledge to use.”

Pei Shujian fell silent. That remark seemed to shake his resolve. A man like this, in circumstances like these, could easily flip back at a moment’s notice — plagued by fear of being implicated, prone to distrusting everyone. He had already begun to doubt Fang Biehan. How could he possibly trust Master Ye, an enemy?

In the instant Pei Shujian’s eyes grew uncertain, Master Ye had already readied himself to act, for he understood perfectly well: to stay alive, Pei Shujian and his men had more than one option. They could also throw every last bit of their strength into capturing Master Ye, and Fang Biehan along with him, then deliver them both to Mei City — that too would be a considerable merit.

“Very well,” Master Ye said, rising to his feet. “I will go speak with your Chief Banner Officer Fang once more. If he still cannot give me a clear answer, I will take all of you and leave this place immediately.”

Pei Shujian visibly relaxed and rose, folding his hands in salute. “Then many thanks to you, sir.”

After Pei Shujian left, Master Ye turned the situation over carefully in his mind, working through the pieces.

He was just about to go find Fang Biehan when another knock sounded at the door.

He pulled it open. Mu Camp Banner Officer Yang Liulin slipped inside, quickly shut the door behind him.

“Master Ye.” Yang Liulin lowered his voice. “There is something I’ve come to warn you about at great risk to myself — do not place any trust in Pei Shujian. That man is not one of Chief Banner Officer Fang’s inner circle. He was placed here by others within the Mu Camp to keep watch on us.”

Master Ye’s brow furrowed faintly.

Yang Liulin said, “Sir, you may not be aware, but even within our Mu Camp there are factional rivalries. Chief Banner Officer Fang and Liao Officer Jiang Wei are on the same side — but they’ve both been sidelined and targeted by the others.”

“When Pei Shujian went to find you on his own, none of us knew about it. He only told us after the fact.”

“All of us now are willing to surrender to Prince Ning. But Pei Shujian must be harboring ill intentions, so please, Master Ye — be careful.”

Having said his piece, Yang Liulin gave Master Ye another folded salute, turned, and walked out. He had come and gone as swiftly as a gust of wind, leaving behind only those few words — and leaving Master Ye’s mind in even greater confusion than before.

This Mu Camp was truly a complicated place. Even in a small county town like this, the people were already scheming against one another to such a degree — how much worse must it be back in Mei City.

What Master Ye now had to determine was: which of the two was sincere — Pei Shujian, or Yang Liulin?

He was still turning this over in his mind when the door knocked a third time.

Master Ye pulled it open. Fang Biehan was standing outside, which gave Master Ye a small, pleasant surprise.

After stepping inside, Fang Biehan gestured for Master Ye to close the door.

“Has anyone come to find you just now?” he asked directly, the moment he was through the door.

Master Ye nodded. “Indeed.”

Fang Biehan was quiet for a moment, then said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t trust a single person in this place.”

Master Ye asked, “And what about you?”

“You should trust me least of all,” Fang Biehan said, “because I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

Master Ye smiled. “That, Chief Banner Officer Fang, is actually something I can believe.”

Fang Biehan sat down. Whether he didn’t know what he wanted to say, or was simply collecting his thoughts, he said nothing for a long while.

Master Ye was equally unhurried — he simply sat beside him, still and quiet, and waited.

After a long silence, Fang Biehan said, “Speaking for myself, I wouldn’t agree to your terms. I have so many men watching me, which is why I’m torn.”

“If you’re bold enough, stay here and give me two more days. In two days, I’ll give you my answer.”

He rose and made to leave. Master Ye called after him: “Are you going to consult with Jiang Wei?”

Fang Biehan stopped. “How do you know that? And how do you know Jiang Wei’s name?”

Master Ye said, “You asked me yourself just now whether anyone had come to find me.”

At that, the color shifted slightly in Fang Biehan’s face.

“Was it Pei Shujian or Yang Liulin?” he asked.

Master Ye said, “Why couldn’t it have been both of them together?”

“Impossible,” Fang Biehan said. “Those two could never come to find you together. You don’t understand us well enough.”

Master Ye said, “I’m beginning to understand you better, actually. It seems the most prominent Banner Officers under your command are not quite of the same mind as you.”

Fang Biehan said, “Mind your own affairs. Being able to walk out of here alive — that’s your good fortune to worry about.”

With that, Fang Biehan stepped out the door. Master Ye saw him to the threshold, eyes slightly narrowed. He found the people of Qingmian County growing more interesting by the moment.

After Fang Biehan left Master Ye’s lodgings, he went straight toward the stable at the rear of the compound. He needed to go after Jiang Wei — in his mind, this was something that simply had to be done.

First, the matter of avenging Mo Lili was more important than anything. Mo Lili had been a sworn brother to him and Jiang Wei both.

Second, if he agreed to the Court of Justice’s terms right now, he might end up bringing harm to Jiang Wei.

If he truly chose to surrender to Prince Ning Li Chi, he wanted to do it together with Jiang Wei.

He knew Jiang Wei’s capabilities, and he knew Jiang Wei’s ambitions. He wanted Jiang Wei to have the chance to keep climbing somewhere else.

All these years, Mo Lili had given so much to help Jiang Wei rise. They were brothers. What Mo Lili could do, so could he.

But just as he reached the stable and was about to take a horse out, he saw a column of riders coming from up ahead — perhaps a dozen or so in all.

At the head of the group was the very man who had just left: Jiang Wei.

“How are you back already?” Fang Biehan hurried forward.

Jiang Wei smiled. “After riding a ways, it suddenly occurred to me that if you ran into something you couldn’t handle, you’d definitely come after me. So I turned back.”

Fang Biehan didn’t find that particularly surprising. Jiang Wei’s mind was sharper than his and Mo Lili’s put together, so if Jiang Wei had figured something out, he had no reason to be surprised.

Jiang Wei dismounted and handed the reins to one of his men with a casual toss.

As they walked back together, Jiang Wei asked, “Is it because of the people from the Court of Justice?”

Fang Biehan said, “I was half wondering whether you’d never actually left at all, and had been watching all of this from the shadows.”

Jiang Wei shot him a look. “Too slow-witted yourself, so you suspect everyone else of being clever.”

Fang Biehan asked, “If someone from the Court of Justice has come to the door directly — what do you think we should do?”

Jiang Wei answered without hesitation: “We should talk.”

Fang Biehan frowned. “But everything you’ve worked so hard for in the Mu Camp—”

He hadn’t finished the sentence before Jiang Wei cut him off.

“Everything I’ve worked hard to gain inside the Mu Camp — as long as I put in the same effort somewhere else, I’ll gain it again.”

Jiang Wei clapped a hand on Fang Biehan’s shoulder. “The decision you can’t make — I’ll make it for you.”

—