“Within a hundred li radius, our establishment has the most authentic roasted pork belly. We also have roasted quail breast, lychee pork loin, and fermented black bean tenderloin—all famously exceptional dishes.” The waiter brought up a pot of hot tea, practically eager to recite the entire menu of the most expensive items. “Oh, and honored guest, today’s eel is especially fresh, caught from the Ling River. How about southern-style fried eel? Or eel soup—also delicious…”

This tavern was called “Unique Flavors Residence.” In this town, it was the kind of establishment that could hold its ground. The main floor faced the bustling street, with a constant stream of local patrons, travelers, and those stopping to rest, one group rotating after another. Especially around noon, the waiters would run themselves ragged, so busy that even the kitchen help had to personally pitch in with serving dishes.

The second-floor window seat had the best lighting and the largest table—it was the establishment’s only “elegant seating area.” Guests who took this table had to order at least ten taels of silver worth of food. The new arrivals were a young man and a beautiful young woman, accompanied by two sword-bearing attendants. The waiter only needed one glance to know they were people of considerable status, and he didn’t dare show the slightest negligence. He picked up a clean cloth and wiped the table surface once more.

“Then bring one of everything, plus two bowls of rice.” The young man turned to the young woman. “What else would you like to eat?”

On the table sat a dish of dry-fried anise beans. The young woman casually ate one and couldn’t stop. “Will two bowls of rice be enough? There are four of us.”

“They ate on the road.” The young man gave the attendants a look, and the two guards consciously went downstairs. The young woman made an “oh” sound. “Just the two of us… won’t we order too much?”

“We won’t.” The young man smiled slightly and said to the waiter, “That’s all for now. Also bring some fried flatbreads. Please bring the dishes quickly—we still need to travel.”

The waiter grinned, showing his gapped teeth. “Right away, honored guests!”

The young woman swept the beans clean in just a few bites. Feeling that people at nearby tables occasionally glanced over, when she looked up, they all quickly averted their gazes. She licked the pepper powder from the corner of her mouth. “It’s just eating a plate of beans—what’s so interesting?”

“They’re not looking at the beans, but at the person.” The young man lifted the teapot to pour tea. “This tavern is frequented mostly by wandering martial artists or merchants. Beautiful women like you are not commonly seen.”

She had just raised her teacup when, hearing these words, her hand jerked and she nearly scalded her mouth.

The speaker was Fu Yangui, and naturally, the one being spoken to was Changling.

Fu Yangui spoke in a completely ordinary tone, without any hint of flattery whatsoever. Even so, Changling still felt an awkwardness permeating the air. After all, her current identity was “Nanxu,” and hearing praise from an admirer, she should at least show a smile to avoid exposing herself.

Changling really couldn’t smile, so she simply gave up on immersing herself in the role of Nanxu—in any case, she was playing Nanxu with memory loss. If someone surnamed Fu could believe even something like amnesia, he probably wouldn’t fuss too much over other minor details.

Thinking this, she couldn’t help but feel uncertain again.

That day when she had fainted from hunger in Canlang Village, she opened her eyes to see Fu Yangui sitting by the bed, feeding her rice soup spoon by spoon. She almost suspected he was poisoning her. Unexpectedly, Fu Yangui’s first words were: “Miss Nan, it’s me… You… do you still remember me?”

Turned out that after all this time, this fellow still hadn’t discovered she wasn’t Nanxu.

Changling came to her senses and lied with her eyes wide open: “Who are you? Who… who am I?”

Thus, being brought back to Eastern Xia by Fu Yangui could be said to have gone with the flow.

She naturally didn’t much want to assume someone else’s identity, but traveling from Yan territory to Jinling meant passing through so many cities along the way. She had neither travel permits nor silver in hand—simply leaving would actually be more troublesome. Moreover, this Fu Yangui was a court official, and Nanxu’s father was also a general in Eastern Xia. Borrowing this convenient route, she might have a better chance of approaching those “old acquaintances” from years past.

After all, Shen Yao was now the ruler of a nation.

“What are you thinking about?”

Changling saw Fu Yangui lift the teapot and only then realized she’d been drinking air from an empty cup. She casually set it down and pointed at the passersby coming and going outside the window. “I was thinking, all along this journey, we’ve seen so many martial artists hurrying along the road everywhere, as if heading somewhere for some purpose…”

“These people are mostly going to Jinling for the martial arts competition.”

“Martial arts competition?”

The waiter brought up several plates of hot dishes. Fu Yangui ladled a small bowl of soup and pushed it in front of Changling. “Do you know about the civil and martial examinations?”

Changling lifted her spoon and first warmed her stomach with a sip. “Aren’t those the triennial imperial examinations? The civil examination selects talented scholars, the martial examination chooses military talent. But ordinarily, martial examination candidates are selected from military-born sons of official families. How is it that now even these types who mix in the martial world can participate?”

Fu Yangui’s chopsticks paused for a moment, but it was only that—a moment. He calmly explained: “The current Emperor was born into a martial world family. Since he established the nation through martial prowess, naturally he also hopes to broadly recruit martial talents from across the realm. As long as one’s background is clean and they have no criminal record, whether from official gentry families, martial sects, or even common people—male or female—all may participate if they wish to serve the court.”

Changling was slightly surprised. “Anyone can participate… won’t Jinling city be overflowing with people?”

“The martial examination rules are similar to the civil examination—both involve layer-by-layer selection from prefecture and county levels. Most of those rushing to Jinling are already martial examination graduates… Of course, some disciples recommended by prestigious sects can directly enter Qingcheng Academy to study upon reaching Jinling, then take the examination alongside others on the examination day.”

“Qingcheng Academy… what’s that?”

Fu Yangui scalded a clean pair of chopsticks and portioned out the roasted pork. “Since you know about the civil examination, have you heard of the Imperial Academy?”

“Oh, I know a bit.”

Since ancient times, emperors established Imperial Academies and appointed brilliant teachers to cultivate the realm’s scholars. Most students were scions of noble families, though naturally there were also ordinary civil examination graduates. Both groups could enter officialdom through demonstrating classical learning.

Using the civil examination as an example, Fu Yangui explained that Qingcheng Academy was like the Imperial Academy for martial learning, also established by the court—no wonder so many martial world figures flocked there like going to market. With opportunities for promotion and wealth, who wouldn’t go except a fool?

Changling’s brow furrowed slightly.

Even though she previously hadn’t paid much attention to political affairs, she knew the principle of “military officials conquer the realm, civil officials govern the realm.” Shen Yao hadn’t been emperor for many years, yet not only had he broadened the restrictions on martial examinations, he’d also built a martial academy. Wasn’t he concerned about the saying that “martial force leads to lawlessness”?

“His Majesty has been implementing the martial examination for six years now. Many military officials in the current court emerged from the martial examination graduates. Miss Nan has lived long on Canglang Mountain, so not knowing Eastern Xia’s situation is normal. Earlier…” Fu Yangui paused slightly. “You said martial examination candidates were selected from military-born sons of official families—you can still remember these matters from the previous dynasty, which rather surprises me.”

Oh no. She’d forgotten again to maintain the identity of “the amnesiac Five Poisons Sect Leader.”

Changling lowered her head and shoveled down two mouthfuls of rice, casually bullshitting: “Mm, perhaps I heard it before and it just stuck in my mind… Hey, this meat is getting cold—why aren’t you eating?”

Fu Yangui had no intention of probing deeper. He smiled faintly. “Alright, you eat too.”

Changling found this Fu Yangui rather peculiar.

By rights, throughout this journey he’d been quite considerate toward her—neither excessively solicitous to the point of discomfort, nor had he neglected arrangements for clothing, food, lodging, and travel. During meals he’d appropriately raise topics for conversation. In just a few days together, he could practically be said to possess a naturally refreshing demeanor—

Yet he was completely inscrutable.

Although both Ye Qi and Mingyue Zhou also belonged to the category of those with countless secrets hidden in their bellies, the difference was that Fu Yangui had concealed even the word “conceal” itself without a trace.

Changling silently classified this type of person into the category of “absolutely cannot confide even half a sentence.”

After five flavors of dishes, she was about half full. At this point, Fu Yangui’s attendant walked to his side and whispered a few words. He nodded slightly and said to Changling: “I have something to attend to and need to go out briefly. I’ll be back soon.”

Having said this, he very thoughtfully gave her his money pouch, left behind another attendant, then hurried away. Changling cleared the remaining plates. Her stomach was too full, so she packed up an entire bag of anise beans, left the tavern, and began strolling leisurely.

In these few days since entering Xia territory, they’d mostly traveled mountain forest wilderness paths. Occasionally passing through small border towns, they were the kind of villages without human warmth. It was rare to arrive at this kind of large town. Hearing the chattering voices and vendors’ calls around her, she suddenly felt quite cheerful—

She’d been away from the Central Plains for over eleven years now. If she added those two years fighting in the northern desert, she’d gone nearly thirteen years without visiting this kind of bustling marketplace. In her memory, the last time she’d passed through here it was still desolate wilderness. Now it was teeming with merchants. As Changling walked along the street, like some country bumpkin who’d never seen the world, everything everywhere seemed like novel curiosities.

“Come look, come see—the finest golden flower rouge powder… Oh my, miss, you’re so beautiful, just a bit lacking in color. Want to try some?”

Seeing the female vendor’s mouth full of spring-red gaudiness, Changling turned away before even approaching. Turning around, she heard peddlers calling out one after another: “Finest blood jade—once in a century, wards off evil, protects against petty people, ensures peace and safety…”

“Finest white sable fur—the sables from Zhongxia Mountain have been touched by immortal energy…”

“Finest golden hairpins…”

In short, an entire street selling all “finest” goods. Whether anyone believed it or not, they’d call out to anyone they could.

Changling wandered to a shoe stall. At a glance, everything was those delicate brocade shoes with foil appliqué, or else thick-soled wooden clogs that would surely feel uncomfortable. Other relatively simple cloth boots were all for men. Changling picked through several pairs and found them all too large, which troubled her—her current pair had experienced bitter cold, been soaked in water, crossed mountains, and the soles were long since worn beyond recognition.

In the past, Yue Changsheng had craftsmen custom-make her shoes. Who’d have thought that after eleven years, in this enormous marketplace, she couldn’t even buy a single pair that fit properly?

The attendant accompanied her browsing several shoe stalls. Seeing she never made a purchase, he couldn’t help asking: “Miss, why do you keep selecting men’s shoes?”

“Because women’s shoes are ugly.”

The attendant inexplicably scratched his head: These women’s shoe uppers are all embroidered like paintings—what’s ugly about them?

Changling leisurely wandered to the street entrance. Suddenly hearing a burst of cheering, she looked over to see a crowd of bobbing heads in the distance, formed into a large circle, noisily watching some excitement.

Her curiosity piqued, she squeezed into the crowd and looked toward the center. In the open space ahead sat a rusty water vat with over ten buckets full of water beside it. Behind the vat stood a person. Changling was just puzzling over this when she saw that vat being lifted up.

The person holding the vat turned half a circle carrying it, drawing a round of applause. That person set down the large vat and revealed herself—surprisingly a petite young woman with a slender build.

The young woman wore a coarse jacket, her pants had red cloth patches, and a long braid draped over her shoulder with two tufts of slightly curled bangs at her forehead laying on either side like seaweed. Though dressed in shabby clothes, her features showed refinement. She looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, especially with a childish face.

“Just that little frame, can she really lift a large vat? Ha! I don’t believe it!”

From the crowd, a burly man burst into the circle, pointing at the large vat: “This water vat definitely isn’t cast iron!”

The young woman’s brow furrowed. “This is indeed an iron vat. If you don’t believe it, come try lifting it yourself.”

“Fine! Let me try. Everyone watch closely!” That burly man wasn’t polite either. Rolling up his sleeves, he walked to the vat and lifted with all his might, indeed hoisting the large vat up.

After setting down the vat, he bellowed: “As I thought, it’s not an iron vat. At most it’s fifty or sixty jin. You little girl, if you’re going to perform, don’t use these petty tricks to fool people—isn’t this just deception?”

“You—”

The onlookers hadn’t really believed a small girl could have such ability anyway. Hearing this, they believed it even more, and were about to disperse when the young woman suddenly called out loudly: “If you don’t believe me, then fill the vat completely with water. These buckets of water surely can’t be fake, right?”

A water vat of this size, if truly filled to capacity, the water weight alone would be at least a hundred-some jin. Hearing her say this, everyone became interested immediately. Without further ado, the young woman picked up water buckets and poured them into the vat. Moments later, the entire vat was full of clear water. She walked before the burly man, planted her hands on her hips and said: “Uncle, you’re so tall and mighty. If this vat is really porcelain, surely you can at least move it?”

That man saw dozens of eyes staring uniformly at him. He was truly caught between a rock and a hard place, so he could only walk back to the vat. Rubbing his hands several times on his clothes, spreading his stance, taking a deep breath, mustering all his strength—the large vat indeed didn’t move even half a bit.

The man refused to believe it. With a mighty roar, the large vat did shake once, but then like a stone pillar nailed to the ground, it remained solid as a rock. His face turned red and his neck thick with effort, his hands slipped, and he sat on the ground with a thud, falling flat on his back.

The onlookers saw this and burst into roaring laughter.

The young woman flipped her braid behind her and strode forward with big steps. She crouched down, grasped the lower edge of the vat body with both hands, and the vat slowly rose along with her body until she stood completely upright, immediately drawing gasps of surprise. Just when everyone thought she would set it down, the young woman let out a deep “hey!” Her body swayed slightly, and she actually managed to raise the large vat overhead!

At this, even Changling couldn’t help clicking her tongue in wonder.

The iron vat’s diameter exceeded three chi, and with the water added, the weight was certainly even heavier. For such a petite young woman to actually hoist the vat up like this—she truly had some ability.

The crowd couldn’t help but applaud enthusiastically, coming forward one after another to toss copper coins into the tray. Seeing he couldn’t disrupt the performance, that man slunk away amidst the crowd’s jeers. The young woman lifted the heavy iron tray, smiled broadly and thanked everyone in turn. Changling saw her round almond eyes curve into crescents, quite endearing, so she felt out two pieces of broken silver and tossed them from afar—they landed squarely in the tray.

These silver pieces were not small, equivalent to the entire tray of copper coins. The young woman’s expression brightened with joy. Just as she was about to give thanks, she looked up to find the person had already vanished from view.

Changling walked lazily along the street, privately sighing “each generation produces talented people,” then thinking of the ninety percent Mahun Powder still unresolved in her body, she couldn’t help but sigh—that day she’d distributed the antidote to those young women, and her internal breath was still sealed even now. She’d applied the Nanhua needle technique for several days to no avail. With the Five Poisons Sect scattered, who knew where to find an antidote?

The attendant saw Changling generously scatter silver yet sigh repeatedly, and was puzzling over this when he suddenly heard someone behind shout: “Money thief!”

Changling twisted her head to see a small beggar clutching the iron tray, racing through the street like the wind, with the young woman from earlier behind in pursuit. That young woman ran extremely fast—with one leap and pounce she almost grabbed him, but the little beggar kicked off the ground with one foot, soared up in a flying leap, and landed atop a roof.

The young woman was furious. She chased along beneath the eaves, stumbling and nearly overturning those stalls several times.

One running on the ground, one flying on the eaves—in moments they’d opened up the distance. The little beggar was about to make his getaway when, without warning, his foot stepped on something. With a “thump” he tumbled down from the rooftop.

The young woman caught up, saw copper coins scattered all over the ground, grabbed the beggar and angrily demanded: “Why did you steal my money?”

“Ow, ow, ow—it hurts!” The little beggar fell right on his behind, breaking his tailbone. “Miss, I haven’t eaten in two days. If I weren’t starving, how would I dare steal your money?”

The young woman saw he was thin as kindling. Her expression softened and she released her grip. “If you want to eat, just say so properly.” She crouched down, picked up those two pieces of broken silver and stuffed them into the little beggar’s hands. “Take these. In the future, don’t do this kind of petty thievery anymore.”

That little beggar could hardly believe it. Bowing in gratitude a thousand times, he hurriedly supported his buttocks and limped away. The young woman crouched down to pick up copper coins and discovered several anise beans on the ground that had rolled down from the rooftop. Just as she was puzzling over this, she heard a woman’s voice: “That little thief can scale walls and vault roofs. He spoke with such vigor—clearly he was fooling you.”

The young woman looked up to see an extremely beautiful woman standing before her, left hand holding a paper package with half a bag of anise beans inside. She instantly reacted, jumping up: “Elder sister, did you scatter those beans?”

For a moment, Changling didn’t even want to acknowledge her.

Earlier she’d casually grabbed a handful of anise beans, originally intending to help this young woman recover those two taels of silver. Who knew this girl was foolish beyond measure—even believing a scoundrel’s words? Changling perfunctorily nodded once and was about to leave when the young woman hurriedly called out: “Wait, wait.”

Speaking thus, she bent down and picked up all the copper coins, grabbed two big handfuls and stuffed them into the cloth pouch at her waist, then held it toward Changling: “Elder sister helped me generously. I don’t know how to thank you—take all these and buy another package of fresh beans.”

Changling’s gaze swept over the few remaining copper coins in the iron tray. “If I take it all, won’t you have lifted that vat for nothing?”

The young woman blinked, suddenly thinking of something, and smiled: “Elder sister, those two taels of silver were from you, right?”

Changling didn’t answer. Just as she was about to push the cloth pouch back, from the corner of her eye she glimpsed a small embroidered pattern on the pouch—it was the Sanskrit character for “Xuan.” Back then, her master, Grand Master Xuanji, would also sew the Xuan character onto her bags and luggage. At a glance, the needle and thread technique actually bore some resemblance.

“This pouch has what looks like Sanskrit embroidery. You’re not from the Central Plains?”

The young woman shook her head. “My home is in Lin’an. An old gentleman gave me this pouch… Elder sister can read the characters on it?”

“I can’t.” In front of the attendant, Changling naturally wouldn’t say much. But seeing this young woman possessed only brute strength without even knowing lightness skills, she probably wasn’t her master’s disciple. However, if this pouch truly was a gift from her master, she might be able to learn her master’s whereabouts from this woman.

Changling poured the copper coins back into the iron tray, but kept the remaining two coins along with the cloth pouch and stuffed them into her own clothing. “Half a bag of beans is worth two wen. I don’t need more.”

The young woman finally relaxed seeing her accept the money. The attendant saw a figure in the distance at the street end and reminded: “Miss Nan, the young master has returned. We still need to travel to Jinling…”

“You’re also going to Jinling? Me too… But elder sister clearly is a noble person—naturally you won’t travel together with me…”

Changling saw her eyes flickering, full of cleverness. “What’s your name?”

“Ah, I’m… I’m called Zhou Qin.”

“Zhou Qin.” Changling repeated it once in a low voice and nodded. “Fine. When we reach Jinling, if fate wills it, we’ll meet again. Stay here.”