Luo Chengye’s charred head had only appeared for a moment, but it still brought tremendous shock to Bao Zhu. She had never seen such a terrifying thing in her life. After being intimidated by Bao Lang’s threats, both angry and frightened, she returned to the Reflection Study and cried bitterly out of grievance, then asked the maidservants for scissors.

Seeing her eyes red from crying, the maidservants didn’t dare make decisions on their own and went to consult their master. After much delay, they finally gave her a small cross-shaped scissors for cutting thread ends, with cutting edges only half a cun long – inadequate even for trimming candle wicks, let alone harming others or herself.

When they were forcibly brought to the county office’s inner residence, Yang Xingjian had thrown her bow and arrows into the inn’s woodpile during the chaos to avoid exposing their identity and bringing disaster upon themselves. Now she was truly weaponless.

Taking this toy-like scissors, Bao Zhu sighed and filled a small bowl with clear water, then laid the scissors flat across the bowl with the opening first pointing toward the door. After thinking, she turned it around to point toward the window. She also placed a dish of cheese and a dish of grilled fish beside the water bowl. After arranging everything, she clasped her hands and silently prayed.

Seeing she had no intention of self-harm, the maidservant relaxed and made conversation: “What kind of ritual is this, young mistress?”

Bao Zhu said: “It’s not a ritual, it’s a prayer to find a lost cat.”

The maidservant asked: “Does the young mistress keep a cat?”

Bao Zhu ground her teeth hatefully: “Yes, I raised such a big cat, and it disappeared without a sound or trace.”

The maidservant laughed: “Cats are wild by nature – this is common. Are the cheese and grilled fish bait to lure it back?”

Bao Zhu said: “Not exactly. Usually this scissors cat-finding method is done outdoors, and the food is for the nearby stray cats, asking them to eat and drink, and if they see my cat outside, to tell him to hurry home. But since you won’t let me go out, I can only set it up indoors for consolation.”

Counting on her fingers, it had only been six days since Wei Xun disappeared, but it felt like dozens of days. Now she was implicated and trapped in prison, confined in the Reflection Study under intimidation and coercion. With no other options, she had resorted to the palace games of calling cats and teasing dogs for entertainment – truly pitiful and laughable.

After removing her makeup and changing clothes, Bao Zhu wouldn’t allow the maidservants to sleep in her room – this was her final boundary. If even her bedside was monitored while she slept, she truly couldn’t bear it. Moreover, they might report her every move to that Military Supervisor who used human heads to frighten her.

Thinking of Bao Lang, Bao Zhu couldn’t help trembling, whether from terror or disgust. She couldn’t forget from her mind his probing gaze that evaluated her like appraising merchandise. She had always been the hunter, but now trapped in a cage, she had become prey to be slaughtered at will. This role reversal was even harder to endure than her fall into the martial world eating wind and swallowing dew.

Extinguishing the candle and closing her eyes, all she saw was that charred and mangled head; lighting the candle, she couldn’t sleep peacefully. After tossing and turning like this many times, the night watch had reached the hour of the Rat.

The night watchman passed through the streets striking his wooden clapper. After a while, Bao Zhu heard slight sounds from outside the courtyard wall below the tower. The Reflection Study was in the northeast corner of the county office’s inner residence, close against the surrounding wall. Originally the county magistrate’s study, it was chosen for being high, refreshing, and quiet. Since it was the county magistrate’s inner residence, there were no windows facing outward for people to peek through – only a small window on the second floor for ventilation.

The sound climbed up the surrounding wall, with several missed steps during the climb, then continued climbing upward, heading directly toward the small window of Bao Zhu’s bedroom.

A cat’s steps are silent and would never be so clumsy. Bao Zhu felt anxious and uneasy, quietly crawling down from her bed and fumbling in the dark for a suitable weapon. After groping around, she only found the stick Wei Xun had left behind. Clutching the wooden stick, she hid beside the window. When the wall climber pushed open the window frame and groped to enter, she struck down with all her strength.

The person raised an arm to block, and Bao Zhu felt something break under her stick. Delighted, she found that the window climber still persistently squeezed inside. In the moonlight, she saw he had a bald head with dark stubble at the roots and was quite short in stature.

Bao Zhu covered her mouth and whimpered, dropping the stick to feel his struck arm. The person shyly shrank back and whispered: “I’m fine.”

Bao Zhu quickly lit a candle. Shisan Lang stood under the window with a shy and troubled expression, whispering: “Does Jiu Niang have anything to eat?”

Wu Zhiyuan didn’t dare neglect the Yang father and daughter, providing everything thoroughly. The room contained golden milk pastries and “vanish-in-wind” cakes. Bao Zhu brought them to him, and Shisan Lang used both hands to stuff them rapidly into his mouth. Seeing his agile movements with no signs of injury, Bao Zhu wondered if she had missed entirely.

After finishing the pastries, Shisan Lang saw there was still a dish of cheese beside the scissors and water bowl on the table, so he picked it up and swallowed it in one gulp. Being vegetarian from birth, he left only the grilled fish untouched.

Seeing him so hungry, Bao Zhu felt very sympathetic. She opened the door and looked around to ensure no one was eavesdropping outside, and the two conversed in the smallest voices.

“Don’t they give you food? Ah, I really shouldn’t have asked you to go check in at Lotus Temple.”

Shisan Lang finally got to eat his fill, sighed contentedly, wiped his mouth and said: “It’s not just me – Lotus Temple has run out of food. Some high official said until someone confesses their crimes, no one is allowed in or out, so they’re keeping everyone confined to starve.”

Bao Zhu said: “Roll up your sleeve and let me see your arm. I heard something break just now, yet you didn’t make a sound, you stubborn child.”

Shisan Lang covered his sleeve and wouldn’t show her, saying quietly: “I’m fine – it must have been the stick that broke.”

Bao Zhu picked up the wooden stick and saw it indeed had a large vertical crack down the middle. Recalling how she had viciously whipped Wei Xun’s fourth martial brother with her horse whip and he acted as if he felt nothing, she was startled: “Are you invulnerable to blades and spears like that fat martial brother of yours?”

Shisan Lang touched his head and said modestly: “I’m far inferior to Fourth Martial Brother. Though we both practice external body-hardening techniques, I’m more than ten years behind him in skill – I can only withstand Jiu Niang hitting me a couple times.” He paused and added, “I secretly climbed over the temple wall in the middle of the night to find you at the inn, but the innkeeper said you were also arrested and taken to the county office – it truly scared me to death. If you were tortured and beaten, Elder Martial Brother would definitely break every bone in my body.”

Bao Zhu snorted coldly: “I haven’t suffered hunger or beatings, but it’s not much better – being confined here under coercion and intimidation. Your martial brother… sigh, he slipped away himself, yet still wants to be harsh on you, a child, for protecting me?”

Shisan Lang’s eyes flickered, wanting to speak but hesitating, stammering for a long time before gathering courage to ask: “Jiu Niang… does Jiu Niang still believe Elder Martial Brother is innocent?”

Bao Zhu pondered for a moment and said slowly: “When we were forcibly brought here, I noticed he had stuffed all the melted gold from jewelry into his travel bag, yet didn’t bring this money. Why would he need to share stolen goods with accomplices only to kill them? Someone greedy for money wouldn’t abandon any profit.”

Speaking of this, Bao Zhu thought of how she had suffered fear and worry these past days for no reason. Getting more annoyed the more she thought about it, she said petulantly: “Besides, I have more than ten pearls of one cun size – the ones not set in jewelry I usually just use as marbles to play with. What’s so rare about them! I don’t believe Wei Xun is so ignorant that he’d abandon me for stealing some pearl of unknown quality.”

Liu Mao, Huo Qi Lang, Yang Xingjian, and even the local officials of Xiagui County – people from all walks of life, both righteous and wicked, all believed Wei Xun was the criminal. Only Bao Zhu was willing to believe in him. Shisan Lang’s eyes gradually reddened as he said with a sobbing voice: “The pearl on the Precious Pagoda really wasn’t stolen by Elder Martial Brother, and he didn’t kill anyone either. He can’t move right now.”

Bao Zhu felt her heart suddenly plummet. The worry she’d harbored all along was finally confirmed, and she immediately felt all strength drain from her body.

“Is he… is he injured?”

Shisan Lang said dejectedly: “He’s fallen ill. Elder Martial Brother was born with a cold evil syndrome that flares up once every year or year and a half. When it attacks, the pain penetrates to his bones and he can’t move a step – forget climbing towers to steal treasure, he can barely protect himself. He felt the illness coming on and originally wanted to kill that subordinate who was following you to eliminate future troubles, but after watching him for many days and seeing he never actively threatened you, he ultimately couldn’t bring himself to kill.”

Bao Zhu thought how dangerous that was – fortunately Yang Xingjian was one of her own people and respectfully cautious. If he had shown even the slightest disrespect, he probably would have silently lost his head.

Shisan Lang continued: “Martial Brother tested him several times and confirmed he truly knew no martial arts, figuring I alone could handle him. When he really couldn’t hold on anymore, he went off alone. Who could have expected the city to explode with the major case of murder and pearl theft, throwing everything into chaos.”

The little monk had concealed the truth until now before speaking honestly. Bao Zhu was angry and glared at him fiercely: “You swore oaths before me saying you didn’t know where Wei Xun was, aren’t you afraid the Buddha will strike you with lightning?”

Shisan Lang hurriedly explained: “I truly didn’t know the specific location then – Elder Martial Brother always finds some corner to hide in quietly by himself.”

Bao Zhu asked in surprise: “Since you know he has this hidden ailment, doesn’t he tell you where he hides?”

Shisan Lang smiled bitterly: “The relationship between us martial brothers is different from ordinary families. On the surface we’re harmonious, but if anyone shows the slightest weakness, someone will seize the chance to stick in a knife. You’ve seen the scar on Seventh Martial Brother Huo Qi’s face – that was Second Martial Brother’s doing. Elder Martial Brother knows I won’t harm him, but he can’t guarantee other enemies won’t torture me to reveal his hiding place, so he doesn’t tell me or you.”

Bao Zhu suddenly fell silent.

Author’s Note:

The Scissors Cat-Finding Method YYDS (eternal god)