Without knowing when, Qi Fan had quietly stood behind her, watching the two people sitting and sleeping in the room. His usually frivolous and cheerful expression was now silent and desolate.

Qin Chang Ge turned to look at him, tugged his sleeve, and the two silently detoured into the rear courtyard study.

Before they could sit down, Qi Fan said: “Miss Ming, where is the medicine that can cure Brother Chu? My brother has decided – he wants me to find it immediately.”

“When did you become so anxious?” Qin Chang Ge smiled slightly. “Brother Qi, I know that you and Brother Rong both carry great burdens in your hearts, wanting to atone, but some things cannot be rushed.”

Smiling bitterly and pointing toward Haoxue Pavilion, Qi Fan said: “My brother’s sins are deep – suffering for a lifetime is deserved. Wanting to cure him quickly isn’t to escape inner torment early. Miss Ming, you can see that when Brother Chu was struck by the God-Destroying Palm, he forcibly channeled the palm force downward, causing all the meridians in both legs to be completely destroyed. His internal essence was also scattered clean from this calamity. Such severe injuries, if he could rest and recover properly from then on, carefully tended through the four seasons according to natural timing, his life might not be in danger. But unfortunately… unfortunately he fell to lacking clothes and food, exposed to wind and frost, suffering bullying, living in vile and filthy places, endured by wind, rain, cold and heat, causing his body to decline and essence to nearly vanish. If not for his inner resilience and bitter self-support, he would have already… but now he’s already a body full of wounds. I’m afraid…”

Standing with hands behind his back in silence, after a long while Qin Chang Ge said: “I understand these things better than you. But the medicine that can cure him is far away in another country, and now isn’t the right time. Even if you searched, it would be useless. I’ll do my best to find ways to strengthen his foundation and regulate his essence during the waiting period. This is something urgency cannot help – let’s wait for the right opportunity.”

After thinking, Qi Fan couldn’t help but ask: “What medicine is it exactly? We could have people search carefully first.”

“No need,” Qin Chang Ge refused flatly. “When the time comes, it won’t be too late to discuss.”

Helplessly sighing softly, Qi Fan agreed, but suddenly asked: “Miss Ming, when did you arrive at the former Empress’s side?”

“What?” Qin Chang Ge turned her face, smiling slightly with a calm expression. “Didn’t I say before? I was originally in Consort De’s palace. In the second year of Tianbi, when Consort De died, palace servants were sent to various laundry bureaus. The former Empress happened to pass by once and saw me being bullied by eunuchs, so she took me in. From then on I was always at her side, receiving her favor and trust – does Brother Qi think something’s wrong?”

“No…” Qi Fan smiled embarrassedly. “Just asking casually. I feel that although Miss is young, your conduct, speech, and methods vaguely resemble the former Empress’s style from those days. Miss is truly ice-snow intelligent, otherwise you couldn’t have completely mastered the Empress’s true teachings in just over a year.”

“Too kind,” Qin Chang Ge said. “That the Empress chose me naturally had her reasons. Perhaps it was precisely because some aspects of my character pleased her and suited her taste. People always have special fondness for those similar to themselves, hence different treatment – this is cause and effect. Don’t you think this makes sense?”

Qi Fan smiled in agreement. Qin Chang Ge watched him, knowing this clever spirit already somewhat suspected her identity and was testing her in roundabout ways. But he himself felt it too absurd and dared not think in that direction. Since her rebirth, Qin Chang Ge hadn’t made too many disguises to her words and actions – Qi Fan’s suspicion was natural. Originally, Qin Chang Ge had just held a joking attitude, too lazy to waste words explaining these supernatural matters, and afraid of inadvertent leaks, so she temporarily deceived Qi Fan and the others. Now with Chu Feihuan’s situation, she decided to continue the deception. Setting aside Qi Fan, if Rong Xiaotian knew the person before him was the former Empress, seeing with his own eyes that he had wronged and pressured her most trusted person, with his intense nature, unable to bear the awkwardness, no reason would likely stop him from suicide.

Deciding to steer away from this topic, Qin Chang Ge said: “After all this time, the things that should be investigated should have results, right?”

“I was about to tell you.” Qi Fan smiled bitterly. “It’s all bad news. Let’s start with the lighter ones and work up to the heavier – First, regarding Meng Yanyuan’s birth date on his household registry, initially we had a friendly clerk in the yamen check it, and he said it was indeed that day. I wasn’t reassured and slipped him more silver to steal the household book for a look. We discovered modifications – three changed to five, done very cleverly, impossible to detect without careful examination.”

“Mm…” Qin Chang Ge remained composed. “And then?”

“Naturally we tried to find out who modified this registry, but unfortunately the clerk said the people managing household registries in the yamen had changed several times. This registry’s modification is hard to determine whether it was deliberately changed during registration or secretly altered later. These people who had contact with and managed registries span several decades – some left, some died. Who still remembers their names? Who knows which one did this over such a long time? Completely untraceable.”

“Can’t you tell from the ink’s age?” Qin Chang Ge looked up. “If it was tampered with later, the ink would be newer, allowing rough time estimation.”

“That’s the strange part – the ink colors are almost identical. Because of this, the clerk didn’t notice any modification the first time. For such an old man as Meng Yanyuan, his registry is also aged. It was hard for the forger to find such old-colored ink. But I still had people give the clerk more silver, wanting to ask who was responsible for managing registries around the year the Empress had her incident. But no one remembers at all – after all, who remembers a minor clerk buried daily in piles of dark old papers?”

“If someone didn’t want to be remembered, then even fewer would remember,” Qin Chang Ge said indifferently. “No need to investigate further – confirming Old Meng’s registry is false is enough. If his registry is false, we can confirm Prince Xiao Chen’s birthday celebration had hidden purposes. We’ll visit Old Meng for a heart-to-heart chat another day – I need him. What about the second matter?”

“Gang Leader Su’s background.” Qi Fan smiled bitterly again. “Following your instructions, we first investigated the Drinking Snow Tribe, but our people lingered outside the ice ring for several days without discovering anyone. Asking local Red River people, they said the Drinking Snow have always been just legend. In past years they could still encounter one or two strange people appearing around the ice ring, but since four years ago no one has seen their traces. Some say they suffered extermination, others say enemies sought revenge and massacred them, with survivors retreating deeper into the ice ring. Our people also tried entering the ice ring but couldn’t go far before being forced back by the bone-piercing cold.”

“Four years ago…” Qin Chang Ge tapped the table, looking somewhat distracted, then said after a while: “I’m getting some ideas. Continue – you said bad news from light to heavy, so An Feiqing’s situation must be the worst news. Dead?”

Nodding admiringly, Qi Fan said: “Dead – his whole family is dead.”

Sneering coldly, Qin Chang Ge said: “Good, very good-“

Standing up, she said: “Thank you for your hard work. I’ll go chat with Feihuan.” She turned and walked away.

Qi Fan remained in place, silently watching her leave. After a long while, he murmured: “Same temperament as the former Empress – keeping everything bottled up inside, calculating everything in her heart. No murder, arson, or family extermination can surprise her. Anyone feels like a fool in front of her – hateful!”

When Qin Chang Ge came to see Chu Feihuan this time, Baozi had already moved from his knee to the bed, hugging Chu Feihuan’s snow-white quilt and sleeping even more soundly.

Seeing her approach, Chu Feihuan showed no particular joy, only moving his wheelchair to personally pour her tea.

When Qin Chang Ge received the tea, she casually placed her fingers on his wrist pulse. Before he could dodge, she touched briefly then withdrew, smiling comfortingly: “Feihuan, Gang Leader Su really cares for you. Your body is improving. When we find the medicine, standing again isn’t impossible.”

Smiling faintly, Chu Feihuan said: “Is that so?” But said nothing more, pouring himself tea and sipping with lowered head, neither joyful nor sorrowful.

Averting her gaze, Qin Chang Ge’s surface smile remained unwavering, but she sighed inwardly. Feihuan wasn’t Rong Xiaotian – he was always intelligent and perceptive, clearer about his physical condition than anyone. She could fool anyone but not him.

That day to prevent Qi and Rong from suicide, Qin Chang Ge said Feihuan’s legs still had hope – actually most of that was false, just to avoid their pointless deaths by temporarily preserving a vain hope to pursue.

The Golden Viper Pearl back then could only prevent meridians from further necrosis. The miraculous medicine that could truly remove the God-Destroying Palm force was, according to Qin Chang Ge’s knowledge, only “Stepping Fragrance Qielan.” This thing supposedly had divine efficacy with supreme wonderful properties, but its blooming and withering followed heavenly timing with fixed numbers, only appearing during dynastic changes, manifesting once in a thousand years for just one hour. If encountered, fine; if not, it would wither itself and never regenerate. In the three times over millennia, one person arrived a step too late and watched it wither before the arriving person’s eyes. The second time someone did pick it, but that person mysteriously died for unknown reasons – no one can solve this mystery to this day. The third time was during the former Yuan uprising, obtained by the world’s greatest sect Purple Nether Sect’s leader, reportedly the most brilliantly talented Helan Wuxie of the past century, triggering infinite bloody storms with countless people watching covetously, openly robbing and secretly scheming endlessly. However, they were all resolved one by one by Helan Wuxie, called the world’s foremost person, high atop Purple Nether Divine Mountain, laughing amid smoke and clouds, brushing sleeves in clear wind, until those so-called righteous sects under noble gentleman banners secretly conspired and used beauty traps that even the underworld disdained – sending the martial world’s foremost beauty, Kunlun Sect leader’s daughter Baili Wei, to approach Helan Wuxie under false identity to get close to the treasure. Unfortunately it failed at the last moment when Helan Wuxie saw through the beauty trap. That day reportedly had layers of black clouds pressing down on Purple Nether Divine Mountain, Stepping Fragrance Qielan suddenly blazed with light – five-colored glaze, brilliant and enchanting. In that splendor of flowing light and beauty, Helan Wuxie looked up and laughed long, sweeping his sleeve to brush that undercover beauty down Purple Nether Dark River.

Amid cries of alarm, Helan Wuxie slowly lowered his head, watching the meteor-like falling beauty, with colorful light streaming behind him and black hair flying like willows. In the flowing treasure light he appeared light in clothes and person, smiling deeply.

He said:

“Actually if you had just asked me, I definitely would have given it to you.”

He smiled, his smile beautiful as a divine spirit, gorgeously brilliant like fire-red Manzhu Shahua flowers, countenance toppling cities with infinite charm.

“Why did you need to steal?”

Still smiling, he slowly turned, took the Stepping Fragrance Qielan, and floated down the mountain. Those righteous “heroes” waiting at the mountain’s base for good news from their spy unexpectedly saw Helan Wuxie approaching with cold laughter. Knowing their fate was sealed yet indignant, they shouted slogans about avenging Baili Wei and surged forward in waves to attack him. Helan Wuxie said nothing and began a great massacre. That day reportedly saw heaven darkening and earth losing light with sun and moon gone, flying flesh and blood creating legendary tragic songs that terrified all who heard them for a century. Those “heroes'” corpses piled along several li of Purple Nether Divine Mountain’s descent, their bloody stench forming blood mist at the divine mountain’s peak, shrouding that desolate moon. That moon color remained blood-red for many days, eerie and terrifying, while corpse-eating owls in the mountain sang joyfully for days, rushing to announce and feast on this rare banquet they encountered once in a century. They accumulated more and more, black wings covering the entire sky, occasionally opening mouths to cry, immediately dropping bloody flesh from their mouths. Even so, those corpses still weren’t completely consumed, severed limbs scattered everywhere. Many years later, woodcutters often stepped on broken white bones, and that chasm where countless corpses once piled always seemed to show swirling black holes at a glance, with deep ghostly cries, desolate wailing, and boundless blood color – hence called “Blood Accumulation Abyss” by later generations.

As for Helan Wuxie, no one ever saw him again. He became legend – some said he died from exhaustion fighting the masses, some said he used forbidden power and immediately lost his abilities after descending the mountain, others said this event left him disheartened, thereafter concentrating on martial cultivation until reaching unity of heaven and man, achieving immortal body. In any case, whatever the ending, in this mortal world it would be very difficult to find Helan Wuxie, the last possessor of Stepping Fragrance Qielan.

Moreover, even if he survived then, it’s been over a hundred years now – where to find this person? Find his ashes?

Then wait for Stepping Fragrance Qielan to appear?

Even more remote than finding Helan Wuxie.

Qin Chang Ge gazed at the slightly blue water color in the jade-white plum-patterned tea cup, her gaze floating lightly over the water surface like a dragonfly, thinking with slight bitterness that indeed ignorant people were happiest. If Qi Fan and Rong Xiaotian knew this secret history, what disappointment would they feel?

If… Feihuan knew?

Thinking this, her heart suddenly stirred slightly. She seemingly casually looked up at Chu Feihuan, seeing him with lowered brows and eyes, apparently concentrating on tea-tasting, expression indifferent and unmoved, showing no abnormality.

Do one’s best and leave the rest to fate… Qin Chang Ge withdrew her gaze and smiled: “Feihuan, you have such good memory and have known me longest. Can you help me think – did I ever help a youth years ago, around the Red River area?”

“Do you mean the busking youth encountered in Red River’s Baishui Town in the eleventh year of the former emperor’s abdication, or the youth with his sister begging encountered in Huazhou near the river in the twelfth year? In the fourteenth year when you passed Red River, you also sheltered a child at Wuyun Mountain whose parents died in war and who was bullied – you just directed him to join the army.” Chu Feihuan answered without thinking.

Stunned, Qin Chang Ge laughed: “Look what your brain is made of – truly comprehensive without any omissions. I can’t do that – I mostly don’t remember or care about trivial matters.”

“Your heart encompasses the world, your gaze reaches the vast seas – you are a ruler.” Chu Feihuan said indifferently. “Trivial matters cannot disturb your mind, nor should they disturb you – how can those entangled in minor details accomplish great things?”

Smiling slightly, Qin Chang Ge said: “No, people just have different strengths. Feihuan, Gang Leader Su calls me his benefactor, and he should be from the Red River area. I vaguely remember those people you mentioned were all brief encounters, but I always feel he’s not one of those few. Actually I thought of someone – that was during the first Red River battle when you hadn’t yet appeared at my side. I encountered a youth in Heifeng Town, Qi County, Red River. At that time his hands’ meridians were destroyed and all ten fingers severed. I helped reconnect his meridians but didn’t have time to care for his fingers. Given those injuries, even if healed, deformity was inevitable, but observing Su Xuan’s hands, there are absolutely no scars – this is what I’ve always wondered about.”

She related the Drinking Snow legend Su Xuan had told her that day, then said: “From my observation, Su Xuan is very familiar with the Drinking Snow Tribe, definitely not an ordinary relationship. If he was that youth from back then, he should be the so-called ‘Heaven Abandoned’ child of the Drinking Snow Tribe – a boy born at yang year, yang month, yang time who would harm the tribal leader from birth, so his hands were destroyed and he was cast out. But supposedly such children would be crippled at birth, yet when I saw that youth he already looked thirteen or fourteen.”

“Gang Leader Su isn’t as carefree as he appears on the surface.” Chu Feihuan gently picked off a yellow leaf that had fallen on his lapel. “His background and origins are mysteries he himself doesn’t want to touch.”

He turned to Qin Chang Ge, gaze clear and crystalline: “Do you need me to help you… see?”

Stunned, Qin Chang Ge frowned: “What are you thinking?”

She leaned forward slightly, carefully picking off the scattered leaves on Chu Feihuan’s shoulders one by one. One leaf with fine serrated edges was tangled in Chu Feihuan’s black hair. Qin Chang Ge carefully held the hair tip with one finger and brushed the leaf away, softly saying: “I’m just a bit curious. If I want to know, I’ll find out eventually. That ability of yours extremely harms your essence – how could it be used lightly for such small matters?”

Chu Feihuan watched Qin Chang Ge’s meticulous movements, gazing at her calm brows and the graceful countenance that though having unfamiliar features carried familiar bearing. His gaze moved down to Qin Chang Ge’s hair falling over his shoulder, pausing for a moment. Just then the wind rose, stirring the hair strands soft and delicate, brushing across his face. In a trace of cool fragrance slightly tinged with mint, Chu Feihuan smiled, that smile like ice and snow, saying quietly: “Now this is the only thing I can do for you.”

“You living well is the best thing you can do for me.” Qin Chang Ge shook her head. “Rest assured, I won’t treat you like a revered god – that would be too insulting to you. When I need you, I definitely won’t be polite.”

Just as she finished speaking, a small fat paw had already reached over, firmly grabbing Chu Feihuan’s lapel. A milky, drowsy voice arose: “Right, Uncle Chu, I really need you now – my back is so itchy, scratch it for me.”

Looking down, they saw Young Master Xiao squinting, dragging a long section of quilt, rubbing against the chair, rubbing against the wall, rubbing against Chu Feihuan…

Qin Chang Ge smiled slightly and silently withdrew.

Let that thick-skinned, black-hearted, bold, shameless Baozi go fool around with Feihuan. With him stirring and making noise, Feihuan’s innate coldness and the sorrow caused by unfortunate encounters could probably be dispersed somewhat…

The next day Su Xuan came to visit. Baozi accompanied Chu Feihuan in receiving them very grandly and warmly in the coffin shop’s back garden.

The reason for saying “them” was because Su Xuan had someone fiery trailing behind him, cursing and chasing all the way in.

“Wow!” Xiao Baozi’s eyes widened round, looking at someone dressed entirely in emerald green like a spring tea leaf sprout, firmly gripping Su Xuan’s sleeve and demanding Su Xuan compensate for his ultimate weapon Shui Linghuai. Then looking at Su Xuan’s bitter smile, his face full of bad luck like being stung by a swarm of wasps, that pretty little head swayed from left to right, then right to left. After a while he said: “Uncle Chu, really striking…?”

Chu Feihuan cast a questioning glance.

Shrugging, Baozi was very sincere: “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t understand either. These are all my mother’s words. When she brags to me at night, she sometimes throws out a line or two, saying things like this is internet slang. What net? What fish? What does fish caught in nets have to do with thunder? When I ask her she ignores me, only saying if I see something shocking like stepping on a thunderbolt, that’s being struck by lightning.”

Chu Feihuan silently turned his head away, quietly gazing at the sky. He knew not to take Baozi seriously.

However, these strange words Chang Ge spoke might be experiences from that strange world she went to after death. He thought of those crisscrossing black roads, the strange speeding carriages, the buzzing silver-white big birds in the sky, and also those scantily clad, youthful, vibrant girls…

His face suddenly grew slightly warm. Chu Feihuan self-consciously lowered his lashes.

Fortunately no one had time to notice him, because just as Su Xuan was about to greet him, Shui Linghuai had already jumped up, shouting: “I waited for you all morning! You said you had urgent business and ran off without even saying hello. This is your urgent business? Just to see this cripple?!”

Before the words finished, Su Xuan’s face had already darkened.

Baozi’s thick long lashes moved slightly.