In the Ghost Market, the vendors all had wooden expressions. They neither advertised their wares nor called out to customers, forming a stark contrast to the vendors at the Lantern Festival. Li Ying also saw vendors and customers getting into conflicts, first exchanging harsh words, then coming to blows, but the neighboring vendors showed no intention of helping, still sitting silently at their own stalls, waiting for customers.

Cui Xun said, “These people sell strange and unusual items. They cannot be judged by ordinary standards.”

Li Ying nodded: “But this is indeed a good place to hide.”

Ordinary people didn’t dare come here, and most who did had criminal records, so naturally they wouldn’t report to officials. That’s why Jiang Liang chose to hide here.

Li Ying asked: “But would Jiang Liang hide here for thirty years?”

“If he’s still in Chang’an, the Ghost Market would be his best choice.”

“Is he still in Chang’an?”

“I don’t know, but Jiang Liang is a eunuch without a beard. We’ll know once we look around.”

As they searched, they didn’t see any vendor around fifty years old without a beard. Just as Li Ying was about to ask Cui Xun if Jiang Liang might not be here, she noticed Cui Xun stopping in front of a stall.

The stall sold bows, arrows, long knives, and other weapons, all covered in rust. Cui Xun’s gaze was fixed on an iron-framed bow.

This iron-framed bow had a body made entirely of iron, with a bowstring made of cudrania silkworm silk. This silk was extremely tough; bowstrings made from it were not only less likely to break but also more effective at cutting enemies’ throats on the battlefield compared to bowstrings made of cow tendon. Great Zhou military officers commonly used such bows. Cui Xun stared at this bow for a long time. Just as he was about to pick it up, another hand took the bow.

It was the ghost merchant, Yu Fuwei.

Yu Fuwei also noticed Cui Xun and Li Ying beside him. Li Ying wore a cyan upper garment and a red-and-yellow skirt, with crab apple and pomegranate jade hairpins in her bun and drop-shaped decorations on her forehead. Standing next to Cui Xun in his elegant black crane-feather cloak, they made a matching pair. Yu Fuwei was dressed in a plain hemp robe. The Great Zhou laws dictated that merchants were forbidden from wearing fine clothes, riding horses, or holding official positions. Yu Fuwei looked at the two of them, smiled slightly, and then picked up the iron-framed bow from the stall.

There seemed to be a few characters engraved on the bow. Yu Fuwei read aloud: “Cui, Wang, Shu.”

He looked at Cui Xun and smiled: “My apologies. So this bow is Deputy Commissioner Cui’s old possession.”

Li Ying also curiously looked at the bow and asked Cui Xun, “This is your bow?”

But how would Cui Xun’s bow appear in the Ghost Market?

Before Cui Xun could answer, Yu Fuwei asked the vendor: “Hey, where did you steal this bow from?”

The vendor didn’t even bother to raise his head: “What do you mean, stolen? A Turkish merchant owed me money and gave it to me in payment.”

“A Turkish merchant?” Yu Fuwei looked at Cui Xun with a smile: “Could this bow be a weapon confiscated by the Turks when Deputy Commissioner Cui surrendered to them?”

Cui Xun pressed his lips tightly together, his gaze already showing subtle anger. Yu Fuwei knew when to stop. He handed the bow to Cui Xun: “Deputy Commissioner Cui, I spoke nonsense again. How about this—I’ll pay for this iron bow as an apology to you.”

Cui Xun coldly snatched the bow from Yu Fuwei’s hand. The iron bow’s body was already covered with mottled rust. Cui Xun’s slender fingers gently slid over the uneven rust marks. The bow’s former sharpness and luster had completely vanished. His gaze was somewhat dazed. Perhaps what had also disappeared was that youth who once bent the bow to shoot eagles, his arrows like shooting stars.

Yu Fuwei took out a string of cash from his money pouch and handed it to the vendor: “Is this enough?”

The vendor looked up. He was about sixty years old with somewhat cloudy eyes. He took the money, but his yellowed eyes stared fixedly at Li Ying. He suddenly said to the direction behind Li Ying: “Be careful.”

Before Li Ying could consider whether he could see her, she instinctively followed the vendor’s gaze and looked back. She saw a black mass that looked like a wild cat on a tree branch behind her, its pupils glowing with an eerie green light, silently walking toward her.

The reason this black cat was described as a “mass” rather than as a single cat was that its outline in the night was like a mass of black fog, with its shape indistinct. Seeing that it had been discovered, the black cat let out a sharp howl, then lunged at her with an almost supernatural speed.

The black cat was fast, but Cui Xun was faster. He quickly pulled an arrow from the quiver at the stall, then turned, holding the bow in his left hand and drawing the string with his right, nocking the arrow—all in one fluid motion. But the bow he had drawn thousands of times before now could barely be drawn halfway. The arrow didn’t shoot out but flew crookedly for about ten paces before falling to the ground.

The black cat bared its teeth, its arched back bristling with raised fur, its sharp fangs as pointed as awls. Its body cast no shadow in the firelight. Just as its sharp teeth were about to bite Li Ying’s throat, she cried out in alarm. Yu Fuwei had already snatched the iron bow from Cui Xun’s hand and swung it, hitting the cat squarely. The black cat fell to the ground with a thud, rolled several times, then shakily stood up.

The cat’s legs had been cut by the sharp bowstring, dripping blood. It glared at Yu Fuwei, its green pupils contracting to the size of a needle point, then reluctantly snarled and howled before limping away into the depths of the wild grove.

Only after this strange black cat had completely disappeared from their sight did Yu Fuwei pull the bowstring. He easily drew it to a full draw, pantomimed releasing an arrow, then sneered: “It seems the romance of Chang’an has made Deputy Commissioner Cui soft to the bone, unable even to draw his old bow.”

Cui Xun watched Yu Fuwei easily draw the bow, feeling a continuous, needle-like pain from the old wound on his wrist. The fist hidden in his black crane-feather cloak slowly tightened. He ignored Yu Fuwei and turned to walk out of the Ghost Market.

Yu Fuwei was somewhat surprised. He had expected Cui Xun to be very angry at his words, but he hadn’t expected him to simply leave. Was this still the same vindictive, ruthless official Cui Xun?

Li Ying looked at Cui Xun’s desolate figure. She pursed her lips, walked up to Yu Fuwei, and took out a clear, bright pearl from her sachet: “For you.”

Yu Fuwei came to his senses and asked: “What is this for?”

“To thank you for saving me.”

Yu Fuwei was pleased. He laughed: “A small matter. Why thank me?”

“Take it.”

Li Ying’s tone was different from before, subtly carrying the dignity of a Great Zhou princess. Yu Fuwei was taken aback, then accepted the pearl. Seeing him take it, Li Ying said: “My matter is settled. Now, I should talk to you about Cui Xun’s affairs.”

Yu Fuwei was completely confused: “Cui Xun’s affairs?”

Li Ying opened her palm: “Give me Cui Xun’s bow.”

“What do you want his bow for?”

“To return it to him.”

Yu Fuwei was surprised, then said: “He can’t even draw this bow. Does the Princess still want to return it to him?”

“Even if he can’t draw it, it’s still his.”

Yu Fuwei had no choice. He handed the iron bow to Li Ying: “I truly don’t understand why the Princess is so kind to a notorious, treacherous official.”

Li Ying took the iron bow and lowered her eyes: “Yu Fuwei, do you think you’re some great hero?”

This was the first time she directly called Yu Fuwei by name instead of respectfully addressing him as “Mr. Yu.” Yu Fuwei was stunned. Li Ying continued: “Do you think that, as a merchant, mocking a notorious treacherous official to his face is some great achievement?”

Yu Fuwei was startled. He defended himself: “I don’t think I’m so great. But you, Princess, aren’t you ashamed to associate with such a despised person?”

Hearing this, Li Ying merely laughed lightly: “Yu Fuwei, if Cui Xun were truly as bad as you say, he would have thrown you into the Investigation Department when you spoke ill of him in his home. Would you still be standing here, mocking him for being unable to draw his old bow?”

Yu Fuwei was speechless. He wanted to refute, but didn’t know how. After a moment, he weakly said: “That’s because… because he needs me to find certain goods that others can’t find.”

As soon as he said this, he even felt unconvinced. Although he could communicate between the worlds of the living and the dead, he was at most a merchant. Other merchants in the world could do the same. Why would Cui Xun spare him for this reason?

Li Ying shook her head: “He simply didn’t want to bother with you.”

Yu Fuwei was at a loss for words. Li Ying continued: “In the future, don’t speak ill of him in front of me. I don’t like to hear it.”

Yu Fuwei stood there in a daze. Li Ying didn’t pay him any more attention but turned and left his sight, carrying Cui Xun’s old bow. After a while, Yu Fuwei came back to his senses. He clutched the pearl in his hand and turned to look at the vendor who had warned Li Ying about the black cat. The vendor’s expression remained wooden, as if he had seen nothing and heard nothing. Yu Fuwei felt a sudden, inexplicable anger. He threw his money pouch to the vendor: “I’ll buy everything.”

Li Ying carried the bow, which was very heavy. She was out of breath as she ran to catch up with Cui Xun.

Cui Xun’s eyes were still as calm as an ancient well, his face as pale as snow, and expressionless. Li Ying called out to him and handed him the bow.

Cui Xun stopped and looked at the old bow, his eyes as cold as frost and snow. After a while, he reached out to touch the iron bow. Before he could touch it, Li Ying quickly said: “Don’t throw it away.”

Cui Xun was taken aback. Li Ying added: “If you throw it away, I’ll pick it up again.”

Cui Xun’s hand, as thin as bamboo, paused in mid-air.

Then he withdrew his hand.

Without a word, he continued walking forward. Li Ying carried the bow and said, “I just told Yu Fuwei not to speak ill of you in front of me anymore. I don’t like to hear it.”

After hearing this, Cui Xun was silent for a moment, then said: “Everyone in the world speaks ill of me. You can’t stop them all.”

“I’ll stop one at a time.”

Cui Xun remained silent, and Li Ying didn’t speak either. In the wild grove, only the rustling sounds of Cui Xun’s black leather boots and Li Ying’s platform shoes stepping on dried leaves could be heard. After walking quietly for a while, Li Ying suddenly said, “Cui Xun, it’s heavy.”

Cui Xun stopped. In the moonlight, Li Ying held the iron bow, looking up at him, her eyes clear like morning dew. Cui Xun stared at her eyes, then pursed his lips, took the old bow from her hands, and continued walking.

Li Ying lowered her head, a faint smile appearing at the corners of her mouth. She asked again: “Cui Xun, where are we going?”

Cui Xun said, “There’s blood on the ground.”

Li Ying looked carefully and indeed saw drops of dark red blood on the dried leaves. She realized: “Is it from that wild cat just now?”

“That wasn’t a wildcat.”

“If not a wild cat, what was it?”

“It was a cat ghost.”