The waning moon hung like a hook, starlight dim and faint.

Pei Song ascended the steps and asked, “Where is Zhou Sui?”

The Chief Clerk answered, “Ever since General Xing wounded him, he has remained bedridden, melancholic day after day, wasted to skin and bones, never once attending to matters large or small at the Yongzhou administrative office.”

He glanced at Pei Song and continued, “As for that Xiao Li you ordered investigated, my lord, he does indeed appear to be dead. He still owns two properties in Yong City that remain undisposed of, with household items all intact—it looks as though he suffered an unexpected calamity and never returned.”

Pei Song removed his arm guard and asked, “Were there no other family members in his household?”

The Chief Clerk said, “He was a prostitute’s bastard son who depended on his sickly old mother for survival. The mother and son kept to themselves in daily life, rarely interacting with neighbors. Because he worked for someone at a gambling house and somehow provoked trouble, his home was later raided by the authorities. After that, neighbors never saw his mother again—she likely died of illness.”

Pei Song’s steps came to an abrupt halt as he looked toward the Chief Clerk. “His home was raided by the authorities? And afterward he still became a guard at the Zhou manor?”

The Chief Clerk, knowing his intelligence gathering was incomplete, said, “Your subject ordered a thorough investigation into the circumstances, but he worked at the Zhou manor only briefly before General Xing killed another round of the household servants. What could be discovered was truly limited.”

Pei Song furrowed his brow in thought. A cold wind blew past, causing the lanterns hanging under the eaves to sway gently, casting ghostly tree shadows across the courtyard.

Half his face hidden in shadow, he said, “Continue investigating. For someone with such an unclear background and utterly lacking in connections to enter service at the Zhou manor—this matter is likely not so simple.”

If that man was truly dead, it wouldn’t be cause for concern.

But the murderer who killed Xing Lie had yet to be found. The old man had also raved madly about “Huan’er not being dead, reciting texts well, fighting well too.” And that person had suddenly entered the Zhou manor as a guard…

All these suspicious points connected together demanded his deep consideration.

If that man wasn’t dead, and Xing Lie was indeed killed by him…

To single-handedly kill over ten elite soldiers, then torture Xing Lie to death and decapitate him… Such fierce prowess—he could not help but guard against this person.

His martial arts skills had already reached such a level under the old man’s mad tutelage—how much of that old man’s vast military strategy and ingenious schemes had he also learned?

Pei Song’s eyes gleamed coldly as he told the Chief Clerk, “If this person still lives, and cannot be used by me, then he must certainly be eliminated.”

The Chief Clerk clasped his hands in acknowledgment.

Pei Song stepped through the door and instructed, “I shall rest briefly. Before the hour of si, permit no one to enter this courtyard and disturb me.”

The Chief Clerk remained outside the door, bowing his head and saying, “My lord rode through the night to return—you must be exhausted. Please rest well first.”

—

After the door closed, Pei Song removed the armor from his body and glanced at his abdomen soaked with fresh blood. Only then did his expression turn grim.

The Mengzhou campaign had not gone entirely smoothly. With Dingzhou in crisis, he had taken the military risk of capturing the city in just one day to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible, but had sustained an injury in the process.

However, with Dingzhou now in peril, to prevent his subordinates from panicking and fearing the Chief Clerk would worry about his injury and obstruct his northward journey, he had not informed even the Chief Clerk about his wound.

Though the injury had been treated, after several days of continuous activity, it had become somewhat inflamed.

He retrieved wound medicine from the drawer and was about to remove the blood-stained gauze directly, but worried that the lingering smell of blood in the room would arouse his subordinates’ suspicions. With no one outside, he simply took the supplies and went to the water pavilion to treat his wound.

His inner and undergarments had long been stained red by blood seeping from the wound. The gauze that had been tightly wrapped around his abdomen was now crusted with dried blood, stuck to the flesh around the injury.

Pei Song bit down on his removed sleeve, cold sweat beading on his forehead. Steeling himself, he yanked off the adhered gauze in one motion. The instant, searing pain felt as though another chunk of flesh had been gouged from his abdomen. He trembled all over from the pain, his muscles tightening inch by inch, fine sweat breaking out on his forehead and chest. His five fingers gripping the gauze turned white with strain, yet his eyes revealed a fierce, savage air.

He had been careless, failing to deploy troops to Hengzhou before the incident to slaughter Consort Changlian’s maternal Yang clan clean as well.

Only then had they turned to Wei Qishan, setting a trap in Dingzhou that dealt him such a devastating blow.

The taste of blood seeped through his teeth clenched on the sleeve. After the worst of the pain subsided somewhat, he raised his hand to reach for the bronze medicine bottle on the stone table. But his fingers trembled violently—he failed to grasp the bottle and instead accidentally knocked it over. The bronze bottle fell to the ground, rolling down the steps until it came to rest before a pair of green cloth embroidered shoes.

Xiao Huiniang stared blankly at the young figure in the water pavilion, her voice half excited, half heartbroken as she called out, “Huan’er?”

The figure seemed to shudder as well, slowly turning to look outside.

The wind lantern under the corridor illuminated his features—a young face, handsome yet carrying an air of menace, but it was not her Huan’er.

Xiao Huiniang’s eyes dimmed at once. The cold wind made her cough behind her raised hand, the silver strands at her temples adding to her haggard appearance under the lamplight. She weakly asked the young man in the water pavilion, “Are you a guard from the Zhou manor? What are you doing here?”

She had been under house arrest here all this time, completely unaware of what was happening outside. The servants who came to this courtyard all acted like mutes and deaf people—no matter what she asked or said, they never responded.

The blade wound on Xiao Huiniang’s back had been severe; she had lain bedridden for many days before being able to stand.

Tonight, vaguely hearing movement outside, she had gotten up to look. Who would have thought that through the blurred lamplight of the corridor, she would dimly glimpse a figure in the water pavilion whose back resembled Xiao Li’s exactly.

Xiao Huiniang’s heart had jolted. After walking closer and calling out, she discovered it wasn’t him. But in the dead of night, furtively treating a wound alone in this water pavilion—she surmised this couldn’t be one of those rebel soldiers, so she guessed he might be a guard from the Zhou manor.

Pei Song had already recognized Xiao Huiniang. Killing intent had initially condensed in his eyes, his hand pressing on his sword hilt. But hearing her mistake him for a Zhou manor guard, his murderous impulse receded slightly, his pale lips curving imperceptibly.

He released his hand from the sword hilt, nodding slightly toward her and asking, “And you are?”

Xiao Huiniang, finally encountering one of her own, immediately felt her eyes reddening. She picked up the medicine bottle that had fallen at her feet and said, “I’m also from the Zhou manor. Lord Zhou and Lady Zhou have treated me with kindness as deep as mountains. My son, like you, is also a guard at the Zhou manor. When I protected Lady Zhou that day, I was wounded. When I awoke, I’d been confined here all along. I don’t know why those people would imprison an old woman like me…”

She glanced around, “This place isn’t safe. There will be patrols in the courtyard at night too. Come hide in my quarters first.”

Pei Song watched as the woman picked up the blood-stained gauze he’d thrown in the water pavilion, then supported his injured body despite her own illness. A trace of mockery surfaced in his eyes, though his words were grateful: “Thank you, Auntie.”

Xiao Huiniang struggled to help him walk back, saying, “We’re all on the same side, no need for thanks. My Huan’er is about your age, and he too would often come home covered in injuries. Earlier when I saw your back from afar, I thought I was seeing my Huan’er…”

Pei Song listened to her repeated mentions of “Huan’er,” several deep shades passing through his icy eyes.

In very distant memories, there was also a young woman who would tenderly and compassionately call him “Huan’er.”

Was it truly just coincidence? Was this woman not someone who knew his true identity?

If she was useless, then there was no need to keep her alive.

His eyes held only cold indifference. Yet watching this woman attend to him so diligently was somewhat interesting. It wouldn’t be too late to kill her after she finished helping bandage his wound. He asked casually, “What is your son’s name?”

Xiao Huiniang herself was injured. After supporting a grown man all this way, sweat had also appeared on her forehead. She pushed open the door, wiping her sweat with her sleeve and saying, “My son is called Xiao Li.”

Pei Song’s eyes suddenly lifted. His gaze, which had been somewhat languid, immediately filled with interest.

It seemed he would need to spare this woman’s life for now.

—

Wen Yu slept uneasily that night. She was trapped in continuous nightmares, as if caught in a black, muddy swamp, unable to break free, only being pulled and dragged down into that endless darkness.

From the towering flames when Luodu fell, to the blood flooding the city when Fengyang was breached, her father’s and brothers’ severed heads hung high above the city gates, their eyes refusing to close in death as they watched her.

She cried herself hoarse, yet could not stop that tall, dark figure whose face she couldn’t see from lifting her young nephew and brutally smashing him to the ground.

Blood engulfed her. Those savage, shadowy figures ultimately condensed into a single blurred shadow seated high in the palace halls.

Wen Yu didn’t recognize that person, yet with blood-weeping hatred she shrieked out his name: “Pei Song—”

She cried out hoarsely and bolted upright from the bed, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

Sweat-dampened hair clung to her pale cheeks. Her similarly sweat-soaked clothing touched the cool air, pressed against her skin bringing a chill. Only then did she return to her senses from the nightmare.

Wen Yu surveyed this crude and unfamiliar room. Memories from before she lost consciousness returned—weren’t they in the mountain forest? Where was Xiao Li?

She threw off the covers, about to get out of bed, when the door was pushed open from outside.

“Awake?” Xiao Li entered carrying a bowl of medicine.

Seeing him, the taut string in Wen Yu’s mind relaxed somewhat. She asked hoarsely, “Where is this?”

Xiao Li said, “Last night your fever was severe. After I brought you out of those mountains, I found a household nearby to stay at.”

He handed over the medicine bowl, intending for Wen Yu to drink, but noticing how her sweat-soaked undergarment outlined her graceful figure, he paused, then pulled up the blanket and wrapped it around her.

Wen Yu had just woken. Between the night of high fever and nightmares, her mind was still somewhat muddled. Seeing Xiao Li wrap her in the blanket, she looked up at him, somewhat confused, and made a small “Mm?” sound.

Xiao Li’s breathing became unnatural. He lowered his eyes and only said, “Be careful not to catch cold.”

Wen Yu didn’t notice his unusual behavior. As her mind cleared somewhat, she was already contemplating their current situation. She said, “I wonder how Guard Cen and Tongque are faring. If the soldiers know we abandoned our horses to escape, I fear they’ll search every inch within hundreds of li. We cannot stay here long.”

Xiao Li made an affirmative sound and said, “There’s porridge in the kitchen. I’ll bring it to you. Once you’ve finished eating, we’ll set out.”

After he left, Wen Yu picked up the medicine bowl and, suppressing the pungent medicinal smell, drank the liquid in several gulps. When she rose to dress, she discovered that her undergarment, soaked through with sweat, half-revealed and half-concealed the outline of her upper body. Moreover, she wasn’t wearing a chest binding beneath it.

Wen Yu’s expression changed. She quickly used the blanket to continue covering herself, her gaze sweeping around the bed.

This wasn’t her own undergarment. Last night… who had changed her clothes?

Where was her chest binding?

A knock came from outside. Thinking it was Xiao Li returning, Wen Yu quickly said, “Wait a moment.”

But a woman’s voice responded from outside: “I’ve come to bring you clothes, Miss. You had a severe fever last night, and I wiped you down several times! Your brother said you’re leaving, and your own clothes that were washed have dried too. I’ve brought them for you.”

Understanding the full situation at once, Wen Yu’s heart settled. She called out, “Please come in.”

The farm wife pushed the door open and, seeing that Wen Yu’s complexion was much better than yesterday, said with a smile, “Your brother’s night-long vigil over you wasn’t in vain. Whenever your fever spiked, he’d call me over to help wipe you down. You’ve finally broken the fever.”

Wen Yu hadn’t known these details. Hearing that Xiao Li had watched over her all night, something seemed to gently touch her heart. Yet her face remained calm as she only said, “We’ve troubled you.”

The farm wife kept saying it was no trouble. She said cheerfully, “You siblings have such a good relationship. Your brother was as anxious about you as if you were his own eyeball.”

Wen Yu lowered her eyes, her long lashes half-concealing those calm, water-like eyes. She said, “Indeed, I’ve relied heavily on him along this journey.”

She simply had a bowl of porridge. Meanwhile, Xiao Li inquired with the farming couple where nearby market towns might be. As it happened, the farmer was going to town to sell firewood and agreed to give them a ride.

The donkey cart was loaded with firewood, leaving even less room in back for passengers. When Wen Yu and Xiao Li sat together, the numerous potholes in the muddy mountain road made the cart jolt severely. Several times she was thrown against Xiao Li’s side.

Each time, Xiao Li only supported her shoulder to help her upright, never overstepping bounds in the slightest.

Yet Wen Yu grew increasingly silent along the way.

Upon reaching town, after Xiao Li purchased many items, thinking Wen Yu’s cold medicine had run out, he brought her to a medical hall to have her pulse taken. He had a new prescription prepared and paid a few extra coins to have an apprentice help brew it and put it in a water flask.

Wen Yu suppressed the urge to cough in her throat and said, “I’ve mostly recovered.”

Xiao Li also bought many other medicinal pills from the physician and put them all in his bundle, saying, “After finishing this dose of medicine, you should be mostly recovered. It won’t be convenient to brew medicine while traveling ahead. Having it brewed and bringing it along—it won’t spoil in a day.”

Wen Yu looked at his clear, bright profile and fell silent once more.

After leaving the medical hall, Xiao Li seemed to notice she was preoccupied and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Wen Yu looked at the bustling street and said, “Thinking about Pei Song.”

Xiao Li raised an eyebrow slightly.

Wen Yu said, “Pei Song not only slaughtered my entire Wen clan, but several other great families in Luodu were also exterminated by him down to the last person—even collateral branches were not spared. There is no such thing as causeless hatred in this world. I’ve been pondering—he must have had past grievances with those great families. When I was in Tongcheng, I met a daughter of the Feng family, who was similarly wiped out entirely by Pei Song. Before she died, she told me Pei Song’s surname was Qin. But among court officials surnamed Qin who had feuds with all those great families, I’ve thought for a long time without any leads.”

Xiao Li said, “Never mind who he is. In the future, cutting off his head will be revenge enough.”

The two had walked out of the marketplace, passing through a residential lane.

The wind blew stray hairs across Wen Yu’s forehead. She looked at the setting sun on the horizon and made a soft “Mm” sound of agreement.

Yet what came to mind was the scene of Lady Feng lying in a pool of blood.

Perhaps one day, she too would walk toward that same fate.

But this southern journey was always about living toward death.

Her surname was Wen—she had only one path to walk.

Revenge.

Kill Pei Song, or die at Pei Song’s hands.

Only clearly, the former hope was slim.

She closed her eyes in the setting sun and long wind, suddenly saying, “Xiao Li.”

Xiao Li turned to look at her.

Wen Yu said, “See me only this far.”

Xiao Li frowned slightly and asked, “What do you mean?”

When Wen Yu opened her eyes again, her gaze held unprecedented calm. She said, “I hope you will live. If your mother has knowledge in the afterlife, she would surely hope you pass this life in peace. Your mother was my benefactor. Her revenge, I will avenge for her. When soldiers conduct inspections on the road, they will scrutinize men and women traveling together closely. I’ll be safer traveling alone. You… don’t be implicated in my affairs any further. Go back and live the peaceful life you should live.”

Her uncle had taken Hengzhou and pledged allegiance to Wei Qishan, plunging Dingzhou into crisis. Pei Song likely wanted nothing more than to grind her bones to dust—he couldn’t possibly let her go.

Too many people had already died along this journey. Moreover, her whereabouts had been tracked once again. If soldiers simply increased personnel for carpet searches and tightened inspections at major checkpoints ahead, she would already be a bird in the net. Being found was only a matter of time.

She didn’t want anyone else to risk their lives for her.

Hearing these words from her, Xiao Li only asked, “What makes you think I could ever live peacefully again in this life? My mother’s revenge—if I, her son, don’t avenge her but let you do it instead, what kind of logic is that?”

Wen Yu was momentarily speechless.

“Wen Yu.” Xiao Li called her name for the first time.

He said, “I’m the same as you. From the moment my mother died, I could never live peacefully again.”

Wen Yu felt her heart ache. She said to him, “I have only this one path to walk. Even if it’s a dead end, I must walk it. Do you understand?”

“Even if you want to avenge your mother, you still have other paths to choose. There’s no need to follow me and throw your life away needlessly.”

But Xiao Li heard another meaning in her words. Staring at her, he said, “You’re sending me away because you’ve reached a dead end and don’t want me to die with you, isn’t that it?”

Wen Yu’s gaze held no evasion whatsoever: “Even if it were Tongque or Guard Cen here today, I would tell them to leave. What you’ve all done for me is already more than enough.”

Hearing this answer, Xiao Li fell silent.

From the distant marketplace came the faint calls of peddlers. The long wind stirred their clothing and hair.

After several breaths, he reached out to take the bundle from Wen Yu’s shoulder, only saying, “If they were here, they certainly wouldn’t leave either. I promised Cen An I would protect your safety—how could I break my word? Even if this path ahead is a dead end, I will carve out a way through for you.”

He used Wen Yu’s own words to block her argument, ultimately making it impossible for her to send him away.

But that very night, they encountered the first wave of soldiers who came to surround them!