Ruan City, Baiguo.

To the west of the city stood a great manor — the home of the Han Family, a distinguished martial household of Baiguo.

Though the Han Family was a martial lineage, the reason their name had spread so far and wide was not on account of any supreme martial technique. Rather, their reputation across the martial world rested upon two heirloom medicines passed down through their line: Zifu Powder and Foxin Pill.

Zifu Powder was a sacred remedy for external wounds; Foxin Pill was a peerless antidote for poison. Those who walked the martial world lived lives of blood and blade — the threat of injury and poisoning was a constant companion. For such people, these two medicines were things every single one of them craved desperately. Yet they were the Han Family’s exclusive secret formulas, and were not given out easily. As a result, practitioners of the martial world all afforded the Han Family a measure of deference — who could say when their own life might one day hang by a thread, leaving them with no choice but to beg the Han Family for medicine to save themselves?

Today was the sixtieth birthday of Han Xuanling, the head of the Han Family. Carriages and horses streamed without stop before the manor gates; the courtyard was packed and bustling. A hundred tables had been laid for the feast, cups raised and clinked in a great cheerful din. Heroes from every corner of Baiguo, along with the distinguished gentry and officials of Ruan City, had all come to offer their birthday wishes to Old Master Han.

“What a lively gathering!”

Suddenly a voice rang out — clear and bright, cutting effortlessly over every other sound in the courtyard. The guests turned toward it in surprise, and there atop the roof sat a white-clothed woman, leaning casually against the eaves, her sleeves billowing and her long hair streaming, looking down at all the guests below with a face full of smiles.

“You again!”

Han Xuanling, the birthday celebrant seated in the place of honor with his face flushed and glowing, leapt abruptly to his feet and glared furiously up at the white-clothed woman on the roof.

“Yes, me again.” The white-clothed woman smiled pleasantly back. “Old Master Han, today is your sixtieth birthday — I wish you fortune as vast as the Eastern Sea and a lifespan as long as the Southern Mountain.”

“Spare me. So long as you, this plague, never appear at the Han estate again, I assure you my lifespan will be long indeed!” Han Xuanling stepped away from his seat and walked to the center of the courtyard, craning his neck up at the white-clothed woman, his face cold. “Bai Fengxi — you have forcibly taken medicines from my Han Family on multiple occasions. On this day of celebration, I have no wish to pursue the matter — leave at once, or do not blame me for being impolite.”

“Huh? That’s Bai Fengxi?”

“The celebrated Bai Fengxi, known throughout the land, is actually this young?!”

“What did Old Master Han mean, she took medicines by force?”

“How could a heroine of such renown in the martial world possibly take medicines by force?”

The moment Han Xuanling called out the white-clothed woman’s name — Bai Fengxi — the guests below rose from their seats and pressed around in a buzz of murmuring debate.

“Old Master Han, there is no need for such temper. Those medicines of yours — yes, I took them without your permission, but I used every last one of them to save lives. That is earning good merit and virtue for the Han Family on your behalf. Should you not be thanking me?” Fengxi showed not the slightest irritation, her smile remaining full and untroubled.

“You — you dare argue with such impudence!” Han Xuanling erupted, wishing more than anything that he could wring the neck of the grinning person before him and be done with it.

Just thinking about all the medicines Fengxi had taken made his heart ache as though it were being wrung. The Zifu Powder and the Foxin Pill — people across the martial world would pay a thousand gold pieces and still struggle to obtain a single dose, and yet this Bai Fengxi had taken them bottle by bottle without paying a single coin. How could he not be furious? How could he not be in pain? And to make matters worse, she was supremely skilled in martial arts, coming and going from the Han estate as she pleased, and he was completely helpless to stop her. He had even invited some martial world acquaintances to come — and every one of them had been beaten by her.

“Whose fault is it but your own for sealing that formula so tightly that no one else on earth knows it, and for keeping the only supply of Zifu Powder and Foxin Pill in your family’s hands alone? Now, you old man may not be the most agreeable sort of person, but your medicines are very agreeable indeed — they are so effective at treating wounds and saving lives that every batch I take from you runs out quickly. So I have no choice but to come back for more. And the trouble is that your medicines are priced too high, and I am far too poor to buy them — so each time I have been left with no choice but to help myself without asking.” Fengxi sat on the rooftop, gesturing and waving her sleeves as she laid out her reasoning in perfectly logical and composed fashion, entirely unbothered by Han Xuanling’s face slowly turning green below. After this cheerful accounting, she suddenly tilted her head forward with an expression of negotiation. “How about this — just copy the formula for me, and I will prepare it myself. That way you would never have to see me again.” The forward tilt made it look as though she might topple off the roof at any moment.

“I have never seen anyone so utterly shameless!” Han Xuanling let out a furious shout. “Bai Fengxi — I am warning you: leave at once, and never set foot in my Han estate again!”

“That will not do at all.” Fengxi did the opposite of leaving — she rose to her feet atop the roof, touched her toe lightly to the eave, and floated down from the rooftop with the grace of a white crane in leisurely flight, airy and beautiful, landing directly in front of Han Xuanling. Han Xuanling instinctively stepped back several paces.

Fengxi looked at Han Xuanling with a face full of easy amusement. “I came today to fetch a bit more medicine — I had no idea you were in the middle of a great banquet. Besides, I have not eaten in a day and a night, so I have decided to offer you my birthday wishes as well, enjoy a meal, and then be on my way.”

With that, she walked directly toward the banquet tables, nodding and smiling pleasantly to the guests as she passed, as though strolling through her own back garden — unhurried and free. Every guest along the way parted to let her through: some out of awe at her reputation, and some simply because they could not bring themselves to stand in the path of such a striking young woman.

“Someone come here! Throw her out!” Han Xuanling’s face had cycled from green to red with fury.

His words were barely out before two large men leapt forward — household guards, both of them tall and powerfully built, with thick limbs and coarse faces, swaggering and menacing as they bore down on Fengxi. Fengxi, for her part, had just taken a seat at one of the tables.

The two men extended their iron arms and lunged at Fengxi like eagles swooping for a chick. Fengxi gave an idle flick of her left hand, and the wide sleeve brushed across both men. Two heavy thuds followed, and both men were sent flying like a pair of wooden posts, unable to move for quite some time.

“Oh my — what excellent wine! This must be a hundred-year vintage!”

Fengxi meanwhile paid the whole affair no attention whatsoever, reaching out her left hand to seize a flask of fine wine. Without bothering with a cup, she raised it directly to her lips and drank, then smacked them with an appreciative sound.

Her right hand extended next and snatched up a pig’s trotter, out of which she immediately bit a large chunk. She chewed with great satisfaction, nodding the whole while. “Mmm — mmm — this five-spice trotter is wonderfully fragrant! The cook here has real skill!”

Everyone watching thought the same thought: how does such a small mouth take such an enormous bite? And is this person truly the celebrated Bai Fengxi, heroine known throughout the martial world?

While eating, Fengxi even made a point of calling out to the guests around her: “Everyone, please continue eating and drinking! This is Old Master Han’s sixtieth birthday banquet — after this occasion, who knows if there will be another one!”

“Why are you cursing my father?” A voice carrying a trace of childish indignation rang out, and a boy of thirteen or fourteen came jumping forward, pointing at Fengxi.

“Little brother, when did I curse your father? I am not aware of having done so.” Fengxi stared at the boy with wide and genuinely puzzled eyes, her words somewhat muffled — the pig’s trotter was in her right hand, a chicken leg in her left.

“Why did you say ‘who knows if there will be another one’? That is a curse!” the boy demanded furiously.

“Little brother, you have misunderstood.” Fengxi set down the trotter and the chicken leg and walked toward the boy, bending down to his level. “I was not cursing your father by saying he could not hold another birthday banquet — I was saying that given your father’s exceptionally thrifty nature, he would certainly not be willing to spend this much money entertaining so many people again next time.”

And with that, she patted the boy on the head with her oil-slicked hands. No matter how the boy dodged left and right, he could not escape those hands, and in the end was thoroughly patted right on the forehead, left feeling a thoroughly greasy sensation on top of his head.

“Pu’er, stand back.” Han Xuanling strode forward, pulled the boy behind him, and fixed Fengxi with a pressing gaze. “Bai Fengxi — in terms of martial arts, Han Xuanling is certainly no match for you. And it is because of that I have had a great deal of my family’s medicines taken from me. But if you think you can take medicines so easily today, that is absolutely out of the question.”

“Oh?” Fengxi tilted her head and swept a glance across the guests assembled in the courtyard. “That is not untrue — you have a great many capable people in your home today.”

Then she turned back to Han Xuanling, smiling pleasantly. “Old Han — I have a friend with some rather serious wounds who needs one bottle of Zifu Powder and one bottle of Foxin Pill. Why not simply give them to me? You have more than enough to spare, and it would save everyone the unpleasantness of me having to take them by force and spoiling the festive mood.”

Her tone was as leisurely as if she were borrowing a copper coin from an old friend.

“Bai Fengxi — Hero Han has shown you more than enough patience. If you know what is good for you, get out now. With this many heroes gathered here, one punch each from everyone present would be more than enough for you to deal with!” Someone stepped forward — a short and compact man, lean but sharp, with quick and darting little eyes.

“I would very much like to leave — but Old Han needs to give me the medicine first.” Fengxi spread her hands in a gesture of helpless resignation.

“Hmph! You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! Hero Han, on this great occasion of your birthday, please stand aside and rest — let Wei’an here give this woman the lesson she deserves!” Wei’an declared, and lunged toward Fengxi, both hands curved into claws, striking directly at her chest.

Wei’an had taken one look at Fengxi’s youth and concluded that her inner energy could not be anything remarkable — whatever reputation she had was probably the martial world’s tendency to exaggerate. Confident in his own skill, which had reached about eighty percent of its full potential, he decided to step in and subdue her. If he could defeat Bai Fengxi here in front of everyone, it would do two things at once: make his name known throughout the land, and earn Han Xuanling’s gratitude — which might well translate into a few bottles of medicine. It was an opportunity for both fame and gain that could not be refused.

“Oh! A master of the Eagle Claw School! Truly formidable!”

Fengxi’s mouth said the words, but her expression showed not a trace of alarm. Her body turned in what appeared to be a casual motion — yet it was extraordinarily swift, and in the blink of an eye she had slipped clear of the double claws striking toward her chest. Then her right sleeve swung out like a white blade cutting across Wei’an’s wrists. Wei’an recognized the danger and pulled his hands back just in time, then shifted his right hand into a new strike aimed at Fengxi’s left shoulder, channeling every last bit of his strength into this one claw — intending with certainty to tear her arm right from its socket.

“You and I have no grievance between us — don’t you think going this far is a bit much?”

Seeing the force behind his strike, Fengxi narrowed her eyes fractionally — then instead of retreating, she moved forward to meet him. Wei’an’s eagle claw landed squarely on her left shoulder. He felt a burst of triumph — only to be immediately alarmed. The claw had landed as though on a heap of cotton, finding no purchase at all. At some point he could not identify, Fengxi’s right hand had come to rest atop his right hand — and in an instant his right hand was completely unable to exert any force. A sharp crack followed, and then Wei’an let out a scream.

Everyone saw Fengxi’s sleeve fly wide as she stepped back. Wei’an dropped to his knees, cradling his right wrist in his left hand, his face the color of ash. His right wrist hung limp and powerless — Fengxi had cleanly snapped the bone with her bare hands.

All of this had taken no more than the time needed to blink several times, and Wei’an had been utterly defeated. Some among the onlookers went cold with fear; others burned with righteous fury.

“Bai Fengxi, you went too far!”

Before the words had finished, a great many people moved at the same time, converging on Fengxi without prior agreement. Blades were drawn, swords raised, palms and fists striking from every direction.

Among the guests were friends of Wei’an, who saw him suffer the loss of his wrist and moved to avenge him; others were standing up for Han Xuanling; some simply could not stomach Fengxi’s arrogance; some saw the numbers advantage and wanted to pile in; and others were purely curious to test whether this Bai Fengxi was truly as formidable as rumor claimed.

In an instant the courtyard was a swirl of moving figures, tables and chairs crashing, blades slicing and swords sweeping — an absolute clamor. And through all of it, Fengxi remained smiling and at perfect ease. Her left hand swept out to catch someone across the face; her right hand struck another on the shoulder; one kick sent someone flying out of the ring; one hooking foot sent another tumbling to the ground. And between all of it, her clear voice rang out in cheerful mockery.

“That punch of yours was far too slow!”

“You fool — if you had come from the left side with that palm, you might actually have hit me.”

“Idiot! I say something and you actually do it — just like that?”

“Brother, your feet smell awful — please, keep them to yourself.”

“Oh, friend — you have quite a remarkable amount of hair on your arms. Let me pull some of it out for you.”

The laughing taunts were punctuated by cries of pain and the crash and shatter of bowls and plates, the courtyard now a scene of complete chaos.

And Fengxi moved through the crowd as though threading a market stall — free and unhurried, landing a palm here, catching an arm there, occasionally plucking someone’s hair or flicking someone’s eyebrow. The heroes of Baiguo in her hands were like performing monkeys, and no matter what they tried they could not escape the orbit of her palm.

“All right — my hands are clean now. I am done playing with you.”

The words had barely left her mouth before a white ribbon shot out, a nimble dragon sweeping through the air. Thud after thud followed, and one by one every last person was swept off their feet and sent crashing to the ground.

*Clap. Clap.*

When they were all down, Fengxi drew the ribbon back into her sleeve and gave her hands a brisk, satisfied clap. “Old Han — these heroes you invited are really nothing special. They were barely enough to wipe my hands on.”

“Bai Fengxi — you — you—”

Han Xuanling stared at all the guests who had come to celebrate his birthday lying on the ground — every face bruised and swollen — and the reason for it all was that Fengxi had wanted to wipe the grease from her hands on them. He was so furious he could not form words.

“Old Han, do not be too angry — I did not hit any of them very hard.” Fengxi looked entirely unbothered. “They were the ones who thought to win through sheer numbers. Every one of them has only sustained minor surface injuries — a rest of three to five days and they will be perfectly fine.”

“Not very hard? Minor surface injuries?” Han Xuanling had quite forgotten to maintain his dignity and was shouting outright now, glaring at Fengxi through clenched teeth. “You have ruined my birthday banquet entirely, and you tell me not to be angry?! Wei’an’s hand is broken — and you call that not hard?!”

“Old Han, you cannot blame me for this.” Fengxi waved the matter aside with an airy dismissal. “Whose fault is it that you set a rule of a thousand gold pieces per dose, regardless of a person’s means? I have not a cent to my name — how was I to afford it? If you had simply given me the medicine to save lives in the first place, none of this would have happened. When all is said and done, it is your own greed and stinginess that brought this about.”

“And as for this Wei’an — hmph.” She gave a cold snort, and her gaze slid toward Wei’an, who was still whimpering nearby. The moment her eyes touched him, he shuddered involuntarily and the whimpering stopped.

Fengxi’s voice went cold. “At the roadside tea pavilion outside Ruan City — that old tea-seller was just a little slow, not quick enough to pour tea for your great self in time. Was that really worth punching him until he coughed blood? Using your martial arts to bully the powerless — and you call yourself a hero?! I simply let you experience what it feels like to be at someone else’s mercy.”

“Very well! Very well! Very well! In your reasoning, you are always in the right! Taking people’s medicines by force — you are in the right! Ruining someone’s birthday banquet — you are in the right! Injuring people — you are in the right! Do you truly believe there is no one in all the world who can deal with you, Bai Fengxi? Do you truly believe yourself to be without equal beneath the heavens?” Han Xuanling was shaking with fury now, blood surging and eyes blazing, pointing at Fengxi. “Today I will bring out someone who can deal with you!”

“Oh? Who would that be? What great hero have you invited?” Fengxi’s eyes lit up at this, and she asked with unmistakable interest.

“Someone go to the rear courtyard and invite Young Master Fengxi out!” Han Xuanling beckoned a servant, who immediately accepted the order and hurried off.

“Fengxi? Hei Fengxi? You invited Hei Fengxi here to deal with me, Bai Fengxi?” Fengxi stared at Han Xuanling with an odd expression.

“Hmph! What? Are you frightened?” Han Xuanling saw her expression and took it for fear.

“No, not at all.” Fengxi shook her head, then looked at him with what appeared to be a measure of sympathy. “Old Han — how exactly did you go about inviting Hei Fengxi?”

“Young Master Feng only arrived in Ruan City two days ago. He was gracious enough to pay me a visit, and I naturally received such an honored guest with all due welcome.” Han Xuanling’s gaze remained fixed on Fengxi. “Bai Fengxi — if you have the nerve, do not run.”

“Ha ha — why would I ever run?” Fengxi burst into laughter as though she had heard something supremely funny. When the laughter finally subsided, she looked at Han Xuanling and murmured as though to herself: “There is a saying — it is easy to invite a god in, but hard to send one away. Do you know what I mean by that, Old Han?”

“Hmph! Sending you, this particular plague, out is something I have no trouble imagining at all!” Han Xuanling looked at Fengxi with seething resentment. If the fire in his eyes could kill, Fengxi would have been reduced to ash and scattered to the wind by now.

“Aih — unable to tell which of us is actually the plague. I truly do not know how you have survived to this day.” Fengxi shook her head with a light sigh.

While they were speaking, two young attendants in blue robes walked in through the courtyard gate — both about fourteen or fifteen, clean and neat, with fine and delicate features, and so alike in appearance that they might have been cast from the same mold. Each carried a bundle in his arms.

The two attendants walked to the center of the courtyard and bowed together.

“No need for formalities — where is Young Master Feng?” Han Xuanling hastily returned the bow.

Yet the two boys did not look at him at all. Their faces turned toward Fengxi instead, and they spoke in unison: “The Young Master is washing his face and is on his third rinse of water. Please wait a moment.”

Then they turned to address the Baiguo heroes still on the ground: “All of you — move out of the way at once. Our Young Master is coming.”

With that, both boys set to work. They moved through the courtyard with extraordinary speed. Some of the Baiguo heroes scrambled up on their own; others were nudged firmly to one side. The tables, chairs, bowls, and plates were cleared with feet and hands in one swift sweep, and within moments a wide open space had been cleared in the center of the courtyard.

Once the space was ready, one boy went to bring a large rosewood chair; the other fetched a small tea table. They opened their bundles: one took out a horsetail whisk and dusted the chair and table; the other laid a brocade cushion upon the chair. Then one produced a cup of emerald jade; the other a pot of jasper green — one lifted the cup lid, the other poured the tea, and the tea that came out was still steaming hot.

Every movement was swift and precise, and the entire thing was accomplished in a matter of moments. When it was all done, the two boys went back — and came back again shortly, this time unrolling a red carpet as they came, laying it all the way to the foot of the chair. When everything was in place, they stood in silence, one on each side of the chair.

While all of this was being done, every last person in the courtyard — Han Xuanling included — stood watching in dazed bewilderment. Fengxi watched quietly as well, her expression hovering somewhere between a smile and something faintly sardonic.

They waited a little longer, and still Hei Fengxi did not appear. Han Xuanling was very much on the verge of saying something — but one glance at the two attendants standing so still and solemn, and the words dissolved back down his throat.

“Ahh…” Fengxi let out an enormous yawn. Then she snapped her expression together abruptly and called out in a carrying voice: “Black Fox — if you do not drag yourself out here right now, I am coming in to skin you!”

“Woman, you are always this uncouth.”

A voice came drifting in — clear as wind through pines, like jade beads striking together in a pure and musical tone, utterly unhurried and composed, carrying with it a sense of ease that was entirely natural.

And as the voice fell, a young gentleman appeared at the courtyard gate.

His hair was bound beneath a white jade crown; his forehead was adorned with an ink-dark jade moon ornament. He wore a wide-sleeved robe of black brocade, a belt of lustrous white jade wound at his waist. His face, which might have been carved from the finest jade, carried a faint smile of serene and unhurried ease. And so he came, stepping upon the red carpet as though treading clouds of crimson — his every motion the picture of elegant calm.

Every hero in the courtyard looked at this man and was struck by the same thought without speaking it aloud: a person like this could only have walked out of a palace with steps of white jade and tiles of green jade, walls of coral and curtains of crystal. Only such a person could be the celebrated Hei Fengxi. And only such a person deserved to be called the most refined of the Four Great Young Masters of the realm — Young Master Fengxi.

Not like that one— and as if moved by the same impulse, every head turned back toward Bai Fengxi. But the moment they looked at her — that white-clothed figure, long hair hanging loose, standing there like a pure lotus touched by the wind, graceful and unrestrained, her whole bearing easy and free — they found themselves thinking that this Bai Fengxi was entirely unique in her own right.

The black-robed gentleman — Fengxi — settled himself into the chair with its brocade cushion. His left hand rose slightly, and the blue-robed attendant on his left had already placed the teacup in his hand. He lifted the lid, blew gently across the surface, and took one small sip. After a moment, he shook his head. “Too strong. Zhong Li — use three fewer tea leaves next time.”

“Yes, Young Master.” The attendant on the right — Zhong Li — bowed his head immediately.

Fengxi replaced the cup lid, and the attendant on the left promptly took it back from his hand and set it on the tea table.

Though there were well over a hundred people in the courtyard, not a single sound could be heard. Every eye was fixed on him, and there was something about this gentleman’s casual and unhurried manner of speaking and moving that conveyed an elegance and nobility beyond all words — something that made those watching feel a pure and restful pleasure, leaving them reluctant and unwilling to disturb him.

At last, Fengxi swept his gaze across the assembled crowd, and every person felt their heart give a single startled thud. This gentleman’s eyes were extraordinarily bright — as though even the darkest corners of a person’s heart could be lit up and laid bare by a single glance.

“Woman — it has been a long time.” Fengxi spoke with a smiling and seemingly delighted expression, his gaze directed straight ahead.

Everyone followed his gaze — and found that Bai Fengxi had at some point already picked herself a chair and settled in. Compared with Fengxi’s upright and elegant posture, she had entirely abandoned any notion of presenting herself well: her body was slouched sideways against the chairback, her long hair already trailing on the ground, both legs extended straight out and propped on a second chair, and her eyes were closed — her expression one of someone fighting very hard to stay awake.

Hearing Fengxi’s address, she pried her eyes open to a single lazy slit, then let out one long yawn, stretched both arms wide, and gave a full and luxurious stretch before opening her mouth. “Black Fox — all this fuss you go through every time is enough for me to get a full nap in. What an absolute waste of time.”

Her words and manner carried nothing of elegance. Yet no one watching found it unappealing or coarse. Coming from her it seemed entirely natural and free — genuinely and effortlessly at ease, as though this was precisely what she had always been, and precisely what she was meant to be.

“Woman — a year has passed, and you still have made no progress whatsoever.” Fengxi looked at her with what appeared to be genuine regret.

At those words, Fengxi sat up straight in her chair, the lazy look on her face vanishing entirely. One leg extended and gave a light kick — the chair beneath her feet shot toward Fengxi with a soft rush of wind, its momentum fierce and fast. And while it flew, she kept talking: “If you would be so kind, I have a name, and it is not ‘woman’ — do not keep calling me that, long and short, as though I were yours. Sharing a name with you is already misfortune enough. If there were any further association between me and that hypocritical fox of yours, that would truly be the most wretched fate in all the world.”

Fengxi remained perfectly at ease. Without so much as glancing at the chair hurtling toward him, his right hand extended with casual ease, and the chair came to a stop in his hand as gently and securely as though it had never moved at all. He gave it a toss, and it settled quietly to the ground without a sound.

Everyone watching gave a quiet inward nod of acknowledgment — none of them felt they could have made it look quite so effortless and unaffected.

“I simply wanted to remind you — I worried that if you kept living like this, there might come a day when you forgot you were a woman altogether.” Fengxi replied with graceful composure, then glanced her way and shook his head. “To be my woman, though — tsk tsk… I am afraid you simply will not do.”

“Young Master Feng.” Han Xuanling stepped forward, gently reminding these two people who were in the middle of what amounted to casual small talk that he was still present — he was the host, and these two were being rather too cavalier about ignoring him.

“Ah, Hero Han — what did you need of me?” Fengxi turned back to Han Xuanling with a warm and pleasant smile. “Was it to introduce me to the various heroes of Baiguo?”

“Young Master Feng — the matter I mentioned to you the other day — I was hoping…” Han Xuanling gave a nudge to jog this honored guest’s memory.

“Ah, of course.” Fengxi assumed an expression of sudden recollection. “You wanted me to help you teach Bai Fengxi a lesson, and to have her return all the medicines she has taken from you over the years — and if returning them was not possible, to have her pay you their equivalent value in gold leaves.”

“Heh heh…” Fengxi broke into audible laughter at this. “The medicine has long been used up. And as for gold leaves — I do not have a single one. Old Han, it seems your calculations have come to nothing.”

“What is to be done about this, Hero Han?” Fengxi turned to Han Xuanling with an expression of genuine difficulty.

“That is simple enough. As long as she offers me a sincere apology, right here and now, and leaves both her hands behind — every last grievance is wiped clean.” Han Xuanling stared at Fengxi, his eyes flickering with deep resentment. His hatred ran bone-deep — she had taken the exclusive medicines that he valued more than his own life and scattered them about like charity, and today of all days she had humiliated him in front of all these people.

“Oh my — how ruthless!” Fengxi raised both hands and examined them carefully, then her figure flashed and she was standing in front of Fengxi, extending both her pale hands toward him. “Black Fox — are you going to chop off my hands?”

“Aih!” Fengxi looked at the two hands before him and let out a long sigh that seemed to express total and utter helplessness. “What ill fortune has fate visited upon me in this lifetime — to have become acquainted with you, this source of endless calamity!”

Then he rose from his chair and bowed deeply to Han Xuanling, a full and formal bow.

“Oh no, no, no — please—” Han Xuanling hurried to return the courtesy, entirely baffled as to why he had suddenly performed such a bow.

“Hero Han — may I offer you an apology on her behalf?” Fengxi spoke with warm courtesy, his expression one of absolute and earnest sincerity. “Though she took your family’s medicines without permission, every dose was used to save lives, with no personal gain whatsoever. That is, in a sense, a store of good virtue and merit accumulated on the Han Family’s behalf. I wonder whether the old hero might be magnanimous enough to forgive her for this youthful and unthinking behavior?”

“This… she…” Han Xuanling hedged, unable to directly refuse Hei Fengxi, yet finding it genuinely difficult to forgive Bai Fengxi just like that.

“As for the medicines she has taken — whatever the old hero calculates as their equivalent value, I will pay it on her behalf. How does that sound?” Fengxi continued.

At those words, something stirred within Han Xuanling. He was not a person of any particular moral failing — he simply loved money very much, which was exactly why he had established the rule of a thousand gold pieces per dose of medicine.

Fengxi read the shift in his expression and knew the man’s heart was moving. He turned to address the rest of the courtyard: “Just now, she caused considerable offense to the assembled heroes — but that is simply her nature, fond of play, treating everyone to a bit of sport. I hope the various heroes will be generous enough not to hold it against her. I offer you all an apology on her behalf as well.” Another full bow followed.

This was so entirely unexpected that no one had known what to make of it. They had all anticipated witnessing a clash between Bai Fengxi and Hei Fengxi — a once-in-a-generation spectacle — yet here he was, standing up to bear the full weight of it on her behalf.

The courtyard erupted in a flurry of returned bows. A formal bow from a figure of this renown and standing — how many people in the world were worthy of receiving one? Everyone felt their faces light up and their hearts clear of grievance. One by one they said: “Please, Young Master, no need for formality — none of us would ever truly blame Wind Heroine.”

And in their hearts they all thought: now this is what a true hero looks like. Though they could not help wondering — what exactly was the relationship between Bai Fengxi and Hei Fengxi? Why would he offer apologies and pay money on her behalf? And yet from the look of the two of them, they were neither quite friends nor quite enemies.

As for Fengxi’s gestures, Fengxi herself seemed to find the whole thing entirely unremarkable. She stood to one side, watching with an expression of cool and detached observation, a faint smile on her lips that no one could quite decipher.

“Now that everyone is being so gracious — what do you all say to a hundred jars of fine wine at the Zuixian restaurant in the city tonight, shared with all the heroes gathered here?” Fengxi proposed.

The courtyard erupted in pleased exclamations, everyone thoroughly delighted.

A large man stepped forward out of the crowd, clasped his fists toward Fengxi, and declared: “Though we may be men of no particular standing, to have had the fortune today of meeting both Bai Fengxi and Hei Fengxi — and now to receive the Young Master’s invitation to share a drink — is a blessing that comes perhaps once in three lifetimes! Tonight at Zuixian, I ask the Young Master to grant me, Zhan Zhiming, the honor of hosting. Allow me to be the one who treats the Young Master and all the heroes assembled here tonight!”

“Agreed!” Every voice joined as one: “We invite the Young Master to honor us!”

“Then Fengxi gratefully accepts.”

Fengxi smiled and replied — and in turning, caught a glimpse of the faint smile still resting on Fengxi’s face. Their eyes met, and the two of them exchanged a look that held a meaning only the two of them could understand.

Fengxi turned immediately and pointed one slender finger at the two attendants. “On you, or on him?”

Both boys looked to Fengxi at the gesture. Fengxi smiled faintly. “Zhong Yuan — give it to her.”

The attendant on the left — Zhong Yuan — reached into his bundle and produced a redwood box, a foot long and three inches tall, and handed it to Fengxi.

Fengxi took it and opened it. At once, the entire courtyard was dazzled by a radiant glow. Within the box lay pearls the size of a thumb, willows wrought in gold, mountains carved from agate, hands of the Buddha fashioned in red coral, and entire palm-sized slabs of translucent green crystal — each piece an exquisite treasure of the finest quality.

Before the assembled crowd could even get a clear look, Fengxi snapped the box shut again and walked to Han Xuanling. “Old Han — the contents of this box are worth no less than a hundred thousand gold pieces. That is more than enough to pay for all the medicines I have taken from you before. In that case, why not give me one bottle of Zifu Powder and one bottle of Foxin Pill today as well?”

“This — all of this is for me?” Han Xuanling stared wide-eyed at the box, then at Fengxi, then at Fengxi — and hesitated, visibly torn. His family was wealthy enough, but to have this many remarkable treasures placed before him at one time was more than he could quite bring himself to believe.

“Consider these as my payment for her previous medicines. I ask the old hero to please accept them — and to let her have two more bottles of medicine on top of that, if you would be so good.” Fengxi smiled and nodded.

“Of course — naturally of course!” Han Xuanling nodded vigorously and immediately took the box from Fengxi’s hands — his own hands were trembling slightly.

“Then I will go and collect my medicine.” Fengxi smiled, and her figure flickered — and she was gone from the courtyard without a trace.

“Mm.” Han Xuanling gave a nod of assent — and then something suddenly struck him, and he leapt to his feet with a start, shouting at the top of his voice: “Wait! Bai Fengxi, wait! Heaven help me — my medicines — she is going to clean me out again!”

And off he went, flying at a sprint in the direction Fengxi had vanished, his anguished cries carrying back from a great distance away.