Traveling north from the Wuyi Mountain range, a journey of over half a month leads into Gusu Mountain in Suzhou. Suzhou was the capital of the Wu Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn period. After the King of Yue destroyed Wu, it belonged to the Yue Kingdom. Later, the Chu Kingdom destroyed Yue, and it belonged to Chu. After Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified the world, this place became Kuaiji Prefecture, establishing Wu County. In the first year of Chen Zhenming during the Five Dynasties, it was established as Wu Prefecture, governing Wu County, Jiaxing, and Lou County. In the ninth year of Sui Kaihuang, because there was Gusu Terrace by Lake Tai in this area, Wu Prefecture was renamed Suzhou Prefecture. The name Suzhou originated from this.

Inside Suzhou city, crowds surged like a tide. This day was the nineteenth of the sixth month, the birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva. People continuously streamed to famous temples like Xiyuan Temple, Hanshan Temple, and North Pagoda Baoen Temple to offer incense. Vendors selling incense along the way were also doing thriving business. A horse carriage also moved slowly along the mountain path through the crowd toward Ling Yuan Temple on East Mountain. While others came to offer incense to Guanyin and watch the festivities with joy and delight, this carriage moved silently forward. The driver’s gaze was vacant and his face pale as wax. The carriage body was hung with black curtains, making it impossible to see what kind of person sat inside.

Someone had been watching this carriage for quite some time. This person was surnamed Lin, named Bu, from Qiantang—a famous scholar in the Jianghuai region. On this day, he had also hired a carriage to go to Ling Yuan Temple on East Mountain, but he was not going to offer incense, rather to taste tea. The black carriage ahead was traveling the same route as his, from Hangzhou to Suzhou. They had often encountered each other along the way, but the person in the carriage had never shown their face, nor exchanged even half a greeting with him. What made him curious was not just that this carriage was eerie and strange, but that along the route wherever this carriage passed, many wealthy families lost property. Also, famous physicians with excellent medical skills along the way had all been invited into the carriage for consultations. Who exactly was sitting in this carriage? Was it a thief or a patient?

A white horse with flower spots slowly walked beside Lin Bu’s carriage. When he turned to look, he saw a beautiful young lady in purple robes silently riding. A long sword hung from her saddle, making her particularly conspicuous in the crowd. Many people turned to stare, secretly marveling. However, this young lady’s eyes were vacant and her face pale, letting her horse walk forward freely, seemingly uncaring about where she was going. Lin Bu looked at the black carriage ahead, then at the purple-robed young lady beside him. The more he looked, the stranger it seemed. Could there be some major event happening at Ling Yuan Temple today?

Before long, they reached the gate of Ling Yuan Temple. Lin Bu got off his carriage, paid the silver, and walked slowly toward the back mountain. Behind Ling Yuan Temple on Dongting West Mountain, there was a wild tea forest. In the woods, peach, apricot, plum, pine, persimmon, orange, ginkgo, pomegranate, magnolia, jade orchid, emerald bamboo, and other trees grew mixed with tea trees, making the tea’s fragrance pure and rich, different from elsewhere. He had come from afar, partly because Master Qingyan of Ling Yuan Temple had invited him to taste tea, and partly to observe this rare sight in the world. But as he walked slowly into the back mountain, that white horse with plum blossom spots also clip-clopped along behind him with small steps, and that black carriage, though having difficulty traveling on the narrow mountain path, somehow also entered the mountain. On the secluded back mountain path, Lin Bu walked alone, secretly puzzled. Before long, the carriage took the lead, passing both of them and departing with flourish. The purple-robed young lady’s horse slowed down and walked silently for a while. Then the young lady on horseback sighed gloomily, “Sir… sir traveling alone to this desolate place, may I ask what brings you here?”

Lin Bu was slightly startled. He hadn’t expected this lost and dejected purple-robed young lady to speak first. “This place is somewhere I’ve visited before. I came purely for sightseeing. May I ask why Miss has come here?”

The purple-robed young lady dismounted and led her horse on foot, saying gloomily, “I… me… I did something bad that I never imagined doing in my life. Having nowhere to go, I heard that there’s a spiritual spring in Ling Yuan Temple on Dongting East Mountain that can cure eye diseases and heart ailments, so… I came to take a look.” She sighed softly. “Since sir is a returning visitor, could you guide me?”

Lin Bu readily agreed, “Of course. The spring is in the mountain, but it’s already late now, and the journey there is very far, desolate and remote…”

The purple-robed young lady said, “I’m not afraid of demons and ghosts.”

Lin Bu glanced at the sword sheath on her saddle, thinking what could a young woman with a long sword defend against bandits? Though he had just reached his twentieth year, his footsteps had already covered the great rivers and lands north and south. Recently, the court was preparing to send troops north, the times were somewhat chaotic, and bandits were thriving. Although East Mountain was still a place with many visitors, safety couldn’t be guaranteed. But this young lady seemed to have something troubling her, and he felt some reluctance to refuse gently.

“Is that spiritual spring in the mountain truly spiritual?” the purple-robed young lady asked.

Lin Bu smiled, “Observing the sun and moon in the mountains, one knows the warmth and cold oneself. If you say it’s spiritual, then it’s spiritual; if you say it’s not spiritual, then it’s not spiritual. What’s not spiritual for you may not be unspiritual for everyone; what’s spiritual for everyone may not be spiritual for you.”

The purple-robed young lady’s dim eyes brightened slightly. “Sir’s manner of speaking is refined. May I ask your name?”

Lin Bu said, “I dare not presume. My surname is Lin, given name Bu, courtesy name Junfu.”

He assumed this purple-robed young lady didn’t understand worldly affairs and probably didn’t know his reputation in Jianghuai, but unexpectedly she said, “So it’s Master Huangxian, no wonder.”

Lin Bu was quite surprised. “Which master’s distinguished disciple is Miss?”

He was from Huangxian Village in Dali, and had left home to wander since childhood. Friends jokingly called him “Master Huangxian.”

“I…” The purple-robed young lady hesitated, “My surname is Zhong, given name Chunji.” But she didn’t say who her master actually was.

Lin Bu smiled, “Surname Zhong, Miss is not Han Chinese?”

Zhong Chunji said gloomily, “I don’t know. Master never speaks of my background.”

Lin Bu said, “In the great mountains of southern Fujian, the She people often take Zhong and Lan as surnames.”

Zhong Chunji stared blankly for a while, then shook her head. “I know nothing. I understand very little about things in this world.”

Being able to know “Master Huangxian,” her origins must be extraordinary, yet why was she so lost and dejected? Lin Bu grew increasingly puzzled, suddenly remembering something. “Is Miss Zhong traveling the same route as that black carriage ahead?”

Zhong Chunji was slightly startled. “Black carriage?” She was in a daze. Although the black carriage had just passed by her, she hadn’t noticed it, and now she couldn’t remember.

Lin Bu said, “That carriage behaves strangely. I suspect bandits are riding in it.” He proceeded to describe in detail the carriage’s peculiar activities.

Zhong Chunji listened with a blank mind. If it were before, she would have already drawn her sword and gone after that carriage, but ever since stabbing Tang Lici with a needle at Piaoleng Mei Garden and escaping from the valley, she never knew what she was doing. A few days ago, running out of travel money, she had randomly robbed a family’s gold and silver by the roadside. Only two or three days later did she think to wonder whether that family had urgent need for the little silver they had saved? But she had not only robbed them but also spent it casually, making repayment impossible. Now hearing Lin Bu mention “bandits,” she felt disturbed, not knowing whether her actions could be considered “banditry” in his words. Was she now a good person or a bad person?

Seeing her strange expression, Lin Bu thought she was afraid upon hearing about bandits, and somewhat regretted mentioning the black carriage. As they were both lost in thought, suddenly a sharp scream came from deep in the mountain forest—a woman’s voice.

Lin Bu was startled. Zhong Chunji leaped onto her horse upon hearing the sound, paused briefly, lifted Lin Bu up and placed him behind her, then pulled the reins and both rode toward where the scream came from. Before Lin Bu could react, he was already on horseback, completely unexpected that this delicate and gentle young lady would have such great strength.

The spotted white horse galloped wildly, reaching the source of the scream in just moments. But after arriving, Zhong Chunji’s whole body shook violently, and she stood frozen in place, motionless.

Lin Bu dismounted, and saw a group of red-robed people surrounding a black-robed masked woman. A black carriage lay overturned and shattered on the ground, the driver already separated from his head and body. High in the treetops, one person hung by one hand from a branch, swaying in the air, while the red-robed people below held swords and blades, ready to surge forward and hack these two people to death.

Seeing such a scene, Lin Bu’s face went pale. With people lying dead on the ground, such a brutal sight was the most terrible he had ever seen in his life. What should he do? Should he turn and flee, or rush forward to die uselessly alongside them?

The person hanging from the tree exposed half an arm. The black hat covering their face fluttered in the wind. That exposed half-arm was snow-white and delicate, carrying an indescribable demonic and bewitching quality. Wasn’t this person… wasn’t this the same person who gave her a bottle of poison in the forest that day, telling her to stab Tang Lici with a needle? After stabbing Tang Lici with the needle that day, she had repeatedly thought it over and naturally understood that this person’s instruction to stab Tang Lici was definitely not from good intentions, but to use her hands to eliminate a formidable enemy.

Zhong Chunji’s face was ashen as death, her hand on her sword hilt. This person was being hunted down—what should she do?

The black-robed woman surrounded by the red-robed people held a long blade. The blade danced as she slashed at the red-robed people around her, but her martial arts were too poor, completely no match for her opponents. Defeat and injury were matters of moments.

Zhong Chunji stared blankly at this scene. Obviously that black-robed person was severely injured, otherwise how could such a group of third-rate characters bully them to this extent? As long as she didn’t save them—as long as she didn’t act to save them—these two people would be lying dead on the ground in moments, and she—the matter of her stabbing Tang Lici with a needle, her selfish and ugly secrets would never be known by anyone again—

With a “clang,” the black-robed masked woman’s long blade fell to the ground. A red-robed person kicked her down, about to stab her to death on the spot. Meanwhile, someone had already climbed the tree, slashing blow by blow at the branch the black-robed person was hanging from.

Seeing this scene, Zhong Chunji gritted her teeth, flicked her wrist, and her sword light shot straight toward Lin Bu who had come with her.

Lin Bu had absolutely no thought that such a sword would come. With a “thud,” the long sword pierced through his chest. Shocked and amazed, he turned back to see the purple-robed young lady who had come with him withdraw her sword and rise, then mount her horse and depart without looking back. The spotted horse’s hooves flew like lightning, disappearing without a trace in an instant!

Why? Lin Bu opened his mouth wide and fell backward to the sky. Why did she… Before the world spun, he suddenly understood—because she wanted to watch someone die without saving them, and the only person present who knew she was watching someone die without saving them was himself, so she killed to silence the witness.

What a ruthless woman…

Just as Lin Bu lost consciousness, someone in the forest also sighed, “What a ruthless woman.”

With this sigh, that group of red-robed people all retreated. Tree leaves in the forest flew about, each one drawing blood. With several “ah” screams, those red-robed people who had been cut by the leaves with shallow wounds suddenly fell dead, actually poisoned with deadly toxin in an instant. The remaining red-robed people, seeing the strange situation, shouted in unison and turned to flee frantically.

“Spring garden gathering, fleeting life’s meaning, this year again fewer than last year’s people. Sigh… wanting to live as one pleases is truly difficult, difficult, difficult—so difficult that even walking behind a great monk’s temple, one still sees people killing and setting fires… Amitabha Buddha.”

A young man waving a feather fan walked out of the forest. His face was round, his cheeks rosy red, wearing yellow robes, but the feather fan in his hand was made of fire-red feathers. Yellow clothes, red fan, plus his flushed complexion and smiling yet not-smiling frivolous expression—the newcomer was full of joy, but also full of dazzling brilliance. No matter who stood beside him, none could match his radiant splendor.

“Who are you?” asked the black-robed masked woman who got up from the ground in a low voice that sounded quite old.

The yellow-robed man waved his fan in salute. “My surname is Fang, given name Pingzhai, nicknamed ‘Carefree and Worry-free.’ I’ve done few good deeds in my life—saving people is still my first.”

The black-robed woman leaped up and embraced the black-robed person hanging in the air, bringing them down to the ground. “You saved us, we truly thank you!”

Fang Pingzhai said, “No need for courtesy. Horses stumble, people make mistakes—even Fang Pingzhai occasionally saves people.”

The black-robed woman said, “Then how do you want us to repay you?”

Yellow-robed, red-fanned Fang Pingzhai laughed heartily. “If you two are willing to remove your face veils and let me see you once, that would be repayment enough.”

But the black-robed woman said, “I don’t want to.”

This black-hatted, face-covered man was naturally Liu Yan, and this woman with extremely poor martial arts was Yu Tuan’er. She originally didn’t want to leave the forest, but Liu Yan said the medicine to cure her strange illness must be refined using tea leaves, grape seeds, evening primrose, perilla seeds, and other things. To refine the medicine, the two had no choice but to come out of the mountains. After coming out, those thefts along the way were naturally committed by these two. Yu Tuan’er was simple-minded and innocent—when Liu Yan gave orders, she would go out to steal. Though she felt it was wrong in her heart, she didn’t feel too guilty, after all, she didn’t steal much and only stole from wealthy families. Inviting famous doctors for consultations was even more natural. Yu Tuan’er’s rare and strange condition made many doctors marvel and linger, but no matter which famous physician, none could cure this premature aging syndrome.

Traveling north like this, they gradually reached Suzhou, quite peacefully. Today they were suddenly attacked by a group of red-robed people. Hearing the cause and effect, it turned out to be assassins hired by a family that Yu Tuan’er had robbed not long ago to vent their anger. Such people, in Liu Yan’s prime, could have been scared to death with just a breath, but a tiger fallen to flat ground—today if Fang Pingzhai hadn’t suddenly intervened, both would have certainly died.

“You don’t want to?” Fang Pingzhai’s red fan fluttered. “Then that means—you’re tempting me to insist on seeing.”

With Lin Bu’s life or death uncertain on the ground, he was still single-mindedly wanting to see the two people’s true faces, truly treating human life like grass.

The black-robed woman hesitated. “If you also save that person on the ground, I’ll show you.”

Fang Pingzhai hummed. “I didn’t kill that person.”

The black-robed woman said, “If you don’t save him, he’ll die.”

Fang Pingzhai was unconcerned, but heard Liu Yan say coldly, “I doubt he can save him.”

He immediately exclaimed “Aiya” and laughed. “Fang Pingzhai knows everything and can do anything. What difficulty is there in saving such a mere scholar? The difficulty is that your provocation cannot provoke me.” His bright red feather fan waved two or three more times. “How about this—I won’t look at your face. I want to see his face. As long as he lifts his veil himself and lets me see clearly, I’ll take the person on the ground away.”

Black-robed Yu Tuan’er pushed Liu Yan. Liu Yan lifted his veil and looked coldly at this “Carefree and Worry-free” Fang Pingzhai.

Fang Pingzhai indeed exclaimed “Aiya,” but his face showed a smile. “Good man, I respect you three parts. I’ll take the person on the ground away.” He picked up Lin Bu from the ground, and with a flash of yellow, had already disappeared without a trace.