This was already Xi Tong’s third day in Chang’an. The day before yesterday, he had sent word of his arrival to the servants the Yun Family kept in Chang’an. He had originally thought Yun Ye would certainly choose a secluded venue to meet with him. To his surprise, the Yun Manor’s steward personally came to his lodging and told him that the Marquis respectfully awaited the honored guest’s presence at his home in Yushan.

Within the span of a year, the dual assault on mind and body had tormented a strapping eight-foot Guanxi man of iron into a skeletal frame. His entire body was ragged, he was penniless—only the enormous bundle on his back made one feel this was a person and not some malevolent ghost.

The household where he was staying belonged to an old brother from his early years. This brother owed Xi Tong a debt of gratitude. The master of the house had already passed away, leaving behind two sons and a widowed mother. If not for the mother insisting Xi Tong stay in their home, those two opportunistic sons would have driven him out long ago.

Old Qian’s arrival left this household utterly astonished. Just the set of Shu brocade robes on Old Qian’s body, worth a considerable sum, could have bought their entire household’s possessions—not to mention the cloud-patterned jade pendant hanging at his waist. The eldest son, who came from a family of jade craftsmen, had long ago estimated its minimum price at forty strings of cash.

This steward of extraordinary bearing actually bowed to the beggar-like Xi Tong, showing not the slightest hint of pretense, treating him completely as an honored guest. The carriage and guards behind the steward all demonstrated that this was a powerful noble household inviting Xi Tong to be their guest.

“It’s been two years—how has your Marquis been?” Xi Tong forced out a smile and asked.

“Thank you for your kind inquiry, honored guest. The Marquis has always been in good health. The manor is about to welcome a new young master—both mother and child are healthy. Hearing that an old friend has returned from the extreme north, he is exceptionally delighted and is currently sweeping the courtyard, opening the main gate wide to welcome the honored guest.”

“A man of the mountains and wilderness cannot bear grand occasions. Those empty formalities can be dispensed with—I find them frightening. I’ve heard your household’s wine is excellent and the food is good. Tell him to prepare plenty. I’ve been in dire straits for a long time and should properly nourish myself.” At this point, Xi Tong revealed a mouthful of gleaming white teeth, laughing with great heartiness.

“May the guest be informed—our Yun Family’s fine wine can be considered one of Chang’an’s finest. Yesterday, the master dug in the garden all day and finally found wine he had buried years ago. It must certainly be excellent. The honored guest is a rare master in this world—you might as well get thoroughly drunk together with the master.”

“I won’t speak further with you, old servant. My body is extremely weary. Leave some money and be on your way. Tell your master I will definitely arrive at the noble manor before sunrise.” Old Qian bowed formally, left behind a small sandalwood box, and took his leave.

Xi Tong didn’t even glance at the box. He said to the old woman, “Sister-in-law, there’s some money in there. Keep it for security. Those two sons of yours can’t be relied upon. Having some money means at least you won’t starve to death.”

One sentence made the two brothers’ faces flush red with shame. Ashamed though they were, their eyes remained fixed on the sandalwood box without blinking. The old woman said to Xi Tong with a heart grown cold: “Uncle jests. After my husband passed, he left this old woman alone to suffer. This bit of money—just leave it to them. Consider it a gift from you as their uncle. Tomorrow when Uncle departs, this old woman won’t see you off.”

Neither of them paid any attention to the two money-grubbing brothers and returned to their respective rooms. Xi Tong had originally wanted to preserve a bit of sentiment for the old woman’s sake, but her two sons’ behavior had completely destroyed the old woman’s hopes, settling their debts with Xi Tong with a box of money.

Taking advantage of the city gates not yet being closed, Xi Tong shouldered his large bundle, took up his blade, and walked toward Yushan. He didn’t want to rely on external help. Since he had managed to crawl out of that hell, there was no need to accept anyone’s pity.

His leg clearly still hadn’t healed from old injuries. With each forward step, there was a barely perceptible pause. But his desire to move forward was very strong. It was by relying on this desire that he had returned from the frozen tundra of the extreme north to the Central Plains he had long been away from. As long as he delivered the bundle to Yun Ye, he would have fulfilled all his promises—free of encumbrances, free and unrestrained. In the morning he could drink from the eastern river’s waters, in the evening he could lodge at the western mountain’s peak. As long as he wished, it wouldn’t matter even if he worked as some woman’s hired hand for the rest of his life.

He walked for a while, then rested for a while. Although many ox carts hoped to give him a ride, he declined them all with a smile. Since Yun Ye was treating him with great ceremony, he couldn’t allow this courtesy to be sullied in the slightest.

Gou Zi treated him to a barley flour steamed bun. The old soldier treated him to a bowl of wine. Though it was already deep in the night, he didn’t linger. He laughed loudly and said to the old soldier, “This old man said he would definitely arrive before sunrise. Tell Yun Ye to prepare good wine and food—this old man is going to eat it all back.”

In this world, only Yun Ye knew what he and the two hundred-some people who had died had actually gone to do. Dying without a sound, not even as good as wild dogs—this wasn’t what Xi Tong wanted. If at the very beginning everyone had been pursuing the mysterious White Jade Capital, then later on, it was simply living for the sake of living.

If he didn’t want them to be worse than wild dogs, then he must let Yun Ye know what he had accomplished. Moreover, he had brought back conclusive evidence—five complete white bear pelts.

Glancing at the sun showing half its face and cursing, he was still that tiny bit late after all. The Yun Family’s main gate stood wide open. There wasn’t a single person in the marketplace before the gate, and the shops hadn’t opened either. The reason was that the Yun Family had an honored guest today, so all shops would open one hour late.

Behind the shop boards were people everywhere. Through the door cracks were pairs upon pairs of curious eyes. Originally thinking what kind of honored guest would arrive, it turned out to be a large man as thin as a skeleton. Looking at his faltering steps, even the wind could blow him over.

Experienced merchants could tell that this person must have walked a very long distance. The originally exquisite Ma Family leather boots on his feet, renowned for lasting five years and walking a thousand li without damage, had now become tattered and torn. Only the Ma Family’s exclusive mark still remained on the boot shaft, like a joke. The Ma Family shopkeeper in the marketplace desperately wanted to rush forward with a pair of good boots to exchange for those ruined ones. Just how far had this gentleman walked? The mark had only been learned from the Yun Family two years ago. Wearing these boots was purely coming to slap the Ma Family’s old face.

Old Qian had changed out of his luxurious clothing and now wore blue clothes and a small cap, waiting at the gate. Xi Tong felt somewhat apologetic and said to Old Qian, “I’ve arrived a bit late after all—you see, the sun has shown its face.”

“Just right. Today’s sun poked its head out a bit early—perhaps my impatient master urged it on.” Old Qian’s response was extremely witty.

Hearing this, Xi Tong laughed heartily, repeatedly saying he truly was the steward of a great household—even his words made people comfortable. Without standing on ceremony, he trod upon the red carpet with his dirty feet. Old Qian accompanied him outside the carpet, taking the opportunity to tell him that besides the master, there was also a guest whose status was very noble and shouldn’t be offended. However, his words were said in vain—Xi Tong was completely immersed in a kind of glory and turned a deaf ear to his cautionary words.

At the end of the carpet, in the deep shade, was a mat spread with white felt. A small square table sat upon the mat. Yun Ye sat in the host’s position, with a thin young man sitting in the guest seat beside him, his eyes full of curiosity.

Seeing Xi Tong arrive, Yun Ye, wearing blue hemp clothes with his hair hanging loose down his back, sighed and said, “Even such a terrifying environment couldn’t keep you there—your life is frighteningly tough. In the future, I must reduce the time I spend with you. Otherwise, when lightning strikes, it only hits me and not you—that’s already a huge loss.”

He then turned to Li Tai and said, “Little Tai, this is the true meaning of ‘a gentleman doesn’t stand beneath a dangerous wall.’ In this world, there always exist some monsters with lives as tough as cockroaches. Here’s a piece of advice—stay far away from them.”

“The things you wanted, I brought them for you.” Seeming not to have heard Yun Ye’s caustic comments, Xi Tong happily threw the large bundle on the ground, sat boldly in the primary guest seat, and bared his teeth at Li Tai in a smile—that counted as a greeting.

His dark face was covered with scars, and he was missing two teeth. Such a smile made Li Tai’s whole body stiffen somewhat. In his heart he wanted to laugh but was also a bit frightened. This feeling was very stimulating—an extraordinary person, after all. If he weren’t strange, would he be called extraordinary?

Just as he settled into his seat, several elegantly dressed maids brought warm water to wipe Xi Tong’s face and wash his hands. After they finished their tasks, only then did Yun Ye remove two small wads of paper from his nostrils and exhale a long breath.

“Your cleanliness obsession is becoming increasingly annoying. Though this old man’s clothes are a bit ragged, they don’t emit any stench.”

This quirk of Yun Ye’s had become increasingly severe ever since he’d seen the mold Sun Simiao cultivated. If he didn’t wash his hands seven or eight times a day, he felt uncomfortable.

A small celadon jar was tossed over by Yun Ye: “Try it—good stuff. You’re in dog’s luck. The wine I buried that I’d been searching for so long—yesterday it was finally found. There are only a few jars like this in the entire world.”

Xi Tong removed the wax paper on top, and immediately a rich fragrance came rushing out. His throat slid up and down. Tilting his head back, he downed half the jar, holding his breath and refusing to exhale. After a long while, he finally expelled a stifled breath from his chest, feeling every pore on his body opening up to call out.

He chewed through the deep red pork elbow with handle in front of him in one go. Xi Tong wiped his oily hands on the hemp cloth and said to Yun Ye, “Master Tian died. I carried his body until I saw forest, then cremated him. The scene at the time was eerie. I was too tired and just found some firewood wanting to burn the body, planning to find more if it wasn’t enough. I was worried wild beasts would eat him. Who knew that with just that bit of firewood, the body was burned completely clean, as if the body itself was burning. Oh right, here are the relics left behind after the body was burned. He didn’t believe in Buddhism—how could there be such things?”

Having said this, he pulled out seven or eight colorful stones from his breast and placed them on the table, then continued searching for tasty food to eat heartily.

Both Yun Ye and Li Tai were attracted by those stones. They had only ever heard of such things but never seen them. Most people in later generations believed that relics were fake, but now they sat tangibly before Yun Ye—seven or eight of them, no less. White relics were from bones, black relics belonged to hair, red relics were from muscles—so what part did these green stones belong to? Even in death, Tian Xiangzi wouldn’t let people rest easy. This could be counted as spreading yet another legend about immortals. Just looking at Li Tai’s excited appearance, one knew this legend would quickly spread.

Previously, he had heard people mention that during cremation, using slow fire and careful burning at a temperature where the human bones were still formed but had already turned to ash, there would be remains not yet reduced to ash. That was a humanoid bone in the skull, very much resembling a seated person, able to represent some essence. Many people hoped to preserve such a thing when cremating relatives. He had never seen it and didn’t know if it was true or false.

The only thing he could be certain of was that two years ago, Old Master Fu Yi had used rhinoceros horn to shatter a diamond that foreign monks claimed was Buddha’s tooth. He wondered whether rhinoceros horn would also shatter these relics?