The Asu Cave Master looked at Zhù Ying and felt a great weight lift from his heart.

His choice to cooperate with Fuluo County had been born of circumstances. From the moment of his first dealings with Zhù Ying, he had carried an intuition: this county magistrate was no ordinary person.

His recent interactions had also shown him that Zhù Ying was a person of courage, capability, and foresight — yet nothing had quite matched the image in his intuition until now. Now that Zhù Ying wanted to come up to the mountain village to see it for herself, everything aligned perfectly with what he had envisioned.

Having agreed, he had no intention of going back on his word. He said to Zhù Ying: “Then I shall wait for the magistrate to come to my home.”

Zhù Ying said: “Please give me a little time to arrange affairs in the county, and then we will set off. There is no rush on the Cave Master’s end — stay a few more days and rest. You have only just arrived, have you not? Another two days would be fine.”

The Asu Cave Master was also happy to look around for two more days, and said: “Agreed!”

The two settled on their plan: Zhù Ying would arrange the county affairs and then depart together with the Cave Master, accompanied by Zhao Su. The Asu Cave Master left his sister behind in the lowlands and did not have her accompany them up the mountain, saying: “She has a husband — it is right that she be with her husband. I have no worries there.”

Zhù Ying caught a glimpse of Zhao Su’s expression — the boy had gone cold and blank again.

Zhù Ying said: “The young mistress is very worried about the Cave Master.”

“She has already seen me now. I have seen the magistrate’s sincerity, and I too must leave a measure of sincerity.”

Zhù Ying thought: this exchange is somewhat in your favor. But she did not point it out, and said: “So long as the Cave Master is at ease.”

The Asu Cave Master then took his nephew back to the post station. In the idle hours each day he would wander the county town again. In his spare time he had even learned a few of the character-learning songs, and could match some sounds to the characters on the stele — yet since his mother tongue was the Qixia language, and he had only learned the melody of the songs and could see the characters without a translation to cross-reference, he still could not truly learn to read them. He was inwardly frustrated.

For Zhù Ying, things became considerably more manageable.

First she soothed the household completely. The other three people in her home all worried about her deeply, yet none of them could ultimately oppose her going alone. Zhang Xiangu, though full of anxiety, still packed her belongings, saying: “Pack a few extra changes of clothes. The old saying is that it gets cold in the mountains.”

Zhù Ying said: “I will.”

Zhang Xiangu added: “Bring a rain cloak — it’s handier than an umbrella.”

“All right.”

“Oh yes, and bring plenty of money! In case something happens, you might be able to bribe your way out.”

Whatever Zhang Xiangu said, Zhù Ying agreed to. Zhù Ying herself was also sorting through her things. She had no intention of arriving empty-handed. Beyond the routine gifts of cloth and rice prepared for mountain visits, she recalled that the Asu Cave Master also had a wife and children — four sons, all grown, reportedly all married; besides Su Minyuan there was apparently another daughter, though that daughter seemed to already be married and no longer living at home. Other members of the household she knew little about.

So she prepared a pair of gold hairpins as a separate gift for the Cave Master’s wife — this was obligatory. She also gathered various small trinkets and adornments from her own baggage, put them all together into a box, and let the Cave Master’s family pick out whatever they liked — she would not bother dividing them up herself.

With all this sorted, she sat thinking through the journey ahead. Zhù Ying’s wish to visit the Asu family’s village had not come to her suddenly. You might get to know a person well enough by seeing the person himself, but to negotiate trade with a tribal chieftain without first gauging the full extent of the power at his back — that was simply impossible.

Based on the timeline of previous dealings with the mountain village, a message sent up the mountain and a messenger sent down in reply would take two to three days one way, and one to two days at best — not very far. She planned to linger there for several days. After seeing the main village, she hoped to see some of the affiliated smaller villages as well. It would be even better if a guide could take her to get a look at the Suoning family, who were neighbors of the Asu family.

As for the Liji tribe — based on what she had heard, they seemed to be on poor terms with the Asu family. That was uncertain. She would look if she could; if not, she would let it go. She had budgeted only twenty days in total — if she could not see everything, she would wait for another time.

All of this she had long since planned as intelligence she needed to gather.

Zhang Xiangu had been muttering away, and heard nothing back from Zhù Ying but “yes.” Feeling brushed off, she stopped what she was doing: “Why aren’t you paying attention?!”

Zhù Ying said: “My attention has ample room — feel free to put whatever you like on it.”

Zhang Xiangu went back to packing in a huff, still muttering that she should bring a knife. Zhang Xiangu did not usually harp on this point, but this time she brought it up as well. She also said: “And the county while you are gone—”

Zhù Ying said: “I have it all arranged.”

“I can see that Deputy Magistrate Guan and Registrar Mo are not happy about it!”

“Am I supposed to let them manage me? Who is in charge here?” Zhù Ying said.

——

Deputy Magistrate Guan and Registrar Mo truly had no authority over her. Maintaining security and caring for the people were part of a county magistrate’s duties, and if she wanted to meet with the mountain folk such as the Asu family, neither of them could produce any law to stop her.

As for local gentry such as Elder Gu, they did not even receive word of it. Zhù Ying behaved as though nothing were out of the ordinary. To soothe Zhang Xiangu, and also for practical convenience, she planned to pick her departure date carefully. Calculating how many days remained, she took advantage of the time to make one more trip to the county school. Two of the students — Zhen Qi and Zhao Zhen — had entered the prefectural school, leaving two vacancies at the county school. She needed to discuss these two open positions with the school’s head teacher and assistant teacher.

On the last occasion, because the county had a new magistrate, she had been able to hold a full county examination to select students afresh. This time, for just two vacancies, holding another county-wide examination would seem rather excessive.

The head teacher said: “Why not simply admit the next two in line from the last examination?”

Zhù Ying said: “We should still have a proper system in place, so that future cases follow the same precedent. Perhaps hold examinations every few years, using the last rankings as the baseline — how does that sound?”

The head teacher raised no objection.

Zhù Ying said: “Very well then — who placed forty-first in the last examination?” The list was produced, and the forty-first place was that Young Master Tang. Zhù Ying frowned and said: “Carousing with courtesans…”

The head teacher said: “The one below, Wang Zheng, would be suitable as well.”

They thus simply skipped past Young Master Tang and took the forty-second and forty-third place students as replacements, sending someone to notify them within the required deadline to register at the county school. If they failed to appear by the deadline, the next in line would be taken. Zhù Ying said: “Better to send a formal written notice — prepare two copies, seal them across the binding, and stamp them to prevent anyone claiming later they were not informed.”

The head teacher said: “My Lord is most thorough.”

Zhù Ying did not mention to him her plans to go to the Asu family.

She also visited her own trial-planting field. There, Zhao the Elder and Shan Ba and the others were all present and accounted for. They tended the crops with great care, willing the harvest to come tomorrow if it could, though unfortunately some areas were still growing poorly, and the fruit trees had not yet reached the fruit-bearing stage. Zhù Ying paid none of this any attention, and instead asked: “Would it be colder up in the mountains? More suitable for some northern crops?”

Shan Ba said: “I only know that the same plants feel colder up the mountain and harvest later. Whether plants that like the cold or like the heat would do better up there — the mountain is cold, yes, but I don’t know if it’s the right kind of cold. You’d have to plant and find out.”

Zhao the Elder said: “Farming in the mountains is hard going! The land is difficult to clear, and hard to enrich once cleared. As for northern crops, I don’t know, but rice can be grown up there to some degree, and beans too. They don’t grow as well as on flat land.”

“So it’s worth a try?”

Both of them nodded. Zhao the Elder said: “When people are starving, where can they not plant?”

Zhù Ying nodded, then looked out at the mountains in the distance. Fuluo County itself had mountains, but the best land was truly all down on the flatland. Even in the mountains, farming was done on the gentler slopes.

Once she entered the mountains, she would need to look into these things as well.

She also strolled through the county town. The townspeople had long since grown accustomed to her ways. From the time she discovered that her appearance anywhere would be recognized, she had not stayed out of sight for long but kept coming back, regularly changing into local cloth clothing and wandering the streets, stopping to chat with whoever recognized her, buying a few coins’ worth of things. When she came across people quarreling, she would even weigh in, and over time the county’s people had grown used to her — not afraid of her at all, but finding her rather entertaining.

This time she went over the workshops again one by one, and made another round of the market. The goods available in the county town had grown somewhat richer than before. She entered a tea shop and chatted idly with the owner for a while.

When she had attended to more or less everything in this fashion, the day of departure arrived. Zhù Ying assembled her party — twenty sturdy county officers, along with her own servants Hou Wu and Cao Chang — and departed from the city together with the Asu Cave Master and his people. Elder Gu and the others actually assumed she was personally escorting the Asu Cave Master out of town as a mark of respect!

Left waiting with no sign of Zhù Ying’s return, Elder Gu and the others began to feel puzzled. They went to inquire of Deputy Magistrate Guan the next day and only then received the news. Elder Gu was dumbfounded: “What on earth is she doing?”

——

Zhù Ying rode on horseback with the Asu Cave Master, first heading to the western township, where they would resupply at Zhao Feng’s home before continuing into the mountains.

Along the way, the rice in the fields was growing splendidly, and the sight lifted Zhù Ying’s spirits. The Asu Cave Master looked at the large carts behind her, lost in thought.

Upon arriving at the western township, Zhao Feng had already received his son’s letter. He had not believed it when he opened it, but seeing Zhù Ying with his own eyes, he grew momentarily flustered: “My Lord! A person of such importance…”

“Still has to pay family visits,” Zhù Ying said.

Zhao Feng could only manage a rueful smile: “Please come in.” He showed Zhù Ying to the room she always stayed in when she came. He then exchanged glances with his son Zhao Su.

Zhao Su remained composed throughout, staying close to Zhù Ying’s side. He shook his head at Zhao Feng, having made up his mind that he absolutely had to follow Zhù Ying into the mountains.

The party spent one night in the western township. Early the next morning they set out again. Zhao Feng and his wife both came to see them off. Zhao Niangzi straightened her brother’s collar, deeply reluctant to let him go: “Can’t you just have Little Sister and the others handle things in the future? Why keep running around yourself?” The Asu Cave Master said: “There you go saying foolish things again.” Zhao Niangzi then admonished her son: “Take good care of your uncle on the road.”

Over on the other side, Zhao Feng suddenly found himself at a loss for how to assess this county magistrate of theirs, and could only say: “My Lord, I shall await my Lord’s return here.” He also urged his son to “attend well to my Lord along the way.”

Zhù Ying said to Zhao Feng: “I will look after your eldest child.” The eldest child referred to was Zhao Su.

She also said to Zhao Niangzi: “Boys are not good at caring for people. If Madam is not at ease, there is nothing stopping you from joining us on the road to look after your brother yourself.”

Zhao Niangzi was somewhat tempted and looked at Zhù Ying. Zhù Ying gave her a nod. The Asu Cave Master said: “We agreed…”

Zhù Ying said: “That can be changed.”

Zhao Niangzi suddenly said: “Do I exist just to wait on others? I refuse to go!” And so she stayed behind, though most reluctantly.

Zhù Ying smiled, and set off into the mountains together with the Asu Cave Master and the others.

The road leading from the western township into the mountains was not difficult at first. Fuluo County itself had some modest hills, and the initial stretch into the mountains felt no different from traveling through the county, the road still fairly flat and wide — though clearly not well-maintained.

Zhao Su kept close to Zhù Ying’s side and said: “I heard from the old folks that this road was specially built long ago. Later, both sides feared the other would use the road to slip up or down quietly, so they broke it apart.”

Zhù Ying examined the road. After several decades, the scars of that original damage had been filled in and were barely visible, and parts of the surface showed what looked like freshly laid soil — probably the work of recent years.

The Asu Cave Master pointed ahead and said: “Go around that bend, and you are in our land.”

So the road’s ownership was still not entirely clear for this stretch. That was the normal state of things — many borders were vague. Sometimes a boundary was clearly drawn on a map yet the actual control of the territory was another matter entirely. Zhù Ying paid close attention as she looked. This stretch was all mountain forest, no sign of households, no sign of farmland. Birdsong drifted to her ears.

The party rode in relative silence as they pressed forward. They did not converse constantly, and only when something was worth mentioning would Zhao Su or the Asu Cave Master offer Zhù Ying an explanation.

By midday they had been riding for half a day, yet the road was still passable. When it came time to eat, both groups needed to prepare food. Zhù Ying observed that the Asu Cave Master’s group had all their equipment in good order, with none of the raw and rough ways that “barbarians” were said to possess. She thought to herself: wherever you go, there are always people who have no need to suffer needlessly.

The Asu Cave Master looked at Zhù Ying’s group in return. He saw that Zhù Ying made no complaints about the conditions — she spread a felt mat on the ground and sat right on it, and was relaxed about food and drink alike. Zhù Ying was dressed in garments fitted for archery, which made movement very easy, and this attire seemed to suit her far more comfortably than the official robes.

Zhù Ying’s main concern was simply: “Where are we sleeping tonight?”

The Asu Cave Master said: “There is a small village up ahead, also one of mine. We rest there first. Starting tomorrow we enter the mountains proper.”

So this whole stretch was not even considered “entering the mountains”?

With the mountains blocking the view, the sun “set behind the mountains” very early, and the sky darkened with sudden abruptness. Zhù Ying was unconcerned. Hou Wu rode close and said: “The road has narrowed — careful.” Zhù Ying said: “Don’t worry.” Zhao Su said: “We’re nearly at the small village.”

At that point they were winding their way up a mountain path, and after one more arc of the road, a sturdy-looking mountain village came into view. Their calling it “small” was apt — it was not large. The village sat on a fairly gentle slope along the sunny side of a mountain. “Fairly gentle” still meant it was laid out at various levels. On one side of the village gate stood a tall watchtower, and atop it a person, who upon sighting them began waving a pole wrapped in strips of cloth.

One of the Asu Cave Master’s people produced a pole as well and waved it back. The two sides communicated in a call-and-response, signaling that “the Cave Master has arrived,” and the watchtower erupted into excitement. The scattered dots of firelight gradually grew denser, and a contingent of people came out to receive them!

The Asu Cave Master said to Zhù Ying: “Magistrate, please — after you.”

Zhù Ying said: “Cave Master, please go first.”

The two rode in side by side and entered the mountain village. Zhù Ying’s appearance immediately drew the gaze of many, so much so that they hardly looked at the Asu Cave Master. Zhù Ying thought she faintly heard someone say: “That is the county magistrate from down below.” But when she looked over, she could not find who had spoken.

The village had over a hundred households, with fewer than a thousand people. All four sides of the village were enclosed by thick, tall wooden palisades, rather like a small fortress. Zhù Ying did not know much about military matters, but looking at this sort of fortification, it did not seem it would be very difficult to break through. The village chief had arranged a feast to receive the guests, and the Asu Cave Master invited Zhù Ying to join him for a simple meal.

As Zhù Ying was walking with the Cave Master toward the village chief’s main house, she suddenly reined in her horse! She looked into the crowd and saw a young figure being hastily dragged away by a group of people. Zhù Ying’s eyelids drooped. A stone fell not far from her horse’s hooves. The Asu Cave Master felt deeply embarrassed, and bellowed: “Who did that?!”

The people looked at one another. Zhù Ying said nothing more and watched in silence as the Asu Cave Master dragged the person out and had them given twenty lashes.

Zhù Ying showed no reaction. The Asu Cave Master and the village chief became especially warm in their hospitality, going on to arrange song and dance performances. The positions of host and guest had effectively reversed — Zhù Ying was now the guest of honor, seated across from the Asu Cave Master. She said: “It seems the old grievances run deep.”

The village chief said: “They certainly do! You people burned our village to the ground, killed a great many people. The village you see today was all rebuilt afterward.”

The Asu Cave Master called out sharply. Zhù Ying said to the Asu Cave Master: “It seems the Cave Master has no small amount of difficulty on his hands.” She bore no anger at this. She had long anticipated such things — people in Fuluo County still went around calling them “mountain folk” this and “mountain folk” that.

Zhao Su moved close at that moment and said quietly to Zhù Ying: “It has improved greatly. Before, it was even worse.”

Zhù Ying patted his shoulder: “It will be even better in the future.”

The Asu Cave Master said: “Exactly — it will be even better in the future!” He stood with his wine bowl in hand and declared: “The magistrate is a guest I have invited here! To be disrespectful to him is to be disrespectful to me!” Not a single person below raised any objection, and Zhù Ying gave a quiet nod of approval. She rose and raised her cup toward the Asu Cave Master as well.

The Asu Cave Master had not asked her to drink wine, and Zhù Ying did not press the matter — the two were in perfect accord.

Zhù Ying instructed her subordinates: “Do not wander freely about the village.” From the look of things, anyone who stumbled around heedlessly was likely to get into trouble. Even she herself stood just inside the doorway at the entrance for only a short while, with the villagers watching her from a distance.

She called to a child who had ventured close: “What is your name?”

The child looked at her curiously, then gave a cry and ran away: “Mama! Mama! This green frog can talk!”

Zhù Ying simply sat down at the entrance, bent one knee up, propped her cheek on her fist, and watched the crowd watching her. They watched her; she watched them. Before long, some boldly foolish young men edged closer, and some young women, noticing she had a fair complexion and was rather fine-looking, drifted nearer as well. They asked: “You can speak our language?”

“I can.”

By the time the Asu Cave Master received word and came back, Zhù Ying had already extracted the family history of their ancestors eight generations back. She had learned that they also farmed, growing paddy rice in fields scattered all around; further into the mountains, some of the lower peaks had level stretches at their tops where they also cultivated quite a number of things. They also raised cattle, horses, sheep, and pigs, and most of the men went hunting. They wove cloth and dyed it, and also traded over the mountains with people on the other side. This village had only one of each kind of workshop, not even a shop to speak of, only occasional exchanges with people from down the mountain. There was also a periodic market — once a month they would travel to the main village for trading, lasting three days.

She also learned that this branch of the village answered to the Asu family’s authority, and that long, long ago they had also been relatives of the Asu family.

As for the Suoning family — though they were the same broad tribe, the two families viewed each other with extreme mutual enmity. They fought year in, year out, month in, month out. When the fighting broke out, if they did not bleed each other’s blood as an offering to heaven, they considered it generous — there was no sense of kinship between them whatsoever.

The Qixia tribe and the Liji tribe’s territories had rough relative positions, but were in fact jaggedly intermixed — a legacy of their ancestors’ mutual warfare. Of course, that mutual fighting was still ongoing today as well. And so on.

As Zhù Ying chatted with them, she idly plucked some blades of grass from the cracks in the earth and wound them around her slender fingers. Before long, she had tossed a little grasshopper figure to the child who had run away and then run back, for the child to play with.

She kept chatting with them, saying: “Back in our town we have market day three times a month. When I was a child I loved going more than anything — didn’t buy a thing, just looked. They found me terribly annoying.”

Seeing the Asu Cave Master coming, the people all stood and moved aside. Zhù Ying also stood, brushed off the back of her clothes, and said: “What a wonderful place you have — the people here seem free from all worries.”

The Asu Cave Master said: “They have handed all their worries over to me.”

Zhù Ying noticed the people she had been chatting with had nearly all dispersed, and understood that today’s interactions had come to their natural end. She smiled and asked: “Will we set out early again tomorrow morning?”

“Of course.”

“Wonderful!”

——

The next day, a light rain began to fall in the mountains. The moisture thickened into fog, and the mountains were swallowed in mist.

The Asu Cave Master called Zhao Su over and asked: “In weather like this, can your adoptive father still travel the road?”

Zhao Su said: “He will definitely press on.”

On the other side, Zhù Ying was also wondering about the Asu Cave Master’s health and whether the rain suited him for travel. Though they had agreed on the plan the day before, she still sent someone that morning to ask the Cave Master whether he needed to rest.

The Asu Cave Master said to Zhao Su: “He really is different from other officials down below.” In his youth the Asu Cave Master had also dealt with officials, and not a single one of them had ever considered coming to his village. When the time came to lure his father in and burn him alive, even then the banquet had been set up below the mountain — they had been invited down to the lowlands.

Traveling into the mountains through the rain was something even further beyond imagining.

Zhao Su said nothing. Caught between his adoptive father and his uncle, he truly did not know what he could say.

Zhù Ying put on her oilskin coat. Looking over, she saw that the Asu Cave Master and Elder Brother Tree were also wearing oilskin coats. She then looked at the Asu Cave Master’s attendants — they were all wearing straw rain cloaks. Her own attendants mostly wore straw rain cloaks as well. Seeing that everyone had something to keep the rain off, Zhù Ying looked away.

Zhao Su was also in his oilskin coat, keeping close to Zhù Ying’s side. He said: “The mountain path in the rain is hard going — horses’ hooves slip easily.”

Zhù Ying said: “I know. If the path becomes truly impassable, we simply dismount and walk. How is your uncle holding up?”

Zhao Su said: “Uncle is getting on in years now — he is not what he once was. He has gone out very rarely from the village lately. He really does want to be on good terms with Adoptive Father. He… alas, Adoptive Father will understand why he is in such a hurry once you meet my several cousins in the village.” He said this with a rueful smile.

Zhù Ying said: “More or less as I guessed. Don’t look so glum — if you don’t ask, it is surely for good reason.”

“You can tell?”

“You could tell too. It’s just that you spend all your energy on things that don’t matter and it clouds your sight. Fuluo County is the place of your parents’ birth — you know both the lowlands and the mountain villages better than anyone, yet you live your life in misery. You really ought to be thrown into the prefecture, or the province, or the capital.”

“Adoptive Father?”

Zhù Ying shook her head, and set off with the Asu Cave Master.

The party grew ever quieter on the road. The fog thickened. Everything became hard to see clearly. Zhù Ying could only glimpse, when she had climbed to the midpoint of another mountain, what looked like a very flat summit on a nearby low peak — seemingly field terraces of some kind. Along the way she also heard a few long, low calls from water buffalo that she could never locate.

Zhù Ying called the column to a halt and ordered the attendants to tie themselves together in a line with rope. She held the lead end of the rope to prevent anyone from becoming lost. The Asu Cave Master, observing this, thought: how careful.

Their midday meal was even simpler. Everyone dismounted, propped up large oilpaper parasols, and ate beneath them. Zhù Ying and Zhao Su and the others ate under the parasols; Tong Bo and the others stood under their wide-brimmed bamboo hats and chewed their dry provisions. The world around them held nothing but the sound of rain and the sound of chewing. The water they drank had been carried from the small village at the start — it tasted sweet and clean, a little better than the water in the county, even better than the sweet-water wells of the capital.

After eating, they continued on their way. Rain, fog, and the large carts all slowed their progress. At one point they turned off the path onto a side road and entered another small village. The Asu Cave Master was already showing signs of fatigue: “Let us rest here for today. Tomorrow we can reach my home.”

Zhù Ying said: “Good.”

The Asu Cave Master saw that she remained full of energy and could not help feeling a trace of envy and a trace of wistful sorrow for himself — at her age he had been just as vigorous!

Because of the heavy fog, the Asu Cave Master’s group and the people of this small village could barely make each other out, and nearly caused a misunderstanding before things were sorted out after some delay, allowing them to enter the village. Because of the Asu Cave Master’s health, there was no singing, dancing, or banqueting in this village — only the village chief keeping them company. Because of the rain, no one from the village came to gawk. Zhù Ying looked at the thin mist drifting through the village and took extra care in warning everyone again not to wander.

Not even she herself went looking for people to chat with in the village.

The next morning the rain had stopped, though the mountain fog was still dense. The Asu Cave Master had recovered some energy overnight. Seeing Zhù Ying up early and vigorous again, he sighed once more. After breakfast the group set out again. On this leg, the fog showed no sign of lifting, but the Asu Cave Master and his people gradually relaxed, and the frequency with which they urged their horses forward increased. Zhù Ying noticed this shift in his mood and knew they were nearly there.

The sky began to darken. By reckoning, they had now been on the road for a full three days. The air had grown warmer. The miasmal character of the land was beginning to show. Tong Bo, a native of Fuluo County, had begun cursing under his breath. Zhù Ying merely noticed a slight dampness to her skin, her clothes clinging to it — nothing beyond that.

Suddenly! Zhù Ying’s horse stirred restlessly. Zhù Ying reined in as well, and said: “Stop!”

She rode up to the Asu Cave Master’s side and looked at him. “Are we nearly home?”

The Asu Cave Master, seeing something unusual in her expression, still answered: “Yes. What is it?”

“Something is wrong. I cannot say exactly what, but something is wrong.”

The column fell quiet. In these unfamiliar fog-shrouded mountains, with the famously fierce “mountain folk” at their side, the Fuluo County party immediately grew uneasy. Hou Wu gripped his knife and rode forward to protect Zhù Ying. The mountain path at this stretch was narrow enough for only two carts side by side, and with Zhù Ying, the Asu Cave Master, Hou Wu, and Elder Brother Tree all there, the road was blocked. Even Zhao Su was left behind in the press.

Elder Brother Tree grew tense as well: “What is it?!”

The Asu Cave Master also sensed something was off but could not put his finger on it. He raised a hand to signal Elder Brother Tree not to speak. Then suddenly — not far off, a familiar sound rang out!

A war horn!

Elder Brother Tree’s face changed drastically: “Liji!”

The Asu Cave Master’s face also darkened. He cast a suspicious glance at Zhù Ying, thinking: did he sense it?

Zhù Ying asked: “An enemy?”

Elder Brother Tree said through gritted teeth: “The dogs — they crept up under cover of the fog for a surprise attack!”

Zhù Ying said: “They could predict the fog?” She knew, of course, that in a familiar territory — a township, say — experienced elders could predict the weather one or two days out. But in mountains this vast — could the Liji tribe be living particularly close? According to the map Zhao Su had given her, the Liji tribe’s main territories were on the far side of the great river, quite a distance away!

Hou Wu heard the horn and asked: “Is this an enemy attack? Or a signal?”

Zhù Ying said: “They are under attack.”

The Asu Cave Master said: “Please, Magistrate, wait here while I take my people back to defend against the enemy!” He called Zhao Su over and asked him to stay and accompany Zhù Ying.

Zhù Ying said: “Having come this far, there is no reason for me to hang back while others fight. I will go with the Cave Master — I promise not to be a burden. Come — tie the ropes tight.” She also asked Zhao Su whether there was any more open ground near the village.

Zhao Su said: “Quite a bit of it.”

Any main village capable of housing a full tribal chieftain enjoyed a strong geographical advantage, not least of which was a generous area of habitable land.

Zhù Ying said: “That makes things manageable.”

The closer they drew to the Asu family’s main village, the more the roads tended to improve. Zhù Ying pressed on. The Asu Cave Master had no time to stand on ceremony and could only let her bring her group and follow along. Cao Chang wanted to advise Zhù Ying to stay back and not take the risk, but Hou Wu said: “My Lord is right — we follow. There is no leaving friends behind.” Cao Chang glared at him. Hou Wu said: “What do you understand about anything?” In thick fog, in unknown territory, under enemy attack — sticking close to someone you knew was the correct course of action! What if this was not simply an enemy attack but a trap? This tribal chieftain was the best shield they had.

Their party drew closer to the main village. As they approached, the fog thinned. Gradually it became only a faint layer, barely impeding vision at all. But daylight was also fading, and through the dim haze they could make out something like two or three hundred people outside the village gates, locked in heated combat with the people inside. On the ground lay a scattering of bodies, the earth stained a dark reddish-brown.

Zhù Ying had done some study in recent days on the different tribes’ dress and colors. She could not say with confidence who the outside group were, but they did not appear to be Qixia people.

Invaders.

Among the invaders, a tall and powerfully built figure had a human head tied at his waist. The Asu Cave Master saw it and erupted in fury: “You filthy dog!!!”

Elder Brother Tree and the others also blazed with anger. Even Zhao Su could not contain himself: “How dare they!”

Zhù Ying asked: “Did they kill someone of great importance?”

Zhao Su said in an icy voice: “The Qixia tribe takes blood as an offering to heaven; the Liji tribe takes heads. The older the person, the more abundant the beard and hair, the better — those who are venerated and respected are the finest offering. They say that when taking a head, it is not just the head they are taking.”

“A human sacrifice.”

“Yes.”

The Asu Cave Master surveyed the battle. He could see that despite having superior numbers, his own people could not all pour out at once — and from within the village, sounds of disturbance could also be heard. He was furious: how had they managed to let the enemy get inside the village?!

He drew his blade, and with his own attendants moved to press in from the rear, creating a pincer with the forces inside. He only needed to ensure he was not routed. In his own village, with several thousand fighting men at his command, he would certainly be able to defeat the attackers.

Zhù Ying called: “Come!” She ordered her people to unharness the draft animals from the large carts and lash the carts together with rope, forming a makeshift barrier. The cattle and horses were driven behind the carts, and this temporary barricade was pushed forward to block one of the Liji people’s lines of retreat.

The Asu Cave Master glanced at her and gave a single nod, then swung his blade and charged forward.

The people inside the main village saw him and broke into loud cheers: “The Cave Master has returned!”

Morale surged at once!

The Liji tribespeople did not know how many reinforcements had arrived, but they had their heads — and hearing the Cave Master had returned, they began to withdraw. But they nearly ran directly into Zhù Ying. The Asu Cave Master’s heart leapt to his throat. He had worked so hard to establish contact with the lowlands, and this magistrate was a person of reason and good faith. She absolutely could not come to harm here!

But then he saw Zhù Ying standing on a cart and drawing her bow. Three arrows flew in rapid succession, one after another, aimed at the powerfully built man’s waist!

The man rolled to the ground, the head at his hip making the movement awkward, and one of the arrows grazed his leg. Seeing this, Zhù Ying nocked three more arrows and said: “Leave the head. You go.”

Her hasty study of the Liji tongue was still not very fluent, but the meaning got through. The man detached the head, held it in his hands, threw it toward her, and ran. Zhù Ying made no move to chase him, restraining her people and giving orders not to act rashly. Hou Wu carefully went to retrieve the head. It was not until the people inside the main village came out and paid their respects to the Asu Cave Master that the Cave Master came personally to say to Zhù Ying: “Please come in.”

Zhù Ying said to Hou Wu: “Here — give it to me.”

She personally returned the head to the Asu Cave Master. The Asu Cave Master received it, and tears fell like rain.

The one who had died was a younger brother of his from within the tribe — the two of them had always been close.

——

Because of all this, Zhù Ying encountered no palpable hostility inside the main village. The people regarded her with fascination.

Zhù Ying showed no particular reaction. She instructed her people to re-harness the draft animals, and had the large carts hauled into the village.

This village was far more imposing in scale than the smaller villages before it. It also had two main roads in a rough arrangement, something like the character for “upper” — though with some differences. The village was not square but somewhat irregularly rounded, with the terrain rising and falling throughout. With the fog lifted, the higher up you went, the closer you came to the chieftain’s residence. Standing at the junction of the two main roads and looking up, Zhù Ying estimated that this village housed well over a thousand households. It was not smaller than a county town.

Before the chieftain’s home was a vast, level square, its surface smooth and flat, planted with various flagpoles and stone platforms.

The Asu Cave Master’s wife and children were all assembled here to welcome his return.

The Asu Cave Master dismounted. Zhù Ying and the others also dismounted. His family members wanted to come forward in tears, but the Asu Cave Master handed the head to his eldest son: “Return it. I will come by later.” Then to his wife: “We have guests — prepare quickly!”

Zhù Ying looked at this Cave Master’s wife. She was not young, and you could see that in her youth she had been a woman of fine looks. She wore a full array of ornaments; Zhù Ying glimpsed the gold jewelry from their last transaction on her person. She bowed to the woman and said: “How do you do.”

The Cave Master’s wife said: “And how do you do. Little Sister was not wrong. Please come in first.”

Zhù Ying and Su Minyuan were already fairly well acquainted, but the introductions were still handled by the Asu Cave Master. Walking toward the house, he told Zhù Ying about his family members one by one.

Zhù Ying said: “You have a large family — prosperous and flourishing.”

They reached the main hall and sat down. In the center of the room was a large fire pit, still burning. The mountain was somewhat cool, and with the fog, even at this season they kept a fire going to drive out the dampness. Zhù Ying signaled to Hou Wu, who produced the gift register and handed it to the Asu Cave Master. He did not stand on ceremony — he had his daughter collect the register. In the whole family, Su Minyuan was probably the only one who could read it.

Zhù Ying then produced a box — the gold hairpins for the Cave Master’s wife.

The Cave Master’s wife smiled and accepted them. Zhù Ying then brought out a larger box and said: “I have heard your family is large, but I did not know everyone’s preferences. Here are some small things — please let everyone choose whatever they like.”

The mountain village was poor, but the chieftain’s family had seen fine things before. Even so, the Cave Master’s wife was astonished: “So many wonderful things?”

Zhù Ying said: “I have no use for them. If you like them, keep them.”

The whole household brightened with delight. The eldest son who had gone to return the head came back, traces of tears on his face — but at the sight of Zhù Ying and the others, his expression took on a touch of happiness. The Asu Cave Master said to his wife: “The guests have brought gifts, and you have received them. Now please see to the guests’ quarters, and tonight we will properly welcome our guests.”

The Asu Cave Master was partly observing the formalities of hospitality by asking the guest to rest, and partly trying to excuse Zhù Ying so he could find out what had happened and why.

The Cave Master’s wife invited Zhù Ying to accompany her to arrange the accommodations, bringing Zhao Su along as well. As they walked, she chatted with Zhù Ying for a moment and then spoke to her nephew, and also asked him: “Where will you be staying this visit? In the same place your mother stayed?”

Zhao Su said: “I will stay with my adoptive father.”

“Good — I’ll have your things moved there too.”

Back in the main hall around the fire pit, the children had gathered around the Asu Cave Master: “Father, are you tired? Shouldn’t you rest first?”

The Asu Cave Master was furious: “I have been gone only a few days?! And something like this happened while I was away — do you think I can rest?! Talk! Tell me everything!”

The siblings had no choice but to explain, and a minor squabble broke out among them as they did.

As it turned out, everything had been normal after the Asu Cave Master went down the mountain. But today, the Liji people had used the cover of the heavy fog to sneak over and launch a surprise attack. The village had detected them early enough and shut the gates.

At that point, intruders were trapped inside — a few who had slipped in were captured, their blood drawn as an offering to heaven, matter settled. But the Asu Cave Master’s eldest son looked out and saw only twenty or thirty people shouting and cursing outside the gate. Deciding this was unacceptable — that he could not just let the whole affair end with the enemy having broken in at all — he wanted to go out and capture the ones outside as well.

The youngest sister objected: in the fog they could not see clearly, and with their father not yet back, she said it was better to be cautious.

But the other brothers looked at the small number of enemies outside and sided with their eldest brother. They had not reckoned that the Liji tribe was not foolish — they had put those twenty people out in the open as bait, while the rest of their force lay concealed under the cover of the dense fog at the base of the village. When the gate swung open, they surged in on the opportunity.

The objective of this raid was very clear. Under a bout of harsh torture, one of the captives confessed — they had come specifically for heads. Their uncle wanted to make an impression for his nieces and nephews by personally leading the charge, and he had succeeded in taking the head.

Su Minyuan’s eldest brother was incensed and led a counterattack that drove them out again.

This eldest brother was still fuming: “They were really cunning — when I go to attack their village, I would never do something like that!”

The Asu Cave Master felt a headache coming on and said: “I understand. Send rice to the families of those who died. Give them proper coffins. The prisoners — sacrifice them when your uncle is buried. All of you, go. I need to rest a while before I go to your uncle’s home.”

The children withdrew. Su Minyuan walked a few steps and then turned back.

The Asu Cave Master said: “You have worked hard.”

“Father, I am not tired. But why did the county magistrate come along?”

The Asu Cave Master shook his head: “He is a formidable person!” He told her everything — how Zhù Ying had insisted on coming along, what she had said, her conduct throughout the journey, and what she had done at the small village along the way. He recounted it all.

Su Minyuan listened carefully, and then suddenly asked: “Father, you said how large is their county? Is it larger than our territory? If you add the Suoning family’s land to ours, would it be larger than what he governs? What if you add the Liji tribe’s land? Beyond the Liji tribe there are the ‘Xika’ tribe and the ‘Jima’ tribe — add all of them, would it not be far larger than his territory? He is capable, yes, but must answer to his court — not the least bit free! A talent like his must answer to others! If we told him he could stay here and help us, with no one above him to answer to — would he stay?”

“You mean—”

Su Minyuan’s eyes shone bright: “Become a ‘king.’ The king they speak of. Our family becomes king, and let him be a kind of king here too! He understands everything — he only lacks a domain to call his own, but right now someone is pressing down on him! Here, it would not be like that! He would not need to ask anyone’s permission for anything — whatever he wished to do, it would be entirely up to him!”

The Asu Cave Master said: “He has already come here to look around for a reason — which means he might already…”

Su Minyuan said: “Then we form a marriage alliance! If he does not wish to marry, then give him a child. He would not be able to ignore a child of his own — and the child could be king.”

——

Zhù Ying had, of course, already seen through it all — or if she had not seen it, she had asked and found it out.

The Cave Master’s wife settled her in and left. Zhao Su was in the room next door. In the interval when a servant from the Asu Cave Master’s household came in to light the fire pit, Zhù Ying struck up a conversation with the servant, and by the end had extracted the full story of that day’s battle from beginning to end.