Stacked lantern mountains illuminated the banks of Yunxiang River—fiery trees and silver flowers, extraordinarily lively.

Ni Su pulled on Xu Hexue’s sleeve, asking him to eat glutinous rice yuanxiao at a food stall beneath Rainbow Bridge. The hot steam from the porcelain bowl was quickly dispersed by the cold wind. Xu Hexue held a spoon, lifted his veiled hat, and awkwardly took a bite.

Thick black sesame filling flowed out. He thought for quite a while but couldn’t recall whether he had ever eaten this thing before.

“Did you see the grand procession when Prince Jia returned to the capital today?”

In the oilcloth tent across from them, a young man dressed in a scholar’s robe who seemed refined chatted idly with a friend at the same table.

Xu Hexue’s two fingers suddenly loosened. The spoon fell into the bowl with a clear clinking sound.

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing this, Ni Su looked up at him.

Xu Hexue picked up the spoon again, disguising his loss of composure. He shook his head: “Nothing.”

The voice of the young man in that oilcloth tent kept falling upon his ears. “So many Imperial Guards surrounding the carriage, and they even took the Imperial Avenue…”

“It’s been fifteen or sixteen years now. By rights, His Majesty’s anger should have long since dissipated.” The other person at the table with that young man said.

“No wonder His Majesty grew angry. Back then, when Prince Jia pleaded for his teacher, that was understandable. But what about that Xu Hexue? A criminal official who betrayed the nation, willing to cast off our Great Qi’s robes and caps to become a running dog for the barbarians. If not for him, those several cities north of Yongzhou wouldn’t have been lost either. He deserved to be cut into a thousand pieces!” The refined young scholar heavily slapped the table, filled with righteous indignation.

“Ni Su.”

Xu Hexue suddenly set down the porcelain bowl and stood up.

Ni Su hadn’t been listening to what was being said in the oilcloth tent across from them. She had only been looking up at the fireworks overhead, but his sudden action startled her. She was confused: “You’re not eating anymore?”

The name “Xu Hexue” was thoroughly filthy.

Even after sixteen years had passed, this mortal world had not forgotten the filth that clung tightly to him. And Ni Su was only seventeen years old. When she was born, he was on the battlefield, still full of grand ambitions, wholeheartedly wanting to recapture the thirteen provinces trampled by barbarian iron cavalry.

When she grew a bit older, he had already become notorious, losing both family and nation.

Perhaps she had already come to know these three characters “Xu Hexue” in the marketplace, amid countless people’s curses and denunciations. Perhaps she too harbored hatred for these three characters.

He actually had no guilt in his heart, yet still instinctively didn’t want her to hear these things.

“Mm, not eating anymore…”

The liveliness all around continued unabated, yet he could no longer remain at ease.

“Then let’s go to the entertainment district up ahead? Last time we agreed that when my affairs were all settled, we’d go to the entertainment district together to listen to the pipa.”

Ni Su paid the bill and pointed to the brightly lit theater district not far away.

Xu Hexue raised his eyes. Actually, he couldn’t see very clearly, because all these city fireworks and lamp shadows had nothing to do with him. The only thing that could illuminate his eyes was this lantern he now held in his hand.

The theater district was very large and very lively. Storytellers spewed saliva everywhere, musicians plucked strings singing melodious tunes, and on the round stage, women in flowing robes and skirts moved like lotuses blooming with each step, their dance postures graceful.

There were also variety shows, puppet shows, shadow puppet plays, and such tricks that dazzled the eyes.

It wasn’t that Que County had no entertainment districts, but they ultimately couldn’t compare to the prosperity of the capital. Ni Su and Xu Hexue went up to the second floor. A young waiter led them to a table. Behind a screen below, a musician plucked the pipa, the pearl-like string sounds falling one by one.

The tea bowl at hand was slightly hot. Xu Hexue examined everything before him through his veiled hat. Though he couldn’t immediately recall much, he could feel that he had been to such places before.

And more than once.

“Let’s listen to the pipa for a while, then go over there to hear the storytelling?” When Ni Su was downstairs, she had heard that storyteller speak with passionate fervor. She had only listened to a bit, but already found it captivating.

“Mm.”

Xu Hexue responded lightly. His eyes beneath the veiled hat inadvertently swept past the stairway below. His gaze suddenly fixed upon a group of people coming upstairs.

The person surrounded in the very center by several others looked not much different from them, but his build was much more robust. Xu Hexue carefully observed his every move, noticing that his right hand kept unconsciously touching his waist, where there was clearly nothing—not even a hanging jade ornament.

Something wasn’t right.

Xu Hexue silently watched that group of people come upstairs, listening to the sound of their footsteps passing behind him. He turned his face and saw that robust man push open the door to a private room, while the others very naturally mixed into the lively crowd by the railing.

“That’s…”

Ni Su had been watching the excitement below, but suddenly saw a figure.

Hearing her voice, Xu Hexue immediately followed her gaze.

It was actually Grand Commandant Miao.

Though dressed in ordinary clothes, that face was impossible to disguise. Xu Hexue watched Grand Commandant Miao lift his hem and come upstairs. He suddenly glanced back at that private room.

He immediately said to the young lady beside him: “Ni Su, go intercept Grand Commandant Miao and hide him.”

Ni Su’s face showed surprise and doubt. Though she didn’t know what was going on, she still immediately stood up and quickly walked to Grand Commandant Miao, who had just reached the top of the stairs, calling in a low voice: “Grand Commandant, sir.”

Grand Commandant Miao looked up. Upon seeing this young lady before him, a trace of astonishment floated in his eyes: “Miss Ni?”

“Grand Commandant, sir, you cannot go forward. Please come with me.”

Ni Su grabbed Grand Commandant Miao’s arm, looked around, and immediately pulled him into another private room on the other side.

Seeing this, Xu Hexue reached under the table and grasped. Faint sparkling dust silently condensed into a sword. He stood up and walked toward that private room.

Many eyes mixed in the lively crowd stared intently at his every move as he approached, but they delayed acting, watching him push open that door.

In the private room was only that tall, large-framed man. Under the warm yellow lamplight, the color of the skin on his face didn’t differ much from his neck. His eagle-like eyes fixed on the white-robed young gentleman who had opened the door, frowning: “Who are you?”

“Not the person you’re waiting for?”

The face beneath the veiled hat was difficult to see clearly. His voice was cold.

“The one I’m waiting for isn’t a young gentleman like you.”

The man grew wary and reached for his waist again, only to realize there was nothing there.

“Why couldn’t it be that I’m here on someone else’s behalf, coming in their stead?”

Xu Hexue spoke unhurriedly, sitting down at the table. “Could it be you’re not waiting for Grand Commandant Miao?”

When the three characters “Grand Commandant Miao” were mentioned, the man’s expression became somewhat strange. Perhaps his expression shouldn’t have been so unrestrained, but that layer of facial skin that didn’t quite match his overly deep bone structure magnified his expression.

“The one I want to see is Grand Commandant Miao.”

The man’s gloomy eyes stared intently at him.

“Why don’t you tell me what your hand is looking for?” Xu Hexue placed the lantern on the desk, then lightly raised his eyelids. “Looking for your curved blade?”

“I mean, the curved blade that barbarians use.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the man’s complexion changed drastically. He immediately tried to stand up, but was dazzled by the sword blade being drawn by the young gentleman across from him. In just an instant, the sword edge pierced through one of his palms and through the tabletop as well.

“Ahh!!!”

Crimson blood flowed out. The man screamed in agony. The next moment, the sword blade withdrew from his flesh and blood, lightly cutting across his face. A layer of skin broke, revealing the coarse, darkened complexion beneath.

Several people outside the private room heard the commotion and rushed in. One by one, they drew swords and blades hidden beneath their robes, attacking that stranger in snow-white robes wearing a veiled hat.

Xu Hexue met them with his sword, his moves swift and sharp. With one leap forward, he stabbed one person, then turned to slash the sword-wielding hand of the person behind him.

A gust of wind briefly lifted his veiled hat, revealing a pair of clear, cold eyes.

The liveliness in the entertainment district briefly drowned out the commotion in this private room, until someone passing by happened to see the door panel collapse. They were knocked to the ground by a person flying out from inside. Many people standing by the railing turned their heads and only then saw corpses strewn across the private room, blood covering the floor.

Men’s and women’s screams mixed together. The entertainment district immediately descended into chaos.

Soon, the disturbance in the entertainment district alarmed nearby night patrol military constables, who surrounded the place inside and out. The sound of footsteps in military boots came in waves, very heavy.

Ni Su brought Grand Commandant Miao to a room where musicians changed clothes and applied makeup. She found a set of somewhat loose, less conspicuous robes and skirts and handed them to him: “If you don’t want anyone to discover you were here tonight, this is the only way.”

“…”

Having lived for several decades, Grand Commandant Miao had never frowned and grimaced at barbarian golden blades the way he did facing this set of women’s clothing.

“Hurry up, or when all the musicians leave, you won’t be able to escape.”

Ni Su urged him.

Grand Commandant Miao’s heart was very heavy, but who told him to fall alone into someone else’s trap tonight? He accepted the clothes and thought of the back view of that young man who had been with her—he felt somewhat familiar in his heart. “Is that young gentleman your…”

Before he finished speaking, he heard a sound at the room door. Grand Commandant Miao immediately turned his head. His originally solemn, tense expression instantly collapsed.

“Grand Commandant Miao?”

“Censor Jiang?”

The two spoke almost in unison.

But both looked at each other with somewhat unfriendly gazes. Censor Jiang even sized up Ni Su and him: “I wonder what Grand Commandant Miao came here to do tonight?”

Grand Commandant Miao smiled without mirth: “This Grand Commandant also wants to ask what Censor Jiang came to do. You don’t look like someone who enjoys places like entertainment districts.”

Jiang Xianming’s complexion stiffened slightly, but he had no time to continue confronting him. He didn’t recognize Ni Su and was considering what to do in this situation when he heard Ni Su say: “Has Censor Jiang also encountered difficulties? Come looking for clothes?”

Jiang Xianming knew in his heart that the people from the Night Patrol Bureau would arrive soon. Things he hadn’t yet investigated clearly couldn’t reach those people’s ears, but naturally, he wouldn’t tell a strange woman these things.

“Here’s another set of robes and skirts. Censor Jiang’s build should fit.” Ni Su pulled out another set from the cabinet and handed it to him.

Jiang Xianming had been somewhat suspicious of this woman, but seeing Grand Commandant Miao standing so boldly before her without avoiding her, he guessed in his heart that she should be somewhat trustworthy. He accepted the clothes and said: “Thank you.”

He wasn’t as coy as Grand Commandant Miao. Taking the robes and skirts, he hurried into the inner room to change. Grand Commandant Miao grimaced and could only walk in as well.

“What an ugly thing…”

Ni Su stood outside and heard a mocking laugh from Grand Commandant Miao coming from inside. Without needing to guess, he must be ridiculing Jiang Xianming.

“Aren’t you also an ugly thing?”

Jiang Xianming’s mouth was equally unforgiving.

Ni Su was concerned about Xu Ziling and had no time to listen to them bicker inside. After urging them twice, both men were actually quite efficient. They came out wearing the women’s robes and skirts.

“…”

Ni Su looked at their faces. After a moment: “How about… shaving the beards?”

Both Jiang Xianming’s and Grand Commandant Miao’s faces cracked a bit.

However unwilling, the two ultimately shaved off the beards they had grown for a long time, arranged simple women’s hairstyles, and put on veiled hats. Jiang Xianming was passable, but Grand Commandant Miao, coming from a military background, had a much larger build and could only reluctantly hunch his waist, following the musicians out through the back door.

The people from the Night Patrol Bureau hadn’t arrived yet. The musicians couldn’t leave the Musicians’ Bureau for too long. A military constable asked the women in front a few questions, then glanced at the two behind who clearly didn’t seem like young women. He felt something was strange and was about to question them when he heard violent commotion again from inside the entertainment district.

The musicians were so frightened they immediately rushed out. Jiang Xianming and Grand Commandant Miao, the two of them squeezing each other, took advantage of the chaos to run along behind.

The military constable had no time to deal with them. Entering the entertainment district, he discovered that the huge copper lantern above had fallen down, almost smashing through the round stage below.

Ni Su’s eyes kept searching for Xu Ziling in the crowd. She was afraid that if the distance was too great, what would happen if those wounds on his body appeared again?

“Ni Su.”

A familiar voice came from behind her. She immediately turned around. The young man in snow-white round-collared robes had at some point already been standing behind her.

She had just breathed a sigh of relief when she heard someone at the main entrance call out: “Commander Zhou!”

Ni Su turned her head and indeed saw Zhou Ting step inside. Her face showed a trace of panic. In her urgency, she turned around and lifted Xu Ziling’s veiled hat, burying her head inside.

At such a close distance, he had no breath, yet she could feel her warm breath lightly brushing his cheek. A trace of bewilderment and panic showed on Xu Hexue’s pale face.

She was too close.

So close he could see every inch of skin on her cheek, the fine down.

“He can’t discover us…”

Ni Su felt somewhat awkward. She had just made the excuse that she needed to write medical case notes at home, and now she was caught in the entertainment district—what was that about?

“You, quickly back up.”

Ni Su tugged at his sleeve.

Xu Hexue, like a puppet under her command, stiffly moved his steps until they hid together behind a half-drawn curtain.

Her breathing nearly disrupted Xu Hexue’s composure. He turned his face slightly to the side, deliberately avoiding her gaze. Yet beneath the veiled hat, this intimacy had already shattered his calm.

“Don’t move around…”

Ni Su instructed in a small voice.

Just at this moment, Xu Hexue looked up to see Zhou Ting about to come toward the stairway. He immediately grasped Ni Su’s arm and in two or three steps pushed her into a shadowy corner, standing in front of her.

Zhou Ting was about to go upstairs when he inexplicably felt that a color that flashed in his peripheral vision was somewhat striking. He looked up for a glance and only saw that person with their back to him, wearing snow-white robes.

Zhou Ting suddenly recalled a piece of satin that Chao Yisong had described to him. Could it be this?

But he didn’t look further and quickly went upstairs.

Ni Su crouched beside the wooden rack holding flower vases, her eyes reddened from holding back. Xu Hexue bent down to lift his veiled hat and only then discovered her unusual state: “Did I hurt you?”

“No,”

Ni Su shook her head. “I crouched down too quickly—it pulled at the injury on my lower back and it hurts a bit.”

“Ni Su, without using magic, we won’t be able to escape from under Zhou Ting’s nose.” Xu Hexue lowered his eyes in thought for a moment, explained to her, then added: “When we return, you can light lamps for me again.”

“You can disappear in front of people. If he discovers me, then let him discover me.”

Ni Su shook her head with a frown.

She refused no matter what to use his self-harm to resolve the awkwardness of possibly being discovered by Zhou Ting. But she suddenly noticed that the edge of his sleeve seemed stained with some blood. She immediately reached out to lift his sleeve, but saw his wrist bone was cold and white with no trace of injury whatsoever.

“This…”

Ni Su looked up.

Xu Hexue turned his face. The veiled hat once again concealed his features. His gaze fell upon the private room upstairs surrounded by personal guards from the Night Patrol Bureau: “It’s not my blood.”

“It’s barbarian blood.”