Niuwang struck his staff against the ground with each step, the rings chiming as he walked into the stronghold.

“Young Master, Second Young Master —” The four guards escorting Niuwang said in unison. “Master Niubi has been brought!”

The title “Master Niubi” nearly made Shen Zhuxi choke.

She pressed her hand to her chest and breathed through it. Xiao Hu, hearing the commotion, turned to look at her with a searching expression.

Shen Zhuxi quickly composed herself with a smile.

“Niubi is your dharma name? Which temple are you from?” Da Hu asked, narrowing his eyes with suspicion.

“This monk has wandered the world for many years. Wherever the Buddha exists, there is this monk’s home — I have long since had no fixed place of residence.” Niuwang replied with composure.

“Do you know medicine?” Da Hu asked.

Niuwang waved his head. “Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning.”

“Master Niubi, you’re here now — there’s no use being modest. Only when we have achieved our purpose will you ever get to go back down the mountain. Otherwise — our stronghold has everything it needs, except a monk to recite scriptures.” Er Hu spoke up, his voice carrying a thread of threat.

“…Damn your wretched hide.” Niuwang muttered.

No one understood what he was grumbling in Sichuan dialect. Da Hu frowned. “What did you say?”

“I said you mountain bandits have no sense of bandit’s honor! This monk has no women, no wealth — why did you bother robbing me?!” Niuwang said loudly, with the air of someone deeply wronged.

“Master Niubi possesses great spiritual power and the ability to restore the dead to life. I have invited you here to save my father’s life.” Er Hu assumed a pretense of refinement as he gently fanned himself. “Does not Buddhism teach that saving one life surpasses building a seven-tiered pagoda? So long as the Master can improve my father’s condition, Pingshan Stronghold will reward you handsomely!”

Da Hu’s brow furrowed, and he interrupted Er Hu. “Matters of saving a life should be left to physicians — what does a monk understand about curing the sick —”

Er Hu paid him no attention, his eyes fixed on Niuwang with a threatening stare.

“Master Niubi, I believe in you — it’s only that my elder brother doesn’t. So you’ll need to demonstrate your abilities and win him over. If you don’t, he won’t believe you — and if he doesn’t believe you, you won’t be allowed to see my father. If you can’t see my father, you can’t save him. And if you can’t save him — you’ll never go back down this mountain.”

Er Hu’s tone was light, as if he were saying something in jest — yet no one would mistake a threat from a viper like him for a joke.

“What a lot of bother —” Niuwang rubbed his smooth shaved head with an annoyed expression.

He looked around, then abruptly strode toward a pond not far away.

Everyone watched his retreating figure. Shen Zhuxi also leaned out from the carriage window, watching his every move with nervous attention.

Niuwang picked up a bamboo basket lying abandoned by the edge of the pond, turned back to face the crowd, and began feeling it over while counting aloud:

“…Seven holes, eight holes, nine… this basket has a total of two hundred and seventeen holes. Do you know why there are holes in this basket?”

Whether or not it actually had two hundred and seventeen holes, no one could say — Shen Zhuxi certainly couldn’t.

Everyone present watched blankly as Niuwang submerged the bamboo basket into the pond.

“A bamboo basket has holes to allow air to pass through — it was never meant for carrying water. That is why there is the saying ‘drawing water with a bamboo basket — an exercise in futility.’ You want this monk to save someone on the verge of death — that is going against heaven itself. It is the same as demanding that a bamboo basket hold water without spilling — both are acts of defiance against the natural order.”

Er Hu’s lips twitched, and it was clear he was growing impatient — but this was someone he himself had summoned, so he gave a little more patience and restrained himself from interrupting.

“…So then?” Da Hu seized Er Hu’s line and said impatiently. “I don’t care whether a bamboo basket can hold water. I only want to know what ability you have to cure the sick and save the dying.”

“This monk cannot cure the sick and save the dying. This monk can only defy fate itself.”

Niuwang straightened his posture and held up the bamboo basket in his hand.

Inside the basket, pond water laced with floating duckweed sloshed and moved. Through the holes of the basket, you could see the landscape on the other side — it was still the same basket, with the same holes as before, yet the pond water was sloshing inside it without a single drop leaking through.

Shen Zhuxi’s jaw dropped in astonishment, and the watching crowd drew a collective breath of shock.

Da Hu’s expression was one of amazement. “Bring that basket to me —”

“Defying heaven always costs one’s blessings and years. Therefore this monk never acts lightly.”

Niuwang tossed the basket to the ground and stamped both feet on top of it. The basket immediately collapsed out of shape, and it seemed to revert at once to an ordinary bamboo basket. Water poured out of it with a great rush, soaking the earth beneath Niuwang’s feet and wetting his cloth shoes.

Niuwang pressed his palms together and closed his eyes with an air of genuine devotion. “Amitabha…”

“Bring that basket here!” Da Hu said.

One of the guards immediately ran forward, glanced cautiously at Niuwang to see whether he objected, and seeing no sign of protest, respectfully picked up the basket with both hands and trotted back to present it to Da Hu.

Da Hu snatched it and stared at it hard for a good while without finding anything unusual.

“What trick did you use?!” Da Hu stared at Niuwang in disbelief.

Niuwang’s brow furrowed in displeasure. He jabbed his staff against the ground with a resounding clatter of the rings.

“This monk plays no tricks. If you don’t believe it, release this monk to leave right now — this monk has no interest in staying here!”

“Elder Brother —” Er Hu snapped his fan shut and spoke. “If you drive Master Niubi away in anger, there will truly be no one left who can save Father.”

Da Hu’s face showed a flash of reluctance, but with everyone watching, he could hardly say outright that he’d prefer Father didn’t recover. With no choice in the matter, he said grudgingly, “Whether or not he is a true master, that is not yet clear. If I don’t ask questions, am I supposed to hand the stronghold master’s life over to someone of unknown background?”

“It’s not as if this monk came willingly. Ask what you want to ask — after all, it isn’t this monk’s life hanging in the balance —” Niuwang looked around, brow furrowed in dissatisfaction. “Before all your questioning, shouldn’t you at least provide good wine and fine food, and give this monk somewhere to sit?”

“It is our failing for being poor hosts and overlooking such things.” Er Hu gently tapped his fan against his palm and smiled. “Master, please follow me to Juying Hall.”

Seeing her two brothers had forgotten she existed, Xiao Hu quietly picked up the horsewhip and gave the horse’s backside a light tap.

Creak, creak — the carriage began to roll toward the gate.

“A great and terrible omen! A great and terrible omen!” Niuwang’s expression suddenly changed as he pointed at the carriage that was about to slip out the gap. “If the people in that carriage leave, your stronghold master will surely not survive the night!”

Er Hu’s face changed at once, and he barked at the guards standing frozen by the gate, “Why haven’t you stopped that carriage?!”

The guards swarmed forward in a rush, blocking the road that had briefly opened wide.

With this last chance cut off, Xiao Hu leapt down from the carriage, glaring coldly at Niuwang who stood there gripping his staff, and snapped furiously, “What are you talking about, you bald donkey?”

“A monk does not speak falsehoods —” Niuwang stroked his chin reflectively, seemingly for a moment under the impression he was an immortal Daoist master of lofty bearing — then, finding nothing there, remembered he was presently a monk and made do with patting his chest instead. “The moment your carriage moved, the feng shui of this stronghold shifted. Clearly, the people in that carriage are the ones who carry the power to change Pingshan Stronghold’s fate.”

“Little brother, don’t be so hasty about this,” Er Hu called out with theatrical sincerity. “The ransom exchange can wait. Right now, Father’s health comes first!”

Xiao Hu’s expression grew darker. She stood still for a moment, then abruptly turned and started back toward the carriage.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Er Hu called out.

“I am acting under the stronghold master’s orders to collect the ransom. No one will stop me!”

Xiao Hu leapt onto the carriage and seized the whip, ready to force her way through Pingshan’s defenses.

“No!” Shen Zhuxi cried out.

Xiao Hu’s raised hand stopped at the sound of her voice.

Li Que, who had been half-rising in an attempt to restrain Xiao Hu, turned to look at her.

“I…”

Both the carriage door and window were wide open.

Under the watchful eyes of all parties, Shen Zhuxi’s eyes filled with tears — from embarrassment.

“I need to use the privy…”

That familiar humiliation and those all-too-familiar words brought back the memory of the day she had first met Li Wu.

She could never have imagined there would come a day in her life when she would have to say such a thing in front of so many eyes!

Caught on both sides, there was no way for Xiao Hu to leave now.

Shen Zhuxi was escorted to the nearest outhouse, Li Que and Li Kun were sent back to their confined courtyard, and the three Pingshan siblings were moved together with the mysterious Master Niubi to the stronghold’s guest hall, Juying Hall.

“Second Brother, how did you come to know Master Niubi?” Da Hu asked.

All three siblings sat at the same table, each positioned to keep watch on the others, each unwilling to let any one of them gain an advantage.

In contrast to the three siblings bristling with caution and wariness, Niuwang lounged leisurely with one leg crossed over the other, drinking down the tea before him in great gulps.

Before Da Hu’s question could even be answered, Niuwang spat a mouthful of tea leaves with a “ptooey” and spoke first, in a thoroughly disgruntled tone:

“This monk doesn’t know any of you Da Hu, Er Hu, Xiao Hu! This monk was walking along minding his own business when he was inexplicably tied up and hauled up this mountain!”

“Master, there’s no need for such words — it would hurt feelings,” Er Hu said, gently tapping the circular edge of the table with his fan. “I sent men to respectfully invite you up the mountain, and made sure to tell them you were not to be harmed in the slightest. Master, you mustn’t misunderstand my sincere intentions!”

“How did you come to learn of Master Niubi?” Da Hu asked.

“Naturally, through extensive inquiries — only then did I learn of the great monk Master Niubi.” Er Hu heaved a sigh of fretful concern. “I have devoted my entire heart and mind to the stronghold master’s illness. Many other affairs of the stronghold have gone neglected because of it. Unlike Elder Brother, who manages all matters large and small so capably —”

The target of this veiled dig, Da Hu’s expression soured.

Er Hu swiftly redirected his remarks and said brightly, “But diligence is rewarded — I finally found Master Niubi! Since Master Niubi has the power to restore the dead to life, he can surely bring a gravely ill man back to full health!”

“This monk is not a god. This monk merely happened to save someone who was close to dying. Forbidden techniques such as true resurrection are something this monk would not dare to attempt.”

Niuwang set down his now-empty teacup and spat out a few more tea leaves with another “ptooey.”

The candle on the table went dark on his second “ptooey.”

“Someone come and relight the —”

Before Da Hu could finish his words, Niuwang reached out and passed a finger over the extinguished wick.

The flame flared back to life, and the candlelight flickered once more.

Da Hu stared with his mouth hanging open. Er Hu clapped in delight. Xiao Hu’s brow furrowed tightly.

“The Master truly possesses real abilities — he can even light a candle with bare hands! A true and genuine master!” Er Hu said with unbounded admiration and enthusiasm.

“A mere trifle, not worth mentioning —” Niuwang said modestly.

“Master, these powers of yours — from whom did you learn them?” Da Hu asked with careful curiosity.

“Ah — it was a chance encounter that led me to a certain reclusive master of great ability, which is how I came to have the dharma name Niubi.” Niuwang said with feeling. “This technique of lighting candles and drawing water in a bamboo basket — I also learned both from him.”

“Might this revered one have a dharma name?” Da Hu said. “Perhaps we have heard of him?”

“If he’s a reclusive master, how would he have a dharma name known to the world?” Niuwang cast a dissatisfied glance at Da Hu, his Mandarin once again becoming fragmented and halting.

“You make a fair point…” Da Hu laughed in embarrassment.

“However —though this master has no dharma name, he does have a courtesy name he gave himself.”

Niuwang paused for dramatic effect. Er Hu was obliging and immediately followed up, “What does this master call himself?”

“Because he keeps a pig at home, this master has given himself the courtesy name — Scholar of the Precious Pearl.”

……

Shen Zhuxi stood in the reeking outhouse for a while, pinching her nose, before walking back out having done absolutely nothing.

The two guards responsible for watching her herded her back to her confined courtyard in a rough and impatient manner.

She had barely stepped over the threshold when she sneezed.

Strange —

The wind hadn’t picked up at all?

She turned to look behind her, but the two guards gave her no opportunity to look outside, and shut the courtyard gate from the outside.

A large hand suddenly reached out from behind and pressed tightly over her mouth.

“Mmph —”

Shen Zhuxi’s soul nearly left her body, and she fought frantically to break free.

“Don’t make a sound —”

The voice that spoke was familiar. Every last bit of Shen Zhuxi’s strength drained away.

She spun around —

As if in a dream, the person she had been missing day and night appeared here, miraculously, before her.

Li Wu curved his lips upward and leaned down close to her ear.

“Fool, your husband has come for you.”