“Elder Brother!” Li Que called out.

The moment Shen Zhuxi saw Li Wu appear, the strength she had been forcing herself to maintain suddenly drained away. She lowered her head and saw Li Kun’s ears move slightly, his face — tinged with that sickly blue-green — turning with great difficulty in the direction of Li Wu.

“Your big brother is here. It’s alright now… it’s alright…” she said, her voice trembling.

Li Wu stood behind Du Yanlong, his blade steady against Du Yanlong’s neck, leaving him not even the slightest chance to turn his head. The situation — which had seemed like a sure victory a moment ago — had suddenly reversed itself, and even in the firelight, Du Yanlong’s face carried a tinge of that same blue-green pallor.

“Brother Huang, have your men step back a little,” Li Wu said with a smile. “I’m a timid sort — it doesn’t matter if I get frightened, but if my hand slips and you get hurt, what then? The prefect still needs you, doesn’t he?”

Du Yanlong glanced behind him. “…You’re Li Wu?”

“That’s right, what a coincidence.” Li Wu slowed his voice, the smile on his face gone completely. “The woman you set your eyes on is my woman. The brother you hurt is my brother. Brother Huang — how are you going to settle this account?”

“…How did you get in?”

Before Du Yanlong had even finished speaking, the sharp tip of the blade suddenly drove an inch into his neck. Blood flew in a startling spray, and Du Yanlong let out a shriek.

“Brother Huang!”

Several cries rang out. Du Yanlong’s trusted bodyguards began to panic.

Countless blades and swords pointed toward Li Wu. Shouts of fury and threats followed one after another, but Li Wu paid them no mind, wearing the expression of someone on a leisurely stroll.

Du Yanlong was still shrieking, his right hand clamped desperately over the bleeding point on his neck.

“Stop screaming. So much noise.” The bloodstained long blade gave Du Yanlong’s ashen face a light pat, and Li Wu dug a finger into his own ear with the unhurried air of someone on a leisurely stroll. “Everything in life calls for fairness. Since we’re talking about hostages, the conditions ought to be equal before there’s any room for negotiation. My brother can barely make a sound anymore — Brother Huang, I’m starting to think you’re still a little too lively. Missing a cut, are you?”

Du Yanlong drew a sharp breath and forcibly held back the cry that had risen to his lips.

“Li Wu… if you kill me, you won’t survive tonight either.” Du Yanlong forced himself to appear composed, but the fear in his eyes was impossible to conceal.

“So what?” Li Wu said carelessly. “Getting to take Brother Huang with me on the road to the underworld — I’d say that’s not a bad deal.”

Du Yanlong’s face went completely white.

“…What do you want?”

“You can go,” Li Wu said. “But he stays.”

Zhou Zhuang, fixed by Li Wu’s gaze, dropped to his knees with a thud. “Brother Huang——”

“Just that?” Du Yanlong was half-convinced. “You’re not tricking me?”

“My word is my bond.”

Du Yanlong’s expression struggled for a moment. The blood on his neck seemed endless, pouring through his fingers and staining his collar red — like a silent countdown, pressing him toward a decision.

“Brother Huang, you can’t leave me here! If you don’t take me with you, I’m dead, Brother Huang!” Zhou Zhuang’s face was a picture of terror. Seeing Du Yanlong’s face remain unmoved, he began kowtowing frantically, his voice pitiful and shrill: “But I was doing all this for you — Brother Huang, you can’t throw me away and leave me to die like this!”

His cries were desperate, and after several hard knocks his forehead was already bleeding. His pleas were useless when it came to the decision Du Yanlong now had to make. Du Yanlong quickly made up his mind — one look was all it took, and a strong subordinate stepped forward, effortlessly twisted Zhou Zhuang’s arms behind his back, and shoved him out of the protected zone.

Li Wu pushed Du Yanlong forward, exchanging the bloodied Du Yanlong for the limp Zhou Zhuang.

Once back in safe territory, Du Yanlong’s eyes shifted instantly. He took the cloth offered by a subordinate and pressed it tightly against the wound on his neck, his vicious gaze fixed unwaveringly on Li Wu.

“Good… very good. It’s been a long time since anyone made me bleed. This debt — we’ll settle it slowly in due course. Move out!”

Zhou Zhuang let out a soul-wrenching wail: “Brother Huang, you can’t abandon me! Brother Huang!”

Du Yanlong led his men away without looking back.

Li Que turned around and crouched down, trying to help the unconscious Li Kun to his feet. But Li Kun’s build was simply too large, and Li Que’s expression showed the strain — Li Kun’s upper body was only barely raised.

Li Wu bound Zhou Zhuang tightly and walked over:

“I’ve got him. You go to the town and bring old Doctor Tang back. Be fast — drag him here if you have to.”

Li Wu caught Li Kun, and Li Que immediately sprinted off toward town.

Tears of relief at surviving burst from Shen Zhuxi’s eyes, and she had no time even to wipe them away. She rushed forward to support Li Kun from one side, helping carry him into the inner room. Then she watched as Li Wu threw Zhou Zhuang into the woodshed and locked him inside.

One incense stick of time later, Li Que came running in with Doctor Tang on his back, and Si’ya — who had been hiding in the rice jar — followed them in as well.

Doctor Tang yelped: “Finally! My old bones have been rattled apart by you!”

“Stop talking and come over here!” Li Wu cut him off, and only then did a trace of urgency show on his face.

Doctor Tang knew the situation was urgent and wasted no time. He picked up his medicine bag and sat down at the bedside.

First he checked Li Kun’s breath, then felt his pulse, and finally opened his bag to take out his needle case.

“He was poisoned by Seven-Star Powder — a run-of-the-mill fast-acting poison, the kind that roadside bandits love most because it’s cheap and quick-working…”

“I only care about whether his body will be alright.” Li Wu said impatiently.

“What are you rushing for? I was just getting to that!” Doctor Tang blew out his whiskers. “He’s taken the antidote — he’s already out of danger. I’ll give him three needles now to help expel the remaining toxins sooner, and he’ll wake up sooner.”

Doctor Tang produced a long, thin silver needle and moved it toward Li Kun’s temple. Shen Zhuxi watched and felt her own temples throb in sympathy. Unable to help herself, she looked away.

In that moment of looking away, she met Li Wu’s gaze.

“Are you hurt?” Li Wu asked.

Shen Zhuxi shook her head. “With Li Kun and Li Que protecting me, I’m fine…”

Li Wu gave her head a reassuring pat.

“Are you frightened?”

Strange as it seemed, she normally hated when Li Wu patted her head and messed up her hair, but the large hand that came down on her head just then brought with it boundless courage and calm.

“…Not anymore.” Shen Zhuxi thought of how he had appeared out of nowhere, and asked urgently: “Weren’t you in Xicheng County? How did you end up beside Du Yanlong?”

“I was worried about you. I went to Qingniu County overnight and then borrowed a horse to ride back. I happened to run into the neighboring county recruiting thugs, and only after asking around did I find out what had happened. Good thing I came back in time — otherwise…”

Li Wu raised his eyes, his gaze settling on Li Que. Li Que avoided his look, and the two hands hanging at his sides slowly clenched into fists.

“What happened to Sister-in-law Zhou?” Shen Zhuxi asked.

“…I’ll tell you in a bit.”

Beside them, Doctor Tang finished inserting the three needles and began putting away his needle case.

“Alright, I’d estimate he’ll wake up within another incense stick’s time. Do you have any noodles? Getting dragged out in the middle of the night like this — I’m a bit hungry now…”

“Go to Suxintang. Someone will treat you to a good meal when you get there.” Li Wu said. “Li Qu’er, you send old Doctor Tang back. Take Si’ya home too.”

“This is how you send me off? My rattled bones haven’t even grown back yet!” Doctor Tang said indignantly.

“When you get back, someone’s waiting for you outside. He’s got a neck wound — lots of bleeding but not life-threatening.” Li Wu said. “Take your time with him. Help me stall as long as you can.”

“You’ve been fighting and killing again?” Doctor Tang frowned.

Time was pressing. Li Wu didn’t answer. One jerk of his chin, and Li Que “invited” Doctor Tang up onto his back.

“Pardon me, Doctor Tang, I’ll have to trouble you to come along one more time…”

“Ow, slow down, slow down! Are you trying to do me in——”

Si’ya glanced at Shen Zhuxi, and then in her sensible way chased after the others and left.

After the three of them departed, only Shen Zhuxi, Li Wu, and the still-unconscious Li Kun remained in the room.

Shen Zhuxi hesitated a moment, then said quietly: “That man called Du Yanlong said he works under the Xiangyang prefect, and even the Yutou County magistrate defers to him. Did I… bring trouble on you all?”

“This trouble came to the door itself — you didn’t bring it.” Li Wu said calmly.

“But…”

Shen Zhuxi couldn’t continue. She thought of what Fu Xuanmiao had once said to her.

“Xi’er, you are too naive — you always trust people you shouldn’t trust.”

In a water pavilion on a spring day, she had seen a white Persian cat for the first time and couldn’t help breaking into a rare smile. She said she wanted to bring the cat to show her mother consort and the Commandery Princess Qingyang. Fu Xuanmiao hadn’t objected outright — he had only looked at her with that gentle, pitying gaze and said softly:

“Persian cats are uncommon outside the palace. If you bring it to the Commandery Princess Qingyang, she will only feel envious and assume you are deliberately flaunting it. If you bring it to Wangshu Palace, what do you think the Noble Consort, who cries every day, will feel when she sees you without a care in the world?”

The joy she had felt at receiving the gift instantly evaporated, replaced by fear at having nearly made a terrible mistake.

Fu Xuanmiao had tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and Shen Zhuxi had not dared to move, his icy fingertips brushing against her ear and leaving behind a bone-chilling sensation.

He looked at her, and at the corner of his lips there seemed to be the faintest smile — like a lotus petal drifting down to the surface of the water.

“…Xi’er, how would you survive without me?”

Fu Xuanmiao always told her that human hearts were treacherous and impossible to guard against.

He always seemed to be right. Every person who had ever shown her kindness had ultimately been proven to have ulterior motives. Either they would bring misfortune upon her, or before they could do so, they met misfortune themselves.

“I don’t like the look in your eyes right now.”

Li Wu’s voice pulled her back to the present. Shen Zhuxi instinctively looked up, and her gaze met Li Wu’s dark pupils. She saw her own reflection in them — a face as helpless as someone drowning.

His clear, fearless gaze seemed to pass through the surface of her, landing directly on her lost and wandering soul.

“It looks like a hollow shell of a person. Like Sister-in-law Zhou in her younger days. Like women you see everywhere on the streets.” Li Wu turned and walked toward the outer hall. “Like someone I would never give a second glance.”

Li Wu’s words pierced deep into Shen Zhuxi’s heart, and before reason could respond, her emotions had already registered a sharp pang of pain.

“Are you not coming?” Li Wu, stopped at the doorway, turned back to look at her.

Shen Zhuxi’s feet, of their own accord, carried her forward.

The night looked just as it always had, but the air was permeated with the smell of burning. The bamboo fence that had once stood as tall as a person had burned down to charcoal, a stretch of black standing in the open night. Between heaven and earth, it was like the inside of a tomb — even the croaking of frogs had fallen completely silent.

Li Wu walked up to the burned-out fence and gave it a light kick. A section of it collapsed instantly.

“The fence has fallen.” Li Wu said.

Shen Zhuxi stared at him, not understanding what he meant.

“Do you think the fence was at fault?”

“What fault could a fence have?” Shen Zhuxi froze in confusion.

“Exactly — what fault could a fence have?” Li Wu turned around and looked straight into her eyes. “The fire was set by someone surnamed Huang. This last kick was mine. If there’s any fault to speak of, it belongs to us. What fault does the fence have?”

“My fence has been burned to this state——” Li Wu gave the charred fence another tap with his toe. “The one who deserves to be held accountable is the dog who lit the fire — not the spark, not the oil that fed the flame, and certainly not the fence that was burned to ash.”

He raised his eyes, looked at Shen Zhuxi, and said one word at a time: “What fault does the fence have? What fault do you have?”

In Shen Zhuxi’s mind, there was a resounding crash.

Li Wu’s words were like a flash of enlightenment, breaking open an invisible set of shackles that had long been locked around her. She looked at Li Wu without blinking.

Shen Zhuxi didn’t understand where this feeling came from — this emotion that brought hot tears welling up in her eyes — but tears blurred her vision all the same.

Li Wu said nothing, and grasped her by both shoulders, drawing her toward himself.

He patted her back, her shoulders, her head. She did not pull away.

The two feather dusters on the bed had not moved from their place — just as they themselves, in what appeared at this moment to be an intimate posture, still had room between them for one feather duster.

The only true contact between them was Li Wu’s hand resting on her back — falling once, then again, steady and gentle, carrying a burning warmth that reached through the fabric of her clothes and warmed her heart, making it impossible for her to hold back her vulnerability.

She still didn’t understand what this feeling was — this emotion, this sense of freedom, stirring inside her.

Yet she could already say with certainty: that all-knowing, all-capable Fu Xuanmiao had been wrong before.

“Xi’er, how would you survive without me?”

His doting, pitying expression rose before her once more.

This time, Shen Zhuxi already had a clear answer in her heart.

She didn’t need him. She could still live.