The merchant seized by Zhù Qingjun was cowering in a heap. Zhù Qingjun dragged him inside with a blade pressed to his arm, and three of his seven souls had already escaped through the top of his skull — he didn’t dare open his mouth, fearing that the moment he did he’d be silenced for good. He was cursing the souls of the companion who had wanted to claim a chieftain’s reward, along with that companion’s entire family lineage, through every generation — all in his head, never aloud.

Fortunately, Zhù Ying’s party was not yet in desperate straits. Zhù Ying dislocated his jaw with a quick motion, then tore off a cloth rag and stuffed it into his mouth. Zhù Qingjun cooperated, saying to Qingye, “Get a rope.”

Zhù Qingye asked nothing further at the sight of this and pulled out a bundle-tying hemp rope, trussing the merchant up securely. Then she asked, “Grandma, this is…?”

“Our whereabouts have been exposed — we need to move immediately. Where are the others?”

They were already preparing to leave anyway, so everyone was at the inn. Zhù Ying gave the merchant a sharp knock on the head and knocked him out, then gave instructions to everyone: “Abandon the heavy loads — just your personal clothing and the horses. Take the survey maps too, along with some gold and money. Leave everything else! Go!”

Zhù Qingye was a little pained. “Grandma, let’s take some of the medicine pills too — we might need them on the way home.”

“Fine — hurry!”

Everyone acted at once. Their remaining luggage was already sparse, so Zhù Ying and Qingjun took the survey maps, and the party each slung a small personal pack over their shoulder, climbed over the wall behind the building, found the stable, opened the back gate, and slipped away through the small back alley.

At the inn’s front gate, the other merchant was telling a stocky middle-aged man, “They’re right here — we saw them ourselves. My brother is inside keeping watch.”

“Where’s your brother?”

The man called out carefully several times and heard no answer; feeling something was off, he called his brother’s name loudly, still with no response. The stocky man lost patience and seized the innkeeper, demanding: “Is there a group of merchants here who came from the southeast?”

“There are several groups,” the innkeeper said. “Which one are you looking for?”

The stocky man punched the innkeeper. “No nonsense!” The merchant at his side supplied a description and asked about his brother. Before the innkeeper had answered, one of the serving boys spoke up: “Is it those staying in the small courtyard over there?”

“That’s them.”

“They went into the courtyard.”

The stocky man shoved people aside and dashed over first; the merchant hurried after him; the innkeeper, afraid they’d wreck things, also sprinted over, yanking the serving boy along and scolding him as he ran: “What did you see now? Think you’re the only one with eyes?”

The group ran to the courtyard gate to find it bolted from inside. The innkeeper called out several times, no one answered; he knocked, still no response. The stocky man pushed him aside and kicked the gate open with a single blow!

They poured in. Inside was utterly silent. Going from the courtyard into the rooms, they found the lid of the dressing case standing open, with hairpins and combs all still inside; on the table were half-drunk cups of tea and several open packets of local snacks. The bedding was neatly folded, the bed sheets still bearing the impression of someone who had been sitting there.

It was as if everyone had been living normally and had simply vanished in an instant — unsettling, making one’s hair stand on end.

Suddenly, a thumping sound came from inside a chest, giving everyone a fright! The stocky man drew his blade and walked carefully over, axed off the copper lock with one blow, flipped back the lid, and saw a person inside — bound up!

The merchant stood on tiptoe to peer inside, and suddenly cried out: “Brother!”

The stocky man hauled out the person from inside the chest and pulled out the rag. “Where are they?”

“Don’t — don’t — don’t know — ran — ran — ran away!”

The stocky man was so furious he threw the man back into the chest! Then he grabbed the innkeeper and demanded if there were any other exits.

The innkeeper was frightened too, trembling: “No — no there aren’t!”

The stocky man had no choice but to drag both men and sweep back to the chieftain’s main hall like a whirlwind. The chieftain raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” A plump man in silk clothing beside him said, “It seems it was her — why would she run if it wasn’t?”

“Quick! Search! Pursue!” the chieftain ordered.

He had his soldiers and guards mobilized — searching through the settlement on one side, sending people outside the walls to hunt on the other. The terrain here was flat, with not many good hiding places. As long as they searched south, it was fairly easy to find people who had fled — at least compared to someone who had disappeared into the mountains. The chieftain’s guards had exceptional experience catching fleeing slaves; even if they let Zhù Ying escape the main settlement, she couldn’t get far.

The stocky man, called Black Head, assembled his men and strode out with a blade. From behind a building another person emerged — a pretty young woman who walked quickly into the room. The chieftain saw her and smiled slightly: “You’re here.”

The young woman couldn’t manage a smile. She asked bluntly: “I heard that my enemy has come?”

“Two traveling merchants recognized her,” the chieftain said. “Black Head went to catch her, but she’d already run. I’ve sent Black Head to keep pursuing!”

The young woman’s eyes went wide; her entire gaze began to redden. “I married you because you promised to avenge my father and brother! Before, you said she was far away and it was very difficult! Now that she’s come right here, surely it won’t be so difficult anymore? If you won’t give me your word, then what’s between us is finished — I won’t be your wife anymore. I’ll go marry a man who will fight to avenge me!”

The chieftain shot up from his seat. The plump man tactfully withdrew, and the chieftain went off to placate his wife.

After some time, the two were speaking normally. The young woman said, “I want to use her head as a sacrifice to my father.”

“Agreed,” the chieftain said without hesitation.

And yet, when the third day came, Black Head returned — without a single prisoner!

Zhù Ying had vanished!

The young woman had not slept these past few nights. Hearing that Black Head had returned, she rushed over, but seeing no prisoners whatsoever, she was greatly disappointed. “So you intended to ransom her back to her family for gold?”

The chieftain had indeed had this plan and had given Black Head such instructions — have the merchants carry a ransom letter to extort a sum of money first, then see from there.

“They didn’t catch anyone!” the chieftain said plaintively.

The young woman’s tears fell — a pitiable, lovely sight. She turned her head away quietly, covered her mouth, and ran off.

The chieftain angrily asked, “Black Head, did you truly search?”

Black Head was aggrieved to his core: “We pursued for a full day and night, and went through every village on the way! There were no tracks on the ground — we don’t know where they went.”

“Did they grow wings?”

……

They had not grown wings.

Zhù Ying’s party were all mounted, and as soon as they left the inn they rode hard for the outer settlement walls, knocking over several stalls along the way and riding out on the backs of curses.

“The commotion is too loud — the pursuit troops may come any moment,” Zhù Qingjun said. “I’ll take people to cover the rear. You take the rest and go ahead. We’ll meet at that village with three corpses hanging at the gate, the one up ahead.”

“Let me do it!” Lu Danqing said. “You should protect Grandma!”

“I’ll do it!” Zhù Qingjun said.

Lu Danqing said calmly: “There will be pursuit troops, so someone must cover the rear. Grandma holds the entire safety of Wuzhou in her hands — she must not be harmed! Of all of us, you’re the strongest — of course you should escort Grandma home. And I’m no good at finding my way, either! If we split the force, it must be you and Grandma each leading a group — Grandma can’t be the one covering the rear, only you can! You cover the rear and can still lead everyone back. That’s the best arrangement! Don’t delay! These troops are all ones you brought — I can’t command them anyway!”

“Stop arguing — we’re not going home,” Zhù Ying said.

“Eh?”

Zhù Ying raised her riding crop and pointed to the northwest, smiling. “We’ll head toward the western foreigners’ territory first!”

“But if we go there, we have no guide!” Zhù Qingjun said.

“Never mind — having the right direction is enough. Let’s go!”

With that she turned her horse around first, described a wide arc, and galloped off toward the western foreigners’ direction.

By nightfall they had found lodging in a small mountain shelter — the kind a mountain hunter might leave behind. They tidied it up a bit, set watch posts, found a water source, and caught some wild game. Once a fire was lit, they had the heart to talk.

Zhù Qingjun called over the uncle and nephew pair and asked, “Have you ever heard of any routes further ahead?”

The pair said there was nothing, only that the two peoples did have some trade between them. “Oh, and the Jima people — unlike the Hua Pa people — some of them are quite fierce. And the Xika, also somewhat fierce.”

“Naturally,” Zhù Ying said. “If they weren’t fierce, how could they have survived under the western foreigners? We’re just going to take a look — we still need to get back for the autumn harvest, so we won’t stay long. The routes should be findable too — back in that large settlement I heard not just the Qixia language but also the western foreign language, and if that’s the case, there is a route through. Once we’ve had a look, the search here will have died down, and we can loop back.”

She was reassuring Zhù Qingjun as she spoke. The history between the Asu family and the western foreigners traced back to her days in the capital; she had played a considerable role in the tea trade between the two. Asu family tea bricks were a useful supplement for the western foreigners. But the route from Wuzhou to the western foreigners’ land was difficult and dangerous, and not often traveled.

More often, the Wuzhou merchant caravans could use large boats along post roads to route the tea bricks and other goods through the capital and other places, transported to the vicinity of the border trading markets. Trade between both sides was partly open, partly smuggled. This longer and more time-consuming route had the advantage of greater cargo capacity and more security.

Zhù Qingjun objected: “Long delays bring many complications, and there are no provisions. Someone may have encountered us here — who’s to say border garrison troops of the western foreigners won’t recognize you? You did have dealings with them! And moreover, we never intended from the start to necessarily visit the western foreigners — going further and further afield really isn’t good. Why not go a bit further northwest and then turn back!”

Lu Danqing and the others grew tense. Zhù Qingjun went on: “Besides, having these neighbors will be very important. The foreign peoples, in this area, count as a major power. We can’t afford to ignore them, and we can’t afford not to probe them. At minimum, we need to see — if they wanted to interfere, how quickly could they get here?”

They discussed for a while; Zhù Qingjun still couldn’t prevail over Zhù Ying, and in the end said, “Then we must take good care of the horses every day. If there are horses for sale further ahead, buy a few more as spares. If things look bad, don’t hesitate — just run!”

“Agreed.”

They rested the night, then set out again. Heading northwest toward the western foreigners’ territory, there were indeed no pursuit troops along the way, and they continued in their customary manner. Within three days of travel, the plains had disappeared, replaced again by mountains. By now it was already somewhat cold — two more days into the mountains would reach western foreign territory.

They bought replacement horses nearby, two horses per person, and began the return journey. Rather than retracing their original route, they described another arc, avoiding the villages they had passed through before. Along this road they also discovered some villages and small paths they hadn’t heard of before — some gain after all.

Having gold, having medicine, food and lodging along the way were manageable enough — but when they finally arrived at Gan County, every single person had lost a ring of weight, and even Zhù Ying had darkened by a shade.

……

Zhù Qingjun had always had an excellent sense of direction, and she had recognized the terrain long before. Yet it was only in the moment when they stood on the new road to Gan County and everyone let out a cheer that she said to Zhù Ying: “Grandma, we’re home!”

Wuzhou’s roads were noticeably different from those outside Wuzhou’s borders. They were narrower and slightly less smooth than the official roads beyond, yet far better than any other place in the mountains. Returning travelers had only to glance at the ground underfoot to know where they were.

Everyone’s clothes were by now thin and worn. Zhù Qingjun didn’t dare let down her guard and still kept a blade-drawn escort at Zhù Ying’s left and right. She also dispatched someone to go notify Xiang Le to come meet them.

“No need,” Zhù Ying said. “We’ll go find him ourselves.” She also looked around at the fields — already a sheet of golden yellow in all directions, with scattered figures here and there already beginning the harvest.

The party rode at a gallop to the outskirts of Gan County. Along the way, a few people would look up nervously at this strange traveling party, and some cried out in alarm: “Blades — Xika!”

Zhù Qingjun handled each situation as it arose.

The commotion all along the route meant Xiang Le knew of Zhù Ying’s arrival before they even got there. He was sitting sunken-eyed in his chair when he sank back into it for a moment, then immediately stood up: “Go! Welcome her!”

Both sides looked in rather poor condition. “You’re finally back!” Xiang Le said.

“What happened to you?” Zhù Ying asked first.

Xiang Le choked up. “No news from you — I was anxious.” He had followed Zhù Ying for many years; hearing that she had gone out hunting had struck him as strange! Just look at the situation in Wuzhou — take Gan County alone, the Xika people were still causing trouble! Would Zhù Ying go off on several months’ hunting trip and come home without caring about border security?

This didn’t seem like her!

Something must be going on.

Several months without a glimpse — he’d been in a panic.

Zhù Ying spoke up readily: “I went hunting and saw a white deer with five-colored spots on its back. I followed it and lost my way. Qingjun found us.”

Xiang Le’s mouth opened slightly. “A white deer? With five-colored spots?”

“Right — such a pity. I chased it all the way to the foot of a great mountain and it flew right up into the sky. By the time I came to my senses, I’d gone too far, and had to find my way back.”

Xiang Le said in astonishment: “And what kind of omen is that?”

“Coming back safe and sound — it can’t be a bad omen,” Zhù Ying replied.

Xiang Le relaxed somewhat and managed a smile. “Right! Everything you say is right. Oh — Lian is back!”

“Oh?”

As the party entered the county town, Xiang Le filled them in on events. Not long after Zhù Ying had set out on her “hunting excursion,” Zhù Lian had ended his own period of “wandering official service” outside and returned to Wuzhou. He was currently at the villa settlement helping Zhao Su. Since his arrival, Zhao Su had been able to free his hands to take care of more things.

The twenty people selected through the examination had also gradually found their footing; the previous month, four of them had been dispatched to Gan County to help.

“With them here, Gan County’s archives and records are looking more proper,” Xiang Le said. “The literacy monument has also been erected, and the school finally has proper teachers.” Almost no one born and raised in Gan County could read, archives were all newly created, and their ongoing maintenance required literate people.

“Very good,” Zhù Ying said.

Xiang Le didn’t dare keep her in Gan County long. As soon as she returned, he first had her bathed and settled, then sent off a report to the villa settlement. On the third day, Zhù Ying was in the camp teaching archery when Zhao Su came personally to fetch her!

Zhao Su’s heart had been suspended throughout, and only when he saw Zhù Ying in person did he murmur a prayer of thanks. “Finally back! Please don’t go off so far again!”

“Was I that frightening to you?” Zhù Ying asked with amusement.

Zhao Su didn’t answer then. On the road back, he told Zhù Ying: “Lian is back and was very worried not seeing you. A’Pó and Auntie were counting the days too. That aside, several chieftains also asked after you — if Little Sister weren’t my cousin, I could barely hold them off. Gu Weng forwarded another letter from over there. The southern officials who went off for roaming service are saying — keeping your wings folded waiting for the right moment is all very well, but the days are hard. They can’t hold on. They all want a reply. I didn’t dare make these decisions on my own.”

Zhù Ying noted everything in her mind and asked, “And the household — everything all right?”

“Very well. Lian was worried about the situation in Wuzhou and brought back some craftsmen — blacksmiths among them. They’ve all been settled.”

“Not bad.”

“The mold-casting craftsmen are also being sought — two have been found, though their skills seem not very good. Either we let them practice, or we’ll need to find others. That kind of craftsman is hard to find. The privately cast coins in circulation — the quality, as you well know, is not up to standard. Nobody bothers casting good coins illegally. The skilled craftsmen are all in the court’s hands.”

Casting counterfeit coins was simply to make money — who would use fine craftsmanship for that? And yet that was exactly what they needed now.

“No rush for now,” Zhù Ying said.

“Was this trip’s harvest plentiful?”

Zhù Ying smiled. “Not bad. This stretch of land is much bigger than I imagined. Properly developed, we’ll have plenty of room to maneuver.”

Zhao Su was delighted. “Excellent!”

The two chatted and laughed the whole way back to the villa settlement.

As usual, they were recognized before they even reached the Mountain City! Being greeted with “how are you” all along the way, they were also met halfway by Su Sheng coming to receive them. He was smiling broadly. “You’re back! Thinner! You’ll have to eat with Lin Feng’s wife — she can fatten you up!”

“What about his wife?” Zhù Ying asked.

“Heheheh!”

Zhao Su said quietly: “Lin Feng is going to be a father. His wife eats nutritious food every day.”

“Oh!”

Halfway through the city gate, they met Zhang Xiangu coming running out of the Prefectural Office to wait for her, accompanied by Huajie, Qi Niangzi, Zhù Lian, and others. Zhù Ying looked at Zhù Lian an extra moment — he had grown a beard now, with a stern and imposing look; she smiled and gave a nod. Beside Zhù Lian was Gu Weng! Zhù Ying also nodded to him.

Then she dismounted, walked to Zhang Xiangu’s side, and said, “Why did you come out too?”

With age, Zhang Xiangu’s temper had gentled considerably. Rather than scolding the wayward child the moment she saw her, she asked, “Oh goodness, you’re finally back! You were away so long!”

Gu Weng chimed in agreement: “Indeed! We were all worried along with her! We didn’t know where you had gone, what had happened, that you were away from home so long. We wanted to help search but had no way of knowing how.”

“I was out hunting on a whim, and ran into a strange occurrence — a white deer led me further and further from home…” Zhù Ying told the same tall tale she had told Xiang Le.

Zhang Xiangu stared in amazement. “A deer led you astray? And it was white?”

“Yes — a great pair of antlers! A ring of golden light around its head!”

Zhang Xiangu believed every word of it. She turned to Huajie and said, “We should paint a picture of it, make an offering — thank it for keeping our third child safe coming and going.”

“Dry Mother is right!” Huajie said. “I’ll find the best student from the school who can draw and have them paint it!”

Lu Danqing had followed along the whole way, and now, seeing Zhù Ying speak so lightly and cheerfully, she felt somewhat dazed — almost wondering if she had truly seen such a white deer on that journey, after all.