Rain fell over the darkened city of Jiangning. At midnight, figures could be seen darting through the downpour.
Toward the south end of the city, in the small hours, disturbances broke out one after another at two already-closed medicine shops.
The various shops able to survive in Jiangning at this time either sheltered under the protection of one Fair Party faction or another, buying a banner for their own safety, or else possessed considerable skill or standing of their own, sufficient to protect themselves. Especially now, with all manner of martial-world figures gathering from every direction, brawls and fights were common, and the city’s physicians and doctors were treated with particular deference — their standard of living wasn’t the best compared to the very top, but comfortably better than most.
Armed young men forced their way into two medicine shops, demanding drugs in a fierce and aggressive manner, even asking for precious medicinal materials that money alone couldn’t easily buy. At first they were naturally blocked — apprentices and guards from the shops rushed out with blades, spears, and clubs — but were quickly beaten down. The physicians in charge, realizing they’d run into formidable men, offered some flattering words and welcomed them inside.
Such disturbances were nothing unusual in Jiangnan at this time. The brief chaos flared up and then subsided again. Brutish men of little skill wouldn’t dare provoke the physicians at these shops, while the physicians, in turn, couldn’t afford to provoke skilled swordsmen — as long as the other party showed some restraint, it was better to make peace than to seek out the authorities for “justice.”
Having hit two medicine shops in succession and scraped together just enough life-saving medicine, the ripples stirred up in the night seemed to be swallowed by the steadily falling autumn rain, and the night settled back into quiet.
Beneath the damp bridge archway in front of the Five Lakes Inn, the little monk in his ridiculous wig built up a fire. When his “big brother,” who’d gone out with a blade to rob the medicine, returned, the two of them set up a clay pot and began boiling medicine. The lame man named Xue Jin kowtowed repeatedly, hoping these two young heroes who’d appeared in the dead of night could save his dying wife.
Beyond the bridge archway, the city of Jiangning lay submerged in blackness. People seemed cut off from one another by the darkness, much as the ripples stirred up by the youths robbing the medicine shop could barely spread at all — the people of the city had no idea just how much anguish was churning beneath this small bridge archway in the darkness. And looking out from beneath the arch, nothing could be clearly seen either. Those beaten during the day, and the households all around, were each nursing their own wounds beneath their own bridge arches.
Of course, far more was brewing in the darkness besides this.
In a corner of the Gathering Worthies Inn at Zhong’an Ward in the city’s southeast, the “Five Lakes Inn” members captured that day were being tortured through the night — branded with hot irons, their fingernails pried up with bamboo splinters — as the interrogators, working through the night, forced them again and again to confess to being members of the “Reading Society.”
Shi Weiyang couldn’t sleep, and even went, accompanied by Wu Chennan, to personally witness the bloody scene in the torture chamber. Both men’s first reaction was to feel sick to their stomachs, but a peculiar sense of excitement kept them from being able to sleep afterward.
Since returning from the Five Lakes Inn, his father Shi Baofeng hadn’t said much about the operation, but the approval visible in his expression had already told Shi Weiyang that he’d done the right thing, washing away the humiliation of the previous month. And from the hints dropped by chief manager Jin Yongsheng, Shi Weiyang had come to understand even more clearly that his actions had touched on something at the very core of a much larger matter.
Most importantly, with Wu Chennan’s guidance, he felt he’d finally grasped the true core of how great men operated.
Did it actually matter whether the Five Lakes Inn had any real connection to the Reading Society?
Did it matter whether the people they’d captured were actually innocent?
He’d always treated Yan Yunzhi with courtesy — but did that matter either?
He’d always wanted to conduct himself according to the principles of a gentleman — but did that matter?
When it truly came down to the level of his father’s generation, including elders like Jin Yongsheng, what mattered in weighing things was simply whether appearances could be maintained and whether the underlying interests could be secured. He’d handled the Yan Yunzhi affair poorly; as for the clash at the Five Lakes Inn, he’d assumed he was simply out catching criminals with no ill intent, and that the other side would naturally open its doors wide for him — how utterly naive that had been.
Baofeng Trading Company had risen rapidly alongside the Fair Party, and as Shi Baofeng’s second son, young and rather dashing in appearance, Shi Weiyang had always been praised as naturally gifted and was generally regarded as Shi Baofeng’s favorite child. On this trip to Jiangning, following managers like Jin Yongsheng in receiving various guests at the Gathering Worthies Inn, he’d handled himself with apparent ease on the surface — but deep down, he’d always felt somewhat uneasy.
He worried about being seen as a spoiled young master by the seasoned figures of the martial world, worried he lacked the ability, worried that behind their outwardly friendly faces, people secretly looked down on him — especially after his recent stumbles, this anxiety had only deepened. But once Wu Chennan had laid all this bare for him, he’d finally grasped the core principle by which these great men conducted themselves.
It felt like a genuine moment of enlightenment — as if he could die that evening having finally understood the truth that morning.
Having easily reclaimed his dignity over the Five Lakes Inn affair, and having handed the Reading Society weapon over to his father, Shi Weiyang felt his blood stirring with excitement. That night, he and Wu Chennan talked deep into the night about the Yan family and Yan Yunzhi, identifying the key points of contention and drawing up a plan. By the early hours of the morning, they’d sketched out the rough outline of a scheme, and after running through it once, it seemed quite workable. Shi Weiyang was ready to summon his men immediately to start preparations, but Wu Chennan, holding his teacup, stopped him.
“Second young master,” Wu Chennan said. “Before any great undertaking, one must keep a calm composure. You only just won Lord Shi’s approval last night — the sky isn’t even light yet, and if we go rushing to call people together now, others might think you’re too eager to show off. Besides, when it comes to matters of the martial world, you and I are still, in truth, somewhat inexperienced theorists. For a scheme targeting the Yan family, we’d do well to consult with Old Jin and the others first — partly to give the elders their due respect, and partly to let them see the second young master’s thinking today…”
Hearing this, Shi Weiyang came to his senses and grasped Wu Chennan’s hand. “Chennan is right to remind me — I really was being rash. Ah, if it weren’t for Chennan…”
The two clasped hands in the room, exchanging another round of mutual encouragement, and as dawn approached, they finally fell into a deep sleep in the same bed.
…
By dawn, the commotion beneath the bridge archway had died down.
“…I’ve done everything I can.”
So said the young man going by the name Long Aotian. Having said this, he led the little monk out through the curtain of rain, then turned back and tossed out one more line.
“Maybe she’ll pull through…”
There was a hesitation in his voice that even he found unnecessary.
The woman beneath the bridge arch hadn’t woken. Her head was wrapped in bandages, her body limp and slack, her breath thin as a thread. Xue Jin touched her — her long habitation beneath the bridge had left her body carrying a stench of decay, and she was as gaunt and bony as ever. Since the young man had said she might still live, Xue Jin didn’t dare hold her too tightly. He kowtowed toward the mouth of the archway, unable to understand why these two young benefactors had shown him such kindness, and unable to think of anything more to do.
He sat dazed in the rain, meaning to care for his wife, but for long stretches he simply sat in blank, empty silence. As dawn approached, he knelt and dozed off in the misty gray rain, then woke again at some point without realizing it. Yueniang lay there; when he reached out to check her breath beneath her nose, she seemed as good as dead — but over time, he could still feel the faintest thread of breath.
He needed to go earn some money, go beg for food…
That was what he thought. But the rain kept falling, and there’d be nothing to beg for during the day. Perhaps in the busier parts of the city, where the tournament was going on, there might be some leftover slop to scavenge — but he didn’t know if his legs could even carry him that far.
He struggled to his feet. The exertions from yesterday through this morning had nearly drained him of all strength, and it took him a long while just to crawl before he managed to stand, swaying. Climbing the embankment steps in the curtain of rain proved a huge obstacle too — he tried, stumbled, and fell back down, then shakily crawled up again.
A figure moved through the curtain of rain toward him, helping him up and dragging him back beneath the bridge arch — it was yesterday’s young benefactor, saying something to him. Perhaps because his ears were full of rainwater, Xue Jin couldn’t make out any of it. He knelt on the ground and began kowtowing. After a while, the other young benefactor arrived, setting a bowl of thin porridge down in front of him.
Xue Jin’s lips trembled as he began to drink the porridge.
He watched the two young benefactors build up the fire again and set a pot to boil medicine. His wife Yueniang could no longer swallow the medicinal broth herself — the liquid had to be dripped, drop by drop, onto her tongue after prying her mouth open.
…
Gathering Worthies Inn.
In the early morning hall, a simple breakfast of porridge and rice had been prepared. Shi Baofeng sat in the seat of honor, eating breakfast with Shan Lifu and a few other chief managers who’d come by, chatting about trivial matters.
Jin Yongsheng came in from outside, carrying a cloth-wrapped file, and handed it to the attendant beside Shi Baofeng.
“Old Jin’s been working hard, out and about so early in the morning… don’t tell me you didn’t sleep at all last night?” Shan Lifu said with a smile in greeting.
“Greetings to the boss, greetings Manager Shan, greetings to all the managers…” Jin Yongsheng smiled and waved a hand. “I’m getting older, not what I used to be — can’t pull all-nighters like the old days. These days, come midnight, I’m bound to get drowsy, just wake up earlier than most… Anyway, the group the second young master brought in has finished being interrogated.”
As he spoke, he took a seat beside Shi Baofeng, and a servant ladled him a bowl of steaming minced-meat porridge. Shi Baofeng pushed the pickled vegetable dish in front of him toward him. “Here, Old Jin, today’s pickles are quite good.”
“Well then, I won’t stand on ceremony.” Jin Yongsheng smiled and took a chopstick-full.
“How did the interrogation turn out?” Shi Baofeng asked casually.
“All Reading Society members. The second young master wasn’t wrong that something was off there — the confessions inside are all signed and sealed.”
“I heard that inn was all Nong Xian’s people,” Shan Lifu said. “Could the Reading Society be…”
“Under the banner of the southwest, everyone wants to grab a piece of the advantage — which faction doesn’t have some Reading Society people among their ranks? Don’t go making wild guesses,” Shi Baofeng said.
“But the confessions say they set up the Reading Society under the Fair King’s own orders,” Jin Yongsheng said casually, taking a sip of porridge.
The hall fell quiet for a moment. Shi Baofeng smiled. “More wild accusations.”
The others laughed along. “Right, right, Old Jin, I say we keep interrogating them.”
Jin Yongsheng nodded. “We’re indeed having them continue.”
“Still, the second young master smashed up the Five Lakes Inn yesterday — Fu Pingbo and the Fair King’s side surely won’t just swallow that quietly, will they?”
“Word already went around last night that Nong Xian might make trouble over it…”
“Well, these confessions might come in handy for that, then…”
The group discussed it a while longer.
Shi Baofeng set down his spoon and wiped his mouth.
“We went after the Five Lakes Inn yesterday because the second boy had already spotted something off there the last time. Yesterday’s move was reckless, but it seems it didn’t actually cause any real trouble after all. Lately, on the surface, Zhou Shang and the Fair King have been arguing fiercely, but their dispute is out in the open — a gentlemen’s disagreement, if you will. It’s the Reading Society, stirring things up in secret, that’s really been unsettling everyone. The rumors about it are vicious — some say it’s Ning Liheng behind it, some say it’s the Great Dragonhead’s doing, some say it’s Xu Zhaonan, He Wen, Zhou Shang, or even me — all sorts of nonsense. These hidden opportunists working in the shadows are the real enemy we all share.”
He paused. “Might as well use this incident to bring the Reading Society matter out into the open, and have everyone talk it through honestly. If some claim Mister He is behind it, let Mister He deny it himself. If some claim we’re the ones behind it, we can deny it too. Now’s the time for talking about unification — everyone should be open and above board… it’s actually a good thing…”
At this, the assembled managers all laughed along.
“Right, right, the ‘Reading Society’ has always operated in secret before, hiding things away — that’s exactly what makes it dangerous…”
“Bring it out into the open, and all these rumors the Reading Society’s been spreading will lose their power…”
“The boss truly thinks far ahead…”
“The second young master did well too. He spotted the problem back at the end of last month and quietly investigated for this long before finally sweeping them all up in one net. Very patient…”
The group chimed in with approval, and when talk turned to Shi Weiyang, Shi Baofeng glanced to one side. “Where’s the second boy? Why hasn’t he come out to eat?”
The others exchanged glances, and after a moment an attendant stepped forward. “The second young master was discussing matters with someone deep into the night — it seems he’s only just gone to sleep.”
The group fell silent for a moment, and someone said, “The second young master’s become quite diligent lately…”
Shi Baofeng waved a hand. “Leave him be… No assembly today, but I’ll be meeting with He, Gao, Xu, and Zhou this afternoon. He’ll bring up the Nong Xian matter, and I’ll just so happen to throw the question right back at him…”
He thought for a moment, then added, “This concerns the future of the whole Fair Party… he’ll have to state his position.”
The others nodded in agreement.
…
By noon, Shi Weiyang and Wu Chennan finally woke. By then, Shi Baofeng had already left Gathering Worthies Inn to attend to other matters, including arrangements for the afternoon’s small meeting with He Wen and the others, which meant Shi Weiyang missed the chance to pay his respects to his father that morning.
Recalling the scheme against the Yan family and Yan Yunzhi they’d worked out the night before, Shi Weiyang set aside the thought of paying respects for the time being. After washing up briefly, he and Wu Chennan invited chief manager Jin Yongsheng to join them for lunch. Having heard out their plan, Jin Yongsheng studied the two young men for a while, showing some appreciation for their boldness and initiative.
“Following this line of thinking, the matter… can certainly be done,” he said, mulling it over carefully. “Though there are still plenty of details worth reconsidering. For instance, the second young master and young Master Wu have considered Yan Yunzhi’s temperament, but have you considered that Yan Tie is also a seasoned figure of the martial world…”
“There are a few points worth reconsidering here, I think…”
The old manager went through the two young men’s plan point by point, offering corrections.
Once this discussion had more or less wrapped up, Shi Weiyang, restraining his excitement, finally asked about the events of the previous night and his father’s demeanor that morning. Jin Yongsheng went into more detail about the Reading Society matter — with this pretext now handed to Shi Baofeng, he would use it that afternoon to challenge He Wen and the others, potentially bringing this shadowy “Reading Society” faction fully out into the open and eliminating it once and for all.
This was a matter concerning the future of the entire Fair Party, and now that it had been handed over to Shi Baofeng, Shi Weiyang no longer had any cause for worry on that front. After lunch, he and Wu Chennan set about arranging their scheme against Yan Yunzhi.
At some point the rain had stopped. Countless intricate schemes, driven by the maneuvering of various powerful figures, were extending their threads throughout the city — threads that would sooner or later tug at countless lives. At the same time, the ruins of the Five Lakes Inn, burned down in the fire, stood silently by the roadside near the bridgehead. Around the inn, the residents who’d been caught up in yesterday’s chaos each carried on with their own small, quiet fates — some had bandaged their wounds and begun another day’s struggle to survive, while others, lacking medicine and proper care, found their injuries slowly worsening.
Beneath the bridge arch, the lame man dazedly kept watch over his wife, whose life now flickered like the faintest spark. There was truly nothing more he could do, and he couldn’t bring himself to sleep, until the two young benefactors knocked him unconscious, granting him a period of quiet rest.
Two young men in tattered straw raincoats made inquiries around the area about the previous day’s events. Since the whole operation had been carried out for the sake of face and reputation, it wasn’t long before they’d learned Shi Weiyang’s name and the details concerning the “Reading Society,” piecing together the entire sequence of events…
…
“Let’s kill Shit-Baby first.”
The self-styled “Martial Alliance Leader” Long Aotian, who had set and revised his plans several times since entering the city, changed his mind once again. Whether “Shit-Baby” referred to Shi Baofeng or Shi Weiyang wasn’t entirely clear from how he said it — but it hardly seemed to matter anymore.
His face had by now accumulated a thick layer of fury.
The rain had stopped. At this moment, the two of them sat by the damp, crumbling riverbank, and not far off, beneath the bridge arch, the lame man seemed to stir faintly.
…
“To accomplish great things, one must act swiftly and decisively.”
At the city center, Shi Weiyang and Wu Chennan had brewed tea at a teahouse and were chatting idly as they watched the activity in a shop across the street.
They were now close to the tournament grounds, and the street was thick with people, the taverns and teahouses on both sides bustling. Shi Weiyang no longer cared about the tournament’s excitement; instead, he and Wu Chennan were watching a modestly-sized “gathering of heroes” taking place in the shop across the way — attending it was Yan Tie, the Yan family’s Second Elder, known as “Wind-Chasing Sword,” who had come to make connections with various figures of the martial world.
Near the window, a tall, gaunt man with a scarred face, carrying a longsword, turned to glance back and caught sight of Shi Weiyang’s signal from across the street. What concerned him more, though, was the signal flag Jin Yongsheng had hung from a nearby tavern window a little further off — he was a double agent that Baofeng Trading Company had planted long ago, and he’d been living comfortably enough playing both sides. But with this signal from Jin Yongsheng, his easy days were clearly coming to an end.
He sighed, picked up his sword, stood, and walked forward.
“Second Elder Yan, greetings to all the heroes present,” he called out loudly. “…Today’s gathering of heroes is quite the occasion. Seeing you all enjoying yourselves so much, I hadn’t meant to spoil the mood, but there’s something weighing on my chest that I simply can’t hold back any longer… Second Elder Yan, I’ve heard that since your Yan Family Stronghold came to this city, certain things have been done that, frankly, weren’t quite proper…”
He advanced with his sword, and with each step forward, the internal force behind his words grew a notch stronger.
Across the street, Shi Weiyang and Wu Chennan soon caught the sound of voices and commotion rising from that direction.
“…It’s begun.”
Wu Chennan said with a smile.
…
North of the city.
When Shi Baofeng entered the spacious hall with several of his men, Xu Zhaonan and Zhou Shang had already arrived, sitting in adjacent chairs, apparently in the middle of some conversation. Seeing Shi Baofeng, they broke off and rose to greet him.
Xu Zhaonan was quite tall, his face full of smiles; Zhou Shang, a short man with a perpetually sour expression, merely cupped his hands coldly in a show of proper etiquette. The three sat down, and Xu Zhaonan spoke first with a laugh: “I hear, Boss Shi, that you had your men smash up Nong Xian Zhao Jingci’s place yesterday — not giving Mister He any face at all, eh? Well done, well done indeed…”
“Mister Xu, don’t go spreading rumors,” Shi Baofeng said with a smile. “My unworthy son acted recklessly and brought this trouble on himself. I’m just a small-time businessman — how would I dare provoke the Fair King’s wrath? I was actually planning to come apologize to Mister He shortly…”
He paused briefly. “Though speaking of this matter, it turned out to be a fortunate mistake, in its own way. The few people we caught have now been confirmed to be ambitious troublemakers from the ‘Reading Society’ — a truly vicious bunch. After confessing their own background, they still harbored delusions and made wild accusations, claiming the Reading Society is secretly directed by Mister He himself, that they’re his own imperial guard, so to speak… This is vile talk aimed at undermining the very foundations of our Fair Party. How to deal with these people will have to be decided by Mister He himself.”
Zhou Shang, beside him, gave a cold laugh. “Boss Shi isn’t worried they might be telling the truth?”
“Mister He is already the Fair King — why would he rebel against himself?” Shi Baofeng waved a hand and tapped the tea table. “I’m quite confident! Mister He will give us all a clear and honest answer shortly!”
He tapped his finger, speaking each word deliberately, and the room fell somewhat quiet at his words. Xu Zhaonan and Zhou Shang both looked thoughtful. Shi Baofeng took a sip of tea and added with a smile, “Though I imagine Lord Zhou here might almost be hoping Mister He turns out to be behind it. Your own methods are the most extreme of all of us — if Mister He shared your temperament, always ready to smash the pot, perhaps the two of you would actually get along rather well in private.”
Zhou Shang frowned.
Xu Zhaonan waved a hand beside him. “Now, now, let’s not go making wild guesses among ourselves. Look, we said we’d meet up for a chat, and the three of us arrived first — General Gao and Mister He are running late. Do you suppose the two of them are off somewhere chatting heart-to-heart, just like the three of us here?”
Zhou Shang glanced at him. “Why did you put General Gao’s name before Mister He’s?”
Xu Zhaonan froze for a moment.
Shi Baofeng laughed. “Mister Xu just loves talking nonsense. By your own logic, since I arrived here third, weren’t you and Lord Zhou also having a heart-to-heart in private just now?”
“Lord Zhou and I are like brothers, and so are you and I, Boss Shi — we’re always speaking from the heart, every one of us.”
“Hahahaha.”
“Hahahaha…”
The two laughed together, and Zhou Shang, watching them, said, “And if Mister He arrives shortly and actually admits to the Reading Society business — what will you two do then?”
“…”
“…”
“Hahahaha.”
“Hahahahaha…”
“Lord Zhou does love a joke…”
“Right, right…”
“Hahahaha…”
“Well then, we’ll… have to fight, won’t we!”
“Four against one!”
“Hahahahahaha…”
Beneath the pale blue-gray sky, Shi Baofeng and Xu Zhaonan laughed until they nearly doubled over. After a moment, Zhou Shang, watching them, began to laugh too…
…
“Big Brother.”
On the riverbank, the two young men, having worked through the night, stood there. The disguised little monk gazed off at the distant light in the sky and spoke up. “There’s something I don’t understand.”
“Hm?”
“Following Master south this time, I’ve seen a lot of terrible things happen. Terrible things in the north, terrible things in the south, in the city and outside it too… over the years, I’ve seen people suddenly caught up in disasters and lose limbs, even starve to death right in front of me. That lame uncle under the bridge has it terribly hard — but Big Brother, look at all the households in this city. How many of them aren’t in the exact same situation?”
They could see the miserable figures beneath the embankment, and further ahead, the shattered city stretched out in layers of black tile and gray walls, figures moving through it, surviving in a daze. The little monk asked.
“Big Brother, why does this one lame uncle’s situation make you so angry, specifically?”
Ning Ji stood on the embankment in silence for a moment.
After a while, he said quietly, “He used to have some connection with my family.”
The little monk thought about this, and seemed to understand a little better. He pressed his palms together. “Amitabha.”
Down on the embankment, the lame man had woken, stirring drowsily, and after a dazed moment, went to check on his wife’s condition.
“Big Brother, his wife… can she pull through?”
…
After the rain stopped, the thick layer of clouds still carried a pale blue-gray tint, rolling and tearing open in a few places, letting light spill down through the gaps. No one could say whether the clouds were rolling in to seal those gaps shut again, or whether the light would tear them open even wider.
Beneath this light and these clouds lay the boundless earth, and on the earth stood a gray-black city, and within the city stood row upon row of houses and crisscrossing rivers, and along one unremarkable, crumbling stretch of riverbank beside one such river, the utterly insignificant Ning Ji stood, expressionless.
He looked down at the man beneath the bridge, and said quietly:
“Amitabha.”
…
Not long after, Fair King He Wen and Heaven King Gao Chang walked into that spacious hall. The five Great Kings of the Fair Party exchanged pleasantries and laughed together for a while, and then Shi Baofeng threw that critical question at He Wen, and together with the other three, waited for a simple answer.
Within the city, the direction of the wind, the color of the clouds — they were about to change…