The dawn of the third day of the sixth month came very late.

While it was still dark, a gust of wind rose; by the time the roosters crowed, the horizon showed only a faint gray-white. Early risers lit their lamps and saw that a light rain had begun to fall on the streets.

After handing Ni Po over to Zuo Wenxuan, Ning Ji had returned to the small courtyard only in the early hours and was now sitting cross-legged on his bed in meditation. His mystic arts had already reached a minor accomplishment, so his rest was no longer bound to the need for sleep. When raindrops began to fall in the courtyard, the youth’s eyelids trembled faintly, but he soon settled back into stillness, his breathing gradually merging with the wind and rain.

At the southern end of the city, because of the government troops’ manhunt, Chen Shuangran’s group left their temporary hiding place and moved to another location. A martial expert of the outlaw circles, clad in a straw rain cape, stood beneath the eaves, watching the gray curtain of rain spread outward.

Deng Nian, the river pirate who had spent the previous night watching Fish King’s movements, had stayed the night at a run-down inn where outlaws gathered, then come to rejoin the others in the morning—by which point it was already late. It was not until the afternoon of this day that he finally reconnected with Chen Shuangran’s group.

Having settled matters with Ni Po, Tie Tianying hurried back through the morning streets. When the wind and rain arrived, he glanced outside.

“Not a typhoon…”

Beneath the eaves the candlelight flickered. Behind the academy, Li Pin tapped his knees as he sat under the eaves, watching the threads of rain fall in the courtyard. Beyond the surrounding wall, the city further off had already begun to stir with people.

He was among the first in the city to know rain was coming, because his rheumatism had begun aching again since the previous night. He hadn’t slept all night; Luo Shouwei, the Immortal of Clear Ripples responsible for his safety—who in truth also served as his personal caretaker—had given him acupuncture and massage, and the two had talked through half the night.

Neither of them was young anymore. Though they bore no title of husband and wife, they had been intimate with one another, and much of how they got along followed an adult pattern. After the dull, long night had passed and the light rain began to fall, Li Pin wanted to go sit beneath the eaves and watch it. Despite his severe rheumatism, he always loved watching rain, claiming it was because “the benevolent delight in mountains, the wise delight in water.”

At the banquet on the first day of the month, the Emperor had extended goodwill to the various factions. The Princess’s estate had then employed tactics of division, and while Chen Shuangran and her people launched their counterattack, Li Pin’s side had likewise been meeting daily with scholars from every faction, drumming up support. Even with the rain falling today, his entire day’s schedule had already been packed full.

While watching the fine rain in the early morning, Luo Shouwei went to the kitchen to oversee breakfast; by the time she returned, Li Pin had quietly fallen asleep beneath the drowsy eaves in the drizzle.

At the Military Preparation Academy, under the leadership of Zuo Wenhuai, a group of officers responsible for ideological and military discipline drilled in the rain.

Within the palace, the Son of Heaven, Jun Wu, had already risen and was waiting for the morning court session to begin.

At the Hour of the Snake, the Imperial Guards assembled in the rain on the drilling grounds south of the imperial city. At the same time, cadets from the Military Preparation Academy and some officials who had just attended morning court began gathering toward this location as well.

Through the entire morning’s rain, the fighting between the City Patrol Office and the city’s outlaws seemed to have briefly dropped off, but the killing atmosphere had already grown thick with the movements of the Imperial Guards and the Military Preparation Academy.

After midday, wrapped in a worn straw cape, the river pirate Deng Nian passed through streets full of buzzing discussion and finally found his new contact, who then led him to the courtyard where Chen Shuangran’s group had newly settled. The courtyard was not even far from the imperial city; one could faintly sense the tense atmosphere coming from that direction.

Passing through the outer courtyard and turning into the inner courtyard, where a huge scholar tree had been planted, he saw the steward, Chen Yan.

“…What brings you here?”

“It’s the young lady’s idea,” Chen Yan said in a low voice. “This morning it was originally set for the east side of the city, but when we heard the Imperial Guards had moved, the young lady wanted to come and see for herself what was happening. Everyone’s still discussing matters upstairs right now; you’ll have to wait a while—though all morning we’ve been waiting for you.”

“The young lady is decisive when it comes to action.”

The rain was still falling, dripping from the eaves along the walkway and from the leaves of the trees down to the ground. Whatever was being discussed upstairs regarding the Imperial Guards’ movements had to be a truly major matter. Deng Nian and Chen Yan waited below; recalling the rumors he’d heard that morning, Deng Nian spoke up. “Everyone’s saying the Imperial Guards might seal off the city.”

“That shouldn’t happen,” Chen Yan shook his head. “The Emperor is taking a bride and forming alliances; he wants to look good to the outside world. If he flew into a rage and sealed the city for a massacre, this whole performance of taking a consort would fall apart, and the world would see him as a laughingstock.”

“On my way here, I heard that several people with cases hanging over them are all fleeing the city.”

“The more chaos, the better.” Chen Yan wore a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “By the way, I heard about what happened last night. After the young lady left, what happened on Fish King’s end?”

“That…”

“Since early this morning, he’s been sending word everywhere, wanting to meet with us—it looks like he’s run into trouble. When I reported to the young lady, she was also curious about what happened after she left last night, whether the authorities had come down hard…”

“…It was that he provoked the malevolent star…”

Thinking of what had happened the night before, Deng Nian sighed and spoke in a low voice, but before he could finish, the sound of a door opening came from above—several people were coming down, apparently having finished discussing a countermeasure against the Imperial Guards’ movements. Chen Yan went up to report, and shortly after, called Deng Nian up as well.

The upstairs room wasn’t large; a window on one side faced toward the imperial city, and Chen Shuangran stood before the curtain of rain. The meeting had just ended. Besides the “Mister” who had acted alongside them the day before, there were three other companions in the room. Deng Nian, who served as Chen Shuangran’s carriage driver, was also an old hand in these circles. Seeing him come up, the “Mister” seated to one side nodded at him. “We changed locations twice—I was almost afraid you wouldn’t be able to find your way back.”

Deng Nian cupped his hands in salute.

After a moment, Chen Shuangran turned back from the window. “Uncle Nian… sit wherever you like… nothing untoward happened on your way back?”

“Thank you for your concern, miss, I’m fine. But the city’s in a mess—some old friends are all fleeing, afraid the court’s gone mad and is about to flip the table.”

“They can’t flip it.” Chen Shuangran smiled. “The court sending out the Imperial Guards is just striking the mountain to scare the tiger—meant to make the guilty-conscienced outlaws panic first, so they can seize the opportunity… As for us, thanks to Mr. Jin’s guidance, we were already prepared. The Emperor wants to deploy troops while also not disturbing the common people’s livelihoods—what naive… foolishness.”

As she spoke, Chen Shuangran cupped her hands toward the middle-aged “Mister” beside her.

After a brief pause, she said, “With things this way, what happened last night has become a minor matter by comparison… Uncle Nian, after we left, how did things go over there?”

“Yes.” Deng Nian cupped his hands and looked around at everyone, then began recounting how events had unfolded at Silver Bridge Quarter the night before—how, after they left, that youth had come charging back and gone straight to Fish King’s shop to fight. Mr. Jin gave a short laugh, while Chen Shuangran’s brow furrowed slightly, her gaze turning serious.

“…He really did fight, then?”

“Yes. Fish King and several of his disciples’ disciples got beaten quite badly. But I was outside, and what I heard most clearly was Fish King shouting over and over, ‘Don’t fight, don’t fight.’ Perhaps that’s why no one was killed.”

“It seems this Fish King really is an old hand of the martial world,” the middle-aged man called Mr. Jin said with a smile. “Ni Po’s skill was such that from first encounter to being struck down took only two or three moves. If this youth came looking for his shop and things had really turned into a fight to the death, it likely would have wiped out his entire household. Moreover, this youth is young and highly skilled—at this age, when the blood runs hot, he wouldn’t hold back at all.”

A young man with a ruthless heart and cruel hand, unbound by much morality, not much for the rules of the martial world—these were things any old hand of the trade understood without needing to be told.

“No wonder Fish King’s been sending word to find me since last night,” Chen Shuangran nodded. “The old wretch… if it were only pressure from the authorities, he wouldn’t be this flustered.”

“It must be that Ni Po suddenly showed up at his shop, and this made the youth wary, wanting to follow the thread back to its source,” Mr. Jin said. “That’s a good habit for someone walking the martial world. The biggest question now is just what background these two men really have.”

At this point, Chen Yan, standing to the side, stepped forward.

“A few days ago the young lady gave the order, and I went around asking people, inquiring about this. Honestly, during the Jiangning Gathering, all sorts of factions converged and the information was mixed and complicated. We weren’t there ourselves at the time, so tracing it back now, much of what we’ve gotten is false.” He paused. “What can be confirmed for now is that these two so-called ‘Four-Foot’ and ‘Five-Foot Lechers’ had a reputation on Jiangning’s wanted list back then, though the accounts vary widely—some even drew pictures, but they don’t resemble each other much. The most consistent account is that the original Four-Foot was a bald young monk, who has probably grown his hair out by now—that would be the youth the young lady and Mr. Jin saw last night. As for Five-Foot, he was said to be rather handsome, and there’s no discrepancy there.”

“Hmph.” Chen Shuangran gave a cold laugh, her eyes flickering.

“Back in Jiangning, everyone’s attention was always fixed on those five great kings and the direction of the gathering. Among the rumors about these two lechers, the most famous by far was their feud with Shi Baofeng. There are many versions of the story, but the general account is that the Five-Foot Lecher took the wife of Shi Baofeng’s son, Shi Weiyang. Shi Weiyang wouldn’t let the matter rest, and was subsequently chased down through the streets by the Five-Foot Lecher, who slew over a dozen skilled outlaws before finally severing one of Shi Weiyang’s arms and only then stopping…”

“…The identities of these skilled fighters even included ‘Dragon Blade’ Xiang Dasong, ‘White Mountain Palm’ Qian Zhuoying, ‘Ox Demon’ Xu Batian, ‘Startling God Hand’ Fan Hen, ‘White Asura’ He Qinzhao, ‘Fifteen Strings’ Yu Ci…”

Among those present, Chen Yan, Deng Nian, and the others were all Fujian river pirates, quite cut off from the outside world; Chen Yan held a sheet of paper and read out the names one by one, his expression rather nonchalant. But “Mr. Jin” and the other man in the room listened with their brows furrowing more and more.

After a moment, that man said, “Nonsense! People like ‘Ox Demon’ Xu Batian and ‘Dragon Blade’ Xiang Dasong are heroes of long-established fame—even I could not claim certain victory against them one-on-one, and ‘Fifteen Strings’ Yu Ci is a man of high virtue and astonishing skill… These recent years the martial world has been in turmoil, and something may well have happened to them, but to be chased through the streets and cut down over a dozen at once by a single youth? Even Cult Leader Lin Zongwu himself probably couldn’t do that… Nonsense! Absolute nonsense!”

This man was also outside help brought in from elsewhere, one whose strength and judgment could be trusted. Listening to what he said, Chen Shuangran began to grasp just how much weight the list of names on Chen Yan’s paper actually carried.

Recalling what she’d witnessed the night before, the way the “Four-Foot Lecher” had searched about after killing Ni Po in the darkness had filled her with fear, nearly making her lose composure. As for the “Five-Foot Lecher,” that was the youth at the general goods stall who had never made a move and had never once taken Ni Po seriously from start to finish. He was young—his skill certainly couldn’t compare to the world’s foremost Cult Leader Lin Zongwu—but if he were to go all out, what sort of scene would that actually be?

For the sake of a woman, chasing down and killing the son of Shi Baofeng, the King of Equality, along the long street, slaughtering over a dozen skilled fighters in succession, and even cutting off one of Shi Weiyang’s arms?

Her mind wandered through these thoughts, but aloud she said, “I too saw this Five-Foot Lecher yesterday. He’s no more than seventeen or eighteen—last year he would have been even younger. Even with a deep family tradition of learning, it seems unlikely he could have done such a thing. Uncle Yan, isn’t this probably false information?”

Chen Yan nodded. “Yes, when I first heard such rumors I was quite doubtful too. After checking with various sources, it seems the story is likely just a story. Shi Baofeng used the matter of his son’s severed arm to turn around and rage at the King of Fairness, even claiming the King of Fairness had colluded with the Southwest to target him and his son. In other words, if that account is true, then whoever chased down and killed his son may actually have been the Black Banner of the Southwest.”

Someone beside him nodded. “If it was the Black Banner who acted, killing over a dozen wouldn’t be strange at all.”

“But there’s a question here too.” Chen Yan smiled. “Actually, when the young lady gave the order, I thought of something—among all of us, there happens to be one person who was closest to the King of Equality while in Jiangning. Care to guess who?”

Mr. Jin nodded. “…Ni Po?”

“Precisely.” Chen Yan cupped his hands. “Ni Po is a martial fanatic, but back when he was in Jiangning, he went to compete in the martial contests, and that path happened to run through the King of Equality’s territory. At first, everyone thought the Party of Fairness’s arena was a big deal, but later the King of Fairness flipped the table, having no real interest in negotiating properly, and the various factions in the city lost much of their interest in the arena. Ni Po had also heard of names like ‘Dragon Blade’ Xiang Dasong. When I asked him the night before last, he said that men like these possessed real skill but had no ambition to refine it further, choosing instead to become mere ‘court jesters’ at Shi Baofeng and Shi Weiyang’s side—he looked down on them. Of course, back then men like ‘Dragon Blade’ had reputations far surpassing his own, so I imagine they probably looked down on him too.”

Someone in the room laughed. “That’s exactly Ni Po’s character. Truthfully, if nothing had happened to him, he’d have made something of himself in the future.”

“Yes… so I also asked him in detail about the news of these two lechers and about the incident where Shi Weiyang was attacked. Ni Po said that at the time there were various accounts circulating, but he didn’t believe the ones from the important figures. Back then the city’s situation was chaotic, and the young master of the Shi family went around stirring up trouble with a large group of followers, making a great racket—he felt something was bound to go wrong sooner or later. Later, when the King of Equality used the matter of Shi Weiyang to rage at the King of Fairness, the point of the raging was that the King of Equality wanted to seize an opportunity to force the King of Fairness to declare his position—to state that he, the King of Fairness, had absolutely nothing to do with the Southwest or with the Study Society… This was itself a calculated, opportunistic move: the expectation was that once the King of Fairness stated this position, the other kings would then be able to begin negotiating cooperation with him. Who could have known that this single act of coercion would turn out so badly…”

At this Chen Yan gave a wry smile. “No one expected that the King of Fairness wouldn’t be willing to distance himself from the Study Society at all—he even tried to force the other four kings to accept the Study Society’s ideas. Everyone suddenly realized that King of Fairness He Wen’s Jiangning Gathering hadn’t actually been convened for the sake of an alliance at all… After this incident, what should have been a happy occasion turned into a disaster; every faction’s loyalties grew unsettled. What had originally been a joyous martial tournament was, from then on, something no one had time to care about anymore—everyone went to plan for the coming split and slaughter instead.”

Mr. Jin laughed too, slapping his knee. “That’s exactly why the martial fanatic Ni Po went unnoticed—which means his impression of this incident should be quite deep.”

“Yes—so when he spoke of it, he said whatever rumors there were, they were all false, and that it was just the important figures throwing tantrums. As for a man like Shi Weiyang, who ran around with a group of experts causing trouble and making a racket—whoever beat him up, does it matter whether he’d offended lechers, provoked people from the Southwest, or been sabotaged by one of the other kings? The King of Equality was just seizing the opportunity to make an issue of it… As for the two lechers, if they’d really made a big enough name for themselves, he’d have known naturally. Since his impression of them was shallow, it clearly means their skill at least couldn’t reach Lin Zongwu’s level…”

“In the end, he still let his guard down… Even if the two lechers weren’t at Lin Zongwu’s level of greatness, their martial skill still far exceeded his own…”

When the discussion reached this point, the room fell briefly silent once more. Tracing back from the lechers to string together last year’s most significant event in Jiangning, everyone’s thoughts churned, each lost in their own speculation.

After a while, Mr. Jin said, “Ni Po’s obsession with martial arts left him with little understanding of worldly matters, but the fact that he let his guard down shows that at the very least, these two men didn’t strike him as figures of any great orthodox background. But given the current situation in Fuzhou, we can’t afford to take too great a risk either. We can observe more before deciding on a plan—it’s just that Young Master Pu’s side is currently trying to recruit these two as well; I’m only worried they might beat us to it.”

Sitting by the window, Chen Shuangran thought for a while with a smile at the corner of her mouth. “Given these two’s temperament, how could that fellow surnamed Pu possibly recruit them… I need to think this through carefully—there’s no rush. Uncle Yan, look into it more when you have time.”

“Yes.”

“As for Fish King…” she paused, “have someone tell him I’ll consider… seeing him as soon as possible.”

“Yes.”

Outside the window, threads of rain fell, wrapping the busy city in gray, wet tones. Chen Shuangran sat at the table, one hand propped against her chin, her eyes flickering as she sketched out the shape of the whole affair in her mind. After a moment, she finally rose to her feet.

“It’s about time. What’s been arranged needs to be set in motion. Mr. Jin, Uncle Yan, let’s get ready and go take a look, all of us… and Uncle Nian, if you’d drive the carriage, we’ll go together.”

The group either nodded or cupped their hands in acknowledgment, rising to prepare to leave. After Deng Nian agreed, he looked toward Chen Yan with a puzzled expression, and Chen Yan then leaned in close to his ear and said a few words to him.

By this time, the court had already finished arranging and mobilizing the Imperial Guards; they had left the drilling grounds and were moving along the city’s main roads, circling toward the gates on every side.

In a tea room near the academy, Li Pin, enduring the pain in his body, was hosting a banquet for the great Confucian scholars in the fine rain, discussing the progress and arrangements of recent events and hoping that everyone would come to see the Emperor’s sincere effort. But it wasn’t long before arguments broke out.

In a small courtyard within Huaiyun Quarter, Ning Ji and Qu Longjun had just finished their lunch, and the two sat together on a small terrace at the back, near the river, watching the sky full of rain threads and the events unfolding across the city. Ning Ji spoke of the grudge between the Huaxia Army and men like Tie Tianying—a deep-seated hatred that had already formed more than ten years before.

At the other end of the city, having received a piece of news, Yue Yun left his lodging. Wrapped in a straw cape, he pushed through the curtain of rain like a young, fierce tiger. In this moment, he had no idea that thick malice was already closing in around him from every side…