The daylight had not yet fully faded; in the distance, a column of smoke rose above the chaos of the city, and beneath the eaves, the great red lanterns swayed faintly, the scent of blood mingling with the figure of the scholar standing there. The sky was darkening steadily, and the lanterns’ glow grew ever brighter, coalescing within the Lou family’s main residence into an atmosphere that felt almost otherworldly — a silence and pressure that left one nearly unable to breathe.

Out in the courtyard beyond the main hall, men carrying blades, spears, or bows moved about with cold, deliberate footsteps, a faint rustling sound accompanying them. The rear grounds of the Lou estate had already been fully secured by several hundred soldiers of the Sharp Edge Battalion, though occasional cries and screams still drifted out now and then, quickly cut short.

No one knew how things would unfold from here — not even many of those present recognized the scholar who had come in and killed without warning. Lou Shuwang was already a corpse, though the blood still flowed from him; Lou Jinlin sat there, staring at the scholar in a silence that was almost frightening; the man who’d been drenched in soup had grease dripping slowly from his hair, gradually drying, an occasional drop still falling.

Compared to Lou Shuwan, who now knelt weeping beside her brother, Lou Shuweng, somewhere in the crowd, looked as though his spirit had already left his body. Having witnessed his elder brother’s death and his father’s helplessness, something deep within him seemed to have seized up, unable to turn any longer. He thought he too was probably about to die, but from start to finish, Ning Yi never once looked his way — or perhaps he had, and Lou Shuweng simply hadn’t noticed.

Ning Yi now stood beneath the eaves, gazing off with furrowed brow at the distant column of smoke. Chen Fan walked over to join him, looking in the same direction. “White Deer Temple’s been hit.”

“The other places should be moving at the same time…” Ning Yi thought for a moment and sighed. “We’re missing it over here.” He and Wenren Bu’er had originally arranged for a fairly critical position to be secured today — if the Overlord Blade Battalion’s move went smoothly, it would have been all but a sure thing.

Chen Fan, naturally, had no idea what he meant. “Doesn’t matter much. Aren’t you worried about how sister-in-law’s doing?”

“Should be fine.” The rear of the Lou estate had already been secured, and with Lu Hongti there besides, Ning Yi hadn’t really been worried to begin with. Chen Fan laughed. “This Lou family… what on earth were they thinking…”

“Who knows… a fool finds joy in his folly, a madman keeps his own kind of health…”

“…A couplet?”

“A couplet.”

Ning Yi nodded.

…

Though the situation had long since been brought under control, it would still take some time to bring Su Tan’er’s party out. Ning Yi and Chen Fan stood beneath the eaves talking, and before long Fang Shuchang came over to join the conversation as well. They kept their voices low, and no one nearby could make out the words, but as time passed, the initially oppressive atmosphere gradually eased, giving people room to think.

It was also because Ning Yi’s sequence of actions upon entering had been so genuinely shocking — rolling up his sleeves, striding lightly up the steps, raising his hand and killing Lou Shuwang without hesitation, then walking over to flip the table, sitting down before Lou Jinlin, and after killing the man’s son right there on the spot, calmly declaring he’d kill the whole family — this kind of cold, merciless efficiency would have unnerved anyone. But once people had a moment to catch their breath, some inevitably realized that what he’d said was that he’d come to fetch someone — that anyone voicing a single word of objection would see the entire Lou family killed. The subtext of those words, perhaps, was that he hadn’t come here with the intent of wiping out the whole family.

Others in the room, not knowing his identity, and not knowing who he’d come for, could only pray he’d manage to retrieve whoever it was without incident. What happened to the Lou family afterward, and whether this man was someone worth crossing, wasn’t something these bystanders needed to concern themselves with.

Whatever the case, given the Lou family’s current standing, for this man to walk in and kill Lou Shuwang outright was likely already the limit of what he’d go — there was no way he’d wipe out the whole family. The crowd, perhaps not daring to move rashly, still found themselves thinking along these lines as time passed, or turning their gaze toward Lou Jinlin, seated at the center. The old man was a lifelong hero, the one who had, with his own hands, pushed the Lou family to its current standing; even amid the dangers of war, he had never let the family fall, and remained someone who could speak on equal footing with Fang Qifo. For a family like this to be wiped out entirely by some scholar of unknown origin who’d simply shown up — that really did seem unlikely.

The three men beneath the eaves seemed, by now, to already be discussing other matters. After a moment, some commotion sounded off to the side, and someone came to report that the person they’d come to retrieve had been brought out. Though the view toward the door leading to the rear grounds, off to the side of the main hall facing the entrance, was still blocked, footsteps could already be heard approaching. Beneath the eaves, the scholar, idly turning some small object over in his hand, exchanged a few quiet words with Fang Shuchang, who nodded and waved a hand toward the small open square in front of the main hall. The men began sheathing their blades and turning to head outside.

Only then did everyone finally let out a breath of relief. Ning Yi still had his back to the hall at that moment, his hands hanging loosely at his sides as he looked slantwise toward the side door. In the crowd, Lou Shuweng — who had remained dazed and too frightened to move throughout, terrified he might die — also understood that Su Tan’er was now coming through from that direction. He had abducted Su Tan’er barely an hour ago; from the army’s sudden incursion, to Ning Yi’s thunderous entrance, to the crushing, silent pressure that had followed, the fear of it had nearly exceeded the sum total of every fright he’d experienced in his entire life. But finally, at this moment, it seemed it was all about to pass — it really was all about to pass…

Over there, Fang Shuchang stepped down from the platform, Chen Fan gazed at the distant column of smoke on the horizon, and Ning Yi looked slantwise toward the side door. Lou Jinlin gritted his teeth, his thin white hair fluttering as though each strand stood on end, and rose from his seat. “That’s it, then!?”

His voice was low as a lion or tiger’s growl, commanding without needing anger, thick with the old man’s suppressed rage and fighting spirit. As though prompted by the sound, Ning Yi turned back around, raised the object he’d been idly playing with — a firearm — and casually leveled it at him. “Of course not.”

It was as though he were simply finishing off, in passing, something he’d already meant to do before leaving.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

He raised the gun, shook his head casually, and as he spoke, pulled the trigger.

Bang—

Black hair, white hair, red blood, flesh, bone, black shot and iron pellets, all flew up into the air and were flung out behind him…

“No—!”

Lou Shuwan’s voice tore out of her, raw with anguish.

…

That single shot blew off the top of the old man’s skull. Ning Yi had only just replied simply, “Of course not,” raised the gun, pulled the trigger, and after watching the body fall, turned and walked away. Lou Shuwan lunged toward her father’s corpse, but partway there, her body swayed and she collapsed, unconscious, to the ground.

Su Tan’er had arrived; Lu Hongti was mixed in among the crowd as well, nodding at Ning Yi in acknowledgment. Naturally there were others besides Lu Hongti accompanying Su Tan’er — several traveling guards were also looking toward the main hall. Ning Yi took Su Tan’er’s hand, preparing to leave. Beneath the eaves, Chen Fan spoke up. “Hey, they’ve still got another son — what if he comes looking for revenge on you? Let me just finish him off for you.” He started walking toward Lou Shuweng as he spoke.

Ning Yi glanced back. “As long as he’s willing to throw everything he has left on the line, you have to give a man that chance — let him do as he pleases. Let’s go, there’s still real business to attend to.”

Chen Fan shrugged and jogged to catch up, then said quietly, “That woman said one word too many just now — if we don’t wipe out her whole family before we leave, it’ll be embarrassing to admit later.” Ning Yi looked at him with an amused expression. “How can you be so cruel? I was joking. A person needs to be magnanimous — you can’t always be thinking about revenge and wiping out entire families.”

Chen Fan laughed too, then cupped his hands toward Su Tan’er. “You must be sister-in-law. I’m Chen Fan — if anyone gives you trouble in Hangzhou from now on, feel free to drop my name.”

The group left the Lou estate, and under Fang Shuchang’s direction, began scattering swiftly in different directions, though some stayed on to escort Ning Yi’s party. The commander of the Sharp Edge Battalion also came over to exchange a few words with Ning Yi. Before long, Ning Yi, Su Tan’er, Chen Fan, and the others had all boarded the carriage. Taking stock of the city’s situation, they had the carriage head toward the White Deer Temple. “Might as well join in the excitement while we’re at it,” Chen Fan said. As the carriage sped along, he glanced back once toward the direction of the Lou estate — only two men had died, but the Lou family was already finished.

“Honestly, why didn’t you kill that boy too? Don’t tell me you’re actually feeling merciful.” By this point, Chen Fan finally turned to ask Ning Yi the question seriously. Ning Yi smiled. “If I killed them all and brought the whole Lou family down, how would I explain that to your teacher?”

“Just leaving one Lou behind would’ve been enough.”

“Women are fiercer than men — if I left behind a woman and she really threw everything on the line to come after revenge, what then? But he still has an elder brother, so she won’t go that far. The Lou family’s real strength was only ever Lou Jinlin and Lou Shuwang. As for Lou Shuweng — he’s got petty cleverness but no real backbone. If he ever dares to throw everything on the line and come after me for revenge, I’ll hand you my head myself.”

There was, in fact, another reason Ning Yi didn’t mention. That Lou Shuweng had managed to surround Su Tan’er at all had only worked because it was a surprise, catching an unprepared target. Now that she was under the Overlord Blade Battalion’s protection and everyone was on guard, Lou Shuweng, even if he truly threw caution to the wind, wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything within the next few months. And after that, once Hangzhou eventually fell, the Lou family would be branded as rebels; without his father’s or elder brother’s abilities, he’d likely suffer torments worse than death by then anyway.

That single bolt, that single shot — seemingly casual — had in fact been aimed entirely at the vital points. With Lou Jinlin and Lou Shuwang both struck down, the entire Lou family had already collapsed completely; the only reason the shell of it still remained was that Fang Qifo required the Lou family’s continued existence and commercial function. Of course, to Ning Yi, this really had been a rather casual matter — there had already been so much to do tonight; if the Lou family hadn’t come along with their clownish antics, he’d have preferred not to have had to deal with any of this at all.

But things being what they were, there was no choice left now. Having said this, Chen Fan hopped down from the carriage, leaving the space for Su Tan’er and Ning Yi to have some time alone together. Su Tan’er still couldn’t quite grasp the full shape of the situation — she’d originally handed the decision over to Ning Yi hoping to preserve some chance of still leaving the city, but as things stood now, that possibility was finally gone. Having laid his cards on the table with Liu Xigua over this matter, the two of them would likely have to settle in and live within the Overlord Blade Battalion for some time to come; Su Tan’er would need to carry the pregnancy to term here in Hangzhou, even giving birth to their first child amid this rebel army.

Ning Yi explained all this to her simply. Su Tan’er fell silent for a moment, then finally broke into a bright smile and took her husband’s hand. “Wherever you are, husband, I never really wanted to leave in the first place. So… where are we headed now?”

“To join the excitement.” Ning Yi thought about it, then lifted the carriage curtain — in the distance, the column of smoke rose, the street scenery flashing past. “…Let me show you the fireworks.”

…

At the White Deer Temple, flames burned, and blades swept across the ground.

With a clang, the girl’s massive overlord blade cut an enemy down into the roaring fire.

Fighting raged all around, but the entire engagement was tilting overwhelmingly in the Overlord Blade Battalion’s favor. A middle-aged man of considerable skill shouted from up ahead: “Liu Xigua, your Overlord Blade Battalion is betraying our trust — how dare you turn on your own…”

“That’s just going too far.” Liu Xigua kept walking forward, speaking to a nearby member of the Overlord Blade Battalion. “Go tell him — their White Deer Temple caught fire, and our Overlord Blade Battalion came to help put it out, and yet they turned their blades on us without even asking what was going on — how rude!” Even as she spoke, she tossed the torch in her hand into a nearby building that hadn’t yet caught fire. Before her words had even finished, a figure appeared behind the middle-aged man up ahead, robes billowing, and slammed a palm into the back of his head with a crack, splattering his brains — it was Liu Tiannan, arriving at full speed.

“No need to say anything more.” Liu Xigua turned her head to say this. Once Liu Tiannan had caught up, she asked, “How are the women?”

“Most of them are rescued.”

“Bao Daoyi’s probably rushing back, but he won’t make it in time regardless.”

Most of the fighting nearby had already been decided. The two of them began heading toward the planned evacuation route, chatting about the state of the battle along the way before circling back to an earlier topic. “Do you really think Master Ning wants to stay here?”

“He definitely wants to send his wife and the maid away — that much is certain. He knows himself he can’t get away. But I think, honestly, that if you actually gave him the chance, he’d still choose to stay.”

“Because… of his ambitions?”

“Mm. Because of his ambitions.” Liu Xigua smiled, and speaking of Ning Yi, her expression held a hint of genuine wistfulness. “At first I wondered why a man like that would marry into a merchant family as a matrilocal son-in-law — such a strange thing. But eventually I came to understand why. Uncle Nan, he’s not like ordinary people — his head is full of ideas that go against everything conventional. The things he talks about — if he hadn’t genuinely been thinking about them all along, how could he possibly speak of them to that degree? I believe he truly means to do those things. Truly wanting to, and yet afraid — if he’d lived in peaceful times, unable to hold back what was in his heart, it would have led straight to his death. Once he understood that, marrying in as a son-in-law was the only option left to him.”

Everywhere she looked, blood and fire stretched across the hillsides. The girl paused for a moment.

“When we first brought him in, and he started telling me these things, he was still guarded at first — but once the guard came down, he had more and more to say. His thinking, over this recent stretch of time, has grown more and more concrete. I can’t match him in how thoroughly he’s thought it all through, but to reach this level of clarity, he must have been turning it over in his mind for five, ten years straight. Whether it can actually be achieved, even he doesn’t know — but having thought about it this much, deep down he must want to try. And to try, to actually see it through to some result, my side is the only place that can let him do it.”

“He doesn’t have much faith in the Eternal Joy court’s future — that’s true. But even having sent his wife and the maid away, he means to stay behind himself. That was always his intention tonight.” Speaking of Ning Yi, the girl brushed back her hair, and in the firelight her smile turned radiant. “Uncle Nan, I’ll bet you this — even now, even if I let him go, he wouldn’t necessarily be willing to leave. We’re of the same kind, he and I. The Eternal Joy court may one day lose, may fall — but Ning Liheng will still stand with our Overlord Blade Battalion. Otherwise, how could he ever hope to realize such a wild, impossible ambition?”

The night wind moaned, stirring the flames, as though, kindled by the girl’s confidence, they burned all the brighter. This lively night had only just begun…