The rain poured down in sheets.

Seven li outside Qingmu Stronghold, along the road below Huochuan Ridge, a long row of makeshift shelters had been set up. Because the rain had come on so suddenly, the shelters hadn’t been built quite large enough, and the bodies, laid out simply, spread out from beneath the wooden canopies onto the open ground beyond.

These were not the bodies of Qingmu Stronghold’s own men.

The battle at Huochuan Ridge had seen the Lüliang bandit coalition collapse with astonishing speed, and in the aftermath, the slaughter and pursuit had spread across the entire mountainside. In the area around Huochuan Ridge, the coalition had left behind more than nine hundred bodies. Among the great chieftains who had led this campaign, Fang Yiyang was dead, Luan Sanlang had been captured, and Chen Zhenhai had fled in disgrace, vanishing without a trace. Everyone had had their nerve thoroughly broken — almost no one dared come back to clear the battlefield.

After collecting their own dead, Ning Yi suggested they gather the bodies of the others as well, if only to keep them from being devoured by wolves. Qingmu Stronghold then sent out riders to spread word, urging others across Lüliang to come quickly and claim the bodies of their family, relatives, or brothers. As for the battle at Huochuan Ridge itself, Qingmu Stronghold declared it would let the matter rest — if, after three days, any bodies remained unclaimed, the stronghold would cremate them all together and bury them collectively at Huochuan Ridge, so that others might have a place to come mourn in the future.

Displaying mercy after a great battle was, of course, also a way of flexing one’s strength; on the other hand, Huochuan Ridge wasn’t far from Qingmu Stronghold, and Ning Yi had no wish for a mountainside covered in rotting corpses to bring on some kind of epidemic. Of course, even with Qingmu Stronghold’s show of goodwill, few actually came to claim the dead — mostly elderly people and women, who summoned the courage to come. Some assumed they’d need to pay to retrieve their own children or husbands, and some even brought valuables prepared for just that purpose — but Qingmu Stronghold’s men never accepted anything, and the visitors, weeping, simply took their dead and left.

As for Ning Yi’s suggestion, the upper leadership of Qingmu Stronghold naturally understood the reasoning behind it, though the rank-and-file soldiers were, to some degree, less than thrilled. So many of the enemy had died over there, and their own side had lost men too — wouldn’t it be better to just leave the bodies on the mountain for the wolves? Still, once the order came down — especially once word got out that it had come from Ning Yi himself — the soldiers chose to carry it out regardless. Naturally, their expressions toward the grieving families weren’t exactly warm, but because of this, hardly anyone dared come cause trouble either.

Amid the heavy rain, groups of people could still occasionally be seen making their way past Huochuan Ridge toward Qingmu Stronghold — some returning from the battle, others who’d heard of the great victory and come seeking to join the stronghold. As a result, Qingmu Outer Market, several li away, was now packed to overflowing.

Bandits, drifters, ruffians and rogues — in this era, many such men had their own stories of hardship and desperation behind them, but on the whole, theirs was still an easy way to eat. When it came to killing, everyone piled in together; in ordinary times, they dreamed of great bowls of wine and great chunks of meat, and even if they couldn’t quite manage that, at least they could enjoy some carefree fun with their comrades, drifting through life together. Qingmu Stronghold already had considerable scale, and during training kept enough food on hand to feed everyone properly — yet many of the newcomers found the stronghold’s strict selection criteria simply intolerable: I’ve got strength, I’m fierce, I fight without flinching, I’m a proper hero who’s killed without blinking an eye — I could find a seat of honor anywhere I go, and you’re telling me I have to train every single day?

For reasons like this, quite a few people expressed dissatisfaction with Qingmu Stronghold, and even though the Outer Market kept its gates open to recruit newcomers, disputes still occasionally flared up, with some people causing trouble. Among those who took part in the Huochuan Ridge battle, a number had originally tried to join Qingmu Stronghold and, after being turned away, had more than half considered coming back for revenge.

But after this battle, though many more people came flocking in, those who complained and threw tantrums grew noticeably fewer — at most, some would grumble a few curses about Qingmu Stronghold not knowing a good thing when it saw one, but the moment they caught sight of a row of grim, battle-ready Qingmu Stronghold soldiers maintaining order, they’d turn and slink away in sullen silence. Meanwhile, those willing to accept Qingmu Stronghold’s training, who met the physical requirements and had solid skills besides, swelled in number by quite a crowd within just two or three days.

Meanwhile, the inner stronghold of Qingmu was, by this point, wrapped in an atmosphere of warm, harmonious celebration — everyone’s spirits were high, neighbors got along amiably with one another. Amid all the talk of the Huochuan Ridge battle’s heroics, there was also plenty of optimistic anticipation for the future — there was no question now that Qingmu Stronghold had become the most formidable place in all of Lüliang, and that life here, going forward, surely promised nothing but good things.

Amid all this optimism, only one thing sat lodged in everyone’s hearts like a small fishbone. It wasn’t a major issue for the residents, but whenever it came to mind, it left a lingering unease — namely, the matter, circulating through the stronghold these past few days, of their stronghold chief’s marriage to that Butcher Ning.

The coalition that had come to attack Qingmu Stronghold had already been crushed days before, and even a great bandit chief like Luan Sanlang had been publicly beheaded before everyone the following day. The only thing that still felt, to the people of Qingmu Stronghold, like a slap in their own face was this business concerning their stronghold chief. That Sect Leader Lin’s slander had driven a wedge between the two of them up on the mountain — but so what? Were they really going to let a villain’s lies stand in the way of a marriage? Wouldn’t that just be letting the villain win?

Thanks to days of continuous rumor and discussion, the people of Qingmu Stronghold had, by now, developed a great deal of goodwill toward this outsider young man. He was capable, good-natured, and had stepped in at the critical moment to save their stronghold chief during that duel; it was said he’d also been quietly helping guide the stronghold’s development these past few years — and yet, in the end, because of a villain’s lies, he wasn’t even going to be able to marry their chief after all — word had it they’d already been preparing for the wedding just days before.

All these swirling rumors left people feeling both a warm affection and a burning indignation.

Once the rain stopped, the bodies at Huochuan Ridge were burned in a single great fire and buried together. This marked the point at which the entire preceding affair could finally be considered concluded.

And Ning Yi, having spent three days at Hongti’s side, finally began working again. Through Zheng Ashuan, he called together several dozen people responsible for managing the stronghold’s various affairs for a unified meeting — the first time many of the stronghold’s mid- and lower-level personnel had ever laid eyes on him in person. Apparently quite a few of them had been coached beforehand at home, urged that once they met this Master Ning, they should try to comfort him a little, tell him not to let himself be troubled by that villain’s slander…

Naturally, though, none of them dared bring up anything of the sort just yet.

The purpose of this meeting was to lay out an overall framework for the whole of Qingmu Stronghold — for now, the scope involved was vast, touching on nearly every aspect of the stronghold’s consolidation and expansion. Since those attending were mostly craftsmen and farmers from the mountains, Ning Yi didn’t expect them to grasp the whole picture at once. Instead, he broke every detailed task down completely, then divided everyone into small groups to discuss and work through things together in batches.

A rough survey and planning outline for the Qingmu valley. Where houses should be built, which plots of land they’d occupy. How to lay out ditches, drainage, and water supply — how to expand on the existing system, or at least preserve the possibility of future expansion. Which nearby areas were suitable for cultivation. Where storehouses should be placed for maximum safety and convenience. The stronghold’s overall military defenses — whether the outer walls could be positioned better, how many defensible chokepoints existed around the perimeter, whether cellars or tunnels could be dug into the mountainside to aid in defense, and so on and so forth.

Establishing and expanding a settled community always touched on countless interconnected issues. For the original people of Qingmu Stronghold, the stronghold’s growth had always proceeded on an ad hoc basis — even though areas had been roughly zoned, there had never been much detailed planning behind it. By now, the Outer Market was awash in filthy runoff water, and the inner stronghold itself had already grown rather cramped — yet, for reasons of military caution and secrecy, building had never expanded further up the slope. Now, all these scattered concerns finally began to be brought together and organized.

Though the craftsmen and these grassroots administrators from the mountains weren’t especially worldly or well-read, under Ning Yi’s simple, clear guidance, they were still able to articulate what needed to be said. The craftsmen responsible for construction offered their input; Ning Yi roughly sketched out the zoning, and those skilled in building underground drainage matched their plans accordingly, working out arrangements as best they could. On the administrative side, the second chief Zheng Ashuan and the fourth chief Peng Yue both attended to oversee matters, while on the military side, Han Jing personally sat in as well, working through likely future military scenarios they’d need to guard against, after which everyone together mapped out the outer walls and the overall defensive system.

Several dozen people met continuously for three days under Ning Yi’s direction, and from this eventually produced a detailed sketch based on Qingmu Stronghold’s current situation. As an early-stage vision, the plan was, frankly, thrilling to contemplate — a future stronghold capable of housing twenty to thirty thousand people, every aspect beautifully mapped out; just imagining it was enough to stir the blood. And with that, the truly practical work had only just begun: Ning Yi had all the craftsmen break down their respective tasks step by step — how much material would be needed, how it would be used, in what order — those who could write wrote it down themselves, those who couldn’t recited from memory while someone else transcribed it for them.

Over the following days, for these craftsmen who’d inherited their skills through traditional, largely oral means, breaking their techniques down this way proved to be a genuinely maddening ordeal. Some of them could do the work but couldn’t explain it at all in words; most craftsmen’s methods differed from one another besides, and while many steps could be adapted flexibly once a technique was mastered, that very flexibility made it nearly impossible to standardize anything.

Ning Yi had no intention of imposing assembly-line division of labor or rigid, rulebook-style breakdowns of craft directly onto Qingmu Stronghold. What he actually did was quite simple. These craftsmen handled the actual work; the mountain, naturally, also had stewards responsible for coordinating supplies, and Ning Yi called them together to discuss things jointly: which of the needed materials, in your view, should be positioned up front, and which further back? The mountain folk had, in fact, always coordinated with one another to some degree, and simple questions like these, they could generally work out well enough.

Next came arranging the several stewards responsible for mobilizing manpower — which tasks should be done first, which later, trying as much as possible to keep the whole system from grinding to a halt — having them coordinate further, together, with the supply stewards and the craftsmen actually doing the physical work…

So-called scientific management methods, broken down step by step, weren’t really all that difficult in themselves — but once every link was operating together, it became a vast, organic system. Often, you’d send someone off to do a job only to discover the materials it required hadn’t yet arrived, wasting perhaps half an hour in the process — and all these small wasted moments, added together, meant that even though everyone was constantly working, the overall impact on efficiency was enormous. So it was that, in these first few days, Ning Yi gathered a large group of people together largely to hammer out precisely this kind of tedious, seemingly insignificant work.

Meanwhile, the various ongoing projects throughout the mountain continued right along as well. More and more people from beyond the mountains kept joining, and construction and land-clearing in the valley never let up. Ning Yi would often step in here and there, offering a suggestion or two. But what everyone was truly more curious about was the state of the relationship between their stronghold chief and him — lately, a whole crowd of people always seemed to be orbiting around him, making it hard for their chief to even get close; were the two of them, perhaps, in the middle of some kind of cold war? As for all the seemingly grand, yet — once broken down — surprisingly simple matters Ning Yi busied himself with, most people simply concluded: outsiders probably just like doing everything by the book.

With several of the stronghold chiefs actively involved and supportive, though everyone found these new “rules” a bit of an adjustment at first, no one raised much objection for long. This outsider young dignitary remained remarkably approachable and easygoing, seeming endlessly patient with everything. If you didn’t understand something, you could simply follow along as instructed; if you genuinely had questions, he’d explain — and every explanation, too, was concise and clearly directed. It was just that… how much stone, how much timber, do the math first, work it out ahead of time and let us know — wasn’t that all pretty obvious? Just think it through a little and you’d know. I think I used to do it more or less this way too, come to think of it — whenever I needed something, I’d just ask for it when the time came…

In this atmosphere, the gradual transformation of Qingmu Stronghold, and the steady rise in efficiency across the board, only began to be truly recognized by people somewhere between half a month and a month later.

As June began, the people of Qingmu Stronghold gradually grew accustomed to Ning Yi and the hundred-odd outsiders he’d brought with him. Zhu Biao and the other fighters he’d brought sparred twice with Qingmu Stronghold’s own elite leaders, both sides throwing themselves into it with real enthusiasm. The craftsmen he’d brought, once they got to work, were met with enthusiastic cooperation as well.

After his initially busy start, Ning Yi eventually let himself ease off. He had no real passion for hands-on practical work — his earlier tireless involvement had simply been meant to give the people of Qingmu Stronghold their initial spark of inspiration. Once they’d grasped the basic steps, even if execution remained somewhat mechanical, he was content to step back and let them run with it; from that point on, all that was needed was continued directional guidance, and practice, more often than not, proved the best teacher of all.

Most of the people at Qingmu Stronghold no longer held any hostility toward him; Han Jing and the others openly welcomed him now, and plenty of matters were brought to him directly for discussion and advice. In a sense, Lin Zongwu’s intervention had, at least where it concerned Ning Yi’s integration into Qingmu Stronghold, saved him a good two months of effort.

Hongti’s injuries had long since healed. While Ning Yi stayed busy, she would simply linger in the courtyard, occasionally wandering over — her presence as stronghold chief was enough to intimidate anyone who’d come to discuss business into silence. In truth, she was also listening in nearby, straining to catch every word Ning Yi said, trying to work out the meaning behind it all. And often, once night fell deep, she would come bearing a late-night snack or hot water, exchanging a few words with him in the room, or simply sitting together in the darkness outside, leaning against his shoulder — and, of course, sometimes being pulled into his embrace and kissed as well.

She had also, by now, finished listening to the story called The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

As for how the whole master-disciple business might affect their marriage — after Ning Yi promised her a modest, understated wedding, she no longer resisted the idea.

For a woman like her, aside from Qingmu Stronghold’s peace and stability, the man at her side might well be the very best thing she’d ever gained in this life…

Sometimes, alone in the dark, she found herself thinking that even if she truly were his master, she might still, just like the couple in that story, have wanted to marry him all the same.

On the twelfth day of the fifth lunar month, roughly twenty days after Ning Yi had first entered the mountain, the two of them sent out invitations on a small scale. Having promised not to make a grand affair of it, Zheng Ashuan and the other stronghold chiefs simply distributed a round of meat and vegetables to the entire stronghold, treating it as one final reward following the great victory at Huochuan Ridge. But throughout the mountain, everyone privately knew exactly what night this was. Amid a joyous, celebratory mood, in the small courtyard on the slope of Qingmu Stronghold, the two of them were married.

The celebration throughout the stronghold carried on long into the night. That evening, as Ning Yi entered the bridal chamber, the sounds of festivity outside were still drifting in. Dressed in a bright red bridal gown, her head covered with a red veil, the woman sat on the edge of the bed with her knees together, hands folded in her lap — she had no idea how long she’d been sitting like that. Ning Yi lifted the veil and saw the woman beneath it smiling, though her eyes glistened with tears. He walked over, knelt before her, and took both her hands in his.

“Every day from now on will be a good one.” Listening to the noise outside, Ning Yi said this quietly.

The woman sniffed back her tears. “I’m so happy… to be marrying you…”

Ning Yi smiled warmly, and something like happiness settled over this vast mountain range. Before long, that happiness became tangled up with shyness and warmth as well — Hongti’s clothes came away before him that night, and despite her standing as a grandmaster of the martial way, she found herself, before him, teased and toyed with the entire night through. And at times, she couldn’t help but feel that the man before her wasn’t simply treating her as his wife, but as his master as well, in the way he teased and provoked her — and that particular feeling left her feeling especially, achingly bashful, sometimes almost to the point of tears.

But what could she do about it?

She had already married him, after all.