Chapter 35: Separation

Zhou Fei felt like she'd just had a very long and vivid dream.

Li Jinrong suddenly summoning her and Li Sheng to Xiushan Hall, their ensuing departure from the mountain, as well as all the colourful people and things she'd encountered after – she seemed to have imagined all of it.

She woke abruptly from this dream, opening her eyes with a start. Looking around her, she appeared to still be safely ensconced in her little house, nestled in a lush bamboo forest, where the wooden headboard of her bed was damp all year round, there was a perpetually overturned chair in the corner, various odds and ends were messily strewn across the table – including mouldy writing implements that were on the verge of sprouting mushrooms from years of lying unwashed after use – and which had those conveniently loose tiles on its roof, which afforded her a means of escape if she was (quite frequently) grounded…

Until an astringent whiff of medicine prickled her nose.

Zhou Fei tried to move her limbs, but her right shoulder felt like it had been dislocated, and there were unbearable, stabbing pains in her chest and arm. She groaned softly, and subconsciously reached out to grab something. Her hand closed round an object that was cool to the touch.

It was the Mountain of Lost Springs.

In that instant, the sensation of that cool iron scabbard fired up all those muddled memories in her head, which fell back neatly into place. With a violent start, Zhou Fei struggled to pull herself up…but failed. She fell heavily back onto the bed, very nearly knocking herself out again.

Just then, the door opened with a creak. A little head peeked gingerly into the room, and said in a voice that was clearly intended to be a whisper: "She still isn't awake yet, everything seems the same here."

"Li…" Zhou Fei tried to speak, but her throat felt like it had been split open with an axe. Trying her best to ignore that burning sensation, she cleared her throat painfully before managing to cough out the words: "Li Yan, get your butt in here."

Li Yan exclaimed in surprise, nearly tripping over the threshold to fall flat on her face. She scrambled to her feet and barged into the room: "Fei!"

That familiarly shrill voice gave Zhou Fei an instant headache. Fortunately, another equally familiar voice saved her: "Tattletale Li, keep this up any longer and I'll sew your mouth shut."

Zhou Fei looked in the direction of that voice in surprise. It was the long-lost Li Sheng.

Li Sheng had already cleaned himself up, but while he could wash away the grime, the haggard look on his face remained. The very last bit of baby fat on his teenage face had melted away, revealing the hard outline of his jaw and cheekbones beneath his skin. He looked like a man now. Zhou Fei almost couldn't recognise him at first glance.

This unfamiliar-looking Li Sheng gave her a steady nod as he walked in after Li Yan with measured steps.

Li Yan's lips seemed barely able to catch up with the words that were bubbling up out of her. Without even pausing for breath, she said: "Fei, if Li Sheng hadn't met Aunt and got them to rush back in time, our corpses would probably be crawling with maggots by now!"

Zhou Fei got goosebumps from that grisly scenario.

"Those nasty bastards from the false dynasty ran away pretty fast, but if they ever land in my clutches next time, I'll be sure to slice them up and feed them to the dogs!"

Zhou Fei tried with difficulty to extract the important bits of information from Li Yan's prattling: "You mean to say Cao Ning…"

"Escaped!" huffed Li Yan indignantly. "You'd be amazed at how fast that gigantic lump of lard on legs could run. Uncle's men had almost reached the foot of the mountain already, yet they still managed to get away!"

Zhou Fei was leaning heavily on the Mountain of Lost Springs, attempting to prop herself up. But she froze in shock when she heard this, blurting out in astonishment: "What did you just say? My father's men?"

Li Sheng silently poured Zhou Fei a cup of water, and yanked Li Yan away by the back of her collar before handing it to her. His gaze lingered on the unfamiliar sabre in Zhou Fei's hand.

"Thank you," said Zhou Fei as she took the cup. She paused before adding: "…Brother."

Li Sheng nodded at her and sat down on the little rattan stool by her bed. He began giving her a proper recount of events: "The Wayfarers' Union has had links with the imperial court of the Southern Dynasty all this while. The Wayfarers' Union managed to get here first, and the Southern troops were sent here shortly after. We just so happened to run into Uncle's men while we were rushing home – do you know of the Fei Qing General Wen Yu?"

Not only did Zhou Fei know of him, she was fairly well acquainted with the general too.

"Because we could move faster, we reached the 48 Zhai first. General Wen and his troops were supposed to arrive shortly after, and through our combined efforts, we should have been able to seize that Cao fellow easily. But just when we'd stormed up here, he seemed to sense something, and immediately tore down the mountain as fast as possible. We were so close…yet they still managed to get away in the end." While Li Sheng's voice was calm, his two hands which were resting on his knees gripped them tightly, as if to quell the emotions roiling inside him. He paused, before continuing: "But it's fine. We'll get payback for this sooner or later."

"Before you returned, we had about six to seven hundred disciples manning our guard posts, but there's only over a hundred left now," said Li Yan in a subdued voice. "More than half of the 48…I mean 47 sects' seniors who were holding the fort here have been seriously injured or killed."

Li Sheng corrected her: "More than three quarters."

Zhou Fei had already reckoned that this was the case, because if they hadn't suffered serious casualties, a mediocre pugilist like Li Yan, who probably wouldn't complete her apprenticeship even in a hundred years, would certainly never have been called to the frontlines. Yet she still couldn't help but shiver when Li Sheng said this out loud.

The three of them fell silent.

Only after a good long while did Li Sheng attempt to lift the mood, saying in a brighter voice: "Well, Aunt's back now, so you don't have to dwell on these things anymore. I heard them say that Uncle will also be returning soon."

Zhou Fei's eyes lit up at this piece of good news at last: "Really? Is he really coming home?"

But Li Sheng didn't seem too enthused about this, giving her a small nod before furrowing his brow: "I'm afraid that we're about to go to war."

Even though many still viewed the Caos as illegitimate claimants to the throne, it was a fact that they had managed to establish firm control over the entire restive North. So while their abilities in other areas were as yet unproven, there was absolutely no doubt about the strength of their military prowess.

And the current Jian Yuan Emperor of the Southern Dynasty, who had been but a young boy when he fled south, was today an ambitious man in his prime, and through the efforts of first Liang Shao and then Zhou Yitang, he had consolidated his power slowly but surely. Having effected sweeping reforms of the Southern Dynasty's systems of governance and taxation, he certainly had his sights set on grander horizons.

While the North and South had maintained a tenuous peace over the last two years, everyone knew that the fighting would inevitably start again, and that the slightest of sparks could trigger it.

The Heng Mountains had been the catalyst for the last major clash.

And this time, the 48 Zhai had been the spark that ignited the fire.

Would this inferno reach the Shu Mountains?

Zhou Fei couldn't help but recall those desolate and empty passageways in the Heng Mountains. She felt as if many things in this world seemed to keep repeating themselves, in an endless cycle of déjà vu.

If Mistress Li had been just a little bit slower in returning, would this place have been reduced to a cluster of hollowed-out mountains too?

Would this region have become like the Heng Mountains, where people kept their doors and windows tightly shut even in broad daylight?

"Miss Wu and the rest have also returned," continued Li Sheng. "She'd wanted to see you once you regained consciousness, but Aunt has just called her away to speak to her about something. They told me that Shixiong Chenfei…"

Zhou Fei sighed.

Li Sheng gripped his knees even more tightly, and only after a few moments had passed did he exhale tremulously and say: "I understand, you should rest now."

Then he fiercely shooed Li Yan away. While the girl refused to leave at first, she trudged despondently out the door after her brother glared at her and said: "What are you doing here, when you should be practicing your martial arts!"

It remained to be seen how long the recent trauma could motivate her to buckle down and work hard.

After hustling Li Yan out the door, Li Sheng paused there for a moment. He rested a hand on the doorframe and turned towards Zhou Fei, his back to the sunlight. In that instant, he seemed to have made a personal breakthrough of some sort. He muttered: "Your sabre is impressive."

Zhou Fei looked at him in surprise. For a moment, she thought that he was referring to the Mountain of Lost Springs, and nearly said 'you can have it if you'd like'. But then she quickly realised what that would mean, and finding that she couldn't bear to give it away after all, those words remained frozen on the tip of her tongue.

But to her amazement, Li Sheng's next words were: "Your natural talent and comprehension of martial arts do indeed exceed mine. I've been trying in vain to catch up to you all along, so I've always been pretty hung up about it."

Zhou Fei: "…"

Li Yan: "…"

The two girls, one of them inside the room and the other outside, both stared at Li Sheng as if they'd just seen a ghost, certain that he must have lost his mind.

Li Sheng merely waved a vexed hand at them, as though he wanted to brush aside their astonished gazes, and said stiffly to Zhou Fei: "But after thinking about it, I've realised that it's no use feeling that way, and I should simply focus on training hard instead. You shouldn't feel too pleased about what I said today, because while you might be ahead of me now, that might not be the case ten, or even twenty years later."

Although he felt a strange sort of catharsis after finally getting all that off his chest, he also felt quite ashamed, as if he had just bared himself in public, and those last few words had practically flown out of his mouth. Not wishing to hang around for a single second more, Li Sheng turned on his heel and hurried away as fast as possible, not giving Zhou Fei any opportunity to respond.

Fearing that Li Sheng might kill her for having heard too much, Li Yan also scurried away at once. Zhou Fei sighed – that bothersome pair of siblings hadn't even shut the door for her.

Still ailing from her injuries, Zhou Fei could only gaze forlornly out at the little leaf-strewn courtyard, shivering in the chilly autumn breeze. She eventually had no choice but to slowly prop herself up, using her long sabre as a crutch, and hobble painfully towards the door.

All of a sudden, she heard the sound of a flute being played.

It wasn't a well-made flute, incapable of reaching the highest or lowest of notes, and sounded a little screechy at parts. But the flutist was skilful enough to make even such an instrument produce a pleasing melody – truly someone who'd earned a name for himself writing operas, albeit scandalous ones. In his hands, this crudely made flute was still able to make several melodious trills, its shortcomings not detracting much from its dulcet tones.

Zhou Fei gingerly leaned her uninjured side against the doorframe. She looked out to see that Xie Yun was reclining on a tree branch as he played, swaying gently in the breeze, the very picture of contentment.

Zhou Fei waited for him to finish playing before she asked: "What is that?"

"It's from the 'Tower of Parting Sorrow'," said Xie Yun with a smile. "Can't you tell? You've heard it countless times on the road."

Now that he said it, Zhou Fei realised that did indeed seem like a verse from 'Tower of Parting Sorrow'. However, while it was often played with mournful melancholy befitting a farewell, in the hands of this fellow its melody grew light-hearted – some of its trills even sounded a tad playful. So instead of sounding like 'Parting Sorrow', it had seemed more like 'Get Lost', which was why Zhou Fei hadn't recognised it at first.

Xie Yun grinned at Zhou Fei, asking: "I'm here to see you, does the young maiden allow me to enter her private chambers?"

Zhou Fei replied curtly: "No."

Xie Yun leapt down from his treetop perch nevertheless, a gigantic smirk on his face as he made a big show of giving her a courteous bow: "Hm, my hearing isn't so good these days, and only picks up certain words – since you've so kindly invited me in Miss, it'll be rude of me to refuse. I'll gratefully oblige."

Zhou Fei: "…"

Xie Yun strutted into the house beneath her 'admiring' gaze, and even casually took Zhou Fei's sabre from her hand, leading her by the wrist to the bed as if this were his own room instead of hers: "Come, come, you should lie down. Given how close we are, there really was no need for you to go all the way to the door to greet me."

While his words were roguish as usual, his eyes were extremely decorous, and didn't dart around curiously – even though there really wasn't anything worth looking at in Zhou Fei's room.

After observing him in silence for several seconds, it suddenly occurred to Zhou Fei that this man had a very interesting trait – the more he had something serious on his mind, the more uncomfortable he would feel, and so the more he would joke around to cover up his discomfort. Conversely, it was only when he was at his most relaxed that one might be able to get a serious word or two from him.

Xie Yun sensed her eyes on him: "What are you looking at me for? Staring for so long at a handsome guy like me isn't free, you know."

Zhou Fei said: "I don't have any money – feel free to look at me as payment."

Taken aback that Zhou Fei had taken a leaf out of his own book, Xie Yun stammered out: "You…"

Xie Yun failed to continue his sentence, bursting into laughter instead. But then his smile slowly faded, as he lightly twirled the flute in his hand, and asked: "Is there anything you want to ask me?"

There were too many things that Zhou Fei wanted to know.

Such as – why did Cao Ning seem to know him so well? What were those 'Cloud-Parting Palms' that Gu Tianxuan had been talking about? And since he had such a phenomenal set of skills, why did he have to run like a headless chicken from a bunch of martial arts nobodies before? What exactly was that 'Sea Blends Into Sky' that he was after? But as soon as all these questions rushed to her lips, Zhou Fei promptly swallowed each and every one of them. She could tell that Xie Yun was only asking her this because he could see that there was no way to avoid her questions anymore, although he didn't actually want to talk about it. He'd probably already prepared a whole load of baloney to answer her with, and so there was really no point in questioning him.

She stood there in thoughtful silence for a bit, before asking: "Are we about to go to war?"

Xie Yun's inscrutable gaze lingered on her, as if he were slightly surprised that she would settle on this question. After a while, he said: "Cao Ning isn't the Empress' son."

Zhou Fei was perplexed by this apparent non sequitur.

"Cao Zhongkun usurped the throne – he wasn't born into royalty and didn't care much for social proprieties before. He'd made a prostitute his mistress, and only officially made her his concubine after she became pregnant with Cao Ning. As this was a fairly disgraceful affair, the then-Madam Cao, who is now Empress of the Northern Dynasty, had been very unhappy about it. That concubine passed away immediately after giving birth to Cao Ning, and he was born with a birth defect, giving him an abnormal appearance and frame since young – you're well aware of that. As for whether this was because of bad luck, or due to somebody harming him when he was in the womb, well, we'll never know." Xie Yun said: "It's said that Cao Zhongkun hadn't liked him since he was a child, because of the circumstances of his birth and his appearance, and didn't even want to acknowledge Cao Ning as his son…however, Cao Ning turned out to be quite extraordinary, with the ability to memorise things after reading them just once, and he left the palace when he was in his early teens to join the military, so as to gain some experience. As Cao Zhongkun didn't care for Cao Ning, it made no difference to him should this cursed second son of his die, so he let him leave. But to everyone's surprise, while Cao Ning was incapable of engaging in combat, he was quite a genius at military strategy, and went on to win battle after battle. His standing in the military grew steadily over time."

Zhou Fei was still as confused as ever, and she strove to keep her mind from drifting as he spoke of these secrets of the imperial court.

"Cao Ning managed to get Cao Zhongkun's attention through his achievements on the battlefield. As Cao Zhongkun is keenly aware of how he himself had managed to seize power, he's always kept the military firmly within his control. So he didn't fear his son's military conquests, but the crown prince did – do you remember those rumours about Cao Zhongkun being deathly ill a few years back? At the time, not only did the Big Dipper seize this opportunity to eliminate rebel pugilists, the imperial court of the Northern Dynasty was also purged. Everyone knew that those rumours were just the false Emperor's means of testing his subjects, but I suspect that there was also some truth to them. Just think of his age: while he might be the all-powerful Emperor, that doesn't mean he'll live forever – and if you were the crown prince, with a capable and highly decorated younger brother, what would you be thinking right now?"

Zhou Fei finally seemed to have a faint idea of where he was going with all this: "You mean to say…"

"The crown prince would want him eliminated. And Cao Ning himself probably thinks the same way about the crown prince. While Cao Ning might appear to return empty-handed from his siege of the 48 Zhai, should this trigger war between the North and the South again, he would in fact benefit greatly from this." Xie Yun continued: "For the Shao Dynasty in the South however, while they themselves also wish to regain the North, and return to the old capital, this might not actually be the best opportunity for them to wage war. Wouldn't it be even better to wait till after Cao Zhongkun dies, and a new Emperor has just ascended the Northern throne, when the imperial court is sure to be unstable? The Gentleman Gan Tang is inclined towards more genteel tactics. Compared to a full-blown war, he'd much prefer to bide his time and wait for an opportunity to stir internal strife in the Northern Dynasty."

Concluding his lengthy answer to her question, Xie Yun placed a little cloth bundle by Zhou Fei's bedside, the one which she'd shoved into his hands a few days ago. He said: "Alright then, if you don't have any other questions for me, my job here is done, and I've returned this to its rightful owner as well. I thought I'd better give it back to you as soon as possible, lest Miss Wu ask you about it when she comes over."

He seemed to have unloaded a great burden off him, and stood up to leave: "Your cousin got mad when I simply asked for your name all those years ago – if I disturb you any longer, he's liable to come over and chase me away. I'll be off now."

Zhou Fei called after him: "Hey…"

Xie Yun paused in his tracks and looked down at her. In that moment, his gaze seemed almost tender.

Zhou Fei didn't want to let him go, because there were just too many things that she still wanted to ask him. Such as – since he seemed to have been striving so hard to hide his skills all this while, why did he suddenly reveal them that day? Was it just to save her?

What was that whisper of 'I could bring you away right now' on the battlefield, or the thumb he'd pressed on her cheek in the Town of Returning Spring…

The more Zhou Fei looked at Xie Yun, the more exasperated she felt. She really had no idea how to broach the subject, yet that rascal seemed set on pretending that nothing had happened!

Xie Yun said softly: "What is it?"

Trying in vain to muster the right words, she eventually gave up and said instead: "Where do you plan on staying now?"

"A guest room here," said Xie Yun with a wide smile. "This place is really quite scenic, and pretty comfortable in the fall and winter. I plan to bum around here for a bit. You'd better recover soon, so that you can show me all the sights here."

Zhou Fei gave him an extremely sceptical look.

Xie Yun asked: "And what is it now?"

Zhou Fei hesitated. She felt that she must have laid down for far too long, as her temples were starting to throb: "That just doesn't sound like something you would say."

Xie Yun laughed: "Then what is something I would say? Rest well and fatten yourself up, so that you'll be fit to be Prince Duan's consort?"

Zhou Fei: "…"

Xie Yun chuckled as he walked towards the door, holding that crude little flute behind his back in a devil-may-care manner. Zhou Fei suddenly noticed that while the tips of his fingers were slightly red, the back of his hand was a sickly pale green, as if it had just emerged from a bucket of ice-cold water.

Zhou Fei called out to him: "Hey, Brother Xie, are you alright?"

Perhaps she'd imagined it, but she thought that Xie Yun had paused in his tracks.

Using the bedpost for support, she groggily got to her feet: "I'm not done yet. You told me that day that there was something very important in this cloth bundle, that it was a key to 'Sea Blends Into Sky' – what's that all about?"

"Ah well, it's no harm telling you this anyway, since it's already been revealed," said Xie Yun with one foot out the door. He said casually and a tad perfunctorily: "One of those things in there probably has a diagram of rippling water on it, which is the symbol of 'Sea Blends Into Sky'."

The more he spoke, the more Zhou Fei felt that something wasn't right. She calmly asked: "Which one?"

Xie Yun put on his most prudish look, as if he'd never set eyes on any scandalous operas in his life before, much less written them, and replied primly: "How could I possibly rummage through a young lady's personal effects? You can find it yourself."

Zhou Fei continued to press him: "But haven't you been after 'Sea Blends Into Sky' all this while?"

Didn't he want to take even a single look?

Xie Yun: "…"

He found that Zhou Fei seemed to have grown much savvier in the past few days – she'd learnt how to go about things indirectly now!

Zhou Fei continued: "And…"

But before she could continue, she suddenly saw stars – Xie Yun was before her in an instant. He'd abruptly raised his hand, and prodded a finger squarely on a pressure point at her left temple.

Zhou Fei could barely even keep herself upright, so dodging him was out of the question. She'd also let her guard down around Xie Yun, which allowed him to succeed. Her eyes widened in surprise, before eventually closing weakly, as she slumped forward without any resistance at all.

Xie Yun caught her gently and carefully carried her back to the bed, muttering: "I didn't expect a little rascal like you to have so many questions, I'd thought that you'd be able to keep it in for two more days at least."

He'd wanted to tap her lightly on the nose, but his outstretched hand froze in midair, because he realised that his hand was trembling involuntarily. The freezing chill emanating from his fingers came into contact with the damp air of the Shu Mountains, forming a layer of frost on his hands. That smile on his face also froze slowly, and after a long while, he finally withdrew his green-tinged hand. He clasped his hands and blew on them as he rubbed them together, like a traveller in the icy Northern frontiers.

But this didn't help much, because he realised that even his breath was starting to turn cold.

It was just after noon, the warmest time of day. Brilliant sunlight streamed past the old tree shading the window and pierced dazzlingly into the room, yet it seemed to bounce off him ineffectually, lending him not a single iota of its warmth.

Xie Yun suddenly regretted coming here. Twirling the flute with his slender fingers, he couldn't help but ask himself out loud: "Why did you come here?"

He knew full well that he wouldn't be able to answer Zhou Fei honestly, no matter what she asked him. Yet he'd still come over especially to see her, and even goaded her into questioning him. It really seemed like he had nothing better to do.

Xie Yun pondered this for a moment, and finally concluded that apart from the fact that he'd been born a sucker for punishment, there could only be one possible explanation – he had sincerely hoped that Zhou Fei wouldn't be able to keep her questions in, or her concern in, really, so that he'd have the illusion at least that he had some kind of standing in someone else's heart.

This warped thinking was highly embarrassing and blindingly apparent – not just to others, but even to himself.

Xie Yun couldn't help but laugh contemptuously at himself. He quickly turned around to leave this little room that was brimming with warmth. He really wanted to stride away breezily, as he was wont to do, but with each step he took, he felt like there was something behind him drawing him back, tempting him to turn around again for one more look.

Eventually giving in to this temptation, Xie Yun stopped and turned around. His gaze lingered on Zhou Fei's tranquil face, as she hugged to her chest that sabre which was inextricably linked to three generations of pugilists. That peaceful sleeping face, incongruously pressed up against this vicious weapon, looked almost childlike.

The girl's visage seemed to stir something in Xie Yun's eyes.

It was she who had dragged him out from that dark underground cell against his will, drawing him into an unending series of predicaments, forcing him to laugh heartily, lose his temper, and even be rendered speechless…

But while the dust had yet to settle in this turbulent world, he was about to lie down in the earth and be forever still.

After all that ruckus, Zhou Fei had finally returned to her little tree-shaded house nestled in the mountains, and he would have to sit across from that pile of bleached bones once more, somewhere dark and beneath ground, with only that skeleton for company.

He couldn't let himself cling to this any longer.

Xie Yun tore his eyes away from Zhou Fei, and gently closed the door behind him. The corners of his robes fluttered like a rippling azure pool, and he was gone in a flash.

By the time Wen Yu came back from his pursuit of Cao Ning, and learned with surprise that Xie Yun had been here, it was far too late to go after him – this Wind had already Passed Without a Trace.

Li Jinrong only managed to eke out some time to see her daughter after night had fallen.

The 48 Zhai had been completely ravaged. Upon her return, everyone here seemed to have found their anchor again, and heaving a sigh of relief, promptly collapsed.

Li Jinrong didn't even have time to mourn the 48 Zhai's sorry state before a whole load of affairs to settle was thrust upon her. The line of people demanding decisions from her on various matters stretched from the Hall of Elders all the way to the back of the mountain. She had to count the number of dead and injured, deploy those that were still capable of walking around unassisted, and re-establish the 48 Zhai's defences. She also had to make arrangements for Wen Yu and those troops from the Southern Dynasty that were at the foot of the mountain, who had returned from their pursuit of Cao Ning empty-handed; and the many innocent peasants and townsfolk down there who had suffered from the siege were all still waiting for Mistress Li to make an appearance and offer them a little comfort….

Only when the lamps in the 48 Zhai started to light up did Li Jinrong finally manage to dismiss everyone, drag her tired body to Zhou Fei's room, and gently push open the door.

She lit the small lamp by Zhou Fei's bedside, looking at her daughter by its dim glow. Zhou Fei appeared startled by this movement, and seemed like she wanted to get up. She subconsciously furrowed her brow, and clutched the hilt of her sabre tightly.

Li Jinrong took a good look at this sabre that the girl had somehow managed to procure, and was promptly taken aback – it looked exactly the same as Li Zheng's old weapon.

It was truly remarkable how much could be inherited.

Li Jinrong sat lightly down by Zhou Fei's bed, brushing away an errant lock of hair on the girl's forehead. There was a scabbed-over graze there, which made the girl look pitifully beat-up. She sighed, her gaze softening, and tenderly held Zhou Fei by the wrist, intending to check on her injuries.

The pulse at one's wrist was a vital weak spot. With all that she'd been through since leaving home, Zhou Fei was now far more aware of her surroundings than she'd been before. The very moment that Li Jinrong's fingers grazed her wrist, Zhou Fei abruptly jolted awake.

Once her daughter's eyes flew open, Mistress Li immediately wiped away that slightly tender expression on her face. She pressed her fingers down on Zhou Fei's pulse, saying expressionlessly: "Don't move around."

Even though it had been almost a year since Zhou Fei last saw Li Jinrong, that sense of submission to her mother was still hardwired within her, and she instantly stopped moving.

Li Jinrong furrowed her brows. She had tentatively channelled a small current of chi into Zhou Fei, but it immediately bounced right back at her – while Zhou Fei's body had been completely spent and riddled with injuries, the Withered-Glory chi had experienced a transformative rebirth of sorts after being exerted to its extremes. Like gold refined in a furnace, it had grown even more aggressive and robust. Just a little prod would cause this domineering force to bare its sharp fangs at the intruder.

"Your internal injuries aren't major, and you should be fine after a period of recuperation. It seems like Ma Jili still wanted to spare your life." Li Jinrong withdrew her hand, asking: "But what's going on with your internal strength? Who did you meet out there?"

The most pressing thing on Zhou Fei's mind right now was figuring out why Xie Yun had suddenly knocked her unconscious, and where he had gone after that. But she couldn't very well ignore Mistress Li's questions, so she had no choice but to briefly recount her encounter with Duan Jiuniang in Huarong City as fast as she could – she omitted the part about that madwoman referring to herself as Zhou Fei's 'grandmother', of course.

After their attempt to assassinate Cao Zhongkun failed, Duan Jiuniang had lost contact with the 48 Zhai. Li Jinrong also had her hands full with a million and one things, and so she hadn't thought to enquire after Duan Jiuniang's whereabouts – after all, the Withered-Glory Hands was a formidable figure who towered mightily over the martial arts world, and only a handful of people could be considered her match. Why would she need anyone to look out for her?

She would never have expected the woman to willingly confine herself and live out the rest of her life that way.

As Li Jinrong seemed to be deep in thought, Zhou Fei seized the opportunity to ask: "Mother, about that Brother Xie who returned with us…"

Li Jinrong looked up at her daughter. Zhou Fei suddenly felt a little guilty, and reflexively averted her gaze.

But she quickly found it quite absurd of her to feel this way, thinking to herself: I didn't do anything wrong, what's there to feel guilty about?

So she forced herself to meet Li Jinrong's sharp gaze again.

"Brother…Xie?" Li Jinrong nearly spit his name out. Partly because she still bore a grudge against that youngster for what he'd done in the 48 Zhai a few years back, and also because after Wen Yu had nearly turned the entire mountain upside down in an effort to find Xie Yun, that fellow's princely identity couldn't be kept under wraps any longer.

When those two words fell menacingly from Li Jinrong's lips, Zhou Fei gave an involuntary shiver.

Li Jinrong glared at her: "Did you know that he was the orphan of the late Crown Prince?"

"I do, I know that he's Prince Duan, that he's run away from home for many years now, and that he often sticks two whiskers on his face as a disguise, calls himself 'Thousand Years of Anguish', and sells his compositions for a living." In a brief few words, Zhou Fei summed up Xie Yun in his entirety. And then with a cautious glance at the look on Li Jinrong's face, said tentatively: "Even though…ahem, he broke into the 48 Zhai before, and certainly deserves a good beating for that, he did so at someone else's behest, and we owe much to him this time…"

The very second Zhou Fei awoke, instead of giving her own mother a proper account of all the trouble she'd gotten into since leaving home, the little rascal had traitorously enquired after an outsider first. Li Jinrong had once thought that she would thank her lucky stars should she be able to marry off without incident her headstrong and sharp-tongued daughter, who was ever ready to butt heads with even her own fearsome mother. But who knew – she was now all too quickly experiencing what it would be like when her daughter got married some day. Li Jinrong didn't know if she should feel comforted or upset.

As this mix of emotions swirled within her, Li Jinrong's face darkened further. Zhou Fei very sensibly swallowed whatever else she'd intended to say.

"He's gone," said Li Jinrong coldly. "Wen Yu is also trying to find him. None of the sentries saw him, so he probably left via the Ink-Washing River."

Zhou Fei exclaimed: "What!"

"No need to be so loud!" scolded Li Jinrong. Then she stood up and paced back and forth for a bit. Pressing a hand to her temples, she said: "He's the orphan of the former crown prince – do you know what that means?"

Zhou Fei clearly didn't.

Li Jinrong continued: "When the remnants of the Shao Dynasty travelled South more than twenty years ago, they established themselves there under the banner of supporting the 'legitimate claimants' to the throne. The Zhaos being the sole legitimate rulers was the initial basis of the current Emperor's rule. But if one were to adhere to this principle, then the descendants of the late Crown Prince would in fact have an even more legitimate claim to the throne than the current Emperor. Which is why Zhao Yuan still hasn't dared to explicitly say that his own son will inherit the throne."

After she said this, she looked fiercely back at Zhou Fei. The girl's eyes were darting around – it was obvious that her mind was elsewhere, and that she probably hadn't been paying any attention to what she'd said.

The vein at Li Jinrong's temple bulged as she yelled: "Zhou Fei!"

"I get it, I really do," answered Zhou Fei quickly. "But I haven't even thanked him for saving my life."

Li Jinrong: "…"

For some reason, she wasn't quite used to Zhou Fei not talking back to her.

Li Jinrong had been all ready to give Zhou Fei a good dressing down. But seeing that obedient look on her face, which was evidently still wan and sallow, she didn't say a word. She just felt that her little girl seemed to have grown up all of a sudden. Her gaze subconsciously softened again. She felt a little comforted by this, yet also a tad unsure of how she should talk to her newly grown-up daughter now: "Forget about it. You should rest first. In two days, after your injuries have healed further, you can come and tell me all about what you've done outside."

Zhou Fei very politely got up to see her mother out.

She's really matured now, thought Li Jinrong to herself. Squeezing Zhou Fei's left shoulder, she left with her usual quick, efficient steps – she still had a mountain of things to deal with.

The 'mature' Zhou Fei stood by the door to see Li Jinrong out, her gaze lingering on that retreating figure until she was sure that her mother was far away. Then she scurried back to her bedside and picked up the Mountain of Lost Springs. She paused for a second before picking up that bundle of Wu Chuchu's things as well. Then she hurried out and climbed over the courtyard's back wall – her body was still a little stiff, and she very nearly sprained her ankle when she landed. Grimacing in pain, Zhou Fei stealthily ran towards the 48 Zhai's guest rooms.

Wu Chuchu still felt like a stranger in the 48 Zhai, having only recently arrived. She was sitting in the courtyard, lost in her troubled thoughts, when she saw a figure flit inside all of a sudden. She shrieked in fright.

Zhou Fei hurriedly whispered: "It's me!"

Wu Chuchu held a hand to her racing heart: "You scared me to death…how are you feeling? I went to see you today, but…"

Zhou Fei didn't answer. She simply pulled out that little cloth bundle and shoved it into Wu Chuchu's hands, then scaled the outer wall of the courtyard and peered around her as if she was searching for something.

Wu Chuchu asked: "…what are you doing?"

"Finding someone." Zhou Fei looked towards the row of courtyards and little bamboo huts nestled against the mountains, while asking absent-mindedly: "Are the guest rooms all here?"

Wu Chuchu was looking up at her, and before she could respond, somebody came barging through the doors, bellowing: "Who's there!"

Having been galvanised by the events of the past few days, Li Yan had really buckled down for once, and begged her brother to impart some techniques to her. While Li Sheng had made a serious effort to teach her at first, he eventually realised that this blockhead was absolutely impossible, and had stormed off in a huff after losing his temper. After being wretchedly spurned by her very own brother, Li Yan had continued to fumble her way through the moves on her own when she suddenly heard a scornful snigger from behind her. She turned around to find that lump of coal Yang Jin standing there with a contemptuous smirk on his face. Fury over grudges both old and new overcame her at once, and she challenged Yang Jin to a duel on the spot – despite the vast disparity between them. Yang Jin couldn't be bothered to entertain her, and had immediately turned on his heel and left. But Li Yan simply refused to let up, and had chased him all the way to the guest rooms over here. Before she could start harassing him, she'd heard Wu Chuchu's shriek, and thinking that something bad had happened, immediately barged in to investigate.

It wasn't appropriate for Yang Jin to storm into a young lady's quarters like she did, so he'd had no choice but to brandish the Lone Goose Sabre and stand by the door with furrowed brow, ready to step in if needed.

To his surprise, he looked up and just so happened to meet Zhou Fei's eyes.

Having identified the person crouching on the wall, Li Yan craned her neck and said curiously: "Fei, don't you have walls in your own courtyard? Why did you have to come all the way here just to climb some walls?"

Zhou Fei ignored Li Yan. When she saw Yang Jin, a devious plan had started to form in her mind.