Chapter 29: Turmoil

Ma Jili pulled Zhou Fei back before she could rush forward: "Don't be rash!"

As he said this, he cautiously brandished his long sword, while signalling to the rest of the disciples with his eyes.

The disciples hastened forward in a well-trained formation, dispersing to search the area while still staying close enough to assist each other if needed. After a few moments, one of them suddenly exclaimed: "Steward Ma, look!"

Ma Jili led some of the disciples over to take a look. The iron door of the guard post appeared to be closed, but it wasn't tightly shut. The corpses of the disciples manning this guard post lay in a neat row behind the door. All of them had been killed with a single clean slash to the throat. Their wounds, though fatal, were utterly unremarkable, making it impossible to tell which sect their assailants hailed from.

Ma Jili's face was grim as he took a step forward, and examined one of the corpses. He lowered his voice: "There's no sign of a struggle, and there are no other wounds on them. These corpses are still warm."

If this had happened a few months back, Zhou Fei wouldn't have a clue what Ma Jili meant. But after having left these mountains for the better part of a year, she now understood him instantly – it was very likely that these assailants were from the 48 Zhai itself, and that they hadn't gone far.

Was this…the second mutiny in the 48 Zhai?

Li Yan shivered in the cold night breeze, goosebumps covering her back in an instant. She took an involuntary step back, her foot landing on a fallen branch with a crack.

Startled by this noise, Ma Jili's sword-wielding hand wavered slightly, and he turned around to give Li Yan a look.

Sucking in her breath sharply, Li Yan said in a tremulous voice: "I'm s…ssorry…"

Ma Jili sighed as he looked at the girl, the expression on his face softening somewhat. He appeared to hesitate for a moment, before turning to Zhou Fei: "I made a mistake, I shouldn't have brought them along. Fei, I'm sending a few of my men with you. Bring our guests and your cousin as far away as you can, as fast as possible, so that you'll be able to…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Li Yan suddenly darted to his side like a frightened rabbit.

Everyone here save for Wu Chuchu had fairly sharp ears. They had all heard the heavy patter of footsteps coming towards them.

They were put immediately on their guard, and Ma Jili stepped protectively in front of Li Yan. A few seconds later, the source of the footsteps emerged, panting heavily as he said: "Who…who's there? How dare you barge into the 48 Zhai…eh? Steward Ma, weren't you on your way to Jinling? Why are you back here so soon?"

Li Yan let out the breath she'd been holding, and patted her chest in relief. The rest also relaxed a little, even though they didn't let down their guard entirely. Only Ma Jili's back remained as tense as ever, and he continued to grip his sword tightly.

Zhou Fei narrowed her eyes as she eyed this unfamiliar-looking disciple, and asked softly: "Which sect are you from?"

Before the other disciples beside her could answer, the man had already run up to them, and bowing deeply to Ma Jili, replied: "I am a third-generation disciple of Mingfeng…"

Mingfeng…did he mean Mingfeng Tower?

For some reason, this stirred Zhou Fei's memories of the story that Yin Pei had told them in the secret passageways of the Heng Mountains, about that Mingfeng Tower assassin who had begged Ji Yunchen to save Hua Zhenglong's life. But she had no time to think too hard about the connection between the two, as she instinctively brandished the Mountain of Lost Springs. At the same time, she spied a metallic glint out of the corner of her eye – before anyone could react, she had shoved the disciples around her aside, and unleashed a flawlessly-executed 'Wind'.

Her blade collided with something, and a wisp of hair at her temples was sliced in half. Zhou Fei instantly recognised that familiar sensation – it was the stringed machine!

Ma Jili shouted: "Fei, don't be rash…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Zhou Fei abruptly pressed her sabre downwards, and 'Wind' transitioned almost seamlessly into 'Mountain'. A sharp whine could be heard – the metal string here was not of the same calibre as those in the Ink-Washing River, and was bent out of shape by that blow.

Right then, Xie Yun suddenly threw a dazzling flare up into the air, similar to the one he had used in the Heng Mountains.

It shot upwards like a rocket, shattering the tranquillity of the moonlit night sky above the 48 Zhai, and revealing the figures hiding atop the trees lining this path, who had been almost entirely camouflaged. That lone disciple had just been a decoy, while the real assassins were waiting in the shadows to ambush them – no wonder the poor deceased guards here hadn't known what hit them.

Zhou Fei's sabre had managed to just barely best that near-indestructible metal string, warping it out of shape. She pushed down on it again with a soft grunt, causing the two men holding up its two ends to come tumbling down from their tree-top perches. Having succeeded with one blow, her sabre now swept out in front of her, crashing straight into the remaining formation of metal strings being held up by the other Mingfeng assassins. Zhou Fei had changed moves mid-motion again, delivering a 'Cut' this time!

This nascent network of metal strings instantly disintegrated beneath her blade. The strings went flying helter skelter, bringing down the men holding them, and entangling some of them in it. Li Yan covered her eyes, but it was too late – she saw two of their severed heads come flying out at her. Amidst their tortured cries, Zhou Fei's Snow-Breaking Sabre swung forward and pressed itself against the decoy's throat.

Everyone was stunned speechless by those three deft moves.

Zhou Fei had had the worst of luck thus far – master pugilist after master pugilist had run circles around her, such that she had absolutely no idea how far and how quickly her Snow-Breaking Sabre had progressed. Oblivious to the stunned faces of everyone behind her, she pushed her blade against the assassin's throat, saying coldly: "Who told you to do this?"

Looking her in the eyes, the assassin murmured a low 'Ah' of recognition, then sighed: "The Snow-Breaking Sabre, just my luck."

His gaze shifted away from Zhou Fei's, to a spot somewhere behind her, and he gave an odd little smile. Then without warning, he thrust his body upwards – before Zhou Fei could retract her blade, he had slashed his own throat against it, with that strange smile on his face!

Zhou Fei shivered involuntarily. Just then, a fiery blaze even brighter than the flare that Xie Yun had used shot up to the sky from somewhere deep within the mountains.

Someone shouted: " The Ink-Washing River! That's the Ink-Washing River!"

****

It was way past midnight, but Li Jinrong still hadn't gone to bed yet. Her mind was miles away as she flipped distractedly through a travelogue of the old capital.

Ever since she was eighteen, Li Jinrong had suffered from insomnia. While she'd sought several cures for it in the last few years, nothing had worked. Fortunately, this ailment didn't pose too much of a problem for a robust martial arts practitioner such as herself. If sleep really eluded her, she could simply sit and meditate till dawn, and still be able to go about her business the next day unaffected. Now that she'd left the Shu Mountains, hearing of Zhou Fei's 'great feats' was unavoidable, as the girl was the talk of the town. But contrary to what Zhou Fei had thought, Mistress Li wasn't furious. Instead, she was a little troubled.

Li Jinrong had heard quite a few versions of the legend of Zhou Fei. Her first reaction hadn't been bafflement over how her daughter had managed to fool the whole world with her mediocre Snow-Breaking Sabre. Rather, what worried her was that the girl was not with Old Madam Wang.

She knew her own daughter well enough. Zhou Fei wasn't like Li Yan, and had always been more reserved. She wouldn't be so irresponsible as to run off on her own without good reason.

What had caused her to be separated from Old Madam Wang?

She was particularly disturbed by the stories of what had happened at Huarong City, each one more exaggerated than the last – to her, how Zhou Fei had managed to escape from right under the noses of the fearsome Dubhe and Phecda wasn't important. In any case, she figured from the tales of Zhou Fei's subsequent exploits that the girl had managed to escape with all her limbs intact. What really bothered Li Jinrong was: who in all of the central plains was so immensely important that dealing with them required the combined forces of Shen Tianshu and Chou Tianji?

Even though the Northern Dynasty certainly wouldn't spare the families of its traitors, sending a few soldiers to kill a defenceless widow and her young children would have more than sufficed. Why was there a need to send two of the Big Dipper…and even the great Dubhe himself?

Li Jinrong had the niggling feeling that she'd overlooked something, yet after thinking things over again and again, the entire affair remained shrouded in an ominous cloud of mystery, and she still couldn't figure out the key to unravelling it.

She set aside the travelogue, as she'd barely gotten past the first page, and massaged her aching temples…what had she missed?

Just then, someone outside yelled: "Mistress!"

Li Jinrong collected herself immediately, erasing all trace of fatigue and confusion on her face. Turning her head slightly to the side, she called out: "Come in."

As she hadn't retired for the night, the door of her room wasn't tightly shut, and could be easily pushed open from outside. Just as she finished speaking, the disciple overseeing her affairs barged inside in haste – as Li Jinrong was renowned for her bad temper, the disciples serving her were all extremely well-behaved. Rarely were they this rude.

Li Jinrong arched a questioning and slightly annoyed brow.

The disciple said: "You'd better come and see who's here!"

Someone hurried out from behind her, crying: "Aunt!"

Li Jinrong was well and truly shocked now: "…Sheng?"

Boys of seventeen or eighteen tended to be fairly set in their appearance by then, even for late bloomers. But when Li Sheng stood before her, Li Jinrong could barely recognise him.

He was so thin that he was nearly half his original size, which made him seem a good deal taller. Back home, while Li Sheng wasn't exactly snooty, he had a little bit of a young nobleman's haughty bearing. He was always neatly groomed, not a hair out of place, and looked the picture of dignified grace wherever he went. The words 'I am the Young Master of the Li Clan' were practically inscribed on his forehead. But the young man standing before Li Jinrong now could have passed for a beggar on the street. He was so thin that the skin on his face was stretched tightly over his cheekbones. There was a massive dark patch on his cheek, and she couldn't tell if it was dirt or a new scar. His lips were cracked at several places, the raw flesh beneath faintly visible. But his gaze was far more resolute than she'd remembered it being, and he even dared to look Li Jinrong in the eye now. Of his two daggers, only half of one was left – reduced to a bare piece of metal without its scabbard, and wrapped with several coils of rope to hold it in place.

"Fetch him a cup of water", Li Jinrong said quickly, then asked him: "Why are you here alone? How did you end up like this? Where's Fei?"

Li Sheng had been dying of thirst. Without sparing his aunt a word of thanks, he held the cup aloft and poured the water down his throat, guzzling hungrily. His cracked lips accidentally split open again with his forceful gulps, causing pain to flash across his face, although he didn't groan out loud. After downing the cup of water in an instant, he placed the empty cup to one side and said: " Fei wasn't with me – it's a long story, Aunt, so let me get to the point first: a senior named Chong Yunzi has asked me to bring you a message."

Li Jinrong: "…What?"

She couldn't help but be astonished by this name, because that mysterious letter in her robes, stamped with the diagram of water ripples, had also been signed by 'Chong Yunzi' – the leader of the reclusive Qimen Sect, and a decades-long friend of the former Master Li.

"He said that he was telling you this just in case, and it would be best if you didn't understand these words." Li Sheng's brow furrowed noticeably, as if he still couldn't comprehend what that old priest had meant. "His message to you was: 'we cannot turn back time, nor can the dead be brought back to life. Since those things of the past have already been buried, anyone trying to dredge them up now is certainly up to no good. Mistress Li, no matter what others might say to you, don't believe any of it. Remember, do not go looking into it -' a glass of water, if you please."

Having said all this in one long breath, Li Sheng's throat was parched again. Coughing violently, he thought that he could almost taste a little bit of blood at the back of his throat.

Li Jinrong drew a sharp breath. While her expression remained still as ever, her heart was racing.

While Chong Yunzi of the Qimen Sect had long since lost contact with the 48 Zhai, he had just sent her two messages in the space of the last few months. One of them had been put on paper, and conveyed to her via Zhou Yitang, while the other had come from her nephew's lips. What was most unsettling, was that the two letters contradicted each other completely!

If the leader of the Qimen Sect hadn't gone off his rocker just yet, then something must be amiss about one of these letters.

Failing to notice anything strange about her subdued silence, Li Sheng quickly added: "There's one more thing I need to tell you, Aunt. When we left the 48 Zhai, Deng Zhen shixiong once told me where all our secret posts were, which I committed to memory. As the Big Dipper was harassing the towns and villages around the North-South boundary, I had to take a detour through the territories of the Southern Dynasty to avoid running into them, and stayed in Hengyang City for a bit. As I was afraid that you might worry about my whereabouts, I'd intended to send you a letter from our secret post in Hengyang. However, I soon discovered that the Hengyang secret post had betrayed us. I have no idea what force or person was behind this, and before I could investigate further, I was nearly seized by them. I escaped with much difficulty, and they hunted me all the way here – this was no ordinary pursuit, by the way. If you think about it, a lone traveller like me should find it quite easy to stay hidden, be it in crowded cities or out in the wilderness, and I shouldn't have been chased to within an inch of my life like this. So I suspect that they'd sent professional assassins after me. Aunt, is there anyone from Mingfeng in Hengyang?"

The disciples deployed to the 48 Zhai's secret posts were drawn from all of its different sects, such that there was no real distinction between them, and disciples from various different sects could usually be found at any one post.

But Li Jinrong knew that Mingfeng was special – this was an unspoken rule of the 48 Zhai.

It wasn't that Li Jinrong didn't want to change this, but firstly, Mingfeng had always been withdrawn and unsociable, and secondly…even though this exception remained incomprehensible to her, it had been stipulated by the former Master of the 48 Zhai himself, Li Zheng.

And important letters to and from the 48 Zhai, which were usually written in code, would usually take two different routes going out and coming in, so as to avoid interception by others.

For example, there were two routes between 48 Zhai and Jinling – one of them passed through Shaoyang City, while the other was via Hengyang City! The letter that Chong Yunzi had asked Zhou Yitang to convey had come via the Hengyang route, which meant that when Li Jinrong wrote to Zhou Yitang subsequently, her letter would have been sent via Shaoyang instead of Hengyang. And if Zhou Yitang were to reply to her letter, it would get stuck at Hengyang once more.

If something was really amiss at the Hengyang secret post, then…

Li Jinrong suddenly sprang to her feet. As she had made this rare trip out of the 48 Zhai to whip their secret posts into shape, she'd purposely brought the best pugilists from the 48 Zhai with her…she paced slowly round the room for a few moments, then looked up at the female disciple who had been standing there open-mouthed: "Gather everyone now, we're going back immediately!"

The disciple nodded and ran out the door.

Li Jinrong turned to Li Sheng, who had just let out a short breath: "You're to come with me, and tell me everything that happened."

"Aunt," said Li Sheng, sounding slightly sheepish. "Do you have anything to eat? Any…anything simple would be fine, I can eat while I talk."

Li Sheng was absolutely famished, and was quite sure that he could have swallowed a whole cow at this point. Even though the steaming hot buns that were placed before him scalded the insides of his mouth, he continued to wolf them down valiantly, not stopping for even a second. Each bun that he scarfed down seemed to disappear into an abyss, not making a single dent in his hunger. He devoured five buns as big as his fist in one sitting, and while his hunger still wasn't sated, he felt a little better at least, like there was finally something solid in him weighing him down, and he wouldn't be blown away by a strong gust of wind. He stopped stuffing his face ravenously, and a deeply troubled look spread across his gaunt face.

Li Jinrong was still waiting for him to respond. Li Sheng didn't quite know where to begin, and so decided to start with whatever had left the deepest impression on him. He said: "Did you hear of Old Master Huo's death?"

Li Jinrong had, of course – out of all the grand causes that Huo Liantao had invoked to muster the support of the martial arts community, the most prominent one of the lot was to 'avenge the death of Old Master Huo'. He was now actively trying to drum up support all over the Southern Dynasty, wishing for nothing more than to charge up North with a sizeable army, under the banner of 'revenge at all costs'.

Li Jinrong nodded: "I know that Dubhe and Mizar burned the Huo Clan's fortress down."

"But it wasn't them," whispered Li Sheng. He raised his head slightly. At this time of night, the horizon in the distance was still shrouded in darkness, and only the faintest outline of it could be seen. After a few long moments, when Li Jinrong was already starting to grow impatient, Li Sheng continued: "Huo Liantao had deliberately left Old Master Huo there, to fool everyone else, and the fire was set by his own men. I…I saw this with my own eyes."

Li Jinrong said in complete astonishment: "How were you there at the time?"

While Old Master Huo had been close friends with Li Zheng, Huo Liantao was much less likeable. As Old Master Huo had stopped managing the Huo Clan's affairs a long time ago, and had said for some time now that he was too ill to receive any visitors, many of his old friends had gradually stopped visiting the Huo Clan.

Li Sheng's throat tightened a little, and then taking a deep breath, he proceeded to explain how he'd tried all ways and means to break away from Old Madam Wang's party, and his reasons for doing so.

Li Jinrong was struck speechless for a moment. All these years, she'd had to worry about far too many people, and too many things – the 48 Zhai already took up about half of her thoughts, and there was also one small portion of her thoughts allocated to Zhou Yitang, such that all the attention she could spare for the children was on strictly disciplining them – with Zhou Fei getting the brunt of it, of course.

She'd had no idea at all that Li Sheng felt this way.

And even though this was the most petty and embarrassing of youthful follies, Li Sheng said all of it most indifferently, as if he were speaking of something that had happened to someone else.

"I'd figured out exactly where I would go, and the route that I would take," said Li Sheng. "But alas, I was ambushed by a couple of horse thieves just shortly after I set off."

Recovering from her stunned silence, Li Jinrong felt a little perplexed at what Li Sheng had said. The boy had trained quite hard at least in the last few years – what horse thieves could have so easily stolen his horse?

"Those men were working for the Vermillion Bird Lord Mu Xiaoqiao," explained Li Sheng. Hearing Li Jinrong's sharp intake of breath, a faint smile flitted across his face, as if he were somewhat pleased that he had managed to provoke such a reaction, although that smile swiftly vanished. Li Sheng's face grew grim once more, and he continued: "After breaking away from the Mountain of the Living Dead, Mu Xiaoqiao started to do Huo Liantao's dirty work, helping him to accrue funds and horses illicitly. Those men knocked me out and left me by the side of the road. Before they could come back to silence me for good, Chong Yunzi just so happened to pass by, and saved me."

Li Jinrong said: "The Qimen Sect went into seclusion a long time ago. Why was its leader in Yueyang City?"

"Their hideout had been exposed," said Li Sheng. "It turns out that Chong Yunzi had been in constant contact with the Zhongwu General all along. As Cao Zhongkun's spies had infiltrated General Wu's camp, after they killed him it wasn't difficult for them to track down the location of the Qimen Sect. However, the hideout's intricate defence formations meant that these men were unable to break in at first. Chong Yunzi and his disciples fled while they could, escaping through secret passageways that traversed the Zhuyin Valley. Alas, they were betrayed mid-journey, and had no choice but to split up and abandon their priests' robes, disguising themselves as common peasants, to avoid getting caught."

Not only had this group of peaceful and reclusive Taoist priests been chased out of their humble dwellings, even their priestly vestments had not been spared. Li Jinrong was about to shake her head and sigh, but a bitter thought suddenly came to mind – wasn't the 48 Zhai on the verge of suffering the same fate?

"I don't know why Chong Yunzi came alone to Yueyang City. He didn't tell me that." Li Sheng continued: "I stubbornly refused to go back, shamelessly insisting that I wanted to stick with him…so he brought me along to Huo Jia Bao. By the time we sneaked in, Huo Liantao had already received news of the impending attack and fled, leaving an empty shell of a fortress behind. We found Old Master Huo with barely any difficulty, but he was already…"

Li Jinrong gave him a questioning look.

"Mad," said Li Sheng with a sigh. "He couldn't remember anything, nor could he speak clearly. The servants had to feed him his meals, spoonful by spoonful, and he would even soil himself. Because of his condition, his family had even put round his neck a…"

Li Sheng shook his head in dismay: "But for some reason, Chong Yunzi insisted that Old Master Huo was only putting on an act, so I had no choice but to hide with him in Huo Jia Bao for a number of days."

"Long enough to see Huo Jia Bao be set ablaze?"

Li Sheng nodded: "You must be wondering why we didn't save Old Master Huo from the fire, since we were there at the time and saw everything. When the fire started, Old Master Huo was watering the flowers in his courtyard. He would water them for a few minutes, and then stare blankly into the distance for a while – he'd been like that for the past few days. Sometimes, he would be completely batty, while he would appear to be half-conscious at other times. And sometimes, even after the watering can was empty, he would still stand there motionless, holding the can over the plants. When I heard the commotion outside, with people yelling to put out the fire, I'd made to run up to him and drag him out of there. But before I could do so, Chong Yunzi held me back, and I saw…I saw Old Master Huo smile, all of a sudden."

"That smile was neither unhinged, nor loopy. He shook his head as he smiled, then raised his head to look in the direction of our hiding spot. Chong Yunzi stepped out then, and the two men stood there looking at each other, one of them in the courtyard, and the other outside. At this point, the main buildings had caught fire, and billows of smoke were pouring out at them. I was extremely distressed, not understanding why the two of them were just standing there staring at each other from a distance…and then finally, Old Master Huo bowed towards Chong Yunzi. His smile gradually faded, and he shook his head emphatically. A servant rushed in just then, trying to drag the old man out of the courtyard, but Old Master Huo let out three barks of laughter, and flung the man aside effortlessly. Then he plucked a freshly bloomed flower from one of the pots in the courtyard, turned back to the blazing house and slowly walked inside, shutting the doors and windows tightly behind him…"

The thunderous sound of the horses' clattering hooves nearly drowned out Li Sheng's last few words, which were as soft as a sigh.

Li Jinrong's face hardened even further, and she pursed her lips grimly.

She'd heard rumours of Old Master Huo's dementia some time back, but hadn't really thought much of them. It was quite common for people to lose their minds when they grew old. Old Master Huo was much older than Li Zheng, and very advanced in years now, so it would be reasonable to assume that he was becoming demented with age. But after hearing Li Sheng's story, a frightening conjecture came to mind – had Old Master Huo lost his mind from natural causes, or had someone tried to harm him?

Li Sheng said that the old man would have semi-conscious bouts of clarity – had he actually been regaining his sanity in those times?

If he had been poisoned somehow, it was blindingly apparent who the culprit was.

"Chong Yunzi didn't let me save him. He simply stood by the side with tears in his eyes. We left only after flames had engulfed the entire courtyard, and threatened to singe us as well, managing to evade the Big Dipper's men who were swarming the place. After we left Yueyang City, we stopped to rest in a little farmhouse along the way, and Chong Yunzi asked me if I wanted to learn a little of their Qimen Dunjia formations. I trained with him for about two months before another priest by the name of Chong Xiaozi came along. He had an extremely dignified air about him, and treated Chong Yunzi with great respect, referring to him as sect leader."

Li Sheng paused at this point.

Li Jinrong had never heard the name 'Chong Xiaozi' before, and asked: "And then?"

"Then Chong Yunzi gave me that message for you, which he said was extremely important, and told me to return to the 48 Zhai. Although I'd benefited greatly from his guidance over the last few weeks, and wanted to stay on to learn more, the two priests seemed to have some important affairs to settle, and so I knew that it would be rude of me to impose further. I packed my things and left the very next day." Li Sheng's pale, cracked lips were pursed into a fine line. "However…I kept thinking that the look on his face when he bid me farewell was identical to Old Master Huo's when he walked into the blazing fire. After travelling for a bit, the feeling I had that something wasn't right kept growing stronger and stronger, so I went back to find him…but when I returned to that little farmhouse, it was utterly deserted."

Li Jinrong gripped her reins tightly, mulling over Chong Yunzi's message to her.

Li Sheng didn't disturb her, continuing to ride on in silence. This fellow, who had been an angst-ridden, half-grown boy when he left home, was starting to look a little like a man now. Li Jinrong glanced over at him, then reached over to prod at that black mark on his cheek: "And how did you get that?"

Li Sheng brushed his hand over it nonchalantly, saying: "Oh, that's nothing, I just fell and scraped my skin. The scab has just fallen off, and it'll be fine in a couple of days."

Li Jinrong asked: "How did you fall?"

Li Sheng smiled – using a stone formation that Chong Yunzi had taught him, as well as a little bit of smarts, he had managed to throw off those assassins for a while. And then after that, he hadn't headed in the direction of the 48 Zhai, instead joining a group of refugees that were travelling southward, allowing him to sneak away unnoticed right under the noses of those assassins.

Even amongst refugees, there was a hierarchy – bullies in the group extorted the old and vulnerable members to maintain their position of superiority, even though they currently occupied the bottom rungs of society. In exchange for protection, the other refugees would have to hand over a certain amount of their food, and be sufficiently obsequious.

Those Mingfeng assassins would probably never have guessed that while they were in hot pursuit of the sly Young Master Li, this young nobleman, who had never lost face no matter how sorry a state he was in, was in fact getting 'schooled' by several thuggish refugees just metres away from them. His face had been pressed into and scraped across the dirt, leaving a grimy abrasion. He unleashed a loud stream of insults at his assailants, all the while looking coldly between their mud-splattered legs at his pursuers as they ran off into the distance, failing to see him.

That was how he had managed to shake off those Mingfeng assassins.

Li Sheng couldn't help but feel a little pleased with himself at this, although that feeling was immediately chased with a touch of embarrassment – he'd had to resort to such tricks because his skills weren't good enough. Just as he was oscillating between those two emotions, Li Jinrong reached a hand over and touched his face. Li Sheng gave a little start, as she gently brushed her fingers across that tender scab on his face and said: "You've had a hard time of it, haven't you?"

Young Hero Li, who'd managed to outwit and outmanoeuvre a bunch of furious assassins for miles and miles, suddenly felt a little lump in his throat. It took all of his willpower to stop his eyes from reddening. He lowered his gaze and rubbed his hands across his face, before responding casually: "It was nothing, Mingfeng wasn't all that formidable anyway…oh yes, Aunt, I heard all kinds of bizarre tales along the way, has something happened to Fei and the rest? Have they not returned yet?"

While Zhou Fei had succeeded in avoiding any more trouble arising from those tales about her, she hadn't expected to be faced with a bigger crisis even before she got home.

In Huarong, she'd had to run all over the city with Wu Chuchu in tow, and in the secret passageways of the Heng Mountains, she'd exchanged blows with the Azure Dragon Lord with just an ill-fitting sword in hand – she had been forced to go up against inconceivably formidable opponents, yet none of those encounters, even all added up together, had left her feeling as helpless as she did right now.

Each and every time, she'd told herself that the only way to go was forward, as to retreat would mean death. The worst thing that could happen was that she might die right there, which would at least be a heroic way to go…but now, this was different. It was the 48 Zhai. It was her home, her refuge, the one single tenet that had held her up and kept her going, through the perilous dangers of the vast and sinister world outside.

Those fragments of memories from her childhood suddenly connected with the blazing fire and shouts of fighting in the distance, becoming more real to her than ever.

Ma Jili took a deep breath, as if he had just made an extremely difficult decision, and said to Zhou Fei: "It looks like those at the guard post were just small fry, while the main event is at the Ink-Washing River, which suits us just fine – Fei, your skills are good enough already, descend the mountain right now with Yan and the rest. Leave before we get discovered!"

Zhou Fei gripped the Mountain of Lost Springs tightly in her hand.

Deep in the secret passageways of the Heng Mountains, Xie Yun had also urged her to flee, back to the safe haven of the 48 Zhai, ensconced within towering mountains, and continue leading a carefree life as a young disciple. She would train hard, so that the next time she encountered something like this, she'd be better-prepared, and wouldn't be as helpless…but well, things clearly hadn't worked out the way she wanted – when would the fates ever wait for her to be ready, before thrusting upon her such nights of blood and fire?

Just then, Xie Yun stretched a hand out and lightly rested it on her shoulder.

Zhou Fei started suddenly. She was fairly sure of what Xie Yun was about to say, and so with a rueful, slightly sarcastic smile, she said: "What, are you going to tell me that 'staying alive is most important' again?"

Xie Yun shook his head: "Not today."

Zhou Fei turned to face him.

When Xie Yun wasn't being his typical roguish self, he had a strangely melancholic air about him, like someone from a down-on-its-luck noble family that had lost all its power and wealth – even though she was quite sure he still had a massive palace with his name on it in Jinling.

"Fei," said Xie Yun. "People think of going home all their lives. I understand that."

Zhou Fei felt a sharp pang in her heart.

A corner of Xie Yun's mouth curved upwards, and his usual languid, teasing smile appeared again: "I promise you that this time, I won't try to persuade you otherwise, and I'll stick with you all the way. There's no need to thank me – you could always pledge to marry me in gratitude instead."

Zhou Fei immediately swatted his hand off her shoulder, and sheathed her sabre with a snap. She turned to Ma Jili and said solemnly: "Uncle Ma, when the former Master of the 48 Zhai died all those years ago, how did Mistress Li hold this place up?"