The rising sun climbed into the sky, driving away the lingering chill.
Gu Qing hoisted the bamboo basket onto his back and set off once more.
He calculated the journey in his mind. In total, it spanned three thousand li. Five hundred li had been covered by water; the remaining two thousand five hundred li would be split evenly between remote, difficult mountain paths and flat official roads.
This was the conclusion he had drawn from the map, though in reality there would surely be quite a few discrepancies.
Even so, assuming he could travel forty li a day, it would still take at least two months.
Without a doubt, it was a very long journey.
No wonder the ancients loved writing letters and placed such importance on every farewell, giving rise to so many famous poems.
“Come to think of it, Qiu Niang, your hometown must be very far from Xiqi, right?”
The road stretched endlessly ahead. Traveling alone in silence would have been dull and oppressive, but fortunately, Gu Qing was not by himself.
He asked casually, but then belatedly realized the question might not have been appropriate.
After all, during an earlier chat about her background, the girl’s resistance had been unmistakable.
“I don’t have a home.”
Unexpectedly, her answer this time was calm. So calm that he didn’t know how to respond.
And so Gu Qing fell silent, continuing down the road in quiet.
The mountain path beneath their feet had been worn into shape year after year by passing travelers. It was narrow and cramped, with withered grass on both sides reaching past the knees.
Farther out, the trees had already shed their leaves, leaving only bare, skeletal branches.
Only one fruit tree stood out, about half a man’s height, with a few green fruits hanging from it in defiance. Why it was bearing fruit at this time of year was a mystery.
But Gu Qing happened to recognize this kind of tree, which bore fruit in early winter. As he passed by, he casually picked up two, stuffed one into his own mouth, and handed the other behind him.
The sourness spread across his tongue, yet Gu Qing kept a straight face as he said, “Really sweet. Give it a try.”
In truth, he didn’t need to put on a brave front. The girl couldn’t see his expression anyway, so as long as his voice sounded natural, it was enough.
Qiu Niang didn’t take it. Instead, she opened her mouth and lightly bit into the fruit he held out to her, then gave an equally expressionless hum in response.
“?”
Half doubtful, Gu Qing tossed away the fruit that had been his and took a bite of hers instead.
“Ptoo, ptoo!”
In the next instant, the sourness overwhelmed his taste buds again, and he quickly spat it out.
“You liar!”
He was both pained and indignant. Such a good little girl, how had she learned to deceive people like this?
Qiu Niang ignored him, simply lowering her head and hiding beneath the thin quilt, the corners of her lips curling up ever so slightly.
After a while, Gu Qing finally seemed to recover from the sour shock and let out a sigh. “By the way, once your injuries are healed, what do you plan to do? Is there anywhere you want to go?”
“I’m going to the capital.”
“The capital, huh… that’s a fine place. I’ve heard the beauties there are ten stories tall. If I get the chance, I’d like to go see it myself.”
Of course, there were no beauties in the capital ten stories tall. Even if there were, it would be many, not tall.
But she knew there were ten li of peach blossoms in the capital, right within that Celestial Master Temple. Every year in the third month, when the peach blossoms bloomed in full, the temple would be packed with visitors, praying and drawing lots, lively and bustling.
If she could recover and succeed in her cultivation, she would naturally return.
Not to draw lots…but for revenge.
“Mm… actually, maybe having a home isn’t all that important. Look at me, I don’t have one either. Does that courtyard on Nanqiao Street count as a home? I don’t think so. After all, how can something you can sell be called a home?”
“Same for you. You don’t have one, and neither do I. But if we come together, maybe that would become what people call a home.”
“—What do you think? Am I right?”
Gu Qing’s voice suddenly rang out, calm and serious.
That calmness was just like when the girl had said, “I don’t have a home”. It was so calm that it left one unsure how to respond.
Qiu Niang listened, her lashes trembling slightly. For some reason, she found herself unable to answer.
…
…
Days passed, the sun rising and setting, the stars shifting across the sky.
Xiqi.
Ever since that carriage from the imperial capital entered the city, three days had passed without anyone noticing.
The common folk living there did not know the carriage had come from the capital, nor could they possibly know that two Qi Condensation realm cultivators sat inside.
They only knew one thing….the city had gone into lockdown.
It was sudden and absolute.
The city gates were tightly shut. No merchant caravans came or went; no peddlers with shoulder poles shouted their wares. The once-bustling streets were now empty, with only the biting cold wind remaining.
Soldiers patrolled everywhere in the streets, their spears standing like a forest. They went door to door, checking each household without missing a single one.
But Xiqi City was no small place. Hundreds of thousands had lived here since childhood, settling down and making their lives. In just three days, it was impossible to investigate everyone.
Furthermore, Xu Shixiong had strategically positioned the majority of his troops in the mountainous areas surrounding the city. There was a mass grave where vagrants who had died in the past were buried. Now, shovel after shovel of earth was being dug up, denying them peace even in death.
They would see the person alive, or the corpse if dead.
This was Zhang Chi’s absolute order.
Xu Shixiong carried it out dutifully, and his decision to focus on the mass grave seemed, at least on the surface, beyond reproach.
Because based on the information Zhang Chi provided, the fugitive was young, crippled in both legs, and covered in wounds. It was very likely she had already died, perishing in last month’s heavy snowfall.
Of course, the search within the city was still necessary, but it was once again Xu Shixiong who made the call: starting from the north of the city and ending in the south.
All of these decisions traced back to the very night Zhang Chi had first arrived in Xiqi City.
As the lord of the city, Xu Shixiong had lived here for a full seven years; naturally, he understood every corner of it.
So when Zhang Chi described the fugitive’s specific circumstances, he immediately and secretly sent someone to the southern part of the city.
The facts proved that his gamble had paid off.
Young, disabled, covered in wounds.
With these three clues combined, it was hard not to think of a certain “rumor” from a month ago in the southern district.
Rumors gained fame because of the people behind them.
“In the south of the city lives a member of the Gu family. He is peerless in appearance, tall and slender, with exceptional medical skills. Truly a gentleman among men.”
This was the most widely circulated saying in Xiqi City in recent years.
A month ago, this very “gentleman among men” spent three copper coins to buy a little beggar from a human broker.
If that were all, it would hardly have become a rumor. The key point was that the beggar he bought… was actually disabled!
People could not understand it and so could only praise his noble character. His beauty was matched by a kind heart.
As for all of this, Immortal Master Zhang Chi who had just arrived in Xiqi naturally knew nothing about it.
“But in the end, it only delayed things by three days. It won’t change the outcome.”
Inside the City Lord’s residence, the old steward let out a soft sigh. He looked toward the middle-aged man standing straight beneath the eaves, still puzzled.
“Master, was what we did… really worth it?”
The middle-aged man remained silent, raising his head to gaze quietly at the night sky beyond the eaves.
In truth, he himself did not know why he had done it, much less whether it had been worth it.
If someone were to claim that they had once been a subordinate of the General Who Pacifies the North a few months ago, such a claim would have been seen as nothing more than shameless self-glorification and would have been scorned by others.
Perhaps, in the end, it was simply a matter of disheartenment.
Even someone like the Marquis of Mighty Valor, who had spent his life in battle, who governed his household like he commanded an army with the utmost strictness, could still be framed by treacherous men and meet a tragic end. If even he could not escape such a fate, what hope was there for others?
After four hundred years of storms, the Great Zhou dynasty now seemed to stand on the brink of collapse.
At that moment, a cold voice suddenly rang out from outside the courtyard, breaking the silence.
“City Lord Xu, the three-day deadline has arrived. Regarding the fugitive, have you found any leads?”
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