Late at night.

Everyone in the medical hall was sound asleep, except for the main hall where a single light still glowed. The flame of a tallow lamp flickered on the counter, casting only a small pool of light.

Chen Ji stood behind the mahogany counter, sleeves rolled up, his hair tied in a bun with a wooden hairpin. He was intently grinding charcoal sticks into powder, then mixing them with a jar of high-proof liquor he had once bought, spreading the mixture on the counter. He pushed the tallow lamp further away, quietly waiting for the alcohol, cyanides, and oxides to fully evaporate.

While waiting, he gently fanned himself and looked up at the ceiling beam. On the beam, a small spider was slowly weaving its web. A moth-fly struggled frantically after hitting the web, and the spider crawled towards it, unaware that a gecko was waiting nearby at the edge of its web.

Just then, a voice came from behind him: “Why does the room reek of alcohol? Have you been drinking?”

Chen Ji turned around, smiling at the sudden appearance of Old Man Yao. “Master, you’re still awake?”

Old Man Yao was expressionless: “My disciple is about to leave for a distant land. How could I sleep?”

“Did you foresee this with your divination?”

Old Man Yao sneered: “You cooked for everyone, and you’ve been looking so wistful. I don’t need divination to guess that. I don’t just divine; I also use my brain.”

“Oh?”

Old Man Yao stood opposite him, casually surveying the charcoal powder on the counter. “Tell me, where are you planning to go?”

Chen Ji shook his head: “I’m not leaving. You guessed wrong this time.”

Old Man Yao was taken aback. He pulled six copper coins from his sleeve, tossed them onto the counter, and began interpreting the divination. “Huh, you really aren’t leaving. Why the change of heart?”

Chen Ji chuckled: “Nature creates chaos, action in danger, life emerging from death – wasn’t that the divination you gave me? I’m not suited for running away.”

“So, you’re suited for dying? The Twelve Zodiac Assassins of the Southern Ning Dynasty’s Conspiracy Bureau are watching you, and the military intelligence chief of the Northern Jing Dynasty wants to kill you. Why stay here if you’re not leaving?”

Chen Ji didn’t respond. He simply looked up again at the spider and gecko on the beam, wondering if the gecko had eaten the spider yet.

Old Man Yao followed his gaze: “So this time, are you the spider, the gecko, or the moth-fly already caught in the web?”

Chen Ji didn’t answer. Instead, he gathered the dried charcoal powder and picked up a brass scale to weigh it. He took out the previously purified sulfur and saltpeter, along with white sugar, mixed them uniformly, poured them into bamboo tubes, and then added a small amount of iron filings.

Just then, Black Cloud squeezed in through a window crack. In the tense atmosphere, it looked at Old Man Yao, then at Chen Ji, and meowed: “Just as you suspected, Golden Pig has found a lead from the Ministry of Works.”

Chen Ji didn’t look up. He carefully sealed the bamboo tubes, leaving a fuse made of thin paper and gunpowder. Only then did Chen Ji place the bamboo tubes on the counter, looking up and smiling as he replied: “Master, I am not the moth-fly, nor the spider, nor the gecko.” He looked at the tallow lamp on the edge of the counter: “I am the fire—a fire that doesn’t belong to this era.”

Chen Ji took a piece of cloth, wrapped the three bamboo tubes inside, and tied them to his back. He gestured to Black Cloud and turned to leave.

Old Man Yao watched him for a long time: “How much ‘ice flow’ do you still have inside you? How many ginseng roots can it absorb?”

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said: “Six.”

Old Man Yao walked to the medicine cabinet, pulled open a drawer: “Convert all your ice flow before you go.”

Chen Ji’s eyes lit up. So the ten ginseng roots Master had acquired that morning were meant for him. “Thank you, Master.”

“One ginseng root is thirty taels of silver, or three gold melon seeds.”

Chen Ji’s expression froze: “I thought you were giving them to me.”

Old Man Yao sneered: “Give them to you? How would I live?”

“Fine, I’ll only exchange for five.” Chen Ji counted out twelve gold melon seeds from his sleeve and placed them on the counter, then retrieved thirty taels of silver from the apprentice dormitory… At this point, his hard-earned savings were reduced to just sixty-three taels of silver.

“Master, I’m leaving.” Chen Ji took five ginseng roots and transformed them into transparent crystal beads, feeding them one by one to Black Cloud. He walked into the backyard with his bundle, climbed onto the roof, and disappeared into the night.

By the apricot tree, Old Man Yao watched the direction he had left, casually tossing six copper coins. “Great misfortune.”

Black Cloud made a low sound.

Old Man Yao said impatiently: “You chose your path, now walk it. If you want to go, go have a look, I won’t stop you.”

On Zhenghe Street that night, a charcoal cart pulled by two oxen slowly made its way towards East Market. Winter was approaching, and charcoal had become an essential commodity. For instance, the capital alone distributed 720,000 pieces of charcoal to its officials each year. Red basket charcoal was used within the imperial palace, nobles favored Xishan silver-thread charcoal, wealthy families burned tung wood charcoal, while common households used black charcoal. Without charcoal, winter was exceptionally difficult.

This was the best time for charcoal merchants. Charcoal was burned in the mountains, transported by canal to Luocheng’s East Market, and then sold from the East Market to various households. Carts came and went ceaselessly every day. The charcoal cart differed from ordinary ox carts; it was enclosed on all four sides but open at the top. The charcoal seller drove his ox cart, humming a tune along the way, completely oblivious to someone crouching in the shadows by the roadside with a cat on their shoulder, waiting for him to slowly pass.

As the charcoal cart passed the shadows, Chen Ji took two quick steps, easily flipping into the cart without making a sound. The charcoal seller noticed a slight jolt of the cart and looked back at the stone pavement, wondering if he had run over a small pebble. Seeing nothing amiss with the wheels, he continued humming: “Standing at the steps in the watches of the night, fate brings lovers together. Call out, a guest arrives, light the lamp, come upstairs, late at night, the host must make do.”

Chen Ji recognized it as a risqué song popular in Red Robe Alley. These peddlers earned money during the day and spent it at the brothels at night, either gambling or whoring, never saving anything. He smiled, nestling with Black Cloud in the dirty charcoal cart, and closed his eyes, allowing the cart to take him towards Red Robe Alley in the East Market.

The closer they got to the East Market, the more tranquil Chen Ji felt. He touched the short knife in his sleeve again and slowly closed his eyes. He returned to that battlefield in his dream.

“Brother Feng Huai, what was the name of that move where your blade spun with your body?”

“Xingyuan.”

“Brother Feng Huai, what was the name of that move where you forced my blade up against mine, compelling me to drop my knife?”

“Spark.”

“Brother Feng Huai, what was the move where you struck the back of my blade? It stung my wrist badly, but it didn’t seem to do much.”

Feng Huai smiled shyly: “That move is called ‘False Gold.’ It’s supposed to break your blade with one strike, but your blade is too good, so I couldn’t cut it through.”

Every blade trajectory and every step taken by the *Pudao* master Feng Huai was as exquisite as art, flawless. The opponent was like a heavy hammer, pounding fiercely on his own raw steel, forging it into shape. Chen Ji exchanged death after death for one technique after another.

Chen Ji had never used his knife in actual combat against outsiders, so he didn’t know if his skills were sufficient. He could only practice relentlessly, slowly approaching Feng Huai’s mastery, and then surpassing it. At first, Chen Ji would die twenty to thirty times in an hour; now, he only died about three or four times in an hour. Initially, he was full of weaknesses; now, both sides countered each other’s moves, and often, within a hundred moves, neither could find a flaw in the other. Those knife arts seemed to have been carved into his bones tens of thousands of years ago, forming intricate and exquisite totems that were now slowly awakening.

Chen Ji straightened up again: “Again.”

On the giant rock, Xuanyuan remained seated in his black king’s robe, but the golden-threaded constellations embroidered on it had changed, leaving only the Ziwei Asterism.

Xuanyuan asked: “You seem to be in a hurry.”

Chen Ji replied: “Indeed, I am in a hurry.”

Xuanyuan wondered: “Does someone outside want to kill you?”

Chen Ji calmly responded: “No, I have someone I want to kill.”

Xuanyuan burst into laughter: “No wonder your progress today is faster than yesterday! Only a person like you, in this state, is suited for practicing the blade! The blade is the courage of all weapons; without the intent to kill, you cannot master the blade! But I suggest you stop now, rest for a moment, and then continue your learning. A fatigued state will only make you irritable and offer no help.”

Chen Ji thoughtfully, yet decisively, sat cross-legged on the ground: “Brother Feng Huai, you should sit down and rest for a bit too.”

Feng Huai put away his knife and sat down, his posture as upright as an apprentice. The three sat cross-legged on the ground, with clouds swirling and flowing around them, like being in a celestial realm, touched by immortals and granted immortality.

Chen Ji sighed with admiration: “Brother Feng Huai, your blade skills are truly excellent.”

Feng Huai, wearing light armor, appeared to be around twenty years old, handsome yet somewhat immature. Just by his appearance, one would never guess he was a master of the blade. Hearing Chen Ji praise him, he smiled even more shyly: “It’s all because you taught us so well back then. We endured quite a bit when we practiced with you.”

Chen Ji was stunned: “…I taught you? Then why do I feel like you’re so excited about cutting me?”

Feng Huai hesitated for a moment: “Who wouldn’t be excited about this?”

Chen Ji calmly said: “Good point. When not practicing the blade, be a bit more polite to me.”

Feng Huai quickly replied: “Understood!”

Chen Ji suddenly asked: “Xuanyuan, if I die tonight, can you descend back into the world through my body?”

Xuanyuan gazed at Chen Ji: “Yes.”

“Then if you do descend, could you help me kill someone?”

Xuanyuan sneered: “Kill them yourself.”

“Alright then.” Chen Ji turned to Xuanyuan, who was looking down at him from the giant rock: “I want to discuss something… could I borrow ‘Whale’ tonight?”

“No.” Xuanyuan shook his head.

“But I need to kill someone tonight, and without ‘Whale,’ my other blades aren’t very convenient.”

Xuanyuan sneered: “Will your enemies negotiate with you? Can every obstacle you face be negotiated? I’ve said before, being clever is good, but in this world, there are always insurmountable mountains. If you want ‘Whale,’ you must first defeat Feng Huai.”

“Understood.”

Just then, Chen Ji heard Black Cloud let out a low meow beside his ear. He leaned on his knife, stood up, and looked at Xuanyuan: “There’s a lot to do tonight. If all goes well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Xuanyuan was silent for a moment: “See you tomorrow.”

Chen Ji opened his eyes in the cart. The charcoal cart had slowly stopped outside Red Robe Alley, and the carter was humming his risqué tune, cheerfully walking into the alley. He and Black Cloud quietly poked their heads out of the cart, only to be surprised to see a familiar carriage stopping nearby.

The next moment, the Prince’s voice came out: “How much better it would have been to use the medical hall’s passage! Chen Ji even set up a ladder for us! Now look, climbing out from the back garden, my robe is torn!”

Princess White Carp’s voice followed immediately: “What’s wrong with me not wanting to go through the medical hall?!”

“Alright, alright, alright!”

Chen Ji watched as the two dismounted the carriage and walked into Red Robe Alley. He wanted to stop them and tell them it was dangerous here tonight, but how could he explain why he was there? Watching the Prince and Princess White Carp disappear into Red Robe Alley, Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, then reached into the cart, wiped some charcoal dust, and smeared it on his face.

“Come on, Black Cloud, let’s climb onto the roof together.”