Actually, when Jiang Changbai had been preparing to inform the old woman of her daughter's death, she'd predicted all sorts of developments of the matter. But, among these countless possibilities, there hadn't been any developments like this. The old woman's tone was unexpectedly level, as if she was asking whether a passing traveller wanted to drink tea. Jiang Changbai was rather puzzled; her gaze shifted unconsciously towards Song Juguang. The two exchanged a glance, merely taking it as her method of facing sorrow, and so nodded, saying quiet thanks. The old woman stood up, trembling and swaying, from the side of the bed, feeling around in the darkness of the cabinet for something. Jiang Changbai wanted to light a lamp for her, but Song Juguang reached a hand out to stop her. The oil lamp's flame swayed, and beneath the dusky yellow lamplight, Jiang Changbai saw Song Juguang shaking her head. She didn't understand why, but she chose to believe her. The old wom...

Jiang Changbai naturally heard this sound as well, and her complexion changed abruptly; she unconsciously grasped Song Juguang's hand, as if this could cause her to feel at ease. Song Juguang didn't throw it off either, and actually used a hand to pat the back of Jiang Changbai's hand as an assurance. No one moved more, the two hand in hand, only hearing the sound coming from above their heads. That sound suddenly stopped, and then a soft yet distressed bear's cry came. Immediately afterwards, there was a rustling sound, like some sort of animal's footsteps. The sound was chaotic and hurried, and listening to it, it seemed to not be singular. There was the sound of tearing and furious howls in succession; even one couldn't see it, they could more or less guess the unusual, disorderly fight above. Song Juguang raised her head, shooting a glance at the clearer and clearer moon, and, unable to continue remaining here for any longer, she said, "This minister wi...

Li Shiyi hadn't chosen to ride a boat, and had only bought a few short-distance train tickets, following the map to travel from one town to the next. Only on leaving the southwest did she sense that the world was truly in chaos; all over were malnourished and sickly refugees, the majority of which couldn't enter the city, only cowering and cringing as they crowded the outskirts, mixed in with the beggars. Her gait was hurried as she walked between the peace and the unrest, listening to the youths within the city weep with the longing for tanghulu, and also listening to the children outside the city, whose chests stuck to their backs with hunger. The money in her possession wasn't much, but distributing change along the road, after four or five days, her financial situation was somewhat tight. Luckily, she'd always had a plan, and had set aside her travel expenses as one, and the savings for emergencies as another, and only the remainder was to help the needy along the r...

The candle flames, submerged in the breeze of the night, shivered, the darkness attacking like thick fog, and not having the slightest intention to retreat. The evening dew condensed on the eaves stopped as they fell; the rolls of firecrackers, left behind by the children, stopping as they were fanned into a fire by the winter wind; even the scent of sulphur, disrupting the mind's calm, threading through the crack of the window, stopped. There was only one person wandering outside of time; she wore a beautiful, graceful qipao, and had raven hair, red lips, a jade face, and passionate eyes, so beautiful it caused one's heart to tremble. Her slow steps trod in the corridor, her footsteps light and agile, as if she were treading on clouds. In the small crack of time, memories flashed like rustling quicksand; in the Warring States period, she'd only just woken, and had drunk a mouthful of morning dew, walking bare-foot towards Xia Ji. As the Great Ming fell, the Qing army enter...

The leaves were rustled by the wind; those gleaming eyes were incredibly low, flashing in the lush vegetation, as if something were crawling forward. Jiang Changbai, suddenly seeing it, was startled, and unconsciously retreated half a step. Song Juguang, seeing Jiang Changbai's peculiarity, followed her gaze and looked between the vegetation. At this time, that thing had drawn even closer, its whole body gleaming black, only a line of white spots beneath its jaw. A pair of eyes stared at the two; although the eyes were small, the killing intent within them was overflowing, and seeing it, one's fine hairs stood upright. It was the black bear that that hunter had wasted her life for without gaining. Just then, Song Juguang had listened to He Leyong's words, and had only taken it as the mountain not having any great wild beasts at all, and the words of the old, tea-selling woman at the foot of the mountain were only her subjective conjecture. As a result, she'd lowered her...

He Leyong was naturally an incredibly intelligent person; how could she not guess that, having come now, Jiang Changbai and Song Juguang had a request for her? After all, from the time her identity had been exposed and she'd been chased out of the Prince's residence, she'd lived in Mount Tongshan. Mount Tongshan was only a day's travel from the capital, but in the past six or so years, He Leyong hadn't received any news from the capital. To say nothing of the matter of, then, the matter having been brought before emperor by the imperial censor, causing Emperor Tai to be infuriated, such that even Prince Ling had been scolded heavily. If there truly wasn't some matter, then presumably, they wouldn't have come to find her. Jiang Changbai had always only had reverence for this teacher, and so, she hadn't thought of concealing it, and said candidly, "Laoshi, we want to invite you to enter the court as an official." But the next moment, He Leyong...

Song Shijiu returned to the room with the same expression as usual; for a rare turn, Li Shiyi wasn't reading, and was sitting on the bed, folding up a few light grey coats; she raised her eyelids to look at Song Shijiu, and it seemed like a meager smile was hung on her face; she asked, "Will you wash your face? I'll pour the water." Song Shijiu let out an "en", sitting down on the bed with her arms crossed, and watched the clothes Li Shiyi had folded in a daze. She'd folded even the clothes neatly and carefully, the creases like a framework, regular and at angles. She thought and thought; in the end, she felt that Li Shiyi hadn't been like this before; before, she'd been both done as she wished and been free and at ease; stealing from coffins and robbing tombs, if she truly feared the laws of the heavens, then why was she in this profession? She gazed at Li Shiyi, holding up and pouring out of a copper pot, and felt a particular idea was faintly ...

The second hand ticked away, drilling into Song Shijiu's ear, a pressure as if urging her to open her mouth. She gazed at Li Shiyi; she was still a slender bamboo, the cool breeze and floating moon, slim and elegant, like the clean origin within the turmoil and chaos of war. The Taishan Fujun was good, and the xiansheng who inquired of the coffins was fine as well; actually, she'd always been this attractive; at that time, how had it been that she'd though, at that time, that she was like an enchantress? She couldn't quite remember. She followed blindly in suit of her, as if having been wrapped within a shell, hidebound by convention. Only in this moment, she felt the inflexible clock having run into her mind, the second hand, at one side, separated from the hour hand, letting out a ticking " beng " sound, like some sort of lamenting sound of termination. Her curled lashes were like the clock's hand as well, touching as they closed, then breaking apart. Sh...