When they parted at the foot of the mountain, both sides visibly relaxed.
Seeing the relieved expressions on the guards’ faces, Fu Xi Yan could only laugh dryly and wave goodbye. Then he cast a long, meaningful glance back toward the Immortal Treasury Palace. He had already created that much commotion. Unless Duan Qian had gone completely deaf, surely he had heard something.
Fu Xi Yan turned and walked toward Houjia Alley.
It was already late. People who had gone outside to enjoy the cooler night air were gradually returning home, leaving fewer and fewer pedestrians on the streets.
Tonight the moon had hidden itself, while even the stars appeared dim. One stretch of road leading toward the alley lay completely dark, with long walls rising on both sides. Only the occasional lantern swayed beneath an eave, spreading weak light across a tiny patch of ground.
An ordinary person walking alone through this road would have needed to remain fully alert for trouble emerging at any moment. Fu Xi Yan, meanwhile, was internally cursing Duan Qian. If that man did not appear soon, Fu Xi Yan would reach the end of the street.
Tap. Tap. Tap…
The sound of a blind man’s cane striking the road came from behind. It approached with astonishing speed. By the time Fu Xi Yan reacted, the attacker had already reached his back. This wasn’t Duan Qian!
Fu Xi Yan used Star-Shattering Afterimages to evade the full-force attack. His feet tapped lightly against the wall, and his body flipped in midair, allowing him to see the attacker clearly.
He looked like an utterly ordinary blind man. Under different circumstances, Fu Xi Yan might even have offered him a hand and jokingly asked for his fortune to be read. At this moment, however, the blind man was lifting his cane and smashing it toward Fu Xi Yan’s skull.
Even after turning in midair, Fu Xi Yan still possessed enough control to curl his body into a ball and slide down the wall, conveniently avoiding the violent strike.
After missing twice, the blind man’s previously calm expression finally showed anxiety. He slammed the cane against the ground. Two sharp whoosh sounds followed as a pair of longswords sprang from inside it. He caught one in each hand and attacked Fu Xi Yan again.
Fu Xi Yan stayed close to the wall and stepped upward through empty air. The twin swords pursued beneath his feet, their sharp edges slicing through his shoe soles. The sword qi nearly reached the… dead skin on his heels.
“Friend, how about introducing yourself first?”
Fu Xi Yan had become annoyed. Three Nameless Little Arrows shot outward as though held by three separate people, attacking the blind man’s upper, middle, and lower paths simultaneously.
The blind man swung both swords while retreating. Apparently realizing he would gain nothing today, his expression sank. His ears twitched slightly as though listening for movement beyond the walls on both sides. Then he shouted, forced the three Nameless Little Arrows back in one burst, and charged toward the wall on the right.
Fu Xi Yan watched coldly. He had other business tonight and did not want additional complications, so he made no attempt to pursue. But when the mantis stalks the cicada, it should always beware the oriole waiting behind.
The blind man disappeared over the wall. A short while later, a muffled groan sounded nearby. Soon after, Duan Qian climbed back over carrying the man and looked at Fu Xi Yan with faint resentment. “Couldn’t you have just killed him yourself?”
He threw the man onto the ground. Those lifeless eyes remained lifeless, but the chest that had still been faintly rising earlier had stopped completely.
Fu Xi Yan was capable of killing, but he disliked it. He frowned slightly. “Who is he?”
“Someone assigned to monitor me.” Duan Qian manipulated the corpse, attempting to make it look as though the man had died after a fierce battle. “Remember, I went to Southern Yu because Wei Li Ming defected and caused the leader to suspect me. Even though he later allowed me to accept a mission and return to Northern Zhou, suspicion doesn’t disappear so easily.”
Fu Xi Yan said, “If the person watching you dies, doesn’t that make you even more suspicious?”
Duan Qian fiddled with the corpse for quite a while without creating a satisfactory pose. Frustrated, he took out a bottle and poured something over the body, dissolving the entire corpse into liquid.
Fu Xi Yan said, “Have you considered how tomorrow’s pedestrians will feel?”
Someone might casually step into a puddle that used to be a human corpse.
Duan Qian said, “Two points. First, yes, he died, but I successfully captured the Immortal Treasury Palace’s Young Madam. My actions will prove my innocence. Second, this puddle will be dry by tomorrow.”
Fu Xi Yan folded his arms and studied him from head to toe. “How did you come down from the Immortal Treasury Palace?”
Duan Qian said, “The instant I heard the commotion you created while leaving the mountain, I openly followed. I’m an assassin, remember? My target left. Why would I stay on the mountain? To help everyone sun-dry the autumn harvest?”
“Zhao Tong Qu didn’t suspect anything?”
“What difference does suspicion make? I belong to Ghostshadow Organization, not to him. I told him the timing, terrain, and circumstances that night were unfavorable for assassination. He could only accept the answer. I’m the professional killer. Naturally, what I say carries more weight than whatever an amateur like him imagines. Besides, even if you beat him to death, he’d never guess my true reason for going up the mountain was to form an alliance with you.”
A faint pride appeared on Duan Qian’s face. Apparently, successfully fooling someone as sly and vicious as Zhao Tong Qu gave him a strong sense of accomplishment.
Fu Xi Yan asked, “He’s still hesitating?”
Duan Qian’s smile vanished. He glared at him. “Why? Don’t you want to know the identity of Ghostshadow Organization’s leader?”
Fu Xi Yan said, “I question your reliability.”
Duan Qian said, “You’ve already seen that letter. I assume Young Master Pei has seen it too. Even if you don’t trust me, you should trust the person who wrote it.”
Fu Xi Yan raised his head and stared into the dim night sky, apparently making one final decision.
Duan Qian’s heart tightened slightly. He waited for the answer with equal parts anticipation and fear.
Fu Xi Yan sighed faintly. “How are you planning to leave Jizhou?”
“This mountain man naturally has his own clever plan.”
＊
Just before dawn, a group of civilians hoping to leave the city had already gathered inside the gates. The line was not crowded, but everyone stood relatively close together, except around one pushcart carrying barrels of swill.
Everyone voluntarily remained half a zhang away, afraid the man pushing it might accidentally overturn a barrel and splash the contents onto them.
An elderly man pushed the cart. Apparently knowing how unwelcome his cargo was, he kept his head bowed throughout.
At last the gates opened. He slowly pushed his cart out with the crowd and headed west. After reaching the deserted countryside, he stopped and lifted one barrel lid. A person immediately jumped out wearing a round tray over his head. When he tossed the tray aside, the swill on top sloshed dangerously close to spilling.
Fu Xi Yan’s face turned green. “Mountain man! This is your brilliant plan?”
Duan Qian said, “Young Madam has suffered.”
Fu Xi Yan said solemnly, “I’m not suffering. I’m suffocating with injustice.”
Duan Qian said, “You’re far too conspicuous. If I didn’t think of some way to hide you, Young Master Pei would probably catch up within a day.”
Fu Xi Yan scoffed. “You think he won’t guess a swill barrel this enormous?”
Duan Qian patiently answered, “Of course he’ll guess. If he couldn’t, then losing all news about you without warning would probably drive him mad within a day, and I would be the one suffering. We already agreed on this. I abduct you and flee. Young Master follows at a distance. We maintain a gap between us. If something unexpected occurs, we delay as long as possible until Young Master can intervene.”
Hearing him speak with such sincerity, Fu Xi Yan felt too embarrassed to continue making trouble. “What now?”
Duan Qian pushed the swill cart deep into the woods, then brought out an old yellow horse. He led Fu Xi Yan toward a broken-down straw hut at the foot of the mountain and dug a carriage compartment out from inside. Once the horse was harnessed to it, the two had officially acquired their self-drive road-trip transportation and began their “Great Escape.”
＊
The largest residence in Houjia Alley changed owners within a single day. The newcomers were mysterious and discreet, but after seeing the elegant carriages and imposing guards, the neighbors naturally developed guesses.
After all, the place lay far too close to Mount Fujun.
After settling Elder Yu, Pei Yuan Jin began arranging deployments inside Jizhou and along the western routes.
When Fu Xi Yan relayed Duan Qian’s plan the previous night, Pei Yuan Jin’s first reaction had been refusal. Fu Xi Yan was his lifeline, body and heart alike. Allowing Fu Xi Yan to take a risk meant handing his own life into someone else’s hands. How could he agree?
But Fu Xi Yan persuaded him. “Your path demands that you advance without retreat. Mine seeks survival from desperate situations. Risk itself is our fate.” Agreement was one thing. Even after accepting, Pei Yuan Jin still wanted to pull as much of the situation as possible into his own control.
The dispute between the warehouse and Apothecary Jiang, followed by Elder Yu insisting on descending the mountain, had all been arranged by Pei Yuan Jin.
First, it created an opportunity for Fu Xi Yan to descend and be “abducted.” Otherwise, even with Zhao Tong Qu’s assistance, Duan Qian could hardly accomplish anything beneath the eyes of several Martial Gods.
Second, perhaps this was excessive caution, but the Immortal Treasury Palace’s defenses were controlled by the Thunder Division. When the two elders were at full strength, there had been no need to worry. Now both had damaged true essence and severe injuries, so precautions became unavoidable. Once Elder Yu descended, Pei Yuan Jin planned to find an excuse involving medical treatment and gradually move Apothecary Jiang and Elder Tan downhill as well. The guards assigned to that residence had all been carefully screened and belonged to the Lightning Division, leaving Zhao Tong Qu unable to interfere.
Near midnight, Xiao Zhang and Yu Yu Er arrived. When descending the mountain, they had passed through the same dark road, but both were hurrying and neither noticed the strange puddle on the ground.
Then Pei Yuan Jin received news that Fu Xi Yan had disappeared. It was the natural outcome, and he immediately sent people to search along the road leading down from the mountain.
Duan Qian was one of Ghostshadow Organization’s regional leaders around the capital and had undoubtedly conducted countless kidnappings before. With the “hostage” actively cooperating as well, there was naturally no possibility of finding useful traces.
Pei Yuan Jin’s search merely helped them gain time.
At first light, when the gates opened and the disguised Duan Qian pushed the swill cart through, Pei Yuan Jin was sitting at a nearby food stall eating Goubuli buns.
He had come only to confirm one thing: Duan Qian’s direction. Seeing him truly head west, Pei Yuan Jin finally relaxed. During the day, he would have members of the Lightning Division search the entire city. That delay should give Duan Qian and Fu Xi Yan enough time to establish distance.
＊
It was enough, yes. But the pursuit still felt far too close.
Duan Qian carried the “unconscious” Fu Xi Yan down from the carriage, replaced his approximate weight with stones, and sent the carriage onward. Then he carried Fu Xi Yan for some distance, put him down, returned along the route, and carefully erased every trace.
After finishing all that dirty work and returning to where he had hidden the hostage, Duan Qian discovered Fu Xi Yan sitting clean and refreshed on the ground, happily gnawing on a flatbread.
The dusty, exhausted kidnapper stared at his clean, plump hostage and immediately became irritated. “Can’t you walk a few steps yourself?”
Fu Xi Yan rolled his eyes. “An unconscious hostage suddenly getting up and walking on his own… What is this, Xiangxi corpse-herding? Right, I almost forgot. You’re from the Puppet Path.”
Elio’s Notes: “Xiangxi corpse-herding” refers to folklore from western Hunan about Daoist practitioners supposedly guiding corpses home for burial. Fu Xi Yan jokes that an “unconscious” hostage walking under his own power would look exactly like one of those legendary corpses.
Duan Qian countered, “Who here isn’t?”
Fu Xi Yan suddenly asked, “Have you ever controlled a human being?”
“No.” Duan Qian answered without hesitation. “My adoptive mother forbade it. Controlling a human soul is not easy either. She said her talent was insufficient and the possibility of backlash was extremely high.”
He glanced at Fu Xi Yan twice, took a flatbread from the bundle, bit into it, then unusually added a warning. “You’d better not try it either.”
Fu Xi Yan looked up at him.
Duan Qian said, “Young Master Pei would despise you.”
Fu Xi Yan shook his head with complete confidence. “No. He’d get angry, but he wouldn’t despise me.”
Seeing Fu Xi Yan proudly munching his bread and swinging his feet, Duan Qian felt a small flame of jealousy inexplicably jump inside his chest. He could not resist saying, “Young Master Pei truly possesses unusual taste.”
Hearing the jealousy in his words, Fu Xi Yan looked at him curiously. “Are you attracted to men?”
Duan Qian did not know the modern terminology, but could roughly guess what Fu Xi Yan meant. “Not other men. For Young Master Pei, yes. Feelings may care about gender. Power doesn’t.” In other words, his willingness to climb onto that particular high branch was completely undisguised.
Fu Xi Yan shook his head speechlessly. “That statement is far too villainous.”
“What is a villain?”
“Dirty, evil, sleazy, shameless…”
“…Are you taking the opportunity to insult me?”
Fu Xi Yan wore an expression clearly saying yes, I am while his mouth said the exact opposite. “How could that be?” He finished the final bite of his flatbread, dropped the remainder onto the ground, patted his backside, and stood.
The leftover piece had been gnawed into an extremely strange shape. Duan Qian leaned closer to study it. “I’ve wanted to ask this for a while. Why do you keep leaving clues in such a strange shape?”
Fu Xi Yan formed a gesture with his thumb and index finger. “It’s a heart.”
Duan Qian’s expression became difficult to describe. “You’re certain Young Master Pei will recognize that?” It looks like a dog chewed it.
Fu Xi Yan picked up the bread and compared it carefully. “My teeth marks are on it.”
“Young Master can recognize your teeth marks?” Duan Qian’s tone originally contained some mockery, but when he saw Fu Xi Yan’s absolute certainty, the sarcasm slowly vanished from the corners of his mouth. “You two…”
Having successfully struck a potential romantic rival, Fu Xi Yan cheerfully said, “Stop eating. We need to travel.” Wasn’t the dog food I just fed you filling enough?
Elio’s Notes: “Feeding dog food” is Chinese internet slang for flaunting affection in front of single people. Fu Xi Yan is delighted that his certainty about Pei Yuan Jin recognizing his bite marks has effectively forced Duan Qian to witness their romance.
Duan Qian: “…”
What sins had he committed in his previous life that required him to repay the debt by kidnapping this man now?!
＊
Duan Qian used many different methods to “shake off” pursuit. Fu Xi Yan likewise “racked his brains” to leave clues behind. Pei Yuan Jin consistently maintained a distance of roughly one day behind them.
The two groups moved southwest with an extremely strange mutual understanding.
They were already approaching Haojing.
Sitting on a swaying ox cart with nothing to do, Fu Xi Yan asked, “Ghostshadow Organization’s headquarters are in Haojing?”
Duan Qian said, “No. We’re only passing through.”
“Are we entering the city?”
“Want to go home and visit?”
It was Fu Xi Yan’s first time meeting a kidnapper who thoughtfully offered his hostage a family visit while passing nearby. Touched, he asked, “Are we going through Jiangcheng?” Yongfeng Earl Residence in Haojing had long since been emptied, leaving nothing more than a shell.
Thinking of residences reminded him that he still had one friend in Haojing who had narrowly escaped death. Unfortunately, the timing was wrong. Otherwise, Fu Xi Yan truly would have liked to see how that person was doing now.
Duan Qian said, “Keep going and you’ll find out.”
Fu Xi Yan said faintly, “Kidnapping me isn’t easy. Your current approach is much better. I mean the cooperative version of inviting someone into the trap.”
“It isn’t that I refuse to tell you. I genuinely don’t know.” Duan Qian smiled bitterly. “I’m also following clues one step at a time toward the destination.”
Fu Xi Yan accepted the explanation. He had indeed seen Duan Qian sending and receiving messages every so often. Presumably they came from the leader hidden deep in the shadows.
After remaining silent for a while, Fu Xi Yan still could not resist asking, “Have you thought about what you’ll do after learning the secret identity of Ghostshadow Organization’s leader?”
Duan Qian answered simply, “No.”
Fu Xi Yan stared in shock.
“Why are you looking at me that way?” Duan Qian sounded completely reasonable. “What I promised you was to uncover the leader’s identity. Once I find out who it is, what happens afterward is your problem, not mine.”
Hearing that actually reassured Fu Xi Yan. If Duan Qian had produced some elaborate plan for eliminating the leader, Fu Xi Yan would instead have suspected hidden motives or some attempt to sell him an enormous fantasy.
Since neither of them intended to enter Haojing, they left the official road and followed country lanes instead, circling around the city. Afraid Pei Yuan Jin might take the wrong direction, Fu Xi Yan gnawed another one-of-a-kind “heart-shaped flatbread” for him.
Duan Qian watched Fu Xi Yan secretly toss it behind the rear door of the farmhouse where they stayed and shook his head. “Aren’t you afraid the family’s little yellow dog will steal it?”
As he spoke, the little yellow dog patrolling the backyard and staring suspiciously at both strangers suddenly rushed out, sniffed the bread twice, seized it in its mouth, and ran without looking back.
Fu Xi Yan: “…”
He stared expressionlessly at Duan Qian, who had collapsed laughing. “Did you use the Spirit-Control Art on it?”
Duan Qian innocently shook his head.
Fu Xi Yan was about to say something when shouts and cries suddenly sounded from the front. The two exchanged a glance. Fu Xi Yan immediately slipped through the window into the side room, threw himself onto the bed, and closed his eyes to play dead. Duan Qian went toward the front entrance and saw several soldiers led by the local village head questioning the couple who had given them lodging.
Seeing him approach, the couple hurriedly said, “This is Young Master Meng, the traveler staying with us.”
Even after long days of travel had covered him in dust, Duan Qian remained strikingly handsome compared with ordinary farmers. The soldiers immediately lost their casual demeanor and became more guarded.
A person like this appearing alone in the countryside was much more likely to be a jianghu figure than some pampered young gentleman.
Duan Qian calmly produced two travel permits identifying them as scholars journeying together for study.
The soldiers even entered the side room to examine the sleeping Fu Xi Yan. Duan Qian explained, “He caught a chill during the journey, took medicine, and is still sleeping.” As he spoke, he slapped Fu Xi Yan’s leg.
Fu Xi Yan reluctantly opened his eyes and produced a sickly expression.
Only then did the soldiers turn and leave.
Duan Qian relaxed, then casually asked the couple, “Do soldiers frequently search this area?”
The elderly woman had accepted generous payment from him and still felt slightly guilty about it, so she kindly explained, “Only this month.” Lowering her voice, she added, “Didn’t someone try to assassinate… that person? They’re searching for the assassin.”
A figure common people did not dare name aloud.
Duan Qian was completely confused. Once he returned to the room and explained, Fu Xi Yan connected it with recent events and understood. “I heard the Northern Zhou emperor was attacked at the Temple of Heaven not long ago. They suspect the City of Ten Thousand Beasts.”
Duan Qian connected the cause and effect. “Tong Fang Yu avenging Tie Rong Rong?”
Fu Xi Yan had always believed there was more to the affair. No matter how foolish Tong Fang Yu might be, surely she would not design something as low-probability as assassination through poisonous snakes. Seeing Emperor Jianhong conduct such a huge search, perhaps he was simply using the incident as a pretext.
Fu Xi Yan said, “Maybe. Either way, it has nothing to do with us.”
One was Yin Fei Yu’s adopted son. The other was Jin Yuan Xiu’s son. Although Duan Qian and Fu Xi Yan technically belonged to the same lineage as Tong Fang Yu and Tie Rong Rong, they were not people of the same path and therefore cared little about those women’s current situation.
Before sunrise, after eating corn porridge personally cooked by the elderly woman, Duan Qian carried Fu Xi Yan on his back and departed.
Fu Xi Yan continued pretending to be weak and sleepy. The elderly woman looked genuinely worried and even gave them some herbs from her home before they left. Duan Qian inspected them and found honeysuckle and hogfennel root.
After thanking her for the kindness, they resumed their journey.
Once they left the village and reached a dirt road, Fu Xi Yan lay on an ox cart padded with cotton and felt that the endless jolting was flattening the difference in height between his backside and his back. He was just about to complain when hoofbeats approached from behind.
Duan Qian guided the ox aside, but after the horses came closer, they gradually slowed, clearly approaching the two of them intentionally.
Duan Qian turned around. Dust covered both riders and horses, but occasional flashes of clothing looked exactly like the soldiers they had seen at the farmhouse.
A bad feeling rose in his heart.
“Stop!”
The leading soldier charged ahead, wheeled his horse around, and forced the slow ox cart to halt.
Duan Qian waved dust away from his face and put on an innocent expression. “Officer, may I ask what you require?”
The leader grinned viciously. “You claim to be scholars traveling for study. I don’t think you look like scholars at all. Both of you get down. I’m searching everything properly. We won’t let suspicious people slip through.”
Several soldiers immediately rushed forward like wolves and tigers and began pulling apart their luggage.
Duan Qian and Fu Xi Yan: “…”
The bags were only props and contained nothing valuable. Fu Xi Yan kept his Nameless Little Arrows, Wind Chime, Cloudsilk Gauntlets, banknotes, and other valuables directly on his body.
He was considering whether to use the Object-Commanding Art to quietly bury a few items under the ground when something fell from the luggage with a sharp clang.
One soldier snatched it up like treasure. Then his expression abruptly changed. He drew his saber and pointed it toward Duan Qian and Fu Xi Yan as though confronting mortal enemies.
Fu Xi Yan swept the token with the corner of his eye. Once he saw it clearly, he sighed helplessly.
Duan Qian’s expression was even more spectacular.
Only yesterday, while discussing Tong Fang Yu, Fu Xi Yan had said the matter “had nothing to do with them.” Now that relationship had exposed itself.
The leading soldier hurriedly shouted, “What are you panicking for?”
The soldier holding the token said in a trembling voice, “City of Ten Thousand Beasts!”
Exactly. The token in his hand was the Lord Xuanwu Token Fu Xi Yan had once given Duan Qian. Duan Qian had never used it. Carrying it against his body felt too heavy, so he had casually put it inside the luggage. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined the City of Ten Thousand Beasts would cause an enormous incident in Haojing and infuriate Emperor Jianhong, much less that the token would be uncovered at the exact moment corrupt soldiers tried to extort them.
One could only say… Heaven liked playing with people.
Duan Qian sighed. With a motion of his hand, he pulled the token back into his palm, tucked it away, then grabbed the back of Fu Xi Yan’s collar and flung him onto his back. The impact nearly knocked Fu Xi Yan’s corn porridge back out.
The soldiers seemed to awaken from a dream and drew their weapons, charging toward them.
Duan Qian leapt from the ox cart, tapped lightly on the approaching sabers, and landed beside the leader. One kick sent both rider and horse flying. Then, as the remaining soldiers attempted to flee, Duan Qian manipulated their own blades and made them “cut their own throats.”
“They had to die. Otherwise, the couple who sheltered us last night would be in serious trouble.” Duan Qian glanced at Fu Xi Yan and explained.
Fu Xi Yan remained silent.
The instant Duan Qian acted, Fu Xi Yan had reached the same conclusion and therefore chosen to stand aside.
In his previous life, the trolley problem had possessed no universally accepted answer. Once the question stopped being abstract and became a real situation, however, people naturally made choices. It was not really about whether five lives outweighed one, nor whether one should switch tracks. It came down to which side he wanted to survive.
Elio’s Notes: The source calls this 火车悖论, literally “the train paradox,” referring to the ethical thought experiment usually known in English as the trolley problem.
Compared with soldiers who extorted money and bullied civilians, Fu Xi Yan would rather that warmhearted, decent old couple continue living safely.