With the flourishing of brothels within the city, the night curfew in Feihu City had been relaxed. At this hour, many vendors still walked the streets, calling out their wares. Tao Manwu was a glutton for snacks, and if her stomach wasn’t full, she couldn’t sleep soundly. In the end, it was Xu Fengnian who suffered. Thus, he took out a small piece of silver and bought two bowls of golden rice made from purple-necked chrysanthemum petals and some pastries. When they returned to the inn, it was Li Liu’s turn to keep watch. Usually at this time, he would be dozing off, but perhaps because he had just returned from Bottle Alley, he was unusually excited. Xu Fengnian asked for a table and invited Li Liu to eat together. The strong and honest young man said “Alright!” without being overly polite or distant toward the noble Xu Young Master. Seeing a little girl nicknamed Taizi holding an exquisite porcelain pillow, Xu Fengnian couldn’t quite figure out her background and wisely refrained from asking too much. Xu Fengnian pointed upstairs, and Tao Manwu stopped eating, quickly wiping her mouth and standing up. Xu Fengnian gave the remaining pastries to Li Liu.
Inside the room, with his back to Tao Manwu, Xu Fengnian summoned the hidden flying sword, Pifu, which had once assassinated the warrior Zharong. He pierced his palm with a fingernail and smeared the blood onto the floating sword. It seemed casual, but it was actually filled with profound mystery. There were twelve different sword embryos, each forged at different times, their textures vastly different. The delicate process of nourishing the swords with blood required precision—too much blood would overflow and damage the sword patterns, too little would weaken the sword’s energy. The texture of the sword was like a living mouth, allowing no room for error. Xu Fengnian did not immediately recall Pifu into his sleeve. He gazed at the scene before him, a sight like ripples on still water stirred by a gentle breeze. He sighed softly. In the Guanghan Pavilion, what moved him most about the courtesan Xi Yi was not her voice or appearance, but the small elegant decorations in her room, reminiscent of the refined tastes of the Qingliu scholars of the Dayang Empire—beautiful couches, black-glazed cups, and a three-legged toad inkstone. Since entering Longyao Prefecture, Xu Fengnian’s mood had been gloomy, but now it finally lightened a little. If even a courtesan in Feihu City cherished such refined tastes from the Central Plains, then the exiled scholars who had fled to the Northern Desert must still cling to their former luxurious lifestyles, even in foreign lands. These refined habits, which always resurface in times of peace, would inevitably and gradually influence the aristocracy of the Northern Desert. Just like the Crown Prince’s cultivation of swords, these influences would slowly seep into this warlike empire. The Northern Desert Empress had accepted the exiled scholars from the Spring and Autumn Period with great tolerance, promoting many scholars and intellectuals. The benefits were evident, but the drawbacks were hidden. Dantai Chang’an, a man as refined as any aristocrat from the South, was a perfect example. How many horses and armors could be bought with a cage of dragon-tongue birds?
Xu Fengnian quietly recalled Pifu and exhaled deeply. He turned and saw Tao Manwu lying on the bed, resting her chin in her hands, staring at the porcelain pillow. He smiled and teased, “Little money-hoarder, if we ever leave the city, will you bring the porcelain pillow with you? Won’t it be too heavy?”
Tao Manwu replied firmly, “I can carry the money bag and hold the pillow!”
Xu Fengnian nodded, “Good. If we run out of money, I can sell the pillow for wine.”
Tao Manwu looked extremely anxious, carefully observing Xu Fengnian’s expression. When she realized he was joking, she relaxed and smiled broadly. From the moment she could remember, Tao Manwu had always felt an instinctive unease about her innate ability to sense others’ thoughts. But now, for the first time, she felt a rare sense of pride. Xu Fengnian asked curiously, “Can you see into people’s minds? Do you hear their inner words, or do you just sense their intentions and emotions?”
Tao Manwu hesitated, then kept her mouth tightly shut.
Xu Fengnian chuckled, “I heard that Feihu City has Cao family’s peony buns, Grandma Xue’s meat pies, Jiaqing Bottle Alley’s stews, Mei family’s roasted duck and goose, and Duan family’s lamb rice. There’s also the Su Guan Market at the temple fair—there’s shadow puppetry on sheepskin, storytelling, tales of cavalry and war drums, Buddhist scripture discussions, Ronguo Temple’s wrestling matches, tightrope walking, magic tricks, and even trained crows that play chess. There’s so much to see and eat. Do you want to go?”
Tao Manwu huffed.
Xu Fengnian feigned disappointment, “Alright then. Tomorrow I’ll go by myself, and you can stay at the inn, hugging your pillow and counting coins.”
The little girl, who refused to yield to power or poverty, huffed twice more.
Xu Fengnian couldn’t help but laugh. He extinguished the lamp on the table, sat cross-legged against the wall, and said, “Go to sleep.”
The little girl rolled over and playfully kicked him. Xu Fengnian ignored her, focused on meditation. In an hour, he would need to nourish the flying sword Huangtong. Fortunately, the Dahuang Pavilion technique allowed him to remain in a half-sleep state, cultivating twelve swords with an hour’s effort between each, so he wouldn’t be too exhausted. In fact, even without the task of cultivating swords, Xu Fengnian dared not fall into a deep sleep. After a while, the little girl, who had grown accustomed to falling asleep in Xu Fengnian’s arms, let go of the cold pillow and snuggled into his warm embrace. Soon, she was softly snoring.
Xu Fengnian cultivated three swords in succession. As dawn approached, he tucked Tao Manwu into the quilt and picked up the spring thunder sword by the bed. He walked to the window, stretched lazily, and felt a sense of impending change in the air. It wasn’t necessarily good or bad, so he didn’t dwell on it. After the exhilarating battle with Xie Ling, regardless of the benefits gained, his mindset and aura had completely transformed.
Outside the window, the sky gradually turned gray, and a light spring rain began to fall. The gentle breeze moistened the earth in silence. Tao Manwu slowly opened her eyes, gazing at the figure before her. In her eyes, the world was different from how ordinary people saw it. To her, everyone was surrounded by a radiant glow. Most people were gray or white, like commoners in the marketplace. Occasionally, someone exuded a faint bluish-purple aura—like her father, like a mountain. Uncle Dong had a purple glow around him. Those about to die were black as ink. Evil people radiated a blood-red murderous aura. Kind-hearted women like Aunt Xi Yi emitted a warm yellow glow. In Tao Manwu’s eyes, the world was vibrant and colorful, and as she grew older, her perception became sharper. The young man before her radiated a deep purple interwoven with golden hues—an image she had never seen before.
Tao Manwu didn’t know that if someone with ill intentions discovered her, she would be seen as a living Buddha of Buddhism or a celestial being of Taoism. Unfortunately, Xie Ling, for some unknown reason, failed to recognize her value. If he had focused on her radiant heart instead of the Crown Prince, he might have regained his former peak in the Finger-Sky realm. As for whether he would suffer backlash from such power, with Xie Ling’s obsession with killing Luo Yang, he certainly wouldn’t care.
Xu Fengnian didn’t interrupt the little girl’s gaze. When she finally looked away, he turned and smiled, “After breakfast, I’ll take you to the temple fair.”
Tao Manwu looked puzzled. She couldn’t understand why he suddenly became so kind. In her eyes, this man, who never revealed his true face, was cunning and selfish, making her suffer. How could he change his mind overnight?
Xu Fengnian smiled gently, “I’ve decided—I’ll leave Feihu City alone and won’t take you with me. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you have enough to eat and wear, and you’ll be more comfortable without me. I’m just pretending to be nice for a few days so you won’t hate me. I’ve heard that someone like you, who can see into people’s hearts, always gets what they wish for. I still want to live, and living in constant fear isn’t pleasant.”
The little girl bit her lip, staring at him. She must have sensed that he was telling the truth—that he truly intended to leave her behind in Feihu City. The little girl, who should have been relieved to escape hardship, couldn’t hide her sorrow or mask her feelings. She looked gloomily at him.
Xu Fengnian didn’t press her further. He took her hand and led her downstairs. After a warm breakfast, they headed toward Su Guan Alley in the western part of the city. Along the way, the little girl kept her face cold, giving no warmth to Xu Fengnian, who she now saw as heartless and indifferent. But a child’s fleeting emotions were like a new bottle of wine—its flavor floated on the surface, unlike the deep, aged taste of an adult’s sorrow, which settled at the bottom of the jar, not fully revealed until the last drop.
Xu Fengnian quickly turned her mood around with a stick of candied haws and a small lacquered box containing a spider. The box was named “Qiqiao,” a delicate toy introduced from the Central Plains to the Northern Desert. By placing a small spider inside, one could observe the density of its web over the next few days. In the Spring and Autumn Kingdoms, this was a common love token for women during the Qixi Festival. They would write the name of their beloved on a small piece of paper and place it in the box. The spider’s silk symbolized the red thread of fate tied by the Moon Goddess, a way to pray for a good omen. If the web was dense and intricate, the woman would secretly rejoice.
Xu Fengnian had long strides, and after two journeys, he was no longer surprised by the performances and vendors at temple fairs. He found the little girl’s wide-eyed curiosity annoying as she lagged behind, so he let her ride on his shoulders. Tao Manwu, still sulking, didn’t care about ladylike decorum and eagerly climbed up. She rested her head on his, refusing to share her candied haws with him, hoping to make him jealous.
They watched a simple shadow puppet play made from paper cuttings, telling the tale of border battles between Liang and Mang. In the eyes of Feihu City’s citizens, it was natural for Northern Desert generals like Huang Songyu to be portrayed as noble and righteous, while Northern Liang’s Prince Xu Xiao and the young tyrant Chen Zhibao were depicted as hideous and cruel. Xu Fengnian merely smiled, not minding the portrayal of his father, but he found it unfair that Chen Zhibao, the white-robed immortal general known for his elegance and brilliance, was reduced to such an ugly caricature. The puppeteer played the role of a storyteller, narrating the battles between the two nations’ top military leaders. Unlike the tales told in taverns and teahouses, this performance focused on the intense warfare along the border. As the storyteller dramatized the fierce battles, the audience watched in rapt attention, holding their breath.
As Xu Fengnian walked away, he spotted Dantai Chang’an and his sister Dantai Konghou, accompanied by several attendants, weaving through the bustling crowd. Dantai Konghou also held a “Qiqiao” spider box, but hers was made of sandalwood, far more expensive than the wooden box Tao Manwu had. The spider inside was also different—perhaps the city’s governor’s third son’s spider would naturally weave a denser web. With more money, the “Qiqiao” became even more exquisite.
When their eyes met, Dantai Chang’an smiled brightly and approached first, turning to his sister with pride, “See? I told you Xu Qi would come to the temple fair.”
Dantai Konghou glared at Xu Qi and said helplessly, “So I lost you a tael of silver. What’s there to be proud of?”
Dantai Chang’an laughed heartily, “My second brother might earn a hundred taels of gold, but he wouldn’t be as happy as I am when I earn a single copper coin.”
Xu Fengnian was even more helpless than Dantai Konghou. The second son of Feihu City, the number one playboy, was truly a mastermind. For some reason, Xu Fengnian genuinely believed that Dantai Chang’an had come here to wait for him in person, rather than sending someone to follow him. First, with Xu Fengnian’s current mystical senses, he could easily detect any unusual gazes around him. Second, he didn’t dislike this unscrupulous young man, who could be called a kindred spirit among playboys, though not quite an admirable one. Especially after confirming that Tao Manwu showed no reaction, Xu Fengnian felt relieved. Dantai Chang’an was a straightforward and open person. Seeing Tao Manwu’s cuteness, he reached out to pinch her cheek, but she dodged. Unfazed, he turned to tease his sister, “My sister keeps saying she wants to marry me, but secretly she’s smitten with a young nobleman from the Helian family. That’s why she bought the Qiqiao. Later, she’ll surely sneakily write down that handsome young man’s name. If I hadn’t seen Xu Qi today, I wouldn’t have exposed her secret. At most, I’d sneak out at night, climb over the wall, and steal the note to throw it away, making her cry over the spider web the next day.”
Dantai Konghou, her face flushed red, stomped hard on Dantai Chang’an’s foot. He winced in pain, hissing through his teeth. But toward his spoiled younger sister, he could only be angry but dare not scold her.
They spent half an hour together before Dantai Konghou, unable to wait any longer, dragged Dantai Chang’an away. The second son made plans with Xu Fengnian to drink at Guanghan Pavilion that night before being forcibly pulled away by his sister. Watching the harmonious siblings leave, Xu Fengnian stood still, his feet unmoving.
Tao Manwu reached out her small hand and gently rubbed his furrowed brow.
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