Abruptly, Shen Qiao said, “Do you still have bamboo strips?”
The peddler was puzzled. “I do. Does this gentleman want to purchase bamboo strips?”
“Mm. I want to make something with your bamboo strips, then pay whatever I owe you. May I?”
The peddler laughed. “This gentleman is too modest! Of course you can!”
He picked up a handful of bamboo strips and gave them to Shen Qiao. “But can you really weave something, what with your eyes?”
Shen Qiao laughed as well. “I weaved some when I was young, for my younger sister and brothers, so they wouldn’t be bored. I still remember a little.”
He said “a little,” but his hands moved swiftly. With nimble fingers, he tied a knot in the bamboo, wrapped one end around the other, and then inserted it into a tucked-away slot he’d already woven. In the blink of an eye, a little chick had come to life.
The little girl was surprised and overjoyed. “A chick, a chick!”
Shen Qiao handed it to her. “I don’t know how your last one looked,” he said with a smile, “so I just wove one at random. It might not be as pretty.”
“It’s pretty! Very pretty! Thank you, Big Brother! You’re the best!”
Off to the side, the peddler said a little sourly, “I’m not that much older than this gentleman, but you call him Big Brother while calling me Uncle!”
Shen Qiao laughed out loud.
The little girl ran off, skipping and prancing. Shen Qiao’s legs were somewhat numb from all the crouching, so he stood, then paid the peddler for the bamboo strips and ball. The peddler declined his money, but Shen Qiao insisted, forcing the coins into the other man’s hands. “May I ask which direction the guest complex for foreign envoys is in?”
“Are you a foreign envoy who’s come to Chen, sir?” Understanding dawned on the peddler, and he continued, “The complex isn’t far from here, but with all the crowds, you won’t be able to find it with your eyes. I’ll take your esteemed self there!”
Shen Qiao was grateful but asked, “What about your stall…?”
The peddler laughed. “No need to worry! I come here to sell bamboo wares every day, and they’re nothing valuable. Plus, the stall owners here all know each other—I’ll just ask them to keep an eye on things. How could I allow a guest from afar like yourself to get lost!”
He led Shen Qiao back along the ferry crossing. “The main roads are full of people, so it’s easy to get lost. Taking the alleyways is faster here!”
The peddler chuckled and supported Shen Qiao’s arm to guide him. “If this gentleman is staying here a few more days, he ought to take a couple more strolls through the city. Most of the food in the south is quite wonderful and painstakingly prepared. Once you start eating them, I’m sure you’ll…”
Something whistled through the air, so small it was easy to miss. The peddler hadn’t noticed and kept talking, but Shen Qiao’s expression shifted minutely. With a sweep of his cane, he knocked the tiny needle off-course and into a wall.
At the same time, the peddler’s voice came to an abrupt stop and he fell limply to the ground.
The person who’d ambushed Shen Qiao had also attacked the peddler. Shen Qiao couldn’t reach everywhere at once—he’d blocked the needle that came at him but had no time to do the same for the peddler. He’d acted a little too late.
“And which friend is this? Why must you hide yourself so?” He crouched down to check on the peddler’s condition and was somewhat relieved to see that the man was only unconscious.
“Shen-lang is so gentle and kind, even to a bamboo-seller, so why is he so mean to me?”
A sweet fragrance wafted over to him, along with a voice so honeyed that it dripped.
A small frown settled over Shen Qiao’s features. “Bai Rong?”
She was sitting happily atop a wall, her legs crossed at the ankles as she swung them back and forth. In her hand was a peony that she must have picked from somewhere.
“It’s been a while!” she said.
“Didn’t we just meet when you tried to assassinate Yuwen Qing in the middle of the night?”
“Don’t you know the saying ‘one day apart feels like three autumns’?” said Bai Rong. “So many autumns have passed already!”
Whether the speaker was Yan Wushi or Bai Rong, Shen Qiao could never adapt to such a borderline-flirtatious manner of speech. All he could do was remain silent.
Bai Rong rolled her eyes, then tossed him the flower she held. “Here, catch!”
Shen Qiao caught it by reflex. He’d thought it was a disguised weapon of some sort, but a touch told him it was a flower. The realization startled him.
When she saw his expression, Bai Rong grew even more gleeful. “You thought I threw some kind of hidden weapon at you? Do you really think me so devious?”
Shen Qiao shook his head. “That’s not it.”
“What isn’t it?” asked Bai Rong.
“When you tried to kill Yuwen Qing, his concubine and her maid had no chance of escape, yet you didn’t kill them. That proves that you aren’t an indiscriminate murderer with no moral standards. On their behalf, I ought to thank you for the mercy you showed.”
Bai Rong blinked. “How do you know I showed them mercy? Maybe I was just too lazy to do more.”
Shen Qiao smiled but didn’t argue with her.
Bai Rong sighed. “You’re so handsome when you smile! You really should smile more. It makes me very happy that you think so well of me—will you let me kiss you?”
Right after she spoke, she moved.
Shen Qiao thought she really was about to kiss him. He reflexively backed up three steps, only to realize that she was still sitting atop the wall. She’d only been teasing him.
Bai Rong laughed so hard she almost tumbled right off the wall. “Shen-lang, why are you so cute? I just keep liking you more and more!”
“There must be a reason you came to find me, isn’t there?” asked Shen Qiao.
“What, I can’t come looking for you without one?” Bai Rong said, all smiles. “All right, there’s no reason not to tell you. I’ve been following you from afar, hoping to find the chance to poison you, knock you out, and drag you away. Unfortunately, you’re far too alert, so I could never give it a go until just now. I went through so much difficulty just to talk to you.”
Her words mixed truths and lies, half-sincere and half-facetious. Shen Qiao didn’t know whether or not to believe her. He stayed silent and kept his guard up.
“The chick you wove for that little girl was so pretty,” Bai Rong added. “Can you make one for me too?”
Shen Qiao was taken aback, then shook his head. “I don’t have any bamboo strips with me.”
After thinking for a while, he tossed her the bamboo ball in his hand. “Here, you can play with this ball instead.”
A giggle burst out of Bai Rong. “Are you coaxing me like a child?”
Although she’d objected, she quickly grabbed the ball and began tossing it up and down in her palm.
“Has little Bai-niangzi ever thought about leaving Hehuan Sect?” asked Shen Qiao.
“Why suddenly ask…” Bai Rong said curiously.
Halfway through her sentence, her expression turned altogether severe, though her tone remained flippant. “Sect Leader Shen must have heard something from Sect Leader Yan, and now he thinks our Hehuan Sect filthy and foul. Are we undeserving of speaking with you, the lofty sect leader of Xuandu Mountain?”
Murderous intent was pouring from her by the time she finished, as if she would attack if she found Shen Qiao’s answer unacceptable.
“No,” said Shen Qiao.
Bai Rong’s expressions changed faster than the flip of a page. In an instant, she once again wore a smile as lovely as a flower. “Or did you want to call Hehuan Sect deplorable? To say that our men and women pair cultivate without concern for rank and seniority? And you’re telling me to change sides and correct my ways?”
Shen Qiao frowned. “I only feel that you might not like staying there.”
“Hehuan Sect is the place I grew up. If I don’t stay there, where can I go? To Huanyue Sect? Or to Fajing Sect? Is murder better than pair cultivation in your eyes? Everyone calls Hehuan Sect a demonic sect, but isn’t Huanyue Sect one as well? Don’t forget that Yan Wushi has far more blood on his hands than I do! And if you’re talking about those prestigious, righteous sects that claim they’re so virtuous—if you were still the leader of Xuandu Mountain, would you be willing to accept me? And even if you were, what about everyone else on Xuandu Mountain?”
Shen Qiao was left a little astounded by her long string of questions. “Yes, you’re right,” he said with a sigh. “I misspoke.”
He hadn’t put that much thought into his question. He only felt that Bai Rong was different from someone like Huo Xijing, and that it was a pity for her to remain in Hehuan Sect.
Bai Rong’s tone was honey-sweet. “I know that Shen-lang thinks I’ve been suffering in Hehuan Sect. From the moment you were willing to help even a horse, I realized that you were a gentle, kindhearted person. Good people like you are rare! This one will treasure these feelings of yours, but she has her own plans, so you need not worry about her!
“I’ll tell you another secret.” She suddenly jumped from the wall and floated to Shen Qiao, reaching out to tug on his sleeve. Though Shen Qiao quickly evaded, it didn’t ruin her good mood—a trace of cunning shone through instead. “You’ll reap nothing good if you stay with Yan Wushi,” she said, “for a disaster will soon descend. To avoid becoming collateral damage, you should hurry up and put some distance…”
She hadn’t yet finished her sentence when her expression changed, but it wasn’t due to Shen Qiao. She stared straight ahead, far into the distance, before bursting out, “This one has important matters to attend to, so Shen-lang need not see her off!” Then she was gone, vanished without a trace—she must have used every iota of her qinggong.
At first, Shen Qiao assumed it was Yan Wushi’s arrival that had forced her to beat a hasty retreat, but in the next moment, he realized that was wrong.
The newcomer wasn’t Yan Wushi.