The Truth

From the small courtyard to Ghost Courtyard was only a few dozen steps. Gu Shenwei kept close to the wall as he went, listening before looking with every step, as if a cliff lay just ahead.

Even so, he'd underestimated how strictly Golden Peng Fortress was guarded. He'd taken barely a dozen steps when someone grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

The night watchmen were like ghosts, lurking among the living and appearing when you least expected them. No amount of vigilance could keep them away.

Caught so suddenly, Gu Shenwei instead grew calm. "Let go of me," he whispered.

This night watchman was probably not the same one as last time. Seeing how composed Gu Shenwei was, he seemed a little surprised. Though his face was hidden behind black cloth, there was less killing intent in his eyes.

"You've violated the Curfew."

"I came out to do something."

"What?"

"I..." Gu Shenwei couldn't think of a convincing lie in time.

"I sent him out." Yao Nu's voice suddenly rang out. Gu Shenwei thought he'd been careful not to attract attention, but in fact, he'd been followed from the start.

The night watchman hadn't expected anyone behind him and was clearly startled. He dropped Gu Shenwei, gripping the hilt of his saber with his right hand and steadying its sheath with his left.

"Who's there?"

"Yao Nu, from the Eighth Young Master's courtyard." Yao Nu sounded even calmer than Gu Shenwei, with a hint of impatience and reprimand in his voice.

"You've violated the Curfew too."

"What Curfew? I left something in the Eighth Young Master's courtyard and sent Huan Nu to fetch it for me. What's wrong with that? Is that not allowed?"

Gu Shenwei hadn't expected Yao Nu to show up out of nowhere and help cover for him. He couldn't help feeling grateful, but given Yao Nu's status, he doubted it would be easy to brush off a night watchman.

Sure enough, the night watchman didn't take Yao Nu's explanation seriously. "You're coming with me to see the Blade Master on duty."

The Blade Masters were the leaders among Golden Peng Fortress's killers. There were more than a dozen of them. If they appeared before a Blade Master, their violation of the rules would go on record, and they would be punished accordingly.

Sneaking out of one's courtyard at night wasn't a particularly serious offense. But Gu Shenwei still had the stolen gate key in his hand, and that was an unforgivable crime. There was a nine-in-ten chance he'd be thrown into Ghost Courtyard.

Gu Shenwei didn't mind the thought of being locked up in Ghost Courtyard; it might help him find out what had happened to his sister. Yao Nu, however, had no desire to go there.

"Aren't you Liu Xuan, the killer? We're all servants of the Eighth Young Master. Is there any need to stab each other in the back? Eighth Young Madam has been in a foul mood lately. What good would come of making a big deal out of this?"

Yao Nu had actually recognized the night watchman by name. Gu Shenwei and Liu Xuan were both startled. The night watchmen wore black from head to toe and covered their faces precisely so they wouldn't be recognized.

"You... how do you know who I am?"

"Come on, why so nervous? Weren't you assigned to guard the Eighth Young Master's courtyard a while back? I trained under Xue Niang, so I saw you wandering around all the time. We both serve the same master. We ought to help each other out, don't you think?"

The night watchman, Liu Xuan, rolled his eyes, hesitating. Night watchmen hid their identities so they could enforce the rules impartially, without reservations. Now that he'd been recognized, it would be difficult to remain "impartial." Besides, violating the Curfew wasn't a big deal, and catching them wouldn't count as an achievement.

"Go back now. Don't come out again."

"But I need that thing right now."

"That won't do. Go back. You go to the Eighth Young Master's courtyard every day. There's no need to rush."

"All right." Yao Nu shrugged, looking rather unhappy. "Tomorrow, then." He turned to Huan Nu and spoke in an irritated tone. "Hurry back. Getting you to do anything is such a hassle."

Gu Shenwei mumbled an assent and hurried back to the small courtyard with his head down. Liu Xuan had lost his composure for a moment after being recognized. Sooner or later, he'd realize Yao Nu had been bluffing. If Yao Nu really needed something, he wouldn't have sent someone out and then followed him himself. But once they'd cleared this hurdle, Liu Xuan had no reason to insist on catching the two young servants.

Back in the small courtyard, Yao Nu snatched the key, locked the main gate, then quietly returned the key to Han Jinu's room. Afterward, he led Huan Nu to the west gate, where the two of them practiced martial arts. It was the quietest place around.

"You're really daring, sneaking around here like that." Yao Nu let out a long breath and lowered his voice.

"Thank you. Good thing you recognized that killer."

"Shh. That was just luck. I didn't know at first, but I recognized him as soon as he gripped his saber. Everyone has their own way of holding a saber. Liu Xuan isn't much of a fighter, but he loves to show off. Before drawing his saber, he always flicks his right hand up. He's lucky. If he'd faced a real expert, that little flourish would've gotten him killed."

Yao Nu had only been learning martial arts for half a month, with no combat experience at all. Yet he'd observed so keenly and come up with such a sound explanation that Gu Shenwei was astonished. Then he understood: those words must have come from Xue Niang. Yao Nu was just repeating what he'd learned. Unless someone knew his real background, they never would've guessed.

Gu Shenwei's gratitude was genuine.

His opinion of Yao Nu had changed considerably. He even considered revealing some of the truth to him, in hopes of winning his help.

Gu Shenwei came from a wealthy family and had been surrounded by servants. He'd always thought he got along well with them. But after becoming a servant himself, he realized that feeling had been an illusion. He had no idea how to survive among servants, much less how to build good relationships.

He'd been in Golden Peng Fortress for nearly a month, yet had learned only a few scraps of news. The Hu boys barely spoke Central Plains Chinese, but they brought back far more rumors than he did. As for Yao Nu, he was a master at gathering information, as familiar with Golden Peng Fortress as a servant who'd lived there for more than a decade.

With someone like that to help him, he could find his sister and take his revenge twice as fast.

"Yao Nu, there's something I need to tell you. You're in danger, and I can help you."

Gu Shenwei decided to tell Yao Nu about his Qi Deviation. And he wasn't lying about being able to help. Just yesterday, he'd finally passed the first level of Yang Jin and mastered the first level of Yin Jin.

Though he'd practiced for more than a decade without much focus, his father, Gu Lun, had laid an excellent foundation for him. Once he began taking it seriously, breaking through had come easily.

Yin Jin didn't increase a practitioner's Internal Force, but it gave him more precise control over Yang Jin. If Yang Jin was a way to increase power, Yin Jin was the key to wielding it.

Now that he'd reached the first level of Yin Jin, Gu Shenwei believed he could help Yao Nu suppress the Yang Jin in his body, delaying and preventing Qi Deviation.

Yao Nu shook his head, clicking his tongue with a smile, as if Huan Nu were a child saying something foolish.

"I'm serious. You're practicing Hehe Jin too quickly. You're in danger of Qi Deviation." At last, Gu Shenwei told him the truth.

If he hadn't been afraid of waking the people in the courtyard, Yao Nu would've burst out laughing. Even so, a snort escaped him. He rested his right hand on Huan Nu's shoulder and laughed for a while. Only when Huan Nu's face darkened did he speak.

"Don't get me wrong, but you're really not cut out for scheming. Every time I see you lie, I want to laugh. Heh. But that's your strength. Sometimes, a little innocence makes you more likable. Don't lose it."

Gu Shenwei's face turned bright red. He temporarily gave up on helping Yao Nu suppress his Yang Jin. "Fine. You did me a big favor, so I suppose I should repay you. Just say the word."

Yao Nu still had a hand on his shoulder. "I told you, I know you're hiding a secret."

"I can't tell you that."

"That's all right. I don't want to know. But all I have to do is tell people you practice Internal Force and have a secret manual on you, and your secret won't stay hidden for long."

Gu Shenwei pushed Yao Nu's hand away and grew wary.

At Golden Peng Fortress, it wasn't surprising for a servant to know martial arts. But if he knew Internal Force techniques, that was different. There were countless ways to fight with fists, feet, sabers, and swords, but Internal Force manuals were exceedingly rare. Each one was usually the core secret of a particular sect and almost never passed on to outsiders, making them easy to identify.

To anyone with a trained eye, Hehe Jin was the mark of the Gu Family of the Central Plains, more reliable than his surname.

"What do you want?"

Yao Nu stepped closer. He was slightly shorter than Huan Nu, but his half-smile made him look more than ten years older. "I've always liked you."

"Mm." Gu Shenwei couldn't say he felt the same.

"I want you to like me too."

"Hmm?" Gu Shenwei stepped back, finding Yao Nu's words increasingly strange.

"Still don't understand?"

"Understand what?"

"Heh. I won't make things hard for you. Once you've serviced Jinu's killer, do the same thing with me and we'll call it even. Surely I suit your tastes better than that guy."

Gu Shenwei understood what Yao Nu meant. Han Shiqi was one of the people he hated most, and one of the people who disgusted him most. He'd seen what had happened to Qi Nu and Xie Nu. More than ten days had passed, but the brothers still wouldn't talk about it. Xie Nu even woke in the middle of the night, screaming in terror.

Gu Shenwei couldn't imagine exactly what Han Shiqi had done to them, but he knew it had to be something vile. And now Yao Nu was making the same demand of him!

The little goodwill and trust Yao Nu had just earned from him vanished without a trace.

Unable to strike back after being provoked, forced to swallow the fury blazing inside him, Gu Shenwei felt keenly the pain of being powerless. In his brief fourteen years, all the humiliations he'd suffered combined were nothing compared to this.

Gu Shenwei gave up completely on saving Yao Nu.

"Go to hell," he said, then turned and walked back to the small courtyard.

Yao Nu leaned against the wall, watching Huan Nu's retreating figure. He didn't take the boy's threat seriously. He held the boy's secret in his hands; all he needed to do was wait patiently.

"You'll come begging me."

Yao Nu muttered to himself. Suddenly, a cold wind swept in, and a blurred, mournful cry rose from below Corpse-Throwing Cliff. It sounded like the wind, like a beast, like a ghost. The hair on Yao Nu's body stood on end. He hurried back to the small courtyard and shut the gate, silently cursing Golden Peng Fortress. A gate used to dispose of corpses, and they didn't even bother to lock it.