The Hanging Woman

Cloud Province, Ji City.

This year's winter arrived exceptionally early.

The wind swept down from the Wild Snow Plains to the north, passing through the low adobe houses of the Grey Commoner District, slipping into the gaps of the high blue-brick walls of the Inner City, and wailing as it poured into a certain mansion.

It rustled through the corridors and curtains, finally coming to a halt in a side hall, brushing against an iron chain hanging from a beam and causing it to clatter.

Suspended beneath that chain was, unexpectedly, a woman.

Her hands were bound, forcing her waist to sag and her torso to tilt forward, her hips raised high to arch her body into a breathtaking curve.

Vermilion silk robes tightly wrapped her exquisite figure, with gold and silver beads adorning the collar and cuffs, emitting faint rustling sounds as she swayed with the chain.

The hem of her dress fell open, revealing only a pair of slender, snow-white feet restrained by shackles; her rounded toes curled slightly against the cold stone tiles, the crimson nail polish stained with a light dusting of grime.

The woman remained motionless, like a meticulously displayed treasure.

Hiss, what kind of posture is this? Stay calm, get to work.

Su Yuan looked away and opened the wooden box before him. Inside, small axes, saws, flat chisels, round chisels, and skew chisels were arranged neatly, their edges glinting with a cold light.

He took out a piece of sandalwood and picked up a brush to outline the woman's proud silhouette.

"Little Su, in such a rush? Why not take a few more looks? I worked hard to secure this opportunity for you, don't you dare mess it up." A middle-aged man strolled over to Su Yuan.

"Old Liu, you can rest easy regarding my craftsmanship, but as for this matter of recommending a martial artist..." Seeing the man, Su Yuan smiled and pulled out a tael of broken silver, handing it over.

"Master Han Gui will be here shortly. Handle this well, and your path to learning martial arts will depend entirely on him." Old Liu pocketed the silver with practiced ease and lowered his voice. "By the way, although this woman is Young Master Shan's twenty-first concubine, she is currently his favorite. Don't you go getting any crooked ideas..."

"The twenty-first concubine!" Su Yuan's eyelid twitched, and he looked at the woman with a hint of sympathy, suddenly feeling that she looked somewhat familiar.

However, her hair had fallen forward, obscuring most of her face, making it difficult to see clearly.

In the end, he merely sighed, powerless to help.

In these chaotic times, being born beautiful might in itself be a sin.

Su Yuan originally hailed from a family of timber merchants in Yan Province, Great Jing. Since childhood, he had lived in luxury, traveling by carriage and horse, returning home to warm meals and the service of maids.

Alas, six years ago, internal strife erupted in Great Jing, leaving the people in misery. The iron cavalry of Great Liang from the northern frontier seized the opportunity to march south, trampling Yan Province underfoot.

The city where the Su Family resided was slaughtered. They fled south to Cloud Province as a family, wandering for years; those around him died or scattered, yet they still could not escape the iron hooves of Great Liang.

Now, both Yan and Cloud Provinces had fallen completely, and the surviving Jing people could only eke out a living under the feet of the Liang people.

Su Yuan had fled to Ji City two years ago and was forced to pick up his ancestors' trade to make a living.

This time, he had accepted a job from a young master of the Liang people: to carve a wooden sculpture of his newly acquired concubine, recording this "beautiful" scene.

The people of Great Liang were naturally combative and possessed larger frames than the Jing people. They found the delicate, fair-skinned Jing women quite novel, and the beautiful ones were plundered in large numbers, even becoming a form of hard currency among them.

It's fortunate that I am a man.

After finishing the ink lines on the wood, Su Yuan shook his stiff hands and picked up the axe, chisel, and saw to begin working on the hard sandalwood blank.

As he carved, a line of golden text appeared before his eyes.

[Fate: One Step Further on a Hundred-Foot Pole]
[Persistence leads to success; when any skill reaches perfection, it can advance to the next stage and receive a heaven-sent trait.]
[Carving: 1991/2000 (Perfect)]
[Cleaving: 1888/2000 (Perfect)]
[Sawing: 1314/2000 (Perfect)]
[Grinding: 91/2000 (Perfect)]
[Painting: 78/2000 (Perfect)]
...
[Current Trait: Slippery Escape (Running)]
[Slippery Escape: Powerful strides, swift evasion.]
[Leg muscles and bones are strengthened; speed is increased during all-out flight, footsteps are silent, and endurance is lasting.]

The better news was that Su Yuan possessed a cheat.

During his wandering and flight, he awakened the memories of his past life, and this Fate manifested along with them.

Every one of Su Yuan's skills had a progress bar; as long as he was willing to practice, anything could be achieved. Once a skill reached perfection, he could obtain a trait.

Through his previous special training, his running had reached perfection, and thanks to his recent frantic pace of accepting jobs, his carving skill was also nearing perfection.

Tap, tap, tap!

Footsteps outside the door abruptly interrupted Su Yuan's blade work.

He looked up to see several more craftsmen flooding in—some laying out paper to paint, some holding needles to embroider, and others kneading clay to sculpt.

The most conspicuous among them was a man following behind the group. He was tall and broad-shouldered, but possessed a pockmarked face.

He wore a brocade robe, and the money pouch at his waist was bulging, the sound of copper coins clinking together crisp and pleasant.

Presumably, this man was Han Gui.

"Martial artist." Su Yuan cast an envious gaze toward him.

With such a fate, what Su Yuan desired most was to practice martial arts; in these chaotic times, only by increasing one's strength could one ensure their own survival.

However, to prevent the Jing people from practicing martial arts and rebelling, the Great Liang strictly controlled the martial halls within the city and established the Martial Registry.

For a Jing person to practice martial arts now, they first needed a recommendation from a Liang martial artist, followed by multiple tests: bone structure inspection, identity verification, loyalty testing, and the payment of a massive sum of silver...

Su Yuan was not short on money; what he lacked was an identity.

He had come today simply to try and establish a connection with a martial artist.

Before Su Yuan could make a move, Han Gui spoke up first: "Are you all here? Then let's begin. You are to create portraits of the lady. Two for each person: one to be left here, and the other to be taken back to your own shops and hung in the most conspicuous spot for display."

"This?" The crowd wore expressions of confusion for a moment.

But upon seeing the woman clearly, many of the male craftsmen immediately swallowed hard.

Su Yuan did not understand the thinking of these Liang people.

Hanging up lewd scenes of one's own concubine for others to admire?

That was far too generous.

If such a thing were displayed in a shop, what if that young master regretted it later and felt he had lost face...

At this moment, an elderly embroiderer spoke up: "My lord, I still have some matters to attend to and do not wish to embroider anymore. May I take my leave first?"

"Hmm?" Han Gui's expression turned cold instantly.

"My lord, I mean no offense. I am feeling a bit unwell, and as a woman myself, I cannot bear to embroider such a scene," the old woman explained hurriedly.

"Hmph, beautiful things are meant to be shared. This is clearly a gift from the young master, yet you dare to stigmatize it!" Han Gui said coldly.

This is clearly just a perverse hobby, Su Yuan thought, speechless.

Han Gui suddenly struck, grabbing the old woman by the collar: "Speak, what is your relationship with the lady?"

The old woman was terrified, flailing in the air as she hurriedly tried to appease him: "My lord, I know the lady! She helped me in the past, and I have repaid her before. We have a very good relationship."

Han Gui let out a wicked laugh and released his grip.

The old woman fell heavily to the ground, and just as she breathed a sigh of relief, a squelch was heard.

Han Gui backhanded his long blade, stabbing it straight through the old woman's body: "So you are a rebel as well. You deserve to die."

In an instant, the entire side hall fell into a deathly silence, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.

Only the viscous blood gathered into beads along the blade, dripping down one by one with a distinct patter.

"Lord Han, this is..." someone asked, trembling.

Han Gui withdrew his long blade and said indifferently: "I forgot to inform you all. This lady has quite the background; she is the young mistress of the Cloud-Striding Martial Hall. She used her body as bait to seduce the young master. The young master treated her with sincerity, yet she secretly colluded with Jing rebels to resist us. The young master loves her deeply, so he only gave her a slight punishment, but anyone else who dares to resist the Great Liang shall die!"

Cloud-Striding Martial Hall—so it was her.

Su Yuan also recalled the person. This martial hall had an excellent reputation for punishing evil and promoting good; even under Liang control, they often helped the Jing people.

When he had first fled here as a refugee, he had also received their kindness.

He had originally intended to join this martial hall after settling his Martial Registry status, but it had been raided just a few days ago. It turned out they had been resisting the Liang in secret.

"Han Gui, you were originally a Jing person. Just because you changed your registration, do you really think you are a Liang person? In the end, you are nothing but their dog, a beast wearing a human skin." The woman, who had seemed like a corpse, suddenly spoke.

Facing the insult, Han Gui merely chuckled: "My lady, you had better accept your fate. If you obediently beg the young master for mercy and marry him, perhaps he will let you go. You wouldn't want more and more people to die because of you, would you..."

His sinister gaze swept across the room, and everyone's heart jumped into their throats.

Su Yuan cursed inwardly: This beast.

After awakening his past-life memories, he had become disillusioned with these feudal dynasties where noble families held power and engaged in extortion, and he held no affection for the Great Jing either.

Yet, he admired those who resisted and despised those who betrayed their own; he simply dared not resist at this moment.

Without strength, one could only be slaughtered at will.

Seeing that the woman did not respond, Han Gui waved his hand. Several guards walked in, efficiently dragging away the old woman's corpse and bringing buckets of water to wash away the blood on the floor.

One guard casually fished a purse from the old woman's waist and handed it over with a grin.

Han Gui took it, weighed it, and looked at the crowd with a slight upturn of his lips: "Submitting to the Great Liang is the only right path. When has the Great Jing ever cared whether you lived or died? Wouldn't you agree?"

Yet, for a moment, no one answered.

Ji City had already fallen, and the oppression and cruelty of the Liang people left everyone with no affection for them. Even if they dared not resist, they still hoped in their hearts for the Great Jing to come and save them.

Han Gui's expression darkened once more.

Seeing that the atmosphere was wrong, Su Yuan sighed softly and stepped forward: "What the lord says is absolutely correct. The Great Liang is the true mandate of heaven. That dilapidated court of the Great Jing is too busy to save itself and will perish sooner or later."

Han Gui turned to look at him, his gaze softening slightly.

Su Yuan struck while the iron was hot: "My lord, I have an object that I wish to offer to you."

"Oh?" Han Gui became interested and walked over, carrying his long blade.

Ignoring the wet blood on the blade, Su Yuan took a wooden carved gold ingot from his robes.

It was the size of a palm, with both ends upturned and the middle bulging, carved with a few cloud patterns; it looked quite charming and naive.

"May this gold ingot bring you wealth, matching your noble aura, for double the prosperity. This humble one wishes you a steady rise in rank and an endless flow of fortune!" Su Yuan offered the wooden ingot with both hands.

Han Gui swept a glance at the carving, looking slightly disdainful.

The words were pleasant enough, but the item itself was worthless.

Just as he was about to take it, he saw Su Yuan tap the ingot lightly.

Click—

The wooden ingot split down the middle, revealing a gleaming lump of silver inside.

A full five taels!

In Ji City today, the annual expenses for an ordinary commoner were no more than five or six taels, and the fee for martial arts training was only ten.

Su Yuan had pulled out half that amount just to pay his respects.

"Good! Good! Good! Well said, and this ingot is truly ingenious!" Han Gui took the ingot, his expression changing instantly to one of delighted laughter.

"Sycophantic, disgusting!" The woman spoke up once more, turning her head to look directly at Su Yuan.

Su Yuan finally saw her face clearly: willow-leaf brows like dark ink, eyes like cold stars, and though her lips were painted red, she could not hide the natural elegance in her bones.

Gazing into her deep, pitch-black eyes, Su Yuan felt a twinge of unease.

Yet, the woman said, "You look so familiar. I know you."

As her cold, clear voice reached his ears, the hairs on Su Yuan's arms stood on end: Sister, don't mess with me like this!

The last person who had claimed to know her was already stone-cold dead.