The excitement over the rewards had spread through the barracks, but it was soon dampened by the tedium and exhaustion of daily life.
When the rest day arrived, his comrades could barely contain themselves. They gathered in groups of three or five, ready to spend some money at the marketplace and ease their frayed nerves.
"Heifu, let's go! The East Market's holding a big fair today. Come see if we can find something good!" called a tall, skinny guard who usually got along reasonably well with Heifu.
The East Market in Langya was far more orderly than Chen Jin had imagined, and far more bizarre.
The enormous square, paved with blue-gray flagstones, was laid out in neat rows and columns. Wooden signs bearing the names of goods hung above the different sections.
The "Law Eye" in the sky cast down a dispassionate glow over the entire marketplace. Every transaction took place under its omnipresent gaze.
There was no raucous shouting. Most vendors were quiet, simply laying out their goods in tidy rows. Customers also spoke in low voices and completed their purchases quickly, as if afraid that too much noise might violate some law.
The Qin Law did have a statute concerning the crime of saying what one ought not say.
The marketplace offered a wide variety of goods. The sections that drew the most attention were the one for strange magical items and the slave market.
In the magical arts section, one vendor sold strange eyeballs soaking in medicinal liquid, claiming that wearing them would "sharpen your sight." Another hawked bamboo slips covered in bizarre patterns, supposedly able to "ward off evil once."
Some even sold a kind of living black moss that writhed constantly. They claimed it came from deep within Mount Li and could "draw in the earth's energy and slightly strengthen the body."
In this Fruit, Alchemists held a status equal to that of the ministers and were also required to attend court. They were somewhat like technocrats.
Chen Jin spent a few Spirit Coins on several odd little trinkets.
The slave market occupied a large area enclosed by fences. Men and women, young and old, all wore wooden collars and had numb expressions. Most were prisoners of war or "convicts" enslaved as punishment for breaking the law. They had identifying marks tattooed on their chests or foreheads. Buying them required not only Spirit Coins but also a special Service Voucher, issued by the government in recognition of meritorious service.
Chen Jin had intended to hurry past the area, but a figure in one corner caught his eye.
She looked no older than ten or so, a little girl in ragged clothes, emaciated but strikingly pretty.
What stood out most, however, was her extraordinarily long hair.
Her black hair hung loose, thick as a heavy cloak. It spilled down from the crown of her head, its ends trailing through the muddy ground behind her, stretching several paces.
Girls her age rarely had hair that long.
Just then, a fat, silk-clad man with the look of a wealthy merchant stopped in front of the girl, accompanied by a procurer.
The procurer smiled obsequiously as he grabbed the girl by the hair and forced her to lift her head so the man could see her face.
"Take a look, sir. She's a bit scrawny, but she's got good bones. Clean her up and she'll be a real beauty! Keep her for a couple of years, and she can serve tea and wait on you—or..." The procurer let out a suggestive laugh.
The merchant reached out with his plump fingers and pinched the girl's cheek.
The girl struggled like a small beast driven into a corner.
"Hey! Don't you dare move!" the procurer snarled, tightening his grip on her hair.
Just as the merchant tried to pry her mouth open to inspect her teeth, the girl suddenly lunged and bit down hard on his fat finger!
"Ah—!" The merchant let out a pig-like squeal and yanked his hand back. Blood was already streaming from his finger.
"You little bitch! You're asking for it!" The procurer flew into a rage and raised his whip, lashing at the girl indiscriminately.
The whip cracked as it struck her frail body.
She screamed and tried to curl up to shield herself, but the heavy wooden collar and her trailing hair only got in her way.
She writhed on the ground in pain. Her long hair was smeared with mud and water, and perhaps with blood oozing from her own body. It tangled into clumps, making her look even more wretched.
Chen Jin stopped in his tracks.
A strange pang of sympathy pricked him.
Almost instinctively, he reached for the Identity Tablet at his waist. He had a hundred and fifty-seven Spirit Coins, perhaps enough to buy her. He even took half a step forward.
But the next moment, his fingers curled tight, and he forced himself to stop.
Buy her? Then what?
He was Chen Jin, not Heifu.
He was in danger, treading on thin ice. Everything he did was like dancing on the edge of a blade. If he were exposed, it would be a heinous crime that could bring ruin upon three generations of his family.
He could barely keep himself safe. Where could he possibly take her? Would he be leading her straight from the wolf's den into the tiger's jaws, only for her to be implicated because of him and left without a burial place?
A moment's kindness might only bring about her destruction sooner.
He took a deep breath, suppressed that ill-timed softness in his heart, forced himself to look away, and turned toward the marketplace exit.
The sounds of whipping and sobbing behind him gradually blurred, swallowed by the hubbub of the market. But the image of the girl writhing in the mud, her long hair trailing behind her, stayed with him.
At some point, the sky had darkened again. Lead-gray clouds gathered overhead, and cold raindrops began to fall.
The marketplace vendors hurried to pack up, eager to leave before the curfew drums sounded.
Chen Jin tightened his collar and hurried through the increasingly deserted streets, following the directions Ren Tu had provided in his mind.
The rain grew heavier, soaking his shoulders and washing the grime from the surface of this vast city.
Heifu's home lay deep in a narrow, filthy alley near the city wall. It was a low mud-brick house, sharing a moss-covered earthen wall with its neighbor.
The door was flimsy, with a rusted copper lock hanging from it.
Chen Jin used a key he had taken from Heifu to unlock the door. A smell of dust, mildew, and cheap liquor washed over him.
The interior was cramped and dim. There was only a bed, a mat, a low table, and an empty, battered wooden chest. The place was bare as could be.
That was good, at least. Heifu lived alone, so Chen Jin wouldn't have to pretend to be a family member or deal with questions.
He shut and bolted the door behind him, temporarily shutting out the wind, rain, and prying eyes outside.
Silence descended at once, broken only by the soft patter of rain on the roof and narrow window.
He took off his wet outer robe and tossed it onto the mat. He was just about to inspect the odds and ends he had bought that day and think about his next move—
Knock. Knock, knock.
A soft, hesitant knock sounded abruptly.
Chen Jin's body tensed in an instant. He sprang up silently like a leopard, his sharp gaze fixed on the door.
He slipped behind it without a sound and laid his fingers on the short dagger at his waist. "Who is it?" he asked in a low voice.
There was a moment of silence outside. Then a tiny, trembling voice—the voice of a little girl—drifted in timidly.
"It's... it's me..."
Chen Jin frowned. That voice...
He slowly opened the door a crack.
Outside, in the cold wind and rain, stood the long-haired girl he had seen at the slave market that day.
She was drenched. Her flimsy, ragged clothes clung to her small body, and she was shivering with cold.
Fresh bruises and whip marks covered her face and arms.
Her unusually long hair was soaked through, making it seem even heavier. It hung behind her like a wet, ink-black cloak, its ends dripping steadily and forming a small puddle at her feet.
How had she found this place? And how had she escaped from the slave market?
A flood of questions flashed through Chen Jin's mind.
The girl tilted her face up. Rainwater ran down her cheeks, indistinguishable from tears.
Looking at Chen Jin's blurry face through the crack in the door, she spoke in a threadbare whisper:
"...They... they're chasing me... I-I have nowhere else to go..."
"Please..."