The sky had only just begun to brighten when Ren Shanshi and Yun Niang wove through the market.
The two of them were buying the things they would need for the New Year festival.
"That bolt of silk we looked at a few days ago was nice. Let's buy it and make Ah Qing a new outfit."
Ren Shanshi said nothing. He took the initiative to buy the "fortune" character Yun Niang had her eye on. "Ah Qing dresses so thinly every day. We should also buy him a pair of thicker boots."
Because Yun Niang's vision was blurry, she leaned in with effort to examine the cloth shoes on the stall.
"Shanshi, what size is Ah Qing?"
But then she saw Ren Shanshi looking toward the street corner, completely unresponsive to her question.
"Shanshi, what's wrong?"
"I... think I saw someone I know."
Ren Shanshi did not know whether he had seen wrong. That figure, gone in a flash, looked extremely like Su Huo, except why was his body so withered, and why was he limping on his right leg?
Hadn't Old Man Su said he had returned to his hometown?
Ren Shanshi hesitated for a few breaths, then stuffed the things into Yun Niang's hands and led her to a nearby general-goods stall. "Wait for me here a moment. I'll be right back."
"Hey, where are you going? I think I heard some wild beast..."
Before Yun Niang could finish speaking, Ren Shanshi had already charged into the alleys in great strides.
Ren Shanshi could no longer care about anything else. As he hurried after him, he shouted, "Old Man Su! Old Man Su!"
The farther in he went, the fouler the air became, and faint, weak panting drifted over.
Mixed into it was the low bleating of