Emerging from Seclusion

Three months later.

Fan Daniu, Yang Shu, and Chen Li had set up a grill in the courtyard.

Fan Daniu held a huge skewer of beef, his mouth glistening with grease as he ate.

Yang Shu sat beside the grill, constantly turning the beef skewers in his hands.

Chen Li held out his hand to catch the fine, fluffy snow drifting down from the sky. He sighed. "It's the twelfth lunar month already. We've been at the escort agency for more than half a year."

Yang Shu handed a grilled beef skewer to Fan Daniu and smiled. "Thankfully, the three of us are still together."

Chen Li pulled his robe tighter around himself and said calmly, "We should thank him. Without him, with Daniu's and my talent, even if we'd stayed, we probably still wouldn't have become probationary escorts."

Yang Shu kept turning the skewers as he replied, "An unlimited supply of meat is nothing more than a word from him. Working for him is what you deserve."

Before long, Fan Daniu had finished the beef in his hand.

He walked over to the grill and squatted down, staring intently at the beef skewers Yang Shu was grilling.

Suddenly, he frowned slightly and asked in confusion, "Why haven't we heard Brother Zhou screaming today?"

Chen Li and Yang Shu were both stunned.

That was right. Why had Zhou Ming been so quiet today?

God knew how they had survived these past three months.

Zhou Ming kept his gates shut every day, relying entirely on servants to bring food to his door seven or eight times a day.

Yet every day, even deep into the night, those hair-raising screams came from his courtyard.

For three months, the longest the screaming ever stopped was an hour before it started up again.

In the end, unable to bear the torment any longer, everyone went to ask Escort Chief Wang what was going on.

After learning the truth, they could only endure the torment.

Who would have thought they would endure it for three whole months?

After a moment of silence, Yang Shu yanked Fan Daniu up from the ground. "Come on. Let's go find Zhou Ming."

Before he could take another step, a figure draped in sable fur entered the courtyard.

"I was wondering who had the leisure to grill meat in this freezing weather. The scent drifted all the way to my courtyard. So it was you three."

Once Fan Daniu saw who it was, he snatched the meat skewer from Yang Shu and handed it to the figure. "Brother Zhou, here. I was wondering why you didn't scream today. Turns out you smelled our grilled meat."

Zhou Ming's smiling face fell as he accepted the skewer with his right hand. "Daniu, you know a person shouldn't be too blunt, right?"

Fan Daniu scratched his head. "Is being blunt bad?"

Seeing Daniu's honest look, Zhou Ming thought for a moment before grinning broadly. "It's good. But remember, don't become too much of an honest man in the future."

Yang Shu and Chen Li both secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Saying embarrassing things about Zhou Ming right to his face—although Zhou Ming seemed approachable, the gap in their status was far too great now.

What Daniu had just said had truly frightened them. They had been afraid Zhou Ming would turn on them.

A while later, the four sat around the brazier. A square table had been set over it, with several plates of meat and three jars of fine wine on its surface.

Chen Li picked up a wine jar and poured drinks for everyone. Then he raised his cup and said, "Thank you for looking after us, Brother Zhou. Let me toast you."

"Brother Zhou, me too." Fan Daniu hurriedly picked up his cup while still eating meat.

Zhou Ming smiled and raised his cup, clinking it with theirs.

After the three had drunk, Yang Shu refilled their cups. Then he raised his own toward Zhou Ming and said, "Congratulations on emerging from seclusion, Brother Zhou. We should drink to that."

Zhou Ming raised his cup. "Congratulations to us all!"

After drinking, Yang Shu began recounting what had happened over the past few months. In the end, only eighty-three people from their batch had passed the assessment.

Of those eighty-three, three had already completed Stance Training. They only needed perfect control over their blood qi before they could break through and become Martial Artists.

After hearing this, Zhou Ming lifted a hand and pointed at Chen Shu with a smile. "Brother Yang, I see your blood qi is contained within. Your breakthrough is close at hand. Shouldn't we drink to that?"

Chen Li looked at Yang Shu in surprise. "Really?"

When Yang Shu nodded, Chen Li sighed. "Having good talent really is like being fed by heaven."

After taking a drink, Yang Shu rolled his eyes at those words. "When it comes to talent, who would dare compare themselves to Brother Zhou?"

After half a year of training, none of them were complete novices in martial arts anymore. Though their understanding was still shallow, they knew that even among prodigies, there were differences.

Fan Daniu said excitedly, "I know about Brother Zhou Ming's talent too."

Zhou Ming picked up a peanut and asked curiously, "Daniu, what do you know?"

Fan Daniu thought for a moment. "If heaven grants one shi of food, Brother Zhou Ming takes twelve dou all by himself. We still owe you two dou."

The corner of Zhou Ming's mouth twitched. He said irritably, "Who told you that? Don't mention it in front of outsiders again, understand?"

Fan Daniu did not understand. "Why can't I say it?"

Yang Shu patted his shoulder. "Listen to Brother Zhou Ming. In the future, it's enough for just the four of us to say such things among ourselves."

Fan Daniu nodded. "Mm, I'll listen to Brother Zhou Ming."

Zhou Ming understood well that there was always someone greater beyond. He did not want Fan Daniu spreading those words everywhere because he wanted to protect him, in case that one possibility came to pass.

Zhou Ming put the peanut into his mouth and looked at Chen Li.

Chen Li's lips moved, but he made no sound.

But Zhou Ming already knew who had spread it. Just as he had expected, it was Uncle Wang and his big mouth.

Afterward, Chen Li and the other two talked about many old memories.

Zhou Ming merely listened quietly as they spoke of the joys and sorrows of the past half year.

The sudden gathering came to an end with the arrival of a graceful figure.

Looking at that graceful figure, Zhou Ming raised his cup, drained it in one gulp, and apologized to the three men.

Watching the figures walking away side by side, Yang Shu smiled. "Brother Zhou doesn't seem like he belongs to a place like ours."

Chen Li nodded faintly without speaking.

Fan Daniu's face was flushed red, his gaze unfocused as he held an empty cup. "Brother Zhou Ming went off with a fairy maiden."

Zhou Ming walked backward, looking at Wen Ruoxi, whom he had not seen for a long time.

Wen Ruoxi wore a snow-white fur coat, her cheeks flushed rosy. She chided him, "Have you stared enough?"

"How could I ever see enough of the woman I've thought of day and night?" Zhou Ming blurted out, the scent of wine on his breath.

When Wen Ruoxi stopped walking, he smiled and asked, "What about you? Did you miss me?"

Wen Ruoxi glared at him. "Miss you? Your screams nearly drove me mad."

Zhou Ming, whose face had not reddened from drinking, now flushed bright red. "What screams? I was cheering myself on. You wouldn't understand."

"Yes, yes. Howling like a ghost in the middle of the night. Ah! Ah! Ah!"

After saying that, Wen Ruoxi realized what she had just done. Her pretty face instantly turned crimson, and she brushed past Zhou Ming toward the path ahead.

Zhou Ming turned and chased after her.

Fine flakes like goose feathers drifted slowly onto them as they walked side by side.

Zhou Ming curled his fingers slightly, his little finger brushing gently over the back of Wen Ruoxi's hand. Feeling that warmth did not pull away, he tentatively hooked his little finger around hers. As their fingers touched, warmth spread through him.

As the warmth reached him, Zhou Ming slowly opened his curled hand and clasped her slender, soft hand.

Feeling the warmth and solidity in his palm, Wen Ruoxi's lovely face glowed as softly red as jade. She said quietly, "My heart remembers you like the waters of the West River, flowing east day and night without rest."

Zhou Ming stepped around in front of her, looked at the beauty before him, and blinked. "There is a beauty I shall never forget once seen. One day apart from her, and I long for her like madness."