Passerby

Before every storm arrived, there seemed to be a spell of dark, heavy calm, followed by a stretch of close, clamorous thunder.

The rebels' calm did not last long.

Those men who lived by licking blood from their blades could still keep their hands and feet in check for the first two days after entering the city. By the third day, some could no longer hold themselves back.

First, the doors of several grain shops in the north of the city were smashed in. The grain was carried away, and copper coins lay scattered all over the ground. Then came the cloth shops in the east; whole bolts of silk were hauled away, and even the drawers beneath the counters were taken outright.

After that, even the pawnshops, silver stores, and taverns were not spared. Desire was like a great whirlpool, drawing Dingshan County into its depths and ceaselessly tearing apart everything good.

Broken porcelain and shattered tiles littered the streets. People crouched against the walls with their heads in their hands. Some cried, some cursed, and some did nothing at all, merely squatting there with their eyes fixed blankly on the ground.

Now and then, rebel patrols passed by with sabers at their waists and toothpicks in their mouths, their faces wearing the contentment of men full of food and drink. They no longer robbed anyone, because everything worth robbing had already been taken.

World-Aiding Hall had already shut its doors.

Three bolts had been fastened across the doors, the windows had been nailed shut with wooden strips, and the hanging flower gate between the front hall and rear courtyard had been locked as well.

Chen Chong walked from the front hall to the rear courtyard, then from the rear courtyard back to the front hall, locking everything that needed locking and hiding everything that needed hiding.

He left the medicinal herbs untouched. The rebels did not want herbs; they wanted money, grain, silk, gold, and silverware. He put the pills into an iron box, then shoved the box into the deepest corner beneath his bed.

Then he packed a bundle.

Several changes of clothes, two pairs of shoes, three bottles of pills, and that steel plate.

Last, he picked up the Hundred-Forged Saber. Its scabbard was plain black lacquer, with brass bands fitted around its mouth and tip. Yang He had left it behind.

Carrying a large bundle of things, Chen Chong left World-Aiding Hall, passed through two alleys, and arrived at a courtyard that was both familiar and strange.

Chen Huaixu's courtyard.

The courtyard gate stood half-open. When he pushed it open and entered, the place was empty.

The old pomegranate tree in the courtyard was still there. More than half its leaves had yellowed, and they carpeted the ground.

The stone table and stools beneath the tree were still there, but the purple clay teapot that had once sat on the table was gone.

The birdcage that had once hung beneath the eaves was gone. The wind chime at the corner of the roof remained; when the wind blew, it gave a single clear chime that seemed especially distinct in the empty courtyard.

All the valuables in the house were gone. His two maidservants were gone as well.

At that moment, Chen Huaixu sat beneath the tree, reclining in a rocking chair and gently swaying.

The chair was made of old bamboo, creaking and groaning as it moved.

He wore a gray linen robe washed nearly white, its sleeves rolled up. He held half a dry flatbread in his hand, taking an occasional bite. From his mouth came some tune of unknown origin.

"Beacon fires burn a thousand homes, while I idly watch the clouds rise and fall."

His voice was not loud and was somewhat hoarse, yet the tune stretched long and lingering, like an unbreakable thread drifting through the empty courtyard.

Chen Chong walked over and set the large bundle beside Chen Huaixu.

When he untied it, there were several packets of tea inside—fine Songluo tea—along with two bottles of wine and a box of pastries.

Chen Huaixu narrowed his eyes, turned his head, and leaned closer to sniff.

"All good tea." He smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes bunching together. "I'd better drink it quickly, or who knew which petty thief would get it for cheap next."

Chen Chong smiled and sat on a stone stool nearby. "Why aren't your two maidservants here?"

Chen Huaixu answered irritably, "I sent them to Xiao Qian. I swallowed my pride and got Xiao Qian in with Miss Li."

He turned over, and the rocking chair creaked. "What did you think, boy? I can let those petty thieves who come and go take my money and possessions, but not people."

Chen Chong said nothing. He picked up the teapot and made Chen Huaixu a cup of tea.

The tea was the little bit of coarse tea Chen Huaixu had kept for himself. The pot was an old porcelain one missing its lid, and the water was cold.

Chen Huaixu accepted it and took a sip, smacking his lips, yet he did not mind.

The two chatted idly like that. After only a few exchanges, Chen Huaixu, swaying in the rocking chair, seemed to have fallen asleep. His eyes closed, and his breathing slowed.

Chen Chong glanced at him, then looked at the sky.

Dusk had already crept in, dyeing the courtyard walls and tree shadows a grayish blue.

Chen Chong rose to his feet and quietly left. His footsteps were light, and even the courtyard gate closed without a sound.

In the rocking chair, Chen Huaixu half-opened his eyes and watched Chen Chong's back gradually recede through the narrow slit between his lids. That figure passed through the alley, turned a corner, and vanished.

"Reining in the drifting light, my heart finds its own home; though storms may come, my spirit remains at ease."

He murmured the line, his voice so low that only he could hear it.

"Not simple. Not simple at all."

At World-Aiding Hall, Chen Chong returned to his room.

He sat before the table and looked at the saber before him. It had already been sharpened and lay within its scabbard. Aside from the Hundred-Forged Saber Yang He had sent him, he surprisingly had little else worth taking.

He opened the panel and checked his balance: 4,720 taels. He had never imagined that spending money into the panel would truly feel the safest.

Chen Chong smiled. More than four thousand taels had once been an enormous fortune. Now, it was enough to last him for a while, but not even enough to deduce the Immortal-Slaying Saber. Still, it did not matter. Once he left this place, he could always earn more.

These past few days, the storm had not come from the rebels alone. More importantly, traces of demonic beasts outside the city had unexpectedly begun to multiply.

All kinds of reliable reports came in. A herb-gathering party west of the city had encountered a Black Bear Spirit at a mountain pass, fully one zhang tall, which had smashed a cart to pieces with one slap. Hunters south of the city had seen a pack of Wolf Demons at the edge of the woods, gray-furred and green-eyed, moving like the wind as they chased a group of refugees for half a li.

Several demonic beasts had appeared. The rebels entered the city, and the demonic beasts came down from the mountains. Outside this little city encircled by mountains, things were growing ever more dangerous.

Chen Chong decided to leave the heart of this whirlpool.

He tied his bundle tight again and fastened the saber at his waist. He looked around the room once. He could not take the pill furnace, could not take the medicine cabinets, and could not take any of the furniture.

He had been a passerby from the beginning. He had lived here for half a year, accumulated a body of cultivation, saved a stack of banknotes, and gathered some things too vague to name.

He walked to the door and looked back once.

The setting sun leaked through the crack in the window, shining upon the pill furnace and casting the cloud patterns on its bronze body into dark gold. Chen Chong withdrew his gaze, pushed open the door, and walked out.

Su Hongyu had arrived in the courtyard at some unknown time. He stood beneath the eaves with a food box in hand.

"Master Alchemist Chen." Su Hongyu stepped forward, a smile on his face, though it was not as natural as before. "I prepared some travel rations for you. For the road."

Chen Chong accepted the food box and glanced at him.

Su Hongyu did not ask whether he was leaving, nor did he ask where he was going. He merely stood there, his waist slightly bent and his hands hanging before him, just as he had every day for the past half year.

Then he spoke, his voice somewhat dry. "Master Alchemist Chen, take care."

Chen Chong nodded. Carrying the food box, shouldering his bundle, and wearing the Hundred-Forged Saber at his waist, he crossed the rear courtyard of World-Aiding Hall, passed through the assembly line that now stood empty of people, pushed open the back door, and stepped into the dusk-heavy streets and alleys of Dingshan County.

Behind him, Su Hongyu remained standing beneath the eaves until Chen Chong's figure disappeared around the bend in the alley.

The wind blew in from the north, carrying a dry, icy chill. On the stone steps before World-Aiding Hall, several dead leaves spun in circles before falling onto the threshold.