She had taken only two steps when Murong Feiyan, returning from her patrol, blocked her path. The young girl raised her head and met Murong Feiyan's wary gaze. She had already keenly sensed the change in Murong Feiyan's attitude: the sympathy and pity she had felt at first had turned into vigilance and suspicion, with even a trace of distaste mixed in.
"Where are you going so late?"
"I just feel a little stifled and want to take a walk."
Murong Feiyan shook her head, rejecting the idea. "Plenty of wild beasts roam these remote mountains. You'd better not wander around. It's been a tiring day. Get some sleep."
The young girl asked, "Do you blame me?"
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Murong Feiyan paused, then smiled faintly. "We met like duckweed drifting together on the water. Sharing a road through wind and rain is already a kind of fate. Heaven has ordained certain things. What must happen will happen in the end. What is there to blame anyone for?"
The young girl said, "I know all of you blame me. You all think I got that man killed..."
Murong Feiyan said, "No one blames you. It's your own conscience that won't let you rest. Go to sleep. Perhaps tomorrow you'll wake to a sunny day."
The young girl looked at Murong Feiyan and bit her lip hard. Had she not, her tears would already have spilled.
At midnight, Murong Feiyan relieved Liang Dazhuang. Since Hu Xiaotian's poem had succeeded in making her laugh, she had to take his watch, leaving her alone on duty from midnight until dawn. A lost wager had to be honored. Murong Feiyan's word had always been worth a thousand pieces of gold; she never went back on a promise.
Liang Dazhuang was