"Yes, and very thoroughly. If he didn't want anyone knowing that Li Jian was also one of the Fate Hounds." Yingzhao glanced at him. "What else would you like to know? Let me think... We don't reveal our identities to one another; we can only guess. But everyone knows Lu Wu is Li Jian, and Li Jian knows who everyone else is."
"To be more specific, Shengyu and Dali know each other's identities. I know who Dali is, and can roughly guess the identities of Shengyu and Jiao. But apart from Li Jian, no one knows mine. Naturally, I cannot tell you any of those things. Please forgive me."
"I rarely enter the dream, either," Yingzhao added.
Pei Ye stood stunned for a while before saying rather sheepishly, "Sorry, Senior. When you say 'Great Renown,' 'Big Pear,' and 'Foot,' what do they look like...? I-I haven't read many books of mythology."
"Oh, mythology isn't among the classics, nor is it tested in the Imperial Examination. You're still young; it's only natural that you haven't read it. I've only picked up a little myself in recent years," Yingzhao said. "'Jiao resembles a dog with a leopard's markings, with horns like an ox and a voice like a barking dog.' 'Shengyu resembles a pheasant, but red, eats fish, and has a voice like a deer.' Dali is one of the three azure birds. 'The three azure birds have red heads and black eyes; one is named Dali, one Shaoli, and one Azure Bird.'"
"...Oh, I see."
Working from the descriptions, Pei Ye tried hard to match them one by one. In truth, that sudden encounter in the Dream of the Queen Mother of the West had felt far too remote and mysterious to him.
There was no need even to mention the