A family of three

As the warm sun sank westward, wisps of cooking smoke rose from the old alley, which had gone who knew how long without a trace of everyday life.

Most of the courtyard had been tidied up, even the corridor pillars wiped clean. The slanting sunlight fell on the kitchen window to the left, where two pieces of smoked meat, a salted fish, and some ginger, garlic, and dried vegetables hung.

Fluffy Niao Niao perched on the windowsill, gazing longingly at the big salted fish. Those glossy black eyes held the regret of a bird trying to swallow the sky, with nowhere to get a beakful.

Beside the wooden counter inside stood a young married woman in a green dress, holding a brand-new kitchen knife as she chopped a lush bunch of garlic shoots. In the sunlight, her lovely face glowed with a translucent sheen. She really did look like a fox spirit who had come to a farmhouse to repay a kindness.

At the stove behind her, a handsome man dressed in black deftly stir-fried pork with a spatula.

Since Little Heroine Zhe could not cook, she looked just like the little daughter in this family of three, crouching behind the stove to feed the firewood while gazing at Ye Jingtang:

"I never would've guessed a grown man like you could cook."

"My adoptive father raised me. There were only two men in our household-we couldn't eat out every day. Speaking of which, you're a girl, yet you can't even cook. How are you going to get married?"

"I belong to the martial world. When you roam the martial world, you're always on the road. If there's an inn, you eat there; if there isn't, you eat dry rations. There's no need to learn to cook."

"So you're fifteen or sixteen already, and you still leave your master's wife to do all the cooking herself?"

"My master can cook too..."

"Yunli!"

Luo Ning turned and snapped at her, then looked at Ye Jingtang's back, her eyes suggesting she wanted to throw the kitchen knife at him.

Zhe Yunli studied Ye Jingtang for a moment, then spoke in a sweet, coquettish voice:

"Jingtang, dear~..."

Good heavens...

Ye Jingtang and Luo Ning both stumbled, turning to look at the wheedling Zhe Yunli.

Zhe Yunli's sweet face was all smiles. "You make your living in the Capital City, so you must have more connections than my master's wife and I do. Is there any way you could get into the Black Bureau and help me rescue Hero Qiu?"

"..."

Ye Jingtang naturally had no interest in helping these two madwomen break someone out of prison. But he did intend to visit the Black Bureau and build good relations with the court, so he could get a clear picture of the situation and find a chance to enter the palace and dig out the Dragon-Mingling Diagram.

Besides, he knew his adoptive father had a feud with Xuanyuan Chao, but not what had caused it. Qiu Tianhe had known his adoptive father back then and probably knew something. Finding a way to meet him while getting friendly with the Black Bureau did not seem out of the question...

While Ye Jingtang was pondering, an elbow suddenly bumped his lower back. He came to his senses and saw Heroine Luo standing beside him with the garlic shoots balanced on her kitchen knife, mild irritation in her eyes:

"The food's burning!"

"Hm?"

Ye Jingtang noticed smoke rising from the wok. He quickly tossed its contents and had Luo Ning add the chopped garlic shoots, then replied:

"I've long heard of Hero Qiu's righteousness reaching the heavens. Tomorrow, I'll pay the Black Bureau a visit and ask around. But let me make this clear first: at most, I'll help you confirm whether Hero Qiu is safe. I can't help you rescue him."

Seeing that Ye Jingtang really intended to help make inquiries, some of the anger faded from Luo Ning's eyes, though she also looked a little suspicious:

"You're agreeing to help just like that? No improper... demands?"

Ye Jingtang knew what Heroine Luo meant. He shook his head with a smile. "If you feel bad about it, you can teach me a few signature moves as payment."

Zhe Yunli boldly patted the little fried eggs on her chest:

"That's easy. If you can help rescue Hero Qiu, I'll ask the Eight Great Beauties to teach you martial arts."

Luo Ning nodded as well. "I won't owe you a favor. If you help, even if you only find out how Qiu Tianhe is doing, I'll teach you martial arts too. But only one move."

Since it was little trouble for him, Ye Jingtang readily agreed. "No problem."

Sssizzle...

The aroma of stir-frying gradually filled the little courtyard deep in the alley.

As the sun sank westward, a small table was set up in the main room.

As the "elder," Luo Ning took the seat of honor facing the doorway. Ye Jingtang and Zhe Yunli sat opposite each other, while Niao Niao stood at the edge of the table.

On the table were three bowls of rice, four dishes, a soup, and a little saucer of bird food.

The three people and one bird eating in the old but tidy courtyard made a rather harmonious picture. Even if a constable had come in now, he probably would not have noticed anything amiss.

Holding her small bowl, Luo Ning ate slowly and delicately, her bearing and manners thoroughly ladylike. She occasionally picked up food for Zhe Yunli; Ye Jingtang naturally enjoyed no such privilege.

Ye Jingtang did not go out of his way to curry favor either. He merely fed the occasional mouthful to Niao Niao, who watched his mouth eagerly.

As for Zhe Yunli...

Zhe Yunli was lively by nature. Seeing that her master's wife had been rather downcast these past two days, perhaps she wanted to cheer her up with a joke. As she bent over her rice, she quietly raised her embroidered shoe beneath the table... and rubbed it against her master's wife's leg!

"!"

Luo Ning abruptly froze in the middle of taking a small bite. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Ye Jingtang, who was "making a show" of playing with the bird. Boundless anger and mortification welled up in her eyes. Then... she pretended nothing had happened and continued eating.

??

Zhe Yunli frowned in disbelief-why had her master's wife not reacted to being teased?

Wasn't she supposed to blush furiously or glare at Ye Jingtang?

Could it be she doesn't dare lose her temper because I'm here?

Zhe Yunli could think of no other explanation. After a moment's consideration, she raised her embroidered shoe again and, following the direction of her master's wife's seat, silently brushed it against the side of Ye Jingtang's leg.

Ye Jingtang reacted instantly. He turned to look beneath the table, then raised his eyes to Zhe Yunli with an odd expression:

"Why are you kicking me?"

!!

Zhe Yunli's expression stiffened slightly. You bastard, you aren't even going to pretend? Aren't you afraid of embarrassing me? As the thought crossed her mind, she got up to flee.

Luo Ning also realized that Yunli had been behind the earlier mischief. Her fine brows bristled in anger as she slapped the table:

"Yunli! Get back here!"

"Ah! I was wrong! I was only joking..."

Smack, smack, smack-

Zhe Yunli had barely risen before Luo Ning caught her, picked up the broom in the room, and whacked her bottom twice.

"You're an unmarried girl with an unblemished reputation, and you're rubbing against a man's leg? Has your master never taught you proper conduct? The older you get, the more outrageous you become..."

"Ah-please, I really was wrong! I was only joking. Don't be so angry..."

Naturally, Ye Jingtang did not dare explain to Zhe Yunli that her joke had landed right on a volcano's mouth. He buried his head in his food and pretended he had seen nothing.

Niao Niao, however, was very eager to help, flying over beside the two of them. "Chirp, chirp, chirp..." The bird tried to break up the fight, probably saying, Stop fighting! If you have to hit someone, hit Jingtang...

Fortunately, Ye Jingtang did not notice. Otherwise, dinner would have been poached chicken...

Before they knew it, the moon had risen above the branches.

The courtyard tucked away in the old alley had been completely transformed. The ground and steps were neat and clean, the cracks in the doors and windows had been patched with wooden boards, and even a simple bird's nest had been made beneath the eaves.

Tap, tap, tap-

Dressed in a flax-colored skirt, Zhe Yunli crouched on the roof of the main house, using a small hammer to nail boards over the holes.

Ye Jingtang stood atop the neighboring courtyard's kitchen, removing their roof tiles and tossing them across to Zhe Yunli-of course, he had cleared this with the landlady.

Zhe Yunli had given Luo Ning a headache that afternoon. Unable to wander freely outside either, Luo Ning had gone to her room early, buried her head, and slept, refusing to speak to anyone.

After more than half a day's work, the roof was completely repaired, and the place finally looked like a normal little home.

The two jumped down from the roofs. Although there were a few stools indoors, sitting in front of Luo Ning now probably would not earn them any smiles. With the moonlight so enchanting, they practiced martial arts in the spotless courtyard instead.

Zhe Yunli had learned many martial arts and was leisurely going through a fist routine beneath the eaves. Niao Niao imitated her nearby with great seriousness, but apart from a convincing White Crane Spreads Its Wings, everything else was just wild flapping.

Ye Jingtang stood in the middle of the courtyard, his saber held horizontally behind his waist, eyes closed in concentration.

Once he had grasped the first strike through the "lead-in" his adoptive father had taught him, he had made a start.

From what Ye Jingtang could tell, the Eight-Step Mad Blade should be a sequence of linked moves. The fact that it began with a "left-handed draw" made that clear.

And linked moves necessarily meant that the end of the first connected to the beginning of the second, with no gap between them.

After drawing with the left hand and making a reverse-grip horizontal slash, the finishing position necessarily left the tip pointing outward and the hilt toward his right hand, allowing him to switch to a standard grip in his dominant hand.

Shing-

Ye Jingtang drew with his left hand. After the horizontal sweep, he passed the saber from his left reverse grip into his right hand. His posture became a standard-grip stance, body bent forward, ready to thrust or slash ahead.

Whoosh-

Holding the saber in his right hand, Ye Jingtang pushed forward and thrust it ahead, producing a resonant hum.

After briefly feeling out the movement, he began adjusting his footwork, waist, and back, searching for the motion best suited to delivering the strike.

Zhe Yunli continued her leisurely fist routine. After watching for some time, she asked in bewilderment:

"What on earth are you practicing?"

Ye Jingtang sheathed his saber, then repeated the horizontal slash followed by the forward cut:

"Saber techniques. Can't you tell?"

"You call that a saber technique? It's nothing but fake moves from a theater stage..."

"Yunli!"

Luo Ning had also been stealing glances from the main room's window. Having witnessed Ye Jingtang's astonishing powers of comprehension, she naturally did not laugh at him. Instead, her expression was grave:

"Could you be creating your own saber technique?"

Ye Jingtang shook his head. "I'm just learning moves an elder taught me. It's impolite to stand beside someone practicing martial arts and pester them with questions."

At that, Luo Ning and Zhe Yunli stopped interrupting and merely watched Ye Jingtang's seemingly aimless motions attentively.

Yet even after the night grew late, they still saw nothing come of his movements.

When Zhe Yunli had gone out that day, she had also bought bedding. The small side room to the east had been cleaned out, and the bed frame inside had already been made up.

Ye Jingtang did not mind sharing a bed with a girl, but Luo Ning and Zhe Yunli probably would not agree. So they retired to separate rooms, and the day ended just like that...