Clear Spring Lane.
At first light, the side street gradually grew noisy:
"Buns..."
"Coal for sale..."
The many runners who had left home early for duty sat outside the Mutton Soup Shop at the alley entrance, chatting about recent official business:
"Young Master Xie is truly incredible. He fought his way from Danyang to the Capital City without stopping. I heard he wiped out another band of Demon Bandits last night..."
"Da Biaozi has really latched onto a powerful backer. From now on, a seventh-rank official post will be the bare minimum..."
"Seventh rank? He's already Young Master Xie's watchdog. Who knows, he might even join the ranks of immortals someday. That's what they call one man attaining the Dao, and even his chickens and dogs ascending to heaven..."
"Does that count as going through the back door?"
"Being able to use someone's back door is a skill in itself. For people like us, being able to go through Da Biaozi's back door someday would be good enough..."
Inside the Commandery Princess's Manor, autumn chrysanthemums swayed gently in the morning breeze. Cold dew condensed on their petals and trickled down, leaving thin trails of water.
Dressed in a plain black dress, Nangong Ye stood alone on the Martial Might Pavilion's terrace. Through the thin gauze of his Veil Hat, he gazed toward Purple Emblem Mountain's distant golden summit. His entire bearing resembled a glacier, his eyes devoid of the slightest desire. He looked like an iceberg sword immortal hidden among the townsfolk, quietly contemplating the great Dao of heaven and earth.
But unless one comprehended the mortal world, one could not avoid its disturbances. Even after reciting the heart-calming incantation hundreds upon thousands of times, certain images that unsettled his Dao Heart still echoed in his mind...
Nangong Ye