In just a few days, events in this remote southern bordernd of the Qi Kingdom seemed to be mysteriously connected by some unseen force.

  In the abandoned temple, under Wen Chaoshen's narration, two seemingly unreted incidents were linked together.

  Wen Chaoshen looked at A Shui, who was deep in thought. He wanted to ask her about her past, but recalling her previous expression of pain, he held his tongue.

  He was curious, unable to imagine what kind of terrifying experience could make someone as resilient as A Shui unable to face her past.

  She had endured the knife-like night snow and withstood terrifying assassins. In Kuhai County, countless people wanted to stab her, but neither those buried behind the abandoned temple nor those hiding within the county, watching, could truly harm this woman without a surname.

  Clearly, this woman, picked up by Wen Chaoshen in the snowstorm, was far more formidable than the storm itself.

  "Tomorrow, I'll go see Chun Qiong."

  After much contemption, A Shui made her decision.

  She disliked being used as someone else's weapon, especially for a dead person.

  But the matter concerning her parents was equally important to her.

  It was the st straw in her heart.

  If she didn't get to the bottom of it, the fire that burned Wind City to ashes in her memories would eventually consume her completely.

  She had narrowly escaped death, but a demon had taken root in her heart. She thought she had escaped, but she was still trapped within.

  Wen Chaoshen sighed inwardly, suddenly thinking of something, and said to the fire:

  "Today, as I walked through the county city, I saw many bck birds on the eaves and many hidden poisonous insects in the alleys. Although I haven't wandered Kuhai County before, I know these things shouldn't appear in the world of ordinary people's lives."

  His voice was heavy, as if persuading, but A Shui had made up her mind, her response cold and indifferent:

  "What does it matter? Kuhai County is my home. I was meant to die here."

  Listening to A Shui's words, Wen Chaoshen stared at her face, half-illuminated by the bzing firelight, and curiously asked:

  "A Shui, is the truth about your parents really more important to you than life itself?"

  A Shui seemed to be touched on a sore spot, directly retorting to Wen Chaoshen:

  "Is there nothing more important to you than life?"

  Wen Chaoshen decisively shook his head:

  "No."

  "I've given up everything I could to survive in this world, including my dignity."

  "Life is everything to me."

  "As long as I'm alive, there are countless possibilities for the future."

  A Shui sneered:

  "Really? Who was it that told me a few days ago that if I dared to harm Lord Dog, they'd fight me to the death?"

  Wen Chaoshen fell silent at her mockery, but A Shui wouldn't let the matter drop. She hooked her finger into his colr, pulling him closer, and asked with interest:

  "Wen Chaoshen, would you really fight me to the death over a dog?"

  Of course, Wen Chaoshen understood A Shui's implication.

  She wanted to know whether his life or Lord Dog's was more important.

  But Wen Chaoshen didn't want to delve into the answer to this question, so he replied:

  "Your question is easy to misunderstand, as if you're asking me who's more important to me, you or Lord Dog. But to both you and Lord Dog, I'm just an insignificant passerby, a stone by the roadside. My thoughts don't matter to you, so why pursue it so deeply?"

  A Shui was taken aback by his answer, then realized her question had other implications. She looked at him for a moment before letting go.

  "Do me a favor."

  She said.

  Wen Chaoshen shook his head.

  "No."

  A Shui frowned:

  "I haven't even told you what I need help with, and you're refusing so decisively?"

  Wen Chaoshen tossed a piece of wood into the fire and said:

  "What else could you ask me to do?"

  "You just want me to help investigate a case."

  "I'm telling you, don't even think about it."

  "Whether it's the so-called Wangchuan or anyone else, I can't afford to offend them."

  "I've finally gained the identity of a Qi Kingdom citizen, with a bright future ahead. If you want to seek death, don't drag me down with you."

  A Shui gnced at him, then nodded and said no more.

  ...

  As dawn broke, Wen Chaoshen took his hatchet and entered the county city.

  This time, the constables guarding the gate no longer stopped him. Their minds were no longer on Wen Chaoshen, the refugee, but were whispering about Liu Jinshi's death.

  As Wen Chaoshen passed by, he overheard them saying that the new magistrate, Chun Qiong, seemed to be looking for something. Thinking of the "Gut-Piercing Poison" A Shui had obtained the previous night, he had already pieced together most of the puzzle.

  However, he showed no signs of anything unusual, keeping st night's events to himself.

  After buying soy milk and steamed buns at the morning market and filling his stomach, he headed to Osmanthus Alley west of the gallery bridge, moving past the rooms with overhanging red apricots until he reached the eighth one.

  The door seemed to have been left ajar just for him. As Wen Chaoshen pushed it open, he happened to meet the white-haired woman coming out. He nodded slightly and said:

  "Good morning, Madam Lü."

  The white-haired woman nodded in return, her gaze lingering on him for a few seconds before she headed to the vegetable market.

  Upon entering, the first thing Wen Chaoshen saw was the loquat tree in the courtyard.

  Just like yesterday, this tree gave him an odd feeling. From the southern part of the county to here, whether in the gaps between some houses or along the Ming'an River, he could see willows and dawn redwoods. Those trees were much taller and more beautiful than the loquat tree in Lü Zhiming's courtyard, yet none of them caught Wen Chaoshen's attention.

  Only this loquat tree did.

  Unconsciously, Wen Chaoshen found himself standing before the loquat tree, staring at it for a long time. His gaze moved from the leaves to the trunk, then to the roots, but no matter how he looked, a tree was just a tree, not transforming into anything else.

  Eventually, Wen Chaoshen looked up at the branches and leaves for so long that the sunlight piercing through the gaps made his eyes uncomfortable. He finally snapped back to reality, stood there in confusion for a moment, then picked up his hatchet to chop wood.

  In the woodshed, just as before, Wen Chaoshen set the wood upright, then took out his hatchet, raised it high, and aimed at the center of the wood.

  Swish!

  The hatchet came down.

  Yesterday, it took him seven or eight chops to split wood of this thickness, but today, as the hatchet fell, the cedar log, as thick as three of his arms, split open with ease.