"The water's ready..."

In the night, lights flickered throughout various parts of the city. In the quiet and somewhat desolate small courtyard, Ning Yi set the water basin on the table in the inner room.

The black-clothed woman held a small medicine packet in her hand. She had been leaning against the bedside tending to her wounds, but when Ning Yi entered, she pulled her clothes closed and stopped. Her face remained veiled, though bloodstains still covered her body. After thinking for a moment, Ning Yi searched through a nearby cabinet and pulled out a long robe.

"There aren't any spare clothes here, just this one. It's clean though. Since your clothes are torn, you can change into this for the night. I can only bring new clothes tomorrow."

The woman gave him a cold, sharp look: "Where do you think you're going?"

Ning Yi hesitated, then raised his hands with a smile: "Alright, wait until you trust me. You treat your wounds first, I'll sit outside and boil more water."

"If you try to leave, no matter how fast you run, I guarantee you won't make it out of this courtyard."

"Got it, I won't leave."

Ning Yi smiled, then turned back to take down a jar from the shelf. When he opened it, a strong alcohol smell filled the air.

"Wine, but the alcohol content is too high to drink. If you need to clean your wounds, you can use this."

It was actually pure alcohol. Ning Yi went out and closed the door. The woman frowned slightly, listening to his footsteps. After a moment, she pulled open her clothes in the lamplight. Blood-soaked cloth strips wrapped layer upon layer around her chest, with several places where the strips had broken. From her shoulder down to her lower abdomen, her skin was covered in blood, some congealed into dark red scabs. Combined with the wounds, it was a shocking sight. The wounds on her front were relatively light; on her back and arms, one gash had probably injured tendons and bone. When she removed her clothes, the congealed scabs tore open again. She pressed her lips tightly together, enduring it. Most of her wounds had stopped bleeding on their own, surprisingly.

The woman wrung out a cloth strip from the basin and began wiping the blood from her body with a slight frown. In the simple room with its bean-sized lamplight and ancient sword, the woman cleaned her body... After a moment, on the other side of the wall, Ning Yi also sat down on a stool, gazing at the lamplight in the room. The woman could probably hear his movements and paused briefly before continuing to clean her wounds and apply medicinal powder.

"This place was originally an abandoned garden. Usually no one comes here. In the past, they might have searched it, but I've rented it now, so it shouldn't be a problem. Next door is Yushan Academy, and beyond that is a small bamboo grove with a narrow stream running through it. Across the stream are first two restaurants, then a triangular residential area. The alleys inside connect in all directions—if someone tried to chase you through there, it wouldn't be easy. Nearby are Changxing Street and Changye Street, and further on, the roads lead to the South Gate... On the other side of the courtyard is..."

Leaning against the wall, Ning Yi slowly spoke, describing everything around them. The woman quietly applied medicine on the other side, listening. After a while, she asked: "Are you a Daoist disciple?"

"Hm?"

"There are so many alchemy things outside."

"Oh, it's not alchemy. I should be a Confucian disciple—these are for investigating things."

"Should be?"

"Should be."

"...How did you know I was under the carriage?"

"Intuition... or maybe I guessed..."

"Do you have a grudge against Song Xian?"

"No, I've heard of his evil reputation."

"...Not entirely accurate."

"I've seen you before, Miss."

There was a slight silence on the other side: "When?"

"This year's Lantern Festival. When you were fighting on Vermillion Bird Avenue, I was watching from several dozen meters away. Later in the restaurant, you were dressed as a maid pouring wine there."

"...I remember now." Her voice sank slightly. On the other side of the wall, the woman cleaning her wounds slowly stopped. Her right arm swept out with a "pap" as she grabbed the sword hilt on the small table and thrust it backward with tremendous force. With a "puff," earth and stone shot out from the other side of the wall. The sword blade had pierced through the earthen wall, stopping beside Ning Yi's face. Ning Yi smiled and tilted his head to look at it.

"You're that poetry-writing scholar from that day... Why were you following me!"

"Today it was you who followed me." Ning Yi's words came through the wall, and the woman on the other side was slightly stunned. "But you should understand I have no ill intentions."

After a moment, the woman withdrew the sword and placed it on the table. Light faintly filtered through the gap left by the sword thrust.

"But why help me? What's your intent?"

"Besides the matter with Song Xian... I want to learn martial arts." Ning Yi said frankly. The other side of the wall was silent for a long while, seemingly astonished by this answer. After a moment, her voice softened somewhat: "Nonsense."

"It's the truth. I've admired martial arts since childhood and have long wanted to know what legendary advanced martial arts are really like..."

"You have considerable literary talent?" The voice from the other side interrupted him.

"Uh, that's not something one should say about oneself..."

"That day upstairs, when everyone asked you to write a poem, you composed one and left everyone speechless... You talented scholars always look down on martial artists. You're also a talented scholar with literary accomplishments and reputation, yet now you say you want to learn martial arts, and advanced martial arts at that. You don't go to battlefields or fight with people—it's just for show. What use would learning it be? I don't believe it."

The woman spoke indifferently without much emotion, simply stating these words. Ning Yi thought about it as the distant sound of bells faintly carried from outside the city. He smiled: "Indeed... it's not very useful. And I've heard that advanced martial arts must be practiced from childhood, ten to twenty years of daily practice without fail to achieve success. Is that right?"

"You're already past the age for learning martial arts."

"A pity." Ning Yi smiled. "Actually... I'm fond of investigating things."

"...Investigating things?"

"Yes, it's exhaustively investigating the principles of all things, then deducing and applying them. For instance, the alcohol you're using to clean your wounds has gone through several rounds of cooling and distillation. Currently I can only extract a small amount, but if used for brewing wine..."

It was getting late. Ning Yi spoke casually, waiting for time to pass. In the room inside, the woman treated her injuries, occasionally responding absentmindedly. Her clothes were completely soaked in blood, so she had removed them and tossed them aside. White bandages bound her chest, wrapping around and around her shoulders, even several loops around her thigh and right foot. After hesitating for a while, she finally draped the long robe over herself. She had removed her veil by now, her pale face looking weak but still alert.

After a while, Ning Yi said: "It's too late. If I don't return soon, my family will probably come looking. I'll come again tomorrow morning. Miss, you're injured—rest early."

Ning Yi waited a moment. There was no answer from the other side. He extinguished the lamp and prepared to leave, then added: "Oh, to extinguish that alcohol lamp, use the cover beside it to cover the flame. If you blow on it, it might explode." Having said this, he pushed open the door, went out, and gently closed it again.

The inner room door was gently pulled open. Lightly holding the long robe, the woman walked out barefoot and silently, frowning as she looked toward the door. Then she walked to the door and opened it a crack to look toward the courtyard. Ning Yi had already left through the courtyard gate. Soon after, the sound of a carriage driving away could be heard, gradually fading into the distance.

Night wind blew in through the opening in the wooden door behind her, stirring her already somewhat disheveled hair and the slightly oversized robe. The silhouette of her bandage-wrapped form was faintly visible beneath the robe. The woman closed the door with a backhand motion and walked all the way back to the inner room. Hugging her sword and knees, she curled up in the corner of the bed and fell asleep...

She probably won't suddenly leave tonight...

On the road back to the Su family's side gate, Ning Yi took several deep breaths and thought this, then smiled.

Because she has no clothes to wear...

Of course, the main reason was still her injuries. With an official like Song Xian dead, it wouldn't be long before government soldiers set up checkpoints throughout Jiangning. With such severe injuries, she couldn't leave for now.

From how this woman had arranged to divert Song Xian's personal guards, she wasn't stupid and understood how to weigh options. She wouldn't suddenly act foolishly.

Directly expressing interest in martial arts required careful calibration. The main issue was that if he mentioned it later, it would inevitably give the impression that the entire plan was for this purpose. Though this era emphasized literature over martial arts, personal skills were still jealously guarded in society, especially such divine techniques. He was past the age, but he didn't seek to become a first-rate expert anyway—he'd never even considered wandering the jianghu or going to battlefields.

By mentioning it first, then diluting it with other elements, it appeared forthright. As long as he could pass this hurdle, bringing it up later would be smooth sailing. If he left it for later and it annoyed her, even if she felt she owed him a favor, she might think he'd been scheming and brush him off.

Tomorrow he needed to leave a good impression, make her willing to stay...

After coming to the Wu Dynasty for so long, this was his first time actively planning something like this. The feeling was similar to his past negotiations for orders or pitching creative ideas—first make people think you're sincere, then slowly discuss conditions: what you need, what I need. Actually, he still had that cash-for-goods, equivalent exchange personality from beginning to end. But before that, he would use all his effort to secure a position where they could speak as equals.

All the way home, passing through the side gate and along the small path, he looked into the distance. There were no lights in their small courtyard—Tan'er and her maids probably hadn't returned yet. He wondered if Xiao Chan had gone to sleep. When he reached the courtyard entrance, he saw the girl sitting in the central pavilion.

With her neat bangs and floral white dress, the girl sat there thinking about something, her hands clenched into fists on her knees, giving the impression of gritted teeth. Starlight sprinkled down from above, illuminating the girl's focused profile. Ning Yi watched for two seconds before the girl's eyes moved, then she looked this way and stood up.

Night wind blew her skirt as the girl stood there staring blankly. This wasn't like the usual Xiao Chan with her bun hairstyle bouncing around, but rather a more mature Xiao Chan who usually lurked in the background. This feeling also lasted two seconds.

"Young..."

"Young Master..."

Amid sobs, Xiao Chan ran over from there and threw herself directly into his arms, almost pushing him back a step. Ning Yi held her back and sighed softly.

"I'm back..."

"Young Master... where exactly did you go..."

In the night, the crying girl seemed to have shrunk, transforming back into the previous Xiao Chan...