After leaving the Liu Residence, a thin man in black, carrying a single-edged broadsword on his back, had I don't know when started following the red-robed man, Lu Chuan.
After walking for a while, he approached Lu Chuan and asked, "Mr. Lu, that Liu Jinshi seems to be extremely greedy and timid. What if he doesn't want to be 'proper' tonight and flees?"
Lu Chuan stopped, turned, and gently glanced at the man with the sword on his back, then calmly and gently said, "Where would he flee to?"
"His son is only eight years old. Where would he flee to?"
"Besides, the people from Wangchuan have also arrived. If he isn't proper, let the people from Wangchuan help him be proper."
Mentioning Wangchuan, Lu Chuan thought of another matter and asked, "I heard... the top spot on Wangchuan's bounty list, the 'Heavenly Character' one, has changed hands?"
The man with the sword on his back did not evade the question.
Outside the Liu Residence, there were usually no commoners passing by, and the street was very clean.
He said to Lu Chuan, "It has changed hands. I don't know who offered the bounty, but it's one hundred thousand taels."
Lu Chuan was startled, "One hundred thousand? Silver?"
The man with the sword on his back replied, "Gold."
This time, it was Lu Chuan's turn to be silent. His eyes gleamed as he laughed incredulously, "One person, one hundred thousand gold?"
"Which important figure has so much money they can't spend it all, to cause such a stir?"
The man with the sword on his back shook his head.
"I don't know either."
"Wangchuan always keeps information about its employers absolutely confidential."
"But this time, countless experts from Wangchuan have arrived. It must be an extremely tough nut to crack."
Lu Chuan pondered carefully and said, "They came to Ku Hai County... Why would they come to this godforsaken place..."
"What's the name of the person being hunted?"
The man with the sword on his back replied, "No name, just that it's a woman, about eight feet tall, with many injuries on her body."
Lu Chuan frowned, "That's all?"
The man with the sword on his back confirmed, "That's all."
Lu Chuan scrutinized the man with the sword on his back for a while, his gaze filled with suspicion. He wondered if this subordinate, who had always followed him, had betrayed him or was hiding something from him. But after seeing the other party's straightforward and clear eyes, Lu Chuan knew that the man with the sword on his back was not deceiving him.
He was very good at observing a person's eyes.
They were the windows to the Heart-Nature.
If someone had something dirty hidden in their Heart-Nature, their eyes would give them away.
"Interesting... truly too interesting."
"With no specific information, aren't they afraid someone will just bring a fake product to trick them out of that one hundred thousand gold?"
"The person who issued the bounty seems to be in a great hurry."
The man with the sword on his back asked, "Mr. Lu, what are your thoughts?"
Lu Chuan stroked the small beard on his chin, thought for a moment, and then said, "That woman is hiding a secret."
The man with the sword on his back was very surprised, "A secret worth one hundred thousand gold?"
Lu Chuan gently patted his shoulder, stating with certainty, "If someone is willing to spend one hundred thousand gold to buy the life of a person whose specific information isn't even complete, then the secret hidden within that wanted person... is far more than one hundred thousand gold!"
"Go and pay close attention to this. Notify me if you find any clues."
With that, he walked towards the end of the street. The man with the sword on his back stood still, gazing at Lu Chuan's retreating figure and saying, "Mr. Lu wants this one hundred thousand gold?"
Lu Chuan didn't turn his head, his voice echoing, "I have no interest in gold, but I am very interested in that secret."
...
North of the county town, painting gallery bridge.
A large black dog, wearing strange deerskin clothes, carried an iron box and left a long trail of plum blossom paw prints in the mossy alley, stopping at the eighth small courtyard in the alley.
It tilted its head, looking at the courtyard gate, seemingly confirming whether it had gone the wrong way, and then knocked on the closed door with the iron box.
Soon, the door opened, and a white-haired man in a green robe appeared. He opened the door, let the black dog into the courtyard, and then led it all the way to the kitchen.
First, he carefully washed the iron box the black dog was carrying, then filled it with warmed porridge, closed the box, and handed it to the black dog.
Watching the black dog leave with the iron box in its mouth, the man in the green robe closed the door. Behind him, a white-haired woman appeared.
The woman had a graceful figure, dressed in a velvet skirt. Her face bore undeniable traces of time, and there were still some crow's feet at the corners of her eyes. However, time had not hidden her beauty; instead, it had added the unique charm of a mature woman.
"Zhiming, is that young man still alive?"
The man in the green robe took out the broom from behind the door, preparing to clear the snow in the courtyard.
"Old Black is old; he can't finish all the porridge inside by himself. A few days ago, the porridge was finished, but these past few days there's always some left. The wind and snow outside are heavy; that young man might have frozen to death."
The white-haired woman sighed, "In this world, people die every day. That young man had nothing and couldn't enter the county. No one expected him to actually live for three years."
The man in the green robe looked at her and smiled, "You want to save him?"
The white-haired woman looked at the man in the green robe gently, her tone carrying a hint of hidden self-reproach, "Zhiming, you have been married to me for thirty years, and due to my physical condition, I have not borne you a son. I have always felt indebted in my Heart-Nature."
"That young man's Heart-Nature is truly extraordinary, incomparable to ordinary people. If he is not dead, why not pay some money to the county magistrate, adopt him as our foster son, and you can teach him to practice sword fighting? When I am gone in the future, you won't be alone."
The man in the green robe stepped forward, embraced the white-haired woman, exhaled white mist into her ear, and laughed, "Ah, you worry about this and that every day... When you leave in the future, I will break off the pipa branch in the courtyard and return to the Sword Pavilion in Yan. Won't I still have a place to go?"
"Having a child or not is all up to fate. What do you owe me?"
As he spoke, he glanced at the distant sky and gently patted his wife's back, "However, since you have the Heart-Nature for it, on the third day of this month, I will take some valuables and go to the Liu Residence to see. If he is not dead, I will give him a Qi identity and hire him to chop firewood and cook for our family. How about that?"
The white-haired woman felt the warmth enveloping her, let out a long breath, and said, "I'll follow your arrangements."
...