Grandfather Li was lighting the two candlesticks in front of the long table on the north wall of the main hall. The other offerings were already settled: the incense burner, two vases, and dishes of food, such as meat, bread, fruit, and rice. Beside him, Chengxu poured wine into the ritual cups.

The incense was already burning, and both had completed the three kneelings and nine prostrations before the ancestral tablets. However, the worried Grandfather Li kept looking at the open window. It was already the late Hour of the Rooster. 

They had finished the rituals, but she still wasn't home.

It was unlike her to be this late. She was always early to arrive during her grave visitations, especially every Establishment Day. As Grandfather Li recalled, Shengsi had promised that after she came home, she'd be resting early. She wasn't the type to break a promise—

"Grandfather, I told her to take the necklace with her just in case." Chengxu, standing beside the elderly man, wished only to lessen his worries.

The oblivious old man creased his forehead. "What does a necklace have to do with anything? It's not as if she's going to hit someone with a necklace or..." But then he remembered. "The one her aunt gave her?"

Chengxu almost scratched his nape, though he coughed weakly as his frailty got the best of him. "Yes, Grandfather Li. I'm rest assured that she'll be fine."

The old man sighed in response. 

"She'll return sooner or later." 

Just as Chengxu said that someone began yelling in the courtyard.

"Grandfather Li!"

They both stood and looked out the window. Their faces turned bewildered as they exchanged glances. What they saw was Shengsi carrying someone on her back.

A guy wearing a hemp!

Grandfather Li rushed to the courtyard to attend to the girl, who was sweating and gasping for breath. The man she was carrying was bleeding.

The old man whispered, "Foolish child! Did you hurt this man enough to drain the life out of him?!" He was already fuming, slightly slapping at Shengsi's shoulder.

Shengsi avoided the slap, taking a few steps to dodge. "Grandfather, I didn't do anything! But we're losing time—he might as well be dead if he's not tended to!"

"What happened?" the coughing Chengxu asked calmly from the main hall.

"This isn't the time for chitchat!" the old man barked, even though he was the one who'd initiated the scolding. "Come here, quick! Take him to my place!"

They entered the room in the right wing, beside the two-story structure. When the stranger was laid on the bed, Grandfather Li advised them both to wait outside while he dedicated his efforts to saving the wounded man from his looming death.

They'd been waiting outside so long that the Zhi twins had lost track of every passing second. Shengsi sat on the front porch while her brother leaned against a pillar. He had his arms crossed, observing her silence, while she stared at her feet, playing with them as her hands rested on the cold floor.

"This older twin brother of yours is waiting for an explanation." There was a hint of worry in Chengxu's tone that he couldn't seem to hide. "You don't plan to stay tongue-tied for the rest of the night, do you?"

Shengsi was so covered in dirt and blood that when she looked at her brother, the crease in her brow was barely visible. "Can it wait until after Grandfather Li brings news that he's okay?"

"The main issue here is that you've brought a stranger into our residence." Chengxu scoffed. "Assuming he's wounded, why was the first thing you've done was to bring him here and not to our town clinic?"

Shengsi went tight-lipped. Her brother's face darkened, as if sensing she'd gotten into trouble, the kind she wouldn't seek out unless it was necessary.

"Zhi Shengsi, what have you done?" he asked heavily, eyeing her state. "Coming here with all that blood and dirt... did you really almost murder him? That's a serious offense—"

"I did commit as many trespasses, Brother Xuxu," Shengsi admitted, surrendering with a weary sigh. Certainly, there was unauthorized grave digging, disruption of ancestral feng shui, violation of gender propriety, and physical indiscretion, among others. "But it doesn't involve murder, per se..."

"Zhi Shengsi!" Her brother clenched his jaw. "You!"

He began to cough roughly.

"Brother Xuxu, you know me..." She bowed her head slightly, her face without a glint of a lie. "The truth is, all the gates were sealed. It wasn't until between the late Hour of the Monkey and the early Hour of the Rooster that I reached Aunt's grave."

Chengxu fell silent when he heard that.

"Earlier today, the gates were sealed because of an imperial edict stating that every county capital must perform a purification ritual for the missing Duke of Zhongyong. It was only lifted in the late afternoon." Shengsi gazed into the starry sky as the wind passed her. "Then I told Aunt many things, including one of my nightmares, born from my worries... and perhaps my refusal to accept her death." She smiled bitterly. "But who knew that in that moment, I'd get to save a life?"

"What was that guy doing in the Ziyou Graveyard, then?" probed Chengxu, his eyes fixated on his twin's wandering gaze.

To him, Shengsi was always calm, though her soft voice acted as a facade. When she spoke, it was an utterance from her heart, without falter. Her unsaid words were delivered from a mind he thought was brilliant. She had a way with words, like her aunt, and perhaps, like her mother.

"He was prematurely buried."

Chengxu tilted his head the moment the words reached his ears. "With all that blood and dirt?"

"The safety bells are efficient indeed, enough that this young twin sister of yours became mindful that someone was buried alive." Shengsi paused as the gravity of her words settled on her shoulders. "It's true that I first wanted to call for help, but then, guilt is a thief, Brother Xuxu. It would've taken too long for help to come — me going down the hill and coming back up with the authorities. Even if I'd shouted, the smoke flowers were too loud. The town was too boisterous for anyone to hear my screams."

As soon as Shengsi made herself clear, Chengxu's countenance lightened. 

"I understand," he said with a quick, single nod. 

Some questions were still bothering him, but he held them back.

"It's best that you fix yourself first." He scanned Shengsi and grimaced. "You look so haggard and pitiful that even a ghost would run away from you."

Shengsi glared at him, but Chengxu only returned it with a chuckle.

He raised an eyebrow. "Come back here after you've washed and dressed yourself. Don't look at me as if I've said something..."

Shengsi stood abruptly. "Zhi Chengxu!"

Despite her protest, she did as he said anyway.

When she returned well-dressed, neat, and clean, Grandfather Li was still inside the room. 

The wind was turning colder as the night deepened.

Shengsi instructed her brother to take a rest, insisting that his health came first, and so he didn't argue with her and took her instruction at heart.

A little while later, Grandfather Li finally approached Shengsi on the porch. As they stood face-to-face, the atmosphere grew tense. His granddaughter asked about the stranger's condition, to which Grandfather Li replied:

"Due to excessive blood loss, he's in a critical state. His body's vital substances are severely depleted." He stared at Shengsi, his forehead wrinkled in thought. "What's the name of that stranger, Shengsi?"

Shengsi recalled the engraving on the stone tablet. "His family name is Xie, and his given name is Chuanhu."

"Chuanhu... What an interesting name." The old man clasped both hands behind his back. "It means 'one who transmits the strength of the tiger.' A name like that is not given lightly. Even now, with his blood nearly exhausted and his Qi scattered, had he been a lesser man, he would have already slipped away. It only makes sense that he bears such a name." He sighed in relief, though Shengsi barely understood his meaning. "However, that young man's condition is not simply blood loss. He might have endured with his severely depleted Xue, but more troubling is that his Qi has scattered. When this happens, it fails to support the blood, the limbs, and the anchoring of the spirit, giving rise to symptoms such as pallor, cold extremities, and a weak pulse — all occurring at once."

Shengsi absorbed every word uttered.

Then Grandfather Li tapped her shoulder. 

"I saw the phantom threads. I understood then that you performed the 'Flowing River, Calming Tide Technique' that your Aunt Li taught you. Although it's temporary, it helped stop the bleeding while slowly activating the blood to resolve stasis."

As Grandfather Li thought, Xue would not wander blindly. It would follow the pathways set by Qi. The technique Shengsi learned guided what remained along those routes, slowing the escape and easing the stasis where it gathered. It bought Chuanhu time, nothing more.

On the other hand, Shengsi had almost forgotten that her grandfather was a retired military physician. When they were little, Aunt Li told stories of his talent, of how he chose a common life because he didn't seek recognition. He loved practicing medicine and had acquired vast knowledge, including the techniques of warlock physicians. Though their work often relied on magic, their wisdom was inspired by the ancient classics, which was one of the reasons her grandfather learned such methods as well.

However, even if he was this old, he lived in silence.

Perhaps, it was the only way he could cope.

Grandfather Li rubbed his chin, which was covered in stubble. "I did what I could. I sealed the wounds with powder to arrest the bleeding, cleared them with scallion-infused water so the cold would not settle into the flesh, and stitched the gashes to keep the channels from further disruption..."

Shengsi sensed there was something he wasn't telling her, as if he were having second thoughts. "But how is he? Truly?"

The old man stared into the void for a moment before speaking. "Hm, think of it this way... He's alive, but his soul is wandering."

Shengsi gaped. "Grandfather Li, what do you mean?"

"You see, the human spirit is not singular," he said firmly. "What you call the soul is divided. The Hun, tied to the liver, governs dreams and wandering thought. The Shen, housed in the heart, governs awareness itself. When trauma strikes deeply, they lose harmony." His gaze darkened slightly. "Chuanhu's blood is too weak to anchor them, Shengsi. That is why his Qi cannot contain them. When the Hun drifts and the Shen has no place to rest, he may be breathing, but he is not awake."

Shengsi's heart sank. "Then... is it possible he won't wake up?"

The old man didn't confirm it, but he added something else. "That young man possesses a striking beauty and the composure of a noble, though his bloodied hemp garments suggest he was born a commoner like us."

Dumbfounded, Shengsi didn't think it was necessary to compliment a hopeless man who might well die. She was about to reply when he continued.

"But there's something you can do since you possess a coin, Shengsi." Grandfather Li's words carried a heavy weight of responsibility. "Though I may as well ask... are you prepared for it?"

Shengsi pondered the question.

Was she truly prepared?

Before she could answer herself, a thought crossed her mind. It seemed she had already been guided toward it by her grandfather moments ago. With all that explanation, she could have guessed earlier.

"While you haven't told me how you ended up saving that young man, bringing him here means you understand the gravity of your actions." The old man looked at her sternly. "This grandfather of yours would like to teach you the ways of a Warlock Physician. But I want you to want it."

Shengsi looked back with equal intensity. 

She knew that once she answered, there would be no turning back. 

Until...

"Then let me do it, Grandfather Li."

He asked once more with a heavier tone: "Are you sure?"

It seemed there really was no turning back.