“Aunt Li! Aunt Li!” called the five-year-old Zhi Shengsi, her braided hair swaying behind her as she ran toward the kitchen in her pale peach hanfu, clutching a round silk fan against her chest. Inside, Aunt Li was baking bread, her back turned toward the child as warm smoke curled from the clay stove.

Li Ran chuckled softly. “My dear Shengsi, go and play with your brother for now. I’m busy baking.”

Shengsi was about to peek over the counter when Aunt Li spoke again.

“You’re still a child to be curious about grown folk’s matters. Children should chase butterflies beneath spring skies, not shadows beneath old roofs.” Her tone carried the warmth of a tale often repeated to children. “The young should walk the path of the young.”

Only then did Aunt Li turn around. Flour dusted her hands and sleeves, coal stains marked the front of her apron, and even her cheek carried a streak of white powder. Yet Shengsi couldn’t properly make out her face. The light behind her seemed too bright, pouring through the kitchen like sunlight slipping behind an eclipse. The embers from the clay stove glowed beneath her, outlining her figure in gold and crimson.

Her hair was pinned into a loose coiled bun with jade hairpins and tiny pearl ornaments tucked between dark strands, while a few locks escaped beside her cheeks. Beneath the apron, her hanfu remained elegant despite the flour and soot, layered in soft blue and cream silks embroidered with faint plum blossoms near the hems.

“But I want to learn and bake!” Shengsi protested.

“It’s not yet time...”

From the front gate, Grandfather Li’s voice suddenly rang out.

“Ran’er, Qin Erhua is here with her firstborn, Lieliu!”

“Shengsheng! Xuxu!” a little boy’s voice shouted from outside.

But Shengsi remained seated on the floor, elbows resting on her knees and chin propped against her palm.

“Ranran is here too!” the boy added loudly.

“Do you hear that, Shengsi?” Aunt Li asked as she slid the silver tray into the oven chamber. “Just as I said, children should walk the path of the young. One day, your companions will stand beside you when you need them most.”

Shengsi’s button-like eyes sparkled brighter at the lesson. She nodded with all the sincerity a child could carry.

“And someday, I’ll learn your ways too. Shengsheng will become just like you, Aunt Li!”

“Aunt Li, are you watching from the moon you once admired?”

Hidden beneath the night, Shengsi waited patiently before carrying out her plan. Who would’ve thought the diversion would work so well? Those men were too distracted to realize they’d already been deceived.

The moment eleven men rushed out of the abandoned house and scattered across the courtyard, Shengsi, who once eliminated the two guards in the side yard, dragged them toward the back together with the other unconscious bodies she’d already dealt with. Only then did she hurl stones toward the windows, striking the oil lamps whose positions she’d memorized beforehand.

The glass shattered and darkness swallowed the room...

Fortunately, the invisibility enchantment had already been activated before she threw the stones, allowing her to slip through the broken window unnoticed. After knocking out the guard inside, she seized his cudgel and cut through the ropes binding the captives.

Xianquan was carried bridal-style in her arms while the ragged child clung to her back. The enchantment spread over all three of them as Shengsi leapt back through the shattered window, scaled the courtyard wall, and disappeared into a dark alley.

Only after several turns through the ghostly market streets did the enchantment finally fade, revealing her figure beneath the pale moonlight.

The young nobleman quickly scanned his savior’s face before his eyes widened. His arms tightened around Shengsi’s neck.

“You! Aren’t you the baker from Lizhi Ju, Zhi Shengsi?”

Shengsi stared at him in disbelief. “How do you know my name?”

“I overheard that young master you were speaking with earlier.” Xianquan’s lips twitched. “Is he your lover?”

At a time like this, was that truly the important thing to ask?

“Young Master, he’s only a childhood friend. He’s more like a brother to me,” Shengsi clarified while continuing to run without even losing breath.

This young nobleman truly weighed like a feather.

The thought alone made Shengsi press her lips together.

Once they reached the outer perimeter of the abandoned market, where only moonlight, chirping creepers, and distant barking dogs accompanied them, Shengsi finally lowered Xianquan to the ground before glancing toward the ragged child.

“How did the two of you end up captured?” she asked, her gaze softening.

Xianquan dusted off her clothes before speaking. “This young nobleman happened to block the child’s path after his coins scattered. Those thugs saw the money and immediately set their eyes on him. It seems greed has filled their heart, and malice has devoured their motive. I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing, so I tried to save him...” His face tightened with embarrassment as his eyes squeezed shut. “But there were too many of them.”

Shengsi suddenly looked behind them.

Oil lamps were beginning to flicker across nearby alleys and streets.

Xianquan followed her gaze and stiffened upon realizing they’d soon be discovered.

Before he could speak, Shengsi had already grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward as they dashed into another alley.

“It’s best we keep moving,” she said while dragging him along.

If they slowed down even for a moment, they’d be cornered. 

And this time, the outcome would be far worse than before.

In front of an apothecary that had already closed for the night, the troubled Young Master Qin bowed slightly toward an elderly man dressed in plain herbalist robes layered beneath a dark sleeveless overcoat stained faintly by medicine powders and dried herbs.

“I’m sorry for troubling you at this hour of the night.” Young Master Qin had matters to attend to beforehand, which was why he arrived late to retrieve the medicines personally prescribed by the old physician for his mother’s illness.

“Young Master Qin, don’t worry, don’t worry. Mrs. Qin is someone dear to this old man as well, so naturally I’m concerned about her condition.” The elder patted the young master’s shoulder before giving a light cough. “Besides, I know you had more urgent matters to attend to first before coming here, so don’t burden your heart over it.”

“To be honest, I nearly forgot altogether and almost,” Lieliu sighed faintly, “kind of, neglected my mother’s sickness.” 

He truly hadn’t intended to remain at Lizhi Ju for that long, yet things escalated far beyond what he expected. Not that he regretted it. In truth, it had been a long while since he and Shengsi properly spoke again, though things were no longer as they once were. Because of that delay, he arrived late to a private gathering at a teahouse, and afterward nearly missed his appointment at the apothecary as well.

“That’s why I owe you this apology, Mr. Fang.”

Mr. Fang simply smiled and waved the matter aside. “Again, it’s fine, it’s fine.” Then he lifted his eyes toward the night sky. “It’s already the Hour of Xu. You should head home now and take care on the road.”

No matter how he thought about it, Mr. Fang was truly a kindhearted physician. Cloudbird Apothecary had long maintained close ties with the town’s businesses, especially Lizhi Ju. Still, Lieliu couldn’t help but feel guilty for inconveniencing the old man’s kindness like this.

Young Master Qin bowed once more in gratitude before taking his leave, carrying his basket of bread in one arm while the medicinal packets wrapped in waxed paper and tied with hemp cord rested securely beneath it.

The cold night air drifted past him, and though the hour had deepened, the quiet suited him well. He had always preferred the night. There was something calming about wandering beneath moonlight while the world slept.

He recalled Aunt Li once saying that  peaceful night walk could ease burdens the tongue couldn't confess.

Wasn’t the night truly peaceful?

‘The bright moon 

and gentle wind 

make even troubled hearts 

grow still.’

Tap, tap, tap — with every step seemingly sounding against the quiet, his walk slowed when loud rustles and hurried panting reached his ears. What could be causing such a ruckus? Even more so, the street ahead was empty, without even a single wandering silhouette in sight.

Then, from the alley to the left, three figures emerged.

One was a braided young woman carrying a child on her back.

Another was strangely slender, yet dressed in a young nobleman’s attire.

The young master stopped in his tracks and met the three eye-to-eye, just as the moonlight revealed who they were.

One among them was the customer who had swept through Lizhi Ju earlier that afternoon.

While the one carrying the child—

Was the owner herself.

Shengsheng, from his childhood days.

But he shouldn’t harbor such thoughts of calling her that again.

Shoving away the lingering thought, Lieliu frowned.

“Shengsi?” he asked, utterly dumbfounded. “What trouble have you brought upon your—”

Before he could even finish speaking, Shengsi grabbed his sleeve and dragged him straight into the alley with the others.

And just like that, the four disappeared deeper into the night.

Surely, it had been a peaceful evening.

At least, until trouble found its way to them.