Yan Huanglou sat dozing at his Tea Stall.

In recent years, business hadn’t been good. On one hand, fewer people were on the streets since the Rebel Army entered the city. Though called the “Righteous Army,” people were wary as they’d done plenty of shady things behind the scenes. All this slowly drove customers away.

Yan Huanglou wasn’t one for idleness, so he still set up his stall. With no customers, he passed the time by dozing off.

Resting his head on one hand, he suddenly heard footsteps nearby.

He thought someone was just passing by, but the footsteps stopped right by him.

“Thud.”

Opening his eyes, he saw a familiar face before him.

Yan Huanglou paused, startled, taking a moment to react.

“You are…”

He obviously recognized the person; it was just hard to believe.

Three years had gone by in the blink of an eye, yet on seeing him today, his face perfectly matched Yan Huanglou’s memory—unchanged in the slightest.

It almost felt as though this meeting had followed right after their last one only yesterday.

Chen Changsheng gave a soft laugh. “You don’t remember me?”

Yan Huanglou composed himself and also smiled.

“I thought you’d look different when we met again, but you’re just the same… It feels like yesterday.”

He chuckled as he rose to his feet. “Tea coming up!”

He went to fetch the tea-brewed from his finest leaves, nothing like the ten-or-eight copper pieces blends.

Chen Changsheng took a sip. “This is good tea. You’re being unusually generous.”

Yan Huanglou flashed a proud grin. “I am, aren’t I?”

Chen Changsheng glanced at his teacup. “Reminds me of an old friend.”

“Old friend?” Yan Huanglou asked.

Chen Changsheng nodded slowly. “We met a long time ago. I once helped him with a small task. Back then, when I stayed up in the mountains, that man would make a pilgrimage every year, just to gift me a tea cake. Each cake held the finest leaves he’d found that year.”

“Yet… he spoke so very little. He’d drop off the tea and hurry back down the mountain almost at once. Never left me so much as a chance to thank him.”

Yan Huanglou gave a thoughtful hum. “Sounds like an… interesting fellow.”

Chen Changsheng smiled warmly. “Yes, he was.”

“He did this every year?”

“Nn…”

Chen Changsheng nodded. “Then he passed away, and the tea stopped coming.”

“Huh?”

Yan Huanglou froze mid-sip. After a beat, he shook his head. “…What a shame.”

Chen Changsheng eyed his own cup meaningfully. “This tea of yours is truly special.”

Yan Huanglou’s expression suddenly went guarded. “I knew it! You’re up to no good, eyeing my tea! I’ll have you know, these leaves took me great effort to find. So don’t you go dreaming about it!”

Chen Changsheng waved dismissively. “Keep it then. I wasn’t about to wrestle you for it.”

That seemed to shorten Yan Huanglou’s fuse. Momentarily appeased, he asked: “Where have you been all these years?”

“Where?”

Chen Changsheng paused. “Some far-flung places. It would take far too long to explain properly. So best skip it.”

Yan Huanglou rolled his eyes. “Must be nice, wandering freely like you all can.” He sighed emphatically. “After you left, Qingshan City fell into chaos. First came the ‘Righteous Army’ into the city—looting, stirring up trouble… Then government soldiers arrived to quell the rebellion. But they couldn’t even get past Chang Guan Pass, couldn’t reach Abyss River beyond…”

He sighed again. “What a mess.”

“I heard snippets of it.”

Chen Changsheng looked thoughtfully into his cup. “The city feels different now. More people around, yet heavy with tension. Gone is its past peace.”

“And business is miserable.”

Yan Huanglou gestured toward the street. “Several stores along this road have shuttered already.”

Chen Changsheng looked out at the row of closed shops and empty windows. This street, once bustling, had wilted indeed.

He turned back to Yan Huanglou. “Your Tea Stall’s still here. Why haven’t you closed up?”

“Can’t you wish me better fortune?”

Yan Huanglou huffed. “But truthfully… I’m alone in the world. A mouth to feed is just myself. Anyone with family to care for would’ve given this up long ago. These coins trickling in? Barely enough to keep from starving.”

“I suppose…”

Chen Changsheng murmured under his breath. “In the end, it’s always the common people who suffer.”

Another deep sigh escaped Yan Huanglou, before his expression suddenly pinched together in recollection.

“Oh, wait. Something I must tell you.”

He leaned forward slightly. “Remember that little girl who used to run around catching insects?”

Chen Changsheng set his cup down immediately. “What about her? What happened?”

Yan Huanglou sobered. “When the Rebel Army broke into Qingshan City… plundering everywhere… I hid my savings tight, escaped harm. But learned later… about that father and daughter. There was a ‘shelter officer’ in the army who took a greedy shine to their Peach Grove. Her father refused to give it up… and was slaughtered on the spot. That soldier lashed him down… right before the girl’s eyes.”

“Then they took her away.”

A grim pause held. Yan Huanglou let it linger before speaking again.

“But… within days, each of those officers was found dead. Care to guess . . . how they perished?”

Chen Changsheng, his gaze steady: “Poison, I assume.”

Yan Huanglou sat back, stiff with astonishment. “You knew?”

“Just… a hunch,” Chen Changsheng responded quietly.

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Yan Huanglou observed Chen Changsheng’s expression. “So you truly believe… she administered the poison herself?”

“Why would that be your guess?”

“Well… you once told me about Gu poisoning. And she studied that tiny bottle poison craft under you, didn’t she? You hinted she was talented enough to learn traces of the craft.”

Chen Changsheng shook his head slowly. “I taught her none of that.”

“Odd then.” Yan Huanglou frowned in confusion.

Beneath the wooden table, Chen Changsheng’s fingers brushed together silently—a subtle, almost invisible gesture of psychic shift.

Fate ensures her path, it seemed. Even turned away, it embraced her.

One reaching for darkness beyond her grasp; perhaps these circumstances alone could chain that light.

His gaze drifted absently toward the Thumb Ring on his finger. He’d intended that ring as a gift for Aqing once. But her words that last meeting… had made him reconsider. Pulled it back before her greedy fingers curled.

And afterwards… this shattering circumstance crashed in upon them all.

A sigh threaded air before finding voice.

Chen Changsheng spoke almost wearily. “Each life follows its own course. Perhaps this was a trial woven into the tapestry of her fate.”

Yan Huanglou blinked at him. “You truly hold faith in that?”

“Sometimes,” Chen Changsheng smiled faintly. “Sometimes I must.”

A few minutes drifted in silence. The tea in Chen Changsheng’s cup finally ran dry.

He set the cup down. “Empty now. Just arrived—must go find lodging.”

“No need!”

Yan Huanglou shook his head quickly. “No one dares host guests anymore! Government Soldiers patrol night and day. They ‘inspect’ lodges at random, then seize silver outright under cover. Frightened every Inn in town to shut tight.”

Concern softened Chen Changsheng’s brow. “Then… where shall I stay?”

“Come to my place! Plenty of room.” Yan Huanglou beamed. “Fixed it up nice—for a price!”

Chen Changsheng hesitated. “How much per night?”

“Now, now!” Yan Huanglou made a grandly wounded gesture. “Would I dare profit off you, Master Chen?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

Then quickly coughed as countering stares landed.

Yan Huanglou waved defensively: “Calm your nerves! Very reasonable indeed! One silver tael per night… But for you? Special discount: just ten copper coins a day! Heavily discounted!

Shrewd eyes sharpened on Chen Changsheng. “But it… comes with meals. Naturally.”

“Naturally.”

Chen Changsheng let out a warm laugh. “Then it’s settled.”

But Yan Huanglou’s tone suddenly turned defensive. “Don’t call me stingy… I’ve just no savings now! Buried all mine outside the city earlier. Been scraping by on tea money off this little Tea Stall ever since. Barely enough to keep stomachs full and cold away.”

Saying this, he stood to pack up the stall equipment.

“Closing so soon?” Chen Changsheng questioned.

Yan Huanglou waved dismissively. “Now that you’re finally back, I can’t go hungry again. Got you to stick around now!”

“Such nonsense.”

Chen Changsheng shook his head, somewhere between exasperation and laughter. Old Huang still brimmed with wild spirit—a stubborn, reckless spark refusing containment.