On the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, at dawn, the full moon hung high in the sky.
With a “dang” sound, Jiang Kui changed into a set of archer’s clothes. Wearing a wide-brimmed hat, she quietly climbed over the wall and snuck out of the general’s estate.
As the morning drums sounded, she made her way through the winding streets and alleys, arriving at the bookstore under the East Pavilion. She climbed the stairs leading to the second floor and finally pushed open the carved wooden door of the elegant room.
Zhu Zi’an had only written the date of their meeting, but not the time. Yet as soon as she woke up, she was impatient to see him and came to the bookstore early in the morning.
Their meetings were always at night. Perhaps she would have to wait for him here all day. But she did not fear waiting, for she had endless time.
When she opened the door, bright daylight streamed to meet her. A figure at the window turned around.
The man wore a loose white linen robe tied at the waist with a crow-black sash. His hair was loosely tied up, looking just like a scholar gazing out over the railing.
Sunlight fell from above, bathing his figure. He raised two fingers, removing the scholar mask from his face to reveal half a refined countenance. The corners of his lips quirked up with a touch of slyness and roguish charm, but his eyes brimmed with laughter.
“Little Man Jiang,” his gaze met hers. “I’ve waited a long time for you.”
Jiang Kui gave a soft snort. “Not wearing your mask anymore?”
“I’ll put it back on later,” Zhu Zi’an pushed the mask to the top of his head. Then he approached her, suddenly grasping her hand. He placed two items in her palm. “Pick one.”
They were two opera masks painted with colorful facial patterns. One was the made-up white face of a female lead, while the other was the reddish face of a virtuous clown. Thick paint was smeared heavily on the masks, with fine lines sketching out vivid opera characters.
“What’s this for?” Jiang Kui blinked. “Did you paint these?”
“I did. They’re gifts for you.”
“What do I need masks for?” Jiang Kui didn’t understand.
“I’m taking you out to enjoy the mid-autumn moon later,” Zhu Zi’an said. “There will be many people, so the masks will help conceal our identities.”
“Enjoying the moon?”
“Mm. For the mid-autumn festival. Do you want to go?”
Jiang Kui wanted to. She picked up one mask in each hand, contemplated for a bit, then chose the red-faced virtuous clown mask.
The character on the mask was baring its teeth and glaring wide-eyed, appearing quite furious. It looked a little like an adorable monster.
Zhu Zi’an smiled. “Mm, this one does suit you more.”
“Hey!” Jiang Kui was so angry she wanted to hit him. She reached out a hand to snatch the scholar mask from the top of his head. Lifting her chin, she declared, “I don’t want that one anymore, I want yours!”
Then she pointed at the white-faced female lead mask and haughtily ordered, “You have to wear this one instead.”
“Alright,” Zhu Zi’an obeyed placidly. “Anything you say.”
He was far too obedient. Jiang Kui tilted her head, gazing thoughtfully at him for a while before she couldn’t resist asking a question she’d wondered upon entering, “Zi’an, are you feeling better? …You were unconscious for so long last time…”
“What do you think, do I look fine?” He smiled back at her.
Indeed he seemed in very good health, and his mood also appeared quite cheerful… She just didn’t know what he was so happy about.
Jiang Kui gave another soft snort. The elegant room already had two padded floor mats laid out with a small table between them. A pot of fragrant tea and two teacups were placed on the table. The two of them sat down face to face. Zhu Zi’an sipped some tea before continuing, “A few days ago you sent me a message saying you had something to discuss with me.”
“Mm. After you passed out last time, I never had a chance to talk to you about what we witnessed under Tonghua Gate. One of the two people at that secret meeting was Prince Qi. He wants to pay 7,000 taels of silver to assassinate Prince Wen. But I didn’t recognize the other one, that figure in black. Do you know who he is?”
“Prince Qi wants to kill Prince Wen…” Zhu Zi’an murmured. “Although I guessed the general idea, that he wants to kill the leader of the Crown Prince’s party, still… Prince Wen is his imperial uncle, after all.”
He quickly changed the subject and continued, “That figure in black has never shown himself in the martial world before, but his martial arts are quite notorious – the Luocha Palm, extremely vicious. The three of us combined, you, me and Luo Shiyi, don’t have good odds of defeating him.”
After thinking for a moment, he added, “I count as half.”
“You admit you only count as half,” Jiang Kui said softly.
She went on to ask, “Don’t you feel the message you received was intentionally leaked, to lure us there?”
“Mm, I noticed that too,” Zhu Zi’an nodded. “Someone wants to know my identity.”
He set his teacup down, propping his chin in his hand as he gazed thoughtfully at her for a while. Suddenly he said, “Close your eyes.”
“Huh?” Jiang Kui didn’t understand, but she closed her eyes.
“I’m going to change your appearance before taking you out to enjoy the festival,” Zhu Zi’an said. “I don’t want to talk about serious stuff today.”
Indeed he seemed to be in very good spirits, the corners of his lips quirked up and his eyes brimmed with laughter. He got up and knelt before Jiang Kui, slowly unwrapping the cloth bindings around his hands to reveal a pair of smooth, slender hands. He gently pressed them to her face.
With her eyes closed, Jiang Kui felt his cool fingertips glide across her skin. His inner energy was exceptionally mild – she barely sensed any ripples before she heard him say by her ear, “Done, you can open your eyes now.”
She opened her eyes. Zhu Zi’an had re-wrapped his hands in the white linen. He sat back down at the table, cradling his chin in his palm as he smiled at her. She touched her own face and asked, “Does it look very funny?”
“No, quite cute,” the corners of his lips quirked up. “But not as cute as how you normally look.”
Jiang Kui frowned at him for a good while before finally giving voice to her confusion: “Why are you suddenly acting like a completely different person today, Zi’an? Since when have you ever spoken this gently or offered to take me out to enjoy festivals?”
Zhu Zi’an casually babbled some excuse, “Consider it my thanks to you. If you hadn’t brought me to a doctor right away last time, I might still be lying unconscious now.”
Jiang Kui cut him off, staring hard into his eyes as she asked again, “Who taught you the appearance transformation technique?”
This was a question she had wanted to ask for a long time.
There were very few people in the martial world skilled enough at transforming appearances to completely alter someone’s face. And as far as she knew, there was only one person who could achieve this – the “Thousand Faces Recluse”.
The Thousand Faces Recluse also happened to be Jiang Kui’s master.
Zhu Zi’an met her gaze frankly and answered, “It’s who you’re thinking of.”
“You know him?” Jiang Kui’s eyes widened. “He…taught you before?”
“I don’t want to tell you,” Zhu Zi’an said.
Jiang Kui was provoked to anger by his attitude. She sulked to herself for a bit before recalling, “You already changed my appearance, so why do we still need the masks?”
“Because we’re going to be looking at the moon tonight. I’ll remove the transformation technique for you before that.”
“…I don’t really understand,” she had to admit.
“When looking at the moon,” he explained earnestly, “I want to turn my head and see your true appearance right away.”
She still didn’t really get it, but her heart skipped a beat. This guy’s words were erratic yet somehow serious at the same time. She couldn’t distinguish the real from the false.
“Zi’an—” she started, about to ask more questions, but he cut her off. Turning back at the door to the elegant room, he smiled at her. His smile had a mischievous quality, yet his gaze remained gentle.
“Let’s go,” he said. “I’ll introduce you to Zhu Zi’an.”
“Introduce me to…Zhu Zi’an?”
“Aren’t you curious?” He laughed. “My true identity’s already been exposed to you anyway, so why not let you see more of me…that way a certain someone won’t have to go around asking about me everywhere.”
“How did you know—” She blurted out.
“How did I know?” He gave a cold huff. “That blabbermouth Little Bai was all too happy to tell me everything as soon as I asked her a single question. Thankfully you didn’t tell her that Mr. Pulu is me, or the entire Chang Le quarter would have found out by now!”
Jiang Kui ducked her head guiltily.
Bathed in the clear morning sunlight, Zhu Zi’an led Jiang Kui out of the bookstore. They followed the winding alleys past East Pavilion Street, soon arriving at the bustling Chang Le quarter.
It was just after the drums had ceased sounding in the streets and the clip-clop of horses and carriages started up. People coming and going crowded the streets on their way to the early markets. Vendors had set up stalls, loudly hawking all kinds of snacks and the newest fruits in season. The aroma of fresh crabs, sweet tangerines and soft juicy pears mixed with the fragrance of steaming buns, drifting lazily through alleys big and small.
Today was Mid-Autumn festival. Gorgeous pavilions lined every household’s doorway, while wine shops big and small were decorated with colorful banners and streamers. A light breeze carried the sweet scent of new wine meandering through the narrow lanes – enough to intoxicate anyone.
The two figures made their way down a narrow, steamy lane. At its head, a small vendor recognized Zhu Zi’an and cheerfully called out, “Young Master Zhu, you’re out so early today!”
He also noticed Jiang Kui behind Zhu Zi’an and asked, “Who’s this?”
“A friend,” Zhu Zi’an smiled. “Two cherry cream pastries, please.”
He fished a small silver ingot out of his waist pouch to pay the vendor, then handed Jiang Kui two cherry-filled pastries. Breaking off a piece, he lifted it to her lips with a grin, watching her chew for a bit before asking, “Is it tasty?”
Before Jiang Kui could reply, he fed her another piece, then stuffed the rest into her hands and continued walking.
Further down the small lane, he took out another piece of silver and tossed it forward, calling out, “Master Tie, I hope all’s well today?”
A ragged beggar was napping around the street corner, using a rock as a pillow and fanning himself listlessly with an iron fan. Hearing Zhu Zi’an’s voice, he didn’t even open his eyes, only grunted a vague response as he caught the piece of silver flung his way.
“Who’s Master Tie…?” Jiang Kui asked indistinctly through a mouthful of pastry.
“They say he used to be from a wealthy household, but lost all his family fortune gambling and was reduced to a beggar’s life,” Zhu Zi’an explained after walking some distance away. “He was nobility in the past, and no beggars to the north or south would accept him, so he stays here in Chang Le quarter to beg for his meals.”
“Every time I pass by I give him a little silver. He uses it to buy wine by afternoon, then loses it all by evening gambling.”
“Hmm…the name does sound vaguely familiar,” Jiang Kui recalled.
With Zhu Zi’an leading the way, the two of them meandered all through Chang Le quarter. By midday, Jiang Kui’s hands were full of pastries, buns, sweet porridge, crispy cakes and a cool cup of soy milk. They walked and stopped, as Zhu Zi’an seemed to know practically everyone in Chang Le quarter and they greeted him enthusiastically, asking if he was well and nodding politely to his “friend” Jiang Kui.
Following behind Zhu Zi’an, Jiang Kui was suddenly struck by realization.
All these years, they had walked the same paths and met the same people under the same skies.
Yet why had their paths never crossed?
“Zi’an,” she asked, “why have we never met each other until now?”
“Hm,” the figure ahead looked thoughtful for a while, then teased, “Probably because you’re just really unlucky, and kept missing me somehow?”
She watched indignantly as the girl in front of him stamped her feet in frustration, only to be distracted a second later by the sweet soy milk.
Actually these past days had been quite tiring for him, but he was doing his best to cheer her up.
Watching her break into a smile never failed to instantly lift his own mood.
Perhaps that was part of his purpose for existing as Zhu Zi’an.
Starting from tomorrow, he would have to present himself before her as Xie Wuyan.
How he wished he could just remain Zhu Zi’an forever.
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