Ting Xia was a bit confused. "Shen Mengzhi?"

He racked his brain for a long time before finally recalling this person. "Isn't he a traitorous general from Yanling? How is he similar to Xufang?"

"It's nothing," Chu Jin was brought back to his senses by the question and casually brushed it off. "He's no one important."

While the two were talking, Liu Chengyin on the stage had already started talking about Heshan Academy. His expression was slightly agitated. He had been speaking for a long time without even taking a sip of the tea on the table, still standing on the storytelling stage and speaking eloquently, "...Speaking of the history of Heshan Academy, it's about as old as Mount Heshan itself. At that time, there was a Daoist named Xuanji who roamed the world. When he reached the foot of Mount Heshan, he saw that the mountains were green and the waters were clear, so he stopped here, built a small Daoist temple, and cultivated in peace."

"In those days, the countryside of Heshan was filled with common people displaced by the chaos of war. Their minds were unenlightened, and they resorted to cannibalism. Xuanji couldn't bear to see the people in such dire straits, so he established a school in his temple to spread enlightenment and teach them the ways of fishing and farming. The people were immensely grateful. Later, Xuanji passed away and ascended to the heavens, and the temple was carried on by generations of disciples. Over hundreds of years, it gradually evolved into today's Heshan Academy."

After speaking, Liu Chengyin shook his head. "It's just a pity that the Heshan Academy of today is no longer a place where common folk can seek an education. Only the royalty and nobility, or those with exceptional talent, are qualified to enroll."

"As for the great figures who have come from Heshan Academy, there's quite a story to tell." He opened his folding fan and began to count them off, shaking his head. "Not to mention the Medical Saint Qu Jiu, the great scholar Mu Pinglan, and others—the emperors, kings, and generals of Yanling were all taught here. There was even the current Prince Regent of Great Qin—"

Liu Chengyin stopped there. Seeing the teahouse patrons break into an uproar, he fanned himself meaningfully and smiled without saying a word.

He quieted down, but the audience below erupted into chaos. Everyone began to speculate, and for a moment, opinions flew everywhere.

"How did that one get involved with Heshan Academy?"

"You may not know this, but when he was still the Former Crown Prince of Old Qin, he spent three years in Yanling as a Hostage Prince. I heard he was active in Xufang for most of that time."

"So that's how it is. It seems he entered Heshan Academy during that period."

"Could there be some hidden meaning to this?"

"Although the two states had a hostage prince diplomacy at the time, the monarch of Yanling naturally didn't feel at ease having him stay in Xiangjing, so he used that as an excuse to place him in Heshan Academy. Firstly, it would keep him far from the capital and away from his spies. Secondly, it could restrict his movements. And thirdly, he could use the academy to test his depth. It was truly killing three birds with one stone."

"I never expected... When I first heard the rumors about the Qiu Jiang Painted Boat, I scoffed at them. Now it seems his relationship with Yanling is probably not that simple."

"Exactly. Since he lived in Xufang for many years, and he chose Qiu Jiang as the location this time, what on earth does he mean by it?"

...

Liu Chengyin stood on the storytelling stage, a trace of satisfaction on his face, when he suddenly felt an inscrutable gaze on him. The gaze was like a needle to his back. Though he didn't know why, it startled him into a cold sweat. When he finally found the source of the gaze, the table was empty, with only two cups of cold tea and ten taels of silver left to the side.

Ting Xia walked silently through the street. When they passed by the boatman again, he, uncharacteristically, said nothing.

Instead, it was Chu Jin walking ahead of him who paused slightly, turned around, and said calmly, "Go investigate that storyteller's background."

"You think he's one of Li Sheng's men?" Ting Xia was stunned for a second before he realized. "That makes sense. Otherwise, he wouldn't have the guts."

"It seems Li Sheng arranged for his people in Xufang City long ago," Chu Jin said with a slight smile, his tone unreadable. "To go through all this trouble to fabricate these old stories, he's really put in a lot of effort."

Ting Xia's expression turned grim. "I'll go interrogate that Liu Chengyin and drag them out."

"No rush. According to the news we released earlier, I should have just arrived in Piling City, with another three days before I reach Xufang. That's why they dare to be so brazen. If you go now, you'll definitely alert the enemy."

Chu Jin casually picked up a mask from a street vendor's stall and said nonchalantly, "Let Li Sheng and the others be complacent for a few more days."

The mask was a dark blue color, cool to the touch, and exquisitely made, not inferior to those crafted by the palace artisans. In Chu Jin's hand, it made his fingers look as white and clear as jade.

Seeing this, the stall owner immediately came over and promoted his wares with all his might. "Young Master has a good eye! My family has been artisans for three generations. The masks at this stall are the best in Xufang City. Especially the one in your hand, that's a coiled dragon motif on it, the most complex and difficult to draw. You can walk around the whole city, and I can guarantee that you won't find one better than what's at my stall."

Ting Xia was skeptical and whispered, "Is it really that good?"

Hearing this, Chu Jin gave a rare explanation, "The masks of Xufang are unparalleled in the world. Even the palace artisans cannot compare."

Not sure what came to his mind, he picked out another silver-red mask from the stall, handed it to Ting Xia, and said, "I'll take these two masks."

Ting Xia paid the silver. While the stall owner was grinning from ear to ear and making change, he asked in confusion, "You really bought them? Why buy masks? We have no use for them."

Chu Jin was looking down, toying with the mask in his hand. His gaze was fixed on the mask, but because he was lost in thought, his eyes seemed light and unsubstantial. Even Ting Xia could feel that his mind was elsewhere.

"I just remembered, tonight is the Shangyuan Festival in Xufang."

"Shangyuan Festival? Is it any different in Xufang?"

"The terrain of the former Yanling territory is fragmented, making travel between cities difficult. There is no set of conventional, widely accepted cultural norms. The local customs and folkways vary greatly from place to place, many of them incorporating local characteristics. In Xufang, on the night of the Shangyuan Festival, the people must wear masks to go out and enjoy the lanterns. For young men and women, these masks have another meaning. If they happen to meet someone with the same mask as their own... "

He paused.

Ting Xia was listening intently. "Then what?"

But Chu Jin said, "Lend me your sword."

"Oh." Ting Xia subconsciously handed over his sword, only to see him draw it from its scabbard without a thought. A cold light flashed, and a piece of the exquisitely crafted mask was sliced off, turning it into an incomplete half-mask.

Ting Xia's eyes widened. "What are you doing?!"

He secretly glanced at the bustling stall owner nearby, relieved that he hadn't seen this, or he probably would have fainted.

Chu Jin tossed the sword back into his arms, staring thoughtfully at the half-mask in his hand, and completed his earlier sentence, "...In Xufang, on the night of the Shangyuan Festival, two people with the same mask are considered fated."

"So you..." Ting Xia slowly understood.

"Fate? Such an intangible thing is too ethereal and unreliable, so I've never believed in it." Chu Jin curled his lip and raised the mask in his hand. "This way, it saves a lot of trouble."

Ting Xia thought for a moment but couldn't think of anything to refute it. Looking at the mask, which now had a unique beauty due to its incompleteness, he said sincerely, "Then I'm afraid you won't be finding anyone fated tonight."

Chu Jin let out a laugh.

The sky was already dark, and the pedestrians on the road were gradually increasing. In the distance, the setting sun descended in the west, casting a blood-red hue on the Twelve Peaks of Yanling that stretched into the clouds. But this color eventually faded with the daylight, disappearing into the white snow on the mountaintops. The night pressed down inch by inch, and then the lanterns began to light up, scattering throughout the city and faintly illuminating the horizon like a corner of thick ink dissolving.

The full moon rose, only to be shrouded in the curling smoke from kitchen chimneys.

It was as if Xufang had awoken, suddenly becoming incredibly lively. As the two walked down the street, the number of vendors on both sides had increased rather than decreased. The rising and falling cries of hawkers were endless. Among them were performers wielding blades and spears. After a routine of sword-swallowing and fire-breathing, a crowd of onlookers quickly gathered, their cheers thundering.

Along the way, the two saw countless mask stalls, but just as the previous stall owner had said, none could compare to his craftsmanship.

Chu Jin wore the dark blue half-mask. The mask covered his sharp brows and eyes, revealing only a pair of dark, emotionless pupils. The lower half of the mask, having been cut away, exposed his smoothly defined jaw and lips. Bathed in the soft glow of the lanterns, they took on a warm hue, diluting the cold arrogance of a superior and absurdly revealing a hint of softness.

The mask seemed to have sealed away his identity of one who held the power of life and death, briefly turning him into an ordinary person, no different from anyone else, who would celebrate the Shangyuan Festival.

Ting Xia had heard people praise the Prince Regent's beauty before. Even after becoming his trusted confidant, he had always kept his thoughts pure due to their master-servant relationship. It was not until today that he truly realized those words were not an exaggeration.

Just as he was thinking this, Chu Jin suddenly turned his head to look at him. "What are you looking at?"

Ting Xia knew that Chu Jin disliked others commenting on his appearance, so he naturally didn't dare to voice such a treasonous thought. He quickly changed the subject, "Uh, it looks quite lively behind you. Should we go take a look?"

Chu Jin glanced behind him. A crowd had gathered there, making a lot of noise, though it was unclear what they were doing.

Seeing his expression, Ting Xia guessed he probably wasn't interested and tried to remedy the situation, "It doesn't seem like there's much to see. Maybe we should just go..."

Before he could finish, two people hurried past, talking as they walked, "It looks like a fight is about to break out up ahead."

"I heard it's a traveler, drunk and causing a scene."

"The other person is from Heshan Academy. This is big trouble."

"This is serious then. Let's go, let's go take a look."

Chu Jin watched the two people's hurried backs. The words "Let's go back to the inn," which were already on the tip of his tongue, swirled around and became, "Let's go."

Ting Xia looked up in confusion.

Chu Jin had already taken a few steps toward the crowd, his voice drifting faintly to Ting Xia's ear, "Let's go see which fearless fellow is causing trouble at the foot of Mount Heshan."