Once they entered the mountain and walked a bit deeper inside, they saw a few naturally formed caves. They weren’t deep, only enough to shelter a few people.

After a while, Shi Buyu went away and then came back, handing Shi Xu a bag of dried meat. “I prepared these earlier when I came to check the place.”

Shi Xu glanced at their mother who was looking longingly from not far away. Feeling pity, he said softly, “Mom is the one managing things at home. You should give it to her.”

“She’s not familiar with me,” Shi Buyu said, pushing the bag into his arms and letting go, then turning to walk over to a shady spot where no one was.

Shi Xu quickly caught it. Although he felt sorry for their mother, he understood. As the family member who interacted with their younger sister the most, he had some insight into her personality. When she said “not familiar,” she really meant it—even blood relations didn’t mean anything to her.

Yan Shian walked under the shade of a tree and handed a water bottle to the person sitting on the ground leaning against the trunk. “Clean.”

Shi Buyu took it and drank a few sips. “It wasn’t wise for you to get personally involved.”

“If things go wrong, I have my own way out,” Yan Shian said, puzzled. She asked then, “I can understand the other arsons, but why burn down the House of the Marquis of Loyal Courage?”

Shi Buyu avoided the gaze of Shi Xu’s mother nearby. “As White Beard says, even if the Dayou Dynasty falls, my grandfather Shi Lie would never betray the country. The House of the Marquis of Loyal Courage has been keeping a low profile since the late emperor passed away. Their influence in the capital is far less than other dukes and marquises, so they posed no real threat. But someone framed them with this crime that leaves no way out, not sparing even the children. It’s clear they don’t want anyone to make a comeback. Who’s afraid? Even the Shi family had to burn down the mansion at this moment. To anyone with eyes, there must be a huge secret inside that mansion. So naturally, more people would be called to put out the fire.”

Yan Shian guessed White Beard was the fake Taoist priest she had mentioned before, the Daoist named Wu Xu. “That’s the Shi family’s residence of over a hundred years.”

“You’ll give them an even bigger one later.” Shi Buyu didn’t care much—people were almost gone, what did a house matter?

Yan Shian smiled, “You have a way of making people want to believe.”

“It’s a good talent.”

“Indeed it is.”

A gentle breeze stirred the rustling leaves, and the intense heat of summer seemed a little less oppressive.

After days of planning without a good night’s sleep, Shi Buyu was drowsy.

Yan Shian was about to speak but saw her like this and swallowed her words. She stepped sideways to block the strong sunlight and squinted as she looked at the resting group across from them. A question suddenly popped into her mind: Who was Wu Fei? Male or female? This was the only person Shi Buyu had mentioned. But there definitely wasn’t just one person waiting there. No telling how many people were working together in the capital today. Just how many did Shi Buyu really have?

Shi Buyu was awakened by a noise and opened her eyes to see a wall in front of her. Squinting to recognize it, she sat up yawning and asked, “Have they come down the mountain?”

“Only two of them came back,” Yan Shian looked back at her, then turned aside to show Shi Xu approaching.

“The territory is taken.” Shi Xu’s eyes flicked between the two of them. “Third Uncle sent word back, saying to first send some efficient workers up there to clean up, then we’ll go in half an hour.”

“Clean up what? Bloodstains or heads?”

Shi Xu squatted in front of the younger sister, looking at her sleepy face, fully aware of how hard these days had been for her. She hadn’t stayed long in one place these past years. This time, no one knew from where she got the news to rush back—arranging things in the capital, finding a safe place, and negotiating deals. None of it was easy.

Not replying to her, Shi Xu said, “You rest some more.”

Shi Buyu really did sleep for another half hour, finally regaining some energy, then followed Shi Xu up the mountain by a narrow path.

Hutou Village’s reputation wasn’t great—especially compared to those notorious mountain bandit camps, it was nowhere near.

Yan Shian had never heard of this village before. Remembering that Shi Buyu said the people on this mountain weren’t innocent, she asked, “Why choose Hutou Village?”

“Hutou Village isn’t famous, but they do ruthless things. It’s perfect for ‘black-eats-black’ and no worries about drawing attention.” Shi Buyu lifted her skirt to avoid branches snagging her clothes and joked like a nagging aunt, “Who’d think it—a bunch of mountain bandits are actually water ghosts, often appearing along the Fengxian River. Not to mention far away, last year a ship sank on Fengxian River, all gold, silver, and valuables vanished without a trace. That was their doing.”

“I heard about that. The shipowner was a rich merchant, returning home with his wife, children, and elderly mother for an ancestral ritual. Including the servants, fifty-nine people—none survived. The authorities investigated but found no clues. It was them?”

“They owe more than fifty-nine lives,” Shi Buyu said, then stopped.

If so, how did you find out all this and fix your sights on their territory? Yan Shian kept the question to herself. Given their relationship now, she feared the answer would just be: “We’re not familiar yet.”

This narrow mountain path was likely a fallback route left by Hutou Village’s people, but it was seldom used. Covered with dead leaves and dry branches, vines climbing everywhere. If not for the family guards leading the way, few clothes would remain intact.

Shi Buyu casually picked a wild fruit and popped it in her mouth—tart and sweet with a hint of bitterness, a familiar taste.

“Can this… be eaten?”

Shi Buyu looked back, seeing Yan Shian fiddling with one between her fingers. Remembering that the official who tested poisons was not around, she took it and put it in her own mouth, saying, “I can eat it. You probably can’t.”

Yan Shian rubbed her stained fingertips—yes, she really couldn’t. She had to let others eat first, take things first, enter strange rooms first. Her mother had always taught her that.

Hutou Village wasn’t well known, but the camp was quite large.

Shi Buyu, walking behind, saw Shi Yan waiting at the end of the path—her third uncle by blood.

“Much bigger than expected, and found quite a few valuables,” Shi Yan said as she approached. “We only found nineteen people in the camp, no women or children.”

“You can confirm the numbers yourselves. I only know their families aren’t here, and on the surface, they have clean identities. They commit crimes every summer and autumn, only these two seasons can you catch them here. As for the valuables, they just pulled off a job at the beginning of the month.”

“I see.” Shi Yan didn’t ask how she knew so much. “What do you want to do with these things?”

“Bury them.” Shi Buyu looked at the faint dark spots on the ground. “Illegitimate wealth, don’t take it.”

Shi Yan nodded approvingly. From these words, he knew no matter how she acted normally, her heart was good—a fine child of the Shi family.