Chapter 41

Proofreader:- Mim

“Banban, why don’t you… hide for a while? I’ll stay here and watch,” Jia Sui suggested.

That clearly wasn’t an option. Jia Sui had her own work to do.

“It’s fine. I’ll stay here in the stable and not go out,” Li Zhi reassured her.

Just as she finished speaking, a dark, crowded group of figures poured into the narrow stable.

“Ugh, it stinks!” A young girl dressed in bright red riding attire pinched her nose in disgust.

“So this is the so-called ‘strange slave’?” Moqi Li scrutinized Hei Huo, who was cleaning out a stall in the farthest corner of the stable. His nine-foot tall frame made him an unmistakable presence under everyone’s gaze.

Even Moqi She was captivated by Hei Huo’s strange appearance, though the one leading the crowd, Lu Congruan, kept his eyes fixed intently on Li Zhi.

Li Zhi gave Jia Sui a small push. “Go back.”

“Miss…”

“Go!” Li Zhi whispered firmly.

Jia Sui hesitated, glancing first at Li Zhi and then at Lu Congruan, whose expression was dark and unreadable. Finally, she bowed to the crowd and left the stable with her head down.

It wasn’t Li Cien’s shift today, so the only ones in the stable were Li Zhi, Hei Huo, and this group of noble young men and women whose intentions were unclear.

“That’s the girl cleaning the stables? You’re really wasting good resources here!” one sharp-eyed noble exclaimed in surprise when he noticed Li Zhi, who was keeping her head down and pretending to focus on her work. His outburst drew everyone’s attention to her.

Moqi She pushed aside the nobleman and walked up to Li Zhi with an indignant expression, as if standing up for her. “Why are you the only one here? Where’s Xie Lanxu?”

“You shouldn’t refer to the imperial grandson by name,” a voice called teasingly from the group, followed by snickering laughter.

“I’m so scared he’ll charge me with disrespect!” Moqi She shot back sarcastically, turning to glare at the others before continuing to speak to Li Zhi. “You shouldn’t suffer here. I’ll talk to the young master and bring you back to Moqi Mansion!”

Laughter erupted through the stable again, but Li Zhi kept her gaze lowered, avoiding Lu Congruan’s expression.

“Third Brother, come back—don’t make things difficult for her,” Moqi Ji interjected.

“Big Brother, how am I making things difficult? I’m just…”

“That’s enough. Didn’t you all come here to see the strange slave? Why are you all talking endlessly about a stable girl?” Lu Congruan finally spoke, his voice cold.

None of them were fools. They all detected the subtle tone in Lu Congruan’s words and quickly stopped talking about Li Zhi. Only Moqi She still looked dissatisfied.

“What are you all crowding at the door for?” A figure as bright and sharp as a fire phoenix strode into the stable.

Moqi Danliao held a golden horsewhip wrapped with silk threads in her hand. She scanned the stable and finally settled her gaze on Hei Huo, who stood in the corner.

“You—yes, you. Come out and let us see what kind of giant you are.”

Hei Huo stood silent for a moment before stepping forward with heavy, deliberate steps.

“This strange slave does look strange! His lips look just like Moqi She’s last year after he was stung by a bee!” someone joked.

Moqi She’s face flushed red, and he kicked the noble youth who had laughed the loudest.

“Aren’t we supposed to choose horses for the hunt? Why don’t we use this strange slave for target practice instead?” someone suggested loudly. The idea was quickly met with enthusiastic agreement.

No one paid any more attention to Li Zhi now that they had found a new victim.

The nobles had discovered a new source of entertainment. Steward Li, of course, wasn’t going to stand up for Hei Huo. He barked orders at Hei Huo, driving him out of the narrow stable and into the training arena.

The training arena was cleared for the nobles’ use, and all horse training temporarily stopped. Li Xiangsheng approached Li Zhi, frowning as he watched the cruel “hunt” about to unfold in the arena.

Jia Sui also came to Li Zhi’s side, her face full of worry. She whispered, “Banban, you don’t look well.”

“I’m fine,” Li Zhi replied, her eyes fixed on Hei Huo, who stood in the arena, looking around warily.

In her current position, there was no essential difference between herself and Hei Huo.

Today, it was Hei Huo being hunted for sport. Tomorrow, it could be her.

But what difference was really there, between Hei Huo on the ground and the nobles on horseback, excitedly nocking their arrows?

What determined who stood on the ground, their life hanging by a thread, and who sat high on horseback, freely loosing their arrows?

Status.

Yet just two years ago, Li Zhi had been the daughter of the Chancellor of the Imperial Secretariat, a second-rank official. Every single one of these people would have had to bow respectfully to her and offer their greetings.

She used to think that people like her father, with power that shook the court, were what it meant to be strong. But Madam Qin had once told her: “To be truly strong is to act with kindness.”

And so she understood—her father was not strong.

Even though he held the rank of a second-rank official, he was still weak. He was afraid of everything—afraid of the emperor’s authority above him, and afraid of the people below him. He lived in constant fear of making a single mistake and had no strength left to spare compassion for others.

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west; everyone knows this to be true.

By contrast, any rule that is chaotic and unpredictable cannot be considered truth.

This was the conclusion Li Zhi had reached in countless sleepless nights of contemplation.

For high-ranking people to control the life and death of those below them—though widely accepted now—Li Zhi refused to believe this was the way of heaven.

“Hyah!”

Lu Congruan and over a dozen noble youths rode into the arena, each clad in exquisitely embroidered hunting attire, holding either spears or bows. The horses beneath them were tall, strong, and gleamed with health.

Hei Huo watched the nobles enter the arena. Slowly, he raised his arms in a defensive posture and began backing away. All he had were tattered clothes and bare feet like black fans, without even a decent pair of shoes.

The nobles exchanged glances, and Lu Congruan lifted his longbow, aiming it at Hei Huo. He slowly drew the bowstring to its full extent.

Hei Huo stared fixedly at the tip of the arrow, sweat trickling slowly down his forehead.

“Whoosh!”

The bowstring snapped back, and the arrow shot past Hei Huo’s shoulder, deeply embedding itself into the ground.

The hunt had begun.

Over a dozen mounted nobles charged across the broad arena, chasing the unarmed Hei Huo. Arrows flew at him as he scrambled to dodge.

Moqi Danliao, mounted and riding alongside the others, aimed ahead of Hei Huo’s path and loosed an arrow toward where she anticipated he would run.

The arrow landed far behind him.

“This guy runs fast!” Moqi Danliao exclaimed in surprise.

Moqi She rode past her, laughing loudly. “It’s just because your archery’s terrible!”

“Someone who’s never hit the center of a target has no right to criticize me!” Moqi Danliao retorted, her brows furrowing as she fired another arrow.

This time, she precisely predicted Hei Huo’s movement.

The arrow landed just an inch in front of his toes, forcing him to stumble to a stop.

It was clear Moqi Danliao had held back when she shot. Otherwise, that arrow would have pierced straight through Hei Huo’s right foot.

But not everyone was so rational.

Some people aimed at Hei Huo’s chest and head right from the beginning, while others, after missing repeatedly, grew more irritable and reckless, shooting without any care.

Under such circumstances, Hei Huo’s situation became increasingly dangerous.

Although his movements were incredibly agile—more than once, Li Zhi watched as arrows brushed past him—he was still outnumbered. What’s more, it was a contest between two legs and four. Hei Huo began to show clear signs of exhaustion, his movements gradually slowing down.

At that moment, Lu Congruan released a critical arrow. The arrow shot straight toward Hei Huo’s face. If he failed to dodge it in time, a fresh, living life would surely come to an abrupt end.

At the same time, arrows were flying toward him from multiple directions.

There was no way to avoid them all.

In that extremely brief instant, Hei Huo stopped moving. He stretched out his hand toward the incoming arrow, as if he intended to grab it mid-flight.

Li Zhi involuntarily gripped the wooden railing of the arena.

At the last moment, Hei Huo changed his mind. He twisted his body and leaned to the side, narrowly avoiding the arrow aimed at his face. However, another arrow from a different direction pierced his shoulder.

“I hit him! I win!” one noble youth exclaimed, raising his longbow in triumph.

Hei Huo fell to one knee, clutching his profusely bleeding shoulder, his face contorted in pain.

A nobleman who hadn’t yet had his fill of excitement raised his bow to aim at the injured Hei Huo, but Moqi Danliao took the lead, turning her horse toward the arena’s exit. The Moqi brothers followed behind their sister, also heading for the exit.

Soon, everyone began to turn their horses around.

Seeing this, the nobleman who had intended to shoot again reluctantly lowered his bow and joined the others in leaving the arena.

Hei Huo struggled to his feet, pressing a hand to his wound, and staggered off.

No one cared about his departure.

Moqi She dismounted, seemingly intending to speak with Li Zhi. However, Moqi Ji grabbed his arm and gestured with his chin toward Lu Congruan, who was already walking toward Li Zhi.

As Li Zhi was about to head back to the stable, a shadow fell over her. She looked up to see Lu Congruan blocking her path.

“Young Master Lu.” She greeted him submissively, as if nothing had happened, and bowed in salute.

Lu Congruan said nothing and didn’t move aside. He stared unblinkingly at Li Zhi, his gaze full of unspoken words.

“What I said still holds true.”

Finally, he spoke.

He handed her a porcelain bottle sealed with silk fabric.

“This medicine stops bleeding and prevents scarring.”

He averted his gaze, didn’t wait for Li Zhi to respond, and turned to rejoin his companions.

Li Zhi untied the silk and sniffed the bottle’s contents. The ointment inside carried a medicinal fragrance.

Lu Congruan and his group rode away on their chosen horses, while Steward Li bowed and scraped, escorting them out of the horse farm.

Li Zhi observed the expressions of those around her. Their reactions weren’t extreme, as though using slaves for a hunt was no different from hunting rabbits.

“Banban, you were right. Someone like Young Master Lu—you’d better stay far away from him!” Jia Sui said.

But Li Zhi was thinking about something else.

“Did you notice that Hei Huo is unusually agile, unlike an ordinary person?” she said thoughtfully.

“I only noticed that he runs really fast. If it were me, I’d have been shot full of holes!” Jia Sui replied.

“Anyone else would’ve been shot full of holes too.”

Li Xiangsheng walked over and joined the conversation. He looked serious as he stared toward the stable entrance where Hei Huo had disappeared.

“He must have a secret.”

“I’ll go check on him,” Li Zhi said, heading toward the stable.

For her safety, both Li Xiangsheng and Jia Sui followed.

The stable reeked.

The smell of horse feed, manure, and fresh blood mingled together, making it far more pungent than usual.

Li Xiangsheng frowned deeply, while Jia Sui, who was used to washing horses outside, couldn’t help but cover her nose as soon as she entered the stable.

Hei Huo’s massive figure made him easy to spot.

He was curled up in the corner of the stable. His torn shirt lay to the side, the arrow had already been pulled out and discarded on the ground, and his shoulder wound was still bleeding heavily.

Seeing Li Zhi and Jia Sui enter, Hei Huo instinctively grabbed his shirt from the ground, attempting to cover his bare upper body.

“Don’t be afraid. We won’t hurt you,” Jia Sui said gently.

Hei Huo remained wary, watching them closely.

“If he stays like this, the wound will fester. I’ll go get him a basin of water!” Jia Sui announced, then turned and ran out of the stable.

Li Xiangsheng thought for a moment and said, “I have a clean piece of cloth. We can use it to bandage him.”

On the grassland, horse feed and water were in abundant supply.

Jia Sui quickly returned with a basin of clear creek water.

Perhaps realizing that resisting was futile in his current state, Hei Huo sat motionless, gritting his teeth against the pain as Jia Sui poured water over his shoulder, washing away the sand and dirt from the wound.

When the water was emptied, Hei Huo’s wound looked even more terrifying.

Li Zhi handed the medicine powder Lu Congruan had given her to Li Xiangsheng, instructing him to apply it evenly to Hei Huo’s deep, bone-exposing wound.

Until now, Hei Huo had always kept his head down, so Li Zhi had never observed him up close.

Now, everything about Hei Huo became clear.

He appeared to be around thirty years old, with three deep furrows across his forehead. His large, hooked nose dominated most of his face, yet his fierce features were offset by a pair of light brown eyes that resembled those of a gentle fawn.

Li Zhi also noticed that Hei Huo’s ears were pierced, like a woman’s.

Three holes on the left ear, three on the right—no more, no less.

The fists he clenched against his knees were like massive iron hammers. It wasn’t hard to imagine that in front of these fists, any flesh-and-blood body would shatter like a cicada’s wing.

After sprinkling on the medicine powder, Li Xiangsheng took the cloth Jia Sui handed him and tightly wrapped the wound on Hei Huo’s shoulder.

Hei Huo was drenched in sweat, but he never uttered a sound.

Li Zhi was used to Hei Huo’s silence and didn’t expect gratitude. Jia Sui and Li Xiangsheng felt the same—they were simply helping someone in need and thought nothing more of it.

Just as the three of them turned to leave, a low, strange voice came from behind them.

Hei Huo said, “…Thank you.”

Notes for Context:

• Hei Huo: The name “Hei Huo” literally means “Black Fire,” which could hint at his identity or backstory. His ears being pierced (six holes in total) may reflect cultural practices or previous servitude.