Wen Chaoshen held a tile that A Shui had found, still showing traces of melted snow. He poured some wine into it and drank it in one gulp. The icy sensation in his chest and stomach felt like a sharp bde cutting through him. He exhaled deeply and reproached A Shui: "With your martial skills, you could get two jars of wine, but couldn't manage to find two bowls?"

  A Shui leaned forward, drawing a small circle with her finger, and said mysteriously: "Do you know whose wine this is?"

  Wen Chaoshen shook his head.

  "No idea."

  In the past three years, his visits to the county city had been few, and the only pce he was somewhat familiar with was Magistrate Liu Jinshi’s County Office.

  A Shui took a sip from the tile, smacked her lips, and said: "This wine belongs to the Seventh Master."

  Wen Chaoshen poured her more wine and asked: "And who is the Seventh Master?"

  A Shui replied: "The local tyrant in the west of the county city, with a goatee and a hooked nose. He has a few martial artists under him who are quite skilled.

  These guys often bully the common folk, ciming to be part of the Martial World, yet they’re all incredibly stingy. I asked them for a drink, and not one of them agreed.

  Infuriating! So I smashed his hall, broke his weapons, and yanked off his goatee!"

  She exhaled a faint whiff of wine, her demeanor wild and unrestrained, unlike ordinary women.

  "That felt good!"

  Wen Chaoshen praised.

  A Shui took another swig of wine, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

  "Later, I grabbed him by the colr and asked if he wanted his life or the wine. He chose his life."

  "The old guy was afraid he couldn't withstand a punch from me, so he gave me a horse and a cart. I loaded the wine and came back."

  Wen Chaoshen paused, holding the wine.

  "You just said he gave you a horse cart?"

  A Shui nodded: "Yes."

  Wen Chaoshen was surprised: "I didn't see a horse cart when I came."

  A Shui lifted the wooden lid of a nearby broken pot, and the aroma of meat mixed with the unique scent of horse meat wafted out with the boiling water.

  "I cooked one leg first, and the rest is buried in the snow behind the temple, ready to eat whenever."

  Wen Chaoshen looked at the horse meat in the pot, his mouth twitching.

  In Kuhai County, horses weren't cheap. A well-trained draft horse started at two taels of silver.

  One could say the edible value of a horse was far less than its actual value.

  This woman, A Shui... she just sughtered it without a second thought.

  "What about the cart?" he asked.

  A Shui casually pointed to the newly added firewood beside the temple.

  "Took it apart."

  "Cooking horse meat with the cart, pure and simple."

  Wen Chaoshen: "..."

  A Shui used two dry twigs as chopsticks, picked up a piece of horse meat, blew on it, and put it in her mouth, chewing slowly.

  "The wine bowls had been used by the people in the hall. I found them dirty, so I didn't take them.

  I say... in this cold weather, having wine to drink and meat to eat is good enough. Don't be so greedy."

  She said, staring at Wen Chaoshen's peculiar expression, and added: "Hey, that look in your eyes, are you thinking the horse could be sold for silver?"

  Wen Chaoshen, pointed out by her, seemed to understand a bit, but not entirely.

  A Shui raised her wine to him: "Drink."

  Wen Chaoshen clinked cups with her and took a big gulp, which made him cough violently. His chest and stomach warmed up, and even his forehead broke out in a fine sweat.

  "Good wine," he said hoarsely.

  A Shui put down the tile holding the wine and continued to eat the meat.

  "You don't understand the rules of these local tyrants. The horse belonged to the Seventh Master, branded with his mark. Others can't touch it. If you touch the horse, it's like touching the money in the Seventh Master's pocket.

  If I sold it to another horse trader, the Seventh Master could bring people to snatch the horse back.

  Selling the horse would harm others."

  Wen Chaoshen was a bit confused:"Are there bandits in the county city?"

  A Shui corrected him:"Not bandits, but official bandits.

  Liu Jinshi wears an official's robe and doesn't dare openly viote the ws of the Qi Kingdom, but there are always dirty deeds that need someone to do."

  Wen Chaoshen listened, pondering, and looked up at her:"You're not from Kuhai County. How do you know all this so well?"

  A Shui sneered and swallowed the horse meat in one gulp.

  "The Martial World is the same everywhere."

  Wen Chaoshen stared at A Shui, his eyes clear as water.

  "No, that's not right. A Shui, you've met Liu Jinshi, haven't you?"

  A Shui's action of eating meat paused briefly, and that momentary pause indirectly confirmed Wen Chaoshen's words.

  She raised her eyes, scrutinizing Wen Chaoshen with a sharp gaze, and clicked her tongue:

  "Wen Chaoshen... I didn't believe in fate before, but after meeting you, I'm starting to believe a little."

  Wen Chaoshen didn't understand: "What do you mean?"

  A Shui unexpectedly pced a piece of horse meat in his wine bowl, saying: "A smart person like you, if not for fate's tricks, wouldn't end up in this situation."

  Wen Chaoshen downed several mouthfuls of strong wine, seeing double, and seemed to have no compints about his miserable state. Instead, he asked A Shui: "Still the same question as yesterday, have you found your parents?"

  A Shui pursed her lips, the fragrance of osmanthus wine lingering on her lips, but the wine's aroma turned into a chilling killing intent: "They're dead. Five years ago, a flood hit Kuhai County, and they were swept away by the waters. Their bodies have never been found."

  Wen Chaoshen sensed the killing intent in A Shui's eyes and asked: "Is there more to it? Was it not a natural disaster, but man-made?"

  A Shui opened her mouth, her lips trembling slightly, but she couldn't speak. Finally, she took a swig of wine and said:"Whether it's a natural disaster or man-made, it's impossible to pursue now. What I want to know is, even though my parents died five years ago, why have I been receiving letters from them all these years, always saying... they're doing well."

  Those st three words were squeezed out from between her teeth.

  Wen Chaoshen stared at her without speaking, and after a while, poured wine into her tile.

  After drinking, A Shui said again: "Liu Jinshi said to give him some time, and he'll give me an expnation... On the third of this month, I'll go with you to see him."

  Wen Chaoshen hesitated for a moment and said: "Aren't you afraid he'll deceive you?"

  A Shui's gaze shifted slightly, nding on Wen Chaoshen, and she said word by word: "He wouldn't dare."