“Let’s grab something to eat. You must be hungry,” Zhang Ming suggested as soon as they left the stall.

  “Mhm,” Xue and Minzhu nodded together.

  “There’s a small tavern nearby. I saw dumplings there. You like those, right?” he said, sounding a little awkward.

  The girls trotted beside their father, holding tightly to his clothes and focusing all their attention on keeping up with him. Inside the noisy tavern, they ate with great enthusiasm, no longer holding back or constantly glancing around. Out of habit, their eyes still swept over the crowd, watching for danger, but without the old tension and hidden fear. Whenever something unpleasant caught their attention, they simply looked to their father.

  He had changed a little during the time they’d been apart, grown rougher and more unkempt, yet at the same time he looked healthier and stronger. A powerful vitality seemed to radiate from him.

  “Where were you all this time?” Minzhu asked directly, reaching for another dumpling.

  “Uh… I got lost,” Zhang Ming replied with a smile. “There’s an endless forest on top of a huge mountain. It took me a long time to find a way out.”

  “Really?” the girls exclaimed in genuine surprise, their short legs swinging as they sat on stools too tall for them.

  “Of course. And it was boring too, nothing but trees.”

  He wanted badly to tell them about everything he’d been through, and just as much to hear how they had survived, how they’d made it all the way from Baohe to Puyang. But the tavern was packed with noisy patrons moving about, loud conversations mixing with the smells of food cooking over open flames. Street vendors wandered in and out, barkers shouted their wares, and idle onlookers lingered by the entrance.

  It wasn’t a place for serious talk.

  It couldn’t have been easy for them. I’ll wait for a better moment, he thought.

  “Tell me where you live now,” he said instead. “And how you get money for food.”

  “We live with Master Ji Shen,” Xue explained. “We help around the house. We go into the forest to gather nuts and bamboo shoots, then sell them.”

  “Mhm,” Minzhu confirmed after swallowing a dumpling. “At the Red Sturgeon Tavern, to Mister Wang. He’s nice.”

  “I see. Master Ji Shen…” Zhang Ming frowned briefly. “What kind of man is he?”

  “Grandpa is good,” Minzhu nodded firmly. “You’ve seen him before. He only has one arm, and he used to buy fish from us.”

  “Good,” Zhang Ming said. “You’ve both done well.”

  “Hm…” Xue blushed shyly at his praise.

  After their filling meal of meat dumplings, the girls led Zhang Ming to their new home. Along the way, Minzhu chattered happily about Grandpa Ji Shen, who had taken them in and given them work.

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  Her smile never left her face. As they left the tavern, she finally gathered the courage to do something she’d never dared before, she reached for her father’s hand, gripping two of his fingers tightly. To her delight, he didn’t pull away, continuing on as if nothing had happened.

  Xue tried as well, stretching toward his other hand, but at the last moment lost her nerve and withdrew. The whole way there she envied her sister, until in a burst of bravery she grabbed the hem of his robe instead and held on all the way home.

  At last they stopped before a large estate.

  Zhang Ming lifted his head, studying the plain yet solid gates. When the girls pushed the heavy doors open, a sturdy house came into view inside the courtyard, with simple roof tiles, thick support beams, and walls without a single crack. The neat yard, where every tree and shrub grew in its proper place, gave off a feeling of quiet order and hidden strength.

  So this is where you found shelter… Clever girls, he thought.

  “Dad, come on! We’ll introduce you to Grandpa!” Minzhu tugged his hand.

  “That wouldn’t be polite,” he shook his head. “The master of the house didn’t invite me in. You should tell him who’s here first. Then he can decide whether to let me in.”

  Zhang Ming knew well how he must look from the outside. The old man had taken the girls in without asking anything in return, taught them, cared for them, barging in uninvited would be rude. Showing respect was the least he could do.

  At the city gates, he’d even had to pay double to get through, spinning lies about his disguise being meant to scare off bandits.

  Before the girls even reached the steps, the master of the house appeared at the doorway, accompanied by a maid and a well-proportioned young man.

  “Grandpa, this is my dad!” Minzhu ran up to the one-armed old man. “We found him! Dad, this is Grandpa!”

  The warm, assessing gaze of Master Ji Shen met Zhang Ming’s sharp, wary eyes. Both put on smiles, one out of politeness and gratitude, the other so as not to hurt the feelings of the two little girls who had brought a mountain bandit to his doorstep. Even from a distance, Ji Shen could sense the lingering stench of blood and death clinging to Zhang Ming. He had met men like this before, they always carried a wildness about them, sometimes even madness.

  “Welcome,” the old man said with a smile, deciding to give the stranger a chance. “I’m glad to meet you. Please, come in as our guest.”

  “Thank you. You’re too kind,” Zhang Ming replied with a restrained bow.

  Then he deliberately removed the sword from his belt and handed it to Xue.

  “Huh?” The girl blinked in confusion, but accepted the weapon.

  They went inside, drank tea, and chatted about this and that. Everyone seemed friendly, yet the two girls kept exchanging glances, they could feel the tension in the air. The usual ease was gone. Everyone in the house except the old master appeared uneasy. Yong Hao stood like a bristling guard dog sensing an intruder. The maid positioned herself behind Zhang Ming instead of behind the master as she usually did, and a strange pressure radiated from her.

  “Thank you for your hospitality,” Zhang Ming said, glancing out the window. “But I must go. I’m staying at a roadside inn, and I still have urgent matters to take care of before dark.”

  “What? Why?” Minzhu jumped up in panic.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll settle things and come back tomorrow morning.”

  “I’m going with you!”

  “No,” Zhang Ming refused sharply. “You can’t. These are adult matters.”

  “No! I’m going! Don’t leave us! Dad, don’t leave us…”

  Tears streamed down her cheeks as her tiny hands trembled while clutching his clothes.

  “I’ll come back,” Zhang Ming tried to calm her.

  Minzhu sniffled softly, staring at him with pale cheeks. Xue, brows furrowed, silently took hold of his robe as well, standing beside her sister.

  Ji Shen and Hei Xun exchanged shocked glances, unsure whether to intervene, while the boy stared at the girls as if he no longer recognized them.

  “Children aren’t allowed there! That’s final!” Zhang Ming said sternly. His sharp tone made them flinch and shrink back. “Bring me my sword. Now!”

  “Don’t go…” Minzhu whimpered barely audibly. “Take us with you…”

  “Let go of my robe!” he barked.

  Frowning, Zhang Ming stood up and looked down at his younger daughter. Under his strict gaze, she fell silent, her head drooping helplessly in sorrow. Once he saw no one was following him, he took the sword back from Xue, strapped it to his waist, and strode out of the estate.

  I can’t take them to the black market! I’m not insane, he thought grimly.

  Damn… it hurts so much inside. But I don’t want Lu Piao or the other bandits to see them.