Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 159 Emei Thorn

Rong Wanyin didn't mind at all and happily cooperated.

Mo Yun dismounted and stood beside him, intently studying the road. He replied, "Miss Rong, our master's abilities are truly remarkable! This is nothing! He memorized the entire map of Guannan after just one look. He can connect every road he's traveled with the map, and he never forgets it! How can the difference between people be so vast? Why can't I do that? All these roads look the same to me..."

"You?" Rong Wanyin chuckled. She laughed even harder, remembering how Mo Yun had almost gotten lost in the market.

Mo Yun turned her head away, displeased: "Hey, Miss Rong, what are you laughing at..."

Rong Wanyin waved her hands repeatedly and laughed, "No, no... There really does seem to be a village ahead!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The group entered the village, where the houses were dilapidated and on the verge of collapse, looking as if they would fall over even without a breeze.

The three stopped in front of a dilapidated hut. There was a lock on the gate to the yard, but the yard wall had long since collapsed, and they didn't know what the lock was for.

Yan Mingzhang was the first to jump off the carriage. He looked up at the sky, which was so gloomy it seemed like it could press down at any moment. He looked around and saw that the small courtyard was full of potholes and mud, and the eaves were covered with dust and cobwebs, indicating that no one had lived there for a long time.

Yan Mingzhang looked around and his gaze fell on the axe used for chopping wood in the yard. There was no dust on the axe handle, and the firewood was stacked neatly and without any dust on it. This indicated that someone had been living in the yard recently; if someone were truly lazy, the firewood wouldn't have been stacked so neatly.

Yan Mingzhang quickened his pace, with Rong Wanyin and Mo Yun following closely behind.

Yan Mingzhang turned around and gave a few instructions: "I feel there's something strange about this courtyard. It looks like no one lives there, but there are signs of people living there everywhere. So there's only one possibility: this family is deliberately pretending that no one lives there. I don't know why. Just to be on the safe side, don't eat or drink anything when you go in."

Rong Wanyin was puzzled: "There's something strange about the courtyard. Can't we just not go in? Or can we go to another farmer's house?"

Yan Mingzhang frowned and shook his head: "The storm is coming soon, it's too late. Besides, this household is strange, and the other households in the village may be too. Forget it, we'll play it by ear."

Mo Yun and Rong Wanyin nodded.

Yan Mingzhang gently knocked on the door of the small house, but there was no response. Yan Mingzhang knocked a few more times.

"Coming, coming..." an aged voice rang out. After a long while, the door slowly opened, and an old woman appeared in the doorway. The old woman had gray hair and a face covered in wrinkles, but her eyes revealed a glint of shrewdness that was difficult to detect. She warily scrutinized the group of people in front of her, her brows furrowing slightly, seemingly hesitant about whether to let them in.

Yan Mingzhang stepped forward, cupped his hands slightly, and said respectfully, "Madam, my two siblings and I are merchants passing through this area. We are on our way and a storm is approaching, so we have nowhere to go. We apologize for disturbing you, but we hope you could do us the favor of letting us stay the night. We would be extremely grateful and would not disturb your peace at all."

Everyone looked earnest, and Mo Yun continued, "Auntie, we are all kind people, not bad people at all. It's just that the weather is really bad, and if we don't have a place to stay, we're afraid we'll be in danger. We've come all the way from the Liao border, and we're exhausted from the journey. We hope you can help us."

After Mo Yun finished speaking, Yan Mingzhang and Rong Wanyin exchanged a furtive glance, their faces remaining impassive, but inwardly they felt uneasy. The old woman looked them over suspiciously for a moment, then stepped aside, gesturing for them to come in.

After everyone was seated, the old woman poured tea for them. Yan Mingzhang picked up his teacup but didn't drink. His gaze swept over the old woman's hands as he subtly observed her every move.

"Old man, do you know how far it is from here to Mount Song?" Yan Mingzhang asked.

The old woman replied with a smile, "If we ride at full speed, we can arrive in less than four hours."

Yan Mingzhang recognized the old woman's fluent Mandarin and was certain she was no ordinary village woman, so he asked directly, "May I ask who you are, senior, and why you are impersonating the owner of this house?"

The old woman paused, then asked, "What do you mean, sir?"

Yan Mingzhang laughed and said, "Senior, you flatter me. You speak fluent Mandarin, even with a slight Beijing accent. When you were pouring water, you seemed unfamiliar with some of the furnishings, which means you are not the owner of this place. A rural woman would at most travel by oxcart to the city, so why did you say you would ride a fast horse? This means you often ride horses, and you can get there in four hours, which means you ride a good horse."

"Hahaha, not bad, you junior are quite interesting." The old woman clapped her hands and laughed. "Aren't you afraid I'll retaliate if you say it so directly?"

"Don't be afraid," Yan Mingzhang said with a smile. "Senior's eyes are open and bright. It's obvious at a glance that he's not a bad person. There must be a reason why he's pretending to be the owner today. Of course, the most important thing is Senior's hands."

The old woman beamed, showing no anger at being exposed, but rather full of praise. She asked with feigned seriousness, "What happened to your hand?"

Yan Mingzhang continued, "The calluses on your hands, especially the base of your thumb, the inside of your fingers, and the index, middle, and ring fingers, are caused by the force required to grip the weapon tightly, putting considerable pressure on the base of your thumb and causing frequent friction during movement."

The old woman retorted, "So what? Couldn't it have been caused by using farm tools?"

Yan Mingzhang continued, "These are probably calluses formed from holding smaller weapons for a long time. When using farm tools such as hoes and shovels, calluses are mostly concentrated at the base of the palm near the wrist and at the joints where the fingers connect to the palm. This is because these parts mainly bear the force when swinging farm tools, and rub against the handle of the tools repeatedly. When using tools such as sickles, calluses may appear between the thumb and forefinger, because when harvesting crops, it is necessary to grip the sickle tightly and control its cutting direction."

Yan Mingzhang then looked at Rong Wanyin and asked, "What could this weapon, which is suitable for women and is relatively small and smooth, be?"

The old woman laughed instead of getting angry, and said, "Interesting, interesting! I don't believe you can really tell."

The old woman readily extended her hands for Rong Wanyin to see.

Rong Wanyin examined the old woman's fingers for a moment, her eyes darting over the calluses on her index and middle fingers. She pondered, "Short, smooth weapons, like short swords and daggers... That's it... the Emei dagger!"

Upon hearing this, the old woman beamed with joy: "Interesting."

Suddenly, her expression hardened. Without saying a word, she lightly brushed the ground with her feet and slid backward. In the blink of an eye, the Emei dagger from the hidden pocket in her sleeve had slipped into her hand and was aimed at Rong Wanyin's face. Her movements were as fast as lightning.