Chapter 41 — The Talisman Painter Who Guards the Village

Guests from the Capital

The morning dew still lingered on the touchstone when Diệp Sương climbed up to the observation station, her fingers gently touching the cold stone surface to feel the stability of the Linh Mạch flow under the Hạn Thủy ravine - a habit she had kept every morning for more than a month now, since the station's completion.

"Still light blue," she said to the boy standing next to her, the eldest son of a family in Diêm Cốc Village who had just been chosen to learn how to read indicators. "Remember, light blue is stable, just record the time and no need to alarm."

"Yes, I remember," the boy replied, leaning down to write in the small notebook with clumsy handwriting but careful with each line.

"If you switch to orange, don't wait for me," Diệp Sương added, her voice serious. "It's not too late to hit the gong three times, then run to find me. The stone changes color much slower than the real danger, remember that well."

"Yes." The boy nodded repeatedly, his eyes never leaving the stone, as if afraid that if he was absent-minded for just a moment he would miss something important.

The morning wind blowing from the crack carried the cold, dry air typical of the border region, unlike the damp fog of Vân Tiêu Peak that Diệp Sương knew so well. She stood for a moment, looking down at the waking Diêm Cốc Village and the first wisps of kitchen smoke rising into the pale sky. She took a deep breath, as had become her morning habit—a way to remind herself that after four months this arid land was no longer strange—then turned toward the mountain path when she heard horse hooves at the gate.

*

"Doan Khâm Vân Ti is here!" Vệ Chinh ran over, panting, his shirt still messy because he had just gotten out of bed. "General Sam called you back immediately. They arrived three days earlier than the notice."

Diệp Sương frowned. The advance letter from Lam Thủy Town only briefly mentioned that a survey team from Khâm Vân Ti would stop by to reassess the situation after the battle at Hạn Thủy ravine, without specifying the date or time, and even less mentioning that they would arrive so unusually early.

When she and Vệ Chinh ran to the main gate, the group had already entered the courtyard. About a dozen cavalrymen wearing dark blue uniforms with silver trim - the typical uniform of Khâm Vân Ti - surrounded a small, delicately carved carriage, different from the rustic appearance of all vehicles commonly seen on the border.

The person stepping down from the carriage was a middle-aged man, with a slim figure, a face so calm that it showed almost no emotion, only his eyes were sharp, scanning around the yard as if evaluating each brick.

"Lỗ Khắc Viên, Supervisor of Khâm Vân Ti," Sầm Nguyên Trạch introduced, his voice was polite but could not hide his reserve. "This is Chu Diệp Sương, a disciple of Tông Vân Các who is guarding the Tiêu Sa Pass, who commanded the defense at the recent Hạn Thủy ravine."

"Ah, it's you," Lỗ Khắc Viên said, his voice gentle but there was something that made Diệp Sương uncomfortable, as if he knew about her well before anyone introduced her. "Your fame has reached the capital Lệ Dương. An outer sect disciple from a rural background, you single-handedly turned around a large demon tide in a desolate frontier. That story, to be honest, caught the attention of many people at the court."

"I just did my job," Diệp Sương replied, bowing her head respectfully and trying to keep her voice calm, even though something in Lỗ Khắc Viên's eyes made the back of her neck prickle.

*

At the same time, one person in the group - a young woman wearing a simple gray clerical shirt, holding a thick stack of books - walked closer and bowed politely. "Miss, I'm Chúc Nghi Lam, I'm accompanying you on this survey trip," she said, her voice was soft, her eyes lowered somewhat timidly, different from Lỗ Khắc Viên's confident demeanor.

Diệp Sương nodded in response, not paying much attention, because at that moment, a young soldier in the group stepped forward, holding a small painted wooden box in her hand.

"Miss Chu," the soldier said, "this is a decree from the council of elders of the Tông Vân Các, sent along with the group for convenience. They told me to hand it over in person."

Diệp Sương received the wooden box, her hands shaking slightly as she opened the lid. Inside was a green silk strip—the symbol of an inner-sect disciple—along with a brief decree in the formal handwriting of the council secretary, confirming her promotion from outer sect disciple to inner sect and clearly stating her merit at Hạn Thủy ravine as the basis.

"Finally, it's official," Thanh Việt whispered in her ear as he hurried over after hearing the news of the group's arrival, his eyes bright with joy for her.

Diệp Sương tightened the silk ribbon in her hand. A strange feeling of warmth mixed with insecurity arose—her promotion had come on the same day someone like Lỗ Khắc Viên set foot at Tiêu Sa Pass, as if those two things, although unrelated, were forever entangled in her heart.

"I think they intentionally sent it at the same time," he whispered to Thanh Việt as the two of them stood alone in a corner of the yard, away from the sight of the guests. "So that if you have any objections to Khâm Vân Ti's proposal, it will be difficult for you to object outright on the day you have just been promoted thanks to your own merits here."

Thanh Việt frowned, his eyes followed the figure of Lỗ Khắc Viên slowly walking along the citadel wall, looking at each corner of the fortification like a person evaluating an item. "Maybe you're thinking too far ahead," he said, but his voice was uncertain. "But maybe not. Anyway, it's better to be cautious."

*

At noon, in the small meeting hall of the pass, Lỗ Khắc Viên spread a map of the Hạn Thủy ravine area on the table, his finger lightly tapping on the location marking the old battlefield.

"I came here," he said, "to reassess the full extent of Linh Mạch activity around the rift, after receiving reports of the battle. The court is very interested in this area - such a powerful source of energy, left to waste for so many years, is a shame."

"Wasteful?" Diệp Sương asked again, unable to hide her surprise. "Sir, the Hạn Thủy ravine just about swallowed both this pass and Diêm Cốc Village. I don't think it's a resource, but a wound that needs to be healed."

Lỗ Khắc Viên smiled slightly, the smile did not reach his eyes. "Wounds or resources, sometimes they are just two different names for the same thing, my lady. I will have my team investigate more closely in the next few days. I heard you discovered some old marker posts near the fissure area?"

Diệp Sương paused momentarily. That detail was only recorded in the appendix of the report Tất Bá Kỳ had brought back to the sect. She had never mentioned it directly to anyone in this Khâm Vân Ti group. "Have you read the report, sir?" she asked, trying to keep her voice normal.

"Partly," Lỗ Khắc Viên replied, without explaining further, just folding the map neatly. "I'd like to see those stakes for myself, if you don't mind leading the way."

"I don't mind," Diệp Sương replied, although a silent vigilance began to arise in her heart. "I'm just curious, sir — why did such a small detail in the appendix make you personally come all the way from the capital?"

Lỗ Khắc Viên looked straight at her for a moment, his sharp eyes suggesting that he was weighing his answer. "I am a careful worker, my lady," he said at last, his voice still gentle as before. "Any trace of old survey work, no matter how small, needs to be fully recorded in the records. That is Khâm Vân Ti's responsibility, nothing more and nothing less." The overly smooth answer made Diệp Sương even more suspicious, but she just nodded, didn't ask any more questions, memorized every word in her head to later tell Thanh Việt.

*

In the evening, when the barracks had calmed down after a busy day of welcoming guests, Diệp Sương sat at a small table in her room and opened a notebook to record observations about Hạn Thủy ravine over the past few months, intending to review them before leading the group into the field the next morning.

Through the slightly open door, she accidentally caught sight of Chúc Nghi Lam standing in the opposite hallway, holding a small notebook. Chúc Nghi Lam quickly glanced around before bending down to copy something—not from the group's books, but seemingly from the notes Diệp Sương had left on the wooden notice board of the observation station, where the duty schedule and a few short observations about the crack area were recorded.

Diệp Sương was about to ask, but Chúc Nghi Lam quickly closed the book, bowed quickly to a passing soldier, and then quickly walked away, her hasty appearance completely different from the timidity of the morning.

She stood silently at the door for a long time, watching the figure disappear in the dim light of the oil lamp. A vague but persistent feeling crept into her heart—not really doubt, but more like an unformed question hanging between the joy of the morning's promotion and something she could not yet name that was quietly starting.

On the way back to her room, she stopped by Sầm Nguyên Trạch, who was standing guard alone in the yard, and told him what she had just seen. After listening, the commander's sturdy face suddenly darkened.

"I don't like the way this person looks at Tiêu Sa Pass," he said slowly, his eyes still facing the gate where the torches of Khâm Vân Ti guards flickered in the darkness. "It's as if he's measuring a piece of land that is about to be sold, not a place that someone just died to protect. Pay close attention, but don't show that you're paying attention." Diệp Sương nodded, then returned to the room, her heart feeling heavier than in the morning, when the inner-sect disciple's blue silk sash was still draped over the edge of the bed, glistening under the oil lamp like an incomplete promise.

That night, before going to sleep, Diệp Sương carefully put her notebook in the bottom of the chest, under an old shirt, an instinctive action that she could not clearly explain, only knowing that from the moment she saw Chúc Nghi Lam bowing her head to copy something in the dark, she no longer wanted to leave anything of hers lying out of sight.