Chapter 249

A vice leader reports the final count to the caravan’s tent of survivors: a hundred and thirty seven people remain of a caravan that once numbered over a thousand. Seventy eight are Gu Masters, fifty nine are mortals. Only twelve of the Gu Masters are rank three, twenty eight are rank two, and thirty eight are rank one, and the count includes the injured and disabled, so fewer than half still hold their full strength. Jia Long weighs abandoning the crippled Gu Masters against the burden they place on the caravan’s logistics. He knows doing so would break morale and could collapse the whole caravan. A vice leader points out that the goods survived far better than the people did, so distributing the ownerless goods could recover most of the losses, and greed lights up the tent. Chen Shuang Jin demands at least thirty percent for Chen clan, citing its losses and its elephant kills. Wei Chi clan and Zhi clan object in turn, Zhi clan demanding twenty percent for itself, and the argument grows loud enough to draw a crowd outside. ^{ch. 249}

Shang Xin Ci stands and redirects the room toward the danger of moving on rather than dividing spoils. She announces she will donate all of Zhang clan’s goods without compensation as an example, and the room answers with startled exclamations; she says only that she is tired and takes her leave. The tent erupts again behind her, now arguing over an even larger pool. Walking away, she admits to herself that the gesture was not heartfelt, only forced by her position as a mortal girl carrying wealth she cannot defend among grown Gu Masters. She finds Xiao Die weeping in their tent, still hoping Zhang Zhu will return. Shang Xin Ci tells her he may never come back, then insists they must rely only on themselves, that mortals have their own strengths. She asks whether Xiao Die trusts her. Xiao Die says she does, and Shang Xin Ci sends her to gather their savings and fetch Hei Tu and Bai Yun. ^{ch. 249}

Five minutes later, Fang Yuan sits across from Shang Xin Ci as she confirms she gave away goods that were technically his, only lent to her. He privately judges it a shrewd move. With Zhang Zhu dead, the other Gu Masters could easily have killed her for her wealth and blamed the beasts, since Zhang clan would never investigate closely on her behalf; surrendering the goods removed the target from her back, even though she knows that safety alone will not hold. She offers him two trunks of primeval stones, most of it his own earnings plus her fifty-fifty share, as an apology for having disposed of his property without asking. The two hold a long, silent, mutually understanding look. She has already guessed he hides a Gu Master’s identity and some painful reason for concealing it, and is unsure of his true strength, but has no one else to turn to. Fang Yuan tells her to take the trunks back. She protests that they are a gift, and that keeping such treasure herself only invites danger. He explains that when he and Bai Yun entered the caravan gravely wounded and at their weakest, it was her shelter that gave them time to recover, a debt he treats as her having saved their lives. He tells her a droplet of water received in need is repaid with a whole spring, refuses the stones again, and vows to protect her with all his strength. Shang Xin Ci is moved to tears. ^{ch. 249}