The snow-capped mountains stretched endlessly in every direction, broken only by the rise and fall of white ridges. Dark smears and uneven lines cut across the pale expanse at irregular depths. Cai Zhao studied the landscape with open curiosity. "Isn't snow supposed to be white? Where is all that black coming from?" She had grown up in Luoying Valley, where the seasons stayed mild and gentle. In winter, a few scattered flakes might drift down before dissolving in the puddles. She had never stood before drifts this tall. Lantian Yu turned back to answer her. "This is still the foot of the mountain. People pass through here constantly, so fresh snow never gets a chance to settle. What you are seeing is the rock and soil underneath. Higher up, the trees lose their snow when the mountain wind strips the branches bare. From a distance, they look dark." He led the group at the front, the wariness he had worn in the inn now gone from his bearing. He walked straight ...
The shopkeeper was lying on his side, face to the wall, as if asleep. When the man sent to wake him rolled him over, a knife jutted from the chest. Half the mattress had drunk deep of blood and gone stiff with cold. The room went quiet. Everyone looked at each other. The thief Lantian Yu stepped forward. Jin Baohui immediately raised a hand. "Check whether the man had valuables on him. Set them aside. Nobody touches anything." Lantian Yu's face was flat. "Then do it yourself." "I'm not a coroner." Jin Baohui produced a snow-white handkerchief, pressed it to his nose, and retreated against the wall with elaborate distaste. The handsome middle-aged traveler and his two servants had drifted to a corner and stood there watching, arms at their sides, showing no interest in moving closer. Zhou Zhiqin looked at the young faces of Cai Zhao and the others, then stepped forward to examine the body himself. He was not a physician, but he had seen more c...