It was the year 1840 of the First Emperor Era, the second year after the end of the Tianyuan War. The great enemy was gone, the realm was at peace, and a long-absent calm had returned; the people lived and worked in contentment.
In Mingzhou City, in the north of the Han Empire, the night was deep and the world was hushed. After a day of clamor and toil, the city, wrapped in its boundless veil of darkness, had gone quiet.
Most of the people who had labored all day were already deep in their dreams.
And yet there were still a few special trades that, for any number of reasons — to fill their bellies, to scrape a living, to chase a dream — went on working through the night.
Thieves, for one.
And the righteous champions who hunted them.
Just as the court had passed its resolution to deepen ties with the four barbarian peoples, foreign novelties came pouring into the Central Lands all at once.
Foreign thought, culture, and custom battered against the ancient kingdom, and the most visible sign of it was the rise of tall buildings.
Beside the carved beams and painted rafters, the jade-fitted mansions with their soaring eaves and tiled wings, there now rose stone houses with high roofs and jutting cornices — all hard angles, not the least bit smooth, yet imposing enough, and winning points for sheer novelty.
The high-flying rooftop thieves were rather fond of these ever-multiplying Western buildings too — tall enough, complicated enough, and the walls sometimes nailed with iron plates and wooden railings, hung with lamps, fitted with little balconies, all of it wonderfully easy to climb.
Every last detail of it made things convenient for these practitioners of an ancient craft when it came time to bolt.
Word was the Western barbarians had a few old colleagues of their own — white-robed, wielding sleeve-blades, called the Assassins — who were experts at scaling and leaping among such buildings as if they were no obstacle at all.
The lady thief Qin Yu, a gorgeous little tramp, went streaking through the high rooftops just then, her lithe form flying between the buildings. She had chosen the trade of rooftop thief because she craved a life of thrills.
The world looked, for now, like oil poured on a roaring fire — all flourishing on the surface — but beneath the steady calm surged dark undercurrents, and all the darkness lay hidden under the splendor and the glory.
That darkness was born of human malice and desire, and so long as there was darkness, there would be people to do the dirty work. Qin Yu was, without question, one of them.
Tonight, having once again successfully cleaned out some rich dog's mansion, she was certain her career had reached a fresh peak of excitement and challenge.
Her body, sensual and powerful as a hunting leopard's, traced a stunning arc through the air, and the woman landed firm and steady — because up ahead, at the mouth of the street, a man in white had stepped out and planted himself square across the road.
That blocking stance announced plainly enough that he had not come with friendly intentions.
A man parading around in white in the dead of night was either an idiot or a poser with the strength to back it up — there was probably no third possibility.
Qin Yu set her hand on the hilt of the short blade at the small of her back, narrowed her eyes, and began to size up her opponent.
He had clearly come prepared, waiting at his ease for her to wear herself out; a mindless run or dodge might well drop her into some trap laid in advance. In other words, a clash of force was unavoidable.
Alone, no official uniform, no standard-issue weapon — so not a man of the Six Gates.
No folding fan or other poser's prop, no young-master's getup, no righteous proclamation of justice — so not some hot-blooded greenhorn out roaming the world for experience.
If he was neither of those, and still he'd barred her path in the dead of night... then he could only be one of those bastards who did jobs for money: a knight-errant.
Qin Yu cursed her luck under her breath. The Six Gates' constables had their discipline, and the young heroes of the jianghu had a martial artist's pride; only these meddlesome errants did as they pleased, no holds barred.
Her wary gaze swept over him, trying to read his martial school, his fighting style, and how much trouble he'd be from the smallest of details.
First she looked at his hands — good, slender fingers like fine jade, the knuckles not pronounced; it seemed he was no expert with hidden weapons.
And lying in wait here rather than ambushing her mid-flight meant his lightness skill probably wasn't much either... So she let out a small breath of relief.
For a rooftop thief, an opponent poor at hidden weapons and lightness skill was very good news indeed.
...And then she watched him slide a long, thick, hard, rod-shaped object out of his sleeve.
Shit, she thought.
A Bifang Type-3 scattergun — a heavy firearm smuggled in from the Departing-Fire Nation, the Blazing Theocracy, scorned within the trade as a "boomstick." One pull, and dozens of pellets sprayed out to fill the air, blanketing a whole stretch of space no less thoroughly than a sky-filling rain of hidden weapons.
Dodge a hair too slowly and you'd eat a few of those tempered-steel beans; take one full in the face and you'd turn into a hornet's nest on the spot — a thing far more vicious than even the hidden weapons of the Tang Sect.
Damn the Departing-Fire Nation; their martial arts went undeveloped, and yet they cooked up tricks and contraptions like these, all crooked cunning and heretical craft.
But how to put it... the empire's martial powerhouses had every reason to look down on such crooked cunning.
Even the brutal, vicious thunder-cannons, even the sky-filling spray of pellets, were to them no more than a mosquito bite that could be parried with a casual flourish of the sword.
Qin Yu, however, was not among those people — otherwise she'd never have settled for being a mere rooftop thief — so when she saw the errant across from her actually produce that big black hard thing, she knew today's business could only be settled by wits.
Just as she was working out how to break the deadlock and slip away, the errant across from her suddenly let out a sigh. "Haah, why is it a woman again... Miss, I advise you to surrender at once. You have the right to remain silent, but anything you say..."
The voice was very young, with even a trace of boyishness to it. A young greenhorn, was he? But that complaint of his made her eyes light up... it seemed she had run into a rather interesting boy.
Her mind made up, she smiled with bewitching charm, swayed her hips, and stepped a few graceful paces closer, her voice soft and seductive as she laughed lightly. "What's this... is little brother the kind of real man who never hits a woman?"
"Not exactly... when I deal with a woman, even I scare myself." Even as he said it, the young errant could not help but back up a few steps, and his voice quickened a touch. "Listen, Miss, you've gone and done it. I strongly advise you not to resist. Be a good girl and let yourself be taken — surrendering outright is better for us both... I mean it. Don't say you weren't warned."
There it was!
She'd heard of it long ago — that some fresh-out-the-gate boys, clutching their ideals of justice and their naive convictions, found themselves caught in two minds over the older sisters standing on the enemy's side of things.
These adorable boys were so very interesting, so terribly interesting — like tender, mouthwatering cuts of fresh meat.
Tease them just a little and they'd flush red to the ears and give the most darling reactions... Ah, it seemed she'd hit the jackpot.
She wondered what type this little morsel was. The pure innocent who knew nothing of what passed between men and women? The cute type who looked just like a girl? Or the tsundere who was secretly fascinated by women's bodies while putting on a prim and proper front?
All manner of improper thoughts welled up in Qin Yu's mind. She advanced a few more steps and put on a pitiful air. "Little brother, do you really have to arrest big sister? Big sister is so pitiful... if you send her off to the magistrate's keeping, big sister will surely be treated this way and that — can you bear it? Let big sister go, won't you? Just let her off this once. At most, at most..."
She blinked her misty, dewy eyes, stole a quick glance at him, lowered her head, and said with coy bashfulness, "At most, big sister will teach you some very interesting things..."
So saying, she stepped a few paces nearer still, her slender figure swaying gently, the close-fitting night-robe tracing out a soul-stirring silhouette. A rooftop thief's long years of training had given her a figure she was proud of.
The little morsel across from her actually retreated another step, his voice quickening further. "Halt! I'm warning you one last time. Stop what you're doing, or else—"
...Hmph, a greenhorn after all. Scared, was he?
"Little brother, can you really bear to shoot? At this range, big sister would just be blown to pieces..." Qin Yu's heart laughed all the more smugly; she took his words as a signal of weakness. "Don't be in such a hurry, little brother," the lady thief said with a smiling lilt. "Aren't you the least bit curious what interesting things big sister will do with you?"
Seizing the instant his attention wavered, the muscles she had quietly drawn taut exploded with tremendous force. A bright flash of blade vanished in the moonlight as a flying claw shot whistling through the air.
She gave him no time to speak, no chance to react: Qin Yu drew the short blade in her right hand, hurled the flying claw with her left, and launched herself forward, charging straight at the target that had now entered her killing range.
What big sister was about to teach him... was a most, most precious life lesson.
Never, ever underestimate a woman.
The cold wind struck her face, killing intent all around. Qin Yu's eyes had gone icy cold.
Her left hand tightened; the flying claw she'd thrown had already bound up that firearm, and a flick of the mechanism wrenched the deadly weapon clean out of the enemy's hand.
At the same moment she was already charging in, her short blade's edge like flowing water, its point closing in on the target. She could already see his face.
He did not stumble back, did not raise a guard, and there wasn't even alarm on his face — only a low sigh hanging at her ear, full of weariness and disappointment. What was he sighing about? Another failed mission?
The sorrow of forever falling into the hands of women? What a pitiful little brother...
But the next instant, his figure flickered, and she found him neither dodging nor evading but coming straight on to meet her, his right arm lifting to paw clumsily at her.
A clumsy move... was he some bumbling oaf? Blocking a short blade barehanded?
Qin Yu did not break her motion. Her right shoulder dipped slightly, and the hilt of her short blade slid up along his arm toward his solar plexus — one stroke and the boy would be out cold... Eh?!
Suddenly her hair stood on end, and her whole body felt as though a warm current had swept through it.
The lady thief's eyes flew wide. His slender middle finger had extended straight out and landed precisely on her right forearm, and through the close-fitting night-robe, along her skin, it traced gently upward.
An indescribable, utterly senseless pleasure flooded her mind in that instant, as if that single finger held some mighty magic that pushed her into an ocean of bliss.
As the finger slid, she felt as though ten thousand tender hands were caressing her entire body at once, sweet beyond bearing from the inside out — so much so that it sapped the strength from her... Wait!
What in the world was going on?!
Qin Yu opened her mouth and could not help but let out a cry of shock. All the strength drained from her body at once, and her thousand-times-tempered assassination strokes warped instantly, riddled with openings, clumsy as an apprentice's.
Before she could even grasp what had happened, the errant across from her withdrew his finger, nimbly slipped past her lunge, then extended his left palm and gave a light pat to the lady thief's back.
Mm... aaaahhh!
It was the lightest of pats, its force no more than a breath of fresh wind — yet the terrible pleasure came surging like a tide.
That palm seemed to hold an endless heat that warmed her heart in an instant and lit up her very soul.
For a moment she felt as though she lay in the embrace of her beloved, listening to him murmur sweet nothings at her ear, roses blooming all around, their fragrance filling the air, brimming with happiness and joy.
What, what, what in the world was happening?! What was going on?!
Qin Yu felt her every bone go soft and limp, her whole body filled with a watery tenderness and a delicate powerlessness.
She staggered a few steps, trying to straighten up, to right herself and flee this place of trouble at once — but it was all too late.
He stepped forward, lifted his right foot, and tapped the tip of it lightly against the back of her knee.
She let out a stifled moan and dropped to the ground with a thud. Clamping her thighs together, she realized to her utter shame that some liquid, along with her dignity, was draining away at speed.
That light little tap had only brushed the back of her knee, yet it seemed to throw open every pore in her body and pour all that was good into them.
Wave after towering wave of pleasure crashed against her mind, leaving her dizzy and red-faced, as if she had just been through some earth-shaking round of foreplay... which was to say, she had actually, she had actually—
She'd... gone into heat?
What on earth was going on?! Incomprehensible terror surfaced in Qin Yu's eyes.
She writhed, trying to get up, but her whole body was busy savoring the afterglow of pleasure, and all the feedback to her brain was a single message: I feel amazing, don't bother me. What in the world was happening?
She checked her own condition with all her might — no drugs, no control by some wicked technique.
The only cause of all this was that errant, but... he had only touched her arm, her back, and the back of her knee, and he could make me... make me end up like this? How was that possible?!
"So you see... you'd best surrender on your own. It's better for the both of us..." Having taken her down in mere seconds, by a method that defied all explanation, the errant crouched down and sighed. "Before I arrest you, I have to stress one thing. I only just now touched your arm, your shoulder, and your back — I avoided every one of a woman's private parts. So this isn't sexual harassment, and you're not allowed to go file a complaint with some damned Women's Rights Protection Association or whatever it's called..."
"Just... just touching those trivial spots, and you could make me... make me..." Qin Yu lay on the ground, her eyes brimming with a dazed mist, a moan that set the blood racing escaping her lips. "What kind of technique is this — who, who on earth are you?!"
"I'm a knight-errant — the do-it-for-fun kind. Just recently switched careers." Answering her was the cold click of a cuff. In the face of this soft-boned beauty casting her come-hither glances, he remained unmoved. "Caught red-handed with the goods... prepare to face the judgment of the law."
His work done, the errant rose to his feet, gazed up at the hazy moonlight, and let out a sigh.
My name is Sun Lang. I switched professions not long ago and became a knight-errant. As you've seen, over these past two years, for certain very complicated reasons, I've become very bad at dealing with women.
Also, I hate H. Hate it with a passion.
...This is the truth. Please, you have to believe me.