The Azure Phoenix Blade

The Boat Turns Back

Part One: The Boat Turns Back

The small covered boat left Stone Bridge Market, gliding south along the reeds. Less than two hours later, several dim yellow lights appeared on the water ahead, flickering like ghostly eyes in the night mist.

Shen Sanhe crouched at the bow, poling the boat forward. When he saw the orderly line of lanterns, his face darkened. “There’s a water barrier ahead,” he muttered.

Quentin Mo, who had been resting against the canopy on night watch, rose halfway and gripped his iron staff. “Can we break through?”

Shen Sanhe narrowed his eyes and studied the scene. Two official boats blocked the river, one on each side. Torchlight flickered on deck, and the faint clink of armor plates could be heard. He shook his head. “Trying to force it would be suicide. One hit on that

barrier and the boat flips—children included.”

Eleanor Su pulled the drowsy Sylvie closer into her arms. She didn’t urge or ask questions, only said calmly, “Lead the way. We’ll follow you.”

Shen Sanhe glanced back at her, surprised by her composure in such a moment. Without another word, he plunged the pole into the water at an angle and steered the little boat away from the main channel into a narrow, almost hidden side creek on the right, nearly choked by reeds.

The creek was tight and pitch-black. Reeds taller than a man rose on both sides, their leaves shedding night dew onto the canopy with constant rustling, like whispers chasing them through the dark.

Damien had been fighting sleep, but the boat’s sway woke him. He opened his mouth, only for Celeste to press a hand on his shoulder. “Stay quiet,” she whispered.

Damien looked at her, then at the dark wall of reeds outside, and pressed his lips into a tight line without making a sound.

Julian, curled up beside Eleanor Su’s leg, had also woken but remained silent, watching the wet shadows sliding past the canopy.

Shen Sanhe poled with extreme care, barely disturbing the water. After winding through seven or eight bends, just as the sky began to lighten, he brought them to an abandoned water alley behind Stone Bridge Market.

The alley connected to a low wall, behind which lay Old Master Xu’s back courtyard. They had left through the front dock the night before—none of them had expected to circle back to the edge of the same town after a full night of travel.

Elias Xu, wearing a half-worn outer robe, opened the back door. Seeing Quentin Mo’s pale, rain-soaked face, his brows knitted tightly. When his gaze swept over the children behind him, his expression grew even grimmer.

“I only sent off one batch of trouble last night. Before dawn, and here you are, swimming back,” he grumbled. Yet he pulled the door open wider and waved them inside.

Part Two: Search at Xu’s Apothecary

The drying room in the back courtyard of Spring Hall Apothecary was small. Walls were lined with medicine baskets and bamboo racks. The mixed scents of angelica, lovage, perilla, and pinellia—bitter, pungent, and laced with aged damp wood—helped mask the rain and blood on the group.

The moment Eleanor Su entered, her eyes swept across windows, doors, dark corners, and medicine cabinets large enough to hide someone. Only then did she lead the children to sit against the driest wall at the back.

Sylvie sniffed the air as soon as she stepped inside. The sleepiness on her small face faded somewhat. Her eyes lingered on a basket of fresh perilla leaves.

Elias Xu was about to fetch scissors to remove Quentin Mo’s old bandages when he noticed her. He paused, plucked a leaf, and held it out. “Can you tell what this is?”

Sylvie glanced at her mother first. Seeing no objection, she answered softly, “It’s not ginger, but it smells a bit like it. Put it in when cooking fish and it reduces the fishy smell.” She thought for a moment and added, “It can also be boiled for stomach chills.”

Elias Xu stared at her for a while. The hard lines on his face softened slightly. “Sharp nose,” he grunted.

Eleanor Su quietly drew Sylvie closer. “The child is always hanging around the kitchen. She picks things up by smell.”

Elias Xu didn’t press further. He pushed Quentin Mo onto a long bench and cut away the blood-stuck cloth with quick snips. When the wound was exposed, even he drew a sharp breath. “You’re not treating an injury—you’re raising maggots.”

Quentin Mo leaned against the wooden wall, his face ashen. “As long as I can still lift my arm, it’s fine.”

“You treat your life like kindling,” Elias Xu scolded, but his hands moved swiftly and steadily, laying out hot water, medicinal wine, and powder with practiced skill.

Celeste stayed protectively beside her siblings, never idle. She first tightened Sylvie’s loose sleeve cuffs, then bent to retie Damien’s shoelaces, which had been soaked all night. Damien sat rigidly despite his aching legs. When she helped him, his ears turned red. “I can do it myself.”

Celeste didn’t look up. “If you really could, you wouldn’t have dragged your laces through the mud last night.”

Damien was left speechless and turned his face away sullenly.

Julian sat on a small stool closest to the door, back straight and not touching the wall. His eyes remained fixed on the narrow door to the front corridor, like a small animal awakened by rain, quietly listening for any sound.

Before they could catch their breath, heavy knocking sounded from the front shop, followed by a shout: “Open the door! Official inspection!”

Everyone’s faces changed at once. The hot water in Hazel Qiu’s hands sloshed, spilling onto her skin, but she didn’t seem to feel it.

Quentin Mo instinctively reached for his staff. Eleanor Su pressed down on his uninjured shoulder first. “If you go out, you’ll be telling them someone is hiding here.”

As she spoke, she deliberately tousled a few strands of hair at her temples and loosened her outer robe slightly at the shoulder. The small changes transformed her from a calm, steady figure into an exhausted ordinary woman traveling far with children, too tired to even smooth her brow.

Hazel Qiu understood immediately. She picked up a medicine basket, lowered her head, and looked like a timid but composed young wife accompanying her sister-in-law to see a doctor.

Eleanor Su took Hazel Qiu with her to the front shop. Julian silently moved to the back corridor door, pressed his ear to the c***k, and held his breath.

Three armed constables had arrived. The lead, a black-faced man with sharp, suspicious eyes, scanned the apothecary before fixing his gaze on Eleanor Su. “Street-wide search for fugitives. Who are you people?”

Eleanor Su stepped aside half a pace, neither dodging nor avoiding. “I’m just a woman here to get medicine. If that makes me a fugitive, sir, you may as well arrest me too.”

The constable was momentarily stumped. His face darkened. “Where are you from?”

“ Lin family from southern Anhui,” Eleanor Su answered unhurriedly, her voice carrying the weariness of days on the road. “My husband passed early. I’m taking the children south to seek relatives. We got caught in the rain last night and stayed in town.”

A younger constable spotted a trace of dark blood that hadn’t been fully cleaned from the medicine shelf. “What’s that?” he barked.

Hazel Qiu’s heart clenched, her fingers stiffening. Eleanor Su followed his gaze and replied evenly, “My child fell and scraped his knees last night. It got on the shelf while changing the dressing. If you don’t believe me, I can call the child out for you to see.”

Her calm, measured tone was more effective than pleading or crying.

The black-faced constable, seeing how natural she appeared and noticing Elias Xu shuffling out from the inner room with an impatient look, heard him say, “If you’re looking for fugitives, go check the bloodied man who jumped the wall by the bridge. Why are you blocking a group of patients in my shop?”

Just then, a distant shout came from the street: “They caught the shadow at the bridge! Come quickly!”

The constables exchanged glances, unwilling to waste more time here. They left with a warning: “No one leaves town today,” and hurried off.

Only after their footsteps faded did Hazel Qiu lean against a cabinet and exhale shakily, her palms covered in cold sweat. Eleanor Su glanced at the five faint marks she had left on her own sleeve from gripping too tightly, then slowly relaxed her hand and returned to the back courtyard.