HNYWEF -Chapter 12 Speaking Out of Turn

When the knock came, Zhou Xiong was helping Zhou Yi put on his shoes.

The child had been clamoring since morning about going into the woods to raid bird nests. Zhou Xiong ignored him, slipped the shoes onto his feet, and tied the laces.

Knock knock knock.

Three knocks. Neither too loud nor too soft.

Zhou Xiong’s hands paused for a moment.

Zhou Yi looked up at his father.

“Dad, someone’s knocking.”

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

He finished tying the laces, stood up, and walked to the door.

His hand rested on the latch.

He stopped for a breath.

Then he pulled the door open.

Three people stood outside.

The one in the middle wore an ordinary dark robe. His face still carried the pale traces of recent illness, but his eyes were bright.

Nothing like the unconscious man from that day.

Li Shimin.

The man on the left was thin, pale, with narrow eyes that always seemed to be calculating something whenever he looked at people.

Fang Xuanling.

The man on the right was sturdier than Fang Xuanling, square-faced, thick-browed, with a heavy, steady gaze.

Zhou Xiong didn’t recognize him.

But he could guess.

Changsun Wuji.

Li Shimin looked at Zhou Xiong.

Zhou Xiong looked at Li Shimin.

Neither spoke first.

The wind passed between them.

Zhou Xiong spoke first.

Four words.

“Finished what you came for?”

Li Shimin nodded without hesitation.

“It’s finished.”

Zhou Xiong said nothing more.

He stepped aside.

Li Shimin walked in.

Fang Xuanling followed.

Changsun Wuji followed.

Zhou Xiong came in last and shut the door behind them.

The main room wasn’t large. With four men inside, it already felt cramped.

Li Shimin glanced around.

He saw the gourd on the table.

The one Cheng Yaojin had returned.

His gaze lingered on it for a moment.

Zhou Xiong stood by the door, watching them.

Li Shimin turned to face him.

Fang Xuanling stood behind Li Shimin, his eyes sweeping across Zhou Xiong’s face.

He had seen this face before.

Six days ago, beneath that crooked-neck tree, he had seen this face. Back then, it had been intensely focused, with nothing in those eyes except the wound before him.

Now there was no expression at all.

Not indifference.

Emptiness.

As though something had been hollowed out, leaving behind nothing but a shell.

Fang Xuanling suddenly remembered what Cheng Yaojin had once said—

“When he looks at people, there’s nothing in his eyes. Like a house someone lived in for ten years that suddenly got emptied out—nothing left inside.”

Back then, Fang Xuanling hadn’t understood.

Now he did.

At that moment, Changsun Wuji spoke.

“You’re Zhou Xiong?”

His voice wasn’t loud, but there was something else beneath it.

Zhou Xiong glanced at him.

Said nothing.

Changsun Wuji took a step forward.

“I heard you saved the Prince of Qin?”

Zhou Xiong still said nothing.

Changsun Wuji frowned.

“Do you know who the Prince of Qin is?”

No response.

“Do you know what the consequences would’ve been if something had happened to him?”

Changsun Wuji’s voice rose slightly.

“You saved the Prince of Qin, and we acknowledge the favor. But what kind of attitu—”

“Enough.”

Li Shimin’s voice wasn’t loud.

But the room fell silent instantly.

Changsun Wuji’s words caught in his throat.

He looked at Li Shimin.

Li Shimin didn’t look at him.

Li Shimin was looking at Zhou Xiong.

One hand still blocked Changsun Wuji from stepping forward, but his eyes never left Zhou Xiong’s face.

Zhou Xiong looked back at him.

The two men simply stood there.

Li Shimin slowly lowered his hand.

Looking at Zhou Xiong, he said:

“He has the right.

I owe him.”

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

Li Shimin waited a breath.

Still no response.

He waited another breath.

Then Zhou Xiong finally spoke.

Looking at Li Shimin, he said:

“That’s it?”

After speaking, he turned around, lifted the curtain, and went into the inner room.

The curtain fell back down, swaying slightly before becoming still.

Silence filled the room.

Changsun Wuji stood there stunned.

Fang Xuanling’s brows twitched faintly.

Li Shimin stood there, staring at the curtain.

For a very long time.

Then he turned around.

“Let’s go.”

Fang Xuanling followed.

Changsun Wuji opened his mouth as though to say something, then swallowed the words back down.

He followed as well.

The three men walked out of the house.

The door closed behind them.

Li Shimin stood outside, looking toward the distant woods.

Fang Xuanling walked over.

“Prince of Qin, he…”

Li Shimin shook his head.

He glanced once more at the door.

Then he turned and walked toward the woods.

Behind him, that door never opened again.

Inside the house.

Zhou Xiong sat on the edge of the kang.

The room was utterly silent.