“My mother said that the Hollow Hand were just as bad as the dead king’s brother, more ferocious and more cunning than the bandits of Cao-lun. She said that they could melt into the very mist when the emperor’s hunters came, and they fashioned nooses from the clothes of their victims to drag riders from their horses.”

“Pah, weaving nooses from old robes, fading into the mist, what criminal can’t do that?” asked Lao Bingyi, throwing her hands in the air, and Wei Jintai nodded seriously.

“Truly, they were a blight on the world with their ferocity, but in the end, they were defeated by the Shaking Earth Master.”

“The Shaking Earth Master? He’s in a few stories I’ve heard. He was the one who revenged the murder of the Prince of Lookback Mountain, wasn’t he?” asked Chih with interest. Their fingers were itching to transcribe this conversation, but Almost Brilliant’s perfect recall would serve for the moment.

Almost Brilliant pecked sharply at Chih’s earlobe, remonstrance for some folklore class they had probably slept through or skipped entirely, but Lao Bingyi clapped her hands sharply.

“The Shaking Earth Master! Are you all still telling that story? If you want to talk about ancient history, I’ll tell you about when the old governor was meant to pave this road and expand it, and then he spent the money on a dancing boy from the capital instead.”

“The Shaking Earth Master and the girl from Taiyuan aren’t a story, they’re history,” protested Wei Jintai, but Lao Bingyi shook her head.

“That silly thing,” she said, contemptuous. “People keep wanting to tell old tired stories like that, that’s why the world is in such disrepair.”

“And why no one goes to temple anymore and children no longer respect their elders?” asked Chih wryly, earning themself another peck from Almost Brilliant and a brisk slap on their arm from Lao Bingyi.

“And why clerics are more interested in free meals and gossip than they are in holiness and correct behavior, I shouldn’t wonder,” she scolded.

“I beg your pardon, auntie,” said Chih, “and I would be more than happy to hear the story about the governor who was meant to pave this road.”

It was actually a pretty good story, and Cleric Dung, who had a special interest in tales of governmental corruption and comeuppance, would be delighted. Chih listened patiently, and then when Lao Bingyi and Khanh were speaking to Sang about some family ties they might have missed, they dropped back to walk beside Wei Jintai.

“So tell me about the Shaking Earth Master and the Hollow Hand,” they murmured softly, and the martial artist blinked at them.

“But surely a neixin as wise and worldly about the riverlands knows the story already?”