When the Swallows Came, Ertai Saw the Light

Everyone in the capital knows that Fu Ertai is ruined.

Blind in both eyes and with his meridians badly damaged, the once undefeated God of War is trapped in a lightless mansion, waiting to die.

He has driven away seventeen maids and forbids anyone from coming near him.

Xiao Yanzi doesn’t care. She just wants to save enough money to pay the rent on Dogtail Alley and keep that old orange cat until the end of its days.

He tells her to get lost, so she squats by the gate and sweeps the courtyard. He smashes his medicine bowl, so she squats down and cleans up. He says he can’t be cured, so every day she sits by his bed with a bowl and feeds him, one mouthful at a time.

Until one day he asks her, “Why don’t you leave?”

She smiles and says, “My mother always said the King of Hell doesn’t take people who are trying to die. You’re not dead yet, so I still have to brew your medicine.”

He is silent for a long time. In that boundless darkness, he hears his heartbeat echo once more.

Later, when he can see again, he pushes past everyone and walks up to her, raising a hand to wipe the dust from her face.

“How did you get so thin?”

Xiao Yanzi blinks. “General, you can see me now?”

He looks at her with a seriousness she has never seen before. “Yes. I can see you. You’re beautiful.”