"Baixun, I don't want to hurt you, if only for Naying's sake," Yuehwa said. "There's nothing here that so much as mentions a hint of a cure for Hell's Water, so if you don't want to search for it then pardon me if I do."

"Even if you want to find a cure, you don't have to look for him." Baixun was looking at her in all seriousness, his fingers gripping onto hers so tightly that she was finding it hard to break free.

"It's none of your business who I look for."

Baixun slowly loosened his grip on her, a tinge of sadness clouding over his eyes. "Why does it have to be him? What is it that he has that I don't? Is it because you think we come from different worlds? Because I can't give up this title and duty to roam the five kingdoms with you?"

"It's not about Shoya, Baixun." Yuehwa sighed in exasperation. "Is this what it's all about? You just don't want to lose to Shoya because it bruises your ego? Well if that's the case I'm telling you now that this has nothing to do with him. The reason why I'm going to look for him is because he knows more about poisons than anyone else you can possibly find and he's the best chance we've got of saving Naying. As for me and you, I've already made it clear to you many times that it's impossible between us!"

"Yuehwa," he said slowly, "I know that you don't feel that way about me right now, but all I ask is that you give me a chance. I meant every single word that I said to you before, that I hope that you'll be the one standing by my side throughout it all. If I become the king of the five kingdoms, I would want no one else but you as my queen."

"But I don't want to be queen, Baixun. Never did, never will." Yuehwa shook her head, heading for the stairs.

That was the problem, wasn't it? Baixun just didn't understand what she wanted. She didn't want to be a queen because she didn't want to be trapped within a gilded cage; she wanted to be free as a bird, free to go wherever the wind would take her. She didn't want riches or power or a whole palace full of servants at her beck and call; she wanted a table full of her favourite food and the luxury of being able to snore and spit seeds from her mouth without anyone judging her. She didn't want to sit in her chambers pining for a husband that had forgotten her because he had too many other wives to care for; she wanted to stay by the side of a man who loved her, and only her.

That meant that Baixun would never be able to give her what she wanted.

"You'll come back, won't you?" Baixun called out to her.

Turning back with a slight smile, Yuehwa said, "I'm coming back because of Naying." Not because of you.

#

"We've got slightly less than three months, Ember," Yuehwa remarked as she leapt off her horse and stared up at the gates of Feng's capital city. "Do you think we'll make it in time?"

Who knows? Do I look like a fortune teller to you? I'm just a bird, Ember replied.

Whistling a cheery tune, Yuehwa led her horse down the street and walked towards the gates. It had taken her close to a week on horseback to travel between Gi and Feng, and it had been a long while since she had felt that sense of freedom with nothing restraining her. Making friends with Naying had been fun, but it also meant having to put up with trivial palace rules and regulations that frustrated her to no end. There was nothing quite like roaming the streets and doing exactly what you wanted without having to look over your shoulder all the time.

Strangely enough, there was a long queue of people waiting to enter the city, but it seemed as though it was taking longer than usual to clear the checks at the gate. When she finally reached the front of the line, a burly guard stopped her in her tracks and barked, "Who are you and where have you come from?"

"I'm a travelling merchant from Gi," Yuehwa replied, patting the bags of knick-knacks that were hanging off the back of her horse. She reached into her sleeve and withdrew a trading pass that Baixun had given her, handing it over to the guard.

The guard circled around her like a hawk and studied her face carefully, comparing it against a drawing that he had in his hands. After carefully inspecting her pass, he nodded and waved her on her way.

"They seem a lot stricter about letting people enter the city than they were in Dahai or Gi," Yuehwa remarked. "I wonder what's going on?"

I think they're looking for some criminal—maybe someone stole something valuable from a high-ranking official and so they've sent the guards on a search round the city, Ember chirped in response.

"Some criminal you say?" Yuehwa raised her eyebrows as she stopped beside a huge noticeboard, the notice plastered upon it having caught her eye. Turning to examine it a little more carefully, she realised that her search for the illusive White Scorpion could turn out to be a whole lot easier than she had anticipated. Staring back at her from the noticeboard was a likeness of none other than the White Scorpion himself, although much of his face was covered by the mask as usual so it was pretty much a useless picture. Beneath the drawing were huge, angry letters that spelt out a reward of a thousand gold pieces for anyone who was able to tell the authorities where this murderous thief was.

"Murder and robbery? Boy, he must have pissed off someone in high places."

When no one was looking, Yuehwa quickly ripped down the notice and stuffed it into one of her bags, casually continuing on her way as if nothing had happened. The next time she stopped was when she arrived in front of a restaurant that seemed to have bustling business, with customers streaming in and out of the front doors non-stop.

I thought we were here to look for Shoya, Ember politely reminded. It would be best if we found him before the guards do.

"Didn't you see how they were checking every single person that entered the city? That means that they haven't got a bloody clue where he is. We've got plenty of time," Yuehwa replied. "I can't search for a person on an empty stomach anyway. Let's go."

Picking a window seat that was at an obscure corner of the restaurant, Yuehwa had a good view of everything that was happening inside the restaurant as well as out on the streets. It was the perfect spot from which to people watch while enjoying a piping hot meal.

After ordering about ten dishes off the menu (much to the elation of the waiter who cheerily accepted her piece of gold and promised to bring out all the chef's specialities), Yuehwa rested her head on her palms and watched the human traffic down on the streets below. As the kingdom that was famed for its rich culture, the streets of the capital city was teeming with artists and musicians plying their craft alongside stalls that sold every sort of trinket from ceramic vases to high quality ink slabs.

"Did you hear? The guards raided the inn two doors down last night. Apparently they searched every single room and turned the place upside down, that's why they're closed for business today," one of the men seated at the table next to hers said loudly to his companions.

"They seem to have increased the street patrols as well. I was stopped in the streets yesterday when I went out to buy some ink," another man said with a shudder. "I hope they find this criminal soon, else goodness knows when all this nonsense will stop."

Yuehwa picked up her chopsticks and stared gleefully at the plates of food that the waiter had just brought to her table, contemplating about whether to start with the chicken or the prawns. Both smelled equally delicious.

"What exactly did the man do again?"

The first man who spoke shrugged his shoulders and said, "Not sure. I heard from my neighbour that he made off with some old manuscripts from some official's house."

"Surely there's no need for a manhunt just because some useless sheets of paper were stolen!"

"That's not all. I also heard that he's murdered three of the royal librarians just so that he could break into the vaults to steal their most prized literary collections. It's really bizarre if you ask me. Apparently he didn't touch their gold or antiques at all! All he took were books. Why on earth would any thief want to do that?"

Clearing her throat, Yuehwa leaned over and asked, "Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I just wanted to ask, how many royal librarians are there in the city?"

The men looked at her, a little stunned by her sudden question. One of them finally opened his mouth and said, "Why four of course! Are you from out of town? Everyone in the city knows that the royal library is divided into the north, south, east and west libraries and each of these libraries is looked after by one royal librarian."

"Ah, I see," Yuehwa mused, quickly saying her thanks.

Turning her attentions back to her food, she piled up her bowl to the brim and began tucking into all the delicacies that she had paid for. Now that she knew where to find Shoya, there was plenty of time before nightfall to enjoy all the good food that Feng had to offer.

#

After the sun had set in the sky, Yuehwa sat on the rooftop across from where the city's south library was.

She had done some further sleuthing earlier in the day, verifying that the men in the restaurant had been right about things after all and that three of the four royal librarians were indeed six feet under. The last one standing was the keeper of the south library, whom she reckoned was probably quivering under his sheets right now even though there were heavily armed guards surrounding the perimeter of the library compound.

Each of the four libraries was identical in architecture, with the main library block shaped like a seven-storey pagoda with jade tiles on its roofs. Adjacent to it was the living quarters of the royal librarian and his family, to make it more convenient for the librarian to keep a watchful eye over the kingdom's most valuable literary works and historical records.

Even across the five kingdoms, it was a well-known fact that Feng housed one of the most extensive literary collections in existence, so much so that it became mandatory for any academic scholar to travel here to pay homage to wealth of knowledge housed within this city.

Right now, a rogue was threatening to defile the bastion of knowledge by murdering the librarians and stealing from the royal collections.

"Let's see how he's going to break his way in," Yuehwa said, popping a slice of orange into her mouth.

Now that the guards knew that this was likely his final target, they had obviously tightened security around the library to the extent that it seemed impossible for an ant to squeeze in unnoticed. There were guards stationed at every entrance and guards patrolling the interior and exterior perimeters—they were determined to catch him if he so much as dared come close.

"Who's breaking in?" a voice suddenly appeared from behind her. Seconds later, a familiar white figure sat himself casually down beside her, as if it were something that he would do any other day.

Yuehwa was hardly surprised.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed sarcastically. "It's really you! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be..." She pointed at the south library, and then back at him.

"Shouldn't I be what?"

Shoya looked like the perfect picture of calm as he sat there under the moonlight, his gaze intently fixated upon the seven-storey pagoda that stood before them.

"Are you really going to kill the last librarian too?" Yuehwa asked out of curiosity.

"That sentence presupposes that I killed the other three in the first place, which I didn't, unfortunately."

"What? It wasn't you? Then who did it? And why is your picture splashed across all the noticeboards in town?" There were suddenly a million and one questions running through Yuehwa's mind that needed immediate answering.

Shoya looked thoughtful for a moment, then he said, "Every time I went to a library in search of the royal librarian, someone had already gotten there one step ahead of me." Glancing sideways at her look of disbelief, he added, "I'm looking for a manuscript."

"What's so special about this manuscript?"

"Why are you always so curious?"

"Why not?"

"Curiosity killed the cat," Shoya replied blandly. "Remember I told you about this prophecy made by a soothsayer that said I would bring about the downfall of the kingdom? That's what I'm looking for."

"Why are you looking for it? And why would it be in the royal library? Does this have something to do with the crystal sword that we found in Dahai?' Yuehwa peered down at the sword hanging by his waist, its translucent hilt gleaming under the moonlight. "By the way, the day after you left the palace, the king went on a rampage in search of this sword. What exactly is so valuable about it?"

Before Shoya could answer, a loud shout interrupted their conversation from below.

"The south wing of the palace is on fire!"

All the guards who had been patrolling the perimeter of the south library immediately paused in their steps, straining their necks to get a glimpse of what the commotion was about.

In the far distance, an amber glow lit up the night as billows of thick, black smoke began emitting from what must have been the south wing of the palace of Feng. From where they were sitting, high up above the rooftops, Yuehwa and Shoya could just about make out the flames that were licking the walls of the building and hear the frantic shouts from the servants and guards that were rushing to put out the fire before the entire south wing was razed to the ground.

In Feng, where good quality sandalwood was the construction material of choice for its sturdiness, ease of carving and subtle fragrance, fires were not uncommon. Fires in the royal palace though, were an entirely different matter.

Watching as some of the guards who had been stationed around the south library were suddenly re-deployed to put out the fire, Shoya said to Yuehwa, "It's time."

"Time for what?" she asked—but he was already gone. Annoyed with his penchant for not providing a proper explanation for anything (and for not even bothering to ask her what she was doing here in Feng), Yuehwa cursed him a couple of times under her breath before she took his lead and leapt off the roof, landing lightly on the gravel path below.

When the lone guard looked away for a second, two shadows flipped themselves over the wall and entered the inner grounds of the south library. Despite being located within the city, each of the four libraries had fairly extensive grounds with numerous quaint pavillions and well-tended gardens—a most conducive environment for the city's top literati to gather and engage in intellectual discussions and literary pursuit. It was no wonder every scholar across the five kingdoms dreamed of being invited into one of the four libraries of Feng, an honour that was much harder to earn than it might seem.

Once they were inside, Shoya quickly led the way towards the heart of the compound, but to Yuehwa's surprise, instead of taking a left at the forked path to head towards the pagoda where all the books and manuscripts were kept, he chose to take a right which led towards the librarian's private chambers instead. There was an urgency to his footsteps that suggested to her that wherever they were heading, time was of the essence.

For some strange reason, there were no guards present within the librarian's chambers at all.

When Shoya and Yuehwa made their way down the corridors, there was an eerie silence that filled the space—almost too silent to be normal. The first thing out of the ordinary that caught Yuehwa's attention was when her shoes came into contact with something sticky smeared all over the floor. A quick glance downwards revealed that she had stepped on a trail of blood, one that appeared to have come from one of the rooms leading off from the corridor.

Pushing open the door to the room, Yuehwa clapped her hand to her mouth to stifle the unwitting gasp that would have emerged. Even for someone who was used to seeing death—and being the cause of it—this was far too cruel a sight to behold. Five bodies, two women and three children, sprawled across the floor after having been ruthlessly cut down by someone's blade. Their skin was still warm to the touch, a sign that whoever did this to them had not been gone for long.

"Damn it!" Shoya cussed, turning on his heels and racing down the corridor at twice his original pace. As he walked, he pushed open every single door that he passed by, scanning each room for any sign of who he was looking for.

As he pushed open the final door at the end of the long corridor, he caught sight of a shadow leaping out through the window and vanishing into the night. Lying on the floor in front his desk was an elderly man with greying hair, his hands desperately clutching onto his chest as if that would stop the blood from flowing any faster.

"Are you the royal librarian?" Shoya asked, stooping down beside the man. Yuehwa, who had just about recovered from her shock and entered the room, stood quietly behind him.

The old man nodded his head slowly, reaching out a hand to grab hold of Shoya's arm. "Save me, save me, please," he begged.

"I need you to tell me where the record of the prophecy is, the one that was made by the royal astrologist on the day that the first prince was born."

"You... You... Why..." The librarian could barely string a sentence together anymore, his words coming out as fragments punctuated by desperate gasps for air. Slowly, the light in his eyes were beginning to fade, and soon he would be joining the rest of his family in the netherworld.

Reaching for his sword, Shoya raised the crystal hilt in front of the man's eyes. "Do you recognise this? You know what this symbolises don't you?" he asked, waiting for the flicker of recognition to appear. When it did, he continued, "I need you tell me where the prophecy is. Please."

The old librarian reached into his pocket and took out a single silver key, pressing it firmly into Shoya's hand. That was the last thing he ever did, before the fourth, and last, of the royal librarians took his final breath.