Nenjiri Net

A'Zi’s Flexible Silk Net is a transparent, exceptionally strong silk restraint whose threads contract around whatever they catch. First seen in use against a fisherman, it later entangles Chu Wanli during the confrontation at Little Mirror Lake. The net’s unusual properties make it difficult to remove by force, but Xiao Feng discovers that water releases its grip; after freeing Chu Wanli, he takes the net from A'Zi and keeps it.

Construction and Operation

The net is so thin and transparent that Xiao Feng initially sees only an indistinct object in A'Zi’s hand. Its silk threads are fine as hair, yet tough and pliable. When they come into contact with something, they contract; a captive’s struggle only makes them tighten further. The fisherman caught in it is soon wrapped so thoroughly that he cannot move.

Its apparent lightness conceals a firm hold. At Little Mirror Lake, Zhu Danchen tries unsuccessfully to untie the net around Chu Wanli, and knives cannot cut its threads. Xiao Feng notices the decisive exception: contact with water loosens them. He carries Chu Wanli to the lake and immerses him, allowing the net to slacken so that he can untie it.

A'Zi’s Use of the Net

A'Zi first displays the net while provoking a fisherman. After tricking him into turning away, she sends his fishing rod flying into the lake; when he moves to seize her, he slips and is caught in the net. Her playful challenge gives way to a practical demonstration of how quickly the device can immobilize someone.

At Little Mirror Lake, she uses the same device on Chu Wanli. The net restrains him while Duan Zhengchun’s companions are occupied with the danger posed by Duan Yanqing. A'Zi does not immediately release Chu Wanli when asked by her father. Instead, she bargains over a reward and answers his rebuke by recalling that he had abandoned her for more than ten years. The net therefore operates in a scene shaped not just by physical danger but by A'Zi’s grievance toward the father she has only recently encountered.

Xiao Feng’s Intervention and Possession

Xiao Feng objects to A'Zi’s treatment of Chu Wanli and steps in despite the tense gathering. He lifts Chu Wanli and tests his suspicion that water will loosen the threads, then frees him at the lake. Chu Wanli thanks him, though he remains dispirited; Xiao Feng says he has already struck A'Zi on Chu Wanli’s behalf.

Afterward, Xiao Feng compresses the net into a bundle no larger than a fist. When A'Zi demands it back, he uses the threat of another blow to make her retreat, then puts it inside his robe. His reason is entangled with his mistaken view of the surrounding conflict: he suspects the man before him is his own archenemy and assumes A'Zi is that man’s daughter, so he considers the net a useful object he should not return. Duan Zhengchun, seeing the unusual exchange, supposes Xiao Feng is merely disciplining the girl rather than coveting a child’s possession.

Narrative Significance

The net’s defining paradox is that its delicate appearance conceals a hold strengthened by resistance. It can be gathered into a tiny bundle, yet, once deployed, ordinary efforts to untie or cut it fail. Water—not greater force—provides the solution, making Xiao Feng’s attentive observation more useful than a direct contest against its threads.

The object also links two episodes through A'Zi’s conduct: first it gives her a way to outwit and restrain a fisherman, and later it makes Chu Wanli’s confinement part of the larger encounter at Little Mirror Lake. Xiao Feng’s intervention frees Chu Wanli, but taking the net adds another misunderstanding to an already unsettled scene. Its movement from A'Zi’s hand to Xiao Feng’s robe thus carries the consequences of a rescue into the wider conflict rather than ending with the captive’s release.