Xiao Feng and AhZi

Xiao Feng and AhZi are bound as brother-in-law and sister-in-law through A'Zhu, AhZi’s elder sister and Xiao Feng’s beloved. Their connection develops from a kinship obligation into a difficult, intimate guardianship: after Xiao Feng accidentally gravely injures AhZi, he tends her through a prolonged recovery, while she seeks to keep him near. A'Zhu’s dying request that he watch over her gives that care a clear purpose, but AhZi’s attachment and Xiao Feng’s responsibility do not entirely coincide. He intends to escort her back to her parents in Dali; she hopes to remain with him.

Kinship and Shared Origins

Xiao Feng and AhZi’s family connection emerges from a history of concealed descent and separation. Xiao Feng learns that his father was Xiao Yuanshan, but was raised by Qiao Sanhuai and given the Qiao surname. AhZi, in turn, was born to Duan Zhengchun and Ruan Xingzhu, but was sent away as an infant because her parents could not remain together and her maternal grandfather’s strict family expectations made it unsafe to raise the girls openly. A red “Duan” character tattooed on each daughter’s shoulder was meant to help them recognize one another later; the matching marks reveal that A'Zhu and AhZi are sisters and daughters of Duan Zhengchun.

The sisters’ childhoods thus parallel Xiao Feng’s in a way that A'Zhu recognizes: all three grew up without knowing their birth families. A'Zhu tells Xiao Feng that she herself was barely over a year old when she was given to another household, too young to recognize either parent. The discovery does more than establish AhZi’s parentage: it places her within a family Xiao Feng already knows he has reason to protect, while making his relation to her a personal extension of his bond with A'Zhu.

A'Zhu’s Charge and Xiao Feng’s Care

Before her death, A'Zhu asks Xiao Feng to watch over AhZi, whom she fears may go astray. Xiao Feng answers that they will find AhZi once A'Zhu has recovered, imagining the sisters reunited. A'Zhu instead speaks of a future in which she and Xiao Feng ride, hunt, and herd cattle and sheep beyond Yanmen Pass, and wonders whether her younger sister would join them. The promise she entrusts to him outlasts her: after her death, caring for AhZi becomes one way Xiao Feng carries forward his connection to A'Zhu.

That care is tested when AhZi’s earlier attack with a poison needle leads Xiao Feng to strike her and leave her gravely injured. During her recovery he stays beside her, and later recognizes that she remains severely weakened even as she begins to improve. When she says that she wants to travel west, he sets aside his reluctance and agrees to take her toward the grass plains. He notices that she has regained movement in her hands, which she had concealed for fourteen days, and responds with relief rather than anger. Her recovery is gradual: she can move more freely, but remains frail enough that Xiao Feng carries her from the horse to rest in the carriage during their journey.

Attachment, Conflict, and Dependence

The relationship contains an unresolved imbalance. Xiao Feng feels responsible for AhZi’s condition and is troubled by the thought that she has survived only to remain painfully diminished. At the same time, his care is prompted by both remorse for having injured her and the family duty A'Zhu placed upon him. AhZi reads his attentiveness as proof that she matters to him; she tells him she is happy because he is accompanying her, and says she does not hate him for the injury.

AhZi eventually explains the purpose of her poison-needle attack: she did not mean to kill Xiao Feng, but wanted to immobilize him so he could not leave and would have to care for her. The confession clarifies that her conduct was not simply an attempt to defeat or harm him; it was also a desperate means of securing his presence. Xiao Feng is startled by the admission, but tells her that if she wants to follow him, she need only say so. AhZi answers that she still wants to stay with him after she recovers and will not return to her master at Xingxiu Sea. As the senior disciple of the Xingxiu Sect, she could return to a position there, but she dismisses the prospect of the sect being left without its leader. Her choice shows how strongly she prioritizes remaining with Xiao Feng.

Family Imagery and the Road Ahead

During their westward journey, AhZi watches geese flying south and imagines that the last, smallest bird will follow when its father, mother, sister, and brother-in-law return north. Xiao Feng hears the family terms and realizes that she places him among her closest kin. The image quietly gathers their circumstances into a single pattern: separated relatives, an uncertain homeward direction, and the effort to stay together. It also sharpens Xiao Feng’s sense of obligation. He decides that when AhZi is well enough, he must take her to Dali and hand her over to her parents, thereby fulfilling the charge entrusted to him.

That intention does not erase their immediate closeness. When Xiao Feng is caught in the danger surrounding YeLu HongJi’s conflict with the rebels, AhZi worries that she brought him there by insisting on travelling to the grass plains and asks whether they will die. Xiao Feng rejects her blame, connecting their presence to his own earlier injury of her. She then tells him that she has come to understand why A'Zhu loved him. In the same conversation, she repeats her question about the attack and explains that she wanted to prevent him from abandoning her. Xiao Feng agrees that she may continue with him, while their future remains shaped by two competing directions: her wish to stay at his side and his plan to return her to her family in Dali.