Xiao Feng—A’Zi

Xiao Feng—A’Zi is a difficult bond formed under the pressure of A’Zhu’s final request: Xiao Feng is to look after her younger sister. A’Zi repeatedly appeals to that kinship to draw him close, while her conduct makes him wary; after he accidentally gravely injures her, however, his promise becomes sustained, practical care. The relationship’s defining tension is that Xiao Feng must honor A’Zhu without mistaking A’Zi’s appeals for proof that she has changed.

A Promise Rooted in Family

Xiao Feng’s responsibility begins with A’Zhu’s plea that he keep an eye on her younger sister, whom she fears may go astray. He reassures A’Zhu that they can find A’Zi once she recovers, and imagines the three of them traveling beyond Yanmen Pass together. A’Zi overhears and rejects the idea of going with them, but the exchange establishes the obligation that will shape Xiao Feng’s later choices.

The promise carries particular weight because the sisters’ childhood had already separated them from their parents and from each other. A’Zhu explains that she and A’Zi were given to other families when very young, with matching red Duan characters tattooed on their shoulders so they might one day be recognized. She says she learned of the shared parentage after seeing A’Zi’s mark; their matching gold locks offer another sign of their connection. A’Zhu tells Xiao Feng that, like him, she and her sister had grown up without knowing their parents. Her request that he protect A’Zi therefore arises from a life divided by abandonment and belated recognition, not from ordinary sibling companionship.

Trust, Suspicion, and Restraint

The relationship first appears through A’Zi’s attempts to enlist Xiao Feng in disputes. At a confrontation within the Xingxiu Sect, she invokes him as her brother-in-law when a man threatens her. Xiao Feng considers intervening, then holds back: he has seen her cruel treatment of another person and thinks she may need to face consequences. Her appeal stirs his memory of A’Zhu’s charge, but it does not immediately overcome his judgment of A’Zi’s behavior.

Afterward, A’Zi pretends to fall in the snow and invokes A’Zhu again, presenting herself as a helpless girl whom Xiao Feng has been told to protect. He recognizes that she is acting, yet the resemblance of her appeal to her sister’s request softens him. He allows her to travel with him, but sets a clear condition: she must not injure or kill innocent people. When A’Zi questions how that rule applies if someone harms her first, he refuses to leave room for her to turn every quarrel into an excuse for violence. Protection, in his view, does not mean approving her actions or giving her license to fight.

A’Zi’s appeals remain entangled with Xiao Feng’s grief for A’Zhu. He understands that she can use a show of vulnerability to influence him, and he suspects that her determination to accompany him may conceal a scheme. Yet he also chooses to keep her close, both to watch her and to learn whether she can provide information relevant to his search for vengeance. His care is thus repeatedly checked by suspicion: he does not treat kinship as evidence of innocence, even as A’Zhu’s memory makes detachment difficult.

The Injury and Its Aftermath

That tension reaches its sharpest point when A’Zi secretly attacks Xiao Feng and he strikes back, not realizing the severity of the harm he has caused. Seeing her collapse, he immediately understands that he may have killed the very sister A’Zhu entrusted to him. He recalls the deathbed promise and is overwhelmed by the apparent repetition of loss. Rather than leave her, he places his hands against her back and channels his internal energy into her, first trying to sustain her breathing and then continuing for half an hour as she begins to move again.

A’Zi weakly calls him brother-in-law, and Xiao Feng continues treating her until her breathing becomes steady around noon. He then carries her away, still gravely concerned by her condition. The encounter turns his abstract promise into urgent responsibility: the person he had tried to discipline is now dependent on his efforts to survive, and his guilt over having caused the injury intensifies the obligation left by A’Zhu.

Care as Continuing Obligation

A’Zi’s recovery is slow. Through the following months, Xiao Feng remains with her among the Jurchens and helps regulate her breathing. As spring comes, he gathers rare ginseng for her, and she gradually regains consciousness and the ability to speak a few words, though she remains unable to move and needs help with daily necessities. Xiao Feng willingly takes on that work. He feels that tending to A’Zi is a way of fulfilling A’Zhu’s wish, and finds comfort in doing so.

The care also becomes materially demanding. When A’Zi’s injury remains slow to improve, Xiao Feng follows a Jurchen remedy suggested by AguDa, using tiger tendon, tiger bone, and bear gall. He hunts bears to obtain the gall and feeds it to her, alongside the ginseng he has already been finding. The narrative places the physical labor of this care beside the emotional promise that began it: Xiao Feng’s commitment is measured not by a declaration but by repeated attention to A’Zi’s needs.

An Uneasy Bond

Xiao Feng does not forget why the relationship is difficult. A’Zi’s earlier attack and her readiness to manipulate sympathy leave him cautious, and his decision to keep her company is not a judgment that she has become harmless. At the same time, he does not abandon her when her actions have placed her in danger. He distinguishes between refusing to endorse her conduct and accepting responsibility for her as A’Zhu’s sister.

That distinction gives the bond its shape. A’Zi repeatedly calls upon a family tie she barely experienced in childhood; Xiao Feng answers not because he can fully trust her, but because A’Zhu entrusted her to him and because he cannot treat that request lightly. His care thus grows out of loyalty and remorse, while distrust remains part of their relationship. The two sisters’ shared parentage explains the appeal of kinship, but Xiao Feng’s sustained attention—not blood alone—is what makes A’Zhu’s promise consequential in the present.