The training ground of the Stone Pool Martial Arts School was about five or six times the size of a standard hall’s front courtyard. It was kept meticulously level, with various weapon racks arranged around the perimeter, holding everything from sabers and spears to swords and halberds—some sharpened, some dull.
Beyond these, the grounds were fully equipped with wooden dummies, stone locks, wooden stakes, archery targets, and iron water vats.
The master of the school, a man named Liu Yuzao, stood beside a nine-foot-tall grey-white stone statue, waiting for Ding Songyan with his hands clasped behind his back.
He was white-haired and bearded, with a slightly protruding mouth and a prosperous, well-fed appearance. Several red patches were visible on his neck and the backs of his hands.
After escorting Ding Songyan to this spot, Senior Brother Yang retreated to the edge of the training ground but did not leave. Seven or eight other disciples were also lurking nearby, watching the scene with solemn expressions and eyes filled with resentment.
*These ones have backbone and courage; they didn't stay far away just because I claimed to represent the Zhen Mansion...* Ding Songyan cupped his hands toward Liu Yuzao.
"This junior greets Master Liu."
Liu Yuzao scrutinized the calm and composed Ding Songyan, then asked in a deep voice:
"What brings you here, Young Master Ding?"
Ding Songyan once again clasped one hand behind his back and smiled as if making casual conversation:
"Master Liu, did you ever feel that something was amiss in the days leading up to Chen Yuliang’s death?"
Liu Yuzao stared into Ding Songyan’s face for a long moment before slowly shaking his head:
"I did not."
Ding Songyan had not expected a different answer; he only wanted to use the master to relay that question to the Small Boat Gang.
As for whether the Small Boat Gang would believe it, whether they could uncover the anomalies, or what they would do next, he could only take it one step at a time.
The only thing he was certain of was that the Small Boat Gang would not seek to cooperate with him in the short term. After all, he was a member of the Zhen Mansion, and since Chen Yuliang had just been tricked to his death because of that connection, they certainly wouldn't want to fall for the same trap twice.
"Then, Master Liu, did you feel that Chen Yuliang had been too aggressive over the past two or three months?" Ding Songyan added, combining the news he had heard at the magistrate's office with rumors from the streets, offering a hint with a touch of uncertainty.
Liu Yuzao looked into Ding Songyan’s smiling eyes and once again shook his head slowly:
"I did not."
"Perhaps he was 'not in control of his own actions'," Ding Songyan said, intentionally using a tone of lament.
Without waiting for the master to respond, he turned slightly, examining the tall stone statue, which was covered in numerous sword and saber marks. He chuckled self-deprecatingly:
"Why would I think something was wrong? It is because I was implicated in the affair and became a discarded pawn of the Zhen Mansion."
Liu Yuzao’s eyes flickered, and his expression shifted slightly.
Ding Songyan, still with one hand behind his back, paced to his side. He looked toward another wooden dummy in front of them and whispered to himself:
"I nearly lost my life because of it, but I also had a strange encounter. Things are different now, and I cannot swallow that grievance."
Having said this, he didn't look at the master’s reaction. He shook his head with a smile and raised his right hand, which had been hanging at his side.
With this movement, he channeled the clear, misty "seed" within his Sea of Consciousness, letting it instantly flow into his palm.
Ding Songyan’s perception suddenly "soared," as if his soul had left his body, allowing him to view everything here from an elevated perspective.
He clearly felt the gale sweeping across the training ground, tainted with a hint of violent energy from heaven and earth, bringing with it thick, oppressive dark clouds and the fierce, silvery-white light leaping between them.
It seemed as if he had another invisible body outside his own, with apertures hidden in the void, breathing in the world.
Following a certain profound trajectory, Ding Songyan thrust out his right palm.
In that instant, the gale ravaging the training ground vanished abruptly. The air became heavy, nearly solidifying.
Ding Songyan’s palm landed on the wooden dummy in front of him, light as a feather.
A moment later, a violent blast of air erupted from his palm.
All the wind that had just vanished seemed to have been displaced to this very spot, tangled together—first compressed to the extreme, then exploding outward.
The sound was swallowed up. The wooden dummy disintegrated instantly, swept into the air by the visible, raging wind, as if a true dragon were drawing water from the clouds.
With that same smile, Ding Songyan withdrew his right palm and clasped it behind his back as well.
He turned around, not sparing the master another glance, and walked slowly toward the exit of the training ground.
Master Liu, Senior Brother Yang, and the seven or eight disciples lurking nearby all stared with frozen eyes at the "dragon drawing water" that had spiraled three or four zhang into the air, and at the wooden dummy that had already turned into splinters dancing in the wind.
Just then, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking the spot where the dummy had stood with magnificent force. It illuminated Master Liu’s face in a silvery-white glow and left the expressions of Senior Brother Yang and the others flickering in the shifting light.
*Boom!*
The dull rumble of thunder echoed out, and the long-brewing rain finally poured down upon the city of Dingjiang Prefecture.
As the bean-sized raindrops began to hammer down in a torrential downpour behind him, Ding Songyan, hands still clasped behind his back, had already stepped into the corridor.
With his back to Master Liu, Senior Brother Yang, and the others, the smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a look of astonishment:
"Was that effect a bit too good?
"Good thing I left right after showing off, or I almost would have been struck by lightning..."
If he had known the "Qi" of Yan Changqing was this terrifying, he would have chosen that nine-foot-tall stone statue!
Just now, he had been afraid he wouldn't be able to move the stone statue, which would have been a laughingstock and made everyone present roar with laughter, so he had settled for the wooden dummy instead.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Ding Songyan maintained his composure, walking slowly back to the main gate of the Stone Pool Martial Arts School.
Looking at the torrential rain that had turned into a curtain of water, his expression sank.
He hadn't brought an umbrella...
***
Under the eaves of Dangkang Temple, Ding Songyan wrung out his clothes, squeezing out a fair amount of water.
"Why did it have to start raining so suddenly, and so hard..." Xu Chang'an, who was just as soaked, muttered incessantly beside him.
"Isn't it normal for the weather in the sixth month to change at a moment's notice?" Ding Songyan replied with a common saying.
In truth, he wasn't sure himself: had he triggered this rain, or had it simply been the right time for it to fall, or perhaps a combination of both?
Regardless, Yan Changqing’s strength had been fully demonstrated. Even just a wisp of "Qi" that he had lent him—years after he had been crippled—possessed such power!
Zhen Qianfan must be very wary of him. If it weren't for the fact that he had been severely injured back then, Zhen Qianfan wouldn't have dared to covet that treasure even with ten times the courage... Assuming Yan Changqing didn't lie about helping Zhen Qianfan become a master, then he might well be in the Heavenly Human Realm... Such figures are rare in the world. If I had more time, and if I weren't limited to only Xiaoqing and Ren Youyang as sources of information, I could likely have locked down Yan Changqing’s true identity... Ding Songyan’s thoughts raced without pause.
Xu Chang'an was just complaining about the weather and didn't think too much of it. He looked at the others taking shelter in Dangkang Temple, lowered his voice, and asked about the real matter:
"Second Brother Ding, how did your talk with Master Liu go?"
"Quite well. He seemed to appreciate me quite a bit," Ding Songyan lied through his teeth.
He couldn't exactly say he had stunned them, could he?
He wasn't worried that Master Liu would spread the news of his "strange encounter" or his sudden rise to power, nor was he afraid that Senior Brother Yang and the other disciples would leak the incident and draw the suspicion of the magistrate's office.
He only regretted that he couldn't personally guide the rumors in the martial arts world, and that he couldn't go to the magistrate's office to surrender, making it difficult for the Yi Clan and the Xiaoming Sect to investigate exactly what kind of "strange encounter" he had.
Thanks to that "seed" in his Sea of Consciousness, even if he wanted to report to the authorities, he had to be this roundabout and show off his edge, and even then, the chance of success was very low!
Xu Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief:
"Though I don't know what you're planning, Second Brother Ding, if you need any help, just come to me."
"I won't stand on ceremony." Ding Songyan looked at Xu Chang'an, the corners of his mouth curling up bit by bit.
Xu Chang'an felt an inexplicable shiver.
***
When the heavy rain finally stopped, Ding Songyan walked into his home in Chengyu Lane.
Ding Qingyan was not at all surprised by his early return; with such a heavy downpour, the market outside Dangkang Temple couldn't possibly continue, so her second brother, having no stories to tell, naturally came home.
"Here, for you." Ding Songyan took out the silver hairpin he had bought earlier and handed it over.
Ding Qingyan’s eyes widened, and her delicate brows twitched:
"Second Brother, you only have Soul-Loss Syndrome, you didn't find a cornucopia. Why are you giving me a silver hairpin? Save it for your future wife."
"Isn't it only natural for a brother to save a little nest egg for his sister?" Ding Songyan laughed. "Just take it, or I'll give it to A-Hua."
"Who is A-Hua?" Ding Qingyan felt this was more worthy of attention, and her intention to refuse weakened as she took the hairpin.
Ding Songyan suppressed a laugh:
"That yellow dog at Uncle Ren’s place at the entrance of the lane. I forgot its name, so I gave it a new one: A-Hua."
"..." Ding Qingyan’s expression went blank, and she said through gritted teeth, "Is teasing me that much fun?"
"Yes." Ding Songyan rushed back to the west wing before his sister could grab a broom, changed out of his wet clothes, and wiped himself down with a towel.
By the time he returned to the main room, dry and refreshed, Ding Qingyan was holding a bronze mirror, admiring the silver hairpin she had already tucked into her hair.
"You might as well have just given me the silver," she muttered, looking at the mirror with a bright smile.
Ding Songyan didn't call her out. He pulled up a stool and sat down, whispering to himself with a sense of satisfaction:
"I'll see what Mother, Father, and Big Brother are lacking or what they want in the next few days..."
Ding Qingyan paused, put down the mirror, and frowned at Ding Songyan, asking with concern:
"Second Brother, you aren't... in some kind of trouble again, are you?"
Ding Songyan shook his head and smiled:
"I just happened to run into a 'God of Wealth' recently. Xu Chang'an even thanked me with a few taels of silver."
"Where did he get it? Did he rob some wealthy household?" Ding Qingyan’s attention was diverted again.
Ding Songyan briefly explained the matter of Xu Chang'an’s master, and since it was still early, he began to practice his calligraphy.
At night, he prepared to advance the story of Xu Shilin.
Ding Qingyan, who always chatted with him for a while before sleep, suddenly said from behind the screen:
"Second Brother, I was actually very happy today. It felt like things were back to the way they used to be, when you would tell a story every night and let me listen until I fell asleep..."
Her voice grew softer, and then she forced a laugh, feigning anger:
"You never told me your *Legend of the White Snake*. Just reading the scripts is so dull!"
Ding Songyan’s scripts were merely rough outlines.
"I..." Ding Songyan intended to put this off until later.
He was currently full of worries. If he didn't need to gather information from Xiaoqing, he wouldn't even want to write this chapter of *The Legend of the White Snake*.
Before he could say anything further, Ding Qingyan continued as if to herself:
"Second Brother, I know you’ve been working hard lately, writing by the lamp every night. I was just saying that. When you have time, and you're not busy before bed, tell it to me then.
"If it weren't for the crowds and chaos outside Dangkang Temple, I would have wanted to go listen to you tell stories. Mother hasn't let me go out much these past few days, and I don't want to add to your troubles..."
Listening to Ding Qingyan’s very sensible and well-behaved words, Ding Songyan’s heart softened. He sighed silently and said:
"It’s still early today. I’ll tell you a chapter."
"Ah, then, just for a quarter of an hour!" Ding Qingyan’s tone was full of surprise. "I want to hear the part where Lady White scares Xu Xian to death."
"Fine." Ding Songyan began from Fahai’s bewitchment and Xu Xian’s realization of the details, told the story of the realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival, and finally sang "Bai Suzhen Under Mount Qingcheng" for his sister.
Ding Qingyan hummed along with the song, and Ding Songyan was quite amazed—this was exactly the cold, ethereal, and otherworldly feeling he wanted.
Before he could praise her, Ding Qingyan laughed softly:
"Second Brother, I knew that if I begged you to tell me a story, you would certainly refuse. But if I acted well-behaved, sensible, gentle, and considerate, while looking a little aggrieved, you would likely soften. Hmph, that’ll teach you to tease me earlier!
"I’m going to sleep now~ Don't disturb me~"
"..." Ding Songyan had almost forgotten that his little sister had such a side to her.
After a moment, he shook his head with a smile and picked up the brush from the rack.
After writing for a while, Ding Songyan finally saw the familiar figure of Xiaoqing.
As he wrote, he asked "casually":
"Miss Xiaoqing, do you know a person named Yan Changqing?"
0 Comments