After composing himself, Ding Songyan left Chengyu Lane and headed toward North Water Street. Along the way, he bought some sesame balls and steamed buns to satisfy his hunger.
His original plan had been to quickly warn Xiaoqing that the one controlling his pursuer was using a legacy related to the Vermilion Moth. However, he feared this would expose his possession of the *Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas* and his ability to "probe the profound." Thus, he decided to first go storytelling for Yan Changqing, exchange information about the Vermilion Moth with this mysterious and powerful "distinguished guest," and only then drop a hint to Xiaoqing.
In this way, the information would have a "source" on the surface, and it would serve the dual purpose of killing two birds with one stone. It would allow Xiaoqing to clearly perceive Ding Songyan’s mysterious nature and realize that his sources were closely linked to the Zhen Mansion. Consequently, she and the forces behind her would scrutinize the Zhen Mansion and its various details with even greater caution.
Thinking of Yan Changqing, Ding Songyan suddenly slowed his pace.
He had used his "Qi" twice today, and the clear, misty "seed" in his Sea of Consciousness had vanished!
This meant he could try reporting to the authorities again to see if he would succeed.
Ding Songyan immediately turned toward the County Magistrate's Office. Just as he reached the screen wall, he saw Constable Li Wu and a man dressed in the same red-bottomed, black-patterned attire walking out briskly.
"Second Young Master Ding! I was just looking for you!" Li Wu’s eyes lit up as he hurried to meet him.
"Brother Li, what is this about?" Ding Songyan asked, feeling both puzzled and expectant.
Are they planning to arrest me to check for something special about my body?
Li Wu gestured toward the refined-looking middle-aged man beside him.
"You must have forgotten. This is Constable Xue, whom you used to call Uncle Xue."
"Uncle Xue, is there something the matter?" Ding Songyan seized the opportunity to ask Constable Xue Zhangjian.
According to what he had heard from his father, Ding Shengyi, Constable Xue was a lay disciple of the Body-Mind Heterodox Sect, a Buddhist school.
The Body-Mind Heterodox Sect was also a top-tier power. It bore that name because there was another Body-Mind Sect in the Feng State. The Body-Mind Heterodox Sect had split from the original due to differences in Buddhist philosophy and martial arts lineage. They had traveled south and eventually established their sect in the Great Zhao, making them one of the top powers with a relatively shallow history.
Xue Zhangjian hunched his back slightly, his fingers curled like chicken claws, and he nodded slightly.
"Tell us everything you know about Chen Yuliang again, from the very beginning."
"Have you discovered something unusual about him?" Ding Songyan felt a flicker of surprise.
Xue Zhangjian and Li Wu nodded in unison but offered no explanation as to what that anomaly was.
Ding Songyan pondered for a moment, weighing his words for several breaths, and said sincerely:
"Brother Li, I actually withheld some information when I told you last time. That bulbous-nosed man—yes, the one named Wang Yishu—also mentioned other things at the time. He claimed that I had sold a certain treasure to Chen Yuliang, and that Chen Yuliang had given me a large sum of silver and told me to leave Dingjiang Prefecture as soon as possible. Who would have thought that I would later be found unconscious in a ruined temple outside the city by my family? Not only was the silver gone, but I had also developed Soul-Loss Syndrome and completely forgotten the incident.
"When I asked Wang Yishu about other things, he seemed to answer everything without reservation, including what martial arts Chen Yuliang excelled at and what made him special..."
Except for mentioning the *Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas* and omitting Ding Daniu’s name—simply referring to him as someone from the Zhen Mansion—Ding Songyan recounted the entire situation exactly as it had happened.
Xue Zhangjian and Li Wu exchanged glances, each harboring their own suspicions and conjectures.
"You don't remember what the treasure was, nor where it came from?" Li Wu pressed.
Ding Songyan shook his head with complete candor.
I truly didn't remember at the time; I only found out later.
"It seems someone is plotting behind the scenes," Xue Zhangjian whispered, then said to Ding Songyan, "Second Young Master Ding, you may return home. If we have further questions, we will come to find you."
Good, good! It would be best if Zheng Zhuxi of the Xiaoming Sect takes the lead. I can build some goodwill first and see if I can drop a hint or two... Ding Songyan took his leave and exited the main street.
It wasn't until he was nearly at North Water Street that he suddenly realized he had "forgotten" to report the mysterious person locked in the Zhen Mansion's secret dungeon to the authorities again!
"It seems the power Yan Changqing implanted in my Sea of Consciousness is not just a single strand. There is the 'seed' on the surface, but there are also hidden ones. These are the culprits influencing my thoughts and making me forget to do certain things... I must find a way to root it out... otherwise, not only will I be unable to call for help, but at times I will be guided to do certain things..." Ding Songyan sighed, though he wasn't overly anxious.
This was because on one side was the Zhen Mansion, and on the other was the hidden successor of the Vermilion Moth. Only by pulling Yan Changqing into the fray and obtaining "help" from him could he balance the situation.
A triangle is the most stable shape!
Truly, none of them can be missing. Once one side is lost, Ding Songyan would soon be swallowed by the collapsing situation, left with no power to save himself.
As for Xiaoqing’s faction, the True Spirit Sect where Ren Youyang resided, the authorities, and the Xiaoming Sect, they were all still on the periphery of the matter. Since Ding Songyan could not reveal key information to them, he could only treat them as an unimportant outer triangle and find ways to pull them in later.
*Hoo...* Ding Songyan stepped into the Zhen Mansion, covered his face with the black cloth as usual, circled to the secret dungeon, and sat down opposite Yan Changqing.
"You used that strand of Qi?" A cool sensation dropped into Ding Songyan’s Sea of Consciousness, echoing as a hoarse, aged voice.
Immediately following, the cool sensation grew dense once more, condensing into a new, clear, misty "seed."
This old man has a deep foundation; I can still squeeze quite a bit out of him... Ding Songyan felt a strange sense that he was "living off his elders."
With the aid of the "seed," his consciousness split in two again, half of it retreating to condense into his figure.
Yan Changqing, still wearing his Huayang cap and green Lanshan robe, was already waiting in the mist-shrouded Sea of Consciousness. He said to Ding Songyan:
"Did you encounter an accident?"
Ding Songyan nodded and bowed politely.
"Answering the Senior, Ren Youyang of the True Spirit Sect helped this junior discover that someone was tracking me—not just the retainers of the Zhen Mansion.
"Later, when he failed to catch the tracker, this junior was forced to use the Qi provided by the Senior to attempt to 'probe the profound'..."
He did not hide the fact that Ren Youyang was helping him; after all, this opportunity had been calculated by Yan Changqing.
He described the red ant-like flying moth he had seen, the anomaly after the tracker’s death, and the issues surrounding Chen Yuliang and Wang Yishu.
Throughout this, Ding Songyan kept his eyes on Yan Changqing’s face, specifically mentioning that he had woken up in a ruined temple outside the city, that he had forgotten many things, and that Chen Yuliang believed the *Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas* was real and complete.
He mentioned the former to see if Yan Changqing had deduced the secret of his soul-possession, and the latter to observe whether this Senior had any knowledge of the *Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas* and what his relationship to it might be.
In the end, Ding Songyan found that Yan Changqing remained calm and composed, showing neither anger nor surprise.
Is he always like this, or did he already know that the *Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas* was at least nearly complete? Ding Songyan paused and said:
"Senior, do you know which faction that tracker originated from, and what their purpose was?"
Yan Changqing, with his graying temples, paced with his hands behind his back.
"I saw it once in the Great Desert. That vermilion flying moth, shaped like an ant, must be an 'Moth Seed' cultivated by the Vermilion Moth legacy, originating from the Moth God Sect of the Feng State.
"What are they coming here to stir up trouble for?"
There was a hint of doubt in Yan Changqing’s tone, though it was unclear if it was genuine or a performance for Ding Songyan.
He pondered for a moment and said:
"The tracker you described is similar to the 'Moth-men' I have encountered before, but the behavior of Chen Yuliang and Wang Yishu is quite different.
"Normally, even if one has reached the Dharma Realm, the 'Moth Father' or 'Moth Mother' must be within a hundred paces to control a 'Moth-man.' The closer they are, the more agile and nimble the 'Moth-man' becomes. Within ten paces, a 'Moth-man' can use martial arts as usual and engage in conversation. But Wang Yishu talked too much and even displayed his own thoughts, as if he were not controlled by a 'Moth Seed' at all. And when Chen Yuliang fought to the death with Yu Wanxiong, according to your account, he was inside the Stone Pool Martial Arts School, where a 'Moth Father' or 'Moth Mother' could not have been hiding within ten paces.
"I have never seen such 'Moth-men' before. It is truly peculiar; I fear there is a hidden story here."
As expected of an old veteran of the martial world, he identified the origin of the moth at a glance and discovered the anomalies... Ding Songyan did not interrupt Yan Changqing’s self-reflection.
Yan Changqing’s voice grew lower:
"Either someone in the Moth God Sect has secretly reached the Heavenly Human Realm, or there is another source of assistance.
"If there is other assistance...
"The *Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas*..."
Suddenly, Yan Changqing stopped pacing.
A hint of a smile appeared on his gaunt face:
"It seems an old friend of mine has arrived, though I do not know which one."
"What should this junior do?" Ding Songyan immediately asked for guidance.
Yan Changqing laughed:
"Do nothing for now. Pretend you know nothing. Since the authorities questioned you about Chen Yuliang again today, it shows they have their own suspicions. Let us first see if these two sides collide, and if they do, what kind of muddy waters they will stir up."
"Yes, Senior." Ding Songyan then asked, "Can the Vermilion Moth cause ordinary moths to gather?"
Yan Changqing shook his head:
"I do not know; I have never seen it.
"Heh, I have only encountered a 'Moth-man' once, and I dealt with his 'Moth Mother' while I was at it. I do not know enough about the rest."
I'll have to ask Xiaoqing about that later... Ding Songyan looked at the clear, misty "seed."
"Can this strand of Qi still only be used twice?"
Yan Changqing immediately laughed and scolded:
"I spent many years pretending to be completely crippled just to save up a few strands of Qi. You must not squander them, or the subsequent matters will be difficult to handle."
Since you said that, it means there is still quite a bit of Qi left... Ding Songyan accepted this without any psychological burden, thought for a moment, and asked:
"After I leave the Zhen Mansion today, what should this junior do?"
"Try to find the people from the Small Boat Gang," Yan Changqing said with a faint smile.
Ding Songyan let out an "uh":
"This junior has already done that."
He briefly mentioned the incident at the Stone Pool Martial Arts School.
Yan Changqing burst into laughter:
"Little friend, you truly suit my temperament. If I had met you before I was imprisoned, I would certainly have taken you as my disciple and led you onto the path of martial arts mastery!"
Ding Songyan offered a few words of insincere gratitude.
Yan Changqing paced a few more steps, his tone calm as he said:
"Then, on my behalf, go to Dangkang Temple and offer three sticks of incense."
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