"Is Miss Xiaoqing leaving just like that?" Ding Songyan looked toward Xu Chang'an with a sense of loss and asked casually:
"When did she send you this letter?"
In Ding Songyan’s heart, Miss Xiaoqing and Ren Youyang were currently better friends than Xu Chang'an or Zheng Zhuxi. To say they shared a bond forged in life and death would not be an exaggeration; after all, Brother Youyang had truly sacrificed his life.
Xu Chang'an said with a look of envy:
"About two tea-brewing intervals ago, she knocked on my door, borrowed paper and ink to leave this letter, and said she was heading straight to the east city wharf.
"You were clearly at home, so why didn't she come to find you directly?"
Two tea-brewing intervals ago? At that time, I should have just swallowed the Remains of Chaos... Miss Xiaoqing had already reached Chengyu Lane, so why didn't she come to see me? Ding Songyan suddenly recalled the four words: "Suppressing Demons and Expelling Evil."
As he pondered, another person walked into Chengyu Lane.
It was Ren Youyang, with his dog-like ears standing tall and adorned with an illusory green snake.
Ren Youyang possessed a presence where sacred majesty and a hint of malevolence coexisted; beneath his feathered robes, his body seemed to show signs of partial beast-transformation.
He was carrying two small jars of wine tied with hemp rope. Just as he reached the entrance of the Ding family courtyard, he suddenly squinted his eyes, as if wanting to raise his right palm to shield himself from the intense sunlight.
"Brother Youyang, what is this?" Ding Songyan asked with a smile.
Xu Chang'an looked at Ren Youyang—who possessed such strange features and the aura of a true expert—and then back at Ding Songyan, his face full of confusion.
Is this still the Second Brother Ding I know?
When did he become so widely connected?
Beyond Zheng Zhuxi of the Xiaoming Sect and that ethereal beauty, he had even befriended such a master?
Ren Youyang looked deeply at Ding Songyan and smiled, raising the two dark brown jars:
"I am returning to Dan Province tomorrow, so I came to find you for a drink."
The True Spirit Sect was located in Dan Province, in the southeast of the Great Zhao.
A flash of inspiration struck Ding Songyan, and he laughed:
"Then let us find a better place to drink!"
…………
At the now-restored East City Wharf, the tall ship of the Tianyang Guild Hall was weighing anchor.
Su Chongxiao arrived at the room at the base of the top deck and knocked on the ajar wooden door.
"Please, come in." Su Qingli’s dejected voice drifted out.
Su Chongxiao pushed the door open and, amidst the fragrance filling the room, looked at his young niece sitting by the window, looking melancholy:
"You went to bid farewell to Second Young Master Ding, so why are you in such a state?"
Su Qingli, who had changed into a simple white dress and looked pure and fresh, raised her eyes to look at her second uncle:
"It’s just... I just feel a bit melancholy."
Her eyes shifted slightly, and she asked as if casually:
"Second Uncle, tell me, if someone possesses traits that restrain you, how can you get close to them?"
Su Chongxiao’s eyebrows twitched, and he scrutinized Su Qingli carefully.
Only when the young girl became somewhat uneasy under his gaze did he clasp his hands behind his back and say:
"Either the other party reaches the Heavenly Human Realm and becomes a Grandmaster, where they can control all their traits, or you cultivate to a level at least one minor realm higher than them. That way, at the very least, you can exchange a few blows. If you are one major realm higher, the influence of such restraint can be suppressed to a very low level."
"What about being in the same minor realm?" Su Qingli pressed.
Su Chongxiao suddenly smiled:
"It means that when you are being restrained, you will still have the spirit to curse the other person a few times."
"So I still can't get close normally..." Su Qingli lowered her head and looked at her own feet.
Just then, a shout came from afar:
"Miss Xiaoqing!"
"Oh!" Su Qingli hurriedly pushed open the window, leaned out, and gazed toward the direction of the voice.
She immediately saw Ding Songyan, dressed in a moon-white Lanshan robe with his hair simply tied up, holding a small jar of wine. He was standing on the corner of the east city wall closest to the river, with the feathered-robed, high-crowned Ren Youyang beside him.
"I'm here!" Su Qingli beamed with joy, stretched out her arms, and waved gently.
Seeing that Miss Xiaoqing had not yet gone far, Ding Songyan on the corner of the wall laughed heartily, raised his jar of wine, and shouted loudly:
"A good friend is returning home; how could I not come to see them off?"
Su Qingli’s eyes lit up. She turned abruptly to her maid, Yuyao:
"Bring me a jar of wine!"
Yuyao hesitated and cast a glance at Su Chongxiao.
Su Chongxiao sighed and said:
"Bring her a small jar of rice wine."
"Yes." Yuyao turned and ran out of the room.
"Hurry, hurry!" Su Qingli urged while climbing out of the window. Using the gaps in the wooden planks and the protrusions outside the cabin, she climbed toward the top of the ship with graceful, swift movements. It took only five or six breaths for her to reach the very top.
"Wait for me!" Su Qingli cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted back toward the city wall.
A gust of wind blew across the river, making her white dress flutter, as if a celestial maiden had descended to the mortal world.
The ship sailed slowly toward the center of the river. Seeing Ding Songyan and Ren Youyang sitting cross-legged, Su Qingli followed suit, smoothed her dress, and sat down on the deck with carefree ease.
She looked at the rolling, vast river that seemed to have no end, and suddenly felt her heart and mind expand.
A moment later, Su Chongxiao threw the small jar of rice wine that Yuyao had retrieved up to her, and it landed steadily in front of Su Qingli.
The young girl tapped open the mud seal and lifted the jar.
Seeing this, Ding Songyan wanted to recite a few lines of poetry, but having been out of school for so long, he had long forgotten most of what he had memorized. He only remembered a dozen or so of the most classic poems; as for the rest, being able to recall a single line was already a feat.
Unable to find anything suitable, he decided to improvise, ignoring the rules of parallelism, tone, or rhyme, and shouted:
"Miss Xiaoqing, amidst laughter and heroic spirit, nothing beats a drunken night with a soulmate!"
Having said this, he lifted the small jar of fine wine and took a large gulp.
Hearing the voice carried by the wind over the river, Su Qingli also shouted:
"Good!"
She too lifted the rice wine and gulped it down. It tasted sweet yet sharp, smooth and not choking.
Ding Songyan looked at the dazed Ren Youyang beside him:
"Brother Youyang, are you not drinking?"
Ren Youyang looked at the soldiers patrolling the city wall, the Xiaoming Sect disciples and yamen constables below, and the crowd at the wharf in the distance. He sighed, lifted his own jar, and drank deeply.
After wiping his mouth, Ding Songyan laughed loudly again:
"We are not mere weeds of the field; once we meet the wind and clouds, we shall transform into dragons!"
"Good! We are not mere weeds of the field!" Su Qingli lifted her wine jar, responding across the distance, and clinked it in the air with Ding Songyan and Ren Youyang.
The three of them tilted their heads back simultaneously, drinking the fine wine with gusto.
Wiping his mouth with his palm, Ding Songyan stood up, held the wine jar high, and shouted with a laugh:
"Miss Xiaoqing, may we both live long, and may we meet again another day!"
He had originally wanted to say, "May we both live long, to share the beauty of the moon from a thousand miles away," but felt that was too intimate, so he forcibly changed the second half.
"May we both live long, and may we meet again another day!" Su Qingli stood up as well and responded from afar.
Ren Youyang said nothing, only drinking.
Before the ship reached the center of the river, the three of them simultaneously turned their jars upside down to show they were empty.
With the three "cups" finished, it was time to part.
Su Qingli felt that this was enough for people of the pugilistic world; how could she be so sentimental? She waved her hand, took the empty jar, jumped off the top of the ship, stepped lightly on her own open wooden window, and returned to her room as gracefully as a bird in flight.
Her pretty face was flushed with a faint glow. As she handed the empty jar to Yuyao, she said with a smile in her eyes and at the corners of her mouth:
"This is the pugilistic world in my heart."
As she spoke, her eyes sparkled, as if they held two pools of fine wine, making even the young maid Yuyao feel as if she were drunk.
…………
At the corner of the city wall.
Ding Songyan turned to look at Ren Youyang and asked with amusement:
"Brother Youyang, your spirits don't seem very high?"
Ren Youyang scanned the area below the city wall and said thoughtfully:
"Songyan, you shouted and drank like that just now. It was heard and seen by every boatman, ferryman, porter, warehouse worker, gate guard, Xiaoming Sect disciple, yamen constable, merchant, peddler, and passerby. Are you not afraid of them mocking you or gossiping behind your back?"
Oh, so you feel embarrassed and are afraid of losing face... Ding Songyan laughed, and with a hint of drunkenness, said:
"As long as it’s not in Chengyu Lane or near the Dangkang Temple, not one in a thousand people in the Dingjiang Prefecture city knows me, so what does it matter?
"On the contrary, Brother Youyang, you are already famous throughout the pugilistic world. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to climb this wall, and now that you are even more awe-inspiring, truly, who under heaven does not know you?"
Ding Songyan was teasing Ren Youyang: since hardly anyone knows me, the one losing face is you, not me.
Ren Youyang’s expression stiffened, and for a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
At this time, Ding Songyan’s dark, profound Qi circulated through his body a few times, already neutralizing most of his drunkenness.
This made Ding Songyan click his tongue in wonder. He suspected that Zhen Qianfan had likely been poisoning Yan Changqing with exotic toxins every day, but who knew that the man’s stomach had already mutated, with the remains of Dijiang attached to it? Whatever exotic poison he ate, it likely returned to chaos the moment it entered his system. Yan Changqing’s state, influenced by the object within him, had led Zhen Qianfan to believe the poison was effective, and he had never suspected anything else.
I can't do that yet; I should still be affected by drugs. But my Qi has the trait of "Unifying All Things," and it is at the strength of a perfected Dharma Realm. After circulating through my whole body, it is enough to neutralize the vast majority of toxins or medicinal effects in a very short time... Ding Songyan reviewed his own state in passing.
He smiled and patted Ren Youyang on the shoulder:
"The wine is gone. Come, Brother Youyang, I’ll treat you to some flower-wine!"
Brother Youyang was so righteous earlier; I must treat him!
Ren Youyang’s dog-like ears twitched, and he sighed:
"Alas, I no longer have those worldly desires."
Ah... is this the price of becoming a god after death? No wonder Brother Youyang used to frequent brothels every day while he was alive, without fearing the loss of his essence... Ding Songyan asked with a look of regret:
"Then what do you still have desires for?"
Ren Youyang looked toward the rolling river and sighed:
"The two words 'affection and righteousness' have weakened, but they still exist in my heart. Those other desires haven't completely disappeared either; it’s just that there must be affection first. What is stronger is the path I wish to practice myself. Hmm, wine, blood-food, well-prepared sacrificial offerings, chicken, duck, and goose are also things I crave. I can still find pleasure in watching plays and listening to storytelling."
"That’s not bad then." Ding Songyan felt happy for Brother Youyang.
Ren Youyang withdrew his gaze, looked at him, and asked seriously:
"Songyan, did you eat something?"
Hmm... Ding Songyan did not answer immediately.
Ren Youyang touched the illusory green snake ornament on his ear and smiled:
"I have become a ghost-god, a corpse-god. I have a side that is ghost and corpse, and I can enter and exit the Netherworld. I count as half an evil, yin entity. How could I not sense your abnormality? It was only by relying on my 'god' side to suppress it that I didn't retreat three hundred paces."
Note: The first paragraph is adapted from Wong Jim’s "Life and the Pugilistic World"; the second paragraph is a patchwork, the first half from Li Bai’s "Bidding Farewell to My Children in Nanling," and I could not find the true source for the second half; the first half of the third paragraph is from Su Shi’s "Prelude to Water Melody: When Will the Moon Be Clear," and the second half was improvised to show that Ding Songyan has been out in society for a long time and lacks poetic sentiment.
PS: The book goes live at 12:05 AM. I just finished the summary for the first volume. Everything that needed to be said has been said, so I won't write a "going live" post. I'll just say it here: four chapters tomorrow to show my sincerity. There will be two chapters at midnight, and one each at the fixed times of noon and evening.
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