Gathering

Footsteps came from Song Jixin's doorway. Just as Liu Xianyang was about to jump down from the wall, he heard a voice before seeing its owner. Someone asked warmly with a smile, "Are you Old Man Yao's apprentice from Baoxi Kiln? Surnamed Liu?"

It was the Kiln Affairs Supervisor, dressed in white with a jade belt at his waist. He strode out through the doorway and looked toward the wall with a smile.

Liu Xianyang's body immediately stiffened. He discovered that he had somehow lost the strength to jump down. With a guilty dry laugh, he said, "In reply to Your Excellency, that's me. When Your Excellency came to our Dragon Kiln to open the kiln, my master had me demonstrate several tasks for you."

The man nodded, sized up the tall youth, and bluntly asked, "Young Man, do you want to see the outside world? Join the army, go into battle, kill your enemies—I guarantee that if you can endure ten years, you'll become a high-ranking official. When the time comes, I'll personally host a celebratory feast for you in the capital. What do you say?"

Standing behind the man, Song Jixin's face darkened like still water as he clenched the Old Dragon Spreads Rain Jade Pendant Fu Nanhua had given him.

This Reading Seed, who had borne the labels "illegitimate son" and "bastard" for many years, now knew the true identity of the man beside him. Thus, the youth understood the weight of those words even more clearly. The four words "personally host a feast" would become one of Great Li's strongest life-preserving talismans, the longest Cloud Ladder in officialdom.

Liu Xianyang racked his brains for some refined phrasing and stammered, "Thank you for the Supervising Official's favor. I am deeply honored and terrified... but I've already promised to become an apprentice at Master Ruan's Blacksmith Shop. It really wouldn't be right to go back on my word. I hope Your Excellency won't... Your Excellency won't stoop to the level of a petty man..."

The tall youth's words suddenly caught in his throat. No matter what he did, he could not remember them, and his face reddened with anxiety.

Song Jixin seemingly helpfully reminded him, "It's 'a great man does not remember a petty man's faults.'"

The man in white merely smiled and let it pass without concern. "No matter. If you ever get the chance to leave this town, go to the nearest Danyang Pass and find a martial man named Liu Linxi. Tell him that Song Changjing of the capital recommended you for military service. If he doesn't believe you, tell him that Song Changjing said this: Liu Linxi still owes him thirty thousand heads of Sui border cavalry."

Liu Xianyang nodded foolishly. "All right."

The man left with a smile. Song Jixin escorted him to the courtyard gate and was about to stop there, but the man seemed to have read his mind. Without turning around, he said directly, "Come with me to the Supervising Official's office. I'll take you to meet someone."

Song Jixin planted both feet into the ground like nails and said darkly, "I'm not going!"

To the town's common people, that place had an impossibly high threshold. Yet to a youth who had grown up year after year amid rumors and gossip, it was a dragon's pool and tiger's den, a hurdle he could not cross.

The man, who was always swift and decisive outside the town, did not grow angry at the youth's inability to appreciate the situation, nor did he stop walking. But he slowed considerably. "According to the records of the office's spies and informants, you've already met that Sui Dynasty prince surnamed Gao, haven't you? Do you know that the Gao Clan of Sui and our Great Li Song Clan are thousand-year enemies who cannot share the same sky? He is also a prince, yet he dared to come to this little town in the heartland of enemy Great Li. And you, Song Jixin, are likewise a prince—yet you don't dare visit a mere official residence within the territory of your own empire?"

Song Jixin's first reaction was not to consider the deeper meaning of those words. Instead, he instantly turned to look at Liu Xianyang. The tall youth was sitting atop the wall, rubbing his hands and pounding his legs, as though he had not heard a word.

The Great Li feudal king in white walking through Mud Bottle Alley curled his lips upward. The man had gained an unexpected delight.

Worthy indeed of being a seed from our Old Song family.

But when he thought of how the youth was also that woman's son, even this powerful feudal king, Great Li's foremost Martial Dao grandmaster, found it somewhat vexing and troublesome.

Song Jixin gritted his teeth, turned back to Zhi Gui at the doorway, and said, "I'll be back soon. Don't worry about lunch for me."

Song Jixin had just stepped outside the courtyard when he turned back with a smile. "Take that pouch of broken silver from beside my bed and buy that pair of dragon-and-phoenix fragrant pendants from the Du shop. We won't need to save money anymore anyway."

Zhi Gui nodded and made a cautious mute hand gesture.

Song Jixin smiled happily and left with easy grace.

Once Song Jixin had gone far away, Liu Xianyang, sitting atop the wall, cautiously asked, "Zhi Gui, what exactly is Song Jixin's relationship with the Supervising Official?"

Zhi Gui looked at the tall youth with pity.

Liu Xianyang could not stand that look from her. "What's that for? So he knows some official in charge of firing porcelain. Big deal?"

Zhi Gui tugged at the corner of her mouth, then went back inside by herself to fetch food and began feeding the old hen and the fluffy little chicks.

For no reason at all, Liu Xianyang felt dejected. He jumped down from the wall and shouted into the house, "The one surnamed Chen, let's go to the Blacksmith Shop! I'm not taking this pent-up anger anymore."

With her back to the neighboring courtyard beyond the wall, the girl laughed. "Buddhas fight for a stick of incense, men fight for one breath. Pity that a good-for-nothing only has a bellyful of pent-up anger."

Liu Xianyang's blood surged, reddening even the roots of his ears. He walked to the yellow mud wall and slammed a fist heavily onto its top. "Wang Zhu! Say that again if you've got the guts!"

The maidservant tossed down all the corn and vegetable leaves, clapped her hands, turned around, and smiled sweetly. "Who do you think you are? You tell me to say it, and I have to?"

Liu Xianyang looked at the girl, whose figure was stretching taller and becoming ever more radiant and lovely, and found himself speechless. His heart felt hollow, as though a porcelain bowl within it had fallen to the ground.

Chen Ping'an had actually been standing by the threshold for some time. Seeing this, he quickly walked into the courtyard and said softly, "Let's go."

The two youths walked side by side through the narrow alley. The tall youth suddenly asked, "Chen Ping'an, am I really that hopeless?"

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment and answered seriously, "The neighbors in the alley all said my mother was wonderful, and they also said my father was a famously silent gourd. So I think whether someone likes someone else may not have that much to do with whether they have prospects."

Liu Xianyang pulled a long face. "Then I'm even worse off. Even if I build a Dragon Kiln of my own someday, or learn all of Master Ruan's craft, she still won't like me!"

Chen Ping'an wisely closed his mouth, lest he add fuel to the fire.

Walking through the familiar alley, Chen Ping'an suddenly recalled a scene from years ago. He had followed Old Man Yao along the stream into the deep mountains and seen a little elk drinking by the water. It was not afraid even when it saw him. After drinking, it lowered its head and stared at the stream for a long time without leaving. Besides the elk's reflection, there was also a wandering fish lingering beneath the water.

Before leaving his ancestral home, Miss Ning had suggested that, since he possessed a Sophora Leaf, he should leave town soon. With the Invisible Protection of the ancestral Sophora Leaf, he would be less likely to encounter any major mishaps. It would be best not to remain in town for too long, because she did not know whether Liu Xianyang's affair would implicate Chen Ping'an.

But Chen Ping'an had insisted on personally seeing Liu Xianyang accepted as Master Ruan's apprentice before he could leave with peace of mind.

Because without Liu Xianyang back then, he would have starved to death long ago.

Of course, Chen Ping'an also hoped that Miss Ning could recover from her injuries in his home. Yet the youth had not dared say so at the time, afraid she would think him frivolous.

Chen Ping'an suddenly asked, "That Treasure Armor your grandfather left you—will you absolutely never sell it to an outsider?"

Liu Xianyang looked as though the answer was self-evident. "Nonsense. I'd rather die than sell it!"

He punched the shoulder of the youth beside him and joked, "I'm not a money-grubber like you."

The tall youth clasped both hands behind his head. "Some things, if you don't have them for now, can be earned with money. But some things, once gone, are truly gone for good."

Chen Ping'an muttered to himself, "I understand."

As they neared the Mud Bottle Alley Entrance, Liu Xianyang blurted out a curse. Chen Ping'an gathered his thoughts and looked up, his heart immediately growing heavy.

It was Lu Zhengchun, the eldest young master of the Lu Family from Fulu Street. Back then, this was the man who had led a group of fair-weather friends to block Liu Xianyang in this alley and nearly beat him to death. Had Chen Ping'an not run off and shouted for help, Liu Xianyang, who had no elder relatives left at home, might truly have been thrown into a mass grave.

Song Jixin had crouched on the wall watching the excitement at the time, constantly fanning the flames. Later, he told the still-shaken Chen Ping'an that what Lu Zhengchun and his group had done was called "acting chivalrously for the sake of pride" outside the town.

Lu Zhengchun blocked Liu Xianyang's path and forced out a smile. "Don't be nervous. I'm not here to settle old scores with you today. Rather, I'm here to..."

Liu Xianyang cut off the Lu Family young master. "Again? A good dog doesn't block the road. Get the hell out of my way!"

Lu Zhengchun's expression turned awkward, but he still forced a smile. "Liu Xianyang, I truly have something to discuss with you this time. Last time, you ran off before we could even finish speaking. That wasn't right. At least hear the terms we have to offer, all right? When you get down to it, we two can count as friends who got acquainted through a fight. There's no need to make things so stiff. Those guests and I are very sincere!"

Liu Xianyang cocked his head and sneered, "What, you're addicted to playing matchmaker for others now? I really find it strange. You, Lu Zhengchun, are the grandson of the richest household in this town, so why do you love being an outsider's lackey so much?"

Lu Zhengchun's face turned livid, yet he still had to maintain his smile, making him look absurdly comical. Nearly pleading, he said, "Liu Xianyang, as long as you name it, they'll do their best to satisfy you. Copper coins, for instance? Why don't you name an amount? Say... one hundred and fifty strings of cash? Even... two hundred strings—I can bargain that much for you. Two hundred strings! That would be enough for you to buy half a residence on Fulu Street."

Liu Xianyang stared at the man's eyes and expression before saying contemptuously, "Two hundred strings? Are you sending off a beggar? And you call that sincerity? Stop putting on this empty show with me. I've got serious business to handle. Get lost."

At the corner outside Mud Bottle Alley, a little girl carved from pink jade and white snow sat on the burly old man's shoulders. A boy in a bright red robe was led by a woman. Though he was at an age that ought to have been innocent and carefree, his face already bore a gloomy malice beyond his years. In the language of their homeland, he said, "Is this Lu Family man a little too stupid? What use is he..."

The woman shook her head and smiled softly. "When granting favors, you must understand that a dou of rice brings gratitude, while a sheng of rice brings resentment. In business, if you want the greatest profit, you should do as Lu Zhengchun does and first test the bottom line of the other party's expectations."

The child asked in confusion, "Do we need to go through so much trouble even to do business with these native lowlifes?"

The woman smiled. "Human nature is complicated, and the human heart is dark. It does not become more or less so according to one's cultivation. People from small places may have shallow knowledge, but they are not all fools. If you think this way, you will suffer for it someday."

The child gave an oh. "Mother understands people so well, so why not negotiate directly?"

The woman patiently explained, "Look at how we're dressed. No matter which shop we enter to buy things, any seller with even a little shrewdness will be unable to resist overcharging us."

The child sighed. "Still, being so coy and roundabout is too uncomfortable."

The woman crouched down, held the child's cheeks in both hands, and gazed at that face so much like his father's. She said sternly, "Remember this: Cultivate the Heart is also one part of cultivation. In favorable circumstances, cultivate strength; in adversity, cultivate the heart. Neither can be lacking."

The child shook his head, broke free of the woman's hands, and said irritably, "There you go again with those empty principles. So annoying."

The woman was somewhat helpless, but she did not continue earnestly imparting lessons. She merely felt that her child had good talent, good bones, and the backing of two family names. His road ahead was still long. His temperament might be somewhat stubborn and gloomy, but it could be slowly simmered over a gentle fire. Pulling up seedlings to help them grow was the greatest impropriety.

Listening to the uninteresting conversation in the alley, the little girl looked somewhat worried. "Grandpa White Ape, what if that person absolutely refuses to sell us the thing?"

The old man, whose hands hung to his knees like an ape's, smiled. "Then let him die. This old servant came here precisely to deal with the Worst Strategy. Otherwise, that money would have been thrown into the water without even a sound. But then the young miss's safety would become somewhat troublesome. We would likely have to entrust her to the Song Family or the Li Family."

Setting everything else aside, if he killed someone, the old man would be expelled from the land by the Sage. Yet compared to silently throwing money into water, it would at least be like tossing a stone into the water and raising a few splashes.

But unless driven to the last extremity, the old man would never use this Worst Strategy. No matter how significant that Sword Scripture was, no matter how Zhengyang Mountain treasured it, it was ultimately far inferior to the young miss on his shoulders and her great path to immortality. At least, that was how the old man saw it.

Among the Four Clans and Ten Tribes of the small town, the Lu Clan stood first.

But outside the town, the opposite was true. The Lu Clan was actually at the bottom. This was because a dynasty ruled by the Lu Clan's main branch had been jointly destroyed by Great Li's two border armies, leaving the Lu Clan's status in East Treasure Bottle Continent hanging by a thread.

Back in the alley, Liu Xianyang listened to Lu Zhengchun prattle on about high office and generous salary, wealth beyond measure, and beauties like clouds. It was like listening to a Song Jixin who had toppled a bookcase. He grew especially irritated, stepped forward, pointed at Lu Zhengchun's nose, and declared with absolute firmness, "That armor is an ancestral heirloom of my Liu Family. It has nothing to do with money! Even if you made me move into your house today, and from now on you, Lu Zhengchun, called me Grandfather every day, I still couldn't be bothered with you! Surnamed Lu, did you hear me clearly?!"

Lu Zhengchun stood alone at the Mud Bottle Alley Entrance, staring fixedly at this reckless man who plainly feared neither heaven nor earth, like a barefoot man unafraid of one wearing shoes. The eldest young master of the Lu Family felt like smashing his head into the wall and dying right there.

Earlier, he had acted as a persuader by the Covered Bridge and blocked Liu Xianyang's way to the Blacksmith Shop, only to meet with failure at the outset. When he returned to the Fulu Street residence, his grandfather had entertained those lofty guests, then called him into the Secret Room without showing any emotion. He said no harsh words and made no grand speeches about the Lineage's great cause. He merely pointed at the corpse beneath the white cloth. "Zhengchun, Grandfather has no other request. I only hope you won't let your younger brother die with his eyes unclosed. I hope that by the seventh day after his death, you will have already left town. Think of it as seeing the scenery outside on his behalf."

Lu Zhengchun's eyes suddenly grew wet. Choking back tears, his voice trembling, he said, "Liu Xianyang, I'm begging you. All right?"

Liu Xianyang was dumbfounded.

This young man, accustomed to rich clothes and fine food, became increasingly fragile and helpless. His lips trembled as he sobbed uncontrollably. "All right? I'll kneel before you. I'll admit I was wrong. Will that do?"

With a thud.

Lu Zhengchun knelt solidly in the mud of Mud Bottle Alley and began kowtowing.

There was gold beneath a man's knees.

The young man did not kowtow vaguely or halfheartedly. Bang, bang, bang.

By the foot of the wall outside Mud Bottle Alley, the little girl gently kicked the old man's chest again and again with her feet, thinking about the mountains she had taken a liking to along the way and which one she should choose to take back to her homeland.

The boy was somewhat delighted by Lu Zhengchun's misfortune and casually asked, "Mother, has this Lu gone mad? Are we really going to take a madman out of town with us later? How humiliating would that be?"

The woman's expression was complicated. She recalled many strange people and remarkable events she had witnessed firsthand. She seemed about to speak, but in the end she shook her head. "He hasn't."

Liu Xianyang felt at a loss.

The tall youth could crack his head open and still never have imagined that Lu Zhengchun would do this. The legitimate eldest grandson of the town's wealthiest household was kneeling at his feet and kowtowing?

Liu Xianyang's expression twisted with conflict. At that moment, the straw-sandaled youth, who had been watching Liu Xianyang and Lu Zhengchun all along, suddenly tugged his sleeve and gently shook his head.

Liu Xianyang could not bear it. "This is too outrageous..."

Chen Ping'an's gaze was resolute. What he meant was obvious without words.

The usually carefree tall youth was already showing signs of softening.

Yet in the eyes of the black-clothed girl, the straw-sandaled youth who was an indiscriminately kind fool instead seemed exceedingly hard-hearted at this moment.

Chen Ping'an's intuition told him that if Liu Xianyang had agreed to this deal before Lu Zhengchun knelt, he might perhaps have suffered some hardship at most, but his life would have been safe. But now, Liu Xianyang had fallen into the predicament Chen Ping'an himself had once faced. If Mr. Qi had not intervened then, his fate would have been to kill Fu Nanhua and then be killed in turn, either by people from Cloud Mist Mountain or by Old Dragon City.

And even more fatal was this: according to the "rules" Miss Ning had told him about, if Lu Zhengchun himself was a native of the small town, then should he or the Lu Family wish to kill Liu Xianyang, Mr. Qi would most likely be unable to restrain them.

Chen Ping'an's thoughts turned. While Lu Zhengchun was still desperately kowtowing, he lowered his voice and said to Liu Xianyang, "If there's no other way, pretend to agree first. Let's see Master Ruan first, then wait until you've been accepted as his apprentice."

Liu Xianyang nodded and said to Lu Zhengchun, "Brother, get up first. Get up and talk! What kind of nonsense is this?"

Lu Zhengchun did not rise. He lifted his head, his swollen red forehead covered in mud.

Liu Xianyang said helplessly, "But you need to go back first and discuss it properly with them. Settle on a fair price. Don't try to fool me again. I'm not a fool. Two hundred strings of copper coins—leaving aside whether I'd be losing my shirt, wouldn't those nobles find it too degrading?"

Lu Zhengchun slowly rose to his feet and smiled. "That's exactly right! As long as you're willing to loosen your grip, that's enough. Liu Xianyang, from now on, I, Lu Zhengchun, am your brother! It doesn't matter whether you acknowledge me or not. I acknowledge you!"

Liu Xianyang walked over, slung an arm around Lu Zhengchun's shoulders, and headed with him toward the alley entrance. Consolingly, he said, "Old Lu, make sure you bring your brother along when you enjoy the good life later. Once this deal goes through, I ought to treat you to a good drink no matter what."

As Lu Zhengchun wiped his forehead, he laughed happily. "What's so hard about drinking? And I'll pay. How could I let you spend money? It's settled, then. Otherwise, this old brother of yours will get angry."

Liu Xianyang laughed loudly. "I knew Old Lu was an honest man. Following you can't go wrong!"

Chen Ping'an followed behind the two, keeping slightly closer to the alley wall as he stared intently at the movement near the entrance.

The man in white led Song Jixin, the youth, toward the rear hall of the Supervising Official's office under the guidance of an elderly steward.

The steward said that Mr. Li of the academy, who had come from afar, had waited here for nearly half an hour before saying he would depart for the schoolhouse to visit a Confucian elder.

Song Changjing made no comment on this and merely asked, "Have you found out which force the assassin who died in the alley was a Chess Piece of?"

The steward hesitated.

Song Changjing frowned. "Hm?"

The elderly man hurriedly bent at the waist and said fearfully, "It was the Song Family of Fulu Street."

Song Changjing sneered. "They don't even know how to give this king the slightest surprise!"

The elderly steward broke out in a cold sweat.

Song Jixin remained silent, his eyes burning brightly.

Inside the schoolhouse, Qi Jingchun gently set down his book and turned to look. At the doorway stood a handsome young man in a tall cap and Confucian robe, smiling without a word.

Qi Jingchun's expression was calm and stern.

In the small town, a bald man dressed in strange clothing walked barefoot, his face haggard. He came to Iron Lock Well, gazed into its depths, pressed his palms together, closed his eyes, and softly said, "When Buddha sees a bowl of water, he sees one hundred and eight thousand living creatures."

Outside the town, atop a mountain peak, someone stood on the thick branch of a towering ancient tree and looked out at the town's outline. A tiger tally hung at his waist, and a longsword was strapped to his back.

Beyond this heaven and earth.

On a long road slanting upward as though it reached the heavens, clouds and mist swirled all around, concealing every bit of scenery.

A young Daoist nun in a yellow crown rode a white deer and slowly climbed higher.

Beside her walked a Daoist priest with a jade-like face, his steps light and flowing like drifting clouds and running water. Two great fish with long whiskers, one red and one green, circled and swam around him.

Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Military—the Three Religions as One were about to gather in the small town.

At the Blacksmith Shop by the stream south of town, father and daughter forged iron together, sparks flying like a glorious rain of fire.

Holding the Sword Embryo, the man said to the ponytailed girl swinging her hammer, "Don't go into town for a while."

The strength in the girl's hands immediately weakened by a great deal. It felt as though all the strength in her body had slipped away together with the food and pastries in town.

The man was so exasperated that he laughed. "What prospects!"

The girl turned grief and indignation into strength, bringing her hammer down heavily upon the red-hot blade.

Beneath the reflection of the brilliant sparks, the girl looked like a Fire God descended into the world.