Cursing the Sophora Tree

Chen Ping'an thought that if he felt for stones during the day in the future, he could start from Liu Xianyang's side and work his way upstream, all the way to the Covered Bridge. So tonight, he chose a spot farther upstream from where he had first entered the water. That kept him far from the Covered Bridge, as well as the bluish stone cliff locally called Green Ox Back—the place where Chen Ping'an had first seen the green-clothed girl. As a result, he missed meeting Song Jixin and the Supervising Official.

Over by the Covered Bridge hung a lofty plaque bearing the four characters: "Prosperity and Progress."

The man in white robes and a jade belt was nominally the supervising official of the Dragon Kiln, but in truth, he was Great Li's most powerful prince. Led by him, Song Jixin arrived at the foot of the Covered Bridge steps. Before coming, he had not only bathed and changed clothes at the government office, but also hung a scented sachet and an ordinary dragon-shaped jade pendant at his waist. Its color was dull, utterly unremarkable. Yet the Old Dragon Spreads Rain Jade Pendant, far more outstanding in material, quality, and meaning, had been forcibly removed by that man and absolutely forbidden from being worn.

Song Jixin held Three Incense Sticks in his hands. Standing beneath the steps, the Young Man was at a loss.

Great Li Prince Song Changjing turned around and extended a hand. With two fingers, he lightly rubbed the tips of the three incense sticks, and they lit.

The man said casually, "After kneeling, face the plaque and kowtow three times. Stick the incense into the ground, and you're done."

Though Song Jixin was full of doubts, he still followed the words of this "uncle" who had fallen from the sky, kneeling with the incense in hand and kowtowing three times.

Though the man had spoken as lightly as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze, once the Young Man knelt, his expression grew grave and extraordinarily complex. Looking at the patch of ground where Song Jixin kowtowed, he revealed a hatred buried extremely deep.

After sticking the Three Incense Sticks into the ground and rising, Song Jixin asked, "Is it all right to offer incense here?"

The man smiled. "It's just going through the motions. Don't take it too seriously. Starting now, learn how to put on a show for every occasion. Otherwise, you may be run ragged in the future."

The man's smile vanished. "But don't forget that this Covered Bridge is your... land of dragon ascension."

Song Jixin's lips were bluish, perhaps frostbitten by the late spring chill. The Young Man pretended to be relaxed as he said, "Those four words shouldn't be used so casually, should they?"

One hand patting his belly, the other resting on the white jade belt at his waist, the man burst into laughter. "That would naturally be so in the capital. Here, it doesn't matter. There are neither court lapdogs nor jianghu mongrels here. No one will catch this prince and take a wild bite at him."

Song Jixin asked curiously, "You're afraid of criticism too?"

The man countered, "In the Great Li Dynasty, this prince has already fought all opponents, above and below the mountains, without defeat. If there were nothing left for me to fear, wouldn't I be more comfortable than the one sitting on the dragon throne? Boy, does that sound right to you?"

Song Jixin considered for a moment. After hesitating, he finally made up his mind and asked, "Are you biding your time and concealing your brilliance? Or are you nurturing bandits to bolster your own importance?"

The man laughed speechlessly. Pointing at the sharp-edged Young Man, he shook his head. "You really dare say such treasonous things. You have no sense of weight or consequence. Whether you go to the capital in the future or hide from the storm for a time in some Immortal Mansion in the mountains, this prince advises you: don't speak and act with such reckless abandon. Otherwise, disaster will surely befall you."

Song Jixin nodded. "I'll remember that."

The man pointed toward the plaque with its golden characters. "Prosperity and Progress, Prosperity and Progress. This prince asks you: how does the water rise?"

Song Jixin answered crisply, "I don't know."

The man muttered, "To know what one knows and not know what one does not know—that is knowledge. What kind of dogshit saying is that? Scholars are full of twists and turns in their guts. Even when they fart, they have to make it wind through eighteen bends and nine curves."

But before the Young Man, the man was somewhat more refined. "If this prince remembers correctly, for three thousand years in your little town, no matter how great the flood, the highest water level of this stream has never risen above the tip of the Rusty Sword Strip's sword."

Song Jixin asked doubtfully, "The old people who live by the Iron Lock Well in Apricot Blossom Alley do often repeat that saying to us beneath the sophora tree. Is there truly some mystery behind it?"

The man stretched out a finger toward the distant place where the stream emerged from the mountains, smiling. "In the forests and mountains, snakes have snake paths. Within houses, rats have rat paths. And within rivers, streams, and ravines, flood dragons have flood dragon paths."

The man withdrew his finger and explained patiently, "In many other places throughout the Great Li Dynasty, there are customs of hanging swords beneath bridges as well. But those coin swords, Peachwood Swords, and talisman swords can often block one flood dragon or forest python from entering a river, but never a second. Many people who hang such ritual swords possess shallow cultivation; they cannot even withstand the force of a single river crossing. Instead, they anger the Flood Dragon Kind within the floodwaters. Thus, once the flood passes, bridges that need not have collapsed collapse anyway, and the swords vanish without a trace. Only this sword here..."

The man stopped halfway through and fell silent.

Song Jixin held himself back and did not press him.

The man sighed. "This sword, from the first day it was hung beneath the bridge, was never meant to target flood dragons crossing rivers. It was used by a Sage to suppress the exit of that Dragon Locking Well. This so-called exit is the deep pool beneath the bridge, preventing Dragon Qi from spilling out and dispersing too quickly, lest it forcibly burst this small world apart."

Song Jixin asked pointedly, "Did the last True Dragon under heaven truly die or not?"

Song Changjing smiled. "In that dragon-slaying battle three thousand years ago, countless Qi refiners died. Even the Three Teachings Sages and Grandmasters of the Hundred Schools suffered many casualties. Do you think every last one of them had holes in their brains? Or that the Sages lived to such old ages only to live like dogs? That they deliberately kept the final True Dragon as if raising an ordinary bird, flower, fish, or insect?"

Song Jixin retorted, "What if they simply couldn't kill that True Dragon completely? They could only use delaying tactics and gradual erosion. I may not know the original intentions and plans of the Sages from thousands of years ago, but I can guess that True Dragon was absolutely not simple!"

After shaking his head, the man nodded as well. "You're half right. The True Dragon is unquestionably dead. As for its true identity and symbolic significance, the three words 'not simple' absolutely cannot bear that weight."

Song Jixin wanted to speak, but stopped himself.

"In short, all of Great Li's plans, all the countless painstaking efforts, are merely for 'raising wind and water,' for the great undertaking of marching south in the future."

The man took the lead up the steps and said slowly, "If you ask this prince why the Sages of three thousand years ago slaughtered dragons, this prince cannot answer you well. But if you ask why you were left here, and why you are Great Li's legitimate and noble Prince, this prince can tell you the truth from beginning to end."

Song Jixin lowered his head, his expression hidden from view.

Since the Young Man did not ask, the man naturally did not flatter himself by volunteering the answer. When he reached the highest step, he turned to face the town. "Be more broad-minded in the future. Competing in a fit of temper with the likes of Liu Xianyang, even giving rise to killing intent—aren't you ashamed of lowering your own worth?"

Song Jixin sat atop the steps and looked north together with the man. He asked a completely unrelated question, "Is Great Li at the northernmost edge of East Treasure Bottle Continent?"

The man nodded. "Mm. We've been regarded as northern barbarians for nearly a thousand years. Now, only because our fists are hard enough have we earned a little respect."

Song Jixin still had his head lowered, but his gaze burned hot.

The man named Song Changjing said evenly, "When you reach the capital, be careful of someone nicknamed Embroidered Tiger."

Song Jixin was utterly baffled.

Song Changjing smiled. "He is now our Great Li National Teacher, and also the Teaching Master of your younger brother by the same mother. Over the past fifty years, Great Li has gone from the seventy commanderies and eight hundred cities at its founding to today's one hundred and forty commanderies and fifteen hundred cities. Our territory has expanded so vastly, and this man deserves half the credit."

Song Jixin suddenly raised his head and looked over.

The man smiled. "Boy, you guessed right."

The man also sat on the steps, bracing both hands on his knees as he gazed into the distance.

The other great contributor to Great Li's expansion of territory was obvious—far away at the horizon, yet right before his eyes.

At that moment, Song Jixin's entire body trembled, and his scalp went numb.

The two remained silent for a long time. Then Song Jixin suddenly said, "Uncle, although I had killing intent toward Liu Xianyang, and even considered making a deal with Fu Nanhua of Old Dragon City to have him find a way to kill Liu Xianyang, I never felt that Liu Xianyang was qualified to stand on equal footing with me, even if he possessed an ancient lineage inheritance. I wanted to kill him only because I felt that killing him would cost me little. That was all."

Song Changjing showed some interest. "So you have another Heart Knot?"

The Young Man touched his neck and said nothing.

In the dead of night, all was silent.

There was unexpectedly still someone walking the streets of the little town. She was slender, her clothes thin. When she passed the Iron Lock Well of Apricot Blossom Alley, she was somewhat Gnashing Teeth. When she passed the Memorial Arch Tower, she fiercely kicked a stone pillar. Finally, she came beneath that luxuriant Old Scholar Tree. According to the old folks, no one knew how long this tree had lived, and whenever dead branches fell from it, they never struck people. It was exceptionally spiritual.

The girl who swaggered beneath the tree naturally dismissed such claims with utter disdain.

She opened the ancient book she had borrowed from her Young Master and began to "follow the map in search of the steed."

She called out names one by one, like a general reviewing troops on a battlefield in autumn.

When her mouth had grown dry from all the calling, she stopped the roll call. Holding the local County Annals that Song Jixin had called Book Beyond the Wall in one hand, she pointed at the sophora tree with the other and raised her head to curse, "Are you refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit?!"

There was no sound, no reply.

The girl immediately stamped her foot and began cursing loudly. "Four Clans and Ten Tribes, starting with the Four Clans: Lu, Li, Zhao, Song! You four great surnames, have some sense and hurry up! Each surname must drop at least three Sophora Leaves. One leaf short, and I, Wang Zhu, will never be done with you for the rest of my life! Once I get out, I'll deal with you one by one. Whether you're young men in your prime or women, children, and the old, you're all just a pack of ungrateful white-eyed wolves that can't be raised right! You forget kindness and betray righteousness, and you still think you have a reason for it?!"

The girl cursed until she was panting. One hand supported her waist, yet she still muttered curses. "Those with the surname Song, who was the greatest contributor to letting the Great Li Dynasty bear your surname? Don't you know in your hearts? Are you playing dumb with me? Believe it or not, once I get out, I'll let Great Li bear the surname Lu, Zhao, whatever it wants—anything but Song?!"

"The Ten Tribes: two Sophora Leaves from each surname. All other ordinary surnames, at least one. Of course, whoever has the courage to place a bet, the more the merrier. Later, I'll definitely let him make a fortune so great that his basins overflow!"

"The Cao Household among the Ten Tribes—yes, the Cao Household that produced that bastard Cao Xi! What disgusting thing didn't that little brat do back then? He was already full of bad water when he still wore crotchless pants! Besides the two Sophora Leaves, you must give me one extra as compensation. Otherwise, I, Wang Zhu, swear that once I get out, I'll make Cao Xi leave no descendants! He actually dared piss into the well. How did such a virtue-starved wretch become the True Lord of a nation?!"

"And that Xie Household—you have someone named Xie Shi in your lineage, right? Mm, I have a little acquaintance with him. If not for me back then, he would have long been swept away by floodwaters. So if you don't give me one extra Sophora Leaf, can you really justify it?"

From afar, Qi Jingchun quietly watched the scene beneath the sophora tree without saying a word.

Like a stern father who only knew how to wield the board to discipline his children, watching a child grow ever more spoiled and willful, he felt somewhat helpless.

Yet when he saw the girl continuously flipping through the book, while those Sophora Leaves left their branches one after another and drifted down between page after page, Qi Jingchun felt somewhat gratified.

After a thousand words and ten thousand thoughts, Qi Jingchun merely murmured in the end, "After leaving home, take good care of yourself."

The girl seemed to sense something and suddenly turned around.

There was no one there.

The girl felt strangely bereft. She shook her head, no longer dwelling on it, then turned back and continued cursing the sophora tree.