I Have a Plan

Screeech~~

The hinges of the wooden door let out a long, sour groan.

Standing outside was a man of about thirty, dressed in bailiff's black garb and boots. Though he carried no iron rule or long saber, one could still tell at a glance that he was a constable or a runner. At the moment, however, both of his hands were weighed down with gifts, and a smile hung across his face.

"Greetings, master."

"Squad Leader, this is..."

"Oh, I am Luo Jun, living right across the lane from you," Constable Luo said with a smile. "I'd long since heard that an expert had newly moved into our Tianshui Lane, but I never managed to spare the time to pay a visit. Pray forgive me."

"I hardly merit such a title."

"I wonder..."

"Please come in, Squad Leader."

Song You hastily invited Constable Luo in.

Great Yan operated on a system of circulating officials, where the main magistrates were transferred frequently, meaning that actual local power mostly rested in the hands of the minor clerks below. They were not people to be neglected.

Among them, bailiffs were originally military posts, yet they were closely tied to the people's livelihoods. Representing the official authority while frequently dealing with the pugilistic underworld, they could be said to have a foot in both black and white camps. Moreover, Great Yan's bailiffs were likely hereditary, with ties of authority passing down generation after generation, making them very difficult to cross locally.

Constable Luo was exceedingly respectful toward Song You at this moment. The moment he stepped into the courtyard, he placed the gifts he had brought onto the stone table.

There was fine wine brewed in-house by Tianxin Tower, red sugar produced in Jiuhe County, and bolts of fabric from He Family Village. He had even brought a set of tea utensils, showing that a great deal of thought had gone into it.

"Old Luo should have come to pay his respects much earlier, but I've been constantly tied up chasing thieves lately, running myself off my feet." Only then did Constable Luo free up a hand to bow. "I did manage to find some free time yesterday afternoon to call on you, master, but unluckily, you happened to be out."

"How could I deserve such a grand gesture from the squad leader?"

Song You frowned as he looked at these gifts.

"You are an expert, master, so naturally you deserve it." Without waiting for Song You to speak, Constable Luo continued, "To tell you the truth, when Old Luo arrived yesterday, I happened to run into a tea merchant from Wushan County who was also visiting you. In our conversation, I heard that the expert who weeded out the fog ghosts along Jinyang Road turned out to be you, master..."

"It was merely a matter of a passing convenience."

"For you to rid the people of pests without seeking fame or fortune is something Old Luo truly admires, and I ought to pay my respects to you." As Constable Luo spoke, he bowed to Song You once more.

"You're being far too polite."

Song You could only wear a helpless expression.

This kind of social atmosphere was very heavy in Great Yan; no matter who was speaking, they were utterly courteous and polite above all else.

For instance, the bailiff surnamed Chen was not a chief escort, yet ordinary people all called him Chief Escort when they saw him. For instance, Song You had initially not known whether Constable Luo was a runner or a constable, yet he had addressed him as Squad Leader right off the bat. Or, for instance, ordinary people spoke with an extraordinary degree of politeness. Whether Song You was used to it or not, he simply didn't care for it.

Fortunately, Constable Luo was also an extremely tactful and worldly man. Seeing this, how could he not understand that experts like this master mostly disliked all these roundabout formalities?

Being direct himself might even win him a bit of favor.

"To be frank, aside from visiting a neighbor, Old Luo has come this time with a matter I wish to consult the master about."

"Squad Leader, no need for formalities. Please speak plainly."

"It's a long story."

Constable Luo let out a long sigh.

"Over the past year or two, theft cases have broken out with increasing frequency in Yidu City. Everything stolen by that thief consists of rare treasures from the estates of nobles, and he even stole from the prefect himself. The lords in the city are utterly furious and have ordered us to bring him to justice immediately. Yet despite trying every method we could think of, we haven't been able to catch a single trace of the thief's whereabouts, and for a time the common folk in the city even whispered that it was the work of demons and ghosts. It wasn't until the past few months that we finally caught sight of the thief's true appearance, and finally learned how he managed to slip into nobles' estates unnoticed to commit his thefts and elude our pursuit."

"Can that thief fly through the air and dive into the earth?"

"You've heard of it too, master?"

"I saw it at the city gates."

Song You remembered seeing the wanted poster for an Earth-Diving Great Thief at the city gates when he first arrived.

"That's the very thief! Though he cannot fly through the skies, from somewhere he has acquired the ability to dive into the earth!" Constable Luo said, looking at Song You. "I wonder if the master has any understanding of such earth-diving arts?"

"I have some understanding."

"Really?"

Constable Luo spoke instinctively.

As the words fell, he felt it was improper and hurriedly explained, "During this period, that earth-diving thief has been hard to capture, and the lords in the city have already issued an ultimatum, yet we are completely helpless against him. Several times we set traps, but the thief is naturally timid, cunning, and suspicious; he refuses to go anywhere near the trap, and just the day before yesterday, the thief even stood not far off and mocked us—he is utterly detestable, and I am simply desperate to catch him..."

"And to tell you the truth, master, I once went to seek counsel from the experts at Taian Temple, but..."

Before Constable Luo finished his sentence, he shook his head.

"What sort of idea did the experts at Taian Temple come up with?" Song You suddenly grew somewhat curious.

"Master Guanghong of Taian Temple told us to dig a ring of pits and bury human waste in them to break the thief's earth-diving art." Constable Luo smiled helplessly as he spoke.

"For someone whose mastery of the craft is shallow, it might actually be useful."

"So that means Master Guanghong wasn't fooling me?"

"The notion that filth can break magical arts has always existed. Perhaps that master simply saw how anxious the squad leader was, while being uncertain of the matter himself."

"That's just what Old Luo thought."

Constable Luo finished speaking, then looked at Song You. "Does the master have any other methods? If we have your assistance, master, to capture that thief, Old Luo promises you this: not only will I persuade the magistrate to credit you with capturing the thief and hand over the full bounty, but there will also undoubtedly be heavy extra rewards."

"Judging by what the squad leader says, that thief is timid and suspicious by nature?"

"That is Old Luo's personal judgment."

"The squad leader is rich in experience, so I imagine you aren't wrong."

"I wonder how this relates to capturing the thief?"

"The squad leader may not know this, but the earth-diving art, much like the Wall-Passing Art, has a strict requirement: when casting the spell, one must have absolute, unshakeable faith in the success of the diving method. If the caster holds even a shred of doubt or trepidation in their own heart, they might end up suffocating themselves in the dirt or sealing themselves inside a wall," Song You explained. "Therefore, since ancient times, those who study the Wall-Passing Art and the earth-diving art have either been people of unyielding character and bold daring, or else foolish and demented wretches."

Song You truly understood this diving art.

Fulong Temple possessed the complete techniques for both the earth-diving art and the Wall-Passing Art, and he even understood the principles behind both magical arts very well; it was simply that he did not know how to cast them himself.

The logic that what you believe exists and what you disbelieve does not, and that firm conviction makes it strong while doubt weakens it, applied to many magical arts. Yet the earth-diving art and the Wall-Passing Art inherently possessed a flaw—their flaw was that no matter how well you learned them or how wondrously you applied them, there would always be a probability of failure; it was merely a question of whether that probability was high or low.

You could spend half a lifetime painstakingly studying them, and you could only reduce that probability by a fraction.

And this created a contradiction with what was mentioned earlier: that "the caster must have absolute faith in success."

Consequently, since ancient times, very few high cultivators of the Dao knew these two magical arts. The more one understood them, the more one knew their flaws, and the more one would inevitably feel internal wavering when casting them, thereby amplifying the probability of failure and eventually forming a vicious cycle.

Those who used them were mostly petty, despicable people.

Constable Luo frowned as he listened.

"Over this past period, Old Luo has crossed paths with that thief a few times here and there, only for him to slip away every time because of his earth-diving art. Furthermore, last month I found out where his home is, and I believe I've gained a fair understanding of the thief. Old Luo can conclude that the man at most borders on foolishness, but he is definitely not the resolute and daring person the master described, nor could he be called demented."

"Was that man well-versed in this path in the past?"

"In the past, he was merely a down-and-out scholar who couldn't pass the imperial examinations. He didn't know where he learned this earth-diving art from, and started walking down a crooked path."

"Perhaps someone taught it to him behind the scenes, either failing to tell him the drawbacks of this technique or using a secret method to ensure he no longer harbored doubts or timidity. Or perhaps he simply acquired the diving technique without learning its inner mysteries." Song You paused, letting his peripheral vision drift toward the gifts Constable Luo had brought. After a brief internal deliberation, he said, "If either of these two possibilities is true, I have a stratagem we can try. However, I am only asking the squad leader to give it a try—I cannot guarantee that it will definitely succeed."

"Please speak, master."

"A simple puncture will suffice."

"How do we puncture it?"

"Does the squad leader know of a book called Taoli Suishi Ji?"

"Taoli Suishi Ji..."

Constable Luo could not for the life of him figure out how breaking the earth-diving technique could be tied to a book.

Fortunately, Great Yan had the highest rate of literacy through the dynasties, and coming from a prominent clan, he had indeed studied characters. After pondering for a long time, he actually remembered it—this seemed to be a collection of writings recounting various strange and bizarre tales, which could be read as a storybook of demons, ghosts, and the mysterious.

"Old Luo has some impression of it."

"The squad leader simply needs to tell that person the next time you encounter him that according to Taoli Suishi Ji, there was once a man who habitually practiced the earth-diving art and ended up suffocating to death three feet beneath the ground."

"Will that work?"

"Perhaps."

"This..."

Constable Luo was stunned. Though he felt this was even more abstruse than digging pits and burying waste, he still indicated that he had committed it to memory.

After chatting a little longer, Song You sent him off.

This Taoli Suishi Ji was indeed famous. Miscellanies of this sort naturally sold well, and in this era lacking copyright awareness, many bookstores had published editions of it. Moreover, the compiler of this book was originally a Daoist priest of Xuanmen; many matters within it were his own firsthand experiences or things he had heard with his own ears, and the level of detail was remarkably authentic. Anyone even slightly connected to Xuanmen could discern this, and since that thief was timid and suspicious, once he heard such a thing, he would undoubtedly go verify it.

Even if he was illiterate, hearing someone shout it out with such specific, well-founded detail would inevitably cause his inner resolve to waver.

If it works, it works; if not, we can talk about it then.

Song You shook his head and began to take inventory of the items.

The cured meat and sausages were hung from the kitchen rafters, while the red sugar, tea bricks, and wine were also put away properly in the kitchen. For what was originally a haunted rental, it had unexpectedly taken on a bit more of a homey feel.

"This will last me for a while."

Murmuring to himself, Song You looked back at the bolt of fabric.

The cloth was of the finest material, likely the most valuable among all the gifts. Looking back down at his own old robes, he could indeed have a new outfit made from it.

It was just that the pattern on this cloth was too showy; he preferred plain colors.

Never mind.

Though this robe was worn and old, it had shielded him from shame and cold for years, working diligently and long since worn into the most comfortable and fitting shape. Now that it hadn't torn holes or let the wind through, and was still covering his body and keeping him warm, how could he cast it aside just because it had grown a bit old?

When he returned to the courtyard, he saw that Three Flower Lady had already run beneath the stone table. The hemp rope previously used to carry the wine was dangling down, and she was batting at it with her paws to play.

Those who find joy within themselves do not care if their food and clothing fall short of others'.

Such was the case for Song You, and such was the case for Three Flower Lady.

Thanks to the Patron Master who chops wood, and thanks to everyone who voted and tipped; I am deeply grateful...