Encounter Again

The dock was not close, but they had an ox cart, so it did not take too much time.

In less than half an hour, they reached the dock. Boats crisscrossed the river like shuttles, and once the boatman saw his passengers aboard, he gave a broad wave of his hand. "Set sail!"

The river was even livelier than usual today. Boats continually passed by, though most were small. The Yu Family had hired a medium-sized vessel. Ye Buhui had a small cabin to herself, while Su Ziji, Yu Lü, and a bookboy, being less particular, shared one large cabin.

They had chartered both the boat and its crew. The two boatmen, one older and one younger, were plainly father and son. Both were honest, quiet men, which pleased Yu Lü and Su Ziji greatly.

By noon on the second day, after they had eaten, Yu Lü was feeling a little seasick and lay down to rest. Su Ziji was not sleepy. The lake lay hushed beneath an ink-black sky; at some point, clouds had gathered. Turning his head, he saw that the cabin opposite stood open, so he went over and knocked on the door.

The light inside was dim, with only a faint glow filtering through the small window. Ye Buhui propped up her palm-sized face and stared intently at the chessboard. The sight of her frowning in thought was very different from her usual self. A chess piece was pinched between her small fingers, making her little face seem all the whiter.

No wonder that Tan boy cannot forget her. He is an irritating fellow, but his eye is not bad. Even Su Ziji had to admit that although Ye Buhui was still young, she already possessed several hints of breathtaking beauty.

No wonder Uncle Ye urged Bu Hui to enter the chess tournament. It would be one thing if a poor, orphaned girl looked ordinary, but if she was strikingly beautiful and had no means of making a living, she would only suffer more easily in the future.

Still, with me here, I will not let anyone bully this girl!

"Hm? This chess game looks somewhat familiar." Thinking this, Su Ziji stepped closer to study the board and could not help speaking aloud.

To his surprise, he "awoke" Ye Buhui from her contemplation. She immediately glared at him, frowned, swept the pieces into disorder, and set them up again. Humming lightly, she said, "This position evolved from your family's chess manual. That alone shows you have never studied it carefully."

There was quite a bit of displeasure in her tone.

Su Ziji rubbed his nose, knowing he had accidentally run into one of an obsessive person's old ailments.

Painting obsessives, chess obsessives, calligraphy obsessives—people obsessed with an art or skill treasured their beloved field above all else. They could not bear to see someone like Su Ziji guarding a mountain of treasure yet turning his back on it.

"Oh, right. I saw that Brother Yu seemed a little seasick. Are you all right?" Just as Su Ziji decided that he should leave before drawing more unwarranted blame, Ye Buhui asked another question, seeming somewhat awkward.

"I'm fine." Su Ziji found this rather surprising as well. In his previous life, he had suffered from seasickness, yet in this life he felt no discomfort at all.

"Never mind me. What about you? The journey will take four or five days. The water route runs day and night, and we will reach the prefectural city in one more day. The boat rocks constantly. Playing chess is all well and good, but you should still rest properly." Seeing that Ye Buhui had no intention of resting, Su Ziji reminded her helplessly.

Ye Buhui had only just shown concern for him, but now she reverted to her true nature and waved him away. "I know. Ah, you are so long-winded. If you want to take a nap, hurry back to your cabin and sleep!"

This girl!

Su Ziji nearly laughed in exasperation. Unable to argue with her, he rubbed her head once and leisurely left before she could bristle.

Sure enough, when he heard her furious shout of "Su Ziji," his mood eased a little.

It is not yet the end of the afternoon. I will read a little longer. Returning to the cabin he shared with Yu Lü, separated by a curtain, Su Ziji sat down and read softly from a volume.

Though he did not have much experience, every chapter he read still made [Experience +1] float before his eyes.

Only 200 experience points until I level up. I will gather 150 today first!

Yu Lü and his bookboy were clearly already asleep, and there was no sound from them. Su Ziji deliberately lowered his voice. After reading three volumes, he finally gathered enough experience for the day. Just as he was about to rest, he suddenly heard the faint sound of a qin drifting from outside.

The music flowed like a clear spring. Even Su Ziji, who did not understand musical theory very well, could not help pricking up his ears.

Could there be students traveling the same road? It was not yet late, and Su Ziji had grown stifled from reading. He simply laid the book face down on the couch, rose, and headed outside.

The moment he left the cabin, he saw that fog had risen at some point. The reeds had already been growing denser, and now they were so thick that even wind could not penetrate them.

This fog is a little strange! Su Ziji thought. Looking farther away through the reed beds, he could vaguely make out a boat, which made him even more doubtful.

Though I heard the qin just now and knew there was a boat nearby, this fog came too oddly.

One incense stick ago, there had not been any fog at all.

As Su Ziji thought this, he made out that it was a painted pleasure boat, and it already seemed to have been dyed with a layer of eerie strangeness.

This is starting to resemble those lake ghost encounters from records of the strange. Su Ziji's worldview had already been reshaped. He no longer dared claim there were no ghosts or gods in this world, and he raised his guard as he watched the pleasure boat.

The fog was thick. By rights, his own vessel was relatively small and traveled alongside the reeds, while the larger pleasure boat sailed in the middle of the river. Most of the time they should not have been able to see one another. Still, Su Ziji did not let down his guard and only listened intently.

The qin music he had heard indeed came from the pleasure boat. Now it began again.

After watching for some time and seeing that the pleasure boat was not drawing too close, Su Ziji let out a breath of relief. Even if its origins were unknown, it probably posed little danger to him.

It seems I am seeing soldiers in every blade of grass and tree. Su Ziji was not someone who dug to the root of matters unrelated to him. Seeing this, he turned to go back.

Just then, a somewhat familiar young woman's voice sounded through the fog, and Su Ziji halted.

"...Third Aunt, the sensation is somewhere near Linhua County, yet we still cannot find it. Could we have searched the wrong place?"

Su Ziji strained to listen and heard an older woman's voice say, "That is perfectly normal. Since it is a Heavenly Secret, how could it be found so easily?"

Heavenly Secret, a sensation? Are they looking for someone nearby? A girl's figure immediately surfaced in Su Ziji's mind.

Back at the Divine Shrine, her single warning had left him unable to forget her.

The pleasure boat passed across theirs. Though the conversation continued, it had become too faint to hear. Su Ziji looked over and saw the window beneath the boat lamp open. A young girl was about to gaze out at the scenery when their eyes met by chance, and both of them felt somewhat awkward.

"Xiyan, what is wrong?"

Inside the pleasure boat, a screen divided the space in half. The Bronze Goose-Fish Lamp cast a gentle light. Before it stood a five-foot wooden table with several fruits upon it. The Hu Family's madam sat before it, idly playing with a small round fan in her hand. Without lifting her head, she asked.

Hearing the question, Hu Xiyan squeezed half of a Rosewood Pendant within her sleeve and said, "Nothing. I was merely looking at the scenery. The lanterns on the boat make the lake water seem deep green—"

The pleasure boat drifted past, yet traveled swiftly. Water rippled around it, and in the blink of an eye, several zhang separated them. Third Aunt Hu did not grow suspicious and merely sighed. "Deep green lake water is normal. We will soon enter Coiling Dragon Lake. Do you know that this lake has an owner—or at least, it used to have one?"

Hu Xiyan silently spat at herself. One glimpse just now had made her heart race again. Though the fog concealed them and it was not absolute, she had been seen by that youth again, and she was startled.

If the half Rosewood Pendant had not remained completely still, she might have thought him a fated person. As she pondered it now, could this be her ill-fated bond? That was not impossible. Tribulations had never been reasonable.

Though thoughts stirred in her heart, none showed on her face. She asked in surprise, "It has an owner? Could a Great Demon of the Water Tribe occupy it?"

Third Aunt Hu gave a scornful laugh. "Calling it a Great Demon would insult it. Who do you think it is?"

Hu Xiyan's gaze fell on the river surface hidden by thick fog as she tried to guess who this being was, one that would be insulted even by being called a Great Demon.

"Could it be a dragon?"

The first thing Hu Xiyan thought of when it came to the Water Tribe's strongest beings was dragons.

"It is indeed a dragon, and it even has a Dragon Palace."

"Third Aunt, is the Dragon Palace not at Moon Zither Lake?" Hu Xiyan could not help raising her small round fan to cover half her face as she cried out.

Moon Zither Lake was the largest lake. It was sixty-eight times the size of Coiling Dragon Lake, nearly as vast as a whole prefecture. Its shape resembled a moon zither, which was why it was called Moon Zither Lake. Everyone knew this.

"Moon Zither Lake is where the Dragon Palace lies, but it was not the first Dragon Palace. Coiling Dragon means Hidden Dragon—this was the Dragon Lord's hidden residence." As Third Aunt Hu spoke, her smile vanished. With a solemn expression, she continued, "Let us leave that aside. This time, we used our connections to take charge of the Prefectural Chess Tournament. There will be many students there, and perhaps the fated person we seek will be among them."

"Yes, Third Aunt!" This was a matter of the highest importance. Hu Xiyan gave a slight curtsey in acknowledgment.

When she looked behind them again, the boat had already vanished in the few moments they had spoken. Along with it, the fog over the river gradually faded away.

As Su Ziji watched the mist thin and no longer conceal his form, he hurried onto the deck to look around. At that moment, a ray of sunlight fell through the dark clouds, casting wave after wave of silver light across the deep, secluded river. On the vast river surface, only one lone boat remained.

That pleasure boat was truly fast. Did they discover that I was eavesdropping?

As Su Ziji considered this, he heard movement behind him. Turning around, he saw the boatman father and son. The boatman, nearly forty, cautioned him, "Young master, the wind is cold at night. You are heading to the prefectural city for the examination, so do not stand outside too long, lest you catch a chill."

Disappointed inwardly, Su Ziji smiled faintly. "Thank you for the reminder. I will go back now. Oh, right."

Seemingly casually, he asked, "Did either of you hear anything?"

The father and son exchanged glances, then both shook their heads.

"Then it is nothing." Su Ziji was certain now that he alone had witnessed the scene.

Returning to the cabin, he heard faint snoring from the other side of the cloth curtain. Su Ziji focused his attention on the information panel he had summoned.

After glancing over the values on it, Su Ziji put it away and thought, There are no changes. Could it be because of this Golden Finger that I differ from others and can glimpse traces of things beyond human nature?

There was no basis for this guess, and Su Ziji was not very certain. After thinking about it briefly, he let it go.

Although he regretted having passed the girl by once more, the urgent matter was to go to the prefectural city, accompany Bu Hui in the chess tournament, and take the Prefectural Examination to earn the title of Cultivated Talent. Everything else could be pushed aside for later.

When the well-rested Yu Lü got up, he heard the boatman shouting, "We are entering the lake! Entering the lake!"

Looking into the distance, they saw a vast lake spread before them. Coiling Dragon Lake was not small, with seven tributaries flowing into it. Su Ziji watched its jade-green waves ripple and its water shine clear. Unpolluted water truly made for a beautiful sight.

No wonder they chose this place for the chess tournament. It really is an environment that can calm the mind. Su Ziji wondered whether it might be better to hire a boat and study on the lake before the examination.

But when he thought of the rental cost, he shook his head again.

"To moor here, one would need to hire a large boat suitable for daily living and studying. A small boat would not do, but a large boat costs even more to rent than a private room at an inn. It is not worth it."

Poor people truly should not think too much.

After mocking himself, he drew near at dusk. In the distance, Su Ziji saw several pleasure boats. These were more luxurious than the one he had seen earlier, linked together into an unbroken Chess Fleet. Their lanterns had already been lit, and they blazed with lights from top to bottom.

"Young master, those are the chess boats—seven linked together," the boatman introduced.