Round and Round

A searing pain tore through Chen Yuliang's eyes, and he could see nothing. Panic seized him.

He tilted his head, straining to locate Mr. Yu by the sound of the wind and judge where the next attack might come from.

But Mr. Yu excelled at movement techniques, and the fierce wind he stirred up only made it harder for Chen Yuliang to hear. Its howling filled his ears and drowned out every other sound.

"Where is the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas?" In the darkness, as Chen Yuliang struggled to fend off attacks with the Dark Turtle Divine Skill, he finally heard Mr. Yu's faintly chilling voice.

His spirits lifted. He thought he could use the book to bargain.

The thought slowed his hands considerably. He stepped backward, trying to put some distance between them so they could talk.

In that instant, a sharp gust whistled between his arms and struck his face.

Two warm fingers plunged deep into his eye sockets.

Hh, hh... A strange noise came from Chen Yuliang's throat as he staggered backward.

Mr. Yu's emotionless voice sounded beside his ear again:

"I'll find it myself."

Thud. Chen Yuliang fell heavily, his dark, bloodied eye sockets staring hollowly at the rafters.

Mr. Yu did not search the corpse at once. He turned and walked toward the door.

Inside the martial arts school, which had close ties to Chen Yuliang, the disciples had retreated far away. A patrol swiftly arrived, each member carrying a longsword and wearing fitted black clothes with starlight and candle flames embroidered on the cuffs.

Their leader was a young woman of about twenty. Unlike her companions, she wore no standard uniform. Her gauzy dress was the pale green of fresh spring onions, with starlight and candle flames embroidered only on the cuffs to show her identity.

Her face was clear and lovely, her eyes bright as she looked about. She had simply pinned up her long black hair with a green embroidered silk scarf. Tall and graceful, she moved like a willow swaying in the wind, a beautiful sight.

At the sight of her, Mr. Yu grew more solemn. "The dispute between the Four Waters Gang and the Small Boat Gang was reported to the yamen last month."

The young woman carried a longsword in a gold-and-red scabbard. She glanced at Chen Yuliang's body inside, then asked with a deliberate air of maturity:

"Were any uninvolved people caught up in it?

"Did anyone use martial arts to break the law in public?"

Mr. Yu shook his head slightly.

"No."

He paused, then added:

"Neither did the others. The Zhen Family and the Small Boat Gang."

The tall, graceful young woman sounded a little disappointed. "If there's any searching to be done afterward, we'll need to watch the whole time."

"Yes, Heroine Zheng." Mr. Yu cupped his hands, then turned toward Chen Yuliang's body.

Whether because of his cultivation technique or some other hidden problem, the body had begun to show signs of decay in the time it took to exchange a few words. Several mosquitoes, flies, and moths circled above it.

They all scattered as Mr. Yu approached.

At the sight, Mr. Yu frowned slightly.

In the blind spot between the alley wall and a leafy tree.

After hearing his younger brother answer that he "probably wouldn't," Ding Daniu gave an honest smile.

"Second Brother, you treat me better than anyone else in the family."

"Doesn't our little sister treat you well?" Ding Songyan changed the subject. He did not want to discuss killing anymore.

Ding Daniu seemed unable to find the words. He fell into obvious thought and, after quite a while, said:

"She's a little afraid of me."

So am I, a little... Ding Songyan grumbled inwardly, helpless.

Being afraid was only natural.

He glanced at the corpse with the bulbous red nose behind the tree. The authorities really could not be allowed to learn about the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas. Drawing a breath, Ding Songyan asked:

"Big Brother, what are you planning to do with this body?"

I've been standing here too long. Even if the people at the top of the Watchtower don't suspect anything forbidden, they'll think I can't finish peeing...

"What to do with it..." Ding Daniu looked at the corpse's caved-in face and fell silent.

Ding Songyan fell silent too.

So you hadn't thought about that at all...

I thought you were an experienced hand...

Then again, on a long journey through the wilderness, with hardly anyone passing by, you'd only have to wait until dark and toss a villain's body into the woods, off a cliff, or into the river...

I need to think of something. Someone could pass by here at any moment...

As thoughts flashed through his mind, Ding Songyan heard a gust sweep toward him, carrying Mr. Yu's voice:

"You two can leave. The Four Waters Gang will take care of the body."

Ding Songyan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

It sounded as though matters on Banner Master Chen's end had been resolved too.

As for the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, he did not care whether Mr. Yu had found it or taken it away. It was best if Mr. Yu did not mention it; bringing it up would only be dangerous.

At Hanshui Pavilion in the Zhen Estate.

Surrounded by water-driven fan wheels and large basins of ice, Mr. Yu cupped his hands in salute and presented a book to the old man seated in the armchair at the head of the room.

"Old Master, this is indeed the copy of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas that went missing from the estate. All the secret marks match."

The old man wore a black robe embroidered with many characters for "fortune" and a small round cap. His left palm was broad; even with two heavy iron balls in it, he turned them with effortless ease.

His beard had turned white, and his eyes showed signs of bulging. A keen light spilled from them whenever his lids opened. His complexion was unusually ruddy, while his ears seemed layered over themselves, as though each had split in two.

Zhen Qianfan, the elder patriarch of the Zhen Family, took the indigo-covered book in his right hand. He casually flipped it open and glanced at a couple of pages.

"When you handle something, I know I can rest easy.

"No one from the Xiaoming Sect or the yamen learned of this book, did they?"

Mr. Yu wore the same lifeless, gloomy expression as ever.

"The book was hidden in Chen Yuliang's clothes. Zheng Zhuxi was there, but she's young and hasn't formally ventured into the martial world. She was reluctant to look closely at a corpse, so I took the chance to retrieve the book with a wind-catching technique and hide it. Then I made an excuse about needing to deal with the matter concerning Second Brother Ding and left in a hurry."

Zhen Qianfan looked at the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas in his hand and chuckled.

"It went missing nine months ago, and now it's been found. What a coincidence..."

He leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes.

"Does the Ding Family's second son truly not remember where he got this copy of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas?"

"He has indeed forgotten. I've watched him secretly these past two days, and he doesn't even remember much about everyday matters. Doctor Shao confirmed it too, though he couldn't determine the cause," Mr. Yu answered truthfully.

Zhen Qianfan remained still for a long while, as though asleep. Then he turned his head toward the son attending him at his side.

"When did Qin Nuangsheng enter the estate?"

Zhen Quanwang, the Zhen Family's eldest legitimate son, bowed as he answered:

"Nuansheng entered the estate more than two years ago, Father. We investigated at the time. She had nothing to do with the disappearance of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas."

Facing the father he had always feared, he had summoned the courage to say a word in Qin Nuangsheng's defense.

Zhen Qianfan laughed and said with absolute certainty:

"Of course she had nothing to do with it.

"More than two years ago. That's all right, then."

He opened his eyes fully, a keen light shining from them, and questioned Mr. Yu:

"How long have the five members of the Ding Family been in Dingjiang Prefecture? What sort of people are they?"

"Only a little over seven months." Mr. Yu thought back. "They should have nothing to do with the disappearance of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas."

His strongest impression of the Ding Family was that their youngest daughter had not yet fully grown, yet was already a beauty beyond compare. He had intended to say so outright, but then he remembered that Old Master Zhen and the other men of the Zhen Estate were hardly restrained when it came to women. Qin Nuangsheng never let Ding Qingyan visit the estate; when she missed her younger sister, she went to Chengyu Lane herself. Better not to let Old Master Zhen and the others know too much. The Ding girl was only fourteen or fifteen, after all. It would be an offense against heaven's harmony.

And with the Zhen Estate's name behind her, no one in Chengyu Lane dared bully Ding Qingyan.

After choosing his words, Mr. Yu began with Ding Shengyi and described the middle-aged scholar, Liu Yuzao, Ding Daniu, and Ding Songyan in detail. At the end, he added:

"There is also a youngest daughter, not yet of marriageable age, with a pleasing appearance."

Merely pleasing.

Zhen Qianfan listened closely, the two iron balls turning ceaselessly in his palm.

Only after a long while did he nod faintly.

"Doesn't sound like it..."

Without explaining, Old Master Zhen instructed Mr. Yu:

"The Small Boat Gang has risen too quickly these past few years. It isn't quite normal. Someone may be backing them. If it's a major sect, that's fine. Ning Prefecture belongs to the Chongwu Sect and the Yi clan, and we have connections with both. Any outsiders will withdraw once they're called out. What worries me is that the Small Boat Gang may have joined forces with one of the Twenty-One Paths of Evil Demons. Those fiends of the crooked paths don't follow the rules of the martial world. There's nothing they won't do.

"When you search Chen Yuliang's banner altar with the people from the Xiaoming Sect and the yamen, watch for any sign of that. You mustn't be careless. Heh, joining forces with evil demons and crooked paths makes it easy to rise, but it also makes it easy for the imperial court to tear you out by the roots."

"Yes, Old Master." Mr. Yu cupped his hands.

After spending eight copper coins on a bowl of noodles with a little minced pork and a few other toppings, Ding Songyan returned to Chengyu Lane, feeling much lighter now that the danger hanging over him had eased for the time being. He pushed at the courtyard gate.

It did not budge.

Bang, bang, bang! Ding Songyan knocked on the wooden gate.

"Who is it?" Ding Qingyan's voice called from inside.

"Your second brother," Ding Songyan answered with a smile.

Only then did Ding Qingyan lift the bar. Both delighted and puzzled, she asked:

"You're back so early?"

Her hands were dripping wet, and a wooden basin sat beside the water vat. She had plainly been washing clothes.

"It's more or less settled." Ding Songyan closed the gate and gave his younger sister a rough account of what had happened.

He did not say it was the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, only that it was something worth a great deal of money. Nor did he tell her that Ding Daniu had killed another person.

Ding Qingyan paid no attention to those details. Her eyes lit up, and she said to Ding Songyan in delighted surprise:

"Second Brother, we don't have to live in fear anymore!"

She paced in circles, murmuring excitedly:

"We have to celebrate, we have to! When Father gets off work, we'll have him buy a crispy duck from Peony Residence, and then..."

As she talked to herself, Ding Qingyan swallowed.

Ding Songyan watched with a smile. Once his sister had calmed down, he asked:

"Do we have any paper and brushes?"

He intended to write down the broad outline of the Legend of the White Snake episode he would tell tomorrow. He could not leave out as many details as he had today; Xiaoqing, for instance, had barely gotten any part in the story.

After all, if that Light Cavalry Commandant of the Headless People returned to camp, Ding Songyan would surely have no way to contact him again. The young woman in white was his most valuable personal connection at present, and they had made a good start. He had to maintain it!

"Aren't there some in your trunk?" Ding Qingyan pointed toward the west wing.

Right. I was a storyteller to begin with... Ding Songyan nodded, returned to his room, and opened the small wooden trunk beside his bed.

The trunk held paper, brushes, an inkstone, ink, and several books.

Ding Songyan leafed through them at random. They were scripts for storytelling. Some had been bought from the storytellers' association, while others had probably been copied out by his predecessor. The handwriting was clearly different, and the latter books were much more crudely bound.

"Mostly history... If I'd known, I wouldn't have gone to hear that historical tale. These would've been enough. What a waste of copper coins..." he muttered as he examined his collection.

The time it took to drink a cup of tea later, Ding Songyan picked up an uncovered manuscript from near the bottom of the trunk. His eyes swept over it and suddenly caught a line:

"Feiyi: eating it wards off insects, protects the spirit, and keeps all illnesses at bay."

This... Ding Songyan's expression froze.

The Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas?