Yin Corpse Grass

"Second Brother Ding, what should we do?" Xu Chang'an stuffed all the silver he had found back into the secret compartment and asked Ding Songyan anxiously and fearfully.

He had also begun to find the whole matter rather creepy:

His master had hidden all that silver here so confidently, yet had not returned for several days?

All his disciples were thieves. How could they fail to find this secret compartment? How could they face a fortune and not be tempted?

Ding Songyan was silent for several breaths before saying:

"Report it to the authorities."

Dingjiang Prefecture City was not small, and there were even more towns and villages outside the city. The three of them could not possibly search them all by themselves, and they might easily run into danger. They might as well report it and let the authorities handle it.

That was Ding Songyan's instinctive choice.

Besides, this way, he could justifiably make contact with the Xiaoming Sect, the Yi clan, and the other local powers, laying the groundwork for investigating the relevant information and finding an opportunity to become someone's disciple later.

Xu Chang'an's face turned pale.

"Report it? Tell the government officials that my master has gone missing, that he's a veteran thief, that I learned his trade from him, and that I'm now making a living outside Dangkang Temple? Even if I don't tell them, they'll be able to investigate and find out."

Hadn't you considered that? Ding Songyan said solemnly:

"If your master merely suffered an accident, such as slipping and drowning, then naturally there's no need to worry about what comes next. But if he was caught up in something secret, how many heads do you think you have to withstand the possible danger? Go to Dangkang Temple and pray that you won't be implicated?"

Xu Chang'an's face grew even more terrifyingly pale. After mumbling for a long while, he said in a low voice:

"Second Brother Ding, how about we search again? If we still can't find him today, we'll report it immediately."

"Where did your master usually like to go?" Ding Songyan did not want to report the matter himself. It still had to be Xu Chang'an, his disciple—only then would it be proper and justifiable. He could merely accompany him and, in the process, get acquainted with the Yi clan and the people from the Xiaoming Sect.

Xu Chang'an recalled and said:

"My master never married and had no children. He only had a few of us disciples. He didn't usually like gambling either. He only enjoyed going to Beili Ward to eat flower wine. He had a few lovers there, but we already searched there yesterday, and they all said he hadn't been there for at least four days.

"Other than that..."

Suddenly, Xu Chang'an's eyes lit up.

"He went to Potter's Field three times in the past half month. He said he was looking for some Yin Corpse Grass."

Potter's Field? Ding Songyan swiftly seized upon the key phrase.

His predecessor had died in a ruined temple on the road to Potter's Field.

Could this really have something to do with Xu Chang'an's master?

Had he truly dug up the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas while excavating graves at Potter's Field? Wait, were there even graves at Potter's Field?

Ding Songyan did not reveal his emotions. Pretending to be curious, he asked:

"What was he looking for Yin Corpse Grass for?"

Xu Chang'an glanced at Ding Daniu, whose face was full of curiosity yet radiated a fierce air, and swallowed before saying:

"'Creating Apertures.' A few days ago, my master got drunk and told several of us that he had finally obtained a suitable method for Creating Apertures and hoped to break through to the 'Mortal Realm.' Yin Corpse Grass is one of the things needed when Creating Apertures."

"What is 'Creating Apertures'?" Ding Songyan, who had widely announced that he suffered from Soul-Separation Disorder, asked without the slightest hesitation.

Xu Chang'an knew about Second Brother Ding's condition and understood his confusion. After considering his words, he said:

"The martial arts of our Classic of Mountains and Seas World were either left behind by Celestial Emperors and heavenly gods or created by consuming divine monsters and strange beasts. The crucial part is refining apertures. But can the apertures of Celestial Emperors, heavenly gods, divine monsters, and strange beasts be exactly the same as those of us humans? Supposedly, there are many differences.

"Therefore, after refining the apertures that correspond to the human body in the two systems, one must measure the distances between them, then create apertures from nothing at suitable positions on the body and refine them. Creating apertures requires needles to guide them and medicines to inject them. Some even require cutting open the abdomen and implanting strange metals and unusual copper. Every martial art has a different method of Creating Apertures, and the things it requires are different as well.

"In many sects, the methods of Creating Apertures and refining apertures are separate. Only the elders who have mastered a sect's techniques and will never leave the mountain gate again possess the methods of Creating Apertures, assisting disciples when needed. That way, even if a disciple loses his life while traveling the martial world, the corresponding martial art will not be leaked."

I really have never seen such a secret method of martial arts... No wonder the medical arts in this world are so astonishing. So they're needed in daily life, with everything following a traceable principle... Ding Songyan marveled inwardly.

He felt that separating the methods of Creating Apertures and refining apertures could indeed prevent superior martial arts from being leaked, but it also carried hidden dangers. When a sect was still flourishing, this was a marvelous method. But once a sect declined and migrated, it became extremely easy to lose the crucial parts of its superior martial arts. The Xiaoming Sect back then had probably fallen into precisely this situation.

Ding Songyan pondered before asking:

"What if an aperture is located on an organ that a divine monster or strange beast has in excess? For example, a second heart.

"What if the distance that needs to be measured lies outside the body?"

He remembered that many strange beasts in the Classic of Mountains and Seas were enormous and bizarrely shaped. If their apertures truly had to correspond with those of humans, then even after being proportionally reduced, quite a few apertures should still lie outside the body.

Xu Chang'an was somewhat bewildered by Ding Songyan's two questions.

"I don't know...

"I've heard that the 'Dayan Realm' is the most complicated realm. It doesn't merely involve Creating Apertures; it also has many checkpoints and subdivisions. Thus, the Exalted Orchid Roll divided this realm into four grades: 'Strange Being,' 'Probing Mystery,' 'Transcendent,' and 'Divination.'

"Many disciples of great sects spend their entire lives stuck in this realm. Very few can enter the Law Realm and become grandmasters."

Initial Realm, Mortal Realm, Dayan Realm, Law Realm, Celestial-Human Realm, Spirit Platform Realm... Ding Songyan finally gained a relatively clear understanding of the martial realms in this world.

No wonder they all say that once one refines apertures, it becomes exceedingly difficult to switch to another method afterward...

Seeing that Xu Chang'an could say no more, Ding Songyan brought the topic back around.

"Your master is already quite old. Why is he still so fixated on 'Creating Apertures'?"

"It's precisely because he's already so old that he longs to Create Apertures and advance to the Dayan Realm." Xu Chang'an explained seriously, "'The Dayan Realm' is far stronger than 'the Mortal Realm.' If he can become a 'Strange Being,' not only will his lifespan increase, but afterward, he may even have a chance to steal divine medicines and treasures and extend his life by more than a hundred years."

It can extend one's lifespan too? Then I'll be fixated on it as well... Ding Songyan glanced at his extremely quiet elder brother, looked toward Xu Chang'an, and said as if talking to himself:

"Your master only obtained that suitable method of Creating Apertures in the past half month?"

His predecessor had also obtained the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas only recently...

"He should have. Before that, I never saw my master go to Potter's Field." Xu Chang'an pleaded, "Second Brother Ding, Big Brother Ding, come with me to Potter's Field. If we still can't find my master there, we'll report it!"

A place like Potter's Field would be frightening only after we found him... Ding Songyan hesitated. Standing beside the nine-foot-tall, vigorous Ding Daniu, he felt that even if there were wandering ghosts here, they probably would not dare approach.

"It's dangerous outside the city..."

"It isn't dangerous, it isn't! The whole stretch from the city gate to Potter's Field is under the watch of the lookout towers on the city wall. Only the rear mountain beyond Potter's Field can't be seen." Xu Chang'an urged him desperately.

Then why had my predecessor entered that ruined temple? He didn't even know how he died. Couldn't they have talked or traded by the roadside outside? In any case, the watchers atop the lookout towers wouldn't know what they were doing. Or could their eyesight really see clearly what was in someone's hands from that far away, meaning one had to be careful? Ding Songyan reluctantly agreed.

The three of them spent more than half an hour traveling before arriving at Potter's Field outside the city.

The vegetation here was lush. Even in the blazing summer, beneath the scorching sun, sinister winds still rose from time to time, chilling people to the bone.

Contrary to what Ding Songyan had imagined, the place was not filled everywhere with corpses wrapped in straw mats. Most had been buried in shallow pits to prevent a major epidemic, leaving only a few white bones scattered deep in the grass.

"About what part of the area did your master say the Yin Corpse Grass was?" Ding Songyan asked.

"Probably... the place where the front and rear mountains meet." Xu Chang'an hurriedly said, "Second Brother Ding, I won't ask you to accompany me to the rear mountain. If we still can't find him at the boundary, we'll return to the city and report it."

Even if you begged me, I still wouldn't go. Ding Songyan stood beside the nine-foot-tall Ding Daniu, whose blood and Qi were flourishing, and felt that even if this place had lonely ghosts and wild spirits, they probably would not dare come near.

When they were nearing the rear mountain, Ding Daniu suddenly twitched his nose and pointed at several trees.

"There's a smell of blood over there, and something rotten."

Blood? Ding Songyan gestured for Ding Daniu and Xu Chang'an to go ahead.

After they rounded the trees, the nauseating stench rushed into their noses, nearly making Ding Songyan vomit.

Before he could adjust, he heard Xu Chang'an murmur blankly:

"Master... Urgh..."

He vomited.

Ding Songyan looked up and saw a bloated, rotting corpse lying by the trees, surrounded by mosquitoes and flies.

The corpse's ribs were broken, its chest and abdomen split open to either side, and all its internal organs seemed to be gone. A jade thumb ring was on its right thumb.

Ding Songyan did not inspect the corpse's features closely. He was too busy vomiting.

Of the three, only Ding Daniu was unaffected. He seriously examined the corpse, patted Xu Chang'an on the shoulder, and said:

"Xu Dalang, is this really your master?"

"That thumb ring is my master's. He wore it all the time." Xu Chang'an gasped.

"What about his appearance?" Ding Daniu pressed.

Xu Chang'an instinctively glanced twice, then vomited again, bringing up yellow-green fluid.

Only after quite some time did he say:

"It is... I can, I can recognize him..."

He turned his back, grabbed Ding Songyan's sleeve, and said in terror:

"Second Brother Ding, let's report it!"

Also turned away from the corpse and covering his nose and mouth, Ding Songyan slowly shook his head.

"No. Go to the Zhen Estate."

The situation had changed. This matter truly seemed related to his predecessor and the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for both men to die, to die in places not far apart, and to die within roughly the same period. It would be best to hand the matter over to the Zhen Estate.

Zhen Estate, Hanshui Pavilion.

The Zhen Family's old master paced back and forth inside the room, turning an iron gall in his palm as he listened to Mr. Yu report on the events of the past two days.

"We haven't found any clues pointing to a major sect or great faction, or to the twenty-one paths of heretics?" Zhen Qianfan asked hesitantly.

"We have not." Mr. Yu, wearing a small cap, answered truthfully.

Zhen Qianfan let out a "heh."

"What exactly is the Small Boat Gang trying to do? First, they provoked us repeatedly, giving us grounds to report the conflict between the two gangs to the government and successfully register it as a gang dispute. Then they placed only a Chen Yuliang in the prefectural city—someone even you could handle. Do they really think I've been retired for many years and can no longer act personally?"

"You're only sixty, Old Master, and still vigorous as a dragon and fierce as a tiger." Mr. Yu had witnessed Zhen Qianfan's strength himself.

Just as Zhen Qianfan was about to speak again, a clansman responsible for security entered and saluted the two of them.

"Old Master, Mr. Yu, Ding Erlang, the maternal cousin of Aunt Qin, has come again. He says he has discovered something important."