Attempt

"Here, here."

A figure crouched in front of a pearl-and-jade stall on the street edge turned slightly sideways, beckoning secretly to Ding Songyan.

Ding Songyan stopped in his tracks, skirted the wooden railing, and browsed stall by stall before finally squatting down beside the figure, pretending to help his younger sister pick out silver hairpins and wooden hair sticks.

He swept a glance from the corner of his eye, for a moment hardly daring to recognize the person beside him as Xiaoqing.

The other wore a plain cloth dress and thorn hairpins, her hair coiled in a married woman's bun, with an ordinary face, looking like someone who could be found anywhere.

"Xiaoqing?" Ding Songyan picked up a silver hairpin, lowering his voice to test the waters as he examined it repeatedly.

"Disguise Art," Xiaoqing replied in a breezy tone, her voice likewise barely audible.

The disguise art of this world is so powerful? I really want to learn it too... Ding Songyan felt a wave of emotion.

Preintending to browse, Xiaoqing seized the opportunity while the stall owner was greeting other potential customers to continue in a low voice:

"I followed you for a long time, but I didn't see the pursuer you mentioned."

"He's already dead." Ding Songyan informed Xiaoqing of the latest situation.

"Uh..." Xiaoqing's eyes rolled, a faint gleam within them. "This matter is really, really complicated."

She turned the topic:

"I only discovered that Attendant Yu of the Zhen Estate was watching you from the shadows."

Your tracking skills aren't very good, Mr. Yu. Ren Youyang's bodyguard discovered you, and Xiaoqing discovered you too... Even though Ding Songyan was filled with anxiety, he couldn't help muttering inwardly.

Xiaoqing put down the silver hairpin with the crude pearl decoration in her hand, her voice growing slightly solemn:

"When you went to the Lijiang County Yamen, Old Master Zhen was right in the partition of a restaurant nearby.

"After you came out, he left without staying long, and the person tracking you was replaced by another attendant from the Zhen Estate."

When I tried to go to the Yamen to report the crime, Old Master Zhen was nearby? Ding Songyan was startled.

He immediately formed a conjecture:

"Old Master Zhen wasn't completely sure beforehand whether Yan Changqing could make me 'forget' the matter of reporting the crime, so he came in person to prepare to make a move, which shows how much importance he attached to it.

"Once he was certain Yan Changqing had meddled with me, he stopped worrying and left directly.

"Well, if Yan Changqing didn't lie about being locked up, his martial arts and his mobility were probably crippled long ago. It's only on a mental, psychological, or spiritual level that he can still do a few things—that's a situation Old Master Zhen has no way of grasping; he can only guess, difficult to determine.

"Yan Changqing has endured for many years, and just like that, he exposed his trump card to Old Master Zhen?

"I'm afraid he has something else to rely on...

"If I were Old Master Zhen, I should be able to think of this too...

"I'm so sick of this level of mental deduction..."

While thinking, Ding Songyan didn't forget to thank his helper:

"For Miss Xiaoqing's immense kindness, I am forever grateful."

If worst comes to worst, I can even be a beast of burden, only begging you to take our family away from Dingjiang Prefecture.

Xiaoqing let out a low chuckle:

"Forget about being forever grateful. If you really want to repay me, hurry up and relearn your characters, and make time to practice more. Every night I read the scripts you write in shorthand, my head hurts so much I'm too embarrassed to mention it!

"Just act as usual later, and I'll keep watching for you."

She picked out a wooden hairpin, took out her money pouch, paid the copper coins, and stood up to leave the pearl-and-jade stall, blending back into the bustling crowd.

You're acting pretty well. Just now I was really afraid you'd plop down a silver ingot for the stall owner... Ding Songyan spent two qian of silver to buy a daily silver hairpin without bead decorations but with reasonably fine workmanship, planning to give it to his sister tonight as a return gift for the fifty wen earlier.

It wasn't that he didn't understand thrift, but rather that finding himself trapped in a crisis-laden situation, he should spend money when it was time to spend; he shouldn't wait until he was dead while a pile of silver still remained, failing even to fall into the hands of his family.

Besides, with Miss Xiaoqing's reward first and Xu Chang'an's thank-you gift later, his money pouch was currently quite substantial.

Leaving the pearl-and-jade stall, Ding Songyan used the information provided by Xiaoqing to puzzle out a few things.

His next plan was to find an opportunity to test that strand of "Qi" given by Yan Changqing, confirming just to what extent "harming people" and "saving one's life" could be achieved. He couldn't hold this in excessive regard and be completely reluctant to use it; otherwise, when the critical moment arrived and he found the effect fell short of expectations, it would be a total disaster.

Understanding the situation was a necessary step in formulating a plan.

Moreover, this could also help Ding Songyan verify two things:

First, as the "Qi" was consumed, whether the degree and efficiency of the "seed" in his mind erasing critical thoughts would decline;

Second, whether Yan Changqing still had the ability to supplement the "Qi" for him, using this to peek into his trump card.

In addition, from Ding Songyan's perspective, the Zhen Estate was an enemy, and Yan Changqing was too. Being able to squeeze out another fraction of him so that he himself gained a little more would increase his hope of saving his life later.

Aside from testing the "Qi", Ding Songyan had other things he planned to do.

Returning to Chengyu Lane, he didn't go back home, but instead knocked on Xu Chang'an's door.

Seeing that Second Brother Ding had come looking for him, Xu Chang'an smiled with pleasant surprise:

"I went to several martial arts halls today. Would Second Brother Ding like to hear about my harvest?"

Without answering, Ding Songyan pulled Xu Chang'an over to the well and asked thoughtfully:

"Do you know what hidden pawns the Small Boat Gang still has in the city?"

Several days had passed, and the Small Boat Gang's overt forces had been uprooted by the Four Waters Gang.

"I don't know." Xu Chang'an shook his head blankly. "Second Brother Ding, why are you asking this? The hidden pawns the Four Waters Gang couldn't unearth—how could I know?"

"Then are there any forces or people who used to be closely associated with the Small Boat Gang and still exist today?" Ding Songyan asked further.

As a member of the thieves and at the very bottom of the jianghu, Xu Chang'an did know some news:

"Master Liu of the Stone Pool Martial Hall. Chen Yuliang was killed by Mr. Yu at their place."

Ding Songyan nodded in satisfaction, simply muttered a word of thanks, and turned to leave Chengyu Lane.

"Second Brother Ding, where are you going?" Xu Chang'an chased after him, asking with curiosity.

Ding Songyan glanced at him:

"To visit Master Liu of the Stone Pool Martial Hall, to see if I can get in touch with the Small Boat Gang."

"Y-you aren't a man of the Zhen Estate?" Xu Chang'an was horrified.

Ding Songyan let out a "heh heh" laugh:

"For a few years in the past, I firmly believed in one saying:

"There are no eternal friends, nor eternal enemies, only eternal interests."

Xu Chang'an chewed on this phrase, feeling it made quite a lot of sense, and he casually muttered:

"You believed it in the past... then you don't believe it anymore?"

"Later? Once you've seen enough, you'll understand that it doesn't encompass all people and all matters." Ding Songyan looked ahead, the smile fading from his face.

Xu Chang'an turned to worry aloud:

"A-aren't you afraid the Zhen Estate will move against you?"

To actually want to make peace with the Small Boat Gang!

"You don't say, I don't say, and the Small Boat Gang doesn't say—who would know?" Of course Ding Songyan wouldn't tell Xu Chang'an that the Zhen Estate attendant was following right behind.

One of his purposes was to test whether he had a "get-out-of-jail-free card", the kind with a limited time and a limited scope.

Hearing Ding Songyan's counter-question, Xu Chang'an completely lost his smile, his complexion turning solemn and pale.

He still accompanied Ding Songyan by his side, pointing out the road to the Stone Pool Martial Hall for him.

Amidst the gloomy sky, they skirted Dangkang Temple and arrived at the main gate of the Stone Pool Martial Hall. Ding Songyan turned his head to smile at Xu Chang'an:

"You don't have to force yourself to come in with me."

"Second Brother Ding, back then you even took the risk of accompanying me to Potter's Field to find my master—how could I abandon you today and run off?" Xu Chang'an replied in a tight voice.

You brat actually have quite a bit of a master thief's backbone... I underestimated you earlier... Ding Songyan felt a slight sense of surprise.

He smiled at Xu Chang'an and said:

"Not bad, a kindness repaid is a kindness remembered. It wasn't in vain that I thought highly of you becoming a generation's master thief in the future.

"However, I still have something for you to do later, so don't go inside. If you really died in there, who would I find to help?"

What he worried about wasn't whether the Stone Pool Martial Hall would be unfavorable to Xu Chang'an, but rather the Zhen Family.

If his deduction was correct, as long as he didn't report to the Yamen or test the bottom line these few days, no matter what he did, the Zhen Estate would turn a blind eye. But Xu Chang'an didn't have that importance—what if the Zhen Estate wanted to kill a chicken to scare him, the monkey, and picked Xu Chang'an?

Xu Chang'an's calves were already shaking with fear, and seeing that what Ding Songyan said made a lot of sense, he took the out and, after repeated promises, headed toward Dangkang Temple, intending to wait for Second Brother Ding there.

Ding Songyan raised his head to look at the plaque inscribed with the characters "Stone Pool Martial Hall", various scenes and images surfacing in his mind.

He flicked the corner of his lapel back, placed his left hand behind his waist, and walked in slowly.

In the open space before the martial hall's main hall, quite a few people dressed in athletic garb were either battering wooden dummies, exercising with stone locks, or sparring with one another in twos and threes.

Seeing a visitor arrive, one of the martial hall disciples greeted Ding Songyan.

Before the disciple could open his mouth to ask, Ding Songyan glanced around and said with a smile:

"I am Ding Songyan of the Zhen Estate, here to pay a visit to Master Liu."

Before his words had even faded, the gaze of the martial hall disciple who had greeted him froze.

In the open space before the main hall, the one battering the wooden dummy halted his movements, the one exercising with stone locks froze in his posture, and the pair sparring with each other had their moves stall, getting stuck right there.

Everything seemed to have turned into a motionless scroll.

The hot summer wind blew in mournful gusts, carrying a distinctly damp sensation, and dark clouds gathered high in the sky, as if a torrential rain were about to arrive.

After a moment, the martial hall disciple who had met Ding Songyan stammered out:

"I-I'll go report to Master. Please, please wait a moment."

Ding Songyan gave a slight nod, standing at the doorway with one hand behind his back just like that, smilingly appraising the martial hall disciples in the courtyard space.

Those disciples retreated one after another, not a single one daring to meet his gaze.

After about the time it took to brew a cup of tea, the martial hall disciple who had just gone to report emerged from the front hall accompanied by a young man, walking toward Ding Songyan.

That young man was roughly eight chi tall, with dark skin, a thickset build, and a face that looked old at first glance, requiring close scrutiny to find a trace of youthfulness. The whole person didn't look like a martial artist, but rather resembled a country farmer.

"Senior Brother Yang, it's him." The disciple who had gone to report pointed at Ding Songyan, his voice carrying a slight tremor.

"Isn't this Ding Erlang who was storytelling outside Dangkang Temple? How did you join the Zhen Estate?" Senior Brother Yang appraised Ding Songyan, his tone level and his bearing steady.

Ding Songyan smiled:

"I joined just yesterday."

Senior Brother Yang didn't ask any further, making an inviting gesture:

"My master is waiting for you in the practice yard."

Ding Songyan gave a slight smile, maintaining the posture of one hand behind his back as he followed Senior Brother Yang at a moderate pace, passing through halls and courtyards.