Round and Round

The searing pain in his eyes and his sudden blindness sent Chen Yuliang into a panic.

He tilted his head slightly, straining to locate Mr. Yu and determine where the next attack might come from by listening to the wind.

But movement techniques were Mr. Yu's forte to begin with, and the fierce winds he stirred up only disrupted Chen Yuliang's hearing. Their howling filled his ears, drowning out every other sound.

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

Joy stirred in his heart. He thought he could use it to bargain.

That thought slowed his hands considerably. He stepped backward, deliberately opening up some distance to make their coming discussion easier.

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

Two warm fingers plunged into his eye sockets, sinking deep.

Hah, hah... Strange noises escaped Chen Yuliang's throat as he staggered backward.

Mr. Yu's emotionless voice sounded beside his ears once more:

"I'll find it myself."

With a thud, Chen Yuliang fell heavily to the floor, his dark, bloodstained eye sockets "staring" vacantly at the roof beams.

Rather than search the corpse immediately, Mr. Yu turned and walked toward the doorway.

Inside this martial arts school, which had close ties to Chen Yuliang, the disciples had already fled far away. A squad of patrol officers in fitted black outfits, their cuffs embroidered with starlight and candle flames, swiftly approached, each carrying a longsword.

Their leader was a young woman of about twenty. Unlike her companions in their regulation attire, she wore a gauzy skirt in a fresh, pale green, with only the starlight and candle flames embroidered on her cuffs to identify her.

Her face was clear and lovely, her eyes sparkling as she glanced around. Her long black hair was simply pinned up and secured with a blue-green embroidered silk handkerchief. Tall and graceful, she moved like a willow swaying in the breeze, a sight of exquisite beauty.

Upon seeing her, Mr. Yu's expression grew more serious. He said in a low voice:

"The dispute between the Four Waters Gang and the Small Boat Gang was registered with the government office last month."

Carrying a longsword in a gold-and-red scabbard, the young woman glanced at Chen Yuliang's corpse inside the room and affected a seasoned manner:

"Were any uninvolved parties caught up in it?

"Did anyone break the law by using martial force in public?"

Mr. Yu shook his head gently.

"No."

He paused, then added:

"The same applies over there, to the people from the Zhen Family and the Small Boat Gang."

The tall, graceful young woman sounded slightly disappointed.

"If there are any subsequent searches, we must supervise them from beginning to end."

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

Whether because of his cultivation technique or some other hidden problem, the corpse had already begun to show slight signs of decay in the time it took to exchange those few words, drawing several mosquitoes, flies, and moths to circle above it.

As Mr. Yu approached, they all scattered.

At the sight, Mr. Yu's brows furrowed slightly.

In the blind spot between the alley wall and the lush tree.

After hearing his younger brother's answer of "probably not," Ding Daniu smiled guilelessly.

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

"Doesn't our little sister treat you well?" Ding Songyan changed the subject, not wanting to discuss killing any further.

Ding Daniu seemed unable to find the words to describe it. He sank into obvious thought, only answering after quite a while:

"She's a little afraid of me."

So am I... Ding Songyan grumbled inwardly.

Being afraid was only natural.

Glancing at the corpse with the drinker's nose behind the tree, and remembering that he really could not let the authorities learn about the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, Ding Songyan drew a breath.

"Big Brother, how do you plan to deal with this body?"

I've been standing here too long. Even if the people atop the watchtower don't suspect anything illegal, they'll think I can't finish peeing...

"Deal with it..." Ding Daniu looked at the corpse with its caved-in face and fell silent.

Ding Songyan fell silent too.

So you never thought about how to dispose of it...

I thought you were an experienced hand...

Right, when you're traveling through the wilderness, there aren't many people coming and going. You only have to wait until dark and toss the bodies of those scoundrels into the woods, over a cliff, or into a river...

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

As thoughts raced through his mind, Ding Songyan heard a sharp gust blow toward them, carrying Mr. Yu's voice:

"Just leave. The Four Waters Gang will deal with the corpse."

Ding Songyan immediately let out a sigh of relief.

From the sound of it, Banner Master Chen had been dealt with smoothly too.

As for the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, he did not care in the slightest whether Mr. Yu had found it or taken it away. It was good if the man said nothing; bringing it up would only mean danger.

Inside Hanshui Pavilion at the Zhen Estate.

Surrounded by the Water-Driven Fan and large basins of ice, Mr. Yu cupped his hands in salute and offered the book he held to the old man seated in the grand armchair at the head of the room.

"Old Master, it is indeed the volume of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas that went missing from the estate. All the secret markings match."

The old man wore a black robe embroidered with multiple characters for good fortune and a small melon-shaped cap. His left palm was broad; even holding two heavy iron balls, he could still spin them with effortless ease.

His beard had already turned white, and his eyeballs showed signs of protruding. Divine radiance spilled out whenever his eyelids opened and closed. His complexion was unusually ruddy, while his ears looked layered, as though each had split into two.

Zhen Qianfan, the Zhen Family's patriarch, accepted the indigo-covered book with his right hand, casually flipped it open, and glanced through it.

"I trust you to handle things.

"The people from the Xiaoming Sect and the government office didn't find out about this book, did they?"

Mr. Yu retained his gloomy, lifeless air.

"The book was tucked inside Chen Yuliang's clothes. Zheng Zhuxi was there, but she is still young and hasn't formally ventured into the martial world. She was rather reluctant to approach the corpse and didn't look closely. I took the opportunity to retrieve and conceal it with the Wind-Catching Method, then hurried away on the pretext of dealing with Second Brother Ding's situation."

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

"Lost nine months ago, yet we managed to recover it now. What a coincidence..."

He leaned back against the armchair and closed his eyes.

"The Ding Family's second son truly doesn't remember where he obtained this Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas?"

"He has indeed forgotten. I secretly observed his behavior over the past two days and found that he doesn't remember much about everyday matters either. Doctor Shao confirmed this as well, though he cannot determine the cause," Mr. Yu answered truthfully.

Zhen Qianfan remained silent for a long while, as though asleep. Suddenly, he turned his head toward the son attending beside him.

"When did Qin Nuangsheng enter the estate?"

Zhen Quanwang, the Zhen Family's 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 mustered the courage to speak a word in Qin Nuangsheng's defense.

Zhen Qianfan laughed and said with utter certainty:

"Of course she had nothing to do with it.

"She entered the estate more than two years ago. That's all right, then."

He opened his eyes fully, revealing their divine radiance, 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 said after thinking 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, though not yet fully grown, was already an incomparable beauty. He had intended to mention this outright, but on second thought, neither Old Master Zhen nor the other masters of the Zhen Estate were easy characters where women were concerned. Qin Nuangsheng never let Ding Qingyan come to the estate; whenever she missed this younger sister, she went to Chengyu Lane to visit her herself. It would be better not to let Old Master Zhen and the others know too much. After all, the Ding Family's girl was only fourteen or fifteen. Such a thing would offend heaven's harmony.

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

After considering his wording, Mr. Yu began with Ding Shengyi, describing the middle-aged scholar, Liu Yuzao, Ding Daniu, and Ding Songyan in detail. Finally, he said:

"There is also a younger daughter, not yet of hairpin age, with quite good looks."

Merely quite good.

Zhen Qianfan listened with great attention, the two Iron Guts turning constantly in his palm.

Only after quite a while did he give a slight nod.

"Doesn't seem like it..."

Without offering any explanation, Old Master Zhen instructed Mr. Yu:

"The Small Boat Gang's rapid rise over the past few years isn't entirely normal. Someone may be supporting them from behind the scenes. 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. Once outsiders are exposed, they'll naturally withdraw. What worries me is that the Small Boat Gang may have hooked up with one of the Twenty-One Paths of Evil Demons. Those sinister heretics don't follow the rules of the martial world. There's no method they won't use.

"When you search Chen Yuliang's Banner Altar with the people from the Xiaoming Sect and the government office, pay close attention to any signs of that. You mustn't be careless. Heh, colluding with evil demons and the Outer Dao makes success easy, but it also makes it easy for the imperial court to tear you out by the roots."

"Yes, Old Master," Mr. Yu answered, cupping his hands.

After spending eight copper coins on a bowl of noodles with a little minced pork and a few side ingredients, Ding Songyan returned to Chengyu Lane, much more relaxed now that his lurking personal crisis had been settled for the time being, and pushed at the courtyard gate.

It did not budge.

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

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

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

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

"You're back this early?"

Her hands were dripping wet, and there was a wooden basin beside the water jar. She had clearly been washing clothes.

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

He did not specify that it was the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, only saying it was something worth a great deal of money. Nor did he mention that Ding Daniu had killed another man.

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

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

As she spoke, she began pacing in circles, muttering excitedly to herself:

"We have to celebrate, we have to celebrate! When Father gets back from the government office, we'll ask him to buy a crispy duck from the Peony Residence, and then buy..."

As she muttered to herself, Ding Qingyan swallowed.

Ding Songyan watched her with a smile. Only after his sister had calmed down did he ask:

"Do we have paper and a brush at home?"

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

After all, if that Headless People Light Cavalry Commandant returned to the barracks, he would certainly have no further chance to contact him. The White-Skirted Girl was currently his most valuable personal connection, and he had made a good start. He had to maintain it!

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

Oh, right. My original profession was storytelling... Ding Songyan nodded, returned to his room, and opened the small wooden chest beside his bed.

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

Ding Songyan leafed through them casually and found that they were texts used for storytelling. Some had been bought from the Storytellers' Association, while others might have been copied by his predecessor. The handwriting was clearly different, and the latter were much more crudely bound.

"Mostly history... If I'd known, I wouldn't have gone to listen to those historical tales. Reading these would have been enough. What a waste of copper coins..." he muttered as he examined his book collection.

A cup of tea's time later, Ding Songyan picked up a hand-copied book without a cover from near the bottom of the chest. His gaze swept across it, and he suddenly spotted a sentence:

"Feiyi: consuming it subdues vermin, governs the spirit, and bars all illness."

This... Ding Songyan's expression froze.

The Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas?