Words that became prophecy

The moon's reflection swayed. Zheng Zhuxi's eyes shifted slightly as she looked at Ding Songyan and asked:

"Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Ding Songyan slowly shook his head.

Not only did he seem to have achieved his aim, but he had also used this opportunity to connect many things and make sense of them:

Who knew what treasures Yan Changqing had brought out of the Celestial Emperor's Palace in Kunlun Mountain? Even if there were none, just the questions of where the vanished Kunlun Mountains were and how to enter them would be enough to make a host of Perfected Persons and Great Grandmasters fight until their heads split.

"We'll keep watch," Zheng Zhuxi said with a solemn nod.

She took back the Glass Palace Lantern and led the group of Xiaoming Sect disciples out of Chengyu Lane.

Seeing that no passersby remained nearby, Zheng Zhuxi looked up at the tallest Watchtower building. After a moment's hesitation, she said:

"Senior Sister Wuyue, Senior Brother Wu Feng, let's go to the Prefectural Yamen and the County Yamen first and report this, then send a Carrier Pigeon Message back to the Sects and ask my mother or one of our martial uncles or aunts to come overnight."

"If there's still no reply tomorrow morning, the three of us will return to the Sects ourselves.

"This matter is complicated, and traveling at night is dangerous. Something unforeseen might happen. Without an expert of the 'Divination' rank accompanying us, none of us should leave the city on our own to report back to the Sects."

That last remark explained why they would only send a Carrier Pigeon Message back to the Xiaoming Sect tonight.

Senior Brother Wu Feng, dressed in fitted black clothing and largely expressionless, thought for a moment before saying:

"According to Second Brother Ding, this involves not only the Zhen Estate but also a nearly complete version of the 'Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas.' It might even conceal the answer to Kunlun's disappearance, along with secret treasures from the Celestial Emperor's Palace. Why not keep it under wraps for now and inform only the Sects?"

"Even if the Carrier Pigeon Message proves useless, once it's light, the round trip will take little more than half a day."

Zheng Zhuxi walked along the dark street, her pale-green silk skirt swaying gently with her steps.

After a long silence, she pressed her lips together and said:

"Lives are at stake. Saving people is like fighting a fire.

"The experts at the Prefectural Yamen and the County Yamen are close by. How can we pass over what's near to seek what's far away?"

Tao Wuyue opened her mouth to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

Wu Feng looked at Zheng Zhuxi's back, his expression unchanged, and said in a low voice:

"A candle illuminates the long night, and that night lies both outside us and within our hearts. With judgment like this, Junior Sister Zheng, there's no limit to what you might achieve."

"Senior Brother Wu, you only have the Sects' interests at heart. Neither of us is better or worse than the other." Zheng Zhuxi seemed much more at ease as she spoke, her smile clear and bright. "Since I'm leading this patrol, I'll make the decision, and afterward, I'll answer the Enforcement Elder's questions. If there's any punishment, just say I insisted on having my own way and you couldn't dissuade me."

After talking with Zheng Zhuxi, much of the inexplicable oppression Ding Songyan had felt earlier dissipated. Yet he seemed to have forgotten something else. He returned home at an unhurried pace and lay down on his bed.

He was drowsy and nearly asleep when he suddenly heard sobbing.

It came from the inner room partitioned off by a crude screen, and whoever was crying sounded heartbroken.

"Qingyan?" Ding Songyan asked in confusion.

"Second Brother, sob, sob... I had a nightmare," Ding Qingyan said between sobs.

Ding Songyan felt a little helpless.

"What kind of nightmare?"

Ding Qingyan sniffled.

"First I dreamed... dreamed we'd moved back into that big courtyard. But then... then Father died, Mother died, Eldest Brother died, and you died too. The whole courtyard was full of blood, bright, bright red. I was the only one standing there watching. Only me, sob, sob..."

The more she spoke, the harder it became for her to stop crying.

"Dreams mean the opposite," Ding Songyan tried to reassure her.

Ding Qingyan said through her sobs:

"But it hurt so much, just as if it had really happened.

"Then I dreamed we were still in this courtyard. Mother killed Eldest Brother and Father, and you didn't want me anymore either. I didn't know where you'd gone. You left me alone in this room, sob, sob... all alone..."

"Aren't I right here?" Ding Songyan said gently.

Ding Qingyan seemed to be wiping away her tears and snot with a handkerchief. Only after a while did she speak again:

"I also dreamed I was waiting for you to tell me a story and coax me to sleep. I waited and waited and waited, but you never came. The room was so dark, and there seemed to be blood on the window..."

By the end, the girl had begun sobbing again.

"Shall I tell you a story now, then?" Ding Songyan did not think his sister was crying like this just to trick him into telling her one.

"No need," Ding Qingyan replied, her voice thick with congestion.

Fear colored her slightly trembling voice as she said:

"Second Brother, do you think... do you think something bad is going to happen? Why else would I have dreams like these?

"Second Brother, I don't want to be separated from you all. Second Brother, I don't want you to die..."

Thinking of what might happen tomorrow, Ding Songyan's thoughts surged and ebbed. For a moment, he did not know how to comfort Ding Qingyan.

I haven't shown any sign that something's wrong... Is Little Sister really this sensitive to bad things? Ding Songyan sighed inwardly, then told Ding Qingyan:

"It won't happen. I won't die, and wherever I go, I'll take you with me."

"Swear it!" Ding Qingyan seemed to know she was being a little unreasonable, but she had yet to calm down completely.

"All right, all right." Ding Songyan deliberately kept the conversation going. "Who should I swear to?"

"Swear to the Supreme Mysterious Origin Celestial Venerable," Ding Qingyan said after thinking back.

This was the honorific the Daoists had bestowed on the Celestial Emperor after incorporating him into their own system. The full version was so long that few people could remember it, so ordinary people used this shortened form.

Ding Songyan cleared his throat.

"I, Ding Songyan, swear to the Supreme Mysterious Origin Celestial Venerable that I will not die or abandon Little Sister, and that wherever I go, I'll take her with me. Otherwise, may heaven strike me with thunder, may fire burn me and water drown me."

The prerequisite for breaking this oath was his death, so Ding Songyan swore it without any burden on his conscience. If he was already dead, what was there to fear?

Still, considering that this world had supernatural powers and the Netherworld Grounds, he secretly changed the "eternal damnation" he had intended to say to "may fire burn me and water drown me." What if he retained awareness after death, or there really was another life?

As for taking his sister wherever he went, that was merely a matter of an extra pair of chopsticks and another bowl.

Only then did Ding Qingyan say in satisfaction:

"Then I believe you."

She tossed and turned for a while before finally falling asleep again.

The next day, having slept poorly, Ding Songyan gathered the tools of his trade and prepared to leave, slightly swollen bags under his eyes.

"Second Brother." For some reason, Ding Daniu was leaving for the dock a little later than usual that day. He came over and smiled at him. "You're really good to me. I'll remember that."

Why say something like that out of nowhere...? Completely baffled, Ding Songyan offered a couple of replies, then headed for Dangkang Temple with Xu Chang'an.

With the market coming into view, he considered for a moment, then told Xu Chang'an:

"Come to my house at Shen Zheng and look for me. If I'm not there, go to the County Yamen and report that the Zhen Estate means to harm me."

"What?" Xu Chang'an looked at Ding Songyan in alarm and uncertainty.

Ding Songyan smiled and nodded.

"You won't need to worry about anything after that."

If things erupted today, no one should still be watching an insignificant figure like Xu Chang'an. If they did not, he would certainly be home waiting for him at Shen Zheng. Besides, Xu Chang'an might not even remember this by then.

Xu Chang'an's Adam's apple bobbed several times.

"All right."

The two parted there. Ding Songyan arrived at his patch of open ground, rallied his spirits, and delivered the final installment of the "Legend of the White Snake" with dramatic twists and turns, bringing it to a close with the heartwarming scene of the whole family reunited.

Looking thoroughly satisfied, Xiaoqing tipped him another Silver Sycee. The other spectators, pleased with the happy family ending, loosened their purse strings more generously than before.

"See you this evening." Busy heading to the Zhen Estate Banquet, Xiaoqing did not linger to talk with Ding Songyan. She waved and led her maid toward the Tianyang Guildhall.

Ding Songyan was about to leave when he saw a fellow storyteller in a dark-blue robe approaching.

The middle-aged man, in his forties, wore a broad smile as he said:

"Second Brother Ding, would you be willing to let others tell your 'Legend of the White Snake'?"

"I'm planning to write it up over the next few days and see whether the Storytellers' Association wants to buy it," Ding Songyan said. He had already thought this through.

He had learned a fair amount about this world's storytelling rules: anyone wanting to tell his "Legend of the White Snake" had to pay him and secure his consent. Otherwise, they would have to give it an entirely new face before telling it. Of course, if someone heard the story and went off to tell it in the Flame Capital or another prefecture, his whip could not reach that far, and there was little he could do.

If he sold the script of the "Legend of the White Snake" to the Storytellers' Association, other storytellers would only need to pay the association a sum of money to tell it. They could also adapt it as they pleased without consulting him again. Whether Ding Songyan received any share would depend on the terms he negotiated with the association.

In addition, the Local Storytellers' Guild would recommend good scripts to associations in other prefectures to earn money. If those associations bought them, they would naturally keep watch for storytellers performing without paying. Hence the common saying, "All storytellers' associations under heaven are one family; break the bones, and the sinews still bind them." As for their internal disputes and friction, those were settled behind closed doors.

Hearing Ding Songyan's reply, his fellow storyteller lit up with delight.

"That's wonderful, wonderful! Second Brother Ding, you're a generous man!"

Ding Songyan offered a few modest words and was about to leave when more people came to approach him, one after another. All were from well-known entertainment quarters in Beili Ward, inviting him to perform at their establishments regularly.

He did not even know whether he would have a tomorrow. Using the excuse that he needed to consider carefully, he left the Dangkang Temple market.

After grabbing a casual meal, he went to the Zhen Estate. Rather than hurry inside, he paced back and forth nearby, waiting for Miss Xiaoqing and her Second Uncle to arrive, and for Ren Youyang to come.

He wanted to show his face in front of Miss Xiaoqing and Ren Youyang, thereby "telling" them: I'm here at the Zhen Estate as usual, too. If something really does go wrong, remember to lend me a hand.

As Ding Songyan waited patiently, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure.

It was his mother, Liu Yuzao.

Liu Yuzao wore a dark, front-opening short jacket and a blue horse-face skirt, with a black gauze Veil Hat on her head. She approached the Zhen Estate at an unhurried pace.

"Mother, what are you doing here?" Ding Songyan went up to her in confusion.

"I'm here to visit your Cousin Nuansheng," Liu Yuzao said simply.

After a brief silence, Ding Songyan said:

"The Zhen Estate has honored guests today. You'd better not stay too long."

There will be danger.

Liu Yuzao murmured assent and entered the Zhen Estate through a side door.

Watching her retreating figure, Ding Songyan first felt puzzled, then a throbbing pain shot through his head.

Fake, fake, fake! A voice seemed to erupt inside him, echoing without end.

In an instant, Ding Songyan remembered what he had discovered last night, and what he had forgotten:

Ding Shengyi was the "Moth Father" who controlled the "Mothmen" to put on his show, and Ding Daniu was an accomplished martial artist with something abnormal about him!

Yet he had completely forgotten all of this while strolling with Miss Xiaoqing!

As those memories returned, Ding Songyan abruptly recalled the questions he had asked Ding Qingyan when he first woke after transmigrating:

"How can you prove you're my real younger sister?"

"Then how can you prove the people coming are my father and mother?"

Those words had actually become a prophecy.