Food Immortal Master, Section 7

Presumably, these boys were no different.

A monkey-faced boy craned his neck and asked cautiously, "Brother, you know?"

The others also turned hopeful eyes toward him.

Pei Ye could not help smiling. This time, it was not simply to tease them; faced with all those shining eyes, he genuinely felt a little smug. He drawled, "Ever since this martial arts school started taking pupils, I, Pei Ye, have been the only one to crack that secret."

"Holy mother!"

Now even the steadiest among them could not sit still. Everyone crowded toward Pei Ye, whether deliberately or unconsciously. His right sleeve was suddenly tugged, and he looked down into Cheng Feng's lively face, which seemed almost to glow. "Brother! Brother Pei! Tell me secretly."

The monkey-faced boy immediately rushed over and shoved him aside. "Cheng Big-Butt, have you no shame?!"

Pei Ye laughed. "Cheng Feng, you really are in the wrong here. Joy shared is better than joy alone. How can you keep all the treats to yourself?"

The monkey-faced boy instantly exposed him. "He wants to use it to butter up Xiu Xiu!"

A visible flush rose over Cheng Feng's thin-skinned face. He glared at the boy without a word. The boy pulled an ugly face, entirely unafraid of him.

Seeing that Cheng Feng truly was growing embarrassed and annoyed, Pei Ye laughed it off and went straight to the point. "Actually, Master Huang doesn't have any storybooks at home at all. Apart from the tales everyone's heard a hundred times, all the genuinely new and exciting stories he tells come from things he read at the County Office."

"Huh?"

"The County Office?"

"Lord Chang secretly writes stories!"

"Not so, not so." Pei Ye shook his head theatrically, then suddenly frowned as a dull ache passed through his chest and abdomen. He discreetly glanced at the wine and medicine beside him, then continued with a smile. "Have you ever heard of the Court Gazette?"

Every boy looked blank.

Pei Ye smiled even more smugly and began explaining.

Chapter 12: The Bluebird Missed Its Appointment

Fenghuai County lay buried in the Firewood-Cang Mountains, almost cut off from the world. There were very few channels through which information could travel, and the most effective way to learn of affairs across the realm was through the circulating Court Gazettes.

There were generally two: one issued by the local prefectural administration, called the Prefecture Gazette, published twice a month and useful for learning local news; the other issued by the Imperial College, called the National Gazette, supplied monthly and compiling major events from across the realm.

In the past, Court Gazettes had circulated only among government offices at various levels. That changed when the previous emperor revised the regulations and ordered them published in large quantities for the public, bringing sweeping changes to their contents as well.

From then on, anything even slightly confidential was no longer printed. In its place came political news anyone could know, accessible explanations of government decrees, splendid essays by senior court officials, and so forth-as well as the things that guaranteed the gazettes' circulation: news from across the realm, happenings in the martial world, and legendary tales serialized on the final two pages.

In principle, Court Gazettes were hardly rare. But again, Fenghuai was simply too poor and remote. The two publications were delivered, yet Fenghuai had no workshop capable of reproducing them. In fact, it was unclear whether even a hundred people in the entire county could read, leaving little room for the gazettes to circulate.

Thus, these Court Gazettes piled up at the County Office. Master Huang memorized stories from them, then told them to the children with vivid voices and gestures.

So often, he was not deliberately leaving the children hanging by refusing to continue. Rather, the writer who signed himself "Azure Luan in the Mirror" had only written that far, and the next issue simply had not arrived yet.

Only through the access Lin Lin afforded him, and his many visits to the clerks' office, had Pei Ye learned that such "treasures" existed.

After this revelation, all the boys were brimming with excitement. Pei Ye lowered his voice. "The August Court Gazettes should have just arrived. You definitely haven't heard those stories yet. Wait here while I fetch them."

A small burst of cheers rose in the room.

Pei Ye took a candle to the clerks' office. When he pushed open the door, the smell of ink greeted him.

Newly arrived Court Gazettes were usually passed among the civil officials and clerks first. Sure enough, after only a few glances across the desks, Pei Ye spotted the thin booklet.

He walked over and looked at the four dignified, neatly written characters on its cover-Great Tang National Gazette-and fell into a momentary daze.

That familiar cover stirred anticipation and excitement long sealed beneath the dust, as though those simple, happy days still clung to it. Both feelings had long been absent from Pei Ye's life.

He opened it gently, and muscle memory took over again. Before he realized it, his hands had already skipped the dull political news at the front and gone straight to the last few pages.

Pei Ye smiled knowingly and lowered his eyes.

This page contained news from across the realm and Jianghu happenings. The most prominent report concerned a delegation from the Southern Kingdoms that had reached the Divine Capital the previous month and paid homage to the emperor. The talented young people accompanying them had also held friendly contests with Great Tang's youths in both literary and martial pursuits.

A quick scan revealed several familiar names, making him pause again. But this was no time to read closely, so he turned another page.

The next page held the writing of Azure Luan in the Mirror. The story currently being serialized was called Broken Chivalrous Bones, entirely unrelated to the one Pei Ye had read two years ago. He glanced at the installment heading: the twentieth installment, titled "Eighteen Years a Withered Ghost; When Shall I Ascend to Immortality in the Foremost Tower?" This writer's stories generally ended with the twentieth installment, and this one was likely no exception.

Pei Ye closed the booklet and tucked it beneath his arm. There was actually a July issue of the National Gazette on the desk as well. He picked it up and flipped through it, only to find the final pages cut out. Someone must have taken them to entertain children, leaving only the serious matters at the front that no one liked reading. He tossed it back onto the desk and picked up the much thinner Prefecture Gazette beside it.

The Prefecture Gazette followed the same layout, though its political section was much shorter and the stories at the back far poorer. The prefecture had no dedicated writer, so it simply reproduced storytellers' scripts to fill the pages. The Jianghu news column claimed that a white-robed person had recently entered the prefecture to challenge swordsmen and might be a knight listed in the Crane and Teal Register. Pei Ye curled his lip. As ever, it was all wind-catching and shadow-chasing.

Pei Ye tucked it beneath his arm as well and raised the candle as he walked deeper into the clerks' office.

Beyond fetching the Court Gazettes, his more important purpose was to see whether he could find the book he remembered-the one that had made the character for "quail" familiar to him.

Two rows of bookshelves stood at the far end of the office. The books were not so numerous that transporting them would make oxen sweat, but they were neatly arranged. In earlier years, Pei Ye had often sat on the floor against these shelves and read for an entire afternoon.

Now, holding up the lamp, he examined the shelves one by one. He skipped the histories and classical commentaries outright; he had never touched those. There was no need to inspect the highest shelves too closely either, since he had been too short to reach them back then. He focused mainly on the interesting miscellanies and unofficial histories lower down. He did find several books he had once read with relish, but their contents were not what he sought.

He searched carefully, book by book. Whenever something seemed even faintly familiar, Pei Ye pulled it out and turned through it page by page. Yet even after searching the entire bookshelf this way, he never found that familiar feeling.

But if it was not here, where else could it be?

After coming here, that sense of familiarity had grown clearer. He could almost recall the scene: leaning beside the window, holding the book toward the setting sun, reading by the last lingering light. That character had suddenly caught his eye. He had not recognized it, so he looked at it several times, memorized it, then went out to ask a clerk.

But where had that book gone now?

With his brows drawn together, Pei Ye went through the entire bookshelf again, then searched throughout the room, on and beneath the desks.

The night deepened little by little, and the rain began pattering again. Nearly two hours had passed since Chang Zhiyuan's return. If tonight's "Divine Favor" was coming, there could not be much time left.

Pei Ye straightened and had no choice but to accept that he had failed to activate the so-called [Quail Head].

Perhaps the book had been lost or taken by someone. For now, there was absolutely nothing he could do.

If it did not lie within his "destined affinity," there was nothing more to be said.

Pei Ye left the clerks' office with the two Court Gazettes beneath his arm. Crossing the courtyard, he glanced toward the hall. That broad, armored back still sat there without moving.

Seeming to sense his gaze, Chang Zhiyuan waved and beckoned him inside.

The moment he entered the front hall, he felt the suffocating oppression in its atmosphere. Compared with the liveliness of the children's room, it was another world.

As someone who knew the truth, Pei Ye fully understood the oppression and torment weighing on the three men.

They too were powerless, able only to sit and wait. Yet they had to appear dependable, like a raised barrier around the entrance to an anthill: before the coming downpour, its sole purpose was to let the ants inside believe they were still protected.

Only two extremes awaited them-either Commandant Jing would arrive and sweep everything aside, or the criminal would first sweep this little County Office away.

Pei Ye stepped inside and asked quietly, "Any news?"

Chang Zhiyuan shook his head heavily, then asked, "What are you carrying?"

"Two Court Gazettes. The children like the stories."

"..." A complicated expression crossed Chang Zhiyuan's face, carrying the same reluctance as someone telling parents their child had died. He closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, his dependable composure had returned. "Mm... actually, I was just about to look for you. All thirty-seven armed officers in the county have been stationed at the street junctions to hold off pursuit for you. There are seven horses in the rear courtyard. Divide them up, have those who can ride take those who can't, and scatter in different directions..."

Pei Ye froze for a moment before realizing he meant the boys in the room. He pressed his dry lips together and asked hoarsely, "Has... something changed?"

Shen Yanping came over and said quietly, "The Soul Bird still hasn't returned."

Chapter 13: Black Robe

The Immortal Platform raised a strange kind of bird that lived on jade. If, from infancy, it was fed jade nurtured by the same person, it would never eat anyone else's jade. Thus, every Inspector serving away from headquarters carried a jade bead that bound his bird to him.

Soul Birds had two principal uses.

The first was delivering messages. These birds flew extraordinarily fast, located people with remarkable precision, and possessed considerable intelligence. All kinds of urgent and confidential letters could be delivered swiftly into the correct hands.

The second was reporting a soul's passing. If an owner suddenly died, the jade bead he carried would gradually lose its living aura. With nothing left to eat, the bird would fly back to the Immortal Platform in the Divine Capital. Seeing the bird, they would know its owner had died—hence the names Soul Pearl and Soul Bird. This was also the safeguard that allowed the Immortal Platform's Inspectors to travel Jianghu and investigate crimes alone: since a Soul Bird normally stayed apart from its owner, enemies would struggle to silence both man and bird at once.

Sometimes, however, this process took too long. By the time the Immortal Platform learned what had happened, the murderer was often long gone. There was therefore an emergency method: when trapped in a hopeless situation, an Inspector could shatter the jade, burn it, throw it into deep water, or use some other means to destroy the living aura within it quickly. The Soul Bird would then generally fly back to the Immortal Platform within a few hours.

Fenghuai lay some three hundred li from the prefectural seat of Bowang Prefecture. Normally, the bird could make the round trip in under two hours. Though Soul Birds could fly through thunderstorms, their speed inevitably suffered, so allowing four hours was already generous. Yet more than six hours had passed since its release, and it still had not returned.

Those at the County Office had no way even to know where something had gone wrong. The most terrifying possibility was that the prefectural seat had never received the message at all.

"Now we don't know what to do either," Shen Yanping said hoarsely. Pei Ye noticed his hand unconsciously open before gripping his sword hilt again; a thin film of sweat must have formed on his palm. "Moving or staying may be no more than the difference between seeking death and waiting for it."

"In the end, we decided to have you leave separately. At least... those who weren't chosen won't die," Chang Zhiyuan continued. "But remember, it would be best..."

The rest of that sentence seemed to cost the old man tremendous effort. His back, always straight as a pine, seemed to sag, and his swordlike white brows drooped. Finally, he forced the words out. "It would be best not to let them go home."

Pei Ye stood quietly, saying nothing.

The boys in the room could never have imagined that what awaited them was not the next installment of the story they dreamed about day and night, but a helpless abandonment.

"We'll die before they do," Shen Yanping said quietly.

Pei Ye knew that, if reinforcements truly were not coming, this might be the course with the smallest price. Yet he could not dispel the weight in his heart. He murmured an acknowledgment, set the two Court Gazettes on the table, and turned to go back.

Just then, the wind and rain seemed to fall still, and the armored figure before the dais abruptly rose.

They turned toward him, but Feng Zhi said nothing.

"Lord Feng? What is it?" Shen Yanping frowned and walked over.

Feng Zhi slowly turned his head, stiffly. His eyes bulged as though about to split, his beard bristled, and a vertical bloody slit opened down his throat.

His mouth moved soundlessly. Blood welled from its corners, and his massive body crumpled to the floor.

That heavy iron armor had not helped him withstand even a few more blows.

Everyone felt as though an iron block had lodged in their throat. A chill crawled over their skin like a centipede.

Lamplight spilled from the room, revealing the scene beyond the doorway.

A shadowy figure in a black robe stood straight in the courtyard. Beneath the wet rain and faint breeze, the outline of a long, slender blade protruded dimly beneath his robe at his waist. His left hand rested on its hilt, having just returned it to its sheath.

The boots on his feet looked brand-new, as though freshly made.

He did not look at those in the hall. Instead, his head was lowered, and he appeared quiet and solemn.

Yet no one doubted the irresistible violence suppressed beneath that stillness. The body beneath the black robe could take the life of anyone present at any moment.

The instant the man entered his sight, Pei Ye's hair stood on end. Like a small child facing a fierce tiger, his heart pounded like a drum, and his limbs tensed until they were rigid.

The bluebird bearing good tidings had missed its appointed hour, but the death-demanding demon already stood in the courtyard.

Shen Yanping remained the most decisive. He thumbed open a porcelain bottle, tipped back his head, and swallowed every pill inside.

At the same moment, as Chang Zhiyuan roared, "Run!", Pei Ye hurled himself toward the rear courtyard with every ounce of strength he possessed.

As though his blood had exploded in his abdomen, Shen Yanping's eyes became bloodshot crimson. Dense azure energy blasted his hair crown free. With his long hair flying, his refined, gentle face turned fierce and savage.

To comprehend the sword of flood dragons and serpents, one must first grasp the way of clouds and thunder. The core of Little Cloud Mountain's Cloud-Kneading swordsmanship lay in blending and transforming between grace and violence. Yet the youngest disciple of the ninth generation was softhearted, easygoing, and lazy in his martial practice. Not only had he refused to exert himself further after reaching the fifth-life realm, but his swordsmanship had also stopped at the softness, diffusion, and endless variations of "cloud," never attaining the true meaning of "thunder."

But perhaps thanks to all the time he had spent drinking tea, playing chess, and talking of everything under heaven with his master, before descending the mountain to serve at the Immortal Platform, he had been granted a bottle of Thunder Pills containing his master's sealed true qi. With his own martial skills and that bottle of Thunder Pills as insurance, choosing a remote mountain county and serving as its resident Inspector should have meant a lifetime of ease and freedom.