Having finished speaking, he did not turn away, but kept staring at the young woman's fair, delicate face, as though he could not pry his eyes loose.
Old Man Xiang coughed heavily beside him, casting a pointed glance their way.
Cui Jiuyang ignored him and went a step further, holding the sheet of paper before the young woman. "Might I borrow a breath of pure air from you, Ninth Lady?"
Old Man Xiang, who had been counting on his fingers beside them, stared at the sheet of paper, but his muttering changed to, "Frivolous and improper... frivolous and improper..."
Ninth Lady had grown up in the Nuo Opera Troupe, traveling far and wide and seeing much of the world. As she matured, she had also blossomed into a graceful beauty with an otherworldly air.
A beauty like her, constantly appearing in public, naturally encountered her share of shameless lechers. Cui Jiuyang's degree of frivolity was already relatively restrained.
She had intended to refuse him coldly, but on second thought, she decided to agree.
The courtyard where her Nuo Opera Troupe was staying stood directly across from the peddler Wang Dali's home, and the entire troupe knew Sister-in-Law Wang well.
If she was not mistaken, the fortune-teller who had saved Sister-in-Law Wang with a few words two days earlier was none other than this rather disreputable-looking Cui Jiuyang...
Ninth Lady thought, He probably isn't a bad man, just a little... forward...
She looked at Cui Jiuyang, then stole a glance at Old Man Xiang, whose muttering had now changed to, "The world's morals are declining... the world's morals are declining." Blushing slightly, she took out a handkerchief to shield her cheek, parted her delicate lips, and breathed onto the white paper in Cui Jiuyang's hand.
Cui Jiuyang chuckled. Borrowing that breath of pure air, he flicked his hand and gave a low command: "Swift!"
The intricate wormlike and tadpole-like writing on the paper vanished without a trace, replaced by a picture.
Before anyone present could make out what it depicted, Cui Jiuyang screened it with his sleeve.
Ninth Lady was close by and especially curious. She widened her eyes to look, but could only make out what seemed to be ripples of water. Before she could see anything else, Cui Jiuyang had drawn the paper away and placed it facedown on the table.
She could not help feeling a little indignant. How could he be like this... he even borrowed a breath from me, yet he won't let me have a look. What a miser.
After that, Cui Jiuyang paid no attention to anyone else. He simply sat there fanning himself, his eyes closed in repose.
Old Man Xiang seemed to have reached some conclusions as well. He asked for brush and ink, then wrote swiftly across the white paper, covering it in dense rows of tiny, neat characters. Afterward, he placed it facedown on the table and did nothing more.
The mynah on his shoulder fluttered down onto the paper, its blind eye facing the window.
At last, Ninth Lady seemed to make up her mind. She rose and offered a graceful bow. "Fifth Master, I would also like a private room."
Fifth Master naturally agreed. The chamber of commerce had such spacious premises that there was more than enough room to give everyone a private chamber.
But as Ninth Lady turned to leave, the mynah suddenly called, "See Ninth Lady out!"
Old Man Xiang's expression changed. He gave Ninth Lady an apologetic smile at the doorway and scolded the mynah, "Blabbermouth!"
Watching from the side, Cui Jiuyang saw it clearly. After the mynah called out, Ninth Lady's cheeks flushed as she reached to open the door, as though she felt quite embarrassed.
It seems that Nuo Mask... has something to it.
Invoking deities through Nuo Masks was a very traditional means of driving off evil and averting misfortune. Great-Grandfather's account of his travels had discussed it: Nuo Mask arts varied little from region to region, and generally there was nothing about them to be nervous over.
Ninth Lady must have some other secret.
Before long, Spirit Medium Wei and Ninth Lady returned, one right after the other.
Spirit Medium Wei strode in with the wind at her heels, brimming with confidence.
Ninth Lady looked much the same, except that her complexion was a little rosier.
Once everyone had settled into their seats, Fifth Master Yang asked with a smile, "It seems you all have your answers."
Old Man Xiang went first again. His mynah picked up the paper in its beak, fluttered into the air, and delivered it into the hands of the approaching maid.
Fifth Master carefully read the sheet covered in writing, then nodded deeply. "Master Xiang, your reputation is truly deserved. Please come to my office afterward so we can discuss this in detail."
The next to rise was naturally Spirit Medium Wei, who had already clashed with Old Man Xiang. She gave him a provocative glance, then beckoned the maid over.
Seeing that the white paper was still untouched, the maid bent down. Spirit Medium Wei rose onto her toes, craned her neck, and whispered at length into the maid's ear.
After the maid repeated her words into Fifth Master's ear, a pleased look appeared on his face. "Granny Wei is indeed one of Jining City's renowned masters. Please come to my office afterward as well."
Only Cui Jiuyang, Ninth Lady, and the plump auntie had yet to submit their answers.
Cui Jiuyang remained perfectly composed, doing nothing but fanning himself. The plump auntie stared wide-eyed, looking less enlightened than the mynah.
Ninth Lady picked up a brush, wrote just a few words on her paper, and handed it to the maid.
Old Man Xiang narrowed his eyes at Ninth Lady, looking rather pleased with himself.
After reading Ninth Lady's few words, Fifth Master looked delighted. "Hahahaha! At last year's grand land-and-water sacrifice at the docks, I saw Ninth Lady cross the river walking on the water while wearing the Dragon Maiden Mask. What marvelous skill, marvelous skill! Please join us for the detailed discussion afterward."
Only Cui Jiuyang and the plump auntie remained. Just as the plump auntie was about to lose her nerve and announce that she was giving up, Cui Jiuyang folded his fan and spoke. "Fifth Master, if I give Mama Liu half of my fifty silver dollars, may she help me with the work afterward?"
Fifth Master paused, not having expected such a request. He turned to the plump auntie. "As long as Mama Liu agrees, I certainly have no objection."
How could Mama Liu possibly object? Twenty-five silver dollars in hard cash was worth half a year of her toil. How much effort could helping this greenhorn possibly take?
Wasn't this money practically lying on the ground for her to pick up?
Now Mama Liu looked at Cui Jiuyang with more eagerness than she would a great bowl of pork belly.
Only then did Cui Jiuyang leisurely hand over his sheet of paper.
Fifth Master looked at the picture on the white paper... and froze.
A good pipe's worth of time passed, and Old Man Xiang and Spirit Medium Wei began to grow impatient. What was this? Had Fifth Master lost himself in a picture?
He might as well find a mounting craftsman and hang it in the chamber of commerce's main hall!
After a long while, when the celebrated Fifth Master Yang finally lifted his head from the picture, his forehead was drenched in sweat and his face was pale. He looked as though he had spent ages walking back from somewhere very far away. Swallowing, he said, "M-Master Cui, please join us for the discussion too... the discussion."
Old Man Xiang could no longer sit still. What was going on? Had the brat drawn a tiger on the paper? How had he frightened Fifth Master Yang so badly?
Spirit Medium Wei also stared at Cui Jiuyang's face with her two ratlike eyes. From the outset, she had paid him little mind, taking him for a newcomer to the itinerant trade.
Seeing how badly he had shocked Fifth Master Yang, her thoughts suddenly raced. Cui Jiuyang? His surname is Cui?!
Whatever Spirit Medium Wei had remembered, her face abruptly turned deathly white.
Ninth Lady also turned to look at Cui Jiuyang, feeling quite curious about this young fortune-teller from out of town.
Only Mama Liu grew happier the longer she looked at Cui Jiuyang. Ha, if I had a pretty daughter, I'd make him my son-in-law for certain!
Chapter 18: The Sunken Ship
Since all the invited masters were staying, there was no need to go to the office. Fifth Master Yang ordered the maid to fetch something, then turned back and spoke.
"Everyone, ten days ago, one of the chamber's cargo boats sailed north with a full load of white sugar, only to strike bottom and sink in the canal. Not a soul aboard survived. This... is exceedingly strange."
"There are no reefs in the canal, and boats travel back and forth all the time. How could it have struck bottom? Even if the boat sank, everyone aboard was a seasoned boatman. How could they have drowned in a canal with neither wind nor waves?"
"After we salvaged the boat, all the white sugar had long since washed away with the current... but inside the hold, we found a great lump of iron."
"The words on the white paper I gave you earlier were taken from a rubbing of the inscription on that lump of iron."
"Master Xiang has demonstrated great talent in interpreting the inscription. His interpretation largely matches the conjectures of several retired old foremen in our chamber. I shall ask Master Xiang to explain it to everyone."
After Cui Jiuyang's picture, Old Man Xiang no longer felt inclined to show off. He stood and gave everyone a steady, measured explanation of what he had deduced.
"It is merely an inscription conveying a divine decree, nothing particularly unusual. I have translated it, so allow me to read it to you."
"In the jiashen year of Wanli, the River Lord wrought havoc, and the emperor took pity upon the people. Pan Jixun, minister overseeing the rivers, cast nine Iron Rhinos and set them in the Dragon Abyss to subdue it. Their heads faced east, their tails pointed southwest, their horns met the stars, and their hooves trod upon the servants of the waves. Cast iron formed their bones; their mandate came from Heaven. An oath was inscribed in metal, that tranquil waters might endure forever. The water officials obeyed the imperial decree, and the Ministry of Works oversaw their casting. Should the river one day run clear, auspicious light would appear; should flood dragons wreak calamity, their horns would split with thunder. On the ninth day of the sixth month in the twelfth year of Wanli of the imperial Ming, Pan Jixun, censor-in-chief overseeing the rivers, bowed his head and had this inscription engraved."
Stripped of its more abstruse terms, the passage meant that during the Ming dynasty's Wanli reign, the river-control minister Pan Jixun had followed the emperor's orders to tame the Yellow River. He had cast nine great Iron Rhinos-some accounts called them great iron oxen-and sunk them into the Yellow River to suppress the demonic dragons within it.
After hearing the passage, everyone fell into their own thoughts.
With no one translating, Spirit Medium Wei and Mama Liu could not understand the literary phrasing and merely sat there blinking.
Ninth Lady understood it, but halfway through, her expression began to grow increasingly astonished.
Cui Jiuyang already knew the answer and was merely listening for the novelty.
Fifth Master took over. "These Iron Rhinos were cast during the Ming dynasty to subdue the Yellow River. That was several hundred years ago.
"The Yellow River has changed course twice in those centuries. Everyone in the region knows the story of the nine Iron Rhinos, but no one has ever seen them.
"By rights, these Iron Rhinos ought to be buried deep in the silt of the Old Course of the Yellow River...
"Judging from the answers you gave earlier, Granny Wei and Ninth Lady have some insights into this matter."
Spirit Medium Wei glanced at Ninth Lady and rose first. "I consulted the immortals. They said some outside evil was at work and had placed this Iron Rhino in the hold. The Iron Rhino was originally a sacred object used to subdue the Yellow River. Naturally, a mere cargo boat in this little canal could not bear it, so it struck bottom and sank."
Ninth Lady added, "It wasn't that the people aboard failed to escape. They were bewitched by that outside evil and sacrificed in blood to the Iron Rhino. Now that the Iron Rhino has been stained red, it can no longer be considered a sacred river-subduing object. It is a baleful, evil thing, and it will certainly harm people again!"
Fifth Master showed no surprise upon hearing that the Iron Rhino would harm more people. Instead, he said, "I had men transport the Iron Rhino back here and put it in the large freight warehouse at the northern docks. Two nights ago, the stacks of goods in that warehouse collapsed, leaving three workers dead or injured. After all the chaos, that Iron Rhino... had vanished without a trace."
"Everyone, I weighed the Iron Rhino on the docks' large ship scales. It weighed a full hundred and six thousand jin. What could steal something that heavy without a sound and leave not the slightest trace?"
Fifth Master paused, his voice becoming a little indistinct, as though even he found the idea absurd. "Could the Iron Rhino have come to life and walked away on its own?!"
He turned to Cui Jiuyang, hesitating for a while before speaking. "I wonder... Master Cui, could you explain your drawing to everyone?"
Cui Jiuyang cleared his throat and stood. "My esteemed fellow masters truly possess extraordinary powers. You have explained the Iron Rhino's origins with perfect clarity."
He handed his drawing to Ninth Lady first. "Everyone, please pass this around and have a look."
After everyone present had seen it, each face changed color.
Cui Jiuyang's drawing was simply too incredible!
It was a roughly sketched picture of an Iron Rhino, with barely enough of an outline to identify it as a great Iron Rhino.
But what had made Fifth Master break into a cold sweat, and everyone else blanch in alarm, was this-the drawing showed that the Iron Rhino's enormous belly was hollow!
And coiled within that hollow space... was a four-clawed, hornless Malevolent Flood Dragon, breathing clouds and mist as it slept!
The Malevolent Flood Dragon lay coiled in several loops, its head neither quite dragon nor quite snake, resting upon its own body. From head to tail, its scales were like knives.
Cui Jiuyang's lines were rough, yet they could still make out the fangs jutting from the flood dragon's mouth and its trailing venomous saliva. This picture alone was enough to prove that the creature was vicious beyond measure, not something just anyone could afford to provoke.
Though everyone present had some skills of their own and counted as masters here in Jining City, guiding a wandering ghost to the afterlife or driving off a troublesome Yellow Weasel that had only recently become a spirit already counted as an art that plumbed the mysteries.
Who could possibly defeat this Malevolent Flood Dragon?
With such thoughts in mind, they began casting glances at Cui Jiuyang, some discreetly, others less so.
Old Man Xiang thought, Is this Cui fellow trying to frighten us all away so he can swallow all the later rewards himself? After all, if one sheet of white paper earns fifty silver dollars, who knows how much Fifth Master might pay out afterward!
Ever since the mynah on his shoulder had glanced at Cui Jiuyang's drawing, it had stopped hopping and fluttering its wings. It did not utter a single word, but simply buried its head against Old Man Xiang's neck and refused to bring it out again.
The little mynah had actually taken to imitating an ostrich!
Spirit Medium Wei's thoughts, however, were entirely different from Old Man Xiang's. She now utterly believed that there was a Malevolent Flood Dragon inside that great Iron Rhino's belly!
Before you continue