Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 84: Tianyang Hall

After the whisper, Zheng Zhuxi fell quiet again and said nothing more.

She braced her hands on the eaves, leaning slightly forward, gazing entranced at the gibbous moon.

Ding Songyan did not ask. He simply gazed toward the horizon, the moon’s clear radiance reflected in his eyes.

The night was deep and the world was silent, with the bright moon being their only companion.

After some unknown length of time, Zheng Zhuxi suddenly withdrew her gaze.

She glanced at Ding Songyan, her eyes gradually clearing.

”Ahem.” Zheng Zhuxi cleared her throat. ”Junior Brother, it’s getting late. I should go back to my room.”

With that, she pushed off with her right hand and floated lightly down into the courtyard.

Without so much as a glance at Ding Songyan as he leapt down after her, she lifted her foot and headed straight for the east wing.

”Senior Sister,” Ding Songyan said in a deliberately grave tone. ”Drink a little less in future.”

Zheng Zhuxi spun around in a flash, chin slightly raised.

”I only drank more than usual because you were here, Junior Brother. That’s called trusting you!”

The bright moon’s radiance fell across her face, revealing its contours of light and shadow, and a lingering flush of pink.

”What if I weren’t a gentleman?” Ding Songyan smiled and asked back.

Zheng Zhuxi stiffened her neck.

”You’re no match for me anyway!”

”What if I could beat you?” Ding Songyan asked with a teasing smile.

”Then I wouldn’t have drunk so much!” Zheng Zhuxi gave a huff, turned away with her back perfectly straight, and walked toward the east wing at a measured pace.

As the east wing came into view, her steps quickened involuntarily, faster and faster.

She darted inside, pulled the wooden door shut, and dropped the bolt with a sharp clack.

Ding Songyan watched his senior sister’s retreating figure until the door hid it from view, then smiled and shook his head. He returned to his room, made quick use of the hot water Aunt Wang had prepared, and went to bed.

The next morning, when he rose and came to the dining room, Aunt Wang was already there waiting.

”Second Master, Heroine Zheng woke early. After washing and changing, she said she had business at the yamen and left in haste, without even eating,” Aunt Wang informed Ding Songyan of the situation.

Too embarrassed to face me for the moment... Ding Songyan smiled and nodded.

”No matter.”

She’s a grown woman. Is there any need to worry about her going hungry?

After eating, Ding Songyan stepped into the courtyard and ran through the Nine Primal Arts, the Forward-Reverse Circulation, and the sword arts he had mastered so far, one by one. Only then did he wash, brush his teeth, change into a clean scholar’s robe, and tie up his hair simply with a strip of pale blue cloth.

He took his letters, picked up Frostshade, and strolled out at a leisurely pace. He stopped first at the Debao Pavilion, which belonged to the True Spirit Sect, to entrust his letter for Ren Youyang to the shopkeeper, then made his way over to Tianyang Hall on Yupei Street which was situated east of the city.

It was a merchant guild hall, frequented by silk and brocade traders. The building was antique and tranquil in appearance. It appeared unremarkable, but every brick and tile, every flower and blade of grass had its own provenance and was worth no small sum.

Ding Songyan didn’t fully understand the connection between Tianyang Hall and the Su family or the Celestial Maiden Sect. On what basis did delivering a letter here suffice? Surely the Su family didn’t control a good chunk of the silk trade?

But since Miss Xiao Qing had said so, he had no reason to doubt it.

”How may I assist you, honored guest?” The gatekeeper of Tianyang Hall came forward to meet him.

”I have a letter I’d like you to forward.” Ding Songyan took the letter for Miss Xiao Qing from the hidden pocket behind his elbow.

The gatekeeper showed no negligence, nor did he ask whom the letter was addressed to.

”Please wait in the entrance hall, honored guest. I’ll have someone fetch the steward.”

Very well-trained, with a fine sense of propriety... Ding Songyan nodded and went in to wait in the entrance hall.

He heard the sounds of fists, feet, and blades clashing from the first courtyard, and with keen interest made his way to the covered corridor, directing his gaze toward the courtyard below, which was spacious enough to serve as a training ground.

At a glance, he spotted someone he knew.

The dark-skinned man was stocky and powerfully built, standing at 1.92 meters tall. He looked more like a weathered farmer than a martial artist. It was unmistakably Senior Brother Yang from the Stone Pool Martial Hall.

Thinking of the Stone Pool Martial Hall, Ding Songyan actually felt a degree of gratitude toward them.

If the hall master hadn’t had ties to the Small Boat Gang and hadn’t passed along the information—resulting in the chaos at the Zhen household—he might never have been able to kill Yan Changqing and seize that chance to enjoy his quantum leap.

At this moment, Senior Brother Yang was locked in fierce combat with a sword-wielding martial artist. His feet were planted firmly, every step solid and powerful, every punch hard and fierce, his skin taking on an iron-black sheen with the feel of thick hide.

The sword-wielding martial artist was not meeting him head on. Instead, he relied on footwork and agility to dodge and change positions, repeatedly attacking his eyes, ears, chest, throat, and groin.

Ding Songyan gripped his sword with his hands clasped behind his back and watched with great interest. Words his master Tao Wenshu had spoken came floating naturally to mind.

”When you face an enemy skilled in fist and palm arts, do not look only at the fists and palms.

”Their entire art either lies in becoming impervious to blade and spear, or mostly in their feet—in their footwork, in their movement techniques.

”The shorter the reach, the greater the danger. No matter how powerful your fists and palms are, if you cannot close in on your opponent and cannot land a hit, what use are they? When you fight an enemy like this with a long sword, what you must watch most closely is their footwork. Control the distance between the two of you, and you control their life and death.

”By the same principle, when you face weapons like spears, you must make full use of your own movement techniques.”

With this understanding, and drawing on Manifesting the Way and its Virtue, Ding Songyan read the fight with ease.

Senior Brother Yang’s Iron Wound Fist derived its strength mostly from hardening techniques, similar to the Iron Shirt, but he had not yet reached the peak of it. Apart from various innate weak points, his body could for now only reduce damage taken rather than achieve true imperviousness to blade and spear. His footwork, meanwhile, leaned toward hard-planted, hard-hitting force, highlighting raw power but lacking agility, let alone subtlety.

On the other side, the sword-wielder darted forward and back, moved high and low, circling Senior Brother Yang continuously without giving him the chance to close in. Nor was it pure evasion. Every change of position came with a sword technique prepared for the enemy’s weak points, so Senior Brother Yang could not simply conserve strength and wait for his opponent to tire himself out.

Fist against sword, blunt force against agility. Ding Songyan watched for a moment, saw a few shallow sword cuts appear on Senior Brother Yang’s body, and knew the outcome was settled.

As he saw it, Senior Brother Yang’s only path to victory at this point was to trade wounds for a win by relying on his thickened skin and special art, deliberately exposing a few openings, and accepting serious injury in exchange for a chance to close the distance and fight at short range.

But this was not a fight to the death, and Senior Brother Yang clearly had no intention of going all in.

As the name implies, Iron Wound Fist—how can you wound others if you will not first be wounded yourself? Ding Songyan shook his head inwardly.

At this moment, a steward of Tianyang Hall came briskly toward him led by a servant, and clasped his hands toward Ding Songyan with a smile.

”Young sir, to whom would you like this letter forwarded?”

Ding Songyan withdrew his gaze from the match and handed the letter to the steward.

”For Miss Su Qingli. She told me that if I wrote back, I could deliver the letter to Tianyang Hall.”

The steward, wearing a square-topped scholar’s cap, froze for an instant, then broke into a smile and received the letter.

”Rest assured, young sir. This letter will reach Miss Su safe and sound.”

So they really are connected to the Su family... From the steward’s manner, Ding Songyan had his fairly certain answer.

Across the courtyard, Yang Shiduo had inevitably lost.

He contracted his muscles to stop the blood, then walked out of Tianyang Hall in low spirits.

Suddenly a familiar figure appeared before his eyes.

Standing beneath a willow tree was that man wearing a moon-white scholar’s robe with regular features, clear brows and eyes. His hair was tied up with blue cloth and his hands were clasped behind his back, holding a sheathed sword.

”Ding Songyan...” Yang Shiduo exclaimed involuntarily.

Just over a month ago, he had still often daydreamed of becoming a true powerhouse like Ding Songyan. This past month, he had not even dared entertain the thought.

Ding Songyan smiled slightly.

”Senior Brother Yang, I trust you’ve been well?”

Yang Shiduo was silent for a moment.

”Well enough, I suppose...”

He then said, ”Just call me Yang Shiduo.”

The person before him was no longer the storyteller from outside Dangkang Temple. He was a genuine powerhouse who had attained mastery of the martial path!

”Weren’t you teaching students at the Stone Pool Martial Hall in your master’s stead?” Ding Songyan strolled a couple of steps forward, asking in casual conversation.

Since Xu Chang’an had visited the Stone Pool Martial Hall again afterward, he had a reasonable picture of things there.

Yang Shiduo’s expression changed several times before he said in a muffled voice, ”My master got caught up in the Small Boat Gang affair. There was no threat to his life, but the martial hall can no longer operate. Only a handful of us disciples now remain.

”Today Tianyang Hall is recruiting escort captains for a merchant caravan, so I came to try my luck.”

”I see...” Ding Songyan had half-guessed it would be something like this.

As far as he was concerned, Hall Master Liu of the Stone Pool Martial Hall hadn’t committed any wrong. He had rendered a service, making his own indispensable contribution to Ding Songyan’s leap to the heavens!

Yang Shiduo glanced at Ding Songyan and could not help asking, ”Haven’t you already leapt to the heavens? Why would you still go and join the Brightnight Sect?”

Heh heh. Back then the leap to the heavens wasn’t real, but it’s now real. But rounding it off, and the earlier falsehood might as well be true too. As long as I don’t say otherwise, to Yang Shiduo and his ilk, my earlier leap to the heavens is as real as real gets... Does that count as a falsehood becoming fact? Ding Songyan smiled.

”Leaping to the heavens is a good thing, but if one aims too high before one is ready, the higher the leap, the harder the fall.

”I have no martial foundation, so of course I need to build one properly.”

Yang Shiduo listened in a daze, and a wave of silent admiration rose within him.

Ding Songyan is so clear-headed, without the slightest trace of arrogance...

The other man’s leap to the heavens had inevitably stirred some measure of resentment alongside Yang Shiduo’s envy, but faced with these words and this conduct, all he felt now was admiration and respect.

Ding Songyan truly deserves this fortune!

”Have you begun aperture forging?” Ding Songyan asked in a consultative tone.

Yang Shiduo found this manner entirely appropriate.

”Once only a few of us disciples remained, my master, moved by our loyalty in staying, helped me forge my first aperture. I’ve now formally stepped into the Great Proliferation Realm.”

Ding Songyan tried another angle.

”Do you know why you lost just now?”

Yang Shiduo reflected for a moment, then lowered his head.

”I couldn’t keep up with his movement technique, and my Iron Wound Fist’s hardening skill hasn’t been fully mastered.”

Ding Songyan watched Yang Shiduo for a few breaths, then smiled with easy calm.

”No. You lost because you stuck rigidly to convention and refused to move beyond old methods.”

Now that he had Xu Chang’an testing the Nine Primal Arts and other secret manuals, Ding Songyan felt he still needed more people to verify his martial ideas and insights. After all, he had to keep a low profile and had few opportunities for real combat for the time being. In that case, he would ”teach” a few people to fight on his behalf as proxies. Senior Sister Zheng was one, Senior Brother Wan was one, Xu Chang’an was one, and this Senior Brother Yang who knew none of the Brightnight Sect’s arts yet ”knew” he was a powerhouse could be another.

”Stuck rigidly to convention, refused to move beyond old methods...” Yang Shiduo repeated Ding Songyan’s words.

He had no impulse to question it. He knew with perfect clarity that Ding Songyan was a greater powerhouse than his own master.

Ding Songyan paced a few steps and smiled slightly.

”If I give you a few pointers, you could beat today’s opponent within ten moves.”