Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 175: A Selfish Thought

”Hiding one’s form by borrowing the surrounding qi?” Zheng Ziming, who was at the perfected Dharma Realm, made no attempt to hide his confusion.

He could do the same, but it would be difficult to escape the notice of even a Great Proliferation Realm martial artist this way, let alone deceive his wife, a first-rank Grandmaster skilled in the Candle-Star Pupils.

Ding Songyan had the same question, though he was more concerned about the Accumulated Evil Way’s three layers of preparation.

Mu Ying understood what Zheng Ziming meant. She took several steps forward, and her body suddenly blurred as though she had become part of the sky and water, making her form indistinct.

”Upon reaching the perfected Dharma Realm, one can begin hiding one’s form with the surrounding qi. But we humans are not small. Even concealed this way, we merely become easier to overlook but can still be seen.” The Supreme Master pointed at herself. ”I am hiding my form with the surrounding qi right now, yet my figure remains obvious. It may fool martial artists below the Great Proliferation Realm, but all of you noticed me at a glance.”

Golden Que Sword Yu Qiu added, ”For someone to hide their form with the surrounding qi without Sect Master Tao noticing, they must either possess a special art or be naturally easy to overlook. A Zhourao, for example.”

The Zhourao were one of the Hundred Species, also known as Dwarves. Adult men stood no more than 36 cm tall, and most barely exceeded 24 cm. They were so easily overlooked that other species often kicked them by accident as they walked.

In the Gan Kingdom, the nonhuman races reigned supreme, chiefly the Giants, the Exemplars, and the Zhourao. The other races fared little better than humans.

Yu Qiu had certainly not mentioned the Zhourao at random. Ding Songyan, Zheng Ziming, and Wang Zhou each recalled certain records concerning the species.

Most Zhourao bore the surname Jiao and cultivated the Xuanming Commentary and Mountain-Crushing Scripture.

Xuanming is the Kunpeng. In the sea it is the water god; in the sky it is the wind god. The Xuanming Commentary was certain to involve powers of wind and rain, and Bai Zhaolin’s ghost had said that, while ascending Alpine Lake Mountain, he sensed someone secretly following him through the qi fluctuations of wind and rain.

”Were the Zhourao involved as well? Did one act alone, or is the Gan Kingdom deliberately exploiting the Accumulated Evil Way’s scheme?” Zheng Ziming murmured.

The Zhourao were a relatively large race, divided into many factions and social ranks.

”Whatever the case, we can now be certain the Accumulated Evil Way has designs on next year’s consort selection.” Mu Ying sighed and shook her head.

Otherwise, they would never have made such elaborate preparations to kill a Grandmaster like Tao Wenshu, who had no hope of reaching the Heaven-Man Realm, while not exposing themselves throughout the matter.

Zheng Ziming’s eyes flickered. After a moment, he said, ”At the end of next year, or the beginning of the year after.”

They truly are preparing for the consort selection... Ding Songyan stared absently into the distance.

He cast his gaze at the place where the Zhourao was suspected to have been hiding and sighed silently.

The Ghost Yu Way assassin was hiding on the opposite side, so he probably didn’t see how I reached the island. As for the Zhourao, that’s harder to say. I need to be prepared for the possibility that my Grandmaster strength will be exposed. I can only hope that he and the Demon Sovereign are collaborators rather than master and subordinate, with no obligation to report the details... That may well be the case. After all, the Demon Sovereign’s original intention was to keep the Accumulated Evil Way’s involvement hidden...

...

After seeing off the two Supreme Masters, Magistrate Lin, and Marshal Yi, Ding Songyan went to Myriad Ravines Courtyard and relieved Xue Xian.

He had originally planned to wait ten days, until his senior sister had mostly recovered, before telling her the details of the Demon Seed’s concealment, the consort selection, Bai Zhaolin’s confession, and the Accumulated Evil Way’s three layers of preparation. But constant worry and wild speculation might be even worse for her health, so he explained everything as gently as he could.

Zheng Zhuxi listened in a daze, as though she had fallen into a dream once more.

Only after a long while did she murmur, ”They went to such lengths...”

Ding Songyan saw her hand unconsciously tighten around the edge of the silk quilt. He said solemnly, ”We will make them pay.”

Phew... Zheng Zhuxi turned her head toward her junior brother and said softly, ”Your concerns were all justified.”

If Ding Songyan had exposed Bai Zhaolin’s problem in advance or warned her mother against using Wandering Star Overhead, the situation on the lake island would have changed at once. Tao Wenshu would briefly have faced three enemies alone, two of them launching sudden assassinations while she was unprepared. Under those circumstances, she would have had almost no chance of survival.

Ding Songyan froze briefly. He did not respond, merely letting out a soft sigh.

After composing herself, Zheng Zhuxi said with sudden insight, ”Junior Brother, you cannot rely entirely on numerology or arts of foreknowledge.

”If you had foreseen that my mother would die to Bai Zhaolin’s Heaven and Earth in Calamity, you would have exposed the matter beforehand. Then my mother would have faced assassination by the other two Grandmasters, while Bai Zhaolin, knowing his name was ruined, would have cast everything aside and continued seeking revenge. The outcome would hardly have changed. If you had foreseen the hidden assassins as well, you would have chosen to sneak onto the island before exposing them, bringing everything back to how it happened.

”Unless you can glimpse the whole of heaven’s design, numerology and foreknowledge can only serve as guides.”

”I will remember that.” Ding Songyan nodded solemnly.

Zheng Zhuxi then asked, ”Did you really wait three days for Bai Zhaolin’s wounds to heal before challenging him to a deathmatch?”

When Ding Songyan placed Bai Zhaolin’s head in the mourning hall, he had only briefly described their fight. He had focused instead on precisely how Bai Zhaolin colluded with the Accumulated Evil Way.

Ding Songyan looked at his senior sister and gave a bitter smile.

”Had this concerned only me, I would certainly have struck while he was weak. But Master was such an upright person. In avenging her, I wanted to act as honorably as I could. I did not need anyone else’s approval; I only needed to satisfy my own conscience. After all, I was not yet certain Bai Zhaolin truly had ties to the Accumulated Evil Way.”

”My mother... She will surely be comforted if she knows of this in the afterlife.” Zheng Zhuxi’s eyes reddened again.

Seeing this, Ding Songyan continued, ”That was my main reason. Besides, Bai Zhaolin’s movement arts truly were remarkable, and catching him took a great deal out of me. Waiting gave me time to recover. While he waited for his wounds to heal, I waited to return to my peak.

”Moreover, I knew little about the Wind-Rain Eight Wilds Strategy. While I waited, I could recall Bai Zhaolin’s performance on the island and deduce how his moves changed and how he fought. That laid the foundation for the trap I later set through my choice of techniques.

”Otherwise, killing him would not have been nearly so easy.”

As her junior brother spoke at length, Zheng Zhuxi, who had forced herself to remain awake until now, slowly fell asleep.

...

The next day.

Ding Songyan met Sun Tie, the prospective sect master, who had rushed back to the mountain.

The former External Affairs Elder was nearly fifty but did not look old at all. He had a roundish face and a short, thick beard, resembling a shrewd, worldly merchant more than a sword-wielding martial artist.

Rather than take control of the sect at once, he postponed the matter until Tao Wenshu’s lying-in-state had ended. This left Ding Songyan, Xue Xian, and the others with a favorable impression of him.

That favorable impression did not stop Ding Songyan from examining Sun Tie with the Candle-Star Pupils and confirming that no Demon Seed had been implanted in him.

After discussing future arrangements and the fellow disciples most likely to reach the Dharma Realm within three years, Ding Songyan returned to the Hall of Myriad Stars in mourning clothes. He knelt on the floor more than twenty meters from the mourning hall and burned paper offerings in a daze.

Xue Xian knelt at the front of the mourning hall. Tao Wenshu’s personal disciples took turns keeping vigil here.

Suddenly, Ding Songyan heard hurried footsteps approaching.

He looked up and saw Wan Guhong rush into the Hall of Myriad Stars.

His second senior brother had not yet had time to change into mourning clothes. He wore a fitted black outfit with a simple strip of white cloth tied around his left arm.

At the sight of the memorial tablet and the bloodstained head with goat horns, Wan Guhong stopped short. He stared blankly, as though none of it could be real.

After a long while, he slowly stepped forward and offered three sticks of incense. Then he knelt before the mourning hall and solemnly kowtowed, striking his head against the floor several times.

Once he finished, Wan Guhong went to change into mourning clothes, his expression dazed and his steps unsteady. He returned to the open space between Xue Xian and Ding Songyan, then knelt to keep vigil as well.

It was already afternoon when Xu Julong and Lin Shuyue came to relieve the three of them. Ding Songyan silently walked toward Alpine Lake with Senior Brother Wan.

Wan Guhong glanced at the lake, now calm once more, its blue waters reflecting the sky. He suddenly said, ”I stayed at home until mid-July before setting out on my travels.

”Home was wonderful. I could sit when I wished and lie down when I wished. Clothes were brought to me and food placed before me. All I had to do was enjoy myself. But in the blink of an eye, the sky has collapsed...”

When Junior Brother Ding looked at him with the Candle-Star Pupils, Wan Guhong sighed softly.

”From now on, I can only become that sky myself.”

”I asked you to stay home longer only because I wanted you to understand which path you truly wished to take. Not everyone must test their sword against the world,” Ding Songyan said in a low voice. ”Who could have known things would turn out this way...”

Wan Guhong sensed something weighing heavily on Junior Brother Ding, but he understood. After all, they had all witnessed their master’s death with their own eyes.

He did not ask and turned toward the dining hall.

...

On the thirteenth day of the vigil.

Zheng Zhuxi had begun to recover. After her eldest senior brother and the others came to relieve her and Junior Brother Ding, she did not return directly to Myriad Ravines Courtyard. Instead, she followed Ding Songyan to his courtyard by the cliff.

As soon as they entered the main room and before she had even sat down, the young woman looked at Ding Songyan and asked with some concern, ”Junior Brother, why do I feel something is troubling you?”

Ding Songyan gazed at the sunlight streaming through the window. After a long silence, he said, ”These past few days, I have been going over everything, trying to determine what I could have done to save Master under those circumstances.

”After thinking it through again and again, I found only one path that would have kept her alive.”

Zheng Zhuxi listened in a daze. She wanted to tell her junior brother not to torment himself over it, yet she could not help wanting to hear how her mother might have been saved.

Ding Songyan’s gaze settled on the table in the main room.

”From the moment Uncle Yi brought us the news, I could have used my movement arts at full strength and raced back to Alpine Lake Mountain. That would have been somewhat faster than riding, allowing me to sneak onto the island and expose the problem before Master used Wandering Star Overhead.

”Then, so long as I held off the Ghost Yu Way Grandmaster skilled in assassination and briefly tied down the second Grandmaster in ambush, Master would have been capable of lasting until Master Granduncle Wang reached the island. At worst, she would have suffered some injuries.

”The only problem with this path is that racing back to Alpine Lake Mountain with my movement arts at full strength would have consumed an enormous amount of energy. I would have arrived utterly exhausted, with no time to meditate and recover. To stop an assassination at the Grandmaster level and help Master, I would have had to burn all my Chaos force, just as other martial artists burn their essence.

”If I did that, I would not be able to maintain the perfected Dharma Realm for long. Chaos possesses an unimaginable number of external apertures. By the time I forge all of them myself and return to the perfected Dharma Realm, 200 or even 300 years might have passed. Whether I can live that long is another question, but the Heaven-Man Realm would certainly be beyond my reach, unless I consumed more of Chaos within a few decades.”

Zheng Zhuxi’s lips moved. She wanted to say something, but no words came.

As she looked at her junior brother, she suddenly wanted to turn and leave, having no desire to hear more.

Ding Songyan looked at his senior sister and said in a low voice, ”One reason I chose to ride back to Alpine Lake Mountain was precisely this concern. I did not want to place myself in that dilemma.”

Zheng Zhuxi’s body swayed slightly.