Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 188: The Sea-Treading Gang

Ding Songyan was no stranger to having copper coins tossed before him. The sight even evoked a powerful sense of familiarity.

Back in the day, I was one of the best storytellers outside Dangkang Temple in Dingjiang Prefecture.

But I stopped performing for money long ago. I was only testing the tone of my new bamboo flute and whether Bai Suzhen at the Foot of Qingcheng Mountain sounded pleasant on it.

Are you blind? Can you not see that I am wearing Prince Kang’s guard uniform?

Ding Songyan continued playing as he raised his eyes toward the people who had shown their ”support.”

Even though he was accustomed to peerless beauties, his eyes were briefly dazzled. The group was led by a young woman in a red robe and skirt. She had upturned eyes, a straight nose, rosy lips, and simply tied black hair. Several colorful crimson markings crossed her face and converged upon her pale forehead, seemingly forming the character for ”virtue.” Far from detracting from her beauty, they made her appear radiant as flame and dazzlingly lovely.

Merely standing there, the young woman left every man, woman, and surrounding sight pale in comparison. All brilliance seemed concentrated upon her.

All colors under heaven gather unto you... Phoenix markings upon her body with colorful feathers on it. She must be Zhang Yingbo of the Five Saints Sect... Ding Songyan roughly identified the young woman.

Crimson Phoenix Spear Zhang Yingbo, currently a guest at Prince Kang’s estate.

So ”all colors under heaven gather unto you” even comes with a special effect... Still playing, Ding Songyan looked at the man beside Zhang Yingbo.

He was the only person present who retained some brilliance beside her.

He appeared twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with a body straight as a spear, brows like sharp swords, and eyes that seemed to conceal stars. Tufts of white fur grew across his face, his hands nearly resembled tiger claws, and a tiny illusory white snake formed a ring around his left ear like an ornament.

These physical abnormalities suggest the Autumn Slaughter School and Rushou’s heritage... He looks like a Grandmaster under thirty, certainly among the top thirty-five of the Orchid Fresh List... I believe I know who he is... A wealth of information flashed through Ding Songyan’s mind.

The man should be Heaven’s Will Saber Yan Qing, a core disciple of the Autumn Slaughter School. He became a Grandmaster at twenty-six, was now only twenty-eight, and ranked twenty-first on the Orchid Fresh List.

Excluding young powerhouses from the Gan, Yu, and Feng Kingdoms, he ranks sixth among Great Zhao’s prodigies.

Rushou was the White Emperor’s attendant deity, named alongside Zhurong, Yuqiang, Jumang, and Houtu. He was simultaneously the god of autumn, metal, and punishment: assisting the White Emperor, ripening all things, enforcing autumn’s slaughter, administering heavenly punishment, and possessing the undying nature of metal.

The Autumn Slaughter School had originally occupied Wei Province in the northwest of the Mountains-and-Seas Realm. During the rebellion of the Hundred Species, it was forced to abandon its mountain gate and migrate south of the Great River. Although part of its inheritance was lost, one of its foundations, the Autumn Slaughter Scripture, remained. Every generation had produced Supreme Masters, making it one of the Four Schools among the Six Sects and Four Schools.

At the time, the southward-moving Great Zhao dynasty assigned the Autumn Slaughter School a territory. The school named it Wei Province to show it had not forgotten its roots, while outsiders called it New Wei Province.

Ding Songyan did not stare. His gaze moved naturally over the other two men and two women. They seemed to be Autumn Slaughter disciples or closely connected to the school and clearly followed Yan Qing’s lead.

After Yan Qing tossed two copper coins before Ding Songyan, the other heroes also reached into their purses. Within moments, Ding Songyan received nearly twenty copper coins in ”tips.”

Zhang Yingbo looked somewhat confused. She tilted her head toward Yan Qing.

”Young Hero Yan, why did you suddenly give him copper coins?”

The young woman had clearly chosen her words carefully, saying ”give” rather than ”reward.”

”Miss Zhang, you excel at music. The fact that you stopped to listen proves his playing is moving.” Yan Qing smiled slightly.

Zhang Yingbo’s lips moved, but she ultimately remained silent and continued listening intently as Ding Songyan played Bai Suzhen at the Foot of Qingcheng Mountain.

Although Ding Songyan had not activated Mirror Lake Divine Reflection, he could roughly guess what Miss Zhang was thinking.

I stopped only because I was surprised to see a man in Prince Kang’s guard uniform playing a flute beside the street. Why did you treat him like an itinerant performer?

Forget it. This cannot be explained clearly. Let it be...

When Ding Songyan finished playing, Crimson Phoenix Spear turned away without hesitation and headed out of the night market to avoid further embarrassment. Yan Qing and the others followed without lingering.

Ding Songyan shook his head with an amused smile and bent to gather the copper coins one by one.

Returning to my old trade has a charm of its own!

He had just collected the coins and risen when he noticed a nearby storyteller and soft-voiced singer staring at him with complicated expressions.

Having had a similar experience, Ding Songyan easily understood their meaning.

Performing here and accepting money without the market owner’s permission? He does not understand the rules! But he appears to belong to Prince Kang’s estate, so we cannot rebuke him...

Ding Songyan smiled, walked over, divided the copper coins in half, and tossed them into the performers’ respective bamboo baskets.

”How generous, sir!”

”Would you like to hear a song, sir?”

Ding Songyan waved them off, tucked the bamboo flute into his belt, and passed the two performers. Leaving the night market in another direction, he headed toward an inn he had noticed while surveying the terrain during the day.

The inn was called Fortune’s Arrival.

As soon as Ding Songyan stepped through the entrance, two martial artists blocked him. They wore ordinary black uniforms with crimson fire-dragon patterns around the cuffs.

”Find another inn,” they said gravely.

The two martial artists appeared to cultivate the Impregnable Fortress Divine Art. They had heavy builds and red markings upon their bodies.

Ding Songyan studied them briefly.

”The Martial Prohibition Bureau?”

Great Zhao principally managed martial affairs through the Langhuan Bureau and Martial Prohibition Bureau. The Langhuan Bureau gathered information and studied different martial arts. It compiled the Orchid Rankings and Orchid Fresh List. The Martial Prohibition Bureau handled specific jianghu matters and also possessed intelligence-gathering capabilities.

The Martial Prohibition Bureau’s minister held great power and status at court and often carried the title of Senior Councillor. Its current minister was Flame Chancellor Gao Wutong, a Supreme Master who came from a martial arts background.

Seeing Ding Songyan’s guard uniform from Prince Kang’s estate, the men at the door nodded.

”Correct. A crime occurred at this inn.”

”What happened?” Ding Songyan produced his identification token and questioned them directly, using his status as one of Prince Kang’s guards.

Fortune’s Arrival Inn stood only four streets from the estate. Whatever had happened, Prince Kang’s estate should be notified.

The man who had spoken hesitated before answering, ”Sea-Treading Gang Elder Qi Lingyi was assassinated by someone from the Ghost Yu Way in Heaven Room 2.”

The estate would certainly be informed after daybreak, so there was no need to conceal it.

The Ghost Yu Way... Ding Songyan’s gaze darkened slightly.

He had also heard of the Sea-Treading Gang. It was one of the Flame Capital’s three great gangs and possessed multiple Grandmasters, making it far stronger than organizations such as the Four Waters Brotherhood and Small Boat Gang.

When reputable sects refused to touch certain trades and the imperial court lacked the reach to govern them, disorder inevitably produced a new order and powers capable of maintaining it. The Flame Capital’s disreputable trades generated enormous profits, so the gangs they sustained were naturally formidable.

Such gangs did not personally train many Grandmasters or Great Proliferation Realm martial artists, but they attracted people from numerous small and medium sects and powerful martial halls by providing them with resources.

”Was Qi Lingyi a Grandmaster or a Great Proliferation Realm martial artist?” Ding Songyan pressed.

”A Grandmaster, one elevated through certain methods and vast cultivation resources,” the Martial Prohibition Bureau agent answered in reasonable detail.

A Grandmaster is dead, just like that? Coming events cast their shadows before them... Ding Songyan did not hide the change in his expression.

”I will report this to the estate’s eunuchs and stewards immediately.

”How did you determine that a Ghost Yu Way assassin was responsible?”

”Yu poison was found in his body.” The Martial Prohibition Bureau agent did not conceal it.

Ding Songyan said nothing more. Lacking the authority to interfere for now, he left Fortune’s Arrival Inn, hurried back to the estate, and gave Steward Peng, who was overseeing the night patrol, a general account.

Peng Jushan, who cultivated the Accumulating Waters Divine Art, took the matter very seriously. After praising Ding Songyan briefly, he hurried toward the inner study.

When Ding Songyan returned to their side courtyard, he found Li Baima, Wu Mo, and Fan Chunlin all still awake.

”Have you all become night owls?” he asked with a laugh.

”Did you not leave to visit a friend? Why did you return?” Li Baima asked in surprise.

Ding Songyan selected a stone stool and sat down.

”I encountered something involving the Sea-Treading Gang and hurried back to report it. Do not ask yet. I cannot share the details.”

Wu Mo nodded and sighed.

”The three of us were nearly asleep, but that fellow Ouyang insisted on waking us and making us guess who escorted Miss Zhang back to the estate tonight.”

”Sigh, Heaven’s Will Saber Yan Qing.” Li Baima sounded somewhat jealous.

Just for this trivial matter? Ding Songyan raised an eyebrow.

Seeing this, Fan Chunlin laughed.

”Why are your ambitions so pathetic?

”I do not care for Miss Zhang. Twelfth Madam is the only woman in my heart!”

Twelfth Madam is far stronger than Miss Zhang. She could send you flying with one kick. Perhaps that is precisely your fetish? Ding Songyan joined their conversation briefly, then returned to his room, washed, and went to sleep.

The next day, not long after rising, he found Li Baima and the others seated around the courtyard’s stone table.

”Have you heard? One of Prince Kang’s guards performed for money at the Pingnan Street night market!” Wu Mo spoke loudly.

Ding Songyan smiled and found two pork-filled buns in the delivered meal box.

”How could that happen? Our monthly salary is a full five taels, and we pay nothing for food, clothing, lodging, travel, or cultivation resources. How could anyone become destitute?” Li Baima could not understand it. ”Even visiting the Hengbo River every few days would not be that big an expenditure!”

Fan Chunlin drank his white fungus soup and said without much concern, ”Perhaps he lost everything at the Silver Hook Gambling House.”

”Do the estate’s guards often gamble at Silver Hook?” Ding Songyan considered this a potential danger.

Manipulating people did not necessarily require a Demon Seed.

”Some do, but the Silver Hook Gambling House belongs to the Sea-Treading Gang. They would never dare offend the estate. They usually avoid going too far and leave people something to fall back on.” Wu Mo rejected Fan Chunlin’s theory.

The Sea-Treading Gang... Ding Songyan lowered his head and concentrated on breakfast.

After a while, just as he was about to join Li Baima and the others on duty at the side gate, Steward Peng Jushan came specifically to find him.

”Brother Ding, I hear you have cultivated the Candle-Star Pupils and Northern Dipper Wayfinding quite well. Please accompany Brother Fan to Fortune’s Arrival Inn and see whether you can uncover any clues and find the Ghost Yu Way assassin.”