Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 247: Not Meeting

Wu Zheng, transformed into ”Lin Chong,” seized the moment when the waiter came to clear the private room, slipped out, and headed down the stairs.

With his heart in his throat, he wanted to hurry, but remembered his benefactor Ding Songyan’s words and forced his steps to slow, using breathing and qi regulation to keep his heartbeat from pounding.

After reaching the street safely, Wu Zheng, partly adjusted to this state and partly assured that no one was paying attention to ”Lin Chong,” relaxed considerably, got his bearings, and headed for the north of the city.

Nothing happened along the way, but Wu Zheng strictly followed his benefactor’s instructions by walking and stopping. From time to time, he would look at goods that interested him, and at other times ask someone for directions, no different from the ordinary people coming and going.

After about an hour, he arrived at Academy Street.

The Phoenix Terrace Study was right here.

It too was a building with a shop in front and a courtyard behind, but it covered a vast area, taking up nearly half the street. Its gate stood open, with places selling brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and famous paintings and calligraphy; schools of all kinds for teaching young children; and different classrooms teaching bronze script and other knowledge.

Standing at the head of the street, Wu Zheng could already hear the sound of recitations from inside the study. He could see some people dull in color and others dazzling. Inside, every color was present, while outside was a gray expanse.

Thinking of what his benefactor Ding Songyan had said about likely obstructors here, Wu Zheng grew tense again.

In his heart he kept reciting the eight-word mantra his benefactor had taught him.

Neither fast nor slow, neither hurried nor sluggish.

Neither fast nor slow, neither hurried nor sluggish...

With his mind fixed on these eight words, Wu Zheng controlled his emotions and walked step by step toward the Phoenix Terrace Study.

Many people entered and many left, making his figure utterly unremarkable.

Now and then there were stirrings in the air, but none affected Wu Zheng as he silently recited the mantra. At last he reached the study’s gate, lifted his legs as if bound with immense burden, and stepped across.

Inside the grand, bright study, looking at the vividly colored disciples of the Five Saints Sect, Wu Zheng’s heart finally settled back into place, and he felt warmth and security.

Suddenly, he thought of his parents’ wretched deaths, the panicked flight, the despair, pain, and confusion of that time, his own curses at heaven and cursing of the world.

It all stood vivid before his eyes, surging up, as if rushing toward an end long awaited.

Tears streamed down Wu Zheng’s face.

Through a blur he saw a bright, striking girl, her face bearing reddish, colorful patterns, approaching with both puzzlement and concern, and heard the recitals rise again inside the study.

”To dwell in the wide house of the world, to stand in the correct seat of the world, and to walk in the great path of the world;

”When he obtains his desire for office, to practise his principles for the good of the people; and when that desire is disappointed, to practise them alone;

”To be above the power of riches and honours to make dissipated, of poverty and mean condition to make swerve from principle, and of power and force to make bend—these characteristics constitute the great man1...”

...

At the entrance of Academy Street.

Twelfth Madam Luo was crouching before a stall, comparing several ancient texts copied by others.

Ding Songyan, beside her, glanced at the Phoenix Terrace Study and smiled.

”Wu Zheng’s temperament is passable. No slip-ups.”

He and Twelfth Madam Luo had taken a detour to the vicinity of the Phoenix Terrace Study precisely to draw the attention of any potential obstructors, so that even if Wu Zheng performed poorly and his nervousness showed, no one would notice anything unusual.

”Let’s go.” Twelfth Madam Luo stood and turned onto another street, Ding Songyan walking beside her.

The two strolled leisurely through the nearby market, exchanging a few words from time to time.

The most crowded spot in the market was where a storyteller was telling The Legend of the White Snake.

Twelfth Madam Luo stopped to listen for a while, then suddenly sighed softly and murmured, ”Fated ones meet from afar. Unfated ones cannot hold hands even face to face...”

She turned her head toward Ding Songyan and said with feeling, ”This is the best storybook I’ve heard in the past five years.

”Hm, if your storybook can keep its current standard and be completed smoothly, it should be comparable.”

Ding Songyan laughed in dismay and deliberately cupped his hands in salute.

”Thank you for the praise, Twelfth Madam.”

”Don’t get smug. Anyone can start, but few can finish. You haven’t even written half of that storybook yet, have you? Whether you’ll ever wrap it up is still anyone’s guess.” Twelfth Madam Luo gave him an amused scolding.

Ding Songyan chuckled.

”I’m thanking you for the earlier sentence.”

The smile on Twelfth Madam Luo’s face gradually vanished, and her eyes widened slightly.

”You wrote The Legend of the White Snake?”

”It was none other than your humble servant,” Ding Songyan said leisurely. ”It was with The Legend of the White Snake that I first made a name for myself in Dingjiang Prefecture.”

Twelfth Madam Luo looked the fellow over anew, recalling the westbound-journey storybook she had read yesterday and finding the styles quite similar.

”Did you write those ballads too?” Luo Mingyin made no effort to hide her curiosity.

”I heard them in the past and later adapted them a bit. The ones who turned them into tunes are someone else,” Ding Songyan answered vaguely.

Twelfth Madam Luo shot Ding Songyan a sharp glance.

”Not the whole truth.”

Ding Songyan changed the subject.

”Lately I’ve thought a flute would suit Bai Suzhen at the Foot of Qingcheng Mountain.”

Twelfth Madam Luo thought about it earnestly, her eyes fixed on nothing.

”Melodious and winding, serene and unworldly. It really would suit.”

She eagerly discussed it with Ding Songyan. After tossing a few copper coins to the storyteller, the duo walked toward where a village opera was being performed to the beat of gongs and drums, chatting as they went.

Suddenly, Twelfth Madam Luo’s expression changed slightly. She turned sideways in a flash and went straight into the nearest alley.

Ding Songyan frowned slightly, not understanding.

He looked around, found nothing unusual, and quickly followed her.

Twelfth Madam Luo said not a word, heading back toward Prince Kang’s estate along quiet streets and alleys. Ding Songyan did not ask and simply walked silently beside her.

...

The Phoenix Terrace Study.

Yu Chongyuan, with brows like sharp swords, eyes like peach blossoms, and a high, heroic nose, had just stepped through the gate when he saw his junior sister, Zhang Yingbo, hurrying toward him.

This young Supreme Master normally restrained traits like All Colors Under Heaven Gather Unto You, but still drew one affectionate gaze after another.

When Zhang Yingbo drew near, the colors on him lost not a bit of brilliance.

A handsome man and a beauty, a perfect match of aesthetics, formed a scene no one could look away from, and not even envy could arise.

Zhang Yingbo tilted her face up slightly and lowered her voice as she said to Yu Chongyuan, ”Senior Brother, someone has come seeking shelter. It looks like it’s not a simple matter.”

Yu Chongyuan nodded lightly without asking on the spot. Calmly he chatted with his junior sister about other things as he walked neither fast nor slow toward the inner courtyard.

Before long, in a quiet room, he met Wu Zheng, who had shed his disguise.

A man’s reputation precedes him. Wu Zheng instantly grew excited.

”Hero Yu!”

He dropped to his knees, about to kowtow and beg for protection.

Yu Chongyuan, in wide robes and broad sleeves, put out both hands and steadily held him up.

”I dare not accept such a great courtesy.

”Friend, first tell the matter plainly.”

Wu Zheng steadied himself and carefully recounted what had happened to his parents, the enemies’ martial arts, the name He Jin, and the origins of his family’s martial art.

”The legacy of Wu Hui, Divine Lord of Fire Virtue...” Yu Chongyuan turned his gaze to his junior sister beside him.

Zhang Yingbo nodded slightly, indicating she had already tested his foundation. It was indeed the art of Wu Hui, Divine Lord of Fire Virtue, and that No-Right Saber was quite extraordinary.

Yu Chongyuan murmured the words ”Fire Virtue,” then asked Wu Zheng thoughtfully, ”How do you know one of the Grandmasters who chased you is named He Jin?”

People who did such dirty work would never give their names.

”Hero Yu, it was my life-saving benefactors who told me,” Wu Zheng answered frankly. ”They are a pair of hidden masters who do not wish to be involved in worldly affairs. They specifically told me not to reveal their whereabouts. I beg your understanding.”

Yu Chongyuan nodded.

”You’ll stay at the study for now, and no one will disturb you. Once we sort this matter out and confirm your account, we’ll discuss what comes next. How does that sound?”

Seeing that Yu Chongyuan was willing to take him in, Wu Zheng felt a rush of mixed emotions again and cupped his hands with reddened eyes.

”Thank you, Hero Yu.”

After the two finished talking, Zhang Yingbo asked curiously, ”Young Hero Wu, was it that pair of hidden masters who did your disguise as well?”

How wondrous!

Yu Chongyuan watched calmly and did not interject with questions.

”Yes.” Faced with the radiant, brilliantly colored Zhang Yingbo, Wu Zheng found himself unable to say more.

Out of the quiet room, Yu Chongyuan patiently waited for his junior sister to bring it up on her own.

Zhang Yingbo said with shining eyes, ”Senior Brother, Wu Zheng’s earlier disguise was quite mysterious and wondrous. It was merely a simple disguise, yet it made all of us regard him as someone else, until he said so himself, and then it suddenly changed.”

Yu Chongyuan asked a few details thoughtfully, then murmured as if to himself, ”Someone of Ditai’s?”

...

Entering the back courtyard of the Cheap Wine Shop by the side door, Twelfth Madam Luo, silent all the way, sat on the swing, which swayed gently of its own accord though there was no wind.

Ding Songyan glanced at her, went into the main building and the east wing, checked them carefully, and only then returned to the courtyard and said, ”That group came by. They didn’t disturb anything. As for your room, I don’t know.”

He carried the masks and letters with him at all times.

Twelfth Madam Luo turned her head toward Ding Songyan and answered with vacant eyes, ”No matter.”

Ding Songyan did not disturb the shopkeeper. He boiled a kettle of water by himself and brewed tea at the stone table in the courtyard.

He neither clattered nor deliberately stepped softly, as on any normal day these past few days.

When he finished a pot of tea, Twelfth Madam Luo, gently swaying on the swing, stirred her eyes and seemed at last to come back to life.

The shopkeeper sighed softly and, looking at the tea set on the stone table, said, ”I almost ran into someone I didn’t want to meet.”

Ding Songyan hummed.

”If you don’t want to meet them, then don’t.”

He had not noticed any outstanding figure around the market just now, so he could only attribute it to his own realm being insufficient.

Twelfth Madam Luo fell silent again.

Only after Ding Songyan finished another pot of tea did she purse her lips and ask, her eyes deep, ”Have you ever had the experience of wanting to forget someone but being unable to, wanting to get close but resisting it from the bottom of your heart?”

Ding Songyan was taken aback and spaced out for a good while before smiling bitterly.

”Yes.”

Twelfth Madam Luo had never expected him to answer, nor wanted him to. Hearing it, she froze, then curved her mouth and smiled self-deprecatingly.

”You don’t look it.”

Just as others could not tell she had such a past.

Ding Songyan sighed.

”Back then, I was still young and hot-blooded.”