Chapter 99: Ding Borrows Zheng’s Authority
Chapter 99: Ding Borrows Zheng’s Authority
Having finished reading Miss Xiao Qing’s letter, Ding Songyan’s instinctive reaction was this.
Great, now I need to get my hands on an anthology of poetry and pick out a line to answer "together or apart, near or far; sharing a heart, friends still we are." Otherwise I’m going to look completely uncultured...
That thought put down any notion of writing back immediately. He decided to take a few days to prepare first—a blade sharpened at the last moment still shines!
He put the letter away and lay down on his bed, and for no particular reason a series of comic-strip panels floated into his mind.
A bashful Miss Xiao Qing gives a gentle push, and some poor fellow goes flying into the wall with a crash, leaving a person-shaped hole. Miss Xiao Qing throws a dainty punch, and that same fellow’s chest and abdomen cave in, his ribs snapping...
Su Qingli who can lift a bronze tripod really is something... If it comes down to pure strength, I’m probably no match for her right now... She temporarily hasn’t found out anything regarding Xiong, Qu, and Pan’s extermination yet... Ding Songyan laughed to himself and shook his head, drifting gradually into sleep.
With his "Dividing the Four Seasons" quality, he woke naturally after the allotted three hours, and knocked on Zheng Zhuxi’s door to wake her on the way.
The two of them then followed Xu Chang’an’s lead southward to South Stone Lane, also in the southern part of the city.
"The fence chief in the prefecture city is still Master Liang—Liang Qian. As for the area around Dangkang Temple, my senior brothers haven’t settled who’s in charge yet, so Master Liang is managing it for now." Xu Chang’an spoke as he hurried forward, eager to be of use. "Master Liang is in his late fifties. He was ranked fourth-rank Mortal Surpassed back in the day, but he’s barely shown his capabilities in recent years."
"I know of him. Constable Chief Xue has praised him for knowing the bigger picture. He’ll cooperate with the authorities when something important comes up." Zheng Zhuxi recalled as she spoke to Ding Songyan. "What martial art he actually practices, I haven’t heard."
Xu Chang’an added, "I don’t know either. But my master used to say that Master Liang is exceptionally capable. He is sharp-eyed and a shrewd judge of people. Any scheming or hidden intentions among his own fences are impossible to hide from him..."
Ding Songyan listened quietly, asking the occasional question. Before long, the three of them arrived at the Liang household on South Stone Lane.
The Liang household wasn’t large; it only had a single courtyard. From the outside, it looked only a little more spacious than the homes on Chengyu Lane, with perhaps two extra side rooms.
"Master Liang has family, but nobody knows where. Day to day, he lives here with just a maidservant and a mute handyman, and sometimes you can’t find him at all," Xu Chang’an added this detail and knocked on the door without much force.
The door was opened by a pretty maidservant in her twenties. She had no physical anomalies, and from her gait it was clear she had no martial training.
The maidservant’s first glance went to Zheng Zhuxi, tall and striking in her black tight-fitting clothes. She took in the beautiful, clear face first, then her gaze traveled down to the patterns of starlight and candleflame on her cuffs.
Her expression changed slightly. She turned to the side and called into the house,
"Master, Zheng Zhuxi of the Brightnight Sect is here to see you!"
Senior Sister’s reputation in the prefecture city really is something. There’s no need to introduce herself... Ding Songyan watched and chuckled under his breath.
Shortly after, a figure in a dark robe, wearing neither cap nor headband, came out at a quick pace. He was around fifty, looking slightly older than his years, his face somewhat bird-like in cast. White markings ran across his neck, behind his ears, and along his cheekbones, and his pupils were deep and still, as if a quiet lake lay hidden behind them.
He couldn’t immediately think of which beast this corresponded to, but combining Xu Chang’an’s description of Liang Qian’s "sharp eyes" with what he saw, Ding Songyan’s first suspicion was that this fence chief’s eyes were something special.
Liang Qian came to the door and cupped his fists in greeting.
"Greetings, Heroine Zheng. What brings you here?"
He didn’t dare show the slightest discourtesy. A few months ago, Zheng Zhuxi had only a fair name in the prefecture city, referring to both her extraordinary looks and her reputation for championing the public good and showing mercy to the poor. But now, alongside her fair name she had a fearsome one. Her killing of Xie Zi’an with her sword had sent no small shock through the martial community of the prefecture city, high and low alike.
In the Great Proliferation Realm, sixth-rank Anomaly Manifested and fifth-rank Profound Discerned were relatively common. Without a powerful faction behind you, it was hard to build a real reputation. But fourth-rank Mortal Surpassed and third-rank Form Transfigured were figures of standing in a place like Dingjiang Prefecture. They might not all know each other personally, but they had certainly all heard of each other.
Liang Qian had never met Xie Zi’an, but he knew of his ties to several escort companies and knew the man’s martial skill was formidable and genuine. Yet a seasoned Mortal Surpassed powerhouse like that had died at the hands of a young girl who hadn’t even been in the Great Proliferation Realm for a full year. He was killed within twenty moves or so, without even alerting the watchtowers.
This girl, who looked so cheerful and good-natured, had a vicious sword technique.
Truly, the young were to be feared!
"I’d like to ask you about a few things, Elder Liang," Zheng Zhuxi said, calm and at ease.
Liang Qian stepped aside and let them in. His gaze landed on Xu Chang’an’s face, and he said with some hesitation, "Isn’t this Zhang Rui’s youngest apprentice, Xu Chang’an?"
"That’s me, Master Liang." Xu Chang’an hadn’t expected to be remembered by the prefecture city’s top fence. He was quite flattered.
Liang Qian chuckled.
"Why didn’t you send word before bringing Heroine Zheng and her company? What if I’d been out? That would have been rude to such distinguished guests."
Before Xu Chang’an could work out the hidden meaning in those words, Ding Songyan laughed and said, "He didn’t have much choice when there was a sword at his neck."
Liang Qian gave Ding Songyan a puzzled look but directed his question to Xu Chang’an.
"And who is this?"
"Young Hero Ding of the Brightnight Sect, Heroine Zheng’s junior brother," Xu Chang’an quickly announced Ding Songyan’s name on his behalf.
As a veteran of the jianghu, Liang Qian understood perfectly well that the second half of that sentence meant personal disciple of Sect Master Tao. He gave Ding Songyan another look, then led his guests into the main room and invited them to sit.
"What would you like to know, Heroine Zheng?" Liang Qian asked with great courtesy.
As he spoke, he glanced at Ding Songyan again with a slightly odd expression.
Zheng Zhuxi recounted the matter of Caretaker Zhu’s lost valuables from beginning to end, only omitting that what was lost were the ten-thousand-year luan tree flowers.
"Constable Chief Xue already came to ask me about this," Liang Qian said sincerely. "None of my people did it. Dangkang Temple is a living Buddha to all households, so who would dare steal from it? Never mind them not having the nerve; I don’t either."
"Have any of the city’s receivers come across Caretaker Zhu’s small iron chest?" Zheng Zhuxi asked next.
The small iron chest had been coated in an exotic herbal poison. Merely touching it wouldn’t cause poisoning, but opening it to take what was inside would trigger the ritual art protections Caretaker Zhu had laid, sending a virulent poison flooding into the body in an instant. Without timely treatment, the victim’s intestines and stomach would rot through. For the thief to simply carry the entire chest away suggested they knew the trap was there but couldn’t deal with it on the spot.
"No." Liang Qian glanced at Ding Songyan again.
Why does he keep looking at me, with that odd expression? Surely he’s not a demon who can sense the suppression of the Chaos force? Ding Songyan wondered to himself.
Xu Chang’an’s earlier description suddenly struck him: "Sharp-eyed and a shrewd judge of people. Any scheming or hidden intentions among his own fences are impossible to hide from him."
Any scheming or hidden intentions are impossible to hide from him... Having read widely and having encountered the Celestial Heart imprint before, Ding Songyan immediately made a peculiar connection.
So could my own scheming and hidden intentions be hidden from him?
My sea of consciousness thoughts all lurk beneath the dark veil the Chaos force brings. Others can’t peer into them directly, so they can only judge from my expressions and body language...
Could it be that... Liang Qian can hear other people’s thoughts? And the reason he keeps glancing at me is that he can’t hear mine at all?
The thought gave him a jolt of excitement. He found the prospect intriguing and decided to test Liang Qian.
He had always been one to make bold hypotheses and verify them carefully!
Ding Songyan let a crack open in the dark veil over the surface of his sea of consciousness, then deliberately turned over certain thoughts.
What a bother. All this back and forth questioning is such a hassle, and there’s no way to know if the other party is lying or hiding something important.
Better to just kill him and use yin-walking. Ghosts say everything they know without holding back, and they can’t lie.
Sigh, as a disciple of a righteous sect, I can’t just kill someone for no reason—but then again, this Liang Qian is a fence chief. He may never have done great evil, but he’s certainly done no shortage of small evils. If I actually convince Senior Sister to take him down, that counts as acting with honor and upholding justice...
Ding Songyan had barely reached that point in his thoughts when he saw Liang Qian staring at him with wide, startled eyes, his face slowly draining of color, a fine sweat breaking out across his forehead.
"My, Elder Liang, why are you sweating so much?" Ding Songyan asked with apparent concern.
Liang Qian forced a smile.
"The weather’s warm."
"Your complexion isn’t looking good either," Ding Songyan said with concern.
"I got a bit of a cold from last night’s cold wind." Liang Qian wiped his forehead and quickly turned to Zheng Zhuxi. "Heroine Zheng, let me be completely honest with you. It definitely wasn’t any of my people. They simply don’t have the ability, you understand?"
Zheng Zhuxi didn’t understand why Liang Qian’s demeanor had suddenly shifted from polite detachment to fawning anxiety, but she kept her expression neutral and asked, "What makes you say that?"
At the same time, Ding Songyan sealed his sea of consciousness again, laughing inwardly.
So he really can hear people’s thoughts. I should warn Senior Sister not to think about anything important right now.
Later I’ll get on friendly terms with Liang Qian and find out what limits this technique has. Let’s see whether there’s any chance of getting it from him down the line. Practicing it might produce remarkable effects at a critical moment...
Using this trait as a clue, Ding Songyan also found the entry in the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas that matched Liang Qian’s lineage.
"Gu Bird (Xi + Bird): Shaped like a crow but with white markings. The result of consuming it? See into mind and perceive a hundred miles."
At that thought, he tapped the four-sided oriental table and said directly to Zheng Zhuxi, "Senior Sister, Elder Liang can hear people’s thoughts. You should be careful."
"What..." Zheng Zhuxi’s startled gaze went back and forth between Liang Qian and Ding Songyan. Xu Chang’an looked completely lost.
Liang Qian shot to his feet and fixed Ding Songyan with a stare of pure shock that said, "How do you know?"
"Elder Liang, you made it rather obvious. And I happen to be skilled at stilling my mind and guarding my inner unity, so I was bound to notice something. Then I put you to the test," Ding Songyan offered some offhand explanation.
Liang Qian froze for a moment, his face quickly turning ashen. Then he spoke with the air of someone who had resolved to hold nothing back.
"I can hear some things, yes.
"Let’s talk about the real matter. Constable Chief Xue told me that Caretaker Zhu had also scattered certain plant seeds in the hidden chamber and laid ritual arts protections. If anyone broke in, they would be ensnared by vines and hung upside down, and those seeds would also send a warning to Caretaker Zhu to come quickly.
"From what happened, those protections never activated. Apart from myself, none of my people are even fifth-rank Profound Discerned. What would they use to break through Caretaker Zhu’s ritual arts?
"Either the valuables were marked during transit to Dingjiang Prefecture but the escort was tough enough to put them off, and they only scouted out the place after Caretaker Zhu had stored it in the hidden chamber and then found a way to steal it, or..."
Liang Qian paused before saying, "It was done by someone inside Dangkang Temple!"