Chapter 1486: Different voices
Left to his lonesome, Yang Qing broke into a hearty smile as his gaze fell on the new pearl on his coat. Just leering at it left him chuckling. After seconds that felt like hours of joyous laughter and shy touches between Yang Qing and the pearl, his expression began to change. The feverish chuckles died down, and what replaced them was a man struggling to make a choice.
Yang Qing’s brows creased, his eyes flickering between eagerness and wariness with rapid frequency. After an exhaustive internal struggle over whether to play around with the pearl and maybe, just maybe, transform it into more exotic, mouthwatering dishes, and maybe even take a small nibble to confirm the taste, Yang Qing, surprisingly, for the first time in his life, managed to decline following through on those intrusive thoughts. It wasn’t easy at all, which could explain why he was sweating slightly, panting between the sighs he made as he cast a regrettable yet longing look at the pearl.
Yang Qing switched his attention elsewhere, deciding to borrow a page from ostriches when it came to avoiding troublesome situations. He avoided looking at the pearl entirely, letting his eyes roam the room until they fell on the Empyrean World Jade Gourd on the table. Maybe driven by the desperate need to distract himself, or now that he was settling, his natural instincts slowly kicking in, Yang Qing’s expression turned furtive as he looked at the gourd. It didn’t take long for furtiveness to turn to worry as he grabbed the wine gourd and brought it closer to his face, bearing the expression of someone about to conduct the greatest and most important inspection of his life.
Hopefully the dent isn’t bad, Yang Qing thought worriedly as he carefully swirled the wine gourd and deployed all his senses, from his ears to his spiritual sense, to properly assess how much wine was still left. The sensible part of his mind whispered that there was no need. The wine held within that gourd was more than enough to fill a medium-sized pond or caldera. And whether it be Han Bei, Meng Song, Fan Jie, Tang Xiadan, or even himself, they hadn’t had more than ten cups amongst them, and given the size of those cups, the dent they’d made was no different from someone taking a palm-sized sip from said pond or caldera.
It was negligible.
But Yang Qing, being who he was, wasn’t exactly prone to listening to his rational side where things of value were involved, especially when that thing could be eaten or drunk. So in the mind of such a person, what dominated at the moment was the number of sips he’d watched Tang Xiadan and the others take. It was thirty-eight, and he wasn’t all too pleased by that number. Not at all, even though of the thirty-eight sips, thirty were from him. His mind conveniently blocked out that part, or rather, he blamed those four for those sips. If they hadn’t come, he wouldn’t have had as many sips of the wine as he did. He would have been measured.
It doesn’t seem like it went down by much, Yang Qing murmured. As he said this, he bore not the look of someone relieved by the find. If anything, given the deep frown, the scrunched mouth, and those distrustful eyes, he seemed even more suspicious of the results.
Just as he was about to conduct a more thorough and definitive check, his movements paused when he sensed a familiar presence outside. With a quick wave of his hand, his precious wine disappeared, and in its place came one of Yi Jie’s works, the Thousand Leaf Bamboo Wine.
As Yang Qing did this, the person outside announced themselves. "Judge Yang Qing, pardon the intrusion. It’s Li Gang. May I enter?"
"I was wondering when you would be passing by. Please come in," Yang Qing said warmly, wearing the most genial smile he could manage as his gaze trailed the figure walking in. It was a young man donned in pure white robes, radiating grace and noble elegance on top of being extraordinarily handsome.
Tsk! Yang Qing’s smile burned brighter at the visitor. "The man of the hour finally pays a visit to his lowly peasants," Yang Qing said with exaggeration. "I hope you find our humble abode to your liking," he added jokingly, gesturing to the futon across from him.
"I embarrassed myself," Li Gang said, smiling awkwardly at Yang Qing’s teasing. He cupped his fists in gratitude before taking his seat, upon which his eyes inadvertently fell on the White Pearl Peonies at the center of the table. Though surprised, as someone seasoned in masking emotions, wearing many faces and adapting to situations, he looked unsurprised, as though that bouquet of Spirit Pearl Peonies had always been there.
His lack of reaction drew an envious click from Yang Qing. "As expected of the noble chameleon."
"So what brings you here?" Yang Qing asked warmly, his hands moving to pour Li Gang a cup of the Thousand Leaf Bamboo Wine. He didn’t bother asking if Li Gang wanted some. Given how much saliva he’d used to reel in the crowd, who knew how many litres he’d used up? He could definitely use some replenishment, and Yang Qing wasn’t in the mood to give him a chance to execute his Smooth Tongue Dao.
Though surprised by the forwardness of Yang Qing’s actions, Li Gang nodded gratefully before moving to answer his question. There was a seriousness to his expression that instantly stirred something in Yang Qing when he looked up after the pour.
"I received instructions on what to do with the items from the auction of the Heart Quenching Mulberry Dew," said Li Gang. Without waiting for Yang Qing to ask, he continued, "The Soaring Cloud Cypress Wood and the Thundervein Camphor are to be delivered to the Bluefin Escort Agency in Gold Eagle Town."
When he said that, Li Gang looked furtively at Yang Qing, given that the location was essentially Yang Qing’s backyard.
"Bluefin? That is what they said?" Yang Qing asked as the wheels began turning in his mind.
"Yes."
"And they didn’t say anything else? No added instructions. Timeline. Anything? Just deliver it to the Bluefin Escort Agency?"
"The only instruction they gave was to have the goods delivered to the Bluefin Escort Agency as soon as possible," Li Gang confirmed.
Yang Qing’s furrow deepened as he processed the information. "What did they sound like? Was it the same person as before?" he asked suddenly.
Li Gang shook his head. "In both instances, the voice sounded serene, but this last one sounded as though it had come from someone very old. There was a certain frailty to it, though the tone still had the gentle unhurried calmness to it."
"Old," Yang Qing murmured contemplatively before breaking into a sigh, deciding there wasn’t much the tone of voice was going to give him. Any cultivator from the Qi Refinement Realm going up could effortlessly alter their voice, given the refined control they had over their bodies and the changes and transformations breakthroughs brought. Not to mention the countless spells, techniques, pills, potions, artifacts, and talismans that could also do the job.
Given the important role disguises had continuously played in a cultivator’s life, it was safe to say that importance had made it a highly studied and developed art. Had Yang Qing wanted to, he could have transformed himself into one of the peonies on the table and Li Gang would have had quite the difficulty seeing through it. Little needed to be said about switching his voice. He could mimic Old Lei’s voice down to the eerie, spine-chilling placidness his tone was known for. Yang Qing had once given himself a pretty good scare doing exactly that, thinking it funny to mimic that old fiend’s tone and say strange things with it. He was so perfectly accurate that the first word out of his mouth gave him a good fright. It was uncanny.
To date, given the scare he got, Yang Qing always had this eerie suspicion at the back of his mind that the reason the voice sounded so real, just like Old Lei’s, was because that terrifying supervisor had somehow interlaced his own voice into the mimicry. So what he heard was in fact not a perfect imitation but likely the real thing. Otherwise the level of scare he got made no sense. Yes, he was deathly afraid of that silver fiend, but surely not to that extent, right? He’d mimicked other instructors, more than once, and never gotten such a scare. And yet with Old Lei’s he had almost passed out from the first vowel uttered. It made no sense.
Yang Qing quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and turned his attention back to Li Gang. "When are you planning to make the delivery?"
"I was thinking of doing it when giving you a lift back," said Li Gang. "If you still require it, of course."
"Mmh, that could work," Yang Qing said, nodding appreciatively at Li Gang for the consideration. Going together saved him the trouble of probing the Bluefin for new clues, and at the same time, he could give the two escort supervisors, Duan Ting and Liu Ying, an update. Not that he had anything more concrete to share beyond guesses, various suppositions, and the growing but misty body of evidence he had uncovered thus far.
"Your master is here," Yang Qing said suddenly, smiling as he looked meaningfully at the entrance behind Li Gang.
"Fellow Daoist Han Bai. Fellow Daoist Meng Song, welcome. Your disciple is already here," Yang Qing called out warmly.
Li Gang stood up, cupping his fist at the two of them as soon as they walked in. "Master. Auntie Meng."
"So dashing," Meng Song said lovingly as she fussed over Li Gang’s robe, even though there was nothing to fix, looking admiringly at his face before turning to Yang Qing, her hands still resting on Li Gang’s outer coat. "Fellow Daoist Yang Qing, I do not know if there are any single colleagues you might know from the Order who are looking for someone. Our Gang’er would make a fitting match," she said, flashing her customary cheeky smile, which then melted into a warm, honest one when her gaze returned to Li Gang, looking no different from a grandmother admiring her grandson. "He has a warm heart," she said lovingly as she gently cupped his face.
"A really warm heart," she repeated softly.
"Auntie Meng," Li Gang said bashfully, his stellar composure finally breaking as he smiled stiffly at Meng Song’s words and actions.
Yang Qing, who would have jumped at seeing Li Gang finally crack, was too preoccupied with Meng Song’s words, which, to his ears, hardly seemed as simple as she had portrayed them to be. His gaze shifted meaningfully from her to Han Bai, who had already returned to his previous seat. Though Han Bai’s expression was placid with a touch of sternness, his eyes held something more. It was a look Yang Qing had seen in Ma Yuan whenever he watched Ma Ling. Within that look bore the weighted concern for someone you care for.
Looks like they will not need much convincing, Yang Qing thought to himself as he quietly produced more cups for Han Bai and Meng Song, the latter having now released Li Gang’s face (much to his relief) and settled beside Han Bai.
Once they were all seated, Li Gang frowned slightly as he sensed a certain heaviness in the air.
"Li Gang..." Yang Qing said softly as he looked him in the eye. "What would you think of opening your own merchant and auction house?"
