Chapter 30: It’s Raining
The training grounds of Stone Pool Martial Hall was five or six times larger than the space before the main hall. It was leveled flat, with weapon racks arranged around the perimeter holding all manner of weapons: sabers, spears, swords, halberds, and more. Some had sharpened edges, others did not.
Beyond these, wooden dummies, stone locks, wooden stakes, archery targets, iron water vats, and other training equipment were present in full.
The martial hall’s master, a man named Liu Yuxuan, stood beside a nine-foot-tall gray stone figure, hands behind his back, waiting for Ding Songyan.
His hair and beard had gone white and his mouth protruded slightly. His face was fleshy, a sign of prosperity. Several red patches of markings dotted his neck and the backs of his hands.
After delivering Ding Songyan, Senior Brother Yang retreated to the edge of the training ground but did not leave. Seven or eight martial hall disciples also lingered nearby, half-hidden, watching with grave expressions and hatred in their eyes.
These few have backbone and courage. They didn’t flee just because I introduced myself as a Zhen household representative... Ding Songyan cupped his hands toward Liu Yuxuan.
"Greetings, Hall Master Liu."
Liu Yuxuan studied the thoroughly composed Ding Songyan and asked in a low voice, "What brings you here, Young Master Ding?"
Ding Songyan placed one hand behind his back again and said in a casual conversational tone, "Hall Master Liu, have you ever felt that something was off about Chen Yuliang in the days before his death?"
Liu Yuxuan stared at Ding Songyan’s face. After a moment, he slowly shook his head.
"No."
Ding Songyan didn’t expect a different answer from him. He only wanted to use Liu Yuxuan as a conduit to pass that question along to those from the Small Boat Gang.
Whether the Small Boat Gang would believe it or whether they could uncover anything abnormal, as well as what they would do next was not up to him. For now, he could only take things one step at a time.
The one thing he could be certain of was that the Small Boat Gang would not seek to cooperate with him in the short term. After all, he was a Zhen household member, and Chen Yuliang had just been killed because of a similar arrangement. They would not want to fall for the same trick twice.
"And have you ever felt that Chen Yuliang was too aggressive these past two or three months?" Ding Songyan, drawing on what he had heard at the county office and in street rumors, offered another prompt, though with less certainty.
Liu Yuxuan looked into Ding Songyan’s eyes that hid a smile and slowly shook his head again.
"No."
"Perhaps he had no choice in the matter," Ding Songyan said deliberately, his tone one of wistfulness.
Without waiting for the hall master’s response, he half-turned and studied the tall stone figure with its many sword and saber scars. He laughed at himself.
"Why do I think something was wrong? Because I was caught up in it. I became a pawn the Zhen household was willing to sacrifice."
Liu Yuxuan’s eyes flickered. His expression shifted slightly.
With one hand still behind his back, Ding Songyan paced to his side. Facing forward toward another wooden dummy, he spoke in a low voice as though to himself.
"I nearly lost my life because of it. But I also had a stroke of extraordinary fortune. Things are no longer the same—I won’t swallow that grievance."
Having said this, he did not look at Hall Master Liu’s expression. He smiled, shook his head, and raised his right hand, which had been hanging at his side.
With this motion, he activated the hazy, glowing "seed" in his mind, sending it instantly to his palm.
Ding Songyan’s senses suddenly "elevated," as if his soul had left his body and was looking down at everything from above.
He clearly sensed the wind sweeping across the training ground. It was tainted with violent heaven-and-earth qi and carried oppressive dark clouds. Amidst them, cruel silver-white flashes leaped.
Beyond him there seemed to be another invisible body, its apertures hidden in the void, breathing the world.
Following some arcane trajectory, Ding Songyan pushed out his right palm.
In that instant, the gale battering the training ground vanished completely. The air turned stifling, nearly solid.
Ding Songyan’s palm landed on the wooden dummy before him, light as a feather.
An instant later, a violent torrent of qi erupted from his palm.
All the wind that had disappeared moments ago seemed to have been transferred here, wound together, first compressed to a breaking point, then detonating outward.
All sound was swallowed. The wooden dummy disintegrated instantly, swept up by visible gales into the sky, as though a true dragon were drawing water from the clouds above.
Still wearing that same faint smile, Ding Songyan withdrew his right palm and placed it behind his back as well.
He turned and walked toward the edge of the training ground without sparing Hall Master Liu another glance.
Hall Master Liu, Senior Brother Yang, and the seven or eight disciples hiding nearby all stared with frozen eyes at the water-sucking tornado that spiraled thirty or forty feet high, as well as the drifting fragments that the wooden dummy had been reduced to.
At that very moment, a bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, striking with tremendous force at the exact spot where the dummy had stood. It lit Hall Master Liu’s face silver-white and cast the expressions of Senior Brother Yang and the others into shifting shadows.
Boom!
Rolling thunder echoed outward, and the storm that had been brewing finally broke over Dingjiang Prefecture in a torrential downpour.
By the time the fat raindrops came hammering down behind him, Ding Songyan had already stepped into the covered walkway, both hands still clasped behind his back.
With his back to Hall Master Liu and the others, the smile gradually faded from his face, replaced by astonishment.
Wasn’t that effect a bit too good?
Good thing I walked away right after my act. I almost got struck by lightning...
If he had known Yan Changqing’s qi was this terrifying, he would have chosen the nine-foot stone figure!
He had picked the wooden dummy out of fear that striking the stone would accomplish nothing, making a fool of himself while giving everyone a good laugh.
With hands still behind his back, Ding Songyan maintained his composure as he walked step by step back toward the Stone Pool Martial Hall’s main entrance.
Looking at the curtain of rain ahead, his expression sank.
I didn’t bring an umbrella...
...
Under the eaves of Dangkang Temple, Ding Songyan wrung out a portion of his clothes, squeezing out a steady stream of water.
"How did this rain come on so suddenly, and this heavy too..." Xu Chang’an beside him was equally soaked, muttering away.
"Isn’t it perfectly normal for the weather to change without warning in June?" Ding Songyan replied with a common saying.
He himself had not quite figured it out either. Had the rain been triggered by him, or had it simply been ready to fall at that moment, or was it both, compounding each other?
Regardless, Yan Changqing’s strength was on full display. A single thread of qi, lent out after years of being crippled, had this much power!
Zhen Qianfan must be deeply wary of him. If Yan Changqing hadn’t been gravely wounded at the time, Zhen Qianfan wouldn’t have the guts to covet that treasure even with ten times the courage... Assuming Yan Changqing wasn’t lying about helping Zhen Qianfan become a Grandmaster, then he might well be at the Heaven-Man Realm... There are only a handful of such figures in the world. If I had more time, if I had more than just Xiaoqing and Ren Youyang as information sources, I could probably pin down Yan Changqing’s true identity through comparison... Ding Songyan’s thoughts never stopped churning.
Xu Chang’an had only been complaining about the weather and hadn’t thought much of it. He glanced at the other people sheltering under the temple eaves, lowered his voice, and asked about what mattered, "Brother Ding, how did it go with Hall Master Liu?"
"Quite well. I think he was rather impressed with me." Ding Songyan lied through his teeth.
I can’t exactly say I stunned them all, can I?
He was not worried that Hall Master Liu would spread the word about his "extraordinary fortune" or sudden rise in power. Nor did he fear Senior Brother Yang or the other disciples leaking it to the authorities.
What he actually wished was that he could personally steer the rumors spreading across the jianghu. He wished he could go to the county office and turn himself in, to let the Yi clan and the Brightnight Sect examine exactly what "extraordinary fortune" he had received.
Thanks to that "seed" in his sea of consciousness, even reporting to the authorities required this kind of roundabout approach—making a conspicuous display and hoping someone noticed. And the odds of success were still low!
Xu Chang’an heaved a sigh of relief.
"I don’t know what you’re actually planning, Brother Ding, but if there’s anything I can help with, just ask."
"I won’t stand on ceremony." Ding Songyan looked at Xu Chang’an and the corners of his mouth curled up.
Xu Chang’an shivered inexplicably.
...
After the storm passed, Ding Songyan walked into his home on Chengyu Lane.
Qingyan was not at all surprised by his early return. With that kind of downpour, the market outside Dangkang Temple could hardly continue. Her brother, with no stories left to hear, had naturally come home.
"Here. For you." Ding Songyan produced the silver hairpin he had bought earlier and handed it over.
Qingyan’s eyes widened, her delicate brows lifting slightly.
"Second Brother, you only have Soul Departure Sickness, not some cornucopia. What are you giving me a silver hairpin for? Save it for your future wife."
"Isn’t it only natural for an older brother to help his sister save up some private funds?" Ding Songyan laughed. "Just take it. Otherwise I’ll give it to Ahua."
"Who’s Ahua?" Qingyan felt this was far more worth investigating. Her reluctance weakened and she accepted the hairpin.
Ding Songyan held back his laughter.
"The yellow dog at Old Man Ren’s place at the end of the lane. I forgot its name, so I gave it a new one—Ahua."
"..." Ding Qingyan’s expression quickly froze. She gritted her teeth and said, "Is it fun to tease me?"
"Yes." Ding Songyan rushed back to the west wing before his sister could pick up the broom. He changed out of his wet clothes and dried his body with a cloth.
When he returned to the main room, Ding Qingyan was holding the bronze mirror and turning it around to admire the silver hairpin that had been inserted into her hair.
"You might as well give me money directly," she muttered while looking at the bronze mirror with a bright smile.
Ding Songyan did not call her out. He pulled over a stool and sat down, murmuring with a touch of satisfaction, "These next few days I’ll see what Mother, Father, and Bull might need or want..."
Ding Qingyan was stunned. She put down the bronze mirror and frowned at Ding Songyan, asking with concern, "Second Brother, you’re not... in some kind of trouble again, are you?"
Ding Songyan shook his head and smiled.
"It’s just that I’ve run into a ’benefactor’ lately. And Xu Chang’an thanked me with quite a bit of silver."
"Where did he get it? Which wealthy household did he rob?" Qingyan’s attention was diverted again.
Ding Songyan briefly explained the situation regarding Xu Chang’an’s master. While it was still early, he began practicing his calligraphy.
That night, he prepared to advance Xu Shilin’s story again.
Qingyan, who always chatted with him for a while before sleep, suddenly said from the other side of the screen, "Second Brother, today I was actually... very happy. It felt like before. Back then you would tell me a story every night, and I’d fall asleep listening..."
Her voice gradually lowered. Then she squeezed out a smile and said with mock indignation, "You haven’t even told me The Legend of the White Snake properly! Just reading the outline is so bland!"
Ding Songyan’s outlines were only rough drafts.
"I..." Ding Songyan had planned to push this off to later.
He was currently full of worries. If he didn’t have to ask Miss Xiaoqing for information, he wouldn’t even want to write this installment of The Legend of the White Snake.
Without waiting for him to continue, Qingyan muttered to herself, "Second Brother, I know you’ve been busy lately, staying up every night to write. I was just saying things on a whim. Whenever you’re free, whenever there’s nothing to do before bed, you can narrate it to me then.
"If it weren’t for all the people and noise outside Dangkang Temple, I would have gone to hear your storytelling at least once. Mother hasn’t been letting me go out much these past few days, and I don’t want to be a bother to you all..."
Hearing Qingyan’s considerate and sensible words, Ding Songyan’s heart softened. He sighed silently and said, "It’s still early tonight. I’ll tell you one installment."
"Ah— then, just a quarter hour is fine." Qingyan’s voice was full of surprise and delight. "I want to hear the part where Lady Bai frightens Xu Xian to death."
"All right." Ding Songyan started from Fahai’s manipulation and Xu Xian noticing small details, narrated through the entire Dragon Boat Festival realgar wine episode, and at the end even sang Bai Suzhen at the Foot of Qingcheng Mountain for his sister.
Qingyan began humming the song, and Ding Songyan was quite impressed. This was exactly the cold, ethereal, otherworldly quality he had been looking for.
Before he could praise her, Qingyan was already laughing softly.
"Second Brother, I just knew that if I straight-up asked you to tell me a story, you would certainly refuse. But if I acted good and sensible, gentle and considerate, with just a touch of feeling wronged, you would probably give in. Hmph, that’s what you get for teasing me earlier!
"I’m asleep now~ Don’t disturb me~"
"..." Ding Songyan had almost forgotten his little sister had this side to her.
After a moment, he shook his head with a laugh and picked up the brush from its rest.
He wrote for a good while before finally seeing Xiaoqing’s familiar figure.
As he wrote, he "casually" asked, "Miss Xiaoqing, do you happen to know someone named Yan Changqing?"
