Chapter 246: Uncanny Skill

Though he stood in a busy marketplace, Ding Songyan felt the surroundings go strangely quiet, with only that peerless beauty like an orchid in an empty valley before his eyes.

My dear Little Sister, stop messing around and put that gauze down quickly. If someone sees you, won’t the whereabouts of you, the Sage-Severing Way’s leader, be exposed?

Then how will you scheme in the Flame Capital?

You may not be afraid, but if anyone sees you gazing at me like this, I couldn’t clear my name even by jumping into the Great River.

Sigh, what must come eventually comes, and at such a time and place...

The only thing to do now is to draw my sword on her and cry for help, so I can preserve my reputation as an upright young hero.

As Ding Songyan’s thoughts flashed, he suddenly felt an invisible force press down on the crown of his head, trying to pry it open.

This stirred many bad memories and made him think of the late Master Yan.

Instinctively, he was about to gather his spirit and run Presence-Absence Myriad Forms Qi to resist, but he saw Ji Hanyi at the second-floor window wearing a half-smiling expression.

Ding Songyan’s heart sank, and he understood Sister Qingyan’s meaning: Try refusing.

Sigh, the circumstances are stronger than the human... Once I confirm Twelfth Madam’s realm, come find me in the Cheap Wine Shop’s back courtyard if you’ve got the nerve! Ding Songyan slowly exhaled, gave up resisting, and let a chill drop into his sea of consciousness.

At the same time, Ji Hanyi nodded in satisfaction, lowered the white gauze, and covered her face.

Her other hand stopped propping the window as well and let it close.

In Ding Songyan’s sea of consciousness, that chill echoed into a soft, gentle voice, "Second Brother, you did something big earlier.

"I meant to find you the very next day, but some matters needed handling, so I had to postpone a few days.

"I never expected to run into you here.

"When I’m finished, I’ll find you for a chat about family matters."

The soft, lovely voice gradually faded, and the chill vanished with it.

Ding Songyan had no time to think. He stirred the dark, chaotic gloom covering his thoughts and carefully cleaned out his sea of consciousness.

Only after doing all this did he look again at the second floor of the house by the street.

The window was tightly shut and the beauty was nowhere to be seen.

To run into my good sister by chance.

If she didn’t deduce heavenly secrets and wait here for me ahead of time, then it’s just as Twelfth Madam said: the Celestial Thearch’s gaze brought a whole-region shift in the qi of the Flame Capital, and in such a shift, people already entangled by fate meet easily.

If it’s the second case, what is Little Sister doing on this street?

This street lies southwest of Golden Pool, called Shushui Street, not far from Martial Star Ward. What secret might it hide?

Later I can look into it covertly. Perhaps I can glimpse the Sage-Severing Way’s plan through it...

No, wait. Sister Qingyan could have appeared or not. If she hadn’t, I’d have had no way of knowing she’d come to Shushui Street. She deliberately showed herself. She can’t have really missed me, or gone so long without scaring me that she couldn’t resist teasing me, can she?

Does she want me to investigate the secret hidden on Shushui Street so she can achieve some goal?

That’s too much scheming...

If so, then deducing heavenly secrets to wait for me here is the same reason. Both cases point to the same plot.

But if I don’t investigate, I can’t know Little Sister’s real purpose, and the purpose itself would reveal many key facts...

Hiss, my good sister couldn’t have anticipated even this thought of mine, could she?

No hurry, no hurry. Let me first clear up Twelfth Madam’s situation.

Sigh, Twelfth Madam once said she wasn’t my mother and I needn’t greet her every day. Now all I want to say is, you could be.

Ding Songyan’s thoughts churned. He stopped leading the hidden tail around, wandered Golden Pool for a while, bought two sets of ready-made clothes, and returned to Tiger Tail Alley.

......

At noon the next day, in the east wing of the wine shop’s back courtyard.

Ding Songyan said to Wu Zheng, who had recovered 60–70% of his strength, "As long as you do what we tell you and don’t act on your own, I guarantee you’ll enter the Phoenix Terrace Study safe and sound."

"Please give your instructions, benefactor." Wu Zheng bowed solemnly.

He did not ask how, and patiently awaited Ding Songyan and Twelfth Madam’s arrangements.

Before long, Wu Zheng had changed into the thick-cotton cyan robe Ding Songyan had worn yesterday, put on the wanderer’s headband, and slipped on a pair of boots with heavily built-up soles.

Twelfth Madam Luo used wax paste, brow stone, rouge, red powder, and such to make up Wu Zheng’s face, putting on a simple disguise.

When she finished, at first glance Wu Zheng had a 30–40% resemblance to Ding Songyan, but on careful inspection, apart from both having eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, there was no resemblance at all.

Twelfth Madam’s makeup skill is merely adequate, very far from masterful, face-changing artistry... Ding Songyan watched quietly and said nothing.

Twelfth Madam Luo patted Wu Zheng’s shoulder, as if signaling him to ask Ding Songyan something.

Suppressing his bewilderment and unease, Wu Zheng asked in a low voice, "Second Ding, do I look like you?"

"You do," Ding Songyan answered with extraordinary sincerity.

He had already used the Celestial Heart Art to deceive himself.

As he answered, he felt an inexpressible change come over the heaven and earth of the east wing.

As soon as the words fell, Ding Songyan suddenly found Wu Zheng’s features and build had drawn closer to his own, now 50–60% alike.

Utterly confused, Wu Zheng turned to Twelfth Madam Luo and asked again, "Twelfth Madam, am I Second Ding?"

"You are." Luo Mingyin nodded with a smile.

With this answer, in Ding Songyan’s eyes, Wu Zheng’s features instantly straightened and his brow cleared, making him look like a twin brother.

At first glance, they were now 80–90% alike.

Ding Songyan observed several more breaths and still found many differences.

Twelfth Madam Luo handed the bronze mirror in her hand to Wu Zheng so he could look at himself.

In the not-so-clear bronze mirror, Wu Zheng seemed to see another Second Ding.

He was shocked and astonished, momentarily unable to speak.

This is simply an uncanny skill!

The question and answer just now were mysterious too. Isn’t this witchcraft?

My two benefactors are truly unfathomable!

"It can only last two hours. During that time, you mustn’t do anything that makes others suspect you are not Second Ding," Twelfth Madam Luo reminded him.

Ding Songyan handed his own Frostshade to Wu Zheng and specially instructed, "If you meet someone from the Five Saints Sect, you can say you were rescued, but you can’t say who rescued you or how."

"I will never reveal my two benefactors’ circumstances." Wu Zheng spoke with solemn resolve.

With most sects, Ding Songyan would surely worry they’d find ways to extract the details from Wu Zheng’s mind, dreams, or spirit, exposing Twelfth Madam and himself. But this was the Five Saints Sect, which valued trust and righteousness and possessed both benevolence and virtue.

Ding Songyan returned to the main building and moved his various belongings into the east wing, arranging it as his own quarters, and Twelfth Madam Luo put the tea table and other things back in their original place.

"Let’s go, as planned." Ding Songyan sat on the edge of the bed and told Wu Zheng with a smile.

Wu Zheng nodded, walked out of the main building with Twelfth Madam Luo, and left the back courtyard by the side door.

Several martial artists secretly watching the Cheap Wine Shop saw this scene, and from the rough looks, clothes, and weapon, determined who was beside Luo Mingyin: Ding Songyan, Second Ding of the Brightnight Sect.

Having made such a judgment, "Second Ding" looked even more like Second Ding.

"Twelfth Madam Luo and Second Ding have gone out together and the courtyard is empty. Shall we go in and search?" one of the martial artists asked his companions in a low voice.

"Barging into a master’s residence could be dangerous. Report to Mr. He first and let him decide," the recipient of the question answered cautiously.

The Great Wilderness was hardly lacking in gu sorcery.

So they split into three groups: one stayed to keep watching the Cheap Wine Shop, one followed Twelfth Madam Luo and Second Ding, and one returned near the Treasure Market to report to He Jin.

Twelfth Madam Luo and "Second Ding" strolled toward Golden Pool, and after well over an hour, entered a tavern and got a private room.

As soon as "Second Ding" closed the private room’s door and turned around, he saw a Second Ding dressed identically to himself sitting at the table, smiling and entirely at ease.

When did he arrive? I didn’t notice at all... Wu Zheng was both astonished and confused.

"Quit the smoke and mirrors..." Twelfth Madam Luo muttered.

This fellow had slipped into the tavern long before and hidden in the room the moment the waiter called out its name.

Ding Songyan looked Wu Zheng over and nodded with some self-satisfaction.

See how useful it is for a man to own several identical outfits!

He then stood and hid in the shadows behind the screen.

Once the wine and dishes were all laid out and Wu Zheng had told the waiter not to come in, Ding Songyan came out, took back Frostshade, and filled his stomach in earnest.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Twelfth Madam Luo grasped at the air, and Wu Zheng immediately stopped being "Second Ding."

The shopkeeper laid out the wax paste, brow stone, and other things and gave Wu Zheng a fresh makeup, while Ding Songyan tossed Wu Zheng the bundle he’d brought, containing the loose long robe he had bought yesterday. It wasn’t a very good fit for Wu Zheng, but wearable.

Twelfth Madam Luo patted Wu Zheng again, signaling him to change behind the screen.

Soon, Wu Zheng came out in the loose long robe and said to Ding Songyan and Twelfth Madam Luo, "I am Lin Chong. Pleased to meet you both."

"Good, a fine Lin Chong indeed!" Ding Songyan said, clapping, struggling to hold back laughter.

The more obvious makeup on Wu Zheng’s face faded at once, and even the powder covering the spark on his forehead was no longer conspicuous.

Twelfth Madam Luo nodded along.

"Hero Lin, please be seated."

The false whiskers around Wu Zheng’s mouth and under his chin suddenly looked lifelike, no longer out of place.

After the makeup process, he was now Hero Lin Chong; he was no longer Wu Zheng, and instantly a dozen or twenty years older.

"After we leave the tavern, Hero Lin should wait about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, then leave this private room and go straight to the Phoenix Terrace Study, keeping his form hidden until then," Ding Songyan instructed solemnly.

This was the most crucial step.

"Plenty of people come and go at the Phoenix Terrace Study every day. As long as the features don’t match, He Jin’s group won’t stop you." Twelfth Madam Luo nodded lightly.

"You don’t need to know anything else. Just remember the name He Jin and don’t forget to inform the Five Saints Sect," Ding Songyan added.

"Lin Chong" listened attentively and realized his two benefactors seemed to know a good deal of the truth.

He did not ask more and found a place to hide in the private room.

Ding Songyan and Twelfth Madam Luo rose and went out, unhurriedly settled the bill, and left the tavern.

On the street, Ding Songyan nodded to Twelfth Madam Luo.

He meant the trackers had followed and had not stayed at the tavern.

Twelfth Madam Luo hummed with a relaxed expression and asked, slightly curious, "Who is Lin Chong?"

"A name I made up," Ding Songyan said casually.

"Then why did he have such detailed appearance, identity, and character information?" Twelfth Madam Luo did not believe it was made up casually.

Ding Songyan glanced at Twelfth Madam Luo.

"I’m a <anno data-annotation-id="8700d939-5d73-41e1-b5c1-0acc6eb1738e" data-title="storyteller">storyteller¹</anno>."

Isn’t it only natural for me to invent such things?

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