Chapter 98: Together or Apart, Near or Far

After a moment, Ding Songyan caught on.

So those words weren’t meant only for Senior Sister and me. Other jianghu peers get them too.

What a wide net he’s cast!

Zheng Zhuxi stared blankly. She hadn’t expected this.

She felt she had learned something new about the world.

After Xing Chang the Headless, the two of them also watched Xie Fengchao—newly arrived in Dingjiang Prefecture—stop by Dangkang Temple to offer incense on his way past. Caretaker Zhu went over to greet him as well, saying similar things about a fortunate opportunity and asking for his help.

Zheng Zhuxi went numb. She turned her head toward Ding Songyan, only to find her junior brother smiling.

"You’re not bothered?" Zheng Zhuxi felt a vague sense of having been tricked, a pang of indignation.

Ding Songyan chuckled.

"When the Headless showed up, I was a little bothered. But after seeing it a second time, I actually understand. Caretaker Zhu really is spending the merit he’s accumulated, continuously selecting people who can help him. Look, everyone he’s chosen is far from ordinary."

You’re quite good at praising yourself... The thought surfaced in Zheng Zhuxi’s mind before she could stop it.

Ding Songyan continued, "Xie Fengchao is obviously an exceptional figure, and Xing Chang the Headless is clearly no ordinary being at a glance—picking those two could still be called reading people. But seeking out an unremarkable Brightnight Sect disciple like me must have required spending actual merit. Unless Caretaker Zhu was casting his net with you as the real target, Senior Sister? I may be easy to overlook, but you do stand out."

"You really do exaggerate a lot." Zheng Zhuxi shot him a glance, the corners of her mouth curling slightly. "You’re actually quite decent-looking. What’s so unremarkable about you?"

After observing Caretaker Zhu in secret a while longer, the two of them left Dangkang Temple and returned to the market outside.

"It’s a mixed crowd around here. I wonder whether Dangkang Temple has had anything go missing on a regular basis." Zheng Zhuxi tried to recall.

Petty theft wasn’t something the Brightnight Sect handled in its patrolling support role, unless they happened to catch it in the act.

"We can ask Xu Chang’an about it later, or you can check the case files at the yamen, Senior Sister." Ding Songyan surveyed the surroundings.

Caretaker Zhu lived in the side courtyard attached to Dangkang Temple, where the hidden chamber was located as well.

"You’re not going back to the yamen?" Zheng Zhuxi was mildly surprised.

Ding Songyan smiled and said, "Caretaker Zhu has already enlisted several helpers, so there’s no need for us to rush. I was up before the fifth watch today for patrol duty at the yamen, and I need to get some rest. If I’m sleepy and my head is full of mush, how am I supposed to investigate the theft?"

"Fair enough." Zheng Zhuxi acknowledged the point.

Chatting idly, the two of them strolled over to Tianyang Hall.

The steward from before came out to meet them. He glanced at Zheng Zhuxi, then smiled at Ding Songyan.

"Young sir, we only just received Miss Su’s letter yesterday. We were about to have Hongxin Trading Company send it up to Alpine Lake Mountain, and here you are in person."

"Better to come at the right time than to come early." Ding Songyan smiled openly.

After collecting Su Qingli’s letter, he didn’t open it on the spot. He tucked it into the hidden pocket inside his lapel and went with Zheng Zhuxi to make a stop at Debao Tower.

"Young Hero Ding, Elder Ren’s letter arrived more than half a month ago, but he specifically instructed us not to send it to the Brightnight Sect; instead, he requested we wait for you to collect it in person," the shopkeeper explained with a broad smile.

Having reached the rank of Grandmaster, Ren Youyang had naturally become the youngest Elder of the True Spirit Sect.

Wait for me to collect it in person? Ding Songyan’s curiosity stirred. He took the letter and opened it on the spot.

On the letter paper was a single large character, written in bold ink.

"Scram!"

Ding Songyan burst out laughing. In high spirits, he asked the shopkeeper for paper and brush and wrote a reply on the spot.

"Brother Youyang, seeing you with such fire in you puts my mind at ease.

"I will certainly come traveling through Dan Province one day, and at every place I pass, I will announce your great name and proclaim your glorious deeds. No need to thank me; it is only what the storyteller Ding Songyan ought to do."

Zheng Zhuxi caught a glimpse of Ren Youyang’s reply, then saw what Ding Songyan had written. She was baffled and curious at the same time.

Outside Debao Tower, she hesitated before asking, "Why aren’t you angry with Ren Youyang’s response?"

"Senior Sister, you don’t understand. This is how men interact. As long as it doesn’t cross each other’s actual limits, you can mock each other, insult each other, and tease each other," Ding Songyan said with a smile. "My previous letter was full of barbs to begin with, so Brother Youyang replying with ’Scram’ is entirely fitting. Besides, what I worried about most before was that after dying and becoming a deity, his personality would gradually grow distant and he’d lose his human side. Seeing him reply with such a vigorous ’Scram’ leaves me overjoyed. Why would I be angry?"

"I see..." Zheng Zhuxi understood the reason but still found it a little hard to grasp.

Letters in hand, the two of them returned to the Ding household on Baoping Lane.

Xu Chang’an was under Yang Shiduo’s guidance, practicing the footwork, movement techniques, and palm strikes from the Blameless Profound Art. When he saw Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi enter the second courtyard, he quickly dropped his stance, a smile breaking across his face.

"Brother Ding, Z—Heroine Zheng, you’re back?"

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Xu Chang’an hesitated, then said to Ding Songyan, "Brother Ding, I’ve started aperture refinement. I’m working on the Ten Bodies Diagram from the Blameless Profound Art. As for the Diagram of the Great Change, Way Attainment you gave me—I can just barely visualize a few of its points, but there are far too many apertures to condense. If I were truly to use it for aperture refinement, it would take six to nine years. Although I don’t think I’m destined to become a Grandmaster, stepping into the Great Proliferation Realm only when I’m nearly thirty is simply too late."

"Normal aperture refinement takes around two to three years, perhaps a year and a half if you’re quick." Yang Shiduo also put in a word on Xu Chang’an’s behalf.

Fair enough. The Diagram of the Great Change, Way Attainment itself isn’t the problem, but the Chaos force contains too many apertures. Just the Human Realm stage alone would take six to nine years, so who could endure that? And afterward, 108 alien apertures still need to be forged. Even at Senior Sister Zheng’s pace of one per month, that’s another nine years. Starting aperture refinement at eighteen, even if everything goes smoothly, you’d only reach Great Proliferation Realm completion at 34 to 35, leaving just five or six years to push for the Dharma Realm. Everyone else takes more than ten... Ding Songyan sank into thought.

It was only now that he realized the aperture refinement method he had created had a critical flaw.

It took far too long!

Then again, if someone had the patience to endure mediocrity and spent 17-18 years cultivating the Diagram of the Great Change, Way Attainment and the subsequent aperture forging methods, their heart and mind cultivation should be sufficient to become a Grandmaster. They might step into the Dharma Realm naturally in just a year or two... Ding Songyan pondered for a moment. Lacking more examples to draw from, he could only say, "Then practice the Blameless Profound Art for now."

Once I finish the most important thing right now—working out the complete aperture forging methods—I’ll look into how to speed up the aperture refinement stage.

Glancing at Zheng Zhuxi, Ding Songyan said to Xu Chang’an, "Who’s the current fence around Dangkang Temple, and who runs the fences across the whole prefecture city?"

As the saying went, stealing goods was not as easy as stealing money. With goods, the trouble wasn’t the theft itself but offloading the merchandise. Only the established local fences had both the eye to offer a fair price and the nerve to receive stolen goods, and every one of those fences had deep ties to whoever ran the thieves.

Whoever stole Caretaker Zhu’s treasure—unless they were an outsider or working on someone’s behalf—would sooner or later need to offload the goods, and through a familiar contact at that. Running off to sell it in another province would leave them easy to cheat, or worse, to be robbed of the goods and killed.

"I lost track after my master died. I don’t know whether the fence chief in the prefecture city has changed either," Xu Chang’an volunteered eagerly. "Let me go ask around for you."

After seeing Xu Chang’an and Yang Shiduo off, Ding Songyan bid Zheng Zhuxi farewell and returned to his room.

Only then did he open Miss Xiao Qing’s letter and read it in the autumn light outside his window.

"Ding Songyan:"

"By the time your letter arrived, the Mid-Autumn Festival had already passed, but I’ll credit you with some sense of timing. That night, I looked at the bright moon—pure and beautiful, shining on all who are apart—and deliberately offered it three cups. One to have it toast you on my behalf, one for the parting that you and Ren Youyang gave me, and one to wish the world peace and its people joy.

"You didn’t forget to share a drink with the bright moon and toast me from afar, did you?

"Does the Brightnight Sect have any special customs for moon-viewing? In our Su household, besides drinking osmanthus wine and sharing mooncakes, we also eat roasted rabbit. The method is to remove the fur, rub it with salt, pepper, fennel, and the like, and roast it until the skin is golden and just slightly crisp. Each bite fills your mouth with lingering fragrance. I ate two whole rabbits.

"With winter approaching, my appetite has been growing. I eat three full meals and three snacks a day, and often have a late supper too. Don’t worry, by spring it will be back to normal. If you’re fond of snacks, I can include some the next time I write. It’s a shame we’re so far apart and roasted rabbit doesn’t keep well. Otherwise I would let you taste the Su household’s signature recipe. Dried rabbit isn’t as perishable, but it doesn’t taste nearly as good.

"Incidentally, I have long since eaten the huai fruit. The current Su Qingli can lift a bronze tripod. Even my eldest brother doesn’t dare take a full-strength punch from me head-on. According to my second uncle, my strength is now roughly comparable to Li Zhi’s, the major bandit of New Yu who disguised himself as Bull Ding, and perhaps even a touch beyond.

"A pity it hasn’t made me even a fraction taller. I can only hope that I might grow a little taller after winter.

"Your Legend of the White Snake hasn’t made it to the foot of Five Mounds Mountain yet, but I’ve quietly told it to the younger ones at home a few times now. They all love hearing it and keep humming those three songs.

"I have been diligent in cultivation and martial practice these past months. By next year, with the strength the huai fruit has given me, I should be at the fourth-rank Mortal Surpassed level. But before I turn twenty, my family does not allow its children to formally travel the jianghu, so it will be difficult to be officially ranked.

"Not traveling the jianghu doesn’t mean I won’t go out. If there’s something worth seeing in your Zhao Kingdom, I may come take a look, and sneak off to find you for some fun. I’d like to test your Seven Swords of Candlelit Night. And don’t be in too great a hurry. Right now the most important thing is to take it step by step. Sometimes, going slower is going faster. Only by enduring the solitude and tempering yourself from the very beginning can you achieve an Illumined Mind and become Resolute.

"...

"Every winter, snow falls on Five Mounds Mountain. The mountains and rivers wrap themselves in silver as the clouds grow thin and the sun turns cold. Everything is pure white and clean. Whether you drape a heavy cloak over your shoulders and have warm wine or steep tea in the courtyard, or go out to play in the snow, all of it is a joy. When that time comes, if snow falls on the Brightnight Sect as well, consider it my invitation for you to share the view.

"I had intended to write that same line again at the end, but I worry that saying it too often makes it lose its value and its power. So this time I’ll use a different one.

"Ding Songyan, together or apart, near or far; sharing a heart, friends still we are1.

"Su Qingli."

Quoted from Zhang Jiuling’s "Farewell to Magistrate Li of Wei City"

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