Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 114: Similar Places

Ding Songyan found himself looking forward to how the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years would perform at the Dharma Realm. He and Zheng Zhuxi agreed that once she had forged her tenth alien aperture and recovered, they would travel together to Qisong Prefecture at the southern tip of Ning Province, testing their blades on any wanted criminals they came across along the way.

Once they reached Qisong Prefecture, they would assess the situation and find a way to arrange a sparring match with a Grandmaster of the Huangliang Sect. They couldn’t force anything—both sides were orthodox members of the jianghu, after all.

After eating the meal the kitchen had prepared, Zheng Zhuxi left Baoping Lane for the county office, intending to apologize to her fellow disciples for abruptly setting off after the Three Fiends and disrupting their duty rotation. It hadn’t been a sect-assigned mission—it was a choice she had made for the sake of a promise and a whim due to her youthful spirit, and it had genuinely caused others trouble.

In her old style, a verbal apology would have been enough. Now she planned to bring small snacks and little gifts along. Her path and principles hadn’t changed, just that her approach had become softer and more considered.

With his senior sister handling this kind of errand in his stead, Ding Songyan was happy to practice his swordsmanship in the courtyard.

He moved through each stroke and stance with great slowness, as if simply unwinding. Yet the sword’s intent gradually seeped outward. Some of the surrounding flowers and trees began to yellow faster and wither ahead of season, while others put out tender new shoots in the depths of autumn. The cool wind that passed through turned icy at times, warm and humid at others, and sometimes slowed to a near standstill.

After some time, Ding Songyan sheathed his sword and stood still. He glanced toward the covered walkway and saw Xu Chang’an and Yang Shiduo arriving together.

"Back again?" Ding Songyan said with an easy smile, not bothering with formality.

Xu Chang’an was carrying three jars of wine. He scratched his head and grinned.

"I’ve condensed my first aperture and officially entered the Human Realm. I wanted to celebrate with you, Brother Ding. Besides, Brother Yang has put in a great effort coaching me these past few days."

Saying that, he glanced around.

"Where’s M-Miss Zheng?"

"Miss Zheng’s at the county office. Besides, she hasn’t been in the mood for drinking lately." Ding Songyan happened to be a little thirsty from the practice. He pointed to the stone stools in the courtyard. "Let’s drink here. I’ll have Old Luo put together some food."

Old Luo was the Ding family cook, or rather, the Qu family cook at present, temporarily lent to Ding Songyan.

Sitting down on the stone stools, Ding Songyan put on no airs, laughing and chatting with Yang Shiduo and Xu Chang’an about goings-on in the prefecture city and rumors from the jianghu.

Each with a jar of wine in hand, they took long gurgling gulps from time to time. Accompanied by a clear breeze and bright moon, it was thoroughly pleasant.

"Brother Yang, are you in the prefecture city by yourself?" Growing tipsy, Xu Chang’an asked Yang Shiduo.

Yang Shiduo was quiet for a moment before answering.

"I’m from the prefecture city. My parents passed away a few years ago and left me a courtyard and some silver. I’m planning to sell the courtyard soon, partly to convert it into cultivation resources, and partly to move in with my master and look after him."

Xu Chang’an, visibly drunk, slapped his thigh.

"Same here. My parents died early and I’ve been on my own. But before I took a master, my uncle’s family often helped me out, so I never ended up in an orphanage."

The orphanage was a government institution for taking in orphans and abandoned children, mentioned in the same breath as the poorhouse. Orphanages often had ties to official martial academies, and the current emperor’s personal guards were either of royal or noble blood, or products of the orphanage-to-martial-academy pipeline.

Their shared circumstances brought Xu Chang’an and Yang Shiduo closer in an instant, with a sense of kindred spirits who had met too late.

Ding Songyan watched with some amusement, but also a quiet sigh.

Between the three of them, there isn’t a complete pair of living parents to be found.

He drained the last of his wine and rose, turning to Yang Shiduo.

"After you see Xu Chang’an home, come back. I have something to give you."

Yang Shiduo could hold his drink well. After a full jar of wine, his darkened face had only flushed slightly, unlike Xu Chang’an, who was already swaying side to side as he walked.

Useless! Ding Songyan cursed under his breath with an amused fondness, in the manner of an elder brother.

Yang Shiduo agreed on the spot and returned from Chengyu Lane before long.

"Take these home and copy all three volumes for me." Ding Songyan handed over the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years manuals.

Copying tasks like this were done by clerks in official offices all the time—having an outsider help wasn’t overstepping, since it didn’t involve any aperture forging or viscera installation methods.

"Of course." Yang Shiduo had always been grateful and had only feared he’d never find a way to repay Ding Songyan.

Ding Songyan thought for a moment and added, "You should be making some headway with the Nine Primal Arts by now. The Great Dream of Three Thousand Years has movement techniques that excel in agility. You could try practicing those. But only pick out the parts that complement your Iron Wound Fist. Don’t overreach. ’Making it your own’ suits your path better than ’practicing everything.’"

Yang Shiduo hadn’t expected that being asked to copy the manuals was itself an opportunity. He was moved beyond words and deeply humbled at the same time.

How could he ever repay a kindness like this?

"If someday you can walk this path step by step to Grandmaster and validate what I’ve learned, that would be the greatest kindness of all." Ding Songyan let a little slip.

He expects me to enter the Dharma Realm and become a Grandmaster? Yang Shiduo was so stunned that his nervousness and trepidation vanished entirely.

He had never dared dream so high for himself!

His goal had simply been to reach the perfected Great Proliferation Realm step by step, to secure a third-rank Form Transfigured standing. It already made him an exceptional figure by the standards of Dingjiang Prefecture.

Ding Songyan said no more. He clasped his hands behind his back, picked up Frostshade, left the Ding residence, and made his way to the Qu family home, also on Baoping Lane, to call on Qu Zhongheng.

While waiting for Yang Shiduo to return, his thoughts had drifted naturally back to the matter of Demon Sovereign Tan Guanchan. Combined with Yan Changqing’s trap of making him sneak glances at Heaven’s Gate Lookout Island three times, he had decided to investigate that river island more carefully to see whether it truly held some secret.

From there, he had thought of how Qu Zhongheng’s mother had died falling into the river while flying a wooden kite-carriage to Heaven’s Gate Lookout Island, and he decided to ask about the details of what had happened.

There might be unexpected leads hidden there.

Led by a stiff, mechanical wooden guardian, Ding Songyan found Qu Zhongheng with one leg and three eyes in a room that looked something like a small workshop.

With his yin eye tightly shut, Qu Zhongheng’s normal eyes swept over Ding Songyan.

"Heroine Zheng didn’t come?"

When did you start pining after my senior sister? Weren’t you just obsessing over my unearned little sister Ji Hanyi not that long ago? That’s not admiration; that’s just lechery! Ding Songyan said with an unamused laugh, "I’m the one here on business."

Qu Zhongheng didn’t hide his disappointment. He even sighed.

"Heroine Zheng has her own appeal. She’s spirited and dashing, leaving quite an impression on me. But I still can’t forget Miss Qingyan. How delicate and pure she was; it was truly unforgettable."

Pure? Which eye of yours found anything pure about that demoness? Don’t make the Nine-Evils Demoness laugh... Qu Zhongheng had actually amused him.

He figured this counted as a major triumph of Ji Hanyi’s con artistry.

Ding Qingyan had been well played!

Since asking outright how his mother had died and why would likely get him thrown out, Ding Songyan thought carefully and said, "Qu Zhongheng, people say your family’s mechanisms are shoddy, about how accidents have happened with both the wooden guardians and the kite-carriage, and that it even cost your mother her life. But I don’t believe it. I’ve seen your work with my own eyes. There must be another reason for what happened to your mother!"

At these words, Qu Zhongheng’s face first showed confusion, then surged with excitement.

A kindred spirit! A true kindred spirit!

This Ding Songyan understands me so well. He understands my mechanisms so well!

Near tears with gratitude, he hopped a couple of steps and said, "There was another reason!"

Ding Songyan quickly asked, "What reason?"

This straightforward type might seem difficult to deal with, but once you found the right approach, he was very easy to handle!

"The prefecture and county offices wouldn’t let us test the kite-carriage within the city. But outside the city, even with the mechanical parasol, crashing into the ground or the mountains is still very dangerous," Qu Zhongheng explained in detail. "We chose to fly across the river to Heaven’s Gate Lookout Island, so that even if we fell from midair, we’d land in the water and could still be rescued."

"What accident happened?" Ding Songyan asked, playing along.

Grief crossed Qu Zhongheng’s face.

"The kite-carriage was built without issue, and several test flights went smoothly. Then my mother decided she wanted to fly higher, all the way above the clouds to see if she could spot the Heavenly Gate that had vanished long ago. You can’t see it from the island, but perhaps it’s visible from a high altitude.

"But the cold at that altitude was brutal. The kite-carriage froze up almost immediately and plummeted straight down into the river."

How high did she fly... Your family really does have a hereditary streak of recklessness—no, boldness... Ding Songyan thought for a moment and asked, "If she fell into the river, couldn’t she have been rescued?"

"It was too high. The mechanical parasol froze too..." Qu Zhongheng shook his head with sorrow.

"Your mother’s accident seems to have been a failure to account for the cold at altitude, not any defect in the kite-carriage itself," Ding Songyan agreed with him first, then asked, "But why did your mother suddenly decide to search for the vanished Heavenly Realm Gate?"

Qu Zhongheng gave Ding Songyan a puzzled look.

"Isn’t that a perfectly natural thing to think? Heaven’s Gate Lookout Island is full of thatched huts and stone grottos left by generations of people who sought the Heavenly Realm. They all wanted to find the vanished gate. My father and mother visited that island many times and saw countless messages they left behind. Isn’t it natural to want to try?"

"Fair enough." Ding Songyan hadn’t found anything problematic for the moment.

He had only gathered the information that seekers of the Heavenly Realm had existed in every generation.

Like those who sought Kunlun, their goal was presumably to find a way around the heaven-earth severance and ascend to the Heavenly Realm.

After a few more exchanges, Ding Songyan took his leave.

Qu Zhongheng went back to his work for a while, then suddenly murmured to himself in puzzlement, "Didn’t Ding Songyan say he had business with me? Why did he just leave?"

...

By the time Ding Songyan returned to the Ding residence, Zheng Zhuxi had already come back from the county office.

"Where did you go?" Zheng Zhuxi didn’t hide her curiosity.

Ding Songyan laid out Heaven’s Gate Lookout Island, Yan Changqing’s trap, and the Demon Sovereign Tan Guanchan’s possible motives. As his senior sister’s expression grew increasingly serious, he said thoughtfully,

"I just asked Qu Zhongheng why his mother died on the way to Heaven’s Gate Lookout Island. I haven’t turned up any connection for now.

"Senior Sister, how many places like this exist—places where the Heavenly Realm could supposedly be seen in ancient times?"

Zheng Zhuxi recalled and said, "Six or seven. I can only recall four at the moment.

"One is this Heaven’s Gate Lookout Island, one is Black Water Immortal Valley, one is Evergreen Island in the Eastern Sea, and one is Mount Dique in Qian Province of the Gan Kingdom..."

At that, both Zheng Zhuxi and Ding Songyan froze.

Mount Dique?

The Mount Dique where the Two-Faced had once been confined?

And the Demon Sovereign Tan Guanchan could artificially create Two-Faced!

And he came to Dingjiang Prefecture, home of Heaven’s Gate Lookout Island, every year...