Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 212: Last-Minute Preparations

Under the bright moonlight, Li Baima studied Ding Songyan for a moment, then sighed.

"You haven’t had an easy life, Brother Ding. No wonder you’ve come so far."

The three of them belonged to sects of somewhat below-average standing, but none had faced any great danger growing up. At worst, youthful hotheadedness had led to a quarrel and a few injuries. Wu Mo and Fan Chunlin had offended someone without knowing it and had their heads split open by stones. To them, that already counted as serious trouble. Yet Brother Ding had been caught up in an affair involving moth-man puppets before he even began practicing martial arts.

Ding Songyan showed no fear. He smiled, his voice as calm as ever.

"It was a blessing in disguise. Because of it, I was lucky enough to meet Senior Sister and Master, and join the Brightnight Sect."

Seeing how little it seemed to trouble him, Fan Chunlin and the others let the matter rest. Instead, they asked in puzzlement, "What’s the Feng Kingdom’s Moth-God Sect doing here in Great Zhao?"

"That moth patriarch betrayed the Moth-God Sect and later joined the Sage-Severing Way." Ding Songyan made no secret of it.

"The Sage-Severing Way?" Fan Chunlin nearly jumped out of his seat. "You mean a Sage-Severing Way heretic was behind today’s moth-man?"

A demoness, and the very one you keep dreaming about... Ding Songyan corrected him inwardly, then nodded solemnly.

"Most likely.

"I’m telling you what happened to me so you won’t let your guard down. The Sage-Severing Way is involved in this. If some unexpected good fortune comes your way, stop and consider whether there’s a scheme behind it."

They thanked Ding Songyan for the warning. Then Fan Chunlin realized what it meant.

"The evil entity in the burial object was meant to lead us to the Silver Hook Gambling House? And the vendor’s movements were meant to make us search the Treasure Market and flush out Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang?"

He had taken part in both incidents, so the realization struck him more deeply than it did Li Baima and Wu Mo.

"That’s how the Sage-Severing Way operates," Ding Songyan said, confirming his guess.

Li Baima understood now too.

"The rumors say the Sage-Severing Way and the Accumulated Evil Way are bitter enemies. Seems they’re true."

After they had discussed it a little more, Wu Mo suddenly looked at Ding Songyan.

"Brother Ding, was your encounter with that moth patriarch connected to the Sage-Severing Way too?"

To both its current leader and her predecessor... Ding Songyan nodded.

Burning with curiosity, Wu Mo asked, "Then have you ever seen Ji Hanyi, the Unsullied Azure Lotus?"

Peerless Beauties of the Jianghu had not used the name Nine-Evils Demoness, which did nothing to convey Ji Hanyi’s extraordinary beauty. Instead, it had given her a new one based on her lovely, ethereal appearance and bearing.

By the jianghu’s unwritten rules, once word gets out that Demoness Ji has reached Heaven-Man, she’ll need a more imposing name among the unorthodox... Heretic Queen? Azure Sovereign? As his thoughts wandered, Ding Songyan gave a sigh.

"I have."

"You really have?" Fan Chunlin and the others stared wide-eyed.

Ding Songyan said helplessly, "Why else would I say you get used to it after a while?"

Well... All three were stunned.

So Brother Ding had been telling the truth...

Who would have thought he really was used to seeing the jianghu’s greatest beauties!

Though those memories probably weren’t very pleasant...

Wu Mo swallowed and lowered his voice.

"How does Demoness Ji compare to her portrait in Peerless Beauties of the Jianghu?"

Li Baima and Fan Chunlin turned to Ding Songyan in unison, their faces eager and curious.

You really have a death wish. Lust has made you fearless... She’s a Supreme Master! Ding Songyan grumbled inwardly, then answered with complete honesty.

"The portrait captures only sixty or seventy percent of her charm and grace."

Ding Songyan had always thought his little sister would become an extraordinary beauty once she grew a little older and her features matured. He had not expected her to become even more beautiful than he had imagined.

The fact that she had made Peerless Beauties of the Jianghu without either All Colors Under Heaven Gather Unto You or Beguiles the World said enough.

At that, Fan Chunlin and the others let their imaginations roam.

They chatted for a while longer. When Li Baima and Wu Mo returned to their rooms, Ding Songyan asked Fan Chunlin to stay.

"Something else?" Fan Chunlin asked, puzzled.

Ding Songyan smiled.

"Fourth Fan, is there anything you’ve been wishing for?"

Fan Chunlin looked bewildered at first. Then his face drained of color.

"Has... has the Sage-Severing Way or the Accumulated Evil Way set its sights on me?"

Is he asking for my last wishes?

"No." Ding Songyan shook his head with a laugh. "What gave you that idea? I wanted to ask you to teach me something, but I can’t expect you to do it for nothing. That’s why I asked what you wanted."

"That’s all?" Fan Chunlin let out a breath, color returning to his face. "What do you want to learn?"

As long as none of the Twenty-One Heretical Ways was out to kill him, anything else was negotiable.

Ding Songyan said earnestly, "The Brightnight Sect’s arts aren’t suited to concealment and stealth. But when you’re traveling the jianghu, sooner or later you’ll need to investigate someone or capture them without being seen. I’d like you to teach me a few tricks, in case I ever need them."

He did not ask to borrow the Shadowkill School’s Scripture of Dormancy—that would cross a sensitive line.

The version Fan Chunlin possessed contained no methods for forging apertures and installing viscera, but it surely included qi circulation routes, techniques for exerting force, summaries of moves, and the like. Such things were almost never shown to outsiders, except to repay a great debt or to a friend one would trust with one’s life.

Ding Songyan did not consider himself that close to Fan Chunlin yet. He really did only intend to ask for advice and exchange ideas, then see whether Manifesting the Way and its Virtue could reconstruct a small part of the art.

"Easy enough." Fan Chunlin rose and walked to a corner of the courtyard, where the darkness lay thickest.

With a touch of pride, he said, "Watch closely."

Ding Songyan nodded slightly to show that he was giving it his full attention.

Besides using the Candle-Star Pupils, he entered the Celestial Heart state, sensing the changes in the qi around them.

Fan Chunlin’s figure gradually darkened, almost merging with his surroundings. Whether he crouched or moved forward, the night concealed him.

The qi around him shifted perceptibly. Ding Songyan committed every subtle change to memory.

At the same time, his Chaos Realm let him discern how Fan Chunlin exerted force and roughly how the true qi near the surface of his body circulated.

After the demonstration, Fan Chunlin explained in detail how to use shadows, walk silently, and hide behind objects. These were mostly practical tricks and lessons learned from experience, not the martial art itself.

Ding Songyan asked questions and tried things out, learning quite a bit.

When the lesson was over, he smiled at Fan Chunlin.

"Fourth Fan, if you run into any problems with your martial practice, come and talk them over with me. I might have some useful advice."

"All right," Fan Chunlin agreed, then grinned. "But don’t think that gets you out of paying me. You already asked what I wished for. Next time we go to the Hengbo River, you’re paying my bill!"

Ding Songyan chuckled and agreed.

Once Fan Chunlin had returned to his room, Ding Songyan stepped into the deep shadows and closed his eyes. Guided by the details he had observed, he kept adjusting his true qi’s circulation routes, trying to reproduce the changes in the qi of the surrounding void.

After a long while, Ding Songyan’s figure began to blend into the night. At a glance, he was hard to make out, but a closer look still revealed traces of him. He was a long way from Fan Chunlin’s standard.

That could not be helped. He had no easy way to learn the state of Fan Chunlin’s apertures or how they had been condensed. Merely adjusting the routes of true qi through his meridians to affect the qi in the void was not enough to derive the complete Scripture of Dormancy.

With six months or a year of experimentation, perhaps even two or three years, Ding Songyan thought he could achieve sixty or seventy percent of Fan Chunlin’s proficiency in concealment and stealth. Rushed as he was, he could manage only twenty or thirty percent.

It’ll just about do... Once I’m inside the courtyard and close enough, Banishing Demons and Warding Off Evil will give me away anyway. No more hiding then. I’ll have to switch to hack-and-slash stealth... With that self-mocking remark, Ding Songyan returned to his room.

As far as he knew, Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang primarily cultivated the Accumulated Evil Divine Art. But the villain had been stuck at the perfected Dharma Realm for thirty or forty years, unable to reach Heaven-Man. He had most likely taken up the Demon Swallowing Evil Devouring Technique as well, to acquire a few sinister traits.

With a basic stealth art to fall back on, Ding Songyan took up Frostshade, left Prince Kang’s estate, and made his way through the night to Liu Cheng’s residence on Hidden River Lane.

Security was noticeably tighter here. Martial Prohibition Bureau members seemed to be concealed nearby as well.

Liu Cheng looked deeply troubled as a pretty maid helped him into the quiet chamber.

"Brother Ding, you haven’t discovered another threat to me, have you?" the Young Boss asked anxiously once the maid had left.

His condition had visibly improved.

Ding Songyan smiled and said, "Brother Liu, you’re jumping at shadows now.

"I’ve come to ask a favor."

Liu Cheng exhaled, relaxing into the back of his reclining chair.

"Just say the word, Brother Ding."

"I remember someone in the Sea-Treading Gang who’s good at concealment. He can blend in with plants and trees," Ding Songyan said deliberately. "I have an assignment coming up that calls for stealth and eavesdropping. I’d like to borrow his manual and see if it gives me a few ideas I can use. I won’t need his methods for forging apertures and installing viscera."

Ding Songyan had encountered the man while examining the scene of Qi Lingyi’s death. Boss Hu of the Sea-Treading Gang had sent him to gather information.

Does a steward at Prince Kang’s estate have a grudge against you? Sending you to sneak around and eavesdrop when he knows stealth isn’t the Brightnight Sect’s strength... This must just be Brother Ding’s excuse. He’s made it flimsy on purpose to tell me not to pry. The same goes for why he wants to borrow the manual instead of asking the man to teach him... Liu Cheng thought for a moment, then said gravely, "Wait here, Brother Ding. I’ll have it for you within two hours."

He said nothing about how difficult it might be, how he would do it, or what it would cost him.

After the maid helped Liu Cheng out, Ding Songyan half closed his eyes, seemingly resting to conserve his strength.

In fact, his mind never rested. He kept recalling everything the Brightnight Sect had recorded about the Accumulated Evil Divine Art and Sun Feiyang, using it to play out one imaginary battle after another.

Before two hours had passed, Liu Cheng was helped back into the room, holding a book that seemed to have been made from some strange plant.

A smile touched his pale, amiable face.

"I got it."

Liu Cheng is wasted as a gang’s Young Boss... Ding Songyan thanked him sincerely, accepted the manual, and looked at its cover.

Treatise on Sharing the Shadows of the World.

"I’ll get some rest. Leave the manual in this room when you’re done." Seeing his interest, Liu Cheng immediately called the maid to help him back to his room.

Ding Songyan nodded appreciatively.

After making sure no one was nearby, he began practicing as he read, once again having to draw on the Celestial Heart imprint.

Some time later, Ding Songyan’s eyes began to bulge like a fish’s, and his face took on a few deerlike features.