Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 213: Again and Again

The Treatise on Sharing the Shadows of the World covered only the stages up to the perfected Great Proliferation Realm. Ding Songyan spent four years of his lifespan to master it completely.

As he sat in the wooden chair, he suddenly vanished into thin air.

A few breaths later, his figure reappeared in the same place.

This art leans more toward moving as one with vegetation. It doesn’t make full use of mountain forests, but it lets me share the form and shadow of any object or setting made chiefly from plants or wood, blending into it. Only something like the Candle-Star Pupils, the Chaos Realm, or Celestial Heart perception can detect me... Ding Songyan carefully assessed it for a while. Double pupils formed in his eyes once more.

When he asked Liu Cheng for the manual, he had been prepared for a refusal. The Sea-Treading Gang was a mixed lot, after all. The man who practiced this art might have joined from elsewhere, or might answer only to Boss Hu and care nothing for the Young Boss. That was why Ding Songyan had first sought Fan Chunlin’s advice, to give himself something to fall back on.

Closing the book, Ding Songyan rubbed his temple and concealed his fatigue and weakness. He rose, left Liu Cheng’s residence, and retraced his route to the area near Prince Kang’s estate.

It was well past midnight. Rather than return to the estate, he found an inn and fell straight into bed.

By the time he woke, it was broad daylight.

Refreshed, Ding Songyan ate a bowl of noodles and went to the narrow lane beside the Cheap Wine Shop.

Twelfth Madam Luo had changed into a dark-red padded jacket that fastened down the front, her hair gathered in a loose bun. Squatting beside an open drain, she was washing a basin of clothes. A wooden bucket full of clean water stood beside her, a gourd dipper floating on its surface.

"What are you here for this time?" Twelfth Madam Luo asked in weary exasperation.

Does this man have no shame at all?

So much for his unblemished reputation!

Ding Songyan cleared his throat and put on his most winning smile.

"Twelfth Madam, I’d like you to alter my name and reality again, this time to the early Great Proliferation Realm.

"If you ever need anything, I’ll be at your service."

When he first experienced Twelfth Madam Luo’s alteration of name and reality, Ding Songyan had discovered that changing the name changed the reality too. The range of Banishing Demons and Warding Off Evil had shrunk accordingly to eight meters, matching the perfected Great Proliferation Realm. Name and reality were in accord.

If his name and reality were reduced to the early Great Proliferation Realm, the trait’s effect would be confined to four meters. It would no longer interfere with his plan to infiltrate Qian Shulong’s former residence and approach Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang.

"What do you need it for?" Twelfth Madam Luo stopped washing, puzzlement in her voice.

Ding Songyan squatted down, his expression turning serious.

"To kill someone."

Twelfth Madam Luo raised her dark brows slightly.

"Does he deserve to die?"

The corners of Ding Songyan’s lips lifted slightly.

"Sun Feiyang of the Accumulated Evil Way."

"He certainly does." Twelfth Madam Luo nodded.

She did not ask how Ding Songyan knew where Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang was hiding, or whether he was confident of success. She merely considered for a moment, then said,

"Altering your name and reality to the perfected Great Proliferation Realm lasts an hour. At the early stage, it will last only half an hour. Can you reach Sun Feiyang’s hiding place in time?"

We’re in the southwest of the city, and he’s in the east. This is the Flame Capital, too. I couldn’t get there in half an hour unless I went all out, and that would expose me... At the speed of someone at the perfected Great Proliferation Realm, an hour would be more than enough, with time left to sneak inside. Once I face Sun Feiyang, there’s no need to maintain the disguise... Eight meters would normally be fine, but if he’s hiding in a cellar or secret passage, he might escape after sensing Banishing Demons and Warding Off Evil, before I can cut him off... Ding Songyan fell into thought.

He did have an excellent solution. It would just take considerable nerve to ask.

Just as Ding Songyan was about to make his request, Twelfth Madam Luo sighed.

"I’ve helped you this far. I may as well see it through. Roughly where is Sun Feiyang hiding?"

Twelfth Madam, you’re as kind as you are beautiful! Ding Songyan did not dare say anything so flirtatious aloud. He thanked her sincerely, then said, "On Fengjia Lane, in the eastern city."

Twelfth Madam Luo’s eyes shifted as she thought back for a moment.

"Then before you commit murder, come with me for a stroll around the market outside Dangkang Temple."

Dangkang Temple’s headquarters lay in the eastern Flame Capital, a little over a quarter of an hour’s walk from Fengjia Lane.

Ding Songyan thanked her so profusely and sincerely that Twelfth Madam Luo could not help rolling her eyes.

"Anything else?" the shopkeeper asked pointedly.

"Actually, there is one more thing." Ding Songyan seemed not to hear the hint.

Twelfth Madam Luo’s eyes flashed. Tilting her head slightly, she glared at him.

"Keep this up and I’ll start throwing stones at your head!"

"If I manage to kill Sun Feiyang, you can throw stones until my head has as many bumps as the Buddha’s." Ding Songyan’s expression all but said, Go on. Don’t spare this delicate flower.

The corner of Twelfth Madam Luo’s mouth twitched.

"You’re incorrigible. Out with it. What is it?"

"Please ask Chef Shi about the layout of the area around Fengjia Lane, without letting him know the request came from me. I’ll cover the cost." Ding Songyan considered for a moment. "Ideally, I’d like the information within four hours. If that’s not possible, within a day will do. If he can’t manage that, I’ll find someone else."

Since the request was straightforward, Twelfth Madam Luo shook the water from her hands into the basin, rose, and went back through the rear courtyard to the kitchen.

She soon returned and held out her hand.

"A hundred taels of silver."

Ding Songyan, who had already stood up, suddenly noticed that her right hand was neither plump nor puffy. Her palm was fair with a rosy flush, her five fingers long and slender, still wet with water. It was an exceptionally pretty hand.

So she is disguising herself. Something closer to ordinary disguise techniques? Ding Songyan looked away and blurted out in feigned shock, "That much?"

"Normally, the layout around Fengjia Lane would cost only a few taels. But you wanted it within four hours, didn’t you? That’s what makes it expensive." Twelfth Madam Luo wore a look that said, Don’t give me any more of your nonsense. "I agreed on your behalf. Chef Shi has already left."

"All right." Ding Songyan was never stingy when it mattered.

He took a hundred-tael banknote from inside his robe and handed it to her.

Twelfth Madam Luo put it away, squatted down, and resumed washing the clothes.

Ding Songyan was about to return to the estate’s side courtyard to rest, intending to come back in four hours. Then a thought struck him, and he squatted beside her again.

Twelfth Madam Luo slowly raised her head and shot him a look, her patience wearing thin.

"Don’t tell me there’s more. You’re about to get an earful!"

"Ahem. Twelfth Madam, have you ever fought anyone from the Accumulated Evil Way?" Ding Songyan asked.

Realizing it was a serious question, Twelfth Madam Luo softened.

"I’ve killed them."

"Then you must know something about the Accumulated Evil Divine Art and the Demon Swallowing Evil Devouring Technique?" Ding Songyan pressed.

Twelfth Madam Luo nodded.

"They have another martial art, the Eight Winds Art."

"I’d like to discuss the Accumulated Evil Way’s martial arts with you." Ding Songyan’s gaze was utterly clear and sincere.

Twelfth Madam Luo gave a resigned sigh.

"Wait until I’ve finished the washing.

"What are you still staring at? I’m about to wash my underclothes. Keep looking and you’ll get a stye!"

As the shopkeeper launched into a sharp-tongued beration, Ding Songyan hastily rose and returned to the prince’s estate.

He found a set of short work clothes, more suited to an ordinary townsman than a martial artist, and put them on beneath his robe.

By the time he returned to the Cheap Wine Shop’s rear courtyard, Twelfth Madam Luo had finished the washing.

Sitting at the stone table, Ding Songyan listened intently as she shared her experience of fighting Accumulated Evil Way heretics. Now and then, they used their fingers as swords to try out a few moves.

Before they knew it, the wine shop was growing busy and the golden-red sun shone high overhead.

Twelfth Madam Luo suddenly glanced toward the shop out front.

"Chef Shi is back. If you don’t want him to know you asked for the layout of Fengjia Lane, hide in the east wing."

Chef Shi is back? I haven’t sensed him yet... The Chaos Realm confines my perception to twenty meters, a shorter range than other Grandmasters at my realm have. The wine shop blocks my view, and I haven’t trained my hearing with any special art. Unless I enter the Celestial Heart state, I can’t compare with Twelfth Madam... Ding Songyan rose, entered the main building at the rear of the courtyard, and turned into the east wing.

It looked more like a storeroom. There was a bed, but clearly no one had slept in it for a long time. Wooden chests and boxes covered it.

A dozen or so breaths later, Shi Wuyan entered the courtyard and handed Twelfth Madam Luo a map of Fengjia Lane and its surroundings.

Once Chef Shi was busy with lunch hour, Ding Songyan emerged from the east wing. He took the sheets of white paper, covered in drawings and notes, and studied them closely.

"When do you intend to go to Fengjia Lane?" Twelfth Madam Luo asked as she swept the rear courtyard.

Ding Songyan answered without hesitation, "This afternoon."

Late night offered better concealment, but the enemy would also be more vigilant.

...

Winter was approaching, and the mornings and evenings were already bitterly cold. In direct sunlight, though, a little warmth remained, enough to leave people relaxed and drowsy in the autumn afternoon.

Ding Songyan had changed at the inn beforehand, shedding his scholar’s gown for plain short clothes, and now accompanied Twelfth Madam Luo through the sizable market outside Dangkang Temple’s headquarters. After they had strolled for a while, she altered his name and reality, leaving him at the early Great Proliferation Realm.

He then made his way toward Fengjia Lane. Apart from the longsword in his hand, he looked no different from the people passing around him.

A little over a quarter of an hour later, he reached the alley behind Qian Shulong’s former residence. As soon as he stepped into the shade of a tree, his eyes bulged like a fish’s and his face lengthened into something deerlike.

He vanished without a sound, sharing the form and shadow of the vegetation. Under cover of the tree’s shade, he slipped over the courtyard wall and into the rear garden.

Flowers, grass, wooden pillars—anything of the sort let him move freely, easily evading the servants’ notice. Where none were available, he derived his rudimentary version of the Scripture of Dormancy and crept along using the tricks Fan Chunlin had taught him.

Before long, Ding Songyan reached a covered walkway near the second courtyard.

Glancing around, he spotted someone in a room to one side.

The man was in his twenties. Pitch-black markings showed on his forehead, though they had not yet formed the character for "evil." His features were decent enough, but his face was vicious.

One of Sun Feiyang’s personal disciples? He doesn’t seem to have cultivated the Demon Swallowing Evil Devouring Technique as a secondary art yet... Using the open wooden window as cover, Ding Songyan leaped inside, unseen and without a shadow.

The man had just turned around when a sheathed longsword appeared before his forehead.

Cold sweat poured from him. He wanted to cry for help and block the blow, but could barely move. It was as though he had sunk into the deepest nightmare and found himself before the Way Master, the man who always filled him with utter terror.

The scabbard struck his forehead with a dull knock, rendering him unconscious. Ding Songyan lifted a foot to catch him, then lowered him silently to the floor.

His face already serpentine, Ding Songyan swiftly entered the man’s dream.