Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 225: Someone Who Needs a Lesson

Twelfth Madam Luo considered Ding Songyan’s answer carefully before speaking.

"That should work.

"It’s just a little underhanded. Not the sort of scheme I’d expect from a Brightnight Sect disciple..."

Pose as a supporter, then take things too far. Isn’t that a standard tactic? Twelfth Madam, when it comes to scheming, why do I get the feeling that throwing stones at people’s heads is about your limit? You’re free-spirited and perceptive, and you understand everything perfectly, but your thinking is too upright. You and Senior Sister belong at the same table... Ding Songyan smiled.

"Everyone’s different. Senior Sister often reprimands me. She says that, for all my chivalry, my methods are too flexible. People could easily misunderstand and give me a bad name."

Without giving Luo Mingyin a chance to pursue the subject, Ding Songyan asked again, "Twelfth Madam, if there’s anyone besides me you’d like to teach a lesson, just say so. I can take care of it for you while I’m at it."

Twelfth Madam Luo sank into thought.

"Someone I’d like to teach a lesson..."

After a moment, her eyes shifted, brightening as she emerged from her reverie. With a half smile, she said, "The people I’d like to teach a lesson are either beyond your strength or beyond your reach."

Does she have a grudge against some Supreme Master? Ding Songyan dared not pursue that thought aloud. He could only smile and say, "Then give it some more thought, Twelfth Madam. I’ll go and get the mask."

With her permission, he made his familiar way to the east wing, retrieved the Jade Maiden mask with its peach-blossom-red makeup, and tucked it inside his robe.

Seated on a woolen rug, Luo Mingyin sipped her tea. As Ding Songyan emerged, she asked with undisguised curiosity, "Who are you going to ask to play the Jade Maiden? Aren’t you afraid of exposing the Golden Boy’s secret?"

Ding Songyan pointed to himself.

"I’ll do it myself.

"There’s no rule saying the Jade Maiden has to be a woman, is there?"

Twelfth Madam Luo had no answer. Her mouth gapped, and she stared at Ding Songyan for several breaths.

Then she laughed aloud.

"I’d call you shameless, but you guard your good name so carefully. Yet the moment I think you have some shame, you prove me wrong!"

Ding Songyan had no wish to discuss the thickness of his skin with an outsider. Instead, he teased, "I thought you might volunteer, Twelfth Madam. Put on the Jade Maiden mask and do a few things you’ve always wanted to do but felt too embarrassed to try."

Twelfth Madam Luo pursed her lips.

"A Golden Boy mask, a Jade Maiden mask—it has romantic trouble written all over it. Why would I get involved?"

"It’s complicated. It’s not as simple as romantic trouble," Ding Songyan explained earnestly.

"All the more reason to stay out of it." An idea suddenly struck Twelfth Madam Luo. "I’ve thought of someone you can teach a lesson to."

"Who?" Ding Songyan had been worrying that he would have to come up with a target himself.

His original choice had been Shi Mantian, one of the estate’s four Grandmasters. He had long wanted to see the Great Snow Divine Sword and Ice Soul Finger in action, and striking so close to home might deflect suspicion from him. But Shi Mantian was formidable. If he remembered Ding Songyan’s build, he might recognize him when they next met at the estate.

Twelfth Madam Luo lifted her cup and took another sip.

"Hu Chaohui, leader of the Sea-Treading Gang."

Isn’t that Brother Liu’s adoptive father? Ding Songyan was interested at once.

Liu Cheng had learned his martial arts from his adoptive father. They came from the legacy of Buting Huyu, god of the Southern Sea before the heaven-earth severance, and Ding Songyan wanted to see them too.

Where Hu Chaohui had obtained that art, however, was unknown to outsiders.

"Has the Sea-Treading Gang been harassing the Cheap Wine Shop?" Ding Songyan asked curiously.

"With so many estate guards coming and going? The Sea-Treading Gang isn’t blind. Why would they offend people like that?" Twelfth Madam Luo turned to look toward Pingnan Street. "Who knows how many families the Silver Hook Gambling House has ruined? If I hadn’t seen it, that would be one thing. But it’s right under my nose. How can I ignore it?"

Gambling houses and gaming halls are legitimate businesses in every kingdom, north and south, even if they’re disreputable trades... Ding Songyan nodded slightly in agreement with Twelfth Madam Luo.

Twelfth Madam Luo turned back to him.

"I’d planned to find a chance to get rid of Qi Lingyi, who ran Silver Hook for the Sea-Treading Gang, and Gang Leader Hu Chaohui, then leave a warning. But the Accumulated Evil Way happened to target Qi Lingyi and destroyed him, body and soul. I had to put my plan aside. I could hardly act while everyone was on high alert.

"Whoever runs Silver Hook now, you can teach him a lesson too. Give him a warning. If he still refuses to mend his ways, I’ll take care of him before I leave the Flame Capital."

That’s a good friend of mine... Ding Songyan hurried to say, "Silver Hook is run by Liu Cheng now, the Sea-Treading Gang’s Young Boss. But he’s always believed that harmony brings wealth. He doesn’t want to keep doing business that harms people. There are so many mouths to feed in the gang, though, and Gang Leader Hu won’t give up such a profitable trade. All Liu Cheng can do is keep things going as best he can. The Accumulated Evil Way took revenge on him recently and badly wounded him. He’s still recovering at home."

As he spoke, Ding Songyan suddenly understood the full weight of what Liu Cheng had told him.

These disreputable gangs really are fragile.

They seemed to flourish, amassing wealth and raising grand buildings, yet they had to contend with rivals and fend off rising factions. The authorities restrained them, suppressed them, and sent them on dangerous errands. If their crimes grew too outrageous, they could be sacrificed to quell public anger. At any moment, a well-connected young hero might decide to dispense justice. Worse still, some passing powerhouse might take offense at their deeds and wipe them out on a whim—someone like Twelfth Madam Luo.

"He was the Sea-Treading Gang member someone tried to assassinate?" Understanding dawned on Twelfth Madam Luo’s face. "Then never mind. We won’t pick on a wounded man."

Young Boss, I’ve saved your life again. You nearly had a disaster fall on you out of nowhere... Ding Songyan changed the subject.

"Twelfth Madam, what do you know about Hu Chaohui?"

Since she had been planning to act, and had Chef Shi—the Flame Capital’s walking encyclopedia—close at hand, she must have gathered the relevant information.

Surely she wouldn’t just charge in blindly?

Twelfth Madam Luo recalled what she knew.

"Sixty-three years old. He was rated first-rank Spirit Resonated at forty-two and cultivates the Essentials of Heaven’s Decrees. For the past decade or more, he’s indulged in wine, women, and wealth. Outsiders don’t know how strong he is now. As a gang leader, he rarely needs to fight in person.

"Hu Chaohui was a seafarer in his youth. Some unknown encounter in the Southern Sea brought him Buting Huyu’s legacy. Later, he came to the Flame Capital and built the Sea-Treading Gang from nothing.

"The Essentials of Heaven’s Decrees lets him act on Heaven’s behalf and draw on the blessing of heaven and earth. Its power is vast. Quite an extraordinary art...

"Just teach him a lesson. Trying to kill him could easily expose your identity. He’s not an Accumulated Evil Way heretic hiding from the world in some dark hole where you can fight undisturbed. As a gang leader, he has Grandmasters, gang members, and plenty of attendants around him. The Martial Prohibition Bureau should still be watching them too..."

Having finished her account of Hu Chaohui, Twelfth Madam Luo sighed softly.

"I know that if Silver Hook is gone, a Golden Hook will take its place. Get rid of the Sea-Treading Gang, and a Sea-Overturning Gang will appear. The problem runs deeper than that.

"But now that I’ve seen it, I have to do something, if only for my own peace of mind."

That was why she had not initially thought of asking Ding Songyan to teach Hu Chaohui a lesson. She had simply planned to wait for a chance to get rid of him herself.

Ding Songyan asked detailed questions about the Essentials of Heaven’s Decrees, Hu Chaohui’s residence, and his guards. Then he glanced at the dark night sky, heavy with the promise of light rain, and offered Frostshade to Twelfth Madam Luo with a smile.

"I’ll leave my sword here for now and come back for it later."

"This sword of yours is rather recognizable. Shall I lend you an ordinary one?" Twelfth Madam Luo understood his concern.

If he was going to play the Jade Maiden, he could not use the Golden Boy’s sword.

Twelfth Madam uses a sword? Ding Songyan smiled.

"I know a little unarmed combat too."

He paused, then asked thoughtfully, "Do you have a saber?"

"I do." Twelfth Madam Luo nodded slightly.

Both swords and sabers... A master of both? She did swing a woodcutting blade at me that time... Which formidable woman in the jianghu is renowned for both sword and saber? Ding Songyan chuckled.

"Then I’ll take a saber for protection."

Twelfth Madam Luo rose, went into the room to the west, and returned with a saber forged from refined steel.

It was the sort of weapon one could find anywhere.

......

Deep into the quiet night, at the Hu residence on Yongjin Street, on Golden Pool’s western shore.

The residence extended through five courtyards, with gardens at the front and rear and several side compounds.

Deriving the Treatise on Sharing the Shadows of the World, Ding Songyan concealed himself among the vegetation and followed the corridors toward Hu Chaohui’s quarters.

This time, he had not asked Twelfth Madam Luo to alter his name and reality, disguising him as a Great Proliferation Realm martial artist to reduce the range of Banishing Demons and Warding Off Evil. Instead, he relied on his twenty-meter Chaos Realm and Celestial Heart state to track the night patrols and hidden sentries. From what he knew, no yao were hiding in the Sea-Treading Gang, nor did anyone carry evil entities. The real difficulty was the sheer number of people.

With those abilities, Ding Songyan easily slipped past the guards, avoided two gang members who could also hide among plants, and crossed the rafters above the Grandmaster on duty at the Hu residence that night.

In the time it took to drink two cups of tea, he reached the inner quarters without a sound. From the dream of one of Hu Chaohui’s sleeping concubines, he learned where the gang leader would spend the night.

Before long, Ding Songyan entered another courtyard.

Hu Chaohui had just risen from his favored concubine’s embrace. Now, with her attending him, he smoked a water pipe, blissfully relaxed in body and mind.

His skin was dark and his face weathered, but he did not look old. An illusory cyan snake hung from each ear like an ornament.

This was the life Hu Chaohui had dreamed of in his youth. He no longer had the ambition to seek Heaven-Man. All he wanted was to spend his remaining years amid women.

His two surviving sons and three surviving daughters had either been sent back to the South Province or married off elsewhere. None remained in the Flame Capital.

Did he need his adopted son Liu Cheng to tell him that a disreputable gang could not last? But changing things was not simply a matter of wanting to. Too many people’s interests rested on his shoulders. Every move risked trouble.

All he could do was send his children away and keep his adopted son beside him, hoping his own life might one day buy his children peace.

For a man branded a criminal who scraped a living from the sea, I’ve done well enough. I should be content... Through the rising smoke, Hu Chaohui seemed to see scenes from his seafaring past.

Suddenly, a dark, shadowy fist appeared out of nowhere and hurtled toward his face.