Chapter 190: Hidden Dragons and Crouching Tigers

On a late-autumn afternoon, clouds veiled the sun as the chill steadily deepened.

When Ding Songyan arrived at the Cheap Wine Shop, only one table of customers remained.

He looked toward the counter, gestured toward the rear courtyard to Twelfth Madam Luo, then went around to the side door.

Before long, the side door opened. Luo Mingyin, dressed in a short dark-red jacket and a tricolored long skirt, walked toward the stone stools with a beaming smile.

"Your method proved rather useful. After I nearly hacked someone at noon, everyone who came to drink behaved themselves. At most, they made a few lewd remarks."

"Good. If several more people are struck in the head with stones, it will put me in a difficult position." Ding Songyan seated himself across from Twelfth Madam Luo with assumed familiarity and asked with a smile, "I came today to inquire about something. Do you know anyone in the Flame Capital who cultivates underworld arts, or whether any such martial artists have arrived within the past six months?"

Few sects possessed arts involving the underworld. Most were in the Feng Kingdom, while the remainder were concentrated in the Gan Kingdom. Within Great Zhao, barely one martial artist in ten thousand cultivated such arts, making them extremely difficult to encounter.

This was both bad and good news. It meant every such person drew attention and was unlikely to be overlooked.

Regarding the death of the Sea-Treading Gang’s Qi Lingyi, Ding Songyan, Fan Chunlin, and the Martial Prohibition Bureau currently agreed that a Ghost Yu Way assassin had committed the murder before a hidden martial artist destroyed the victim’s soul, ensuring the annihilation of both body and spirit.

Destroying a soul was not difficult. Anyone with vigorous blood vitality could suppress a weak ghost. However, silently destroying the ghost of a Dharma Realm Grandmaster was beyond ordinary people. Only three kinds could accomplish it: Supreme Masters or stronger figures, those whose martial arts or traits could inherently dispel souls, and martial artists connected to the underworld.

Based on the scene, the Martial Prohibition Bureau believed a martial artist who cultivated underworld arts was responsible.

"You came to me instead of asking the Martial Prohibition Bureau?" Twelfth Madam Luo pointed at herself in amusement. "Could anyone understand the Flame Capital’s jianghu better than the Martial Prohibition Bureau?"

Ding Songyan said earnestly, "The Martial Prohibition Bureau is already investigating them one by one, and I may be called upon to assist at any time.

"But I was thinking... Twelfth Madam, have you heard what happened to Qi Lingyi?"

Only after Luo Mingyin nodded did Ding Songyan continue.

"Qi Lingyi’s ghost is missing. Such an anomaly cannot escape the Martial Prohibition Bureau’s notice. They will inevitably investigate martial artists who cultivate underworld arts, and the Bureau has no shortage of marvelous techniques. Does the person who destroyed his soul truly believe they can hide from it?

"I believe that person has either fled already or was never under the Bureau’s watch to begin with, which made them so confident. That is why I hoped you might know something the Martial Prohibition Bureau does not."

"You expect to ask me for information empty-handed?" Twelfth Madam Luo smiled and rubbed her thumb against her forefinger.

It was the gesture of counting banknotes.

Ding Songyan was about to take out some silver when Twelfth Madam Luo waved him off with a soft laugh.

"You helped me and concealed those incidents with the stones. How would it be right for me to charge you?

"In truth, I do not know the Flame Capital’s jianghu very well. I learn all my news through someone else. Go to the kitchen shortly and find Shi Wuyan. Hire him to investigate the matter for you. He is the true local intelligence broker."

Shi Wuyan, the cook...? Ding Songyan was briefly taken aback.

He had examined everyone at the Cheap Wine Shop with the Candle-Star Pupils, including the shopkeeper before him who was seemingly a Celestial Thearch inheritor, yet had found nothing unusual.

It is understandable that I failed to notice anything unusual about Twelfth Madam Luo. She cultivates the Celestial Thearch’s Nine Canons, after all. But now she is saying that her cook is also extraordinary?

"Your wine shop truly conceals hidden dragons and crouching tigers," Ding Songyan marveled.

He vaguely remembered that one cook was fat and the other rather thin. Both looked perfectly ordinary.

Twelfth Madam Luo’s eyes shifted slightly as she recalled, "Everyone other than Chef Shi is ordinary. Everyone has troubles at home, so he works here to earn a wage.

"As for Chef Shi, I can tell that he is at the perfected Great Proliferation Realm and came from a heretical path. His conscience survived, so he defected and hid in the Flame Capital. On the surface, he is a capable cook. In private, he makes his living selling jianghu intelligence and likely has a large network behind him.

"I do not know whether he committed any evil deeds in the past, but he has behaved himself for more than a year and often helps the neighbors. If you can identify the crimes he committed and wish to take him to the Martial Prohibition Bureau, I will not stop you."

Perfected Great Proliferation Realm, a heretical background, and no physical abnormalities... From Twelfth Madam Luo’s description, Ding Songyan roughly guessed Shi Wuyan’s origins.

It seems my Candle-Star Pupils did not fail. His martial art simply produces no physical abnormalities, only a few habitual movements that many ordinary people also display.

Among the heretical paths, only one possesses this distinction!

"Twelfth Madam, your skills certainly embolden you. You hired Shi Wuyan as a cook without even learning his full history," Ding Songyan marveled again.

Twelfth Madam Luo lazily propped her head on her right hand.

"I will run this wine shop for only two or three years. Why worry so much?

"If he harbors evil intentions, I can claim the bounty and recover some of my losses."

Ding Songyan thanked Twelfth Madam Luo, rose, and entered the wine shop from the rear courtyard before making his way into the kitchen.

He asked politely with a smile, "Which of you is Chef Shi?"

A lean, capable-looking man in his thirties turned toward him, rubbing his neck as he asked, "I am. What do you need?"

Every one of his features was ordinary. Only his slightly blue-black eyes left any impression, and unlike the other cook, his face was clean rather than greasy.

"Twelfth Madam sent me to find you. Shall we speak in the rear courtyard?" Ding Songyan asked with a smile.

Shi Wuyan nodded silently and followed Ding Songyan into the rear courtyard. Twelfth Madam Luo had already returned to the counter.

"Chef Shi, I wish to ask you for some information," Ding Songyan said seriously.

Shi Wuyan’s expression shifted slightly, and he blurted, "Twelfth Madam told you?"

A hint of disappointment entered his expression. He seemingly had not expected Twelfth Madam Luo to reveal his secret to a guard who had only just arrived at the estate.

Ding Songyan was exceptionally perceptive and immediately said with a smile,

"I concealed Twelfth Madam’s secret for her, so naturally she wishes to return the favor and lend me a hand."

The unspoken message was, There is absolutely nothing between Twelfth Madam Luo and me!

Shi Wuyan’s expression eased.

"What do you wish to know?"

Ding Songyan repeated what he had told Twelfth Madam Luo. Shi Wuyan listened carefully, then pondered for a while before replying,

"Since you helped Twelfth Madam, I will not charge you. However, my junior brother has been missing for several days. Without him coordinating matters, I cannot uncover any information. You may need to wait a while."

"Your junior brother is missing? Since when?" Ding Songyan’s eyes brightened.

"Three or four days." Shi Wuyan sounded somewhat worried. "He vanishes without a word several times every year, but he always reappears quickly."

Missing for three or four days? Ding Songyan spoke earnestly.

"Chef Shi, why not let me help find your junior brother?"

Shi Wuyan remained silent for a long while before answering, "You may visit the Zhang residence in Huangmen Alley in the southern city."

......

The Zhang residence, Huangmen Alley.

Now dressed in a cyan scholar’s robe and wanderer’s headband, Ding Songyan looked up at the plaque over the entrance and tried pushing the closed side door.

The wooden door slowly swung open. Surprisingly, it was unlocked.

After confirming that he carried his guard identification token, Ding Songyan stepped inside, crossed the first courtyard, and followed the covered walkways deeper into the residence.

The way was unnaturally quiet, without a single person in sight.

Suddenly, Ding Songyan spotted a civet.

No, it was far larger than an ordinary civet. Its coat was pinkish brown, cream yellow, and gray-brown. Long hair grew around its neck like a mane, while its entirely white tail stood long, powerful, and erect.

The nearly lynx-sized animal held a bloody human thigh in its mouth.

Moon-white scraps of cloth covered the human thigh. It was drenched in blood, yet little liquid dripped from it.

Ding Songyan showed neither surprise nor horror.

Carrying Frostshade, he followed the civet without a sound as it swiftly entered a room on the western side.

The room was large. White gauze hung around the open windows, and the sunlight shining through gilded a writing desk, wooden stools, standing lamps, a curio shelf, and a reclining chair. The rest of the chamber remained dim and indistinct.

Amid the painted scrolls scattered across the floor lay a great heap of dismembered body parts: hands, a head, a torso, and all manner of organs.

The enormous civet placed the human thigh it carried atop the mound of flesh.

In an instant, the hands, feet, and sections of the torso began to wriggle. They drew together and reassembled themselves.

Ding Songyan stood with his sword cradled in his arms and watched with keen interest.

Within moments, the dismembered remains reassembled into a pale young man whose entire body radiated exhaustion.

Many moon-white scraps of cloth clung to his body. He was slightly surprised to see Ding Songyan but showed no panic, merely smiling with some embarrassment.

"One moment. I will wash off the blood and change my clothes."

"Please do." Ding Songyan entered the room, found a wooden stool, and sat down. He examined the paintings scattered across the floor with a smile.

Each depicted a handsome man or beautiful woman with a distinctive charm.

Before long, the young man who had reassembled from the body parts returned. He had changed into a loose gray-white robe, tied his hair with a white cloth, and washed his face clean. His features were delicate, though his true age was probably considerably greater than his appearance suggested.

The young man, visibly exhausted, sat in the reclining chair. The enormous civet leaped up and settled beside him, allowing him to stroke the long hair around its neck.

Seeing Ding Songyan looking at it, the young man smiled faintly.

"A Feifei. The Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas records that raising one can dispel sorrow."

Keeping cats truly can dispel sorrow. The ancients recorded it long ago... Ding Songyan studied the young man reclining in the chair and asked thoughtfully, "Master Xiaozhang?"

"Zhang Qiang." The young man nodded.

Ding Songyan smiled.

"Jubi’s Corpse, originally a humanoid deity, was born of the Cool Wind and later died dismembered. The result of consuming it? Grants command over the Cool Wind, the power to bring calamities of war, the ability to survive dismemberment, and the sharing of mortal calamity.

"His heritage later evolved into the one of the Twenty-One Heretical Ways, the Dismemberment Way, and divided into two foundational arts. The first is the Four Diagrams of Jubi’s Corpse Commanding Fierce Winds and Stirring Calamities of War; the second is the Scripture of Sharing Heaven and Earth’s Longevity. Of these, the Living Flesh Divine Art recorded in the latter is the most famous."

Master Xiaozhang raised an eyebrow and asked in a voice filled with exhaustion, "Are you threatening me?"

Ding Songyan shook his head and answered with a smile, "This is me treating others with sincerity."

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