Chapter 97: Casting a Wide Net

"Fulfilling a vow?" Zheng Zhuxi was a little surprised.

In her experience, Junior Brother Ding was the sort who walked past temples without entering and passed statues of gods without bowing.

Ding Songyan recalled the past and explained with a touch of feeling, "At the time I was under Yan Changqing’s control. First he had me go to the docks three times to covertly observe Heavengaze Gate Island, then the next day he had me come to Dangkang Temple to offer three sticks of incense on his behalf, then take a stroll through the mass graves—all of it misdirection to scatter the attention of anyone watching from the shadows. What he actually needed was for me to buy a dagger and keep it on me.

"You know what my situation was like back then, Senior Sister. The moment I thought of going to the authorities, I’d forget. Whenever I tried to do something, the instant I crossed a certain line I’d fall into a daze. I pushed myself to the limit, making trouble without stopping, all so I could draw your attention and let you find out what was happening on your own.

"Tell me, given a situation like mine, how could I not take the chance to make a vow and say a prayer while offering incense at Dangkang Temple? Looking back now, it seems it may have had some effect—at least I escaped that predicament."

Zheng Zhuxi listened in silence, her heart moved.

In her experience, Ding Songyan rarely spoke of what he had felt during his time in the "Ding household". He would only recount events in plain, matter-of-fact terms. Just now was the first time he had said anything about the state he had been in. His tone was breezy, carrying the air of someone who had long since moved on, yet it left her with an inexplicable sense of the suffocation, pain, despair, and defiance he had felt while fighting for his life.

Junior Brother really had it hard back then... Zheng Zhuxi thought, genuinely moved.

She knew the broad outline of what had happened, but as an outside observer, without Ding Songyan telling her himself, it was hard to truly feel the depth of those emotions.

She thought that if the positions were reversed and she found herself in such a predicament, she wouldn’t have broken down entirely, but she would have had a very hard time stirring up so much trouble to save herself.

"The vow ought to be fulfilled." Zheng Zhuxi gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Her tone lightened a little, as if hoping to ease her junior brother’s mood.

"Dangkang Temple draws many worshippers, and the Dangkang has the quality of bestowing auspicious blessings. If you pray sincerely, you may well receive some of its fortune."

"Whether it does or it doesn’t, the vow still needs to be fulfilled." Ding Songyan smiled and walked into the Dangkang Temple with its yellow walls and brown tiles.

Facing the great pig-shaped deity, he bought three sticks of incense, lit them at the brazier, closed his eyes, and bowed three times with great sincerity.

Through it all he silently gave thanks for the past protection, saying that he was a faithful devotee who had come especially to fulfil his vow.

The moment Ding Songyan opened his eyes, a face looking remarkably like Pigsy appeared before him.

It was the temple caretaker, whose belly made a noticeable bulge beneath his brown robe.

The caretaker smiled with warm geniality.

"Honored patron, have you come to offer incense, or to fulfil a vow?"

As he smiled, two somewhat long and pointed teeth showed at the sides of his mouth.

"Fulfilling a vow," Ding Songyan answered honestly.

The caretaker’s smile broadened.

"As it happens, there is right now an opportunity to fulfil a vow."

"What do you mean by that?" Zheng Zhuxi asked from beside him, puzzled.

She had visited the prefectural city countless times and stopped by Dangkang Temple on many occasions, and never once had she heard the caretaker say anything like this.

"I have a matter in which I would like to ask for the two of you’s help. This is also the guidance of Lord Dangkang, working in unseen ways," the caretaker explained with the same smile.

Dangkang Temple had always been considered a branch of the Human Sect or Human Way. The Human Sect had no actual doctrines or scriptures and no complete system. Anything that benefited the human world and the human people, and that was neither Daoist nor Buddhist, could be counted as part of it. The Stove King Sect was the same.

Ding Songyan was also puzzled, and asked with a smile, "Why us?"

Is Lord Dangkang actually real? The connection between heaven and earth was severed long ago!

The caretaker let his smile fade and sighed.

"Our Dangkang Temple has always held to the belief that ’a full belly for all people under heaven is the true Great Way.’ Over the years I have promoted agriculture in Dingjiang Prefecture, prayed for plentiful harvests, and passed on farming techniques, and in doing so I have accumulated a fair amount of merit. The moment I saw the two of you, I knew my fortunate opportunity had arrived. You should be able to help.

"Sigh, our Dangkang Temple values arts and virtue above martial skill. There are many things I cannot do by myself."

A top-tier faction specializing in ritual arts... Ding Songyan had long since memorized the relevant passage in the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, and now recalled it naturally.

"Dangkang: in the form of a boar and with tusks, and its cry is its own name. Those who behold it receive auspicious blessings, the favor of the Earth Mother, and the bestowals of the Wood Sovereign; wherever it is seen, a great harvest shall come to all under heaven."

Earth Mother was Houtu, and the Wood Sovereign was another name for the Azure Emperor.

Thinking that Dangkang Temple had contributed greatly to the yearly harvests of Dingjiang Prefecture and that he himself had been able to eat his fill because of it, as well as the saying "a full belly for all people under heaven is the true Great Way" deserved a full cup in its honor, Ding Songyan considered briefly and said, "What is it you’d like our help with, sir?"

The caretaker’s face immediately fell into an expression of worry, his auspicious air gone.

"I’ve lost something of great importance and would like to ask you to help me find it."

"Why not report it to the authorities?" Zheng Zhuxi asked instinctively.

The caretaker sighed again.

"It went missing the day before yesterday. I reported it at once, but there’s been no progress to this day. I’m deeply anxious, so I deliberately spent some of my accumulated merit seeking fortunate assistance, and in the end I encountered the two of you."

"That must be why Constable Chief Xue and Constable Li aren’t here today." Zheng Zhuxi understood at once.

Ding Songyan asked directly, "What was lost, and how was it lost?"

The caretaker glanced around to both sides, then pointed in a direction.

"Please follow me somewhere more private."

In the third courtyard of Dangkang Temple, inside a quiet room with no one about, the caretaker pulled the wooden door shut and lowered his voice.

"My surname is Zhu..."

Surely not the aliases of Pigsy, Zhu Wuneng or Zhu Ganglie, right... Ding Songyan knew it wasn’t very polite to think so, but the man’s appearance combined with the surname made his mind inevitably wander.

Caretaker Zhu continued, "Some days ago, I spent my entire fortune acquiring a precious material—the flowers from the ten-thousand-year luan tree on Cloudrain Mountain. Ten thousand years is likely an understatement. Celestial Thearchs across the ages have harvested its branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit to refine divine elixirs. It blooms only once every hundred years, and a hundred years must pass after blooming before it bears fruit."

This is also recorded in the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas. The ten-thousand-year luan tree with its yellow trunk, red branches, and green leaves. The rest matches what the caretaker said... Ding Songyan exchanged a glance with Zheng Zhuxi and asked curiously, "What are the wondrous properties of the ten-thousand-year luan tree’s flowers?"

The Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas did not record what happened when one consumed the branches, leaves, flowers, or fruit of the ten-thousand-year luan tree—it only said they could be used to refine divine elixirs.

Caretaker Zhu hesitated before saying, "Consuming the branches, leaves, flowers, or fruit of the ten-thousand-year luan tree directly brings no benefit. I intend to use them to refine a divine elixir called the Youth Restoration Pill, which has the ability to restore a person to youth."

Caretaker, you can refine elixirs? Of course, the Dangkang’s "Wood Sovereign’s Bestowals" quality is no exaggeration, and the Wood Sovereign was the Azure Emperor, who governed plants, lifespans, and the spring... Ding Songyan’s initial surprise gave way to some understanding.

Zheng Zhuxi was equally taken aback.

"Restore youth?"

She had heard plenty of legends and anecdotes about such things, but this was the first time she had encountered it in reality.

Caretaker Zhu gave a wry smile.

"The Youth Restoration Pill is wondrous, truly, but it is not all beneficial. After taking it, a person will indeed return to the age of seventeen or eighteen, but any lifespan gained through past cultivation or the consumption of divine objects will cease to exist.

"If you were naturally able to live six hundred years, are currently in your early three hundreds, and have an elderly body, then taking the Youth Restoration Pill would make you young again immediately, including your lifespan. But after that, you can only live to a normal seventy or eighty years, unless you make a further breakthrough in realm or consume different lifespan-extending substances."

"Sir, what you’re saying is that for a cultivator who still has many years to live, the Youth Restoration Pill is practically a poison. It’s only suitable for someone whose remaining lifespan is down to forty or fifty years with no prospect of further breakthrough?" Ding Songyan considered Caretaker Zhu’s words.

Caretaker Zhu gave a small nod.

"That’s right. I still have many years remaining, but I have accepted my fate. Without returning to youth, any chance of reaching the Dharma Realm is gone. That is why I spent my entire fortune and called in every favor I had to obtain the ten-thousand-year luan tree’s flowers, intending to use them as the main ingredient, supplemented by other medicinal herbs, to refine a Youth Restoration Pill."

"The Youth Restoration Pill’s youth restoration can bypass the saying ’if you haven’t become a Grandmaster by forty, you never will’?" Ding Songyan asked in surprise.

If the Youth Restoration Pill could truly be refined, who knew how many people would fight tooth and nail for it!

Seeing both Zheng Zhuxi and Ding Songyan looking at him with curious faces, Caretaker Zhu gave a sigh.

"Yes. Taking the Youth Restoration Pill truly makes you eighteen or seventeen again with some slight variation. After I obtained the ten-thousand-year luan flowers, I stored them in an iron chest in a hidden chamber since the remaining supplementary herbs hadn’t been gathered yet. Yet the day before yesterday, someone stole them, even though I had ritual arts protections secretly set in place."

"What was the state of the hidden chamber?" Zheng Zhuxi asked with practiced ease.

Caretaker Zhu said, thinking back, "I checked on it several times a day before I could rest easy. It was clearly still there in the afternoon the day before yesterday, but when I went again that evening, I found the hidden chamber open and the small iron chest gone without a trace. I tried to trace it with ritual arts but failed, and immediately reported it to the authorities. Constable Chief Xue and the others examined the scene carefully several times, but to this day there’s been nothing."

Going several times a day. The chances are quite high that someone with intent had noticed and suspected there was a treasure there... Ding Songyan sucked at his teeth, and he and Zheng Zhuxi traded questions back and forth, asking about many more details.

After that, they agreed to take on the matter and bid the caretaker farewell.

Outside Dangkang Temple, Zheng Zhuxi suggested, "Let’s go back to the yamen first and look through the case files. Constable Chief Xue and the others were the first to reach the hidden chamber in the temple’s annex. They should have found something."

"No rush." Ding Songyan thought for a moment. "Let’s circle back to Dangkang Temple and take another look."

Seeing his senior sister’s questioning look, he smiled.

"In an investigation, beyond finding clues, you also need to make sure the person who lost the item hasn’t lied or withheld crucial information. Let’s observe Caretaker Zhu in secret first."

Fair enough... While Caretaker Zhu wouldn’t lie about something he cared so deeply about, there might be things involving personal matters he’d be unwilling to mention... Zheng Zhuxi gave a terse agreement and followed Ding Songyan around to the side entrance of Dangkang Temple. They blended into the flow of visitors and quietly made their way back to the main hall.

They concealed themselves in an inconspicuous spot and covertly observed Caretaker Zhu.

Caretaker Zhu was clearly anxious. He was distracted, pacing back and forth, paying no attention to what was happening around him.

After a while, Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi saw a 2.16-meter-tall Headless walk into the main hall.

"Cavalry Commander Xing Chang," Zheng Zhuxi murmured in Ding Songyan’s ear.

So his name is Xing Chang... Ding Songyan had originally wanted to learn Xingtian’s martial arts.

Xing Chang, the Headless, wore a dark green short jacket, his chest and abdomen bare. Before he even had a chance to offer incense, Caretaker Zhu came over to greet him.

"Honored patron, have you come to offer incense or to fulfil a vow?" Caretaker Zhu asked with a smile.

"Offer incense," Xing Chang answered honestly.

As the two of them exchanged words, Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi, hidden among the crowd, glanced at each other. Both felt the scene looked somewhat familiar, and the words sounded uncannily familiar.

Shortly after, they heard Caretaker Zhu say to Xing Chang with a smile, "The moment I saw you, I knew my fortunate opportunity had arrived. You should be able to help."

"..." Both Zheng Zhuxi and Ding Songyan went momentarily blank.

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