Chapter 168: Three Days
Chapter 168: Three Days
The goat-horned Bai Zhaolin had not expected Ding Songyan to ask such a question. He frowned slightly.
"Why do you ask?"
Ding Songyan replied calmly, "By the rules of the jianghu, legitimate and illegitimate children alike, as well as personal disciples, may issue a deathmatch on behalf of elders slain over a grievance. I am Ding Songyan, Master Tao’s last disciple. I wish to fight Senior Bai to the death. However, the Brightnight Sect never takes advantage of another’s misfortune. Naturally, we will wait until you have recovered from your injuries."
He was able to track me down using Northern Dipper Wayfinding. He is even more formidable than the Brightnight Sect’s current Grandmasters, yet he was previously unknown... Judging by his age, perhaps he achieved a single leap to success, but has not yet fully stabilized his realm and has yet to complete his training... No. How could someone like that know Northern Dipper Wayfinding? Is it some other secret art? Bai Zhaolin looked at Ding Songyan and said in a deep voice, "And if I refuse your challenge? This sounds more like an ambush and assassination."
Ding Songyan’s expression did not change, and his voice remained even.
"Senior Bai, I was informing you, not asking for your opinion."
Seeing Bai Zhaolin’s expression darken slightly, he paused, then added, "If you refuse my deathmatch and will not tell me how long until you recover, I will act now."
Bai Zhaolin laughed in fury.
"Do you know what consequences this will bring?"
Ding Songyan smiled faintly.
"At worst, I will go on the run."
Feeling the other man’s killing intent, solid as rock, Bai Zhaolin narrowed his eyes and sized up the Brightnight Sect disciple before him once more.
"A deathmatch is a solemn matter. Why not wait for me to return to Xiang Province, then choose another day to come to my door and challenge me before witnesses?"
Ding Songyan sighed softly.
"The journey to and from Xiang Province would take far too long. Master Tao can remain in state at the sect for fifteen days at most. I must return to pay my respects."
Bai Zhaolin, with his whitening brows and hard features, looked into Ding Songyan’s eyes. He found no flicker in the latter’s gaze, only unmistakable anger and cold killing intent.
From this, Bai Zhaolin judged that this fight could no longer be avoided. Naturally, he would face it in his best condition. He said in a deep voice, "My injuries are not serious. I have taken pills and applied salve. I will recover completely within three days."
"Good. I will wait three days for you, Senior." Ding Songyan retreated two steps and sat cross-legged beneath a tree, laying the sheathed Frostshade across his knees.
He then said, "Senior, you had best not leave this forest. Otherwise, I will act at once.
"We are both Grandmasters. Going three days without food, water, or sleep will not affect our strength, and we can meditate to regulate our breathing. If you need to relieve yourself, simply find another spot in the forest."
"Do we not need witnesses?" Bai Zhaolin also sat down against a large tree. He drew both the Wind Saber and Rain Saber from their sheaths and planted them before him.
"There is no need." Ding Songyan leaned against the tree and closed his eyes.
He said nothing further, appearing to have fallen asleep.
Bai Zhaolin likewise began to regulate his breathing.
......
Brightnight Sect, Hall of Myriad Stars.
Zheng Zhuxi slowly came back to herself, emerging from that dreamlike state in which everything around her had seemed distant and unreal.
Soft sobs, hurried footsteps, and all manner of voices reached her ears at once. She blinked, nearly blurring her vision again, then hastily forced herself to walk toward Master Uncle Yan Jingxian.
Yan Jingxian and Tao Wenshu had studied under the same master. Tao Wenshu had often guided her in martial arts, and they had traveled the jianghu together. They had been close as intimate friends. Now, her grief was deeper than anyone’s. She stood before the not-yet-erected mourning hall, staring blankly into space as memories of the past came flooding back, sorrow and hatred twisting together in her heart.
Suddenly sensing something, she turned and saw Zheng Zhuxi approaching slowly. The girl wore a short white shirt trimmed in green and a pale green gauze skirt. Her face was pale and streaked with tears, but she was no longer sobbing.
"Master Aunt Yan." Zheng Zhuxi glanced toward the exterior of the Hall of Myriad Stars and said gently, "With both Grandmasters here, the sect disciples may be unsettled. Please go out and reassure them. Tell them that matters in the jianghu have always been like this, and that when they travel outside in the future, they must be wary of blades and swords that show no mercy."
Yan Jingxian looked at Zheng Zhuxi in mild surprise, then said with both tenderness and a sigh, "I overlooked that. I will go make the rounds now."
As they passed each other, she lightly patted the young woman’s arm.
"The Brightnight Sect will certainly settle this score!"
Zheng Zhuxi fell silent for a moment.
"Master Aunt Yan, have you seen Junior Brother Ding?"
Yan Jingxian stopped and thought for a moment.
"I have not.
"That boy, he couldn’t have..."
The sorrow and heaviness on Yan Jingxian’s face instantly gave way to solemnity. After pondering for a moment, she said, "Once I have reassured the sect disciples, I will speak with Master Uncle Wang."
After watching Yan Jingxian leave the Hall of Myriad Stars, Zheng Zhuxi pressed her lips together. Step by step, she walked to Xu Julong and said in a voice that trembled slightly yet remained gentle, "Eldest Senior Brother, Mother always lived simply. There is no need to make extravagant arrangements for her mourning hall."
"All right." Xu Julong’s eyes reddened. He offered no objection, instinctively following his junior sister’s words.
Zheng Zhuxi turned to Lin Shuyue, who was still weeping. Her nose stung, and she nearly began crying again.
She drew a breath and said with faint bitterness, "Third Senior Sister, please ask the Hongxin Trading Company where Second Senior Brother has traveled to. Send him word of... of Mother’s death. If he can return to the sect within fifteen days, he should come back to pay his respects. If he cannot make it in time, that is all right. He may set up an incense burner wherever he is."
"I will go at once." Only then did Lin Shuyue realize that, caught up in grief and sorrow, she had left many matters undone.
As Third Senior Sister hurried out of the Hall of Myriad Stars, Zheng Zhuxi found Xue Xian. After a silent moment, she said, "In a few days, I will install the Azure Dragon viscera. Please watch over me, Senior Sister."
"All right..." Xue Xian did not know what to say. Her eyes, too, were nearly swollen like peaches from crying.
She sniffed and looked around.
"Where has Junior Brother Ding gone?"
"Perhaps he has gone to retrieve something very important." Zheng Zhuxi bit down lightly and did not let her worry show.
She said to Xue Xian, "I have a few matters to discuss with Master Granduncle Wang, then I will change into mourning clothes. Please help keep an eye on the mourning hall, Senior Sister."
"Mm." Xue Xian was on the verge of tears again.
Zheng Zhuxi hastily turned away, afraid that she would lose control of her emotions as well.
She approached Grand Elder Wang Zhou, who was arranging the sect’s affairs, and asked in a low voice, "Master Granduncle, have you seen Junior Brother Ding?"
Having sent off too many elders, teachers, and peers over the years, Wang Zhou remained fairly composed. At the question, he froze, then his expression changed slightly after a moment’s thought.
"That boy could not have gone after Bai Zhaolin, could he?"
"Perhaps." Zheng Zhuxi kept her eyes open and did not dare blink, afraid that doing so would make her tears fall.
Wang Zhou gritted his teeth.
"I will pursue him at once."
"That will not be necessary." Zheng Zhuxi considered before saying, "The sect now has only two Dharma Realm powerhouses, neither of whom can leave casually. Given Junior Brother Ding’s temperament and skill, even if he cannot win, escaping should not be a problem. If you are there, Master Granduncle, he may instead hold back and be unable to fight freely.
"Please rest assured, Master Granduncle. Junior Brother knows his limits and will not tarnish the Brightnight Sect’s reputation."
Before Wang Zhou could speak again, Zheng Zhuxi continued slowly, "Please first report Mother’s death to the county and prefectural offices. Also inform them that Bai Zhaolin is suspected of colluding with the Two-Faced or the Accumulated Evil Way. He cannot be allowed to return to Xiang Province or escape Great Zhao.
"There is no concrete evidence yet. The matter still awaits investigation and interrogation by the imperial court. For now, Junior Brother Ding, County Marshal Yi, and I merely suspect Bai Zhaolin; we cannot yet establish his guilt. We cannot condemn him simply because of our personal feelings. Whatever happens in this deathmatch is separate from that. If he survives this, I will still challenge him myself one day."
"Bai Zhaolin is suspected of colluding with the Two-Faced or the Accumulated Evil Way?" Wang Zhou repeated, unable to hide his shock.
Zheng Zhuxi nodded softly.
"I will explain the details after I change into mourning clothes. County Marshal Yi knows of this matter, so please report it without concern.
"After handling this and arranging the sect’s defenses, please go to the Kindling Hall, Master Granduncle. Find a quiet room to rest in for the time being and pretend that you are not on the mountain."
"Why?" Wang Zhou was momentarily puzzled.
Zheng Zhuxi lowered her gaze and sighed softly.
"If Junior Brother Ding can personally kill Bai Zhaolin and confirm that he colluded with heretics, please say that you did it."
Wang Zhou had not expected Zheng Zhuxi to have considered even this. He nodded faintly.
"Okay."
He then asked, "Should we also report this to Flame Capital and inform Senior Councillor Zheng?"
"Father should already be on his way here." Zheng Zhuxi wanted to give a bitter smile, but could not manage even that.
Wang Zhou watched his martial grand-niece walk step by step toward the mourning hall, take the mourning clothes that had been brought over, and turn toward the Purple Forbidden Chamber. Her back remained straight.
The back of her short white shirt trimmed in green and pale green gauze skirt clearly radiated grief, yet her steps were exceptionally steady.
Thinking of how calmly and methodically Zheng Zhuxi had handled everything, Wang Zhou could not help but sigh.
By evening, Zheng Ziming had arrived at Alpine Lake Mountain.
Zheng Zhuxi, now dressed in plain white mourning clothes, hemp garments, and a white headcloth, rose to greet him. At the sight of her father’s familiar figure, she could no longer contain the emotions she had struggled to calm. She wept again, like a little girl who had suffered an unbearable wrong.
After comforting his daughter for a time, Zheng Ziming looked around and spoke in turn with Yan Jingxian, Xu Julong, Lin Shuyue, and Xue Xian. He seemed remarkably calm, giving no outward sign of grief.
Yet Zheng Zhuxi noticed that her father’s hands, hanging loosely at his sides, trembled now and then.
Remembering how her father had always taught her to keep her composure, she lowered her head and began to sob again, harder than before.
"Where is Songyan?" Zheng Ziming asked in a deep voice.
Zheng Zhuxi wiped away her tears and raised her head.
"He went beyond the mountain to retrieve something for the memorial rites. He might not make it back today."
Zheng Ziming had asked only as a matter of course. Having received an answer, he silently entered the rear of the mourning hall and looked into the coffin.
He bent down, reached out his trembling right hand, and gently stroked her.
After a long while, he gazed into the coffin and murmured hoarsely, "We had not yet grown old together... How could I bear to lose you..."
......
Three days later.
Zheng Zhuxi, her face pale and wan, knelt in the mourning hall, silently burning paper money.
Xue Xian, beside her, leaned close and asked, "Junior Sister, when will you install the Azure Dragon viscera?"
Zheng Zhuxi’s hand paused as she burned the paper money. Her voice was low.
"When Junior Brother returns."
......
Deep in the forest, Bai Zhaolin, sitting opposite Ding Songyan at a distance of more than eighty meters, opened his eyes.
With a swish, he drew the Wind Saber and Rain Saber, rose to his feet, and said in a deep voice to Ding Songyan, "My injuries have fully healed."
Ding Songyan’s eyes snapped open, and candlelight seemed to kindle within them.