Chapter 206: Colored Thread House
Chapter 206: Colored Thread House
Golden Pool, the southern shore.
Xie Fengchao laughed.
"A pity there’s no third-rank Form Transfigured fighter here. I’d really like to see how you’d beat one within ten breaths."
Ding Songyan glanced at him.
"Aren’t you one?"
He had already noticed how much Fifth Xie’s ears had changed since they parted. They were pointed now, like a dog’s, and his body had acquired other canine features.
That meant he had reached the perfected Great Proliferation Realm.
As far as Ding Songyan knew, the Fang lineage’s inheritance came from the Shan Hui, a creature with a dog’s body and a human face, adept at throwing. The result of consuming it? Grants the powers to ride the wind and chase the moon, cast metal to pierce the sun, inspire laughter in onlookers, and raise great winds under heaven.
Another dog of a friend, in a rather literal sense.
"You mean you can beat me within ten breaths?" Xie Fengchao laughed in disbelief.
Ding Songyan smiled faintly.
"We can try."
Xie Fengchao scoffed.
"I’ll believe that when I see it!"
He had lost to this fellow’s sword a few years earlier, but he truly could not believe the gap between them was so great.
He wasted no time. Finding a nearby martial hall, he paid to rent its training ground for an hour and had it cleared, allowing no spectators.
"Come on." Xie Fengchao dispensed with courtesy, not even bothering with a "please."
Ding Songyan chuckled.
"I’ll even let you move first."
Rather than feeling insulted, Xie Fengchao began to consider the matter seriously.
Could Second Ding actually mean it?
In the year or so since we parted, has his martial insight advanced even further along with his cultivation?
Taking the bout in earnest, Xie Fengchao darted forward as though riding the wind, moving so fast he left an afterimage.
Amid the howling wind, a handful of iron pellets fanned out like blossoms scattered by a celestial maiden, whistling toward apertures all over Ding Songyan’s body.
Ding Songyan drew his sword. Frostshade swept through an arc, conjuring a vortex in empty air, its force and candlelight intent contained within.
The iron pellets immediately veered toward it, rushing into the vortex like a flock of birds returning to the forest.
Xie Fengchao’s spirits rose. Here was an opening.
He had sparred with Ding Songyan, Zheng Zhuxi, and several other Brightnight Sect disciples. Candlelight Illuminates All was familiar to him. It had neutralized his throwing weapons on several occasions.
Now, with greater cultivation and experience, he suddenly realized he could turn the move against its user.
As the thought flashed through his mind, Xie Fengchao rushed closer and struck with his palm from a distance, sending a violent surge of wind into the vortex.
Candlelight Illuminates All guarded only a limited area, and there was a limit to what it could withstand. Exceed that, and the move would collapse, perhaps even injuring the swordsman through its backlash.
The wind surged in. The vortex swelled instantly, teetering on the brink of collapse.
Just then, Ding Songyan turned his wrist and flicked his sword in the opposite direction. The vortex burst apart, flinging the flock of iron pellets back at Xie Fengchao with a chorus of whistles.
Hidden within Candlelight Illuminates All was Stars Turn, Constellations Shift.
They were so close that the oncoming pellets filled Xie Fengchao’s vision. Unable to catch them in time, he hastily rode the wind away, narrowly dodging one after another. He had no attention to spare for his opponent.
Suddenly, a sword extended into the path of his next step and turned its blade sideways.
Xie Fengchao smacked into the flat of Frostshade.
As iron pellets clattered to the ground, Ding Songyan sheathed his sword and smiled at Xie Fengchao.
"Less than ten breaths, wasn’t it?"
Xie Fengchao stood in silence for a moment before speaking.
"You let me move first so you could lay a trap with Candlelight Illuminates All?"
"Every accomplished swordsman in the Brightnight Sect knows how to conceal Stars Turn, Constellations Shift within Candlelight Illuminates All." Ding Songyan laughed. "You didn’t understand it well enough, but one flash of inspiration convinced you that you could exploit it. If I hadn’t taken the opportunity to beat you, I wouldn’t have slept tonight."
Xie Fengchao answered instinctively,
"You didn’t use it like that before."
"I hadn’t learned how yet." Ding Songyan wore a look of innocence. "Senior Sister didn’t need it to beat you, and none of the others you sparred with had reached lesser mastery of swordsmanship."
Xie Fengchao still could not let it go.
"How were you so sure I’d try to exploit Candlelight Illuminates All?"
"After I said I’d beat you in ten breaths, your pride wouldn’t let you spend the bout keeping your distance and running out the time. You’d want to teach me a lesson. Ten breaths is short, so you’d seize every opportunity you saw. You hadn’t noticed the weakness in Candlelight Illuminates All before, but I thought your improved cultivation and insight would let you see it now. And you’re the sort who likes a flash of inspiration and tends to act on impulse." Ding Songyan explained unhurriedly, showing just how well he understood Xie Fengchao’s temperament.
Xie Fengchao remained silent for a long while before saying,
"I was too full of myself. The Brightnight Sect has a long history. Its arts and techniques have been tested and refined countless times. Even where there’s an opening, there’s a hidden response waiting. Unless my art truly counters yours, such weaknesses aren’t so easy to exploit."
"Good, you’ve worked it out. Losing to me does no harm. Better to notice the problem now than when you’re out in the jianghu again," Ding Songyan said easily.
The pride, recklessness, and restless impatience Xie Fengchao had felt since defeating powerful opponents and making the Orchid Fresh List subsided. He began seriously examining his recent behavior and every detail of the bout.
He asked thoughtfully, "So the bout really began when you said ’ten breaths’?"
The claim that he could win within ten breaths had been both a provocation and a trap.
"A lesser version of a contest of spirits and clash of minds," Ding Songyan freely admitted.
Xie Fengchao pressed him.
"What if I’d played it safe and hadn’t tried to exploit Candlelight Illuminates All?"
Ding Songyan smiled.
"I had several more moves ready. Every one concealed a trap."
"You’re a sneaky one..." Xie Fengchao was so startled that he forgot to use the Flame Capital’s refined speech.
"All’s fair in war." Ding Songyan did not mind being called sneaky in the slightest.
By friends, at least. He preferred his enemies to discover his fondness for deception only as they died.
Even after a long while, Xie Fengchao still could not let the matter rest.
"If I hadn’t taken the bait and had kept moving, fighting mainly with throwing weapons, you couldn’t have beaten me within ten breaths, could you?"
If I limited myself to the perfected Great Proliferation Realm... Ding Songyan nodded sincerely.
"Yes."
Only then did Xie Fengchao release a relieved breath. He began picking up the iron pellets scattered around the training ground.
"So thrifty?" Ding Songyan teased, amused.
"My appearance is recognizable enough. Add throwing weapons, and the people at this martial hall are certain to work out who I am." Xie Fengchao paused. "If word gets out, it won’t look good, regardless of which of us lost."
All right. Everyone knows how much Fifth Young Master Xie cares about appearances, especially now that he’s made the Orchid Fresh List... Ding Songyan stopped teasing him.
After they left the martial hall, something suddenly occurred to Xie Fengchao.
"By your definition, how many people in the Brightnight Sect have reached lesser mastery of swordsmanship?"
By my standards, no one has truly reached lesser mastery, myself included... But if I lower the requirements a little... Ding Songyan thought for a moment and said, "Apart from the Grandmasters, just five."
Well... Xie Fengchao suddenly straightened, his spirits restored.
If that’s what he calls lesser mastery, losing to it doesn’t make me so bad...
He smiled at Ding Songyan.
"It’s getting late. Let’s go to Colored Thread House for wine and music.
"Don’t worry. Miss Zheng won’t get the wrong idea. The ladies there are as talented as they are beautiful, but they sell their performances, never their bodies."
"Really?" Ding Songyan looked thoroughly unconvinced.
Once you’re in that line of business, is anything really off limits? Surely it’s just a question of price.
Xie Fengchao smiled.
"If you want more intimate company, you’ll have to take one home as your wife or concubine."
That’s still a way of charging more... Ding Songyan found another subject for idle conversation.
He followed Xie Fengchao toward the Hengbo River. Before long, they turned into a secluded, tree-shaded spot and entered a four-story wooden building hung with colored threads.
Fifth Young Master Xie was clearly a regular. Following an attendant’s lead, he familiarly climbed to the fourth floor and entered the innermost room.
It was furnished like a lady’s bedchamber. There were no bright-red candles, only a delicate fragrance lingering in the air.
Ding Songyan and Xie Fengchao took seats on either side of a square table. Four young women filed in, each with exquisite features and radiant makeup. Their clothes were modest yet fitted, following the lines of their bodies and displaying every grace.
They seated themselves near the two men, bringing a pipa, a zither, a jade flute, and a dulcimer.
After a few flirtatious remarks, Xie Fengchao glanced toward the quiet room next door.
"An empty room? That’s a rare sight."
Fifth Young Master Xie had reserved their room well in advance.
The young woman holding the pipa answered with a gentle expression, "Young Master Li is resting there."
"Young Master Li... Which Young Master Li?" Xie Fengchao asked curiously.
The young woman’s eyes brightened as she replied,
"Young Master Li Linquan."
Li Linquan, the Azure Thunder Exiled Immortal from the Martial World’s Jade Tree Rankings? Ding Songyan had not expected to encounter Li Linquan, who had only recently entered the Dharma Realm and ranked thirty-fifth on the Orchid Fresh List.
Xie Fengchao’s expression grew complicated.
"Oh, him..."
"Bad blood between you?" Ding Songyan asked curiously.
Watching the woman beside him pour his wine, Xie Fengchao shook his head.
"Not with me, but with a friend of mine.
"He’s six or seven years older than me and also at the perfected Great Proliferation Realm. Before the New Year, he ran into Li Linquan and made a few lewd remarks behind his back. Li overheard and flew into such a rage that he wanted to challenge him to a death match."
Li Linquan was only at the perfected Great Proliferation Realm himself then... His temper really is as explosive as Brother Youyang said... Ding Songyan clicked his tongue and asked, "Did your friend accept?"
"He backed down on the spot and all but knelt to beg for forgiveness. Only then did Li Linquan calm down." Xie Fengchao shook his head. "Who would have thought he’d become a Grandmaster in the new year? A Grandmaster at twenty-six. I only hope my day will come too, preferably before I turn twenty-five."
Knowing when to swallow your pride is a virtue too... I hear Li Linquan’s Heaven-Splitting Thunderlight Sword is quite remarkable. If only I had a chance to see it... An idea suddenly occurred to Ding Songyan. He turned to the woman beside him.
"Where is the restroom?"
"I’ll show you, young master." The woman with the dulcimer led Ding Songyan to a corner of the room and opened an inconspicuous door.
Ding Songyan stepped inside, locked the door, and sat on the toilet with its attached water cistern, leaning back slightly.
His face rapidly grew pointed, his eyes changed, and blue-black scales emerged across parts of his body.
In the blink of an eye, all those changes vanished again.