Xiaoqing was dressed in striking red fitted attire tonight, adding a touch of dash to her charm.
She seemed to have recently been disguised as one of the sword-wielding heroines monly seen in the streets and markets, covertly watching for anyone tailing Ding Songyan.
Hearing his question, she concentrated for a moment.
"Never heard of him."
So it really is a fake name... Ding Songyan was not surprised in the slightest.
When you’re out swindling people, how could you use your real name?
He pondered briefly.
"In the past few years, or even the past decade or so, have any major figures suddenly vanished?"
"Major figures? Supreme Masters and Sages?" Xiaoqing asked back, then shook her head. "Quite a few. Some Supreme Masters and Sages, even with life-extending measures, are simply ancient. They prefer to stay within their sect grounds. With no great wars or frequent disasters these days, it’s mon for them to go a decade without appearing in the jianghu. Others retired early to the countryside and have rarely shown themselves in the martial world. And some cultivate in secret, with no one knowing they’ve already reached the Heaven-Man Realm or the Spirit Platform Realm."
"There are people who cultivate in secret, unknown to the world?" Ding Songyan was mildly surprised.
Xiaoqing answered offhandedly, "Of course. Like certain yao clans who don’t bother stirring up trouble in the human world. What level they’ve cultivated to—how would anyone know..."
As she spoke, she fell silent.
Ding Songyan fell silent too.
He genuinely feared Xiaoqing might fly into a rage out of humiliation and throw him into the river.
From this exchange, he had confirmed that the name "Yan Changqing" alone, bined with the fact of being imprisoned for many years, would not be enough to uncover the "distinguished guest’s" true identity anytime soon. Not unless he happened to ask someone who had once known the man.
After some thought, Ding Songyan probed, "Miss Xiaoqing, did your group e to Dingjiang for a certain object or a certain person at the Zhen estate?"
Eh, I can actually ask about this...
Xiaoqing pressed her lips together and studied Ding Songyan with suspicion. She did not answer.
Not answering was an answer in itself.
Ding Songyan smiled and asked further, "Something that should have been resolved quickly, yet the Zhen household keeps finding excuses to delay, even though both your group and the True Spirit Sect have been here for quite some time?"
Xiaoqing leaned slightly closer, tilting her head to look into his eyes.
"You heard about it from the Zhen household?
"Is that why they have people following you? Is that why Patriarch Zhen himself came out when you went to the county office?"
She had wanted to ask about this before, but because the environment and timing were not right, she had planned to ask at night.
"No." Ding Songyan shook his head openly. "If it were only about that, they could easily have stuffed me in a sack in a spot where the watchtowers can’t see, disguised me as cargo, and sunk me in the river. I merely noticed a few clues."
I was just verifying my guesses...
Xiaoqing was amused.
"You sound like you’ve stuffed people into sacks and sunk them in rivers before. You seem very familiar with the process."
"I’m a storyteller. Naturally I have a good imagination. Besides, plenty of tales have similar scenes." Ding Songyan was someone who had watched true crime documentaries.
Xiaoqing’s eyes flickered.
"The Zhen household is hiding another secret? Or perhaps waiting for yet another party?"
Ding Songyan smiled without saying anything.
It was not that he did not want to answer. He had already forgotten what he was going to say.
Xiaoqing nodded very slightly, and her expression became a little more serious. She did not press further.
She had e to Dingjiang Prefecture for experience and fun. Something this plicated was better left to Second Uncle.
If Second Uncle had questions later, she could ask Ding Songyan then.
Having hinted at everything he could, Ding Songyan continued writing tonight’s installment of The Legend of the White Snake.
Xiaoqing sat on the edge of the bed, watching Ding Songyan’s back with a touch of emotion.
"I thought you were just a talented storyteller who could spin wonderful tales. But today you’ve bee somewhat mysterious. No, it started the day before yesterday..."
She fell into deep thought.
Ding Songyan half-turned and steered the conversation back to The Legend of the White Snake.
"Miss Xiaoqing, I don’t plan to let Xu Shilin practice martial arts step by step. That would probably take another ten years before he could rescue Lady Bai. I want to give him a stroke of fortune such as consuming a divine beast or something else. That way, the family can reunite by the time Lady Bai has been imprisoned beneath Leifeng Pagoda for twenty years.
"Are there any particular rules about consuming divine beasts?"
This was purely using Xu Shilin as a pretext to satisfy Ding Songyan’s own curiosity. After flipping through the Secret Classic daily, seeing so many entries about "consuming it," how could he not want to ask?
As for why she had to be rescued in twenty years, of course, it was to make up a round number and be symbolically meaningful.
"What are you... getting at?" Xiaoqing pursed her lips unconsciously.
Ding Songyan had plenty of questions ready.
"When consuming a divine beast, do you have to eat the entire thing, or just a portion, or just the essence?"
Something like a Kunpeng was so enormous that it would not fit in a single pot. It could not be eaten in a single meal, and a month probably would not be enough either.
Of course, the Secret Classic contained no entry for Kunpeng. It was merely mentioned in an annotation: "Xuanming is the Kunpeng. In the sea it is the water god; in the sky it is the wind god. Xuanming is
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