Book 15: Chapter 87

Ling Jialan would’ve stolen every man’s heart at Nine Heavens at night if it wasn’t for her emotionless visage. She had the appearance and nonchalant att.i.tude to charm any man, yet her sword at her sash stole the limelight. As contradictory as it sounded, it was her silent character that broke the silence of the venue. They could all sense that she was ready to draw her weapon at the drop of a hat.

The first person to draw his sword on Ling Jialan wasn’t the first to go down; many had already gone down prior. The sounds of her victims dropping didn’t ruin her rhythmic steps. She continued until the floor was covered in men, taking them all out without needing to unsheathe her sword.

Once she inspected the entire interior, Ling Jialan returned to the spot she started at. “Answer me: who were the people who lodged here? Where have they gone?”

Resistance followed fear, which preceded a silver flash in the night. Ling Jialan wasn’t a bloodthirsty individual. She would’ve preferred to have carried a wooden sword in the pugilistic world if there wasn’t a stipulation for her to carry her signature sword as Cloud Sanctuary’s master. Wooden swords were lighter, and carrying a wooden sword would’ve eliminated a lot of avoidable problems. She wasn’t limited by the material of her sword because anyone who had mastered Flying Thrust was capable of inflicting harm with just a tree branch using it. She couldn’t stand the smell of blood. Every time she cut someone, she felt she couldn’t wash the blood off, which would bother her nose for days. The second concern she had regarding bloodshed was growing accustomed to it.

Ling Jialan didn’t agree with the ideology that swordplay was about inflicting harm despite the majority believing the two were part and parcel; they saw swordplay as a means to determining who was superior. In reality, there were no absolutes in swordplay just as there were no absolutes in any other part of life. For her, swordplay was a bank to save her from drowning in the ocean. If bloodshed was inevitable, she hoped to minimise the amount she had to shed. This was one of those inevitable circ.u.mstances. She had come to terms with the fact that she was going to have to make choices she didn’t want to make in the pugilistic world, but she no longer wished to revise the lesson.

Although she drew her sword slowly, there was no hesitation. A hesitant swordsman – or swordswoman – wasn’t going to earn anyone’s respect. Using ‘Servant Yao’, Ling Jialan increased the fear collected in the silent night.

***

It took Ling Jialan no longer than fifteen minutes from her arrival to do what she had to do and leave. She didn’t seem rushed, but she was extremely fast.

Ming Feizhen’s medical skills deserved adulation. The majority of her problem was the poisoning, so once it was resolved, the injuries left to recovery from were as minor as those suffered from a trip. Although Bu Xusan and Ling Jialan engaged in a physical war, it was the poison on him that defeated her, so he only needed to open a small wound for that purpose. By extension, she felt she recovered from the moment she dipped into Ming Feizhen’s tub.

After her defeat – not immediately afterwards but while she conversed with Ming Feizhen in the tub – she felt she was at a fork in the road as the conversation highlighted the reason for coming up short. It was her first time fighting Bu Xusan, and she wasn’t privy to the situation in the capital, so it was arrogant of her to a.s.sume that he wasn’t her match, and it was equally arrogant for her to a.s.sume that she could use everyone she came across whilst believing she couldn’t have been part of someone else’s plan. Had she just invested a little more time, those blunders could’ve been avoided. Arrogance was reserved only for the strongest, yet she had blasphemed it when she was far from being undefeatable.

Ming Feizhen didn’t have an exceptional appearance and was abysmal as a combatant, yet he was able to make it out safe everywhere he went with her every time. He was able to calmly a.n.a.lyse situations, and enemy plots failed to harm him. For someone who didn’t excel as a combatant to survive in a world where might made right, luck alone wouldn’t have cut it; the ability to stay calm and vigilant at all times was crucial. Ling Jialan saw it as careless on her part since he could achieve that.

I appreciate it, Ming Feizhen, although your martial arts skills are abysmal.

Ling Jialan wasn’t after a home to return to at night, a soft bed, warm blankets, and a personal physician. The path she sought was one that led to higher realms of swordplay, not complacency.

Nine Heavens was one of Lian Hua’s bases. When Ling Jialan arrived yesterday, there were a number of residents and Lian Hua’s so-called brothers’ family members. She remembered there being people knitting clothing, breastfeeding kids, children learning to read, walk and so forth, creating the impression that it was a residential area that had existed for a long time and was flouris.h.i.+ng. After yesterday’s experience, she questioned the authenticity of what she saw. When she returned tonight, there were only twenty-odd aggressive-looking man, and that was all. Had she not had her suspicions, she might’ve mistaken that there was a ma.s.sive missing people case on her hands.

Lian Hua was a fake name, and his background was fabricated. Based on the testimonies she pried out from her victims, Lian Hua suddenly showed up not long ago and rented out several buildings at Nine Heavens. Criminals wanted to make use of him, but they couldn’t beat him. Fu Dalong was only known at Nine Heavens. n.o.body knew where they came from or how they recruited their group of members who were willing to risk their lives and could fight decently.

Unknown folks who suddenly showed up earned the ire of gangs the most. After all, not paying respect to the other gangs and the head of the area was disrespecting the unwritten rules of the underworld. Lian Hua and Fu Dalong disappeared into thin air before they were even established names. The two of them didn’t leave any traces behind when they vanished last night. Perhaps n.o.body would’ve even remembered them in two weeks’ time or what they did. Only someone who aimed to hit and run would’ve behaved in that manner.

How much danger were we in…?

There was a barely-noticeable shake in Ling Jialan’s sword.

d.a.m.n it. He predicted everything perfectly.

Since she couldn’t find the answers she sought at Nine Heavens, Ling Jialan departed.

While Ming Feizhen and Ling Jialan had similar deductions regarding Lian Hua and Fu Dalong’s ident.i.ties, their approaches for continuing the case differed. Ming Feizhen opined that the best course of action was to sit and wait for the fish to bite the bait, while Ling Jialan a.s.serted that striking out was the best course of action. Both of them had their own sound reasons, but time didn’t wait for anyone.

Feng Jiutian’s request was for them to wrap up before Nirvana’s blood and marrow were publicised, and the jade piece ended up in someone else’s hands. The fact that Bu Xusan now had two helpers meant that the gravity of the situation was graver than their initial evaluation. Considering Lian Hua and Fu Dalong’s combat prowess, in addition to their shrewdness, it seemed extremely unlikely they were Bu Xusan’s a.s.sistants. If they were his a.s.sistants, it made no sense for them to let Bu Xusan get poisoned and still let him fight. Ling Jialan not only witnessed the transformation that the poison triggered, but she also experienced its threat to her life for herself. Lian Hua and Fu Dalong were waiting for Bu Xusan to perish so that they could obtain Nirvana’s blood and marrow. Until then, they were going to help him deal with enemies. At least, this hypothesis made sense. Consequently, Ling Jialan wanted to move right away.

n.o.body could’ve been sure how much longer Bu Xusan had to live. If they couldn’t retrieve Nirvana’s blood and marrow before Bu Xusan perished to the poison, they would’ve failed to fulfil his commission, which meant that the duel with Feng Qizhi would be pushed back to an unknown date. Of course, she didn’t want Lian Hua and Fu Dalong to get their hands on the item, either.

The underworld in the capital wasn’t without a leader. Though she was inexperienced, she was aware that the underworld existed on the edge of order and chaos. No matter how big and powerful it was, an order created out of nothing would have had c.h.i.n.ks in it. Any order with a dark side to it would’ve created another void and darkness, thereby creating a new c.h.i.n.k. A small rift in the world would eventually expand into a ma.s.sive rift over time, and said rift would lose order and no longer obey the darkness. Accordingly, it would’ve been a truly free and tight zone.

The “rift” zone wasn’t leaderless. If there were a thousand people, there were a thousand leaders. If there was one individual, there was one leader. Everyone was their own boss. Otherwise, the underworld wouldn’t have existed in the capital. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a constant influx of folks from the pugilistic world sneaking into the capital. Ling Jialan knew of one underworld, and that was enough for her purpose because it was one of the most notorious underworlds.

After searching for over two hours, the place Ling Jialan was searching for popped up in front of her, though she didn’t know how she found it. She was sure she had already gone by the street; however, she didn’t see this particular store when she pa.s.sed by before. She didn’t even need to enter to sense the mysterious aura surrounding it based on the store name written in gold on the plaque – Strange Goods Store.

The store was seemingly erased from memory and then restored. The uncanny way it popped on Ling Jialan’s radar made her heart race. The brightly-lit interior visible from the window was almost daring everyone in black garments to come in and explore. Even though she was the one out and about at night, she didn’t feel she was more daring than the store; it was intimidating enough for her to almost miss the two couplets on either side of the entrance.

The couplet on the left read, “Useful things don’t leave.”

The couplet on the right read, “Valuables don’t enter.”

It was understandable for a business to not want useful things to leave, but it made no sense for them to not want valuables to enter their doors.

As Ling Jialan reached for the door, a memory of her father mentioning the store came to mind. The capital was an a.s.sembly point for royalty and the incredibly wealthy. By extension, rare treasures and valuables were found in the capital; one could argue that there was everything one could ask for. Thus, while there were plenty of valuables in the capital, the best and rarest stuff likely belonged to the wealthiest or royalty already. Whenever there was the rare occasion that something wasn’t, it’d quickly become a hot topic.

Strange Good Store sold ordinary goods, yet people shopped with them notwithstanding the shop’s opening hours and locations not being fixed. Having the fortune of shopping with them was considered a blessing. Ling Jialan’s father stressed that she should’ve sought them out if she ran into trouble as they might’ve been able to inspire an idea, and he taught her how to locate the store, too. As he sounded serious about it, she committed it to memory. Tonight, she learnt that her father wasn’t joking about them.

Upon pus.h.i.+ng the doors open, flames of light blew through, making it feel as if she was stepping into a different world. For a moment, her head was spinning, and her heart raced. Afte taking three breaths to recompose herself, she discovered that, contrary to expectations, it was unlike a shop in every way. There were no mountains of glowing goods or an ocean of customers. There was but only a shopkeeper, a maid, a short counter, and the number of goods in the small store were all visible without having to turn one’s head.

The shopkeeper could’ve been anywhere from twenty to forty-plus years of age, but his beard suggested that he wasn’t young. In contrast to his good looks, his eyes appeared devoid of life as he irresponsibly blew out a breath of smoke after taking a puff out of his tobacco pipe.

“Next.”

After one person jovially left once they finished their purpose, the last customer stepped up to the counter.

“What are you looking to purchase?” queried the shopkeeper, in an emotionless voice that suggested he was tired.

The customer in brocade garments shouted, “I’m leaving!”

“Next.”

“Why are you leaving already?” the maid standing by the side inquired in a soft voice. She was only twenty-eight years old, but she looked trustworthy.

The customer, in an upset and angry tone, replied, “I have gone through so much to find your shop, yet this is all you amount to…”

It was hard to blame him for feeling defrauded when the legends didn’t live up to expectations, not to mention if he spent money and time.

“If there is anything you seek, why not ask?” responded the maid.

Inflamed, the customer ignored her appearance and exclaimed, “Your store claims to supply anything demanded. Is that true?” When he made eye contact with the shopkeeper, he immediately averted his gaze.

“Isn’t that why I asked?” stressed the shopkeeper. “What do you wish to purchase?”

“I want…” shaking, the customer said, “a marriage certificate.”

“What?” blurted the maid.

“A marriage certificate,” the customer answered in a louder voice. “I want to buy a marriage certificate. My wife… my wife has been stolen… Her father accepted my betrothal gifts and betrothed her to me. She has been living diagonally from me at Eight Corners for a year, yet her father accepted Supernumerary Zhao’s marriage proposal and refused to let me marry her. I couldn’t officialise our marriage before that due to me being too busy. I never expected her father to blackmail me. I have been told she will be betrothed to Supernumerary Zhao as his concubine. I want that marriage certificate of his. Can you get it for me?”

Ling Jialan frowned, not because it was a difficult request but because of how troublesome it was. It wasn’t difficult for someone in the pugilistic world to interfere with an ordinary couple’s marriage; they just literally had to roll up to the door with weapons and a hand out. In this case, they had to dispatch someone to obtain the marriage certificate, which would take no less than an hour. A marriage certificate wasn’t anything rare, but it wasn’t something that the store would’ve had in stock.

The shopkeeper had another puff before saying, “There are only things that we can sell or not; there’s never a question on if we can obtain the goods or not.”

The shopkeeper took another few puffs, then placed down a sheet on the counter.

The customer looked as if he struck gold. “H-how did you obtain it?”

Ling Jialan focused as much qi as possible to her eyes to discover that the sheet of paper was the marriage certificate in question. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The shopkeeper never even left his spot, after all.

“How much do you intend to pay for this?” The shopkeeper still sounded annoyed and sleepy despite the customer’s joy.

“As long as I can pay, I will. Please name a price.”

“Sure.” The shopkeeper fumbled with the abacus seemingly mindlessly, then replied, “Ten coins.”

The customer was overjoyed to hear such a low price. Once he paid, he was out the door. Strange Goods Store was likely the only shop in existence that could make a customer so happy for a transaction of ten coins.

Ling Jialan stepped towards the counter. “It couldn’t have been easy to obtain that marriage certificate, could it? Although I don’t know how you knew what he came for, it couldn’t have been easy to prepare ahead of time. Isn’t ten coins for happiness too cheap?”

The shopkeeper glanced at Ling Jialan, had another puff, then asked, “Is that what you seek?”

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