"Second Brother Ding, what should we do now?" Xu Chang'an stuffed all the silver coins back into the hidden compartment, asking Ding Songyan in anxious panic.
He too was beginning to feel that this matter was rather eerie.
Would his master feel so secure leaving his money hidden here and not return for days?
All his disciples were thieves; how could any of them fail to find such a hidden compartment, and who among them wouldn't be tempted when faced with riches?
Ding Songyan was silent for several breaths before saying, "Let's report it to the authorities."
Dingjiang Prefecture's city was by no means small, and the towns and villages beyond the city walls were numerous. Relying solely on the three of them made searching impossible and carried the risk of running into danger; it was far better to leave it to the authorities.
This was Ding Songyan's instinctive choice.
Furthermore, doing so would give him a legitimate reason to make contact with local powers such as the Xiaoming Sect and the Yi clan, laying the groundwork for inquiring about relevant information and seeking an apprenticeship in the future.
Xu Chang'an's face turned pale. "Report it to the authorities? Tell the yamen that my master has gone missing—that he's a veteran thief, that I learned the trade under him, and now I'm scrounging for a living outside Duokang Temple? Even if I don't say it, they can dig it up."
*Wasn't that just because I hadn't factored you in yet?* Ding Songyan said solemnly, "If your master merely suffered an accident like slipping and drowning, naturally you wouldn't need to worry about what follows. But if he got tangled up in some secret matter, how many heads do you think you have to withstand the possible dangers? Go pray at Duokang Temple and hope it doesn't drag you down?"
Xu Chang'an's face went even paler, bordering on terrifying. After stammering for a long while, he murmured in a low voice, "Second Brother Ding, how about we search a bit more? If we still haven't found him today, we'll report it to the authorities immediately."
"Where did your master usually like to go?" Ding Songyan did not wish to report it himself. In this matter, it had to be the disciple, Xu Chang'an, to ensure everything was proper and justified; Ding Songyan could only accompany him, taking the opportunity to get acquainted with people from the Yi clan and the Xiaoming Sect.
Xu Chang'an recalled, "My master never married or had children, having only us disciples. Normally he didn't care for gambling either, only liking to drink and visit courtesans in Beili Ward, where he had a few lovers. But we went looking for him there yesterday, and they all said he hasn't been around for at least four days.
"Apart from that..."
Suddenly, Xu Chang'an's eyes lit up.
"Over the past half-month or so, he went to the mass burial ground three times, saying he was looking for something called yin corpse grass."
*The mass burial ground?* Ding Songyan swiftly caught the keyword.
His predecessor had died in the ruined shrine along the road to the mass burial ground.
Could this matter truly be connected to Xu Chang'an's master?
Did he really dig up *The Esoteric Classic of Mountains and Seas* by robbing graves in the mass burial ground? Uh, did a mass burial ground even have graves?
Ding Songyan showed none of his inner turmoil, feigning curiosity as he asked, "What was he looking for yin corpse grass for?"
Xu Chang'an glanced at Ding Daniu, who looked both curious and fiercely imposing, swallowed hard, and said, "'Aperture crafting.' A few days ago, when my master got drunk, he told us that he had finally acquired a suitable method for aperture crafting and had hopes of breaking through the Mortal Realm. Yin corpse grass is one of the things required during aperture crafting."
"What is 'aperture crafting'?" Having already widely spread the word that he suffered from soul-departing illness, Ding Songyan did not hesitate to ask.
Aware of Ding Songyan's condition, Xu Chang'an understood his confusion and deliberated for a moment before explaining, "The martial arts of our Shanhai Realm were either left behind by heavenly emperors and deities or created by consuming spirits, demons, and strange beasts. The crucial part of them is aperture refinement. But how could the apertures of heavenly emperors, gods, spirits, and strange beasts be identical to those of us humans? They say the differences are vast.
"Therefore, once one finishes refining the human apertures that correspond between the two, one must measure distances and create apertures out of nothing in suitable locations across the body to refine. Creating these apertures requires needle guidance, herbal infusions, and in some cases, cutting open the chest and abdomen to implant strange metals or rare bronzes. The method of aperture crafting differs for every martial art, and so do the required materials.
"In many sects, the aperture-crafting methods and the refinement methods are kept separate. Only the transmission elders who will never leave the mountain gates possess the methods of aperture crafting, assisting disciples when needed. This way, even if a disciple slips up while wandering the jianghu, the corresponding martial art will not be leaked."
*I've truly never seen martial secret techniques like this... No wonder medicine is so astounding in this world; it turns out to be an everyday necessity, with methods that have evolved over time...* Ding Songyan marvelled inwardly.
He felt that keeping the aperture-crafting and refinement methods separate could indeed prevent superior martial arts from leaking out, but it also carried risks: while a sect was at its peak, this was a wonderful safeguard; once a sect fell into decline or migrated, however, it made losing crucial parts of superior martial arts far too easy. Ding Songyan reckoned that was likely what happened to the Xiaoming Sect back then.
Ding Songyan pondered and asked, "What if an aperture is on an extra organ of a spirit or beast? For instance, a second heart?
"What if the measured distance falls outside the body?"
He remembered that many strange beasts in *The Classic of Mountains and Seas* were gigantic and bizarrely shaped. If they truly had to correspond to the human body, even scaled down proportionally, quite a few apertures ought to end up outside the body.
Xu Chang'an was somewhat bewildered by Ding Songyan's two questions.
"I... I don't know...
"I've heard that the Dayan Realm is the most intricate realm of all. It doesn't just involve aperture crafting; there are also many hurdles and fine distinctions. That's why the *Register of Orchids Under Heaven* divides this realm into four full grades: Yiren, Kanxuan, Chaofan, and Ruhua.
"Many disciples of major sects remain stuck in this realm for their entire lives. Very few can enter the Dharma Realm and become grandmasters."
*Initial Realm, Mortal Realm, Dayan Realm, Dharma Realm, Heaven-Man Realm, Spirit Terrace Realm...* Ding Songyan finally gained a relatively clear understanding of the martial realms in this world.
*No wonder they say that once you refine your apertures, it's virtually impossible to switch to another practice...*
Seeing that Xu Chang'an couldn't tell him much more, Ding Songyan brought the conversation back on track. "Your master is already well along in years. Why is he still so obsessed with aperture crafting?"
"It's precisely because he's well along in years that he longs for aperture crafting and advancing to the Dayan Realm," Xu Chang'an explained earnestly. "The Dayan Realm is far stronger than the Mortal Realm. If he can become a Yiren, not only will his lifespan increase, but he might also get a chance to steal divine medicines or treasures and extend his life by over a century."
*It can even increase lifespan? Then I'd be obsessed too...* Ding Songyan glanced at his remarkably quiet elder brother, then looked at Xu Chang'an and remarked as if talking to himself, "Your master only obtained that suitable aperture-crafting method within the last half-month or so?"
*My predecessor also obtained The Esoteric Classic of Mountains and Seas recently...*
"Most likely. I never saw my master go to the mass burial ground before that." Xu Chang'an pleaded, "Second Brother Ding, Brother Ding, please accompany me to the mass burial ground! If we still can't find my master there, we'll go report it to the authorities!"
*In a place like a mass burial ground, actually finding him would be the terrifying thing...* Ding Songyan said with difficulty, "Outside the city is dangerous..."
"It's not dangerous, not dangerous at all! From the city gates to the mass burial ground, that whole area is under the watch of the city wall's watchtowers. Only the back hill of the mass burial ground is out of sight," Xu Chang'an urged frantically.
*So why did my predecessor have to go into that ruined shrine, dying without even knowing how? Wouldn't it have been fine to talk or trade beside the open road? In any case, the observers atop the watchtower wouldn't know what you were doing—or could their eyesight see what was in your hands clearly from such a distance, making caution necessary?* Reluctantly, Ding Songyan agreed.
It took the three of them the better part of an hour to reach the mass burial ground outside the city.
The vegetation here grew dense and lush. Even under the blazing summer sun, gusts of sinister wind blew up from time to time, sending a faint chill through them.
Contrary to what Ding Songyan had imagined, the area was not strewn everywhere with rotting corpses wrapped in straw mats; most had been buried in shallow pits to prevent plagues, with only a few white bones scattered deep in the grass.
"Roughly where did your master say the yin corpse grass was?" Ding Songyan asked.
"It should be... where the front hill meets the back hill," Xu Chang'an said hurriedly. "Second Brother Ding, I won't ask you two to accompany me to the back hill. If we haven't found him at the boundary, we'll head back to the city and report it to the authorities."
*Even if you begged me, I wouldn't go...* Standing beside the nine-foot-tall, vigorously robust Ding Daniu, Ding Songyan felt that even if there were wandering souls and wild ghosts here, they probably wouldn't dare approach.
As they neared the back hill, Ding Daniu suddenly twitched his nose and pointed toward several trees. "Over there, there's the smell of blood. And a stench."
*Blood?* Ding Songyan gestured for Ding Daniu and Xu Chang'an to go first.
Rounding those trees, a nauseating stench rushed into their nostrils, so foul that Ding Songyan nearly threw up.
Before he could adjust, he heard Xu Chang'an murmur in dazed horror:
"Master... *blurgh*..."
He vomited.
Ding Songyan looked up and saw a rotting, swollen corpse lying in the brush, swarming with flies and mosquitoes.
Its ribs were snapped, and the chest and abdomen were split open to either side; all the internal organs inside seemed to be missing. On its right thumb was a jade archer's ring.
Ding Songyan did not look closely at the corpse's features; he was on the verge of vomiting himself.
Among the three, only Ding Daniu remained unaffected. He observed the corpse intently and clapped Xu Chang'an on the shoulder. "Xu Dalang, is it really your master?"
"That ring... it's the one my master... usually wore," Xu Chang'an panted.
"What about his face?" Ding Daniu pressed.
Xu Chang'an subconsciously glanced at it twice and vomited again, bringing up yellowish-green bile.
Only after a good while did he manage, "It's... I can... I can recognize him..."
He turned his back, grabbed Ding Songyan's sleeve, and said in terror, "Second Brother Ding, let's go report it to the authorities!"
Also facing away from the corpse and covering his nose and mouth, Ding Songyan slowly shook his head. "No. To Zhen Manor."
Circumstances had changed. It seemed this matter truly was connected to his predecessor and *The Esoteric Classic of Mountains and Seas*; otherwise, both men wouldn't have ended up dead, dying in places not far apart, around the same time. Therefore, it was best left to Zhen Manor to handle.
***
Zhen Manor, Hanshui Pavilion.
The Old Master of the Zhen family paced back and forth in the room, rolling iron baoding balls in his palm while listening to Mr. Yu report the events of the past two days.
"You found no clues pointing toward the major sects or the Twenty-One Ways of Demons?" Zhen Qianfan asked hesitantly.
"None at all," Mr. Yu, wearing a small skullcap, answered truthfully.
Zhen Qianfan scoffed. "What on earth is that Xiaochuan Gang trying to pull? First, they provoked us repeatedly, handing us an excuse on a silver platter so we could register our two gangs' feud with the yamen without a hitch. Then, in the prefectural city, they only stationed Chen Yuliang, someone even you could handle. Do they truly think that just because I've been in retirement for years, I can no longer take the field myself?"
"Old Master, you're only sixty years of age, still full of vigor and fight." Mr. Yu had witnessed Zhen Qianfan's strength firsthand.
Just as Zhen Qianfan was about to speak further, a Zhen clansman on guard duty came in and bowed to both of them. "Old Master, Mr. Yu, Concubine Qin's cousin, Ding Erlang, has come again. He says he's discovered an important matter."
Chapter 18