A man of action, Ding Songyan decided to do it right here near Fengshui Bridge.
That way, if anything went wrong or caused a stir, the street-patrolling constables and Xiaoming Sect disciples were just across the way. When the time came, besides resolving whatever incident broke out, their best move would be dragging him off to jail and thoroughly examining him to see if there was anything unusual about him.
With his back turned to the night market of Fengshui Bridge, which was lit as brightly as day by colorful lanterns, Ding Songyan devoured the candied hawthorns in three or four bites. Holding his breath and focusing his mind, he attempted to guide the misty, translucent "seed" within his sea of consciousness toward his eyes.
The "seed" had only just reached his brow, before it could even split in two, channel into his eyes, and unleash its power of dispelling illusion, when the scenery before Ding Songyan's eyes transformed.
Mist billowed like smoke, like a dream, fusing into the darkness. It reduced the surrounding buildings to isolated islands that, while clearly mere feet away, could only be gazed upon from afar.
The night grew ever deeper and gloomier. Within the black fog, figures staggered past one by one, trudging along aimlessly. Some were dressed in rags; some wore heavy armor and gripped sharp weapons; some were mangled heaps of flesh and blood; some were missing limbs; some were twisted into grotesque forms; and some looked entirely monstrous...
A silent streak of lightning cut across the expanse, casting a sickly, ghastly green light. It illuminated an endless, hollow desolation stretching into the distance and revealed a pitch-black mountain towering within the darkest depths.
*It really worked...*
*Just bringing them together—without even activating the seed's power—opened my yin eye... For the ten-thousandth time, Master Yan's qi is truly far too useful. It strengthens my special trait without even wasting a single charge! I really want to learn it. If only he weren't so evil, or would just hurry up and die, how wonderful that would be...*
Ding Songyan felt a surge of surprise and joy, sighing with emotion.
After looking closely for a while, he realized that the scene before him felt inexplicably familiar.
This seemed to be the very imagery he had vaguely, hazily perceived in his "dreams" before waking up in Ding Erlang's body:
Smoky darkness, blurred figures, eerie green lightning, a desolate wilderness...
*Hiss... Before taking over this body, did I wander through the Netherworld of this realm for a time? My transmigration wasn't instantaneous?* Beyond shock and bewilderment, Ding Songyan felt an intense curiosity.
Always gifted with an academic spirit, the only question on his mind right now was:
*What is the underlying mechanism behind this?*
Composing himself, he observed his surroundings while comparing them to the impressions in his memory.
*There are several black stone pillars beside me, and similar objects stand far off in different directions throughout the Netherworld... I didn't notice them when I was wandering through the Underworld, but back then I couldn't see far or clearly anyway; my senses were clouded and my thoughts were muddled...*
*I don't feel that bone-chilling wind right now. That makes sense—I've only opened my yin eye, so it's purely visual, without any other sensory input...*
*Likewise, that sensation of darkness wrapping around me like a shroud isn't here either...*
Ding Songyan gazed at the few seemingly illusory, yet seemingly real black pillars just paces away. He stepped forward cautiously, reached out his hand, and stretched toward the small, weathered holes pitting the stone surface.
His palm passed right through the black stone pillar, as well as right through a passing ghostly shadow. He touched nothing at all.
*Separated by the boundary between yin and yang...* Ding Songyan let out a soft sigh.
Suddenly, a new thought struck him.
Since his soul had once wandered through the Netherworld of this realm for a period, leaving him with an unstable yin-yang eye ability after occupying Ding Erlang's body, could it be that the unusual traits extended beyond his eyes to other parts of his body?
After all, what had entered the Underworld wasn't merely his "eyes," but his entire soul.
And since Yan Changqing's qi required no actual expenditure—its mere proximity was enough to reliably trigger the yin eye—under these circumstances, if he shifted the "seed" to his hand, would a corresponding change occur in his palm as well?
Ding Songyan slowly guided the misty seed from his brow down toward his arm. Throughout the process, his yin eye remained stable, showing no sign of fading.
In just a dozen breaths, the misty "seed" reached Ding Songyan's palm.
All at once, Ding Songyan felt a bone-piercing chill.
Waves of sinister, gloomy wind continually blew against his palm, making his blood feel as though it were freezing and causing the surface of his skin to show signs of weathering.
Ding Songyan lifted his arm and tried reaching forward once more.
Amid the heavy confinement of the deep darkness, he brushed against a dreary, icy chill—the armor of a passing ghostly figure.
Ding Songyan moved his palm further forward until it touched one of the pitch-black stone pillars, feeling a weathered hole roughly the size of an ear that nearly pierced all the way through.
*It really is like this...* Ding Songyan felt the icy, rough texture of the stone pillar while watching ghost after ghost pass straight through the parts of his arm where the "seed" had not activated anything special.
Occasionally, one of them bumped into Ding Songyan's palm, jolting off course and circling around before continuing on its way.
Withdrawing his hand, Ding Songyan felt an experimental urge and retrieved a copper coin from his pouch.
*A five-cash coin?* Without hesitation, Ding Songyan swapped the Xingping zhongbao coin, which was worth five, for a one-wen Jianwu tongbao coin.
Tightly clutching the Jianwu tongbao coin, he brought it close to the black stone pillar.
A chilling wind passed through the back of Ding Songyan's hand and emerged from his palm; he couldn't tell whether it blew straight through the copper coin as well.
Carefully, Ding Songyan placed the Jianwu tongbao coin inside one of the small, weathered hollows, then slowly pulled his hand back with keen curiosity.
The one-wen Jianwu tongbao coin didn't lose its support and fall to the ground; it remained resting steadily inside the hollow of the stone pillar.
*Now this is interesting...*
*Did it truly enter the Netherworld through my hand?*
*Has it become a yin-yang coin?*
Ding Songyan drew his hand back completely and patiently watched for whatever changes might follow.
Not long after the rhythmic thuds of the night watchman's clapper faded into the distance, his vision wavered.
The sights of the Netherworld and those terrifying ghostly figures rapidly vanished, and the surrounding houses and streets broke free from the smoky mist.
*Without Yan Changqing's qi actively stimulating it, my yin eye can't sustain itself indefinitely, but it can still hold steady for a while—roughly a bit over the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. That's for the best; keeping the yin eye open all the time would definitely be dangerous. I wouldn't even dare step outside at night...* While analyzing the situation, Ding Songyan cast his gaze toward the ground under the clear moonlight.
There was nothing there, only dust.
His Jianwu tongbao coin had completely disappeared.
*It really was delivered into the Underworld...* Ding Songyan checked his pouch, counted his coins, and confirmed that he was indeed missing one Jianwu tongbao coin. Clicking his tongue, he muttered to himself in a mix of excitement and bewilderment.
He felt that if he ever failed to find work in the future, he could open a "Heaven and Earth Bank" dedicated to helping people deliver items to deceased friends and relatives in the Underworld.
Of course, that was provided Yan Changqing was thoroughly dead and the qi remained usable—or that Ding Songyan had cultivated similar qi himself.
Because it didn't consume any charges of the qi, Ding Songyan tested it several more times and verified numerous details. For example, his palm could only touch ghosts and other objects in the Netherworld when his yin eye was active. If his yin eye wasn't open, transferring the "seed" to his palm merely prepared it for injuring enemies and could not bridge the gap to the Netherworld.
After quite some time, Ding Songyan rubbed his head, feeling a throbbing ache. He knew that while the "seed" hadn't been depleted tonight, he had thoroughly exhausted himself.
He had no choice but to end the experiment that had fueled his excitement. The copper coin, meanwhile, had already been retrieved from the Netherworld:
Its copper sheen was tinged with an eerie green, weathered and darkly corroded, as though it had been buried in an ancient tomb for over a century.
Not only that, it possessed a distinct trace of etherealness, cold to the touch, with what seemed like a faint draft of yin wind stirring around it.
*No telling what use it might have...* Stashing the Jianwu tongbao coin away, Ding Songyan returned to Chengyu Lane, unlocked his door, stepped inside, and lay down on his bed.
His mind felt hollow and so utterly drained that he found it difficult to fall asleep right away.
This inevitably led him to ponder a few questions:
Just what kind of art was Yan Changqing practicing? What was the truth behind his qi? Why did it possess so many wondrous uses, and why could it open his yin eye without expending its power?
Lines of dialogue from his conversations with Yan Changqing flashed through his mind, and Ding Songyan suddenly seized upon a passage:
When the man had explained that the opening chapter of the divine art held that "humans are of paramount importance," he had cited several examples to illustrate humanity's special nature:
*"Skillfully use body and mind to resonate with Heaven and Earth, to summon deities and command ghosts..."*
*Resonate with Heaven and Earth, command ghosts... The Netherworld falls within the scope of Heaven and Earth, so resonating with Heaven and Earth naturally allows one to sense the Netherworld. Especially since he mentioned commanding ghosts afterward, no wonder... When I struck that palm at the Shichi Martial Arts School, that too was resonating with Heaven and Earth, summoning thunder and hastening the rain...* Ding Songyan experienced a flash of insight, his grasp of Yan Changqing's martial arts growing deeper.
As these thoughts drifted through his mind, his body and spirit gradually relaxed, and he sank into deep slumber.
***
Another morning arrived, leaving Ding Songyan looking haggard and listless.
"Second Brother, you said you were going out for a walk to catch the cool breeze last night. Just where did you wander off to?" Ding Qingyan asked, her tone carrying both genuine concern and playful teasing.
Ding Daniu, who was munching on a flatbread made by their mother, glanced at Ding Songyan upon hearing this and asked in a booming, slightly envious rumble:
"Did you wander off to Beili Ward?"
*Whoosh.* Liu Yuzao and Ding Shengyi both turned their gazes toward Ding Songyan simultaneously.
*Life isn't easy for me. In the dead of night, I still have to keep the 'God of Wealth' company. It's fortunate that this 'God of Wealth' only likes candied hawthorns and doesn't drink wine, or I would've been dragged into getting dead drunk...* Ding Songyan forced a wry smile. "Last night I strolled over to Fengshui Bridge. There were lots of good eats over there, and I ran into some itinerant performers I know, so I had a few bites and drinks with them. Ah, I can't take walks in that direction anymore; it's far too dangerous." Ding Songyan recalled the various "perils" he used to encounter back when he occasionally went for night runs.
Liu Yuzao let out an assenting "Mm."
"Did they pay for it? Remember to treat them back next time."
Ding Songyan agreed. Ding Shengyi patted him on the shoulder with a chuckle, joking, "Next time you go for a walk to Fengshui Bridge, you can bring your old man along. I'd love to have a late-night drink, too..."
Catching the look Liu Yuzao shot his way, his voice trailed off.
Leaving Chengyu Lane, Ding Songyan arrived outside Duokang Temple and set up his pitch to tell stories on open ground as usual. Miss Xiaoqing rewarded him with a silver ingot as always.
Today's chapter was told with crisp, thrilling flair: Xu Shilin battled the tiger demon, shattered the illusion, vanquished Yellow Brow, and finally claimed the Kui bull orb to soar to new heights, drawing round after round of cheers from the audience.
By midday, Ding Songyan had just packed up the tools of his trade when Ren Youyang, dressed in green robes and a small cap that concealed his canine ears, sneaked over under the guise of an onlooker. Lowering his voice, he whispered:
"That bunch is tailing you again."
Chapter 35