Again?
Hearing Ren Youyang's words, Ding Songyan felt this was both within expectation and somewhat exasperating.
These people were certainly persistent!
They had already been spotted once by Ren Youyang, yet they still dared to come back. They truly didn't take someone from one of the Six Sects and Four Schools seriously!
"Take it slow this time, and we'll catch him for sure." Ren Youyang chuckled softly before throwing himself completely into his act as a member of the audience. "Hey, Ding Erlang, I hear a woman fair as a heavenly fairy has been coming to listen to your storytelling every day lately. Is she really that beautiful? How does she compare to the women on the Jianghu Beauty Ranking?"
*If you'd come earlier, you would've seen her. But as a 'competitor,' Miss Xiaoqing might not want to see you. Her skills in disguise and concealment are no small feat...* Ding Songyan continued packing up the tools of his trade, quietly darting a glance in the direction Ren Youyang's left index finger had subtly pointed.
At the same time, without pausing, he replied casually, "I've never seen the heroines or enchantresses on the Jianghu Beauty Ranking. How could I compare?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Ding Songyan spotted a man whose behavior was slightly odd.
Wearing a bamboo hat and coarse brown clothes, he looked like a peasant who had come for the market. Yet despite standing by and watching others play pitch-pot, he would glance in Ding Songyan's direction every now and then with feigned indifference.
"Fair enough." Ren Youyang laughed heartily. "If you ever get the chance to learn martial arts and roam the jianghu in the future, I'll take you to pay respects to the famous beauties on that ranking. I won't speak for other sects, but I'm quite familiar with Bai Lingxu of the Xihuang School."
"Oh?" Ding Songyan's attention was entirely on the stalker, so he only gave Ren Youyang a perfunctory reply.
Ren Youyang fell silent for two breaths before saying with mild embarrassment, "Don't doubt me, I really know her well! She—she beat me up once!"
"Ah?" Ding Songyan's attention was snapped back.
Ren Youyang puffed out his chest. "She belongs to the same generation as Yu Chongyuan and Feng Yining, eight years older than me, and just one step away from the Heaven-Man Realm. She's the youngest elder in the Xihuang School. It's only normal that I couldn't beat her."
"Completely normal, completely normal." Ding Songyan had the odd feeling that he was acting as the straight man in a two-man comic routine with Ren Youyang.
Ren Youyang didn't dwell on the matter. Clearing his throat, he laughed loudly. "Life is short, and who knows which day one might die? Before that happens, one ought to live freely and enjoy oneself! Ding Erlang, come, I'll take you to Cuiliu Brothel for some drinks and company!"
Why did that sound so familiar? Ding Songyan quickly recalled where he had heard something like it, and he quietly took a step back from Ren Youyang.
*Don't tell me Miss Xiaoqing's words are about to come true?*
*Just going for drinks and listening to music is one thing—after all, I ran into him right outside Cuiliu Brothel earlier—but surely there won't be anything else?*
*Ren Youyang looks decent and respectable enough; he shouldn't be that uninhibited and depraved, right?*
Ding Songyan hastily lowered his voice. "Don't we still have to attend to our 'guest'?"
The "guest" referred to the stalker.
"Inside a pleasure house, with no way up to heaven and no door into the earth, it'll be easier to trap the rat," Ren Youyang whispered in explanation.
He glanced left and right, then added, "I've been chatting with you for too long. It'll arouse suspicion. Head over to Hongxiu Street on your own in a moment. I'll change my clothes and find you there."
With that, he stepped out of Ding Songyan's open space and melted into the passing crowd.
Ding Songyan turned Ren Youyang's words over in his mind and found some sense in them. He decided to catch the stalker first and pry out the identity of whoever was pulling the strings behind the scenes before heading to Zhen Manor to tell stories for Yan Changqing. Having lunch at Cuiliu Brothel would fit right into the schedule.
Just then, a man in his forties dressed in a plain zhiduo robe approached and asked with a smile, "Ding Erlang, will you be telling stories this afternoon?"
*Who are you? Don't you know I only do morning sessions?* Feeling anxious inside, Ding Songyan nonetheless put on a smile. "This afternoon, I must go perform at a wealthy family's private gathering."
Telling stories for Yan Changqing wasn't much different from performing at a private banquet in Zhen Manor.
The man in his forties suddenly dropped his voice to a faint murmur. "Ding Erlang, I found the follower you mentioned!"
The voice was soft and sweet, utterly different from a moment before.
*Miss Xiaoqing? Her disguise art is incredible!* Ding Songyan marveled silently even as he whispered back, "Who is it?"
"Over by the pitch-pot game. The one in the bamboo hat," Xiaoqing said succinctly.
*It's the same one Ren Youyang pointed out... With double verification, it's definitely the stalker...* Just as Ding Songyan was about to thank her, Xiaoqing stepped closer and added in a rapid whisper, "There are signs he is being controlled—similar to a gu parasite, yet not quite."
Having delivered her warning, Xiaoqing put on a disappointed expression, muttered a polite farewell, and blended into the crowd.
*Being controlled... That makes sense! To think Miss Xiaoqing could spot that—she's sharper than Ren Youyang. It seems Brother Youyang really isn't suited for this sort of work... A pity the method of control can't be identified yet; otherwise, we might trace the vine to the melon and drag out the mastermind behind the scenes...* Thoughts raced through Ding Songyan's head as he analyzed the situation and weighed his options.
Suddenly, he remembered the "seed" Yan Changqing had given him.
*Placed upon the eyes, this thing can dispel illusions!*
Although Ding Songyan had previously worried that this so-called illusion dispelling might actually layer on another hallucination to warp his judgment, at this moment, taking a look wouldn't cost him anything. Once the stalker was caught, he would still ask Miss Xiaoqing to cross-check. He certainly wouldn't believe it blindly.
Having made up his mind, Ding Songyan quickly shifted the hazy, translucent "seed" from his sea of consciousness to his brow, then let it split in two and settle over his eyes.
His vision sharpened instantly. The sky seemed washed clean by rain, and the ground appeared closer.
He openly directed his gaze toward the pitch-pot game, letting his eyes sweep across the man in the bamboo hat.
With that single look, Ding Songyan froze entirely.
The man's skin was flushed reddish, and from inside his ear, an insect resembling a large red ant poked out antennae covered in blood-colored scales.
The moment those antennae brushed the outside air, they swiftly retracted, and the vermilion moth-like creature retreated along with them, vanishing into the man's ear canal.
Ding Songyan's scalp prickled with chills. He suspected the man in the bamboo hat was already dead, and that it was that ant-like red moth—or perhaps several of them—controlling his body.
*Moths...*
Ding Songyan's brow furrowed abruptly, his head throbbing with a dull ache.
He felt an eerie sense of familiarity with such creatures.
True, he had never seen this kind of vermilion moth before, but there was a place where he frequently saw swarms of ordinary moths gathering.
*His home!*
*Inside the Ding family courtyard!*
*Could there be some connection between the two?* The hairs all over Ding Songyan's body stood on end, as if he were trapped in a nightmare from which he could never wake.
Grabbing his storytelling gear, he strode briskly toward Chengyu Lane. On the way, he seemed to catch a fleeting glimpse of one or more fluffy, snow-white tails flashing past.
At first he walked exceedingly fast, on the verge of a jog. Only when the illusion-dispelling effect of the misty seed faded did he slow his pace, his expression gradually returning to normal—or at least appearing so on the surface.
As usual, Ding Songyan walked into Chengyu Lane at a relaxed, measured pace, exchanging occasional greetings with the neighbors he met.
He knocked on the courtyard gate, answered Ding Qingyan's query, and was let inside by his sister.
Stopping in the middle of the courtyard, Ding Songyan was completely deaf to whatever Ding Qingyan was saying. All his eyes reflected were the mosquitoes and moths swarming around the elm tree.
Once again, he guided the misty "seed" to split over his eyes, activating its power to dispel illusion.
Those moths and mosquitoes did not reveal any hidden true form, nor did they transform into vermilion, ant-like abominations.
Ding Songyan turned his body and looked at Ding Qingyan.
Ding Qingyan hadn't combed her hair into a formal bun today; she had merely tied it up loosely, adding a touch of leisurely ease to her fresh, delicate beauty.
Tilting her head slightly, she scrutinized Ding Songyan. "Second Brother, what's wrong? You're acting so strange..."
Seeing that his sister was completely normal, unchanged from before he activated the illusion-dispelling power, Ding Songyan quietly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Nothing. I just didn't get enough sleep last night, so I'm still feeling a bit muddled."
"Then go rest quickly," Ding Qingyan said with concern.
She had just cooked a bowl of noodles with some pickled potherb mustard, making do for lunch.
"All right." Ding Songyan didn't refuse. He returned to the western wing and lay down on the bed.
Afraid of disturbing him, Ding Qingyan took her brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to practice calligraphy in the main room.
*Whew, was I overthinking? Connecting ordinary moths to that vermilion moth... A vermilion moth, like a large red ant... I feel like I've read a similar description somewhere...* Lying in bed, Ding Songyan searched his memory intently.
In merely the blink of an eye, a clue struck him. He carefully slipped out of bed, groped beneath the bedding and wooden planks, and pulled out his hand-copied edition of *The Esoteric Classic of Mountains and Seas*.
He had seen a corresponding passage in this very book!
Flipping through the pages rapidly, Ding Songyan found the excerpt:
"The vermilion moth is an ant, shaped like a moth...
"Consuming it commands a hundred insects, unifies the marrow sea, and makes a thousand people share one face."
* * *
Dingjiang Prefecture, Linjiang County yamen.
After leading a squad of constables on patrol through their assigned streets, Li Wu strode back into the duty room. He picked up his large bowl and gulped down the tea that had already gone cold, leaving several tea leaves stuck to the corner of his mouth.
"Refreshing!" he exhaled in a low voice. Just as he was about to sit down to rest, he saw Constable Xue Zhangjian and County Lieutenant Yi Qincang walking in together.
Yi Qincang had a square face, thick brows, and large eyes. Burly and imposing, his left arm was slightly longer than his right. Across his back hung a rigid red bow, and white-feathered arrows were tucked into the quiver at his waist. Xue Zhangjian stood half a head shorter than Yi Qincang. In his forties, he looked scholarly and refined, bearing little resemblance to a martial artist. As he walked, his body stooped slightly, and his hands were somewhat stiff, curved like chicken claws.
"Lord Yi, Constable Xue, what is this?" Li Wu's body instantly tensed.
*Has trouble come up?*
Xue Zhangjian took out an official dispatch and laid it on the duty room table.
"The Martial Suppression Bureau in Yanjing has replied regarding the abnormalities in the death of Chen Yuliang from the Xiaochuan Gang. They provided four possibilities."
Li Wu focused his gaze on the paper. Written on the dispatch were the words:
"A case in which the torso decays and rots faster than the head is unprecedented within the borders of Great Zhao.
"Collating past intelligence sent back by several covert agents, it is suspected that certain evil sect practitioners who previously operated only north of the Great River have arrived in Ningzhou.
"There are four possibilities:
"First, the Five Thieves Sect of Gan Kingdom; second, the Mushroom Man School of New Yu;
"Third, the Thousand Puppets Sect, whose sect headquarters north of the river remains unknown; and fourth, the Moth God Sect of Feng Kingdom."
Chapter 36