Radiance

When the time came and everyone in Panlong City was gone, would the storefronts here still be worth anything? Would anyone still be able to collect that much rent? Faced with such a monumental upheaval, would the Panlong City authorities still follow the rules as they once did? He Lingchuan knew this fellow had a keen nose for trouble and was definitely trying to get ahead of the game, which was why he had sought to renegotiate the lease. He smiled, stood up, and said, "Then let's wait until the resettlement decree actually comes down before discussing it." With that, he strode out, ignoring Bai Guo's attempts to make him stay. Behind him, the fat man sighed and groaned. Outside Arena No. 7 today, a sea of people had gathered just as before. The first person He Lingchuan spotted was Skinny. The rogue had a burlap sack slung over his back, grinning from ear to ear. After two shichen of close calls and safe passage, He Lingchuan remained the reigning champion of the ring. However, he had picked up a few more bruises on his face, several tears in his clothes, and a persistent ache in his chest and abdomen. Having taken a few kicks and two solid punches there, even breathing was painful. He took some medicine and regulated his breathing for half a shichen before he felt some relief. When Skinny was divvying up the money with him, He Lingchuan seized the chance to ask, "Heard any rumors lately?" Skinny was engrossed in counting silver and copper coins. "What?" "News from the Xiluo Kingdom?" "Collecting money like this, with all these loose bits and pieces, is way too inconvenient." The money by the ring was easy to make, and he had built up a reputation. Most importantly, everyone now knew he was friends with the champion! No one dared muscle in on his action, so Skinny was scheming to expand the business. "Should we make betting tallies and have people cast their tallies to place bets?" "You mean chips?" Didn't gambling dens already have those? "Ah, right." Skinny finished counting a bag of coins before his mind caught up. "What did you just ask? News from Xiluo? Yeah, there is. I heard the warlord infighting back home is getting worse and worse. The capital has no power to suppress it at all." Because Panlong City had consistently maintained open foreign trade, its information channels had become far smoother over the past few years than four or five years ago. Intelligence from the home country could reach here too; it was only a matter of time. "Who doesn't know that?" Weak nations were prone to turmoil, and anyone foolish enough to imitate the Beijia Kingdom's system was courting death. "Anything else?" Skinny looked blank. "Haven't heard anything." "All right, then." He Lingchuan clapped him on the shoulder, took his share of the coins, and headed home. It seemed word hadn't spread yet. On the way back, he picked up some fuling cakes. With a creak, he pushed the door open. His courtyard—or rather, lightwell—was just as cramped as ever, yet He Lingchuan could still sense the difference. He had only been away for a few days, but above the water vat—mounted on the kitchen's outer wall—was a newly installed shelf holding three small potted flowering plants. One was an apricot-colored Persian buttercup, another was an evening-glow red anemone, and the third was one He Lingchuan simply couldn't recognize: cascading clusters of snow-white flowers like drifting snowflakes or the beaded veil of a bride, hanging down so low they nearly brushed the water's surface in the vat. The courtyard was small, and he usually practiced martial arts there, so the three new pots of flowers had been placed out of his way where he wouldn't bump into them. He Lingchuan sniffed the air. His courtyard had never smelled so fragrant. Stepping into the inner room, he found it spotless. The clutter that used to be strewn everywhere had vanished, and a dark brown wardrobe chest now sat by the bed. On a chair stood a vase holding two rugged, wild-looking Barberton daisies, likely picked from the outskirts of town. He opened the chest, and sure enough, all the miscellaneous odds and ends were neatly sorted inside. Resting right at the top were the gentleman's reading materials he had brought back from the general store back then, stacked in a neat, tidy pile. Just then, a sound came from the courtyard gate as someone pushed it open. He Lingchuan hastily slammed the chest lid shut with a clap and stepped out to look. Sure enough, Sun Fuling had arrived. She set down the basket in her hands. "Won your defense in the ring again today?" "Yeah. Getting harder and harder, but still won." He Lingchuan stretched his back, only to aggravate the injury between his ribs. Wincing with an "ouch," he added, "There are too many formidable fighters in the Gale Army. Next time might not go so well." His left ribs had taken a hit from the challenger's club—at the very least, it was cracked. Today's opponent had been exceptionally cunning, feigning weakness several times to set up a fatal counterattack. Naturally, He Lingchuan had kicked him off the arena in the end. "Where in the world is there an undefeated general? Once you stand in that position, someone is bound to knock you down sooner or later," Sun Fuling said offhandedly. From her basket, she produced two jugs of fine wine, two plump roast chickens, three large slabs of spiced braised beef shank, and a bundle of pork trotters. "To celebrate your victory. This is the Apricot Blossom Spring, newly released by the Apricot Blossom Restaurant this year." Practitioners had abundant vitality and blood, and their appetites were correspondingly massive. "What if I had lost?" "To drown your sorrows." She carried the roast chickens and braised pork trotters into the kitchen to carve them up, honed the cleaver a few times, and casually twirled the blade. Watching such a delicate young woman wield a thick-backed kitchen cleaver, the glittering edge spinning deftly between her slender fingers, made He Lingchuan break into a sweat. Tock-tock-tock—a dozen swift chops, and the roast chicken and trotters were obediently carved into pieces. He Lingchuan noticed there were barely any new knife marks on the cutting board, demonstrating just how precise her blade work was, not wasting a single shred of force. Chopping through dense pig bones took substantial effort; who could gauge their force so perfectly? "And you claimed you didn't know how to cook?" "I don't. These were already prepared." She pointed at the roast chicken and trotters. "A gift from my students." She then pointed to the spiced beef. "This is from the Apricot Blossom Pavilion." "I only did the carving," Sun Fuling said with a smile. "Didn't your training start with slicing paper and tofu too?" With that, she picked up the spiced beef. Her hand rose and the blade fell, blurring into an afterimage. The spiced beef was sliced, every piece paper-thin and translucent against the light. As uniform as if cut by a machine. Once all this was laid out in the courtyard, she washed her hands and fetched a small jar—the kind that could hold at most three liang of wine. "What's this now?" He Lingchuan feigned reluctance. "This is far too lavish; I can't possibly finish it all!" Sun Fuling burst into laughter. "Why don't you try eating one?" She tilted the jar and poured into a chipped porcelain cup, emptying out a writhing cluster of crimson things as fine and long as strands of hair— A ball of worms. Sun Fuling thrust the cup toward his mouth. "Come on, open wide?" He Lingchuan sprang three feet back. "What on earth is that?" It wasn't that he had never eaten bugs before, but this thing looked thoroughly unappetizing. It looked just like parasites. "Bloodworms. Did you think you were the only one who needs to eat?" Sun Fuling casually tipped the cup over the water vat, and He Lingchuan heard splashing. Poking his head over, he saw the goldfish swimming up to the surface, vying eagerly for their treat. He took the opportunity to count: one, two, three, four, five, six... Huh, all nine fish were still there? Not only were they lively and energetic, but their colors had grown even more vibrant. That required ample sunlight and nourishment. He Lingchuan searched his conscience; in the seven or eight days these fish had been in his house, had he even remembered to feed them more than twice? And where had the aquatic weeds and shells at the bottom come from? As for the snails clinging to the vat wall, they couldn't have sprouted on their own, could they? He Lingchuan also caught a glimpse of something darting across the bottom, shimmering blue like a phantom. Looking closely, he realized it was a tiny shrimp with a near-translucent body. Keeping fish outdoors was no easy feat; the city had plenty of magpies and egrets that frequently swooped down to steal food. For all nine fish to stay intact and accounted for, how much luck would that take? "You've taken such good care of this vat of fish." Originally, he had scooped them up to please the lady, never expecting she would end up raising them for him. "It was no trouble at all." Sun Fuling brushed a stray lock of hair from her brow, dimples reappearing on her cheeks. Standing in the soft light of the fourth month, the young woman smiled radiantly. Though clad in plain cloth and a simple thorn hairpin, she outshone every blossoming flower in the courtyard. As she bowed her head to feed the fish, she complemented the cascading white blossoms, resembling dark tresses brushed with the first snow, gentle and exquisite. He Lingchuan stared entranced, feeling as though the finest beauty in the world was nothing more than this, nestled right here within his palm-sized courtyard. Sun Fuling turned her head to look at him, her almond eyes brimming with amusement. "What are you staring at?" "The flowers are lovely, and the fish love them too." He Lingchuan hastily pointed at the hanging plant. "What's it called?" Its trailing blooms hung so close to the water that one goldfish, not satisfied with just bloodworms, leaped out of the water to nip at the petals. "Weeping clerodendrum." Sun Fuling tidied its tendrils. "I bought it from a merchant from out of town. Supposedly it's native to the eastern parts of the Xiluo Kingdom; it doesn't grow on the Chipa Plateau." Having fed the fish and washed their hands, the two sat down to eat and drink. He Lingchuan brought out the fuling cakes, completing the meal with a staple. When he mentioned the Juluo tree that had suddenly appeared at the South Gate, Sun Fuling marveled, "It really grew in just a few days? I'll go have a look tomorrow. Juluo trees are rare; where did the sapling come from?" "You know about Juluo trees?" "I know a thing or two about the world's curiosities. Isn't that the legendary seabed wood where wandering spirits can dwell?" Sun Fuling picked up a piece of pork trotter with two fingers and nibbled on it, unbothered by breaches of etiquette. "The oldest demon king in the Beijia Kingdom, the Jeweled Tree King, is himself a Juluo tree in true form." Didn't the spirit seed originate from the Jeweled Tree King? He Lingchuan asked her, "I've heard that the Jeweled Tree King's domain is the most peaceful demon realm in Beijia, with hardly any warfare." "Its demon king has never changed; that old tree has always remained in power, so how could it be otherwise?" Sun Fuling shrugged. "Forget about the other demon realms; even Lingxu City has seen a change of ruler." "Beijia has actually stood for over six hun... no, four hundred years." That was close; he had nearly forgotten that the Panlong calendar differed from reality, and at this time Beijia's history spanned only four-plus centuries. "I've looked up relevant histories in the Wenxuan Pavilion, and they all describe its governance as chaotic yet unshakable. What's your take on it?" The lady before him was well-versed in state histories, so asking her could save him the trouble of burying his head in books. After all, his time in the dream was precious. He Lingchuan attentively poured wine for Master Sun. She raised her cup and drained it in a single draft, letting out a soft sigh that indeed carried the fragrance of apricot blossoms. "The vast territory now known as Beijia was originally more than a dozen human kingdoms interspersed with two minor demon realms. Of those two demon realms, one was annihilated by the human kingdoms. The other, sensing that the human race possessed overwhelming dynastic fortune while the demon race was nothing more than a tray of loose sand incapable of rivaling them, threw itself into the embrace of the gods. Drawing upon divine power to unite the great demons, it began to turn defeat into victory, chipping away at human territory bit by bit, kingdom by kingdom. "Its success drew even more demons to pledge their allegiance, and the war against the human kingdoms went smoother and smoother. This entire process took merely thirty-odd years. When the last human kingdom there vanished, the Beijia Demon Kingdom emerged, its founding monarch becoming the first Demon Emperor. He lavishly rewarded his meritorious subjects, dividing the vast expanse of land among twelve distinguished demon kings and permitting them to establish their own vassal realms. Thus, the northern demon kingdom was firmly established."