Free Web NovelChapter 93: The Festival
After the first cup, the seven of them—master and disciples—settled in with food and drink, laughing and chatting.
With Tao Wenshu present, no one could relax entirely, but trading jianghu rumors and tales from the prefectural city kept things lively enough.
Wan Guhong, Lin Shuyue, and Xue Xian—the three disciples who had most recently been out in the jianghu—gradually began sharing their own experiences, and Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi both listened with great relish.
"In short, I played those swindlers for fools and had them thrown in the yamen jail," Xue Xian said with a touch of smugness.
Having drunk quite a bit, her face flushed, she turned to Tao Wenshu with bright eyes and asked, "Master, what was the proudest thing you did when you traveled the jianghu?"
Tao Wenshu gave a short laugh.
"There were quite a few proud moments, actually. The one that left the deepest impression was when a Hongxin Trading Company shipment of considerable value was plundered by river pirates on Heavenly Lake in Bao Province. Senior Brother Jin, Junior Sister Yan, and I happened to be traveling in the area. When we heard, we bought a fishing boat, crossed the great lake, and landed on the pirates’ island. We broke through seven strongholds in a single night and finally got the goods back."
She told it very plainly, but just those words—seven strongholds in a single night—were enough to set Zheng Zhuxi and the others’ hearts racing, their blood pumping hot.
Master had her time of youthful boldness too... Ding Songyan thought, genuinely moved.
He asked curiously, "Master, is this Junior Sister Yan you mention Elder Yan?"
Brightnight Sect’s other Grandmaster, Yan Jingxian, was a second-ranked Subtlety Attuned.
"Yes." Tao Wenshu nodded gently and spoke in a tone of fond reminiscence. "Those river pirates were slippery as eels. Whenever they spotted government warships closing in, they would scatter and hide among the countless islets in the vast Heavenly Lake. They also kept informants posted in the surrounding towns, so they’d hide away the moment they heard any formidable martial artists had arrived. That was why Junior Sister Yan suggested we skip the cities and villages entirely and get our own boat out to the lake islands..."
As expected of Elder Yan who became a Grandmaster... Every genuine Grandmaster has extraordinary deeds to their name. Take me—I killed Master Yan, a Heaven-Man Realm cultivator, as a mortal... Ding Songyan reflected, and couldn’t resist taking a small jab at Master Yan while he was at it.
"And who is Senior Brother Jin?" Xue Xian had been in the sect for many years without ever hearing of an Elder surnamed Jin, and the question slipped out before she could stop herself. Zheng Zhuxi didn’t even have time to signal her with a look.
A shadow passed over Tao Wenshu’s expression.
"He was your Third Uncle Master. He was killed by heretics."
Seeing her disciples fall silent, Tao Wenshu spoke with a touch of grief and a touch of pride.
"I have already avenged him."
There’s a sharp edge of sword intent in those words... If Master’s art didn’t have its flaws, she’d likely have a shot at the Heaven-Man Realm... The jianghu really does have its side of clean-cut vengeance... Ding Songyan smiled and raised his cup.
"That calls for a full cup!"
"Agreed!" Zheng Zhuxi, who already knew the details of the story, chimed in.
She picked up her second cup.
Xu Julong and the others felt the same.
After that cup the mood warmed considerably. Wan Guhong poured himself a cup, turned to Ding Songyan, and said with a somewhat complicated expression, "Junior Brother Ding..."
He seemed to have many things to say, many questions to ask, but what came out when he opened his mouth was a sigh.
"I won’t say anything. Too much to say, and too tiring."
"It’s all in the cup. It’s all in the cup." Ding Songyan raised his cup with practiced ease.
They clinked cups and drained them.
The warm and pleasant feast continued until the moon had risen above the treetops. Tao Wenshu looked around and said with a smile, "Enjoy yourselves. I’m going to write a letter home."
With that, she drained her last cup of osmanthus wine in a single swallow.
The moment their master left the table, Xue Xian lit up.
"Cards! Cards! I want to play cards!"
"What are we betting this time?" Wan Guhong asked, still bearing the traumas of past experience.
"Since it’s a holiday, let’s just bet money?" Xue Xian felt it wouldn’t be right to humiliate anyone during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Xu Julong’s brow creased slightly.
"Bet money?"
"We could bet something else, too. Eldest Senior Brother, if you lose, you run a lap around Alpine Lake shouting ’I, Xu Julong, will take Lin Shuyue as my wife’!" Xue Xian replied with a grin.
At that, Lin Shuyue’s face flushed crimson, and Xu Julong was no less mortified.
"Let’s just bet money." Lin Shuyue made the decision quickly.
So Eldest Senior Brother and Third Senior Sister are a couple. I did notice they were always exchanging glances... Ding Songyan clicked his tongue, unsurprised.
Zheng Zhuxi leaned over with a smile.
"Eldest Senior Brother is waiting for Senior Sister Lin to reach the perfected Great Proliferation Realm before they wed, so as not to hold back her cultivation.
"Back when Senior Sister Lin had just become my mother’s disciple, Eldest Senior Brother often guided her in our master’s stead..."
At this point, Xue Xian turned and asked, "Junior Sister, Junior Brother—do you want to play?"
"No." Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi shook their heads in unison.
Before Xue Xian could press them, Ding Songyan said with a smile, "I’ll help clear the table."
He enthusiastically began stacking the cups, dishes, and chopsticks. Zheng Zhuxi, seeing this, pitched in as well.
Both being skilled martial artists, they cleared the four-sided oriental table in no time. Each carrying a stack of dishes, they headed to deposit them in the meal boxes by the entrance of the Myriad Ravines Courtyard.
Xue Xian wiped down the table and watched their retreating figures, saying to the senior brothers and sisters with a smile, "Junior Brother Ding is respectful and a pleasure to be around, yet our youngest junior sister always mentions him through gritted teeth."
A pleasure to be around? Wan Guhong raised an eyebrow.
That man is a scoundrel at heart. He likes to help himself to other people’s buns!
Xu Julong and Lin Shuyue were also busy—one fetched the card set and the other helped Xue Xian finish cleaning the table. By the time the youngest two returned, they had already started playing.
Ding Songyan pulled up a stool beside Wan Guhong and watched the game with a smile, tossing in a comment now and then that kept the mood lively. Zheng Zhuxi stood beside Xue Xian, alternately commiserating when she played a bad hand and exclaiming in admiration when she played a good one.
After a while, Ding Songyan glanced out the window at the bright moon, now well above the treetops. He took up the nearly empty wine jar, found a clean small bowl, stepped out of the main room into the courtyard, and sat down on a stone stool.
He set down the jar and bowl and gazed at the bright, clear moon—nearly full now—as his thoughts began to drift.
"Junior Brother, why aren’t you watching them play cards?" Before long, Zheng Zhuxi strolled out in her pale green and white dress. She wasn’t quite drunk, but the osmanthus wine had given her cheeks a light flush.
"Admiring the moon for a bit." Ding Songyan smiled.
Zheng Zhuxi sat down on the stone stool beside him, tilted her head to look at him, and said thoughtfully, "Junior Brother, you’re clearly not that old, yet you give me the feeling of someone who’s already past thirty. You don’t have the spirit of youth about you."
I am already in my thirties. Where would the spirit of youth come from? Though occasionally this old bones still get a wild youthful impulse... Ding Songyan said with a quiet laugh, "Everyone is different. Besides, if you spent more than half a year with Ji Hanyi and that lot, living on edge every day with every step a trap waiting to spring, you wouldn’t have much spirit of youth left either."
Zheng Zhuxi gave a soft sound of acknowledgement and joined him in gazing at the bright moon.
After a moment she said, "I’ve been looking through the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas these past two days, and I confirmed that there’s another divine creature capable of birdsong and connecting to the netherworld—the Zhuhuai. Its cry is like the call of a wild goose. I don’t think it quite matches what Xie Zi’an was imitating, though."
Ding Songyan had looked into it himself, but now he only smiled and said, "Thank you, Senior Sister. That must have taken some effort."
"Not really." Her dimples appeared.
After a moment, she said in a casual tone, "You seem quite happy today."
Ding Songyan gave a small nod, still gazing at the Mid-Autumn moon.
He spoke in an unhurried voice, with a faraway quality to it,
"Each day, I just need to spend time thinking through martial arts and swordplay, and in my spare time, I have a group of senior brothers and sisters and friends to enjoy myself with. This is the life I’ve always dreamed of..."
Her dimples showed. She looked at the moon in the same way and said, "I thought you’d follow with ’may it be so, year after year.’"
"Better to keep it in your heart. Saying it aloud is bad luck." Ding Songyan was somewhat superstitious about these things.
He reached for the wine jar on the stone table and poured himself a bowl.
"What are you doing?" Zheng Zhuxi asked curiously.
The family feast was over—was he going for more?
Ding Songyan smiled.
"On the Mid-Autumn Festival, how can one not offer a cup to the bright moon? And a cup to friends far away."
Zheng Zhuxi’s eyes lit up.
"Then I’ll offer one too."
A toast to family far away.
Seeing Ding Songyan glance at her, she raised her chin.
"My mother said I could have three cups, and I’ve only had two.
"Hey, have you drunk from this bowl yet?"
"No." Ding Songyan, catching her meaning, handed the freshly poured bowl to Zheng Zhuxi and picked up the jar himself.
Zheng Zhuxi’s dimples deepened, a sweetness added to her bright, spirited air.
She raised the bowl toward the cold, still full moon and recited with a smile, "I raise my cup to toast the moon on high!"
"We share this moment though far apart!" Ding Songyan laughed out loud, tipped the wine jar to his lips, and drank.
Zheng Zhuxi, who had wanted to showcase a little poetic flair, found herself cut off and unable to continue. She shot her junior brother a sideways glare and took a long drink from her bowl.
A cool breeze, a bright moon, and the candlelight of a mountain courtyard—this was the Mid-Autumn Festival.
......
The next morning, at the Dipper-Mansion Training Ground.
Ding Songyan thrust his sword. A slightly yellow radiance rippled outward, illuminating the surroundings and carrying a sensation of warmth.
He had mastered the Candlelight Sword Intent.
Qi emanating from the sword was sword qi; intent issuing from the sword was sword intent. For a Grandmaster like Ding Songyan, who could unify spirit, intent, and qi, mastering the Candlelight Sword Intent after evolving his Candleflame True Qi was not difficult. But for a Great Proliferation Realm practitioner, one’s temperament had to align with the art and one’s sword heart had to shine clearly before intent could be condensed into the blade.
Sword intent could not kill, yet it could influence a target’s intent and spirit. It could also linger within another person’s sea of consciousness or Crimson Palace for a time—which was why it could suppress the Celestial Heart mark.
Ding Songyan sheathed Frostshade and ran through the Seven Swords of Candlelit Night he had just practiced one more time in his mind.
He had finally reached lesser mastery of this sword art.
As for greater mastery—or even perfection—in Ding Songyan’s view, that would have to wait until his swordsmanship approached the Dharma Realm.
Over the past month, Ding Songyan had also worked out and documented the forging methods for numerous alien apertures, completing fifteen forgings in total. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go faster—certain required resources had not been stocked by Brightnight Sect before, and had to be sourced through roundabout means.
Just as Ding Songyan was preparing to leave the Dipper-Mansion Training Ground, Zheng Zhuxi walked in.
She had changed into black tight-fitting clothes, her hair tied up with a matching cloth band. Her face was bright and clean, her eyes gleaming.
She carried Autumnwater at her side and said to Ding Songyan with a smile, "Junior Brother, it’s our turn to assist with the prefectural city patrol. Go back and pack your things—we leave this afternoon."
Assisting with patrol? Please don’t let us run into something like the Zhen household business again. I just want to quietly guard a city gate, stand watch at the yamen, patrol the streets arresting brawlers, and climb watchtowers to enjoy the view... Ding Songyan offered up a silent prayer.
Author’s Note: "I raise my cup to toast the moon on high" is taken from Li Bai’s Drinking Alone Under the Moon. "We share this moment though far apart" comes from Zhang Jiuling’s Gazing at the Moon, Longing for the Distant Ones.
