Chapter 28: A Transaction Full of Problems

If the man really has been dead for two or three days, then who was tailing me?

Or perhaps the face represents the true time of death, and the question is why were the organs decaying so rapidly?

Chen Yuliang’s body showed similar abnormalities?

Ding Songyan felt as though lightning had struck him. Thought after thought flashed through his mind, but his body stood rooted to the spot.

"Isn’t that Ding Songyan? Here to see Clerk Ding?" One of the constables by the donkey cart noticed him standing nearby.

The man was just under eight feet tall, with thick brows, large eyes, and a short beard at his chin. He looked to be past thirty.

Ding Songyan took the opportunity to approach.

"Sir, I just heard you saying that the Small Boat Gang’s Chen Yuliang was the same as this man?"

"Sir?" The constable blinked in surprise, then laughed. "It really is like Clerk Ding said. You took a fright and got Soul Departure Sickness. You used to call me Brother Li. What’s with the formalities?"

So the original Ding Songyan had some familiarity with the constables... Xu Chang’an always calls me Brother Ding. Beyond wanting to get close to Qingyan, he probably also valued this connection. Tsk, that rascal. You really can’t judge by appearances. He’s not deeply scheming, but he’s still got some schemes... Ding Songyan let out an awkward "ah."

"Brother Li, my apologies."

Only then did Constable Li answer Ding Songyan’s question.

"Chen Yuliang was the same."

"Was the other Small Boat Gang member who died that day also like this?" Ding Songyan recalled the blotchy-nosed man his brother had killed with a single punch.

"Why are you asking about all this?" The Brightnight Sect disciple present looked at Ding Songyan with suspicion.

He was in his twenties, square-jawed, with a stern bearing.

Seeing that Constable Li and the other constable who had circled to the front of the cart were studying him the same way, Ding Songyan paused briefly.

"I was involved in the Chen Yuliang incident."

He intended to give a brief account of that day’s events, and at the end, try mentioning Yan Changqing in the Zhen household’s secret dungeon, to see if he could get the words out.

The expressions of Constable Li and the others turned serious.

"My Soul Departure Sickness was caused by severe fright, and that severe fright was caused by an attempted murder." Using this as his opening, Ding Songyan told the story from surviving the assassination attempt and seeking the Zhen household’s help, through bluffing the blotchy-nosed man and forcing the secretly observing Chen Yuliang to flee in panic, where Master Yu gave chase.

Ding Songyan omitted anything related to the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas. He only said that the blotchy-nosed man had immediately demanded to know why he had returned to Dingjiang Prefecture instead of fleeing, and had subsequently let slip that Chen Yuliang was involved in something suspicious. Before the man could explain what had actually happened, everything was over.

In his account, Ding Songyan did not hide the fact that he himself might be implicated in something.

This was deliberate. He hoped the Brightnight Sect and the Yi clan would periodically question him and investigate him in the coming days!

If necessary, being detained wasn’t out of the question either.

Hearing that the blotchy-nosed man had been killed by a Zhen household member hiding behind a tree, the Brightnight Sect disciple gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"His name was Wang Yishu. When we received his body, his torso and organs had also decayed as if dead for two or three days. His face... couldn’t be assessed."

Recalling the manner of Wang Yishu’s death, Ding Songyan felt that "couldn’t be assessed" was an entirely reasonable statement.

Whether what remained could even be called a face was debatable.

Having confirmed that the blotchy-nosed Wang Yishu also showed the same abnormal rapid decay, a deep chill rose in Ding Songyan’s chest. Despite standing in the height of summer, he felt as though he had plunged into the depths of winter.

He had previously believed that the Secret Classic’s main issue was its suspicious origins, which had likely led to the deaths of both himself and Xu Chang’an’s master, Zhang Rui.

But now it was clear that the buyer was equally abnormal.

The seller had problems. The buyer had problems. Every aspect of this transaction had problems!

As the middleman, I don’t have problems too, do I? Ding Songyan smiled bitterly and said to Constable Li and the others, "It’s a pity I have Soul Departure Sickness. Otherwise I would surely remember the crucial details."

The subtext of this remark was: please keep an eye on me, officials.

"The Four Waters Brotherhood registered their conflict with the Small Boat Gang last month. Wang Yishu’s death follows jianghu rules, so it won’t involve you. Once we get a reply from above about the abnormal manner of death, we’ll come talk to you." Constable Li patted Ding Songyan’s shoulder. "Relax. Nothing major will come of it."

Nothing major might indeed not come of it. My own life, though, is another question... Ding Songyan wore an expression of worry, then repeated something sharply.

"The Four Waters Brotherhood registered the conflict with the Small Boat Gang last month?"

"Yes. They’ve been clashing a lot these past two or three months. Successful registration means blood is expected." Constable Li explained offhandedly, then added, "My name is Li Wu. Don’t forget again, Ding Songyan."

Ding Songyan pondered briefly.

"Does the Small Boat Gang have a Grandmaster?"

"Yes. In the provincial capital." Li Wu frowned slightly, feeling Ding Songyan was asking too many questions.

"Then why would the Small Boat Gang pick a fight with the Four Waters Brotherhood here in Dingjiang Prefecture? Patriarch Zhen could crush them with one hand." Ding Songyan voiced his doubt.

The Brightnight Sect disciple nearby said, "Perhaps the Small Boat Gang’s Grandmaster came secretly, intending to set a trap and eliminate the aging Zhen Qianfan first."

"Oh." Ding Songyan asked nothing more and bade the trio farewell.

It was not until he had walked off the main street where the county office was located that he realized he had once again "forgotten" to mention the Zhen household’s dungeon.

I can come to an initial conclusion. It’s Yan Changqing crying wolf while being the wolf. A Zhen household plant constantly monitoring my thoughts without being detected seems far less likely... Ding Songyan was no longer as furious or terrified as before. Instead, he examined the situation with relative calm.

Because he had discovered that he truly was, as Yan Changqing said, surrounded by hidden dangers on all sides, not just from the Zhen household alone.

He even suspected that Yan Changqing had deliberately used numerology to calculate that he would encounter something that revealed a crisis if he came to the county office, and had therefore verbally manipulated him into making the trip.

If Yan Changqing weren’t so treacherous, and if the Zhen household situation weren’t obviously so dangerous, I would genuinely want to learn his secret art, his numerology, and his method of injecting qi into the mind to influence others’ thoughts.

Setting Yan Changqing aside for now, Chen Yuliang’s situation is equally troubling.

After the original Ding Songyan obtained the Secret Classic, he sold it to the Small Boat Gang rather than the Zhen household. I can understand that. Cousin Nuansheng is only a concubine. The original Ding Songyan was disposable to the Zhen household. Being silenced was highly likely. But the Small Boat Gang would have to factor in the Zhen household’s reaction and might not dare kill him. Of course, the original’s choice assumed he didn’t know the two gangs’ conflict had already escalated to the point of official registration.

But given that the conflict between the Small Boat Gang and the Four Waters Brotherhood had already intensified to the point of formal registration, Chen Yuliang still dared to buy a rare version of the Secret Classic from Ding Songyan, who was half a Zhen household member? How brave! Wasn’t he afraid it was a trap set by the Zhen household?

If it really were the Zhen household’s doing, they could simply discard Ding Songyan as a pawn, report to the authorities that Chen Yuliang was suspected of possessing a complete Secret Classic, and the entire Small Boat Gang would be in devastating trouble.

Given the bizarre state of Chen Yuliang’s corpse, could he be in a position that he had no choice?

Wang Yishu too? Yes, when I bluffed him, he answered far more questions in far more detail than I ever expected. He practically treated me as one of his own. Was he also in a similar position of having no choice?

To focus his thinking, Ding Songyan found a quiet stretch of street curb and sat down without bothering to lift his robe.

He now needed to work through a scenario. If he had never transmigrated and the original Ding Songyan had truly died, what would have happened next?

The Ding family would certainly have gone to the Zhen estate to plead for help. The Zhen household would have examined Ding Songyan’s corpse. Without the interference of a transmigrator, they might actually have found something.

If I were Patriarch Zhen, since the conflict was already registered, regardless of whether the clues pointed to Chen Yuliang, I would cast a wide net. I’d direct suspicion at the Small Boat Gang, use revenge as a pretext, and legitimately engage them in open warfare. At that point, if the Small Boat Gang’s Grandmaster were indeed in Dingjiang Prefecture, Patriarch Zhen would have no choice but to personally intervene...

Which means he would very likely leave the Zhen estate.

If he’s not at the estate, then someone could take advantage of his absence?

Is the goal related to whatever brought Xiaoqing’s group and the True Spirit Sect to Dingjiang Prefecture? Or is it about Yan Changqing in the dungeon?

At this point in his reasoning, Ding Songyan’s spirits lifted.

Does this mean the person behind the scenes is the one who killed the original Ding Songyan?

Assuming for now that the mastermind truly intended to escalate the conflict between the Four Waters Brotherhood and the Small Boat Gang, forcing the long-retired Patriarch Zhen to leave his estate and fight, what would they think after I took over this body?

They would find the ’resurrection’ strange. If the situation wasn’t yet urgent, they might hold off, observe changes, and avoid encountering something unexplainable.

Is that why the other group was tailing me?

To abort the original plan, they would need to keep the matter contained to Chen Yuliang’s purchase of the Secret Classic. That’s why Wang Yishu spoke so freely and completely. That’s why even if he and Chen Yuliang weren’t killed on the spot, they would have ’disappeared’ afterward. That’s why Xu Chang’an’s master died shortly after I came back to life. He was originally meant to be the trail of breadcrumbs left by the mastermind for the Zhen household.

As for the Small Boat Gang’s side, since the matter involves the Secret Classic, they shouldn’t make a move.

But then there’s a problem. With the Small Boat Gang currently being uprooted in Dingjiang Prefecture, wouldn’t they react?

And did Chen Yuliang ever report the Secret Classic matter to his superiors?

Or rather, the one who authenticated that Secret Classic as a complete version wasn’t Chen Yuliang, and wasn’t the Small Boat Gang’s Grandmaster, but the person behind the scenes?

What was their purpose in using Chen Yuliang’s mouth to declare it genuine?

Ding Songyan’s head was throbbing. He stood and began pacing slowly along the street.

Having formed an overall picture, he felt that regardless of whether he was mostly right or mostly wrong, he at least had several directions to probe and verify.

What he feared most was being lost in fog with nowhere to direct his energy.

As things stand, I’m not entirely powerless anymore. The qi that Yan Changqing gave me can be used twice, and its power should be considerable.

Regarding the illusion-piercing ability, I need to be careful. What I see might not be the truth hidden beneath an illusion. It could just as easily be another layer of illusion that Yan Changqing uses to mislead me. Piercing illusions doesn’t necessarily mean what’s revealed is real.

But for the life-saving and offensive effects, Yan Changqing is unlikely to be lying. My death serves him no purpose whatsoever. That much I can trust.

Ding Songyan’s thoughts had just begun to wander when a familiar call sounded softly by his ear, the voice kept very low.

"Ding Songyan..."

Miss Xiaoqing? Ding Songyan looked around quite naturally but saw no sign of the figure that would certainly attract eyeballs.