Zhen estate, Listening Water Pavilion.

After relaying every detail of the matter to Master Yu without omission, Ding Songyan, Xu Chang’an, and Bull were arranged to wait here for further developments.

This place had no big basins of ice or water-driven fans, but nearby, water cascaded from the top of an artificial hill, its constant splashing lending the area a refreshing coolness.

Xu Chang’an alternated between sitting, standing, and pacing, unable to keep his anxiety in check.

He looked up and saw Bull happily stuffing dried meat into his mouth as he chewed with gusto. Ding Songyan was leisurely sipping tea, sampling the mung bean cakes and sesame candy the Zhen household had provided.

"Brother Ding, aren’t you nervous? Aren’t you worried?" Xu Chang’an couldn’t help asking.

Ding Songyan used the lid of his cup to push aside the floating tea leaves and smiled slightly.

"Being nervous won’t help."

Besides, that’s your master, not mine.

"I’ve heard from old plays that a man who keeps a calm lake for a face while thunder rages in his chest may be appointed supreme general. Brother Ding, you’re definitely destined for more than storytelling," Xu Chang’an said with admiration.

Ding Songyan pointed at his elder brother.

"Then what does that make him?"

Bull was wholly absorbed in the Zhen household’s refreshments, paying no attention to either of them, showing not a trace of anxiety or concern.

Probably just slow in the head... Xu Chang’an did not dare say this aloud. Bull’s bare forearms were as thick as his own thighs.

......

After the better part of an hour, Master Yu returned to the Cold Water Pavilion.

He said to Patriarch Zhen, "The dead man is Zhang Rui—a well-known thief leader in the prefecture city. This book was found on his body."

Zhen Qianfan, who had already set aside his iron balls, took the book. The paper was tough and somewhat water-resistant, covered in fold marks. On the cover, several large characters read: Ten Bodies, Hundred Hands, Blameless Profound Art.

Turning to the inner pages, he found a plum-blossom-shaped hidden mark and a name in different handwriting from the art itself: Jia Yushu.

Zhen Qianfan flipped rapidly to the final page, which bore the words Stealing Heaven’s Secrets, but contained only a few sparse lines of text with nothing following.

"Incomplete, but sufficient to practice to the perfected Great Proliferation Realm.

"Jia Yushu. As in the Nine-Lives Divine Thief?"

Master Yu replied, "Not far from Zhang Rui’s corpse, we dug up another body, already reduced to bones. The skeletal proportions match this cultivation method. It should be the Nine-Lives Divine Thief, Jia Yushu.

"He was most likely the one who stole the Secret Classic from the estate."

One of Patriarch Zhen’s four ears twitched suddenly. He nodded slightly.

"So it was him."

"Physician Shao has examined the remains. He estimates Jia Yushu has been dead for approximately nine months," Master Yu continued.

Patriarch Zhen’s expression shifted several times. A glow in his eyes flared.

"He stole the Secret Classic nine months ago and then immediately died at the mass graves?

"Useless!"

What... Master Yu was dumbfounded.

In all his years at the Zhen estate, he knew the old master never let his emotions show on his face. Why such an obvious outburst today?

And calling Jia Yushu "useless"?

In the indescribable silence that followed, Zhen Qianfan murmured to himself, "The one who killed Jia Yushu, why didn’t they take the Secret Classic? Why didn’t they take this Blameless Profound Art?

"Heh. Nine-Lives Divine Thief. Even nine lives couldn’t save him in the end."

Master Yu said honestly, "Physician Shao believes Jia Yushu was not murdered. It was suicide."

"Suicide..." Zhen Qianfan’s eyelids rose, unable to hide his shock.

A moment later, his expression became extraordinarily complex, as though something had occurred to him.

......

Listening Water Pavilion.

Seeing Master Yu enter, Xu Chang’an rushed forward to meet him. Ding Songyan set down his teacup and followed close behind.

Bull licked his fingers with reluctance and stood up slowly.

"You cannot speak of this to anyone. The official story is that Zhang Rui offended the Zhen household and has since fled the city." Master Yu’s gaze swept across all three faces before settling on Xu Chang’an. "The items found on your master’s body cannot be given to you. They weren’t his to begin with. As for your master’s courtyard and silver, you and your fellow disciples can discuss among yourselves how to divide them."

Xu Chang’an’s heart settled back into place. He nodded with profound gratitude, again and again.

Master Yu gestured for him and Bull to leave first, keeping only Ding Songyan behind.

Then, in a low voice, he said to Ding Songyan, "The Patriarch is impressed by your conduct these past few days. Sharp-witted, decisive under pressure, and composed far beyond your years.

"Concubine Qin asked about martial training on your behalf earlier. The Patriarch has the following offers. If you want to join the Brightnight Sect, the Zhen household can find you a good martial hall to begin body tempering and qi cultivation in advance, at no cost to you. If you’d rather join the Zhen household, everything except the Zhen clan’s own secret arts is on the table."

Ding Songyan listened carefully, but showed no obvious delight. His experience told him that whenever such promising words appeared, a "but" inevitably followed. If there were none, he would actually be frightened—he would run the other way.

"But you’ll need to do something." Master Yu’s tone shifted.

"What is it? Is it dangerous?" Ding Songyan asked, having expected as much.

"Nothing dangerous. You just need to keep your mouth shut. You cannot tell anyone about it, including Concubine Qin, including your parents and siblings," Master Yu said, staring into Ding Songyan’s eyes.

Before Ding Songyan could respond, he abruptly changed the subject.

"That Legend of the White Snake you’ve been telling outside Dangkang Temple is good. People in the streets are already talking about it. But some are unhappy. They think you’re breaking the rules, jumping from historical accounts straight into legends and sagas. If they didn’t know you were connected to the Zhen household, they’d have complained to the guild long ago, and would already be making trouble for you openly and behind the scenes."

Rivals in any trade are natural enemies... Ding Songyan was not surprised.

He had already prepared his excuse for any colleagues who might come looking for trouble: I’m young and lustful and was trying to win Miss Xiaoqing’s favor. I would tell fewer stories afterward and devote most of my energy to martial training.

Seeing that Ding Songyan showed neither alarm nor anger nor fear, Master Yu gave a slight nod.

"There is a distinguished guest staying at the estate. He enjoys legends and sagas but does not wish anyone to know he’s here.

"In the past, we’ve always had Zhen clan members collect scripts and teach themselves storytelling to maintain secrecy. By now, that guest has grown tired of every common tale. Your Legend of the White Snake has appeared at exactly the right time.

"If you agree to narrate it to him and keep it secret, you’ll be treated as one of our own. All the benefits I just mentioned will follow."

"With Nuansheng here, I’m already half a Zhen household member." Ding Songyan established the relationship first, then asked carefully, "Does this distinguished guest have any other preferences?"

I sell my art, but not my body!

It took Master Yu several seconds to grasp Ding Songyan’s hidden meaning. His expression changed slightly.

"That guest only enjoys listening to legends and sagas.

"If he wanted anything else, do you think the Zhen household couldn’t find it and would need to come to you?"

Good... Ding Songyan acknowledged to himself silently.

Master Yu looked at him.

"There’s no need to answer now. Give me your reply tomorrow." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Ding Songyan exhaled with relief and took the opportunity to express his gratitude to Master Yu for everything that had happened before.

......

Chengyu Lane, the Ding family courtyard.

After dinner, once the table, chairs, and dishes had been cleared, Ding Songyan squatted before the elm tree to clean his teeth with a water bowl and a pig-bristle toothbrush.

His father, Ding Shengyi, was beside him doing the same.

After gargling and spitting, Ding Songyan looked at his father and asked thoughtfully, "Father, the Yi clan’s arts aren’t taught to anyone outside the clan, are they?"

Over the past two days, he had discovered that the Yi clan was one of the "Three Great Clans" in the "Two Faiths and Three Clans" of Great Zhao—a top-tier faction with Grandmasters. It was a powerful family clan far stronger than the Brightnight Sect, whose influence was limited to Dingjiang Prefecture. And the county marshal, Yi Qincang, was a direct descendant of the Yi clan.

Ding Shengyi spat out his rinse water, turned to study Ding Songyan for a moment, then said, "You’d have to marry in and change surnames.

"And Marshal Yi doesn’t have a daughter, so you can forget about it."

The corner of Ding Songyan’s mouth twitched.

"Father, you don’t seem to mind that sort of thing much?"

Ding Shengyi, whose disposition carried a slightly feminine air, chuckled.

"When I was down on my luck, I ate one meal for every three I skipped. If the Liu family hadn’t taken an interest in me, I might have frozen to death at home or starved by the roadside. Back then, I didn’t see our Ding ancestors doing anything to help."

"Maybe the Liu family taking an interest was the ancestors’ doing," Ding Songyan offered a small rebuttal.

It sounded like his mother’s maiden family still had considerable wealth back in Yuejiang Prefecture?

Ding Shengyi fell silent.

After a moment, he sighed.

"The Yi clan is actually quite inclusive. If you truly render great service, they’ll allow your descendants to restore their original surname. You’d just have to become a branch of the Yi family, and the transmission of arts would follow Yi clan rules."

Ding Songyan acknowledged this, then asked, "Father, why did our family have to leave home and come to Dingjiang to depend on Nuansheng?"

This had been nagging at him, especially having just discovered that the Liu family’s situation seemed to be quite comfortable.

Ding Shengyi’s hands trembled suddenly. A long time passed before he patted Ding Songyan’s shoulder.

"It’s good that you’ve forgotten..."

He paused, his expression darkening.

"When I was down on my luck, I did some things I’m not proud of. After the Liu family’s fortunes declined, those things caught someone’s attention. We had no choice but to come to Dingjiang and rely on Nuansheng. Don’t ask for specifics. Rest assured, what happened to you has nothing to do with it. If it did, I would already be sitting in a cell."

With that, he rose and went back inside.

That night, lying in bed, Ding Songyan spoke through the screen.

"Qingyan, why did our family leave Yuejiang Prefecture?"

Qingyan laughed.

"Only you, Father, and Mother know about that. I begged you to tell me before. You kept your mouth shut tight. You wouldn’t say a word. And now you’re asking me!"

As she spoke, her voice turned dreamy.

"Back then, we lived in a three-courtyard compound even though there were other branches of the Liu family there too, and we only had half a courtyard. But it was still better than now. There were clay pipes that drew water up from the well. We had a toilet with a basin..."

Ding Songyan did not feel much emotion at this. He only felt that with Bull’s terrifying nature and the hidden dangers in his father’s past, the Ding family looked stable on the surface but could face a storm at any moment.

He made his decision. He would accept the Zhen household’s assignment.

No longer vexed, Ding Songyan was about to close his eyes and sleep when a cold breeze swept over him, making him shiver.

"You haven’t even written tomorrow’s story yet. How can you possibly fall asleep?" A soft, sweet voice murmured gently beside his ear.