Chapter 382: On the Chessboard
Chen Ping'an returned to the inn and found that not only was Pei Qian not asleep, with a talisman stuck to her forehead as she blew on it for fun, but the scroll four had also gathered in one room, likewise waiting for the outcome at the Civil and Martial Temples.
Chen Ping'an was a bit puzzled. Their group had traveled from the middle of Phoenix Leaf Continent all the way to Qingluan Kingdom in the southeast of Vase Bottle Continent, and had experienced countless life-and-death battles. Logically, they shouldn't be so interested in the Civil and Martial Temples of a small county town. Even if such a minor place had a bit of demonic wind and ghostly rain, it was destined not to stir up any major waves. Chen Ping'an quickly figured out the key: it was very likely that tonight would be the first time his student, Cui Dongshan, would "make a move." He guessed that Wei Xian, Sui Youbian, and the others were all rather curious about that.
After taking a seat, Zhu Lian had already handed him tea. Chen Ping'an said frankly, "It's true that someone tampered with the Civil and Martial Temples. Cui Dongshan will handle it properly, and it won't delay tomorrow's itinerary."
Sui Youbian was the most straightforward of them all, and she asked directly, "This Cui Dongshan—is he really your student?"
Chen Ping'an patted Pei Qian's head and told her to go to bed first. But Pei Qian said she couldn't sleep, that she was afraid of ghosts, and that she had bad sleeping habits—she liked to kick off the blanket. If the talisman on her forehead got rubbed off, ghosts and monsters would have a chance to attack, and then she wouldn't be able to protect Sister Sui.
Chen Ping'an had taught Pei Qian some rules and taboos regarding talismans—for example, that while talismans served as protective charms on long journeys, able to repel evil and make even middling mountain and river spirits and ghosts feel awe, they were also like a bright lantern, capable of attracting the extra attention and hostility of certain fierce ghosts that were not afraid of the yang winds of the mortal world.
So Chen Ping'an didn't force Pei Qian to go sleep in the next room immediately. He said to Sui Youbian, "Although at first Cui Dongshan pestered me shamelessly to take him in, he is indeed my student now. On this journey, you should have more or less understood his temperament. He's a rather proud person. As long as you don't provoke him, Cui Dongshan won't actively scheme against you. Many of the rules and regulations for traveling through Haoran Righteous World—like what I told Pei Qian earlier about 'deceive mountains but not waters,' or 'when entering temples to worship, there's no need to wait even if there's a crowd'—these were actually things Cui Dongshan taught me back when we were traveling together."
In truth, Chen Ping'an wasn't being entirely straightforward. In the eyes of the Great Li State Preceptor, who wore the skin of a youth, the scroll four, who hailed from the Lotus Flower Paradise, probably weren't worth his time for any crooked schemes.
But such blunt honesty would have been too hurtful, so Chen Ping'an didn't say it out loud.
It was like the day they reunited: Cui Dongshan had come straight to the point about Du Mao's immortal corpse, begging Chen Ping'an to generously gift it to him, but in his heart, Cui Dongshan might not have valued it at all.
The reason Cui Dongshan was willing to pester him, Chen Ping'an, was that his true gaze was likely not even on him. It had always been fixed on the distant shadows and behind the curtains: on the deceased Master Qi, on the old scholar of the Sage Confucian who had lost his body and was bound to the land, "unifying the Dao" with the entire Haoran Righteous World, on A Liang, who had already ascended to the heavens beyond and was arm-wrestling with Daoist Second, and on Lu Chen, the Daoist Sect Leader who now sat in the Five Cities and Twelve Towers of White Jade Capital.
The fact that Great Li had been able to build that sword tower imitating the White Jade Capital already bore the marks of the Yin-Yang School and the Mohist School. With Mount True Martial and Snow Wind Temple as the cradle of the Military Strategist tradition in Vase Bottle Continent—especially the former, which was deeply entangled with Great Li—and the prosperous Old Dragon City at the southernmost end, among the hundred schools that wielded real power outside the Three Teachings, aside from the Legalists and the Political Strategists, who had yet to show themselves, the Great Li dynasty had actually already gained the favor of many forces beyond the continent.
That was the foundation of Great Li's Song clan swallowing half of Vase Bottle Continent.
The Great Li Iron Cavalry and the imperial prince Song Changjing were the ones who conquered the kingdom on the surface. But how to defend the realm was a greater test of the Great Li dynasty's skill and foundations.
These were matters that Chen Ping'an had figured out for himself after witnessing stretches of history and snippets of the river of time in the Lotus Flower Paradise. There might still be some gaps from the truth, but the general direction should be correct.
And the entire game of the Great Li dynasty's southward expansion, involving so many complex forces, had been planned and helped to "have everything ready" by that man who remained in the Martial Temple—the "white-clad youth."
Looking back now, every step of Chen Ping'an's travels in Vase Bottle Continent—from the northern Great Sui and its vassal Huangting Kingdom, through the central Colorful Garment, Ancient Elm, and Comb Water Kingdoms, all the way to the southernmost Old Dragon City—had actually fallen upon the chessboard of the State Preceptor Cui Chan. He had never walked out of the game. Only, the old and young state preceptors, the split souls of Cui Chan and Cui Dongshan, each wearing a different skin, had simply stopped paying attention to Chen Ping'an.
Lu Baixiang asked with a smile, "Is this Mr. Cui a cultivator of profound cultivation who has returned to simplicity?"
Not knowing how to answer, Chen Ping'an could only say, "He was a proper Confucian student in the past, from Vase Bottle Continent. Later, he went to study in the Central Continent. His cultivation level used to be quite high... but then he fell in rank. What realm he's in now, I can't tell, and I haven't asked him."
Zhu Lian said with a beaming smile, "I heard before that grand cultivators in the world have a physique as sturdy as that of pure martial artists in the three realms of Refining Spirit. I wonder if this young-looking mountain immortal knows any martial arts? If he has a magical treasure on him, I wonder if he could break through Wei Xian's Sweet Dew Armor."
Chen Ping'an laughed and said, "Let me make it clear up front. If any of you wants to test Cui Dongshan, I won't stop you. But you'll bear the consequences yourselves."
Pei Qian said in a small voice, "I wouldn't dare compete with him for the position of the first disciple. I'll just call him Senior Brother from now on."
Cui Dongshan pushed the door open and barged in, fuming. "Little girl, are you badmouthing me behind my back?! Who's your Senior Brother? You're the Senior Brother! Watch your mouth!"
Caught off guard by Cui Dongshan's groundless accusation, Pei Qian turned pale with fright.
Chen Ping'an asked, "What about the Martial Temple?"
Cui Dongshan poured himself a cup of tea, downed it in one gulp, and said with a smile, "Already taken care of. I've met with both temples and the mastermind behind it all. Both sides were quite reasonable. I laid out the facts and reasoned with them. If I weren't in a hurry to get back and report to you, Master, I might be arm in arm with the gods of the Civil and Martial Temples and the Earth God right now, digging up some jars of aged wine buried deep underground and drinking till dawn."
Chen Ping'an asked suspiciously, "Who was causing trouble?"
Cui Dongshan said with a grin, "A local wealthy man who was afraid of death, wanting to live another twenty or thirty years. He happened to have a descendant cultivating in a daoist sect in Qingluan Kingdom. That kid learned the bad instead of the good, picked up some twisted techniques from the heterodox path, and wanted to arbitrarily change his fate. He sought to extend his own lifespan and improve the feng shui of his ancestral tomb at the cost of harming the local qi fortune. Naturally, this led to a conflict with the local Civil and Martial Temples. Cultivators who have learned immortal arts—those so-called 'heaven's favored children' from small sects—aren't known for their good temper. Once the young cultivator started, he might as well have gone all the way. He even tried to seize the golden bodies. They say that around Qingluan and Qingshan Kingdoms, the gods and spirits of improper shrines—on the southeast side of the entire Vase Bottle Continent—have been mostly suppressed and killed off by the various courts, but fragments of golden bodies are still in short supply. If the incense offerings of the Civil and Martial Temples ran into problems, local cultivators would make their moves, even if their methods were unsightly. At least they wouldn't be hunted down to the death by the wise men of the academies. If the young cultivator and his backing handled things properly, they could settle the matter right in the Qingluan Kingdom's imperial study, and the news wouldn't even reach the Lakeside Academy..."
Hearing this, Chen Ping'an's mood grew heavy. He took a sip of the small-refining medicinal liquor.
Cui Dongshan's expression was as normal as ever, as if he hadn't noticed his master's discomfort at all. He continued with a cheerful smile, "Mountain and river gods each have their own karma, and their own consequences for good and evil. They're just getting theirs a little early. When the Great Li dynasty truly annexes the entire continent, the prohibition of improper shrines is a certainty. The methods will only become harsher. Even now, north of the central Lakeside Academy, there are officials from the Ministry of Rites cooperating with the Imperial Observatory, specifically engaged in 'searching according to the map.' In the two years you weren't on Vase Bottle Continent, from south of the Huangting Kingdom to north of the Colorful Garment Kingdom, along the underground Dragon Path, among the sixty-two kingdoms both large and small, over four thousand improper shrines—those that violated rules and regulations—were destroyed. And that was after the Great Li Ministry of Rites officials, almost all of them greased palms and soft-hearted, had held back. Otherwise, the number would have at least doubled. The Lakeside Academy naturally welcomed the prohibition of improper shrines. Even if they were reluctant to deal with the Great Li court, they still dispatched dozens of gentlemen and wise men led by the vice-head to help Great Li verify the matter and draw boundaries. Great Li gave the Lakeside Academy plenty of face in this matter."
After rambling on about all this, Cui Dongshan set down his teacup, looked around, and said with a grin, "Why? Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy. Don't you all know the way of nourishing life? Are you going to delay my master's rest?"
Pei Qian was the first to get up and run off. The scroll four exchanged glances, said nothing, and left one after another.
Cui Dongshan was the last to rise. He bowed to take his leave of his master.
Chen Ping'an needed to bolt the door, so he walked to the threshold with Cui Dongshan—one on the outside, one on the inside. Chen Ping'an asked, "If you're scheming behind my back, secretly meddling in this debate between Buddhism and Daoism in Qingluan Kingdom, you'd better tell me upfront. At worst, I'll go around the capital and wait for you at the immortal ferry on the eastern edge. That way, we won't end up as enemies, and you, Cui Dongshan, won't have to commit another deed of betraying your master and destroying the sect."
Cui Dongshan looked as wronged as if he had gotten yellow mud on his crotch. "My master's heart is as open as a clear sky, like wind and moonlight. Back when we traveled together in Great Sui, I felt like I was bathed in a spring breeze every moment. How could you now judge me with a petty heart?"
Cui Dongshan slapped his thigh in exaggerated regret. "I get it—it must be those four attendants. They're not the right sort. You've been with them too long, Master, and you've inevitably picked up some vulgar habits from the market. No matter. Tomorrow, I'll..."
Chen Ping'an closed the door and said irritably, "Get lost."
A figure in flowing white robes, like an immortal ascending beyond the mortal world, spun away down the corridor. One could say he was rolling sideways.
When he passed by Pei Qian's room, Cui Dongshan paused briefly, spinning in place, and kindly reminded her, "Pei Qian, since we share a school, let me tell you some good news. As long as you don't open the window, you definitely won't see a hanging ghost with its tongue out, dangling upside down. As long as you don't stick your head out from under the covers, you won't see a bridal ghost in a blood-red wedding dress, married to a ghost king in a mass grave, crouching by the head of your bed. As long as you don't get thirsty in the middle of the night and get up for water, you'll definitely never see a drowned ghost with a bloated belly full of waterweed and a pale face. Oh, and there are some wronged women with long hair who like to curl up at the feet of little girls. Don't be afraid—no matter how you look at it, it's just a big clump of hair..."
Pei Qian hid in her blanket, shivering, pressing her hands tightly over her ears.
When he reached the room of the scroll four, Cui Dongshan, still spinning, stopped at Lu Baixiang's door and said with a laugh, "My master told me you're an excellent chess player. Tomorrow, I'll learn from you how to play."
Lu Baixiang, who was inside studying game records by lamplight, replied with a smile, "If Mr. Cui is willing, why not play a game now before rest?"
Cui Dongshan was already spinning away. "Not tonight. Learning chess is a matter of timing and mood."
Outside the small inn.
Two golden-bodied deities, invisible to mortal eyes, stood guard on either side—one civil, one martial—their faces stern as two guardian spirits, protecting the inn.