TWWDS - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Chao Qingxiu did not immediately reveal the answer. Instead, she turned around and called out, "Guardian Yan?"

Yan Kaixian had not deliberately softened her footsteps when she came, so it was no wonder that the Gang Leader had noticed her. Hearing the call, she promptly came out to meet her: "Gang Leader."

Chao Qingxiu said, "Guardian Yan, would you trouble two people to check this place for feathers, then look in the birds' nests in the surrounding trees? Perhaps we will find something."

Yan Kaixian answered immediately. She was very efficient, and before long she returned to report: "A jade pendant was indeed found." She handed the pendant to Chao Qingxiu.

Chao Qingxiu picked it up, glanced at it, and handed it to Song Qi: "Is this yours?"

Song Qi took it, looked it over, and answered, "Yes, it is. Thank you, Gang Leader." She then promptly apologized to Li Yi. "It was my fault. I ended up alarming so many people and drawing them here. I offended you earlier. Please forgive me."

Li Yi hurriedly replied, "I don't deserve that. We are all children of the martial world, and sisters in the gang. Once we have cleared the air, that's enough."

[System: The "Song Qi Jade Pendant" disappearance incident has been resolved. The user has gained 1 Detective Point and 1 Fame Point.]

Chao Qingxiu glanced at the prompt that had just appeared, her gaze lingering for a moment on the newly added points.

She felt that the system was not keen to count the loss of an item as a case, and that the points had been awarded very grudgingly.

After the matter was settled, Chao Qingxiu did not stay in the disciples' quarters for long. Yan Kaixian accompanied the Gang Leader back to Yanhuan Pavilion, and on the way asked curiously, "How did you know the jade pendant had been carried off by a bird?"

Yan Kaixian was a seasoned hand of the martial world, but after the incident at Mingsi Hall, she also felt that there was much about Chao Qingxiu worth learning from.

Chao Qingxiu said, "I actually do not know. I only thought the pendant was not large, so it was fairly likely that a bird had carried it away." Before Yan could pursue the question, she laid out the whole line of thought. "Earlier, Song Qi was practicing calligraphy. Why would she have taken the pendant off while practicing?"

Yan Kaixian guessed, "Is it... is it to use as a paperweight?"

Chao Qingxiu said, "More or less. The wind came and went today. Song Qi did not know how long she would be out, so, to keep the paper from being blown about, she used the pendant to hold it down." She added, "I was outside just now and noticed that every time the wind stopped, it lasted no more than the time it takes to burn one incense stick."

The time it takes to burn one incense stick is about five minutes, and Li Yi came in a quarter of an hour ago. If she had really taken the pendant at the time, then after three to five minutes the paper on the stone table would certainly have been blown about, not left neat as it was.

In other words, when Li Yi left, the pendant was still on the table.

The item had vanished inexplicably, no one was in the courtyard when it disappeared, and, taking the pendant's size into account, Chao Qingxiu naturally connected its disappearance with the birds.

Yan Kaixian smiled. "So that is how it was. The Gang Leader's gaze is as sharp as a torch. This subordinate is impressed." She added, "I came today to ask whether you would like to go over and take a look at the escort jobs the gang has recently taken on."

Her words were, in fact, asking whether Chao Qingxiu wanted to go out on an escort job.

Perhaps the customs of martial artists were particularly unusual. Many bosses did not stay safely at headquarters; instead, they chose to lead from the front and charge into the fray to fight.

The Zizhuo Gang currently had no work that required the Gang Leader to go fight, but there was still escort work. If Chao Qingxiu was interested, they could invite her to accompany them on a job for some hands-on experience.

Chao Qingxiu was, of course, interested and nodded. "That sounds very interesting."

She had some concerns, however. Fengxiang City was not far from Gaofang Prefecture; it would take three days by horse, and travel by boat would be even faster. Considering the lingering historical issues between the Baihe Gang and the Zizhuo Gang, Chao Qingxiu did not think the other side would let her develop peacefully. She had to make some plans in advance. For example, if they sent people over to obstruct them while she and Yan Kaixian were away, how could she possibly deal with them without anyone knowing...

Before the thought had finished forming, Yan Kaixian had already begun explaining: "Our side is doing well enough; no martial faction can contend with us. As for Fengxiang City, the Baihe Gang mainly does business on the water. And in recent years, they have not moved against Gaofang Prefecture, not because they harbor any good intentions, but because they have problems at home."

Chao Qingxiu paused, then nodded. "I see."

Yan Kaixian watched the Gang Leader's expression and subtly felt that a flicker of regret, "I cannot take this opportunity to go find someone to fight," crossed that composed face.

After Gang Leader Shangguan's death, Yan Kaixian could not find the murderer, so she went out to make a living on her own. She gathered her trusted subordinates and founded an escort agency, giving it one of those wildly popular wuxia-style names: Wuwei Escort Agency.

Considering that Yan Kaixian was both the founder of the escort agency and its first chief escort leader, there was no way her family could have hidden any martial arts text written on clothing, forbidden to descendants who might sneak a look and requiring them to perform surgery on themselves before practicing. At least, that made their everyday safety reasonably secure.

Yan Kaixian had recently heard from her subordinates that Chao Qingxiu had been quite active. She guessed that Chao Qingxiu might want to go out into the martial world. If so, being a bodyguard seemed a good way in, so she went to ask. After receiving an affirmative answer, she spent five days sorting out the jobs they could take and sent them to Yanhuan Pavilion for the Gang Leader to review.

That day, Chao Qingxiu was reading a medical book borrowed from Wanjuan Study.

The medical book came from Yue Zhiwen's collection and was called the Danfang Compendium. It was not a single volume; there were more than thirty in all, and Yue Zhiwen said that the set he had collected was also incomplete, with many parts missing.

At first, Chao Qingxiu leafed through the medical books, hoping to find several suitable elixir recipes and prepare medicines to carry with her.

But she soon learned that Yue Zhiwen had already refined some pills and was now treating the medical books as casual reading during martial training.

The pills Yue Zhiwen had refined were respectively Baoyuan Pill for treating injuries and Taibai Pill for detoxifying. Their names made it clear that they were general-purpose medicines, not especially precious ones. As for the others, Yue Zhiwen said that while Gang Leader Shangguan was alive, the gang mainly bought its medicines from Suwen Manor. Now that the late Gang Leader had died, they lacked sufficient contacts and budget for medical care and could only make do with one or two.

When Yan Kaixian arrived, she saw the Gang Leader sitting by the lamplight, her expression serious as she studied the open pages.

The breeze she brought in made the candle flame on the table flicker continuously.

The candlelight fell across Chao Qingxiu's face, flickering so that half her face was hidden in darkness. Her eyes, like a blade's edge in the dark night, seemed to sink into a river without light.

A stir at the door alerted the person inside. Just as Yan Kaixian was preparing to bow, Chao Qingxiu had already shut the book, risen, and smiled in greeting. "Guardian Yan."

Yan Kaixian said, "Gang Leader, these are some of the escort jobs the gang has recently accepted. You can look them over when you have time."

She spoke casually, clearly not expecting the Gang Leader to choose one. She was only showing them for reference; if the Gang Leader truly had no interest in any of them, she would find something else to keep her occupied.

Chao Qingxiu said, "Leave them here. I will look at them later."

Yan Kaixian said, "Although you are fond of medicine, do not delay too long and miss the hour for rest."

It was already late. Outside, the water clock marked around 9 p.m. Yan Kaixian said a few more words and took her leave. Chao Qingxiu stood and saw her to the outside of Yanhuan Pavilion, then sat back at the desk and opened the Danfang Compendium again.

It was indeed a highly valuable book, a treasure Yue Zhiwen had rescued when the gang was disbanded. If she used the Detective System to measure it, its quality might well reach purple grade.

The Danfang Compendium described in detail the shapes of many pills, their refining methods, their effects, and other important information, including the taboos to observe when taking them.

Chao Qingxiu had thought that borrowing thirty volumes at once was rather excessive, so she selected two that would be useful at her current stage, as well as two that could serve as books of strange tales and miscellaneous anecdotes, and brought them back to Yanhuan Pavilion. She left the rest to browse through slowly in the future.

Feeling inclined to slack off, she took out one of the books meant for strange tales and sat at the desk to read two pages. To her surprise, she found something familiar almost at once.

The candlelight fell on the page, making the drawn lines unusually clear. In the center was a round pill, with its dimensions carefully marked beside it. Along the side of the page, five small characters read "Xuanzhen Jiangxia Powder," followed by a note explaining that it was a vermilion pill with a glossy surface, suitable for storage in white jade. It was to be kept away from gold and iron, and its opening was ordinarily sealed with red clay to prevent contact with moisture. This way, even if stored for decades, its medicinal properties would not fade, and it gave off a faint scent of roses.

On the next page, the book described in detail the taste of Xuanzhen Jiangxia Powder and how to identify it.

After checking carefully, Chao Qingxiu finally confirmed that the Xuanzhen Jiangxia Powder described in the book was the medicine in the bottle Xu Feiqu had given her.

She had gone to Wanjuan Study to borrow medical books in the hope of finding a description of that bottle of medicine, but she had not expected her search to be so efficient.

Chao Qingxiu read the description in the Danfang Compendium carefully and knew that Xuanzhen Jiangxia Powder was well suited to advancing one's cultivation and opening the meridians. Of course, there were prerequisites: the taker's own cultivation and constitution could not be too poor. If those conditions were not met... Chao Qingxiu glanced at the text and felt fortunate that she had not simply tipped her head back and swallowed the pill. Otherwise, given the potency of Xuanzhen Jiangxia Powder, the odds that her meridians would be severed on the spot were far greater than the odds of opening all eight extraordinary meridians.

When she had first seen the information about Xuanzhen Jiangxia Powder, Chao Qingxiu had felt a little misgiving. But after thinking it over, she felt that it probably was not a trap someone had set for her. Suppose someone really had deliberately guided her. They would most likely have made the clue more obvious, not hidden it on one page in a stack of more than thirty books an inch thick.

After all, rather than her accidentally catching sight of it and becoming interested, the far more likely outcome was that she would never open the relevant books in this life...

Nevertheless, although the contents of the book showed that it was not advisable for her to take Xuanzhen Jiangxia Powder directly, there was one way to put it to use.

Because the medicine's properties were too intense, it was essentially something for experts. However, people with ordinary martial ability, such as the newly appointed leader of the Zizhuo Gang, could add Baihua Lingling Herb, Hongye Ghost Needle, and Tianheng Stone Milk to temper it. After it was taken, its medicinal action would not disperse immediately; instead, it would condense in the lower abdomen and gradually disperse as cultivation progressed.

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