Volume One: The Hidden Dragon in the Abyss, Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Qin's Melody

Wang Chuan was not usually one to waste words like that.

Only when it truly came to that moment, when something had to be proved, would blood be spilled.

Yet when Xu Wei said it, there was still a childlike innocence to it.

Her words drew the attention of the two girls at once. Even the shy young woman in the long dress, who had been fetching water earlier, could not help glancing at Wang Chuan a few more times in secret.

“You practice martial arts too?” The girl changed the hand in which she held her sword and looked at him in surprise. “What level are you at? Dark tier? Yellow tier?”

Forgive her poor eyesight—she could not make him out.

A man like that could be thrown into any street and he would look like an ordinary person: plain, unremarkable, without the slightest aura of strength.

Aside from a decent face, he had nothing worth mentioning.

Normally, she had always looked down on such men.

“A grandmaster? Heaven, Earth, Dark, and Yellow are all mortal realms—no different from ants, frail and trivial.” Wang Chuan shook his head. “Those things stopped mattering to me long ago.”

Mortal realms had always been beneath his notice.

It was not that Wang Chuan meant to belittle them; he simply believed strength ruled all, and those levels were things to be trodden underfoot before him.

Step on an ant, and even the ant knows to flee in panic.

“You don’t even have a realm?” At that, the girl could not help but frown.

Her features were lovely, with a hint of softness at the corners of her brows, but her gaze had already turned sharp and cold as she prepared to leave.

“This is for you.” The girl in the long dress handed the waterskin to Xu Wei and said softly, “If you’re thirsty, drink.”

“Okay, thank you.” Xu Wei said happily. “What are you two doing outside, sister?”

“I... I’m practicing the qin, and Sister Lingyan is practicing swordsmanship,” the girl in the long dress said in a low voice.

“Oh? Can you teach me? I want to learn too.” Xu Wei said with sudden excitement.

“No need. It’s not safe outside. You should head back early.” The woman took her companion’s hand and was about to leave.

The girl in the long dress gave them a small nod in farewell and turned to go.

Xu Wei could not help feeling a little disappointed, and she instinctively clutched Wang Chuan’s arm.

“Chen Lingyan?” Wang Chuan suddenly said.

“You know me?” The girl abruptly turned back and looked straight at him.

Her eyes were piercing, like arrows thrusting forward.

The longsword trembled faintly in her slender, fair hand.

“I saw someone in the palace last night who looked very much like you,” Wang Chuan said with a smile. Having noticed it just now, he had made a deduction, and it turned out to be true. “He said his name was Chen Ying.”

“Right, Sister Lingyan does look very much like Uncle,” the girl in the long dress added.

There was still a trace of her father in this woman’s features as well.

“You know my father? What exactly happened when he hurried into the palace last night? And why were you there?” Chen Lingyan asked one question after another.

“You have quite a few questions.” Wang Chuan smiled. “Which should I answer first?”

“What happened in the palace last night?” Chen Lingyan asked.

“Last night, Wang Chuan came, and the Lord of Xia received him through the night,” Wang Chuan said briefly.

“How could that be? The Lord of Xia hasn’t seen anyone for years, and yet he would grant an audience to a foreign visitor. Much less someone like Wang Chuan...” Chen Lingyan’s brows knit slightly.

“White Jade Capital in the sky, twelve towers and five cities. The immortal strokes my brow, and with bound hair I receive long life. A legendary figure like Wang Chuan, and the Lord of Xia has always thirsted for the Dao,” said the girl in the long dress.

When she noticed the others looking over, she shyly stuck out the tip of her tongue and quickly lowered her head again.

“I only hope he is not a man who lives off his reputation,” Chen Lingyan said after a moment. Then she asked, “Since you saw him last night, what kind of man is Wang Chuan?”

Er...

Even Xu Wei was stunned at that and looked toward Wang Chuan.

“How should I put it? It is hard to describe in words. He is someone beyond what you can imagine,” Wang Chuan could only say.

“Oh, right, my name is Xu Wei.” Xu Wei hurried to tell them, her little face full of eager expectation.

“I’m Zhong Yuqing,” the girl in the long dress said as well. “It feels like I’ve heard that name somewhere before?”

As though the answer were about to burst forth at any moment.

“I haven’t heard of it,” Chen Lingyan said, shaking her head and smothering whatever was about to come out.

Hmm...

Xu Wei pouted and looked toward Wang Chuan.

“All right. Sometimes having too great a reputation is burdensome.” Wang Chuan stroked her hair.

Only then did he get the chance to spend a little more time with them.

Perhaps Xu Wei rarely saw girls her own age, and that was why she was so overexcited.

But Wang Chuan was still used to being alone. All through the years, in those ornate, spacious rooms, he had sat by the window with an empty board before him, arranging moves, or simply cultivating.

As he followed the two girls along, he could not help feeling that the woman’s manner of walking held an indescribable charm. Each step was light, her slender feet touching the ground as though barely brushing it. One glance was enough for Wang Chuan to conclude that the girl was no ordinary person. She very likely possessed some special movement technique that allowed her to cross a dozen paces in an instant. If that were truly her level of lightness skill, then very few could possibly be her match.

Meanwhile, Zhong Yuqing moved with graceful elegance, her figure tender and alluring.

“What do you think of my father?” Chen Lingyan glanced back at him.

She had not even asked Wang Chuan his name, showing no interest in most things at all.

Only when speaking of her father did she become extremely serious and solemn.

“Your father’s reputation is not exactly good,” Wang Chuan said with a smile.

He remembered having seen the information Wang Chuan had given him before. The man had risen by taking the imperial examinations in his youth and marrying the daughter of a high official.

In official circles, his father-in-law was a third-ranking figure in the prime minister’s faction, so he had abetted wrongdoing and helped the wicked flourish, riding the wind all the way upward until he had already become a vice minister.

“But he is still the person I admire and respect most!” Chen Lingyan said earnestly. “Do you think so too?”

“I admire him as well. Sometimes bearing a bad name is far heavier than bearing a good one. It is not easy.” Wang Chuan had already felt as much when he met him last night.

“Now the court grows more and more sinister, with villains everywhere. Every time I think of my father making his way through such waters, I cannot help but worry. I only wish I were a man, so I could do all I can to help him!” Chen Lingyan said solemnly.

“How ridiculous. The more you speak, the more absurd it becomes. What can a woman like you possibly do? And yet you dare say you want to help your father. Truly ignorant of the world.” Wang Chuan said.

She would be better off like Xu Wei, playing about every day and then, when the time came, marrying into a good family.

In the complexity of the capital, where danger lurked at every turn, even capable men like Yang Hao would not dare say such a thing.

Clang—

Her longsword flashed out, cutting away the fallen leaves before her. Chen Lingyan shot him a glance and said coolly, “No matter what outsiders think, I will not waver from my true heart.”

It would be fine if she truly had such spirit. Chen Ying’s daughter was not simple either.

Dong...

Suddenly, a strand of qin music rose up, like clear spring water rushing forth, as though something had struck and echoed in the distance.

Wang Chuan instinctively turned toward the sound and saw Xu Wei resting her chin in her hand, listening with complete concentration.

Zhong Yuqing, who was playing the qin, had rolled up her sleeves, revealing two arms as white as jade stalks. Her lips were lightly pressed together; when her arms moved, she looked like a delicate bouquet in bloom.

Her body bent and rose with the melody, her arms lifting and falling, and a string of beautiful notes flowed out one after another.

Xu Wei listened quietly, as though soon utterly immersed in the music.

When the piece ended, the lingering echoes still lingered through the woods, impossible to forget.

“So amazing...”

Xu Wei clapped enthusiastically and then remembered something. She looked at Wang Chuan. “Brother, can you play the qin too?”

Wang Chuan could not help pressing a hand to his forehead. “Do you want me to say yes or no?”

Xu Wei froze for a moment, then said, “Then try playing a little too.”

Zhong Yuqing had already given up her seat, her eyes full of anticipation.

Wang Chuan had no choice but to sit down. His fingers drifted lightly over the strings. “My qin music can kill people. That’s why I haven’t touched it in a long time.”

As soon as he spoke, all ten fingers moved along the strings, and a thread of mournful, resentful music suddenly surged forth. The tone was gentle at first, yet it grew more and more desolate.

All around them, an icy wind sprang up at once, howling incessantly.

Clang—

Chen Lingyan instinctively drew her sword to shield her companion and looked around in astonishment.

Xu Wei also shrank closer, hiding beside Wang Chuan.

The sky seemed to darken all at once. It was an abyssal gloom they had never seen before, as though they had fallen into a terrifying hell. The music churned the world like turbid water and came rushing toward them...

It made one want to seek release on one’s own.

The Yellow Springs.

Between heaven and earth, darkness deepened further. Then black, sinister hills pressed down from above, a hell of rolling magma, while a muddy yellow river flowed past.

Countless fiends with disheveled hair and terrifying faces cried and wailed.

From all directions came black-and-white ghost guards, yakshas, and roaming specters.

The Yellow Springs River surged violently, and from its depths rose innumerable bizarre water ghosts, all rushing toward them...

It was the first time the girls had ever experienced such an uncanny sight. Their souls seemed to boil in that instant, as though they were about to be drowned. They could not help crying out in terror.

Then time suddenly froze, and the ground began to sink away. After a dizzying journey through a world turned upside down, the music abruptly ceased, and they opened their bewildered eyes.

They were still standing where they had been, with breezes stirring and fallen leaves drifting by.

The snow-white dress billowed in the wind, flowers carried by the breeze strewn across her gauzy skirts.

“Brother Chuan, that was so scary just now,” Xu Wei said, patting her chest.

Why had he played such a frightening piece?

The two girls were still drenched in cold sweat, trembling on the side.

“Are you all right?” Wang Chuan asked, stroking her head.

Once he had finished that piece, the area within ten miles would have become a hellscape, and the slaughter of all living things would have been no joke.

Other people’s music only cared for appearances; a master of the qin could penetrate to the bones, but Wang Chuan’s music acted directly on the soul and mind. It was exceedingly terrifying.

“Brother, don’t play that kind again next time,” Xu Wei told him.

“Mm, all right.” Wang Chuan nodded with a gentle smile.

“What was that piece just now?” Zhong Yuqing asked in puzzlement. “What did we see?”

“It was just something I played at random. Nothing much. Don’t overthink it,” Wang Chuan said. “We should head back.”

“We’re leaving already? Can we still play together with you in the future?” Xu Wei quickly asked the two girls.

My music can kill people.

Chen Lingyan was still looking at Wang Chuan, replaying in her mind what he had said just now.

Only now did she realize that she had underestimated him all along. Once prejudice set in, most things became one-sided.

It was as though she were meeting him anew, and everything she had believed before was wrong.

How improper that was.

Had she been too haughty, too dismissive of others?

“W-well... I suppose so. My home is in Yonghua Lane,” Zhong Yuqing said, welcoming them as well. “Sister Lingyan, we should head back too. It’s getting late.”

“Then let’s go together. You’re both heading into the city too, right? Can I come to your house today?” Xu Wei asked hurriedly.

Zhong Yuqing looked toward her companion, since matters like this required her opinion.

“Mm...” Chen Lingyan nodded.

Wang Chuan could not help making a sound of agreement as well. He had been watching Xu Wei all this time; as long as she was happy, that was enough.

It felt as though he no longer even noticed any other gazes.

After gathering their things, the group set off together toward the city.

“You said just now—what was your name?” Chen Lingyan asked him.

“Are you asking me?” Wang Chuan looked around, trying to find a way to change the subject, when he caught sight of a notice board beneath the city gate, posted with something written by a clerk.

Xu Wei looked at it with curiosity and quickly pulled him over.