Volume 6, Chapter 27: Still But a Dream (1/2)
1
Before opening his eyes, Dingming could already sense that something was unusual. When he passed out, he had still been on the pleasure boat, but now he was freezing and felt the gentle breeze of the lake. He could hear the crashing of waves on the lake. He also felt like he was bobbing up and down, so he didn’t dare move recklessly. He first adjusted his body so he could attack at any moment before using his six senses minus one to probe his surroundings. But outside of the sound of the lake, he heard only the slow and steady breathing of someone nearby. Determining no danger was close to him, he slowly opened his eyes. He saw he was back on his skiff. Across from him, curled up at the stern of the skiff and sleeping soundly was Priest Bitter Bamboo. The bamboo pole used for sculling was still in his grip. Meanwhile, he was lying at the bow, his pipa next to him, his sword still tied on his back. An indescribable feeling arose within Dingming, as if nobody had invited the two of them onto a pleasure boat to drink tea or even debated and talked with them. The two of them had merely spent a night on the lake. None of the zither music that resembled nature, the aroma of newly plucked tea that filled the cabin, or the elegant, wise, and mysterious young master Yun had existed. It seemed to be a confusing dream of wealth and glory.
He rolled over and sat up. He couldn’t prevent himself from licking his dry lips and felt a stab of pain. He had accidentally touched the tip of his tongue he’d bitten off. Although the blood had long since scabbed over, he still felt the sensation of pain. Only now did he finally believe that everything that’d happened yesterday was not a dream. Circulating his internal energy, he directed it to flow through his entire body. He didn’t sense any abnormalities in his body. His internal energy was pearl-like and flowed free and easy without the slightest obstructions. In addition, he didn’t have any of the dizziness that came as a consequence of being drugged. Instead, he felt refreshed and at ease. If not for suffering a night of frigid wind and sleeping in a terrible position, prostrate on the boat, he probably wouldn’t even be feeling back pain. He stretched his somewhat numb and distended limbs and went to wake Priest Bitter Bamboo up, but an object fell onto the deck, clinking as it hit. Looking closely, he determined it was a sparkling and sleek white jade pendant.
Dingming instinctively picked up the jade pendant to examine it. The front was engraved with an exquisite image, depicting the Pavilion of the Immortals’ Mountain peeking out of the boundless sea of clouds. On the back of the jade pendant were two lines of small words written with refined calligraphy:
Heavenly secrets are difficult to understand.
A good plan considers the distant future.
The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had spanned all of Jiangnan for over a decade now, but their influence was just the tip of the iceberg. It was forever difficult for people to speculate about the depth of their power. Only someone like Yun Wuzong deserved to be the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, and Dingming had actually had the honor of meeting the mysterious manager and chatting with him over tea and had even gotten a promise of aid from him. Dingming couldn’t restrain his excitement and felt like the world had been righted. He didn’t even have any complaints about Yun Wuzong using sleeping medicine to knock him out. He would do the exact same if he were the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. Even if he revealed his identity, he would never leave his own safety to others.
By this point, Priest Bitter Bamboo had also woken up, but he didn’t notice Dingming forming the wrong impression. He displayed the strengths of his former life as a secret agent by astonishingly saying the moment he opened his eyes, “We were tricked, brother Ding.”
Dingming said with a smile, “Just tricked? We were utterly dancing in the palm of the man’s hand.”
Priest Bitter Bamboo was stunned. Dingming spoke with a grin from ear to ear, not showing any signs of anger. He too was a shrewd person, and his eyes flicked over, falling upon the jade pendant Dingming was clutching to his chest. Dingming handed the pendant over. Priest Bitter Bamboo’s eyes darted over the pendant, and before long, he asked in a slightly tentative voice, “Could it be someone from the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets?”
Dingming rather admired Priest Bitter Bamboo’s quick thinking and replied, “I believe so. That Yun Wuzong is most likely the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets.”
Priest Bitter Bamboo thought for a while, feeling that all the mysteries of Yun Wuzong were easily solved2 if he were the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. In that case, it was only natural for him to luxuriate so. He was a self-proclaimed non aristocrat yet had all the trappings of one, and he had well-trained, loyal servants attending to him as well as forbidding experts guarding him. Proprietor Zhou of the Xiexiu Workshop treated him as a distinguished guest, and he’d seen the crystal glass disc with dragon designs and knew its whereabouts off the top of his head. All these facts made it difficult to appraise his status. But if Priest Bitter Bamboo acknowledged the man to be the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, everything would flow naturally. In addition, the man’s bearing and insight were rarely matched in the present age, making it impossible for him to be a nobody. If he were the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets but didn’t have this skill, then people would instead suspect his identity. Most important of all, Yun Wuzong knew the current events like the back of his hand during their conversation, but he showed zero interest in the war between the two countries. He was impartial. This also conformed with the image of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. They had never cared much for national disputes. Although they inclined toward Southern Chu on the surface, they didn’t try to overtly exclude Great Yong either.
After coming around to the idea, Priest Bitter Bamboo declared, “We should tell the Grand General about this event.” He made this declaration because, when he was still a secret agent early in his life, he obeyed orders to investigate the secrets of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. After all, whether it be the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets’ transcendent schemes and concealed weapons or their sophisticated and wondrous concepts and plans, they were all mouthwatering. Not even the Southern Chu and Great Yong militaries were exceptions to the craving.
But in the past dozen years, the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets still appeared only intermittently. Even if somebody else gained the upper hand and they lost some strength, the grievous revenge that followed was enough to terrify anyone and put them on guard. As a result, even when someone discovered clues to the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets’ whereabouts, they were either afraid of being punished as a warning to others or scared their actions would bring harm to innocents, so none would act at will. And the clues would often be destroyed within an extremely short period of time. In fact, no major powers would dare act against the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets when they had no way of eliminating the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets in one fell swoop. Moreover, although the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had tremendous strength, they weren’t imperious, nor did they have ambitions of monopolization. Working together with them gave one an opportunity to develop and grow, while making an enemy of them ended in ruination, death, and destruction. Few people could muster the courage to make an enemy of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets under these circumstances. Such was the unique existence of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets in Southern Chu.
However, now that the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets who never made an appearance showed his true face, they had a chance to take control of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. Others might not have the ability to deal with him, but Lu Can, the general with the most power and influence over the Southern Chu military, did have the strength to deal with the no longer mysterious man.
However, Dingming cut Priest Bitter Bamboo off instantly. “That’s absolutely impossible. Once this gets out, mightn’t something disastrous happen?”
Priest Bitter Bamboo displayed an uncertain expression. Dingming sighed at the sight. “Priest Bitter Bamboo, you come from aristocracy. Although you’ve become part of jianghu, you still can’t read some situations. For someone like the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, his own safety and well-being is paramount. Since he requested we not speak of his affairs, I’m afraid he’ll become our greatest foe if we go against his wishes. You should’ve also been able to see that he didn’t have any ill will for Great Yong. If he sides with Great Yong in a fit of rage, I fear it will only make Southern Chu’s already bad situation worse.”
“But the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets has never paid heed to status or background. Agents of Great Yong bought several important weapon designs in the past. Rather than keeping a hard to control and powerful middleman, it’s better to firmly control it in our hands,” rebutted Priest Bitter Bamboo.
Dingming shook his head. “Priest Bitter Bamboo, this younger brother is going to ask you a presumptuous question. Have past events impacted you so strongly that you cannot recognize the situation before you with a clear mind?”