Copper Coins

Chapter 18: Blind Diviner (1)

 

There was scattered snowfall throughout the entire day and night. For Xue Xian and Jiang Shining, this was both advantageous and disadvantageous.

 

The advantage lay in Jiang Shining, who was acting as the main force in terms of the actual walking during their hurried journey, being a ghost that feared yang energy. The snowy sky was covered in black clouds for the entire day, so the yang energy was stifled and the yin energy was flourishing, making it easy for him to walk so that he did not have to stop at the first glimmer of dawn.

 

The disadvantage was…

 

“Lift your hand and shield my face! Quickly! My head is about to be blown off by the wind!” Xue Xian yelled at Jiang Shining in an absolutely imposing way.

 

With such a strong and evil wind, he obviously could not sit on Jiang Shining’s shoulder. For lack of a better option, Jiang Shining could only wedge him between his own front lapels with only his head exposed so that this restless cargo could talk idly about important matters. However, this evil wind did not abide by the common laws of nature; it followed no rules or regulations, whistling from all four directions at once, causing a person to become extremely annoyed.

 

Jiang Shining lifted his hand with a pale face. He protected Xue Xian’s paper head while struggling to go forward in the middle of the evil wind. He said, “You can tuck that precious head of yours into my clothes.”

 

Xue Xian resolutely and decisively refused. “No. I’m afraid that you’ll stray off course as soon as I turn my attention away.”

 

Jiang Shining, “…” Where did this directionally-challenged person get his confidence from?

 

Xue Xian laughed coldly. “Once you have entered the city, you’ll cry as you ask me for directions.”

 

Jiang Shining, “…”

 

They were trying to get to Wolong County, one of the county seats of Linjiang, which was a distance of two cities away from Ningyang County and had an ancient ferry crossing. 

 

That ferry crossing was not considered large and the number of boats that went back and forth every day was not high; it wasn’t even the only crossing that allowed travel towards Anqing. But the only reason they were going there to cross the river was because Xue Xian needed to go there to search for someone.

 

“There is a family that lives on the eastern side of the ferry crossing. It should be a family of two brothers but they don’t seem to be very close. I’ve been there twice and both times, I saw them making a racket. The one who is a bit older has a bit of ability so I need him to take a look at this golden orb. He might be able to find out the location of the person who sold it to Adviser Liu,” said Xue Xian to Jiang Shining.

 

As he had already gone twice, this clearly meant that he should be a very reliable person. Jiang Shining naturally had no objections and obediently rushed towards Wolong County.

 

In order to avoid the inconvenience of entering and leaving the city, they purposely took detours around the two cities they had to pass, taking mountain trails the entire way. Of the two, one was a dragon and the other was a ghost; both were used to travelling at night. It was reasonable to say that there was nothing that they would fear. 

 

However, rumor had it that there was a group of bandits that roamed this wooded mountain and, although they were not very successful, they still limited the number of vehicles and horses that passed through. Because Xue Xian was carrying that golden orb in his arms, Jiang Shining was on tenterhooks the entire journey. He was afraid that they would run into a group or two that would tear the two of them up.

 

He had seen that the walls and pillars of several abandoned temples in which they had rested had hack marks left by knives and hatchet fights. Then, he later saw that a corner next to one of the gates had dried dark-red bloodstains and his anxiety finally reached its peak.

 

Maybe it was because they took a different route or maybe it was due to some other reason, but they did not run into a single living bandit during their entire trip. They occasionally came across vehicles and horses and would even turn back into their paper forms to conveniently hitch a ride.

 

In short, that all was calm and quiet was really somewhat strange.

 

This continued until the fourth day when they arrived outside the gate of their destination without suffering the least bit of harm. Jiang Shining was still hesitant to believe it. “Is our luck really this good?”

 

“Other people are all unafraid of thieves robbing them and instead fear thieves fixating on them. You are the complete opposite and must be the only one who spends all day fixating on thieves.” Xue Xian raised his head and looked at the city gate.

 

“Wolong County—” Jiang Shining read the words out loud and then said, “It’s said that all places that have ‘long (dragon)’ in their names are places where dragons had really appeared before. This Wolong County sounds like a place where a real dragon previously slept.”

 

Xue Xian’s face was full of disdain. “This county is barely bigger than a hand and isn’t even large enough to step on. You must be the one who slept here!” 

 

Jiang Shining looked at him in bewilderment. “It’s not like I’m talking about you.”

 

They happened to arrive just as it became wugeng and the morning bell rang from within the city, one peal after another, resonating from the inside to the outside. After the lingering echoes of the fifth peal faded away, the city gate opened slowly. 

 

When the guards opened the city gate, Jiang Shining went to hide in a nook. He planned to take advantage of the lingering dimness and turn back into his paper form to slip in between the edges of the gate to avoid any potential trouble that might occur during an inspection. But just as he retreated one step, he felt his heel chafe against something for a moment.

 

“What is it?” asked Xue Xian.

 

Jiang Shining crouched down, brushing away the snow from his footprint, and felt a slightly deformed piece of iron plate. 

 

Borrowing the light from the lanterns hanging from the city wall, Xue Xian squinted his eyes for a moment and saw that that deformed piece of iron plate was about the size of a thumb. One side had a rough carving of a wolf’s head while the other side had a name carved into it, a name which had been ruthlessly scratched out by someone using a knife so that its original form could no longer be made out clearly. 

 

“It’s another one,” Jiang Shining muttered and pulled a similar piece of iron plate from his chest.

 

This was what he had picked up previously under a Buddhist statue while they were resting in an abandoned temple. There was even a dark bloodstain on one side. The side on which the name was written was also similarly scratched and thus it had become a total mess. There was absolutely no way to make out the words.

 

Xue Xian said, “Put it away for now.”

 

Jiang Shining put the two pieces of iron plate away and no longer tarried, taking advantage of the unsuspecting guards and hurriedly going along the seam of the gate to enter the city.

 

Once they passed through the city gate, he could not make sense of what he was seeing.

 

The appearance of this Wolong County was extremely different from that of Ningyang County. At a glance, one would be hard-pressed to see even a single straight street because almost all of them were winding and intersecting in a complicated mess. At first glance, it looked like a chaotic maze.

 

Jiang Shining held back for a long time until he finally lowered his head towards Xue Xian to ask, “Where…do we go?”

 

Xue Xian held the golden orb with immense pride in himself and said, while looking extremely pleased with himself, “At the next intersection, turn eastward down the road with the Zhang family’s pastry shop.”

 

“Do you see that stall that sells sweet sesame cakes? Turn westward at that corner.”

 

“Which side road smells of fresh wonton soup? That’s right, just go down that road.”

 

…

 

After rushing through several streets and alleys, Jiang Shining was actually directed to the point of feeling hungry. As a ghost, only another ghost could understand how long it had been since he had felt hunger.

 

“Are you so directionally challenged that you have to rely entirely on food as landmarks?” he asked in a completely monotonous voice while his entire face showed that he had nothing left to live for.

 

Xue Xian continued to embrace the golden orb as he nodded. “That’s right. You better walk more and talk less. The sky is about to lighten. We just have to pass by a stewed meat store and a Bai Shun Restaurant and we’ll be there!”

 

Jiang Shining silently rolled his eyes.

 

Although this Ancient One’s way of remembering landmarks was somewhat annoying, he did pick out the shortest route there. Sure enough, after they passed the Bai Shun Restaurant, Jiang Shining could just make out a ferry crossing some distance away amidst the snow and fog. Its flag was flapping around wildly in the wind and several passenger boats seemed to be moored at the shore.

 

Jiang Shining used his hand to cover the paperman that was sticking his head out from his front lapel. He tucked his neck in and walked against the wind towards the area on the eastern side of the ferry crossing.

 

“Ancient One, can you please sit still and stop moving? If you get blown away by the wind, I won’t go and pick you back up,” Jiang Shining grumbled moodily.

 

Xue Xian stubbornly turned his head to take several more looks at the side streets, clicked his tongue, and said, “I keep feeling as though there’s someone behind us.”

 

Jiang Shining subconsciously came to a halt, straightforwardly turned around to look in all directions, and said, “I don’t see anyone weird. Did you mistakenly think that you saw something because the snowflakes keep drifting sideways past our eyes?”

 

“Maybe,” Xue Xian mumbled indistinctly before withdrawing his neck, reluctantly settling down a little.

 

He said to himself, “If there really were someone following us, the snow would have made crunching noises under their steps. There’s no reason I wouldn’t be able to hear it. Perhaps I really am thinking too much…”

 

Following Xue Xian’s directions, Jiang Shining quickly arrived at the gate of a house in the outskirts of the city. Calling it the gate of a house was truly an exaggeration. Looking in from beyond the wall, the courtyard looked like a small chicken coop; the single-doored gate was old and discoloured. Due to the moisture, even the corners of the gate had grown mouldy and no one had taken care of it.

 

It was clear that this household was not one that was really getting by.

 

“Knock on the gate,” said Xue Xian.

 

Jiang Shining had a reserved personality and even his knocking was extremely refined, making three du du du sounds that were both easy and unhurried. Listening to it made Xue Xian’s teeth ache. “If the pair of brothers could hear the mosquito buzzing that passes for your knocking, it would be a miracle. One of them previously suffered an ear injury. Don’t worry and just knock boldly.”

 

Having heard this, Jiang Shining grudgingly used more strength while muttering “forgive me, forgive me” as he knocked repeatedly.

 

After quite a while, the crunch crunch sound of footsteps was finally heard from inside the courtyard.

 

Maybe the snow on the ground made it difficult to walk but it somehow sounded as though the person was kind of…hobbling?

 

“How old are the two brothers?” Jiang Shining could not help but ask.

 

“Oh,” Xue Xian answered, “the younger one is about eight or nine while the older one is probably sixteen or seventeen.”

 

Jiang Shining was stunned. “What? You’re asking a child to do divination?”

 

While he was stunned, that old wooden, single-doored gate was suddenly pulled open by someone inside. 

 

“Thief! Get lost!!”

 

A childish roar came from beyond the gate.

 

After that, there was a thunderous crash. A large basin of water from who-knows-where splashed forth, thoroughly soaking Jiang Shining from head to toe as he was unable to react in time.

 

Jiang Shining’s actual body was made of paper after all, and so, after his entire head and face were splashed with water, he began to quiver at once and his entire body softened and fell powerlessly to the ground. Xue Xian, who was in his front lapel, was also unable to escape and slipped out, soaking wet, sticking onto the wet ground with a squish. The golden orb that was in his clothes rolled out with a clatter and happened to stop at the side of the gate.

 

The person standing at the gate cast aside the wooden basin in his hand with a crash. He hesitated for a moment before suddenly reaching out a hand to grab the golden orb lying by the side of the gate and nervously tried to get up to close the gate.

 

Just as Xue Xian was stuck on the ground and stifling his anger in preparation to start cursing, a warm hand reached down from the sky and picked him up from the ground.

 

That hand even brought that familiar scent of bitter medicine with it. When Xue Xian smelled it, he immediately sneezed. His head was soaking wet and hanging down so even though he wanted to straighten up, he was unable to. He could not help but explode. “Baldy! Did I excavate your family’s ancestral tomb or did I dig up your grave?! Why do you have to fix your attention on me alone and catch me?! Having chased me across 800 li, aren’t you f*cking tired? Huh?!”

 

A cold and indifferent voice spoke from above Xue Xian’s head. “Thank you for your concern. I am not tired.”

 

“…” Xue Xian almost vomited blood and immediately wanted to plant him headfirst into a river!

 

The person who was standing in front of this small, chicken coop-sized courtyard was none other than Xuan Min. 

 

He carried the soaking wet Xue Xian in one hand and also picked up Jiang Shining, who had returned to his original form after being drenched. He sandwiched them both between two of his fingers. Afterwards, without a trace of politeness, he slammed open that wooden gate.

 

He strode into the courtyard and caught a hold of the “little thief” who was trying to run away in a hurry. Lowering his line of sight, he serenely said, “Do not be greedy. Return the golden orb.”

Chapter 18: Blind Diviner (1)

 

There was scattered snowfall throughout the entire day and night. For Xue Xian and Jiang Shining, this was both advantageous and disadvantageous.

 

The advantage lay in Jiang Shining, who was acting as the main force in terms of the actual walking during their hurried journey, being a ghost that feared yang energy. The snowy sky was covered in black clouds for the entire day, so the yang energy was stifled and the yin energy was flourishing, making it easy for him to walk so that he did not have to stop at the first glimmer of dawn.

 

The disadvantage was…

 

“Lift your hand and shield my face! Quickly! My head is about to be blown off by the wind!” Xue Xian yelled at Jiang Shining in an absolutely imposing way.

 

With such a strong and evil wind, he obviously could not sit on Jiang Shining’s shoulder. For lack of a better option, Jiang Shining could only wedge him between his own front lapels with only his head exposed so that this restless cargo could talk idly about important matters. However, this evil wind did not abide by the common laws of nature; it followed no rules or regulations, whistling from all four directions at once, causing a person to become extremely annoyed.

 

Jiang Shining lifted his hand with a pale face. He protected Xue Xian’s paper head while struggling to go forward in the middle of the evil wind. He said, “You can tuck that precious head of yours into my clothes.”

 

Xue Xian resolutely and decisively refused. “No. I’m afraid that you’ll stray off course as soon as I turn my attention away.”

 

Jiang Shining, “…” Where did this directionally-challenged person get his confidence from?

 

Xue Xian laughed coldly. “Once you have entered the city, you’ll cry as you ask me for directions.”

 

Jiang Shining, “…”

 

They were trying to get to Wolong County, one of the county seats of Linjiang, which was a distance of two cities away from Ningyang County and had an ancient ferry crossing. 

 

That ferry crossing was not considered large and the number of boats that went back and forth every day was not high; it wasn’t even the only crossing that allowed travel towards Anqing. But the only reason they were going there to cross the river was because Xue Xian needed to go there to search for someone.

 

“There is a family that lives on the eastern side of the ferry crossing. It should be a family of two brothers but they don’t seem to be very close. I’ve been there twice and both times, I saw them making a racket. The one who is a bit older has a bit of ability so I need him to take a look at this golden orb. He might be able to find out the location of the person who sold it to Adviser Liu,” said Xue Xian to Jiang Shining.

 

As he had already gone twice, this clearly meant that he should be a very reliable person. Jiang Shining naturally had no objections and obediently rushed towards Wolong County.

 

In order to avoid the inconvenience of entering and leaving the city, they purposely took detours around the two cities they had to pass, taking mountain trails the entire way. Of the two, one was a dragon and the other was a ghost; both were used to travelling at night. It was reasonable to say that there was nothing that they would fear. 

 

However, rumor had it that there was a group of bandits that roamed this wooded mountain and, although they were not very successful, they still limited the number of vehicles and horses that passed through. Because Xue Xian was carrying that golden orb in his arms, Jiang Shining was on tenterhooks the entire journey. He was afraid that they would run into a group or two that would tear the two of them up.

 

He had seen that the walls and pillars of several abandoned temples in which they had rested had hack marks left by knives and hatchet fights. Then, he later saw that a corner next to one of the gates had dried dark-red bloodstains and his anxiety finally reached its peak.

 

Maybe it was because they took a different route or maybe it was due to some other reason, but they did not run into a single living bandit during their entire trip. They occasionally came across vehicles and horses and would even turn back into their paper forms to conveniently hitch a ride.

 

In short, that all was calm and quiet was really somewhat strange.

 

This continued until the fourth day when they arrived outside the gate of their destination without suffering the least bit of harm. Jiang Shining was still hesitant to believe it. “Is our luck really this good?”

 

“Other people are all unafraid of thieves robbing them and instead fear thieves fixating on them. You are the complete opposite and must be the only one who spends all day fixating on thieves.” Xue Xian raised his head and looked at the city gate.

 

“Wolong County—” Jiang Shining read the words out loud and then said, “It’s said that all places that have ‘long (dragon)’ in their names are places where dragons had really appeared before. This Wolong County sounds like a place where a real dragon previously slept.”

 

Xue Xian’s face was full of disdain. “This county is barely bigger than a hand and isn’t even large enough to step on. You must be the one who slept here!” 

 

Jiang Shining looked at him in bewilderment. “It’s not like I’m talking about you.”

 

They happened to arrive just as it became wugeng and the morning bell rang from within the city, one peal after another, resonating from the inside to the outside. After the lingering echoes of the fifth peal faded away, the city gate opened slowly. 

 

When the guards opened the city gate, Jiang Shining went to hide in a nook. He planned to take advantage of the lingering dimness and turn back into his paper form to slip in between the edges of the gate to avoid any potential trouble that might occur during an inspection. But just as he retreated one step, he felt his heel chafe against something for a moment.

 

“What is it?” asked Xue Xian.

 

Jiang Shining crouched down, brushing away the snow from his footprint, and felt a slightly deformed piece of iron plate. 

 

Borrowing the light from the lanterns hanging from the city wall, Xue Xian squinted his eyes for a moment and saw that that deformed piece of iron plate was about the size of a thumb. One side had a rough carving of a wolf’s head while the other side had a name carved into it, a name which had been ruthlessly scratched out by someone using a knife so that its original form could no longer be made out clearly. 

 

“It’s another one,” Jiang Shining muttered and pulled a similar piece of iron plate from his chest.

 

This was what he had picked up previously under a Buddhist statue while they were resting in an abandoned temple. There was even a dark bloodstain on one side. The side on which the name was written was also similarly scratched and thus it had become a total mess. There was absolutely no way to make out the words.

 

Xue Xian said, “Put it away for now.”

 

Jiang Shining put the two pieces of iron plate away and no longer tarried, taking advantage of the unsuspecting guards and hurriedly going along the seam of the gate to enter the city.

 

Once they passed through the city gate, he could not make sense of what he was seeing.

 

The appearance of this Wolong County was extremely different from that of Ningyang County. At a glance, one would be hard-pressed to see even a single straight street because almost all of them were winding and intersecting in a complicated mess. At first glance, it looked like a chaotic maze.

 

Jiang Shining held back for a long time until he finally lowered his head towards Xue Xian to ask, “Where…do we go?”

 

Xue Xian held the golden orb with immense pride in himself and said, while looking extremely pleased with himself, “At the next intersection, turn eastward down the road with the Zhang family’s pastry shop.”

 

“Do you see that stall that sells sweet sesame cakes? Turn westward at that corner.”

 

“Which side road smells of fresh wonton soup? That’s right, just go down that road.”

 

…

 

After rushing through several streets and alleys, Jiang Shining was actually directed to the point of feeling hungry. As a ghost, only another ghost could understand how long it had been since he had felt hunger.

 

“Are you so directionally challenged that you have to rely entirely on food as landmarks?” he asked in a completely monotonous voice while his entire face showed that he had nothing left to live for.

 

Xue Xian continued to embrace the golden orb as he nodded. “That’s right. You better walk more and talk less. The sky is about to lighten. We just have to pass by a stewed meat store and a Bai Shun Restaurant and we’ll be there!”

 

Jiang Shining silently rolled his eyes.

 

Although this Ancient One’s way of remembering landmarks was somewhat annoying, he did pick out the shortest route there. Sure enough, after they passed the Bai Shun Restaurant, Jiang Shining could just make out a ferry crossing some distance away amidst the snow and fog. Its flag was flapping around wildly in the wind and several passenger boats seemed to be moored at the shore.

 

Jiang Shining used his hand to cover the paperman that was sticking his head out from his front lapel. He tucked his neck in and walked against the wind towards the area on the eastern side of the ferry crossing.

 

“Ancient One, can you please sit still and stop moving? If you get blown away by the wind, I won’t go and pick you back up,” Jiang Shining grumbled moodily.

 

Xue Xian stubbornly turned his head to take several more looks at the side streets, clicked his tongue, and said, “I keep feeling as though there’s someone behind us.”

 

Jiang Shining subconsciously came to a halt, straightforwardly turned around to look in all directions, and said, “I don’t see anyone weird. Did you mistakenly think that you saw something because the snowflakes keep drifting sideways past our eyes?”

 

“Maybe,” Xue Xian mumbled indistinctly before withdrawing his neck, reluctantly settling down a little.

 

He said to himself, “If there really were someone following us, the snow would have made crunching noises under their steps. There’s no reason I wouldn’t be able to hear it. Perhaps I really am thinking too much…”

 

Following Xue Xian’s directions, Jiang Shining quickly arrived at the gate of a house in the outskirts of the city. Calling it the gate of a house was truly an exaggeration. Looking in from beyond the wall, the courtyard looked like a small chicken coop; the single-doored gate was old and discoloured. Due to the moisture, even the corners of the gate had grown mouldy and no one had taken care of it.

 

It was clear that this household was not one that was really getting by.

 

“Knock on the gate,” said Xue Xian.

 

Jiang Shining had a reserved personality and even his knocking was extremely refined, making three du du du sounds that were both easy and unhurried. Listening to it made Xue Xian’s teeth ache. “If the pair of brothers could hear the mosquito buzzing that passes for your knocking, it would be a miracle. One of them previously suffered an ear injury. Don’t worry and just knock boldly.”

 

Having heard this, Jiang Shining grudgingly used more strength while muttering “forgive me, forgive me” as he knocked repeatedly.

 

After quite a while, the crunch crunch sound of footsteps was finally heard from inside the courtyard.

 

Maybe the snow on the ground made it difficult to walk but it somehow sounded as though the person was kind of…hobbling?

 

“How old are the two brothers?” Jiang Shining could not help but ask.

 

“Oh,” Xue Xian answered, “the younger one is about eight or nine while the older one is probably sixteen or seventeen.”

 

Jiang Shining was stunned. “What? You’re asking a child to do divination?”

 

While he was stunned, that old wooden, single-doored gate was suddenly pulled open by someone inside. 

 

“Thief! Get lost!!”

 

A childish roar came from beyond the gate.

 

After that, there was a thunderous crash. A large basin of water from who-knows-where splashed forth, thoroughly soaking Jiang Shining from head to toe as he was unable to react in time.

 

Jiang Shining’s actual body was made of paper after all, and so, after his entire head and face were splashed with water, he began to quiver at once and his entire body softened and fell powerlessly to the ground. Xue Xian, who was in his front lapel, was also unable to escape and slipped out, soaking wet, sticking onto the wet ground with a squish. The golden orb that was in his clothes rolled out with a clatter and happened to stop at the side of the gate.

 

The person standing at the gate cast aside the wooden basin in his hand with a crash. He hesitated for a moment before suddenly reaching out a hand to grab the golden orb lying by the side of the gate and nervously tried to get up to close the gate.

 

Just as Xue Xian was stuck on the ground and stifling his anger in preparation to start cursing, a warm hand reached down from the sky and picked him up from the ground.

 

That hand even brought that familiar scent of bitter medicine with it. When Xue Xian smelled it, he immediately sneezed. His head was soaking wet and hanging down so even though he wanted to straighten up, he was unable to. He could not help but explode. “Baldy! Did I excavate your family’s ancestral tomb or did I dig up your grave?! Why do you have to fix your attention on me alone and catch me?! Having chased me across 800 li, aren’t you f*cking tired? Huh?!”

 

A cold and indifferent voice spoke from above Xue Xian’s head. “Thank you for your concern. I am not tired.”

 

“…” Xue Xian almost vomited blood and immediately wanted to plant him headfirst into a river!

 

The person who was standing in front of this small, chicken coop-sized courtyard was none other than Xuan Min. 

 

He carried the soaking wet Xue Xian in one hand and also picked up Jiang Shining, who had returned to his original form after being drenched. He sandwiched them both between two of his fingers. Afterwards, without a trace of politeness, he slammed open that wooden gate.

 

He strode into the courtyard and caught a hold of the “little thief” who was trying to run away in a hurry. Lowering his line of sight, he serenely said, “Do not be greedy. Return the golden orb.”