Chapter 29

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Who’s speaking in my ears

The knocks on the door were loud and urgent, much unlike the usual gentle demeanor of a young lady.

When no one answered, Rong Duanyu threw the door open, picked up her dress, and rushed into the room. Spirals of smoke rose from the incense burner as the person on the bed behind the layers of gauze curtains slept sweetly. She ran to the bed, patting that person’s cheek a few times: “Wake up, don’t sleep anymore.”

Last night, they had plum wine with hot pot. Rong Luoyun couldn’t hold liquor well, so he was exhausted. “Go away……” He mumbled. When he turned, his cheek scratched against Rong Duanyu’s nails.

“Something happened in the city, hurry and get up!” Rong Duanyu pulled away his blanket.

Rong Luoyun cracked his eyes open: “What happened?”

Rong Duanyu said: “A young girl was defiled and murdered.” She found the topic difficult to talk about, with tears tottering on the verge of falling, “It’s exactly the same as the murder cases from two years ago. Your name…… it was carved on the bedpost.”

Rong Luoyun immediately sobered up and rose to change his clothes and brush his hair. He wore his shoe and peered carefully out the window. It was restless outside the establishment with the city’s residents flooding over, demanding for an answer. That pair of husband and wife were directly below the building, wailing in grievance.

Rong Duanyu asked: “What are your plans?”

Rong Luoyun shut the window: “Prepare a carriage. I’m going to leave secretly through the back gates and return to the Extraordinary Palace.” After the initial shock, he returned to his usual calmness. Before leaving, he did not forget to warn: “Jiejie, tell all the young ladies in the building to be careful and to be more on guard at night.”

He left immediately. He boarded the horse-drawn carriage and picked a route that avoided the large crowds of people. After a long night of wind and rain, the main road behind the palace gates was still wet. The disciples were currently at the Distant Gray Platform for morning practice.

“Second Brother!” A voice suddenly called out. Diao Yuliang beckoned at him from the main hall.

Rong Luoyun climbed out of the carriage. As he walked step by step, he remembered what happened in this hall yesterday. The sweet taste of pear, the chattering of people, Huo Linfeng’s embrace, and that heartbeat. When he crossed the threshold, he recollected his thoughts and greeted Duan Huaike, who was already seated.

Duan Huaike asked: “I assume you already know of the situation. What are you planning to do?”

Rong Luoyun sighed. Asking him about plans again. Light as a feather, he said: “I plan to take care of it as soon as possible.” Once something like this happens, everyone is in danger, so they must catch that flower picker [1] quickly.

Diao Yuliang scooted over: “Second Brother, I yelled at those people for you for a shichen *.”

* shichen – two hour period

The young child’s voice was hoarse after giving yelling and cursing his all. Rong Luoyun stroked the other party’s little braid and relayed his plan: “Fourth Bro, go lead the disciples to investigate the households in the city and record the families with daughters. When night falls, bring people to patrol near these houses.”

Diao Yuliang nodded and went right away. Rong Luoyun took a sip of tea, letting the bitterness spread on his tongue. The enemy was in the dark while he was in the light. Besides strengthening their defenses, they couldn’t do much else. He asked: “Big Brother, did the authorities act yet?”

Duan Huaike answered: “Both the authorities and barracks dispatched people, but we can’t place our hopes on them.”

What a bunch of waste. Rong Luoyun suddenly wished with all his heart that the general from Saibei would appear. No matter friend or foe, he could still train the useless soldiers into elite ones. Rong Luoyun’s thoughts wandered far before he recollected them. He kneaded the space between his brows. Once night arrives, he will go catch that murderer.

Duan Huaike reminded: “We need to capture this person quickly. We need everyone with formidable power to act, including the Palace Lords and Great Disciples.”

Rong Luoyun nodded stiffly, his attention focused on “Great Disciple”. With how fast the news spread, Du Zhong must already know.

He abruptly stood up without a word and strutted out of the Profound Jade Hall like a meteor. Past the serene Drunken Elegance Courtyard and the tightly locked Hidden Gold Pavillion, he arrived outside the Thousand Opportunities Hall in a single breath. He was extremely nervous, yet his steps through the gates were oddly steady.

Rong Luoyun made his way to the bamboo grove, his footsteps involuntarily becoming soft. That steadiness now had a hint of grievance in it. In the courtyard, Du Zheng was currently washing clothes. When he saw Rong Luoyun, he immediately stared at him as if he saw a murderer.

“Where’s Du Zhong?” Rong Luoyun asked.

Du Zheng answered: “Not here. He went out.”

Was he really not here? Or was it really because he didn’t want to see Rong Luoyun? If he went out, where did he go? Was it to the city, so he could listen to Rong Luoyun’s evil deeds? Rong Luoyun turned to leave. The urgency he held when he came was gone, leaving behind hidden bitterness.

The small street stretched on. The weather that day was bright and sunny. He had run with the swallow kite and that person had laughed, following him down this road. Now, he lingered, staring firmly at the hems of his robe as he walked. It was a long time before he reached the Nameless Abode.

When he looked up, Huo Linfeng was unexpectedly sitting under the eaves.

“Du Zhong!” Rong Luoyun was surprised, running across the gravel and halted a small distance away. He stared at the other party and examined him, from the eyebrows to the eyes, from the lips pressed together to the clenched fist.

Huo Linfeng said: “This subordinate trespassed again. Is Palace Lord going to punish me?”

Rong Luoyun shook his head no. After contemplating, he didn’t know who was to bring up the troublesome matter first. In the end, he decided to push the responsibility to the other party, “…… Did you find me for something?”

Huo Linfeng replied: “I changed out the lotus flowers for fresh ones, fed the birds, and cleared the leaves.” After his report, he stood and met the other party eye to eye, “Last night, I waited at the gates until daybreak. I had something to say, but I’ve long forgotten what.”

His expression was mild. Rong Luoyun pursed his lips. After a moment of silence, he refused to give up and rushed up to Huo Linfeng. He looked up at the other party and said worriedly: “You didn’t forget. You clearly don’t want to tell me anymore.”

With little to no experience of explaining thing to others, he stuttered with his tongue tied in knots: “I know you must have heard, whether you believe or not, but you have to, have to listen to me.” He didn’t dare look the other in the eye and instead stared at the dark outlines of the other party’s clothing lapels, “Two years ago, when the murder cases occurred, I wasn’t even in Xiaoyan City. It was too far away for me to provide help, so the murderer got away.”

Huo Linfeng asked: “You say this, but why does everyone believe it was you?”

Rong Luoyun answered: “Three men can make a tiger [2]. Public opinion can obscure the truth!”

Huo Linfeng followed up: “Where were you last night?”

Rong Luoyun said anxiously: “I stayed at Dusk-till-Dawn all night!” He took half a step closer, his expression honest, “I ate hot pot with my sister and drank a freshly brewed pot of plum wine. I was dead drunk……I, I didn’t go anywhere!”

Huo Linfeng’s sword-like eyebrows knitted. While he waited in the biting wind and the freezing rain, this guy was actually enjoying plum wine. When Rong Luoyun was dead drunk, who helped him to his bed, and who helped him change? Looking sideways at Rong Luoyun’s face, there was unexpectedly a long pink mark on his cheek.

A large hand lifted Rong Luoyun’s chin. Huo Linfeng said: “Were you scrambling around after you were drunk? Who scratched your face?”

Rong Luoyun stared blankly and rubbed his cheek: “My sister. She always keeps her nails so long!” After his answer, he grabbed Huo Linfeng’s hand that gripped his chin, “The incident last night had nothing to do with me. I will definitely prove my innocence.”

Huo Linfeng loosened his hand. How come Rong Luoyun waited until now to prove his innocence?

Back then, he didn’t bother to prove his innocence because he didn’t care. First, he wasn’t looking to be bestowed with any title or position, and second, what good was false honor and glory for? After blending into society, living a free and unfettered life, who cares if the people revere or disdain him?

“Now……” Rong Luoyun said, “Now, I worry that there would be a person who would misunderstand.”

He was too shy to say it outright, but he was afraid the person wouldn’t catch on, so he clenched his teeth and elaborated: “You’re a person.”

Huo Linfeng nearly choked. If he wasn’t a person [3], was he supposed to be a horse? As Huo Linfeng silently questioned this sentence, Rong Luoyun couldn’t hold on any longer and pounded the other party on the chest with his fist.

“Why aren’t you talking?” He asked, feeling wrong, “Does your heart still skip for me? Don’t tell me it stopped……”

Huo Linfeng wrapped his hand around Rong Luoyun’s fist and said with words full of love and hate: “If my heart stopped, I’ll be dead!” His urgent tone turned deep and husky, “Such an idiot. Did you rely plainly on your looks to become a Palace Lord?”

This affectionate praise hidden in an insult stirred up the heavens, causing the clouds in the sky to cover up the sun. The cloud on the ground [4] stared blankly with his eyes wide open. The sunny day turned cloudy as if it was going to rain again. Huo Linfeng, despite being the visitor, ushered Rong Luoyun into the hall. He temporarily put a hold on their conversation, wanting to discuss some tactics with the other party on catching the murderer.

In the study, the two rolled out a piece of paper on the desk and prepared ink for Huo Linfeng to draw a map of the city. Xiqian Ridge was huge, containing countless streets and houses. It was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Later, Diao Yuliang sent people to report every hour. Huo Linfeng would mark off the provided locations on the map and arrange for people to be transferred over. The study was quiet. Huo Linfeng looked up and saw that idiot Palace Lord wiping his sword. He said: “You only know to wipe your sword but not to pour me a cup of tea.”

Rong Luoyun listened and went to boil water to brew tea before returning to the desk, much like a disciple being reprimanded by his teacher. The two stayed like this, rigorously planning. However, they knew very well that it was all up to luck whether or not they catch the murderer.

If the murderer was in the south of the city while they were in the north, there was nothing they could do about it.

Huo Linfeng thought aloud: “It would be great if we had someone who knows the Six-way Sanskrit.”

The Six-way Sanskrit was a technique that emerged from the western regions. It trains the ears to scan for every movement in the six directions, covering up to ten li. Every sound within the perimeter of ten li would be detected, thus making it a slow process to pick out the relevant ones. This technique was not only strenuous, but also detrimental to the body.

Utilizing the Six-way Sanskrit would cause pain and numbness to the ears, often resulting in ringing and buzzing. The user would also temporarily lose their hearing. The more often it is used, the more painful it would be and the longer their hearing would be lost.

Huo Linfeng had only spoken casually and continued to examine the map with his head lowered.

Who would’ve known that Rong Luoyun would pipe up from the side: “I know the Sanskrit.”

Huo Linfeng immediately looked up. He was shocked and delighted but a little skeptical. In the end, his trust won over his skepticism, and his shock overpowered his delight. “What did you learn that type of martial arts for?” His expression changed, stripped bare of its previous delight, “This type of technique harms the ears. You can learn but do not use it. It’s better not to.”

He just said he was hoping for someone who knew the Six-way Sanskrit, yet now that he’s got one right here, he doesn’t want Rong Luoyun to use it. Rong Luoyun had his own calculations and remained silent. He leaned in to study the map. Huo Linfeng placed down the brush in contemplation and said: “This type of defense is lacking in mobility. Moreover, the streets and alleyways are not guarded tightly enough.”

Rong Luoyun was quiet, pinching a chess piece between his fingers. He first placed a piece each in the city’s north, east, south, west, and center. His hand did not stop, adding three more pieces, five, then nine. What seemed to be randomly placed pieces actually hid a mysterious strategy. When he was done arranging, the tea had finished brewing, its fragrance perforating through the room. He asked softly: “How is it?”

Huo Linfeng said in surprise: “Palace Lord knows the Qimen technique?”

Rong Luoyun said modestly: “Only a superficial understanding of it.” What he arranged was the defensive Floating Cloud Formation. Its offensive counterpart was called the Flowing Clouds Formation, relying solely on its agility and mobility to gain victory. The other party looked at him with eyes full of appreciation. Rong Luoyun’s outward expression was as calm as water, but inwardly, his tail was wagging wildly.

After everything was planned properly, Huo Linfeng returned to the Thousand Opportunities Hall in the afternoon. He spent all the way until dusk arranging and instructing the disciples for the formation. Once it was dark, the disciples left in tides, flowing into the city to patrol their assigned locations.

The three Palace Lords [5] and the Great Disciples congregated. Rong Luoyun had changed into a set of black clothes. His hair was tied up in a ponytail and a piece of cloth was tied around his neck. Huo Linfeng arrived, teasing him in a low voice: “Is Palace Lord planning to cover his face?”

Rong Luoyun snorted coldly. If he doesn’t hide his face, he’ll be scaring the commoners before anything. It would be better to cover up. He pulled the cloth up, concealing half his face. His two eyes became even more shocking, shining brightly like the numerous stars and glowing moon in the sky.

Before setting off, Rong Luoyun ordered: “Catch that murderer alive. It’s not time to take his life yet.”

Everyone went their different ways, blending into the city to await the criminal. Huo Linfeng arrived in the east of the city, stealthily shuttling through the old alleys, inspecting from house to house.

It was like a cat playing catch with a mouse. Half the night later, there was still no trace of the murderer.

The girl who lost her life had been moved to the Manes Pagoda at the center of the city. The monks were chanting mantras to guide her to her next life. Rong Luoyun hid nearby. He dared not see the girl’s corpse but could hear her parents’ grief-filled weeping.

He secretly slipped into a dark alley and leaned against the wall with his eyes closed.

He stood without the slightest movement, with the sole exception of his gently moving ears. He surged all the qi in his body to his ears. His breathing changed and his heartbeat quickened as he chanted silently. In an instant, he perceived all the noises in his surroundings. Low voices, sorrowful sobbing, snoring, laughing, the running water in the Long River, the rustling leaves, the birds’ cries. Every sound in the six directions flowed into his ears.

Rong Luoyun carefully picked through each. Suddenly, there was the tapping of footsteps on roof tiles and the creaking of a window opening from the northern district!

He immediately hurtled northward. Seeing him flitting past, the disciples neatly arranged into formation and followed. Rong Luoyun’s ears were ringing, growing numb. His cochlea felt as if it was being pierced by a needle.

The whistling wind disappeared and the footsteps were gone. His world plunged into silence.

In the north, at the dead end of an alley, a small window was pushed open with no movement inside. The murderer was long gone. Seeing the girl fine without a hair missing on her head, Rong Luoyun suddenly realized that he had fallen for the trick of leading the tiger away from its mountain.

He moved his ears to search again and detected abnormalities in the south.

Diao Yuliang was in the south, currently chasing a suspicious figure, cursing loudly about perverted criminals.

First the north, now the south. That flower picker’s qinggong cannot be faster than Roaming the Eight Directions. Rong Luoyun suddenly formed a guess. Could it be that the murderer was not a single person but a whole group?

Despite toiling away for a whole night, no other incident occurred. The night passed by peacefully.

The sky slowly brightened. The disciples were exhausted, achieving nothing in the long night. Rong Luoyun also followed them back to the Palace. When he arrived at the foot of Mount Lengsang, he met Huo Linfeng. He waved, pretending nothing was wrong.

The pain and numbness had spread from his ear to his temples. Besides the ringing in his ears, he could not hear anything. Huo Linfeng approached him, his mouth moving as he spoke. Rong Luoyun couldn’t read his lips and blindly nodded his head.

What Huo Linfeng said was “you’ve worked hard tonight”. He continued as they walked back shoulder to shoulder: “Last night, the officers and soldiers, along with a few commoners, were also patrolling. It would be easier to accomplish our goal if we had more people, so I suggest we join hands with them and take turns keeping watch.”

This sentence was quite long. Rong Luoyun nodded again.

Huo Linfeng said worriedly: “However, it’s probable that no one would want to join hands with the Extraordinary Palace.”

He already nodded twice, so Rong Luoyun hesitated and instead answered with a hum despite his pain. He would expose himself if he kept silent the whole way. After thinking for a while, he decided to tell the other party his conjecture: “PERHAPS THE FLOWER PICKER ISN’T JUST ONE PERSON!”

Huo Linfeng received a fright, one, because of Rong Luyoun’s volume, and two, because of what Rong Luoyun said. “I’m not deaf. Why are you shouting so loudly?” He indeed wasn’t deaf, but Rong Luoyun was unfortunately deaf through and through.

The sun rose behind them as they stepped through the palace gates, casting shadows beneath their feet that stretched out across the street.

Huo Linfeng watched the shadow and raised his hand, smacking the head of Rong Luoyun’s shadow. Rong Luoyun retaliated by throwing his fist toward Huo Linfeng’s cheek. Huo Linfeng pretended to be in pain: “Ah, Palace Lord is using his status to bully people.”

Rong Luoyun couldn’t hear and answered randomly: “EXACTLY!”

His loud voice was really too abnormal. Huo Linfeng said without batting an eye: “Palace Lord, I feel like you’re really the flower picker.”

Rong Luoyun nodded: “THAT’S RIGHT!”

“……” Huo Linfeng was almost positively sure. His face darkened, reaching out to tug the other party’s earlobe. He only pulled lightly, yet Rong Luoyun immediately backed away, his face slightly contorted in pain.

Huo Linfeng knew now. Rong Luoyun must have ignored his warning and used the Six-way Sanskrit. But, it’s not like Huo Linfeng could scold him or say anything because the person in front of him was a deaf person right now. It’s one thing that he’s deaf, but he even tried to conceal it from him this whole time. The snow white fox in his dream was cute, but this fox in front of him was quite sly!

Taking large steps forward, Huo Linfeng pursed his lips without a word.

Rong Luoyun followed him, stomping on his shadow. As if he couldn’t see!

Huo Linfeng turned around, catching the other party off guard. Rong Luoyun stumbled in front of Huo Linfeng. Feeling numb and in pain, his expression turned extremely pitiful. So long as he doesn’t open his mouth and start shouting loudly, anyone who sees him will feel softhearted.

General Huo, who had massacred a city, was made of iron, but his heart was still of flesh. Towards strangers met by chance, he would feel pity, but towards this person, he felt a rush of tenderness.

After a while, he sighed and spoke, moving his lips slowly: “Do not do this again.”

Rong Luoyun could read his lips this time, nodding like a little chick pecking at rice. Suddenly, the other party grabbed his shoulders, pulling him closer. Huo Linfeng leaned in next to his ears, his warm breath tickling down his neck.

What’s he doing……

Is he saying something? Why is he taking advantage of the fact that he can’t hear? Is he cursing him out or spilling his inner feelings? Rong Luoyun felt his heartstrings go taut.

He couldn’t bear it and murmured: “Du Zhong……”

“Rong Luoyun,” The so-called Du Zhong moved his lips slightly, “I’m Huo Linfeng.”

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Notes

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