Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 19

When Yunniang woke up, her face was streaked with tears. When Yun Qing asked her questions, she just stared blankly.

Yun Qing sighed and said, “Let her rest well first.”

Fan Erlang thanked Yun Qing and the others profusely as he saw them out. Chunxiang entered the bedroom carrying freshly brewed calming medicine, helped Yunniang sit up, and placed a pillow behind her back while saying:

“What dream did Madam have that made you cry like this?”

“I had a very nice dream.”

“Ah?”

……

As they left the back courtyard, Yun Qing, thinking of everything experienced in the dream, asked Fan Erlang, “Was Mingyue Tower Yunniang’s dowry?”

Fan Erlang nodded and said, “That’s right. Yunniang’s grandfather was a craftsman. Mingyue Tower was built entirely by him, started when Yunniang was born and continued until her wedding day.

Unfortunately, shortly after Mingyue Tower was completed, he passed away. On his deathbed, he entrusted me to take good care of Yunniang. I, I however……”

Although Yun Qing was awake, the emotional impact hadn’t completely faded, and she listened in a daze.

Jiang Baiyu asked, “Yun Qing, did you discover any clues?”

Yun Qing came to her senses and nodded, “Mingyue Tower started to be haunted about five years ago, am I right?”

Fan Erlang nodded, “That’s correct.”

“The time when Mingyue Tower was completed, when Yunniang’s grandfather passed away, and when Mingyue Tower first became haunted—these three events happened very close together, right?”

Fan Erlang was stunned, “It seems… that’s the case.”

Cheng Suiyan said, “What do you mean? Do you suspect that the old grandfather became a ghost after death and moved into Mingyue Tower?”

Yun Qing rubbed her chin, “I don’t know. I just feel there are too many coincidences.”

“But senior sister, there is no yin energy in Mingyue Tower. We discovered this as soon as we went there,” Fu Xue raised her objection.

Yun Qing nodded, “You’re right.” After thinking for a moment, she added, “There’s none here either.”

Since the group couldn’t reach any conclusion in their discussion, they bid farewell to Fan Erlang. Fan Erlang instructed his servant to present them with three hundred taels of silver as a token of gratitude.

Yun Qing thought to herself that if that wicked mother-in-law found out that her daughter-in-law’s dream had cost three hundred taels, there would likely be another scolding session.

Hmm, should she go all the way and put a curse on the old woman too?

After the group returned to their small courtyard, Fu Xue decided to try her luck and began to shake her bell.

As she shook it, she lectured Cheng Suiyan like an old scholar:

“Don’t recite your incantations so loudly. Others might not have intended to steal your magic item, but after hearing your incantation clearly, they might change their minds. Not everyone is as kind-hearted as my senior sister and me.”

Cheng Suiyan listened attentively. Tall and straight with broad shoulders and long legs, he was now as respectful as a child in elementary school, which looked somewhat amusing.

Yun Qing sat in a tree, playing with a leaf in her mouth, dangling her legs as she watched them. Sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves, clothing her in a dress sewn from fragments of light.

Jiang Baiyu stood beneath the tree looking up at her. His head tilted slightly to one side, his clear eyes carrying a hint of gentle smile, very much like the soft wind of early spring—when you’re unaware, you’ve already become intoxicated in it.

Yun Qing always felt his smile was fake. She spat out the leaf from her mouth with a “poof,” and the leaf flew toward him like a blade.

Jiang Baiyu caught the leaf between two fingers and asked her, “What are you thinking about?”

Yun Qing’s gaze turned toward Cheng Suiyan. She was quite curious about him. This person seemed to know very little about cultivation, yet he carried a mysterious and powerful magic item.

She called to him, “Suiyan.”

“Hmm?”

“Have you practiced bigu?” 

(TL: 辟谷=Taoist practice where one abstains from eating grains or food entirely, sometimes relying on meditation, qi (energy), or herbal supplements instead.)

Cheng Suiyan was standing under the eaves, some distance from her. His attention was on Fu Xue’s bell, so he misheard and looked at her in shock. “Butt?” 

(TL: 屁股 pigu=butt/bottom) 

There it was. He knew this day would come eventually. She couldn’t resist making a move on him, could she? Was he going to end up like Jiang Baiyu?

Yun Qing nodded. “Yes.”

Her tone was so natural that it made Cheng Suiyan think she must do this sort of thing often.

“I……” Cheng Suiyan was torn about whether he should resist. Not resisting seemed spineless, but resisting didn’t seem to offer much chance of success, and might even make her find it more exciting.

At this moment, Fu Xue had just finished shaking the bell for the third time. She put away her bell and, seeing Cheng Suiyan stammering, felt utterly confused. “You, answer my senior sister’s question… Senior sister, what did you just ask him?”

“Bigu,” Yun Qing raised her chin slightly, looking at Cheng Suiyan, “Well, do you or don’t you?”

“Yes,” Cheng Suiyan turned his back to her, his ears turning red, “I have a very perky butt.”

Fu Xue: “???”

Yun Qing: “???”

Jiang Baiyu: “???”

After an awkward silence, Fu Xue suddenly hit his arm with her bell: “What’s wrong with you?!”

Cheng Suiyan jumped away from the blow, with Fu Xue chasing and hitting him. As Cheng Suiyan ran around the tree, he complained with grievance. “You were the ones who asked.”

Fu Xue stopped and put her hands on her hips. “My senior sister asked about bigu, bigu, bi! Like the ‘bi’ in ‘not avoiding recommending relatives’! Like the ‘bi’ in ‘big gecko on that wall’! Get it now?”

“Oh, you meant bigu.” Cheng Suiyan suddenly realized, followed by an enormous sense of embarrassment. What on earth was he thinking? Perky butt? His corpse would be perkier!

Speaking of bigu, although he had heard of the term, he had always felt it was far removed from him, so it wasn’t entirely his fault for not immediately understanding.

“So, do you or don’t you practice, um, bigu.” Yun Qing repeated the question once more, emphasizing the pronunciation of “bi.”

Cheng Suiyan asked, “Do people in this world really practice bigu?”

“Yes, Fu Xue and I both practice bigu.” Yun Qing nodded and glanced at Jiang Baiyu, “Baiyu probably does too, right?”

Jiang Baiyu nodded.

Cheng Suiyan wasn’t quite convinced. “I’ve seen Fu Xue eat quite a lot…”

Fu Xue scratched her head and smiled. “Just can’t resist the temptation.”

In fact, common bigu practice doesn’t mean not eating anything at all; one needs to take some elixirs periodically.

Only after ascending to immortality and forging an immortal body, using the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as nourishment, can one truly abandon even elixirs.

Yun Qing had tested Cheng Suiyan’s cultivation level with a single question, and suddenly she had a good idea.

The cultivation methods she and Fu Xue practiced were bought by Le Chenzi with money, so now she could resell them to make a little money—little drops make an ocean, after all.

Yun Qing jumped down from the tree, landing lightly on the ground, her toes touching the ground with almost no sound.

She walked toward Cheng Suiyan with her hands behind her back, wearing a spring-like smile. “Brother Suiyan, what kind of techniques do you usually practice?”

“Just casual practice.”

“What path of cultivation do you follow?”

“Just casual cultivation.”

Cheng Suiyan felt a bit insecure. His cultivation was entirely self-taught, and his magic items and sword were just expensive purchases he had come across by chance.

Yun Qing nodded and smiled. “I have a book called ‘The Small Twelve Heavens Technique.’ I won’t hide it from you—this was purchased by my master at a high price.

This technique is easy to learn, simple to understand, full of wonders, and guaranteed to work. Men who practice it become strong and robust; women who practice it become vibrant and energetic; elderly who practice it become as agile as youth; children who practice it become exceptionally intelligent.

Moreover, it doesn’t require specific practice times—you can practice anytime and stop anytime. The price is reasonable, and satisfaction is guaranteed. I wonder if you’re interested?”

Cheng Suiyan’s clear eyes sparkled brightly as he asked, “How much?”

Yun Qing thought about it. Her master had bought it for five taels of silver, so selling it for one tael shouldn’t be excessive, right?

So she tentatively held up one finger toward Cheng Suiyan.

“One thousand taels? Deal!”

“……”

Yun Qing rarely found herself speechless. She opened her mouth, said an awkward “Ah,” and asked, “Maybe… you should reconsider?”

“No need to reconsider.” For Cheng Suiyan, a thousand taels of silver for a cultivation manual was practically the same as getting it for free. He took out a thousand-tael bank note and slapped it into her hand.

“Alright, I’ll write it down for you right away. It’s all in my head.”

Yun Qing went inside, spread out paper and brush, and Cheng Suiyan ground the ink for her.

Jiang Baiyu curiously followed them in and watched as she wrote quickly. He stood to the side, taking in everything she wrote.

Yun Qing didn’t try to hide anything from him. People from the Huayang Sect wouldn’t be interested in cultivation techniques that cost just five taels of silver.

When Jiang Baiyu first looked at the Small Twelve Heavens Technique, he thought it was simple and crude, but the more he looked, the more he felt it was profound and immeasurable, no less than any technique from the Huayang Sect.

Something of this caliber would be unlikely to enter circulation in the martial world or be casually bought and sold.

He curiously whispered to Fu Xue, “Where did your master buy this book? How much did it cost?”

Fu Xue gave him a look as if guarding a trade secret and glared at him.

After Yun Qing finished writing the Small Twelve Heavens Technique, she promised Cheng Suiyan free lifetime teaching and also personal protection during the time he spent with them.

Cheng Suiyan suddenly felt that although Yun Qing had some strange hobbies, she was still quite a decent person.

While Cheng Suiyan was eagerly practicing the technique, Fan Erlang sent someone to inform Yun Qing that Yunniang said she had only felt sleepy the previous night, with no other abnormalities. Afterward, Yun Qing, Fu Xue, and Jiang Baiyu secretly searched the Fan residence but found no evil spirits or objects. Could Yunniang’s nightmare really have been just a coincidence?

Yun Qing didn’t quite believe that. They planned to take action again that night.

In the dead of night, before they could leave, someone knocked lightly on the door of their small courtyard.

The sound was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something.

“Who is it?”

“Fairy maiden~”

With such a fawning tone, it could only be Steward Sun.

Fu Xue opened the door. Steward Sun first looked around outside to ensure no one was watching, then slipped in and closed the door.

Fu Xue asked curiously, “Do you have more business?”

“I didn’t dare come during the day for fear of being seen,” Steward Sun lowered his voice and said, “Fairy maiden, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?” Fu Xue invited him inside.

Steward Sun’s face was brimming with the excitement of an informant. “Fairy maiden, I know who Daoist Zhou Shitan and Daoist Luo Shuilan had contact with before their deaths!”

Yun Qing perked up. “Who?!”