Book 12: Chapter 26

Life at Daren Academy didn’t slow down during Ming Feizhen’s absence thanks to the two newcomers – Su Xiao and Tang Ye. Compared to Ming Feizhen, who was old enough to be a professor, the students gravitated toward Su Xiao and Tang Ye because the two were closer in age to them despite them not being students. Because investigating the case required them to move about, the two befriended students from other classes, too.

As the scion of a reputable clan, Tang Ye was raised and educated to inherit the family business. Hence, he had learnt to be a student. The events in Huzhou further modified his personality. The new Tang Ye could be described as the manifestation the final line of Bai Juyi’s poem “The Everlasting Regret”, which read, “The boundless sky and endless earth may pass away, but this unfulfilled vow with be regretted for aye.”

Tang Ye set his lute straight and gave his audience a deep bow in exchange for a sonorous applause. The students who considered themselves excellent at music couldn’t imagine themselves exhibiting the finesse Tang Ye showed with his fingers on the lute.

Once the clapping ceased, Tang Ye announced, “Next, I shall perform spinning a top.”

Tang Ye stopped training round the clock in Nanjiang as he once did. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even have a light training session. How else would he have had the time to pick up so many instruments and miscellaneous skills? The only times he let his hands go were group training sessions or when he had to get physical on the job. With his masculine appearance, taciturn personality and plethora of skills, he became a hit with male and female students alike.

“Stop, stop clinging to me! Why do you insist no following me around?” Su Xiao grouched.

“We’re classmates, aren’t we? Tell me which classroom is yours, please?”

“Yeah, don’t go. Take your time.”

“You’re going too fast. I can’t keep up. Wait up.”

“Why do you need to know which classroom is mine?! As well, I’m not a student!” exclaimed Su Xiao.

Su Xiao only had his adorableness to blame. While in Nanjiang, he contemplated how to increase his utility beyond acting as everyone’s mascot. After all, he didn’t want to be a newcomer forever. The conclusion he came to was wearing an ear clipping because piercing his ear would hurt too much. Hanging from his left ear was a string of shiny obsidians. As a result, men saw him as a belle and women saw him as a flower boy.

When Tang Ye returned from his performance, breathless Su Xiao griped, “This is more tiring than investigating… Why is everyone here clingier than the maids in the palace?”

Wearing a straight face as always, Tang Ye replied, “Xiao Han, thanks.”

“Huh? There’s no need for thanks between brothers.”

“After a vocal performance, I had to put on an erhu performance, but I happened to forget it.”

“… What does that have to do with you coming here?”

“Need to investigate the music festival.”

“More like you want to hold a music festival! You don’t even have your verbs right! We’re supposed to investigate Yongheng Bank’s case!”

“It was a joke. Why don’t you have any sense of humour? I know we’re supposed to investigate Yongheng Bank’s case.”

“Just how bad do you want to perform?! Furthermore, you brought so many instruments! Hand them over! No delaying work!”

“S-Su Xiao,” a female student called out softly from behind whilst Su Xiao was trying to wrestle music instruments from Tang Ye.

“Hmm? Oh, you are… Mu Anan, right?”

The girl around Su Xiao’s age lowered her rosy face and passed him a sheet of paper. “I-I wrote a poem. Please check it out for me!”

Su Xiao smiled. “I’m not very well-versed at poetry, though…”

“That’s okay! I like to write poems, but I can’t find anyone to evaluate them.” Hands clasped, Mu Anan mumbled, “I don’t have any friends in my class; you’re the first person to talk to me…”

Su Xiao: I really am not a student here, though…

Su Xiao accepted the sheet of paper, only to immediately regret it when he saw what was written:

You are the mortal realm’s 14th July.

The ghosts at night beam. Beam and beam, their heads fall off their shoulder.

A flock of birds and a group of ghosts fly over;

the King of Hell walks over.

The crows and ghosts chomp on meat;

the King of Hell also feasts on the meat, but you don’t eat.

You’re beaming the brightest. You smile and smile, and then your head falls off.

You are the mortal realm’s 14th July.

“I am still writing, but what do you think?” bashfully questioned Mu Anan.

With his face whiter than the sheet he shakily set down, Su Xiao raised a sinful thumb. “… Fantastic.”

“Really?! Thank heavens! I wanted to enter it into a competition!”

“Wh-what competition…?”

“Who would’ve thought Shen Yiren’s two lapdogs would come all the way here.” He announced his arrival before his white tunic could pass through the doorframe. When Li Muye came into view, so did Shi Ganxian, who was following behind him.

Su Xiao forced a smile. “Why is he here?”

Tang Ye shrugged without looking up, focusing on wiping his erhu.

Shi Ganxian sniffed the air.

Li Muye strutted into the centre of the room, driving out the liveliness of the break time. “This is your reception for me?”

Tang Ye made eye contact with Su Xiao. Having understood that taking a step back provided a broader view, the two bowed their heads. “Our respects to Your Highness.”

“Hmph, I’m here for that Feizhen guy. Is he here?” Li Muye questioned.

“No,” Su Xiao replied since Tang Ye wasn’t going to talk.

“Where did he go?”

“Don’t know.”

Li Muye set his piercing gaze on Su Xiao. “Last chance.”

Li Muye knew better than anyone that Ming Feizhen wasn’t on the academy’s grounds as he sent someone to shadow the latter. The purpose of this seemingly unnecessary interrogation was but a means to make it clear he presided over the academy as its overlord.

“I really don’t know.” Su Xiao remained affable.

Assuming Tang Ye and Su Xiao’s measured reactions were a sign of his intimidation tactic working, Li Muye asked, “Which seat is his?”

Li Muye’s second aim of visiting the classroom while Ming Feizhen was out was to search the classroom first. If the seal wasn’t on Ming Feizhen, then his plan went out the window.

“Don’t know.”

Li Muye narrowed his eyes. “… Don’t try to be funny with me, woman.”

“Look for yourself if you’re so keen, woman,” Su Xiao responded.

“It sounds like you weren’t taught manners.” Li Muye hiked up a corner of his lips. “Teach her some manners.”

Shi Ganxian gusted up a trail of violent wind along the trajectory of his punch. Shen Yiren told Su Xiao to avoid conflicts with Northern Wondrous Warrior’s family. His impulsive behaviours could very well have created a new enemy for Liu Shan Men. As a consequence, he wasn’t sure how to react to the oncoming punch.

As students screamed, Su Xiao saw something fly in between them. Like a spirit out of nowhere, the erhu rolled around Shi Ganxian’s wrist, forcing his arm to rotate accordingly. Once all motions stopped, the force of Shi Ganxian’s punch had dissipated into nothingness, yet he couldn’t explain why he didn’t feel any sensations.

The erhu made its way back to its companion instrument, where Tang Ye sat in silence.

Su Xiao had noticed Tang Ye’s changes. Howbeit, he wasn’t aware of the magnitude until now. In the past, Tang Ye struck explosively with figurative fire and colour as though he was trying to probe his opponent. He was never straight forward in his style unlike when he stopped Shi Ganxian. The mental blow Tang Ye received in Huzhou forced him to reconstruct his style, a process that took time, blood and sweat to complete. One could say he was more grounded than any previous version of himself.

Tang Ye once said to Ming Feizhen, “I can’t do this. Big Bro, I think I failed again. I can’t stop thinking about martial arts no matter what you tell me to learn. I can’t retain anything I’m trying to learn. As a matter of fact, my erhu skills are deteriorating.”

In response, Ming Feizhen smiled. “In that case, why not treat everything as martial arts training?”

Ever since then, whether it was music practice, playing with spinning tops or eating a meal, there were martial arts lessons to take home.

Martial arts wasn’t necessarily sitting and meditating. It wasn’t necessarily swinging a weapon around. Everything that required skill could hone a facet of one’s martial arts skills. This thought process only started to click for Tang Ye once he began refining his erhu skills. As he enthusiastically began to absorb everything he learnt, he expedited his learning speed. Upon reaching certain points in his learning, something inside him would change. Eventually, it dawned on him that learning any skill could be martial arts training, and martial arts training could be skill learning. Thus, he ceased mixing martial arts into everything, separating the two as separate entities. Which came before the other was the same as the chicken or egg question.

Glossary

You Are the 14th July – Mu Anan, also the author of the line, made a parody out of a modern poem (Ode to Love) written by Lin Huiyin.

14th July – We’re talking about the Chinese calendar here. In Chinese culture, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day (also known as the Zhongyuan Festival) and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month, a time when ghosts and spirits, including those of deceased ancestors, come out from the underworld (as in the realm below the realm of mortals, not as in the mafia). During the Ghost Festival, it’s believed that the deceased visit the living. I guess you can say Mu Anan is the Hu Tao of MKRL?

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