A Glimpse into the Hundred Faces (11)
“None of these stones in the sect will do,” Duan Yougan muttered to himself, his knuckles white as he crushed the bead in his palm into powder. Shards fell through his fingers as he anxiously bit his nails, pacing erratically across the flagstones. “The Northern Continent mines are hard enough… No! What if I run into Senior Sister…”
“Xuanzhou is the territory of the Witch Clan, we can’t go there. The Cai Mine in Jinzhou… that’s right, Jinzhou!” Duan Yougan’s eyes lit up, his bloodshot eyes suddenly fixed on Qi Rongting, and he grabbed the boy’s shoulders with both hands. “Your home is in Jinzhou, isn’t it?”
"Yes, yes, that mountain now belongs to our family..." Qi Rongting was forced back by the overwhelming stench of decay, only then noticing the dark circles under the other person's eyes.
"Good, good, good!" Duan Yougan suddenly burst into laughter, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets with excitement. "You give me..."
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly collapsed to the ground without warning.
This was truly astonishing. Qi Rongting looked to Zhao Huai Ren for help, but Zhao Huai Ren shook his head blankly. In the end, Yun Yanqiu went up to check his breathing and found that the man had simply fainted due to lack of sleep.
"That scared me to death..." Qi Rongting patted his chest, panting, his back soaked with sweat. "I almost thought I was going to be eaten..."
"No wonder those people were calling him Madman Duan..." Zhao Huai-ren said, still shaken. "What do we do now?"
Three pairs of eyes looked at each other in bewilderment.
“We’re here with you, it’s your decision.” Yun Yanqiu crossed her arms and looked at Qi Rongting.
"Me?" Qi Rongting pointed to the tip of his nose, his eyelashes fluttering. "I was just passing on a message..."
Did he answer the questions you asked him?
"No..." Qi Rongting shook his head, then suddenly widened his eyes, "That's right, he hasn't said whether he agrees or not yet, if I go back like this I'll be drowned in bubbles!"
Qi Rongting quickly got the people back into the house to rest, but all that was left inside, besides the colorful ores and the furnace, was a pile of broken lime.
Helpless, the group moved to another room before finally finding a bed. The sleeping quarters were extremely rudimentary; pushing open the door sent up a cloud of dust, even worse than where Yun Yanqiu had lived. There wasn't even a straw mat on the wooden plank bed, and the oil lamp beside it was covered in a thick layer of ash and cobwebs. Qi Rongting tested the bed: "At least it didn't collapse." So the group tossed Duan Yougan onto the bed to rest.
Leaving the house, Zhao Huai-ren scratched the back of his head: "Are we just going to wait here for him to wake up? It's a rare opportunity to get into the main building, why don't we look around?"
“You heard it when you came up: this guy isn’t popular in the sect. We’ve probably already been secretly categorized as one of them by now.” Yun Yanqiu crossed his arms again, indicating his disagreement.
"Isn't it a bit too much? Those disciples don't seem like unreasonable people..." Zhao Huai Ren shrank back, his voice growing softer and softer as he argued.
“I think Brother Yanqiu makes a good point.” Qi Rongting cleared his throat, his face serious. “This Master Duan seems to be a candidate for their next sect leader. If we visit him at this critical juncture, even if we don’t have any other intentions, it will be used against us.”
"It's better to avoid trouble. Once he wakes up and gets a reply, we'll leave!" Qi Rongting gave a thumbs up and gestured for retreat towards the courtyard gate, decisive and swift.
Yun Yanqiu nodded, then changed the subject: "Does the sect leader here have a daughter named Wen Shuang?"
"Why are you asking this?" Qi Rongting was a little surprised, but still mentioned it to him. "Their current sect leader's only daughter seems to be named Qin Wenshuang, but don't even think about it, brother. That woman is almost as old as my parents, and she wouldn't be interested in you."
"Tsk." Yun Yanqiu sometimes really wanted to punch him on the head. "I just remembered that my master's wife is also named Qin Wenshuang."
The other two were both taken aback, and Qi Rongting exclaimed in surprise, "Really? Is it really that much of a coincidence?!"
"Brother Yun, didn't you even know your master's wife's identity before?" Zhao Huai Ren looked at him with a complicated expression.
Should I know?
"It's not necessarily true..."
"That settles it then," Yun Yanqiu said nonchalantly.
"Brother Yanqiu, if your master's wife is really the daughter of their sect leader, then wouldn't your master be that wild man they're talking about?" Qi Rongting asked with a gossipy look. "How powerful is your master? He managed to seduce the daughter of the sect leader of the number one sect in Lizhou?"
"Keep your voices down, we're still on their turf!" Zhao Huai-ren raised a finger, signaling them to be quiet.
Just then, a noise came from the room where Duan Yougan was resting. The three of them immediately shut up and went inside. They saw the man on the bed propping himself up to sit up. He was as thin as a rake, his hand on his forehead, which was covered with all sorts of scars, a shocking sight.
"Grandmaster, you're awake!" Qi Rongting rushed forward to greet him. "Your sudden fainting scared us to death! Thankfully, you're alright."
“You…” Duan Yougan raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the three teenagers, his brows furrowed, “Who said Qin Wenshuang is his master’s wife?”
Oh no, their family really heard them. The air froze instantly. Qi Rongting and Zhao Huai'ren gasped, trembling and not daring to speak. Yun Yanqiu, on the other hand, was fearless and met their gaze calmly: "It's me."
"You?" Duan Yougan's gaze fixed on the tall, slender young man, a storm brewing in his eyes. "You're Li Zhoubai's disciple?"
"yes."
Duan Yougan's eyelids twitched uncontrollably a few times, and his pale fingers clenched tightly. Just when everyone thought he was about to explode, he suddenly coughed violently, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, as if he were about to vomit his insides.
The coughing grew louder and louder, and Qi Rongting's heart trembled with fear, worried that Duan Yougan might cough himself to death without even catching his breath.
"Master, please don't be angry! Your health is the most important thing!" Qi Rongting quickly stepped forward to comfort him.
He was so anxious that he wanted to pat Duan Yougan's back to help him catch his breath, but Duan Yougan was very resistant to contact with others and shrank back, saying, "Don't worry about me, it's just a minor illness."
Is coughing like this considered a minor illness? Qi Rongting didn't believe it, but he dared not disobey Duan Yougan.
"You—" Duan Yougan raised a finger, pointing at Yunyanqiu. Just as Qi Rongting thought he was about to explode, Duan Yougan simply asked in a hoarse voice, "How is your master's wife doing lately?"
“She’s very energetic. A few days ago, she took me to hunt eagles. I killed one, and she killed a whole nest,” Yun Yanqiu replied expressionlessly.
Upon hearing this, Duan Yougan paused slightly, then chuckled softly, his eyes revealing an indescribable emotion: "That's good."
The tense atmosphere suddenly relaxed, and Qi Rongting breathed a sigh of relief after his scare.
But before he could relax much, Duan Yougan called out his name again: "You."
"Yes!" Qi Rongting snapped to attention and instantly straightened his back.
Why are you so nervous?
"Huh? Uh..." Qi Rongting didn't dare to reply. He couldn't very well say how scary he was in front of people.
But Duan Yougan's silence didn't mean he couldn't see it. The thin man sighed slightly and said, "I appreciate your parents' kindness, but my personality isn't suited for managing affairs, and I have no intention of leaving Yanqing Sect. Go back and tell them."
Despite hearing the expected reply, Qi Rongting still felt a sense of disappointment for no apparent reason.
Then Duan Yougan added, "I will still refine whatever magical artifacts you require, but I've been busy with other matters lately and don't have time for the time being. But don't worry, I won't break my promise." His words seemed to be meant to reassure him, and then he looked at the folding fan at Qi Rongting's waist: "Since you're here, why don't you tell me, is your fan any good?"
Qi Rongting was startled and pulled out the sandalwood fan from his waist: "Did you make this?..."
"Hmm." Duan Yougan naturally took the fan, opened it, and examined it closely. "You went in?"
"Yes, I encountered demonic cultivators on the way here, and in a moment of panic, I hid inside to escape." Qi Rongting recalled his miserable experience and couldn't help but complain, "It's just that it's so boring in here, there's nothing there, and there's only one exit. As soon as I hid inside, the demonic cultivators picked up my fan, leaving me with nothing to do inside, and I can't get out."
As he was speaking, he suddenly paused: "Master, I'm not saying your craftsmanship is bad, this magic weapon is quite powerful! It's just that I was unlucky and ran into a demonic cultivator as soon as I stepped out the door."
Duan Yougan listened to his narration thoughtfully, turning the fan over and over, observing it carefully for a long time: "You're right, you only thought about having a place to hide at the beginning, and didn't think about the problem of coming out." He was extremely serious about his work, and had already begun to plan how to improve the function of this magical artifact.
"Here's what we'll do: you leave the fan here with me, I'll improve it, and you can come back for it later."
This suggestion is quite good, a pleasant surprise. Qi Rongting immediately beamed with joy: "Then I'll go back to Jinzhou and wait for your letter."
"No need." Duan Yougan got up from the bed and walked straight to the weapon-refining room. "I just refined a new thing. You can take it and see how it works."
The group followed his lead and saw Duan Yougan take out another bead from the furnace in the weapon-refining room. This bead was very similar to the one they had seen when they came in earlier, but it was more translucent.
“This is a bead that can transmit sound. Take it and I’ll use it to tell you when I’ve finished modifying it.” Duan Yougan handed the glass bead to Qi Rongting. “I refined one hundred and thirty-one beads, and this one was the only one that worked. Take it back and try it out to see if it works from here to Jinzhou.”
"Alright, this junior understands!" Qi Rongting carefully put away the sound transmission bead, then clasped his hands together and bowed respectfully to Duan Yougan. "Grandmaster, we won't disturb you any longer. Please take care!"
"Okay, go ahead." After saying that, Duan Yougan went back into his room and closed the door behind him.
Although Master Duan was a bit eccentric, he wasn't a bad person. Qi Rongting felt relieved, confirming that his parents hadn't been deceived, and then turned to call Yun Yanqiu and Zhao Huai'ren to leave.
As the three walked down the mountain, Qi Rongting felt relaxed and couldn't help but hum a little tune: "Hey, now I can finally report back. If I could raise a few koi and add a few thrushes to the fan, that would be even better. It wouldn't be so boring hiding away."
At this point, he suddenly slapped his forehead: "Hey, Brother Yanqiu, where's your little bluebird? It seems like we haven't seen it since we went into the mountains?"
His question startled Yun Yanqiu. His fingertips instinctively reached for his clothes; Yingying hadn't left since entering the Yanqing Sect!
Yun Yanqiu hurriedly lifted his collar and saw the small, bluish-white fur ball curled up quietly, its eyes closed. He reached out and touched the feathers; the moment his fingertips touched them, an icy chill shot through his veins.
"Yingying!" Yun Yanqiu panicked completely and quickly picked up the little bird in her hands.
The other two also approached to check the situation.
"Is it sick?" Qi Rongting pondered, tapping his chin. The blue-white sparrow lay on its side in Yun Yanqiu's palm, unresponsive to his calls, but the slight undulation of its body indicated that it still had a chance of survival. "Come back to Jinzhou with me! Let my family's doctor, who specializes in treating spirit birds, take a look."
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