Whispers in the Inn
Ouyang Qiangang sat cross-legged in a corner of his room, but his mind was focused not on cultivation — on something else entirely. The menacing auras of the martial artists packed into the inn had his nerves stretched taut.
He spoke to Akasha.
'Akasha, if we can't get a handle on this situation, who knows what variables might appear on the road to Dayangsan Island tomorrow. I need at least some information.'
I was thinking the same thing, Doctor.
'Can you eavesdrop on the conversations of the martial artists in this inn? I need to know why they've all gathered here.'
Yes, Doctor. It's possible.
Her voice grew noticeably more serious. "The thirty nanobots currently operational have a maximum control radius of fifteen meters, so I can only collect conversations from the room next door and the corridor below. And maintaining this system consumes roughly five years' worth of your internal energy every ten minutes. It's an extremely costly operation — burning through a third of your reserves in a very short span of time."
Ouyang Qiangang's brow furrowed slightly. Five years of internal energy for every ten minutes. But he didn't hesitate. The information was worth more than that.
'It's fine. Gather as much as you can in ten minutes.'
Understood, Doctor.
The nanobots immediately streamed out of his body, slipping silently through the gap beneath the door and the hairline cracks in the walls, dispersing into the inn's corridors and neighboring rooms. Before long, the noise and chatter within the limited range, filtered through Akasha's high-performance processing, began to take shape in his mind as meaningful intelligence.
"…Could it really be true? A divine weapon appearing on Dayangsan Island?"
"Plenty of folk have seen auspicious energy rising from the island at three-day intervals since before the full moon. They say it showed faintly again last night."
"That's what I'm asking — was it actually a divine weapon? Could've been something else entirely."
"How should I know?"
"Damn it, are we too late? I heard all the famous names from Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, and Anhui have already gone onto the island."
"We still have a chance. We have to get our hands on that divine weapon before any more of them arrive!"
Doctor, ten minutes have elapsed. The energy consumption is substantial. I recommend stopping here.
At Akasha's warning, Ouyang Qiangang ordered the eavesdropping halted. It had been a short window, but he'd obtained more than enough of what he needed.
'Whew…….'
He stopped circulating his energy and let out a long breath. Having burned through a considerable portion of his internal energy, his whole body felt heavy and a faint dizziness washed over him. Staring into the darkness with a hardened expression, he thought:
'Everyone's destination is Dayangsan Island… the timing couldn't be worse.'
It was a relief that the crowd's objective wasn't the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade. But the number of people who had already entered the island — or were trying to — exceeded anything he had imagined.
'Not exactly welcome news, but I shouldn't see it as purely bad. While everyone's minds are consumed by the blazing bait of a divine weapon, I can quietly go about my own business.'
Before dawn the next day, while the sky was still dark, a soft knocking came at the door through the pitch-black night. When he opened it, Hwang Nodae stood there, his collar damp with the night dew. Confirming that Heo Cho-ryeong and Ouyang Qiangang had just woken, he lowered his voice to a hush.
"Young Master, Miss. I spent the whole night slipping between the inn's kitchen and stables, eavesdropping on the martial artists. I've learned why they've gathered here like storm clouds."
His eyes sharpened as he continued.
"Since before the full moon, a mysterious auspicious light has been rising into the sky from Dayangsan Island every three days. Some claim to have seen a pillar of rainbow colors; others say they heard a sound like a dragon's cry. Word has spread like wildfire that these are the signs of the legendary divine weapon's emergence."
"A divine weapon?" Heo Cho-ryeong echoed in surprise.
"Yes, Miss." Hwang Nodae nodded and went on. "The rumor is spreading from mouth to mouth. Drawn by it, the martial artists of Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, and Anhui — all close by — were flooding into this village. Many have already entered Dayangsan Island, and more will keep arriving as time passes."
He added with a worried look, "Young Master, mixing in with that rabble to enter the island after daybreak would be extremely dangerous. So this humble servant made arrangements in advance."
Ouyang Qiangang asked, puzzled. "What kind of arrangements?"
"I pressed a few silver ingots into the hand of an old fisherman in this village and secured a small fishing boat to carry us to Dayangsan Island. This old man can handle the oars himself, so we can move quietly, out of sight of the others."
Ouyang Qiangang marveled at the man's thoroughness. "Well done, Nodae. Then let's depart at once."
The inn's stale air was thick with the smell of all-night drinking and the rough breathing of martial artists. They were either lost in deep dreams of claiming the divine weapon or too drunk to know their own names. Leaving the inn, Hwang Nodae led Ouyang Qiangang and Heo Cho-ryeong not to the docks, but to a spot hidden in a reed thicket at the village's edge. There, an old, small fishing boat waited in concealment.
The little boat, Hwang Nodae at the oars, slid silently out through the reeds. Soon they were entering the thick dawn mist of the vast, endless Poyang Lake. White fog filled every direction, blinding them beyond an arm's length, and the only sound was the steady rhythm of Hwang Nodae's oar cleaving the water.
After one shichen had passed, the outline of an enormous island began to emerge faintly through the fog. Dayangsan Island. As if he knew the island's geography down to the last stone, Hwang Nodae steered the boat without a moment's hesitation toward the base of a sheer cliff far from any human presence. When the vessel touched a small pebble beach hidden beneath the towering rock face, he leapt ashore and tied the rope fast.
'Hwang Nodae seems to know this island well. I knew he was no ordinary servant, but knowing even its hidden terrain — just who is he, really?'
Ouyang Qiangang harbored a brief question about the man's secretive past. But knowing that asking would get him no answer, he brushed the curiosity aside at once.
The moment his foot touched the island, Ouyang Qiangang felt something vibrating faintly within his own body.
'Akasha, this feeling…?'
The Pure Yin Qi Seed of your Transcendent Formless Divine Art is resonating weakly with an unknown energy source somewhere on the island. It's far too faint to pinpoint its location, but it is unquestionably a response to the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade.
So there was no choice but to search. And wandering aimlessly was out of the question.
'Akasha, monitor my physical changes. I'll move in the direction where the resonance grows strongest.'
Understood, Doctor. I will track the resonance wavelength in real time.
Dayangsan Island's sheer cliffs and dense primeval forest gave off a sinister air, as if something might burst out of them at any moment. A few steps into the island's interior, Heo Cho-ryeong, who had been leading the way and scanning the path, suddenly stopped and turned to Ouyang Qiangang. Worry and doubt mingled in her eyes.
"Gang-ah, but how exactly do you plan to find the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade on an island this vast? Is this resonance method you told Father about really possible?"
Ouyang Qiangang nodded with a faint smile. "It is. As I told Uncle, the cold energy of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians reacts to things of the same nature — like magnets drawing each other in. I intend to search for the jade while watching my body's reaction."
Heo Cho-ryeong stared at him with blank, dazed eyes. 'He wouldn't be lying to me… I know my Gang-ah isn't one to spout falsehoods, but it's still hard to believe…….'
It hadn't made sense the first time she heard it, and it made no more sense now, the second time around. Seeing her reaction, Ouyang Qiangang swallowed a wry smile inwardly. What he'd said wasn't a lie — but it wasn't quite the truth, either. What actually resonated with the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade wasn't the cold energy of his severed meridians, but the Pure Yin Qi Seed of the Transcendent Formless Divine Art.
In any case, leaving her gaze behind him, he stood in one spot and closed his eyes. Running the Transcendent Formless Divine Art, he pushed every sense in his body to its absolute limit. Before long, his eyes opened and he pointed to one side of the forest.
"This way. It's very faint, but I can feel a definite pull."
Faced with such conviction, no one raised further doubts. Hwang Nodae silently nodded and scouted the path ahead, while Heo Cho-ryeong followed behind him with eyes full of awe. And so, using the Pure Yin Qi Seed of the Transcendent Formless Divine Art like a compass, Ouyang Qiangang began making his way toward the island's depths.
How long had they walked? As the forest gradually thinned and they drew near the island's center, Ouyang Qiangang felt the faint resonance echoing within his body growing steadily stronger.
'Akasha, are my senses right? It feels like we're getting closer.'
Yes, Doctor. It matches my analysis as well. As you approach the target point, the special wavelength resonating with your internal energy circulation is steadily amplifying.
Her voice remained as calm as ever. "The current amplitude of the resonance wave has increased seventeen percent compared to the landing point. At this rate, the probability that the energy's source lies at the heart of that peak ahead exceeds ninety-six percent."
In the distance, the murmur of a great crowd began to reach them, along with a tangle of many different auras. Emerging from the forest, Ouyang Qiangang's party observed the gathering from afar. It was the central region of Dayangsan Island, where a low mountain some two hundred jang tall rose from the earth. Its highest peak was bare of even a single tree, composed entirely of strange, twisted rock — like an enormous bowl turned upside down. Below that peak, well over five hundred martial artists had assembled in scattered clusters.
Ouyang Qiangang asked inwardly, 'Akasha, gather information on them.'
Barely five seconds passed before Akasha's voice rang through his mind.
Currently, more than five hundred and seventy people are assembled. Judging by their attire and the structure of their affiliations, they appear to be divided into roughly four or five groups.
Her analysis was cold and objective. "I have no data on their banners or emblems, but by cross-analyzing specific terms collected from the surrounding martial artists' conversations, the largest group in the east appears to be the Anhui Namgung Clan; those in the west wearing Taoist robes and wielding pine-wood ancient swords, the Hubei Wudang Sect; and the martial artists in the south appear to belong to the Hunan Hengshan Sect and the Zhejiang Zhongli Clan."
'So even the great sects and prestigious clans couldn't restrain their greed.'
Ouyang Qiangang's party took their place at the back of the crowd, watching the situation unfold like mere onlookers.