“One night, Lady Ling revealed a great secret to me. Even though her father was a successful candidate in the imperial civil service examination and was a magistrate, he was actually the leader of the Raspy Dragon Sect in Lianghu. Not only was he outstanding in literature, he was also an impressive martial artist. I respected Lady Ling like a deity, so naturally I also respected her father, hence I did not think much of it.
“On another night, Lady Ling told me that there was an intricate reason why her father did not remain as an imperial secretary, and rather spent many thousand taels of silver to request to be a prefectural magistrate in Jingzhou. It turns out that from the history books he figured out that in the grounds of Jingzhou there was an immense treasure.
“Lady Ling said during the time of the Six Dynasties, Emperor Wu of Liang died in a rebellion. Emperor Jiangwen of Liang took the throne but too fell in the hands of the rebel Hou Jing. His successor, King Xiaoyi of Xiangdong, relocated to Jiangling and became Emperor Yuan of Liang. Emperor Yuan was weak and incompetent, and took a liking in gathering precious valuables. In the three years that he was emperor in Jiangling, the treasures he extorted were countless. On the third year of the Chensheng era, Wei soldiers broke through Jiangling and killed Emperor Yuan, but no one knew the location of the treasures that he extorted over the years. The Wei marshal Yu Jin flogged and murdered thousands of people trying to find the whereabouts of the treasure, but it was all in vain. He was afraid that the ones who knew the whereabouts of the treasure would excavate it in the future, so he murdered several tens of thousands of citizens of Jiangling all the way to Chang’an. Most were murdered or victimized, there were practically no survivors. Over the course of several hundred years, the secret was never discovered. As time passed, there was even less of a chance that anyone would know.
“Lady Ling said that her father spent many years and investigated the government in Jingzhou as well as many different kinds of ancient books and records, he confirmed that Emperor Yuan’s treasures were buried on the ground outside the city of Jiangling. Emperor Yuan was violent and ruthless, presumably after burying the treasures, he killed anyone who knew of the secret, hence the Wei marshal could not figure out its location no matter how many innocent citizens he tortured or interrogated.”
Di Yun heard up to this point, and he began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He said: “Brother Ding, you know the secret of the treasure deposit, am I right? So many people came to prison to seek you, presumably they must have come for the treasure deposit.”
Ding Dian gave a bitter smile and continued to speak:
“Upon hearing Lady Ling speak these words to me, I could not help but feel that her father had a heart full of greed—he was already all-rounded in literature and martial arts, and he was rich and noble. Why still seek the treasure deposit? Later I discussed with her the various peculiarities of the Jianghu. I did not conceal from her the incident by the river where Wan Zhenshan and his martial brothers were trying to kill their Shifu. I also told her about the Heavenly Glow and A Deadly Secret and so forth.
“We experienced over half a year of happy days. One day, on the fourteenth of the seventh month, Lady Ling said: ‘Ding’ge, I have told father about our relationship. We will let him decide, then we won’t have to be sneaky like this anymore...’ Before she could finish her sentence, she leaned her head against my chest. I replied: ‘You are a precious lady from a great family, I’m afraid that your father will look down on me.’ She replied: ‘My ancestors were too people from the martial world, only that my father opted to become an official, and I don’t know the slightest bit of martial arts. My father loves me the most. Since my mother passed away, no matter what I say he would always permit it.’
“Once I heard her say this, I was naturally overjoyed. The next day, I was so ecstatic I could not sleep. I waited until midnight to visit Lady Ling in her residence. Her face blushed red and she said to me: ‘Father said, he will leave the decision all up to me.’ I was so happy I felt like a big silly melon, the two of us looked at each other and could only laugh heartily.
“We held hands and went downstairs, when suddenly under the moonlight, one could see in the garden several basins of particularly lovely and colorful flowers. The petals of these flowers were as yellow as gold and shone brightly. The flower looked like a lotus, but it was not as big as a lotus. The two of us both shared a great passion for flowers, so immediately we went to admire them. Lady Ling felt strange, for she had never seen this type of yellow flower before. We both got closer to smell the flowers, we wanted to know the fragrance of the flowers...”
Di Yun heard Ding Dian recount his past events. Under the moonlight, holding hands and admiring beautiful flowers with the one you love, such an ordeal must have been far greater than even the most pleasant of experiences endured by celestial beings from heaven. However from his intonation, one could sense a gloomy and terrifying side to it. Di Yun listened so attentively that he could not breathe easily, apparently in the abandoned garden, there were many evil spirits who want to possess your body. All of a sudden he thought of a name, and declared: “Golden Ripple Flower!”
Ding Dian uttered a faint and bitter smile from the corner of his mouth. After a while, he said: “Brother, your intelligence is not low. In the future when you wander around the Jianghu by yourself, you should not be at a disadvantage, then I will be at ease.”
Upon hearing these words full of concern and friendship, Di Yun’s eyes could not help but brim with tears of excitement. He said angrily: “That dog official from Ling Prefecture, he... he... if he doesn’t want to betroth his daughter to you, then so be it. Why set up such a vicious ruse to harm you?”
Ding Dian said: “At that time how would I have guessed? Even more, how would I know that the beautiful yellow flower was in fact the fully toxic ‘Golden Ripple Flower?’ The two words ‘Full Ripple’ are Sanskrit for ‘demon’. The toxic flower originated from Tianzhu, the citizens of Tianzhu call this flower the ‘Demon Flower.’ As soon as I sniffed the fragrance of the flower, I felt dizzy. I only saw Lady Ling dazzle and faint. I tried to extend my hands to assist her, but I could barely keep my own balance. Immediately, I began to channel my internal energy to harmonize my body to resist against the poison, when all of a sudden from the shadows appeared several men wielding bladed weapons. I fought several stances with them before my vision turned pitch black. After that I don’t know what happened.
“When I woke up, my hands and feet were shackled and my scapula was pierced. The magistrate Ling wore informal clothing and initiated a court trial in the flower hall. Accompanying him were not feudal tenants of the prefecture but were members from his clan. I was obstinate and yelled and screamed. The magistrate Ling ordered men to give me a fierce beating, then forced me to hand over the Heavenly Glow and sword manual.
“What happened after that, you already know. On the fifteenth of every month, magistrate Ling will order men to give me a vicious beating, to coerce me to hand over the martial arts and sword manual, but I never once conceded. He was indeed a very patient man.”
Di Yun asked: “What about Lady Ling? Why didn’t she devise a plan to save you? And after you completed the martial arts of the Heavenly Glow, you could have left prison at any time. Why didn’t you go and have a look? Why did you remain in prison until she died?”
Ding Dian’s mind suddenly suffered a burst of violent giddiness, his entire body felt like it was floating in the air, dancing in the breeze. He extended his hands and began to scratch frantically trying to find support somewhere. Di Yun extended his hands to help him. Ding Dian became startled and repelled him, and said: “My hands are poisonous, don’t touch it.” Di Yun could only feel sorry inside.
Ding Dian fainted for a while, then gradually regained consciousness. He asked: “What did you say earlier?”
Di Yun suddenly remembered what he wanted to say. “Brother Ding, have you ever considered, that Lady Ling was subjected to her father’s injunction, and deceived you deliberately, she wanted to...”
Ding Dian interrupted him with a loud shout. “Utter rubbish!” With a fist he wanted to hit Di Yun. Di Yun knew that he spoke without discretion and did not counterattack; he was willing to take the hit.
But he did not expect Ding Dian to stop his fist in midair. He stared at Di Yun for a short moment then retracted his fists and said: “Brother, only because you suffered misfortune from women do you think that all women in the world are untrustworthy, I will not blame you. If Shuanghua really was under her father’s command, and devised a sexual entrapment to try and take my Heavenly Glow and Deadly Secret, then that would be really easy. Why would she lie to me? She only has to say: ‘Give me the Heavenly Glow and Deadly Secret!’ She did not say anything explicitly, and only implied, if this means that she is hinting anything, I will give it to her right away. She could give it to her father, or give it to a beggar on the streets, she could even destroy it or burn it, I would not crease my eyebrows for even a moment. Brother Di, even though these are remarkable treasures in the martial arts world, compared to Shuanghua, in my heart, the Heavenly Glow and Deadly Secret are nothing more than trash. Ling Tuisi vainly declares himself excelling in literature and martial arts, yet he is in fact an idiot. If he told her daughter to ask for the treasures, how could I refuse?”
Di Yun said: “Maybe he once told Lady Ling about this, but Lady Ling would not agree.”
Ding Dian shook his head. “If something like that really happened, Shuanghua would never hide it from me.” He sighed a few times and continued: “A person like Ling Tuisi, takes position and wealth, gold and valuables very seriously. He uses himself as a measure for others. He thinks that the rest of the world too thinks so highly of wealth and riches, he thought that if her daughter were to ask me, I would certainly refuse, but it was quite the contrary, for it increased my vigilance. There’s also another reason, he is an imperial secretary and a magistrate, yet her daughter in secret developed a close relationship with an uncultivated man like me. He must hate me for disgracing his family, and wants to kill me at any cost.
“After he captured me, he immediately began a search on my body, but he did not find anything. He also thoroughly searched my residence but still he could not find anything. Every month on the fifteenth, he would remind me that I would be beaten, he said every possible persuasive word he could think of, he even tried to threaten and intimidate me, but I still did not concede. He could not from my mouth even extract half a word of truth. On the contrary, I actually gained some valuable information from his interrogation. It turns out that ‘Deadly Secret’ that Elder Mei Niansheng spoke of, is precisely to seek out the secrets of Emperor Liang’s treasure deposits. Ling Tuisi even tried to send spies into prison and confine them with me in hopes of finding information through tactful indirect questioning. This person pretended to suffer great injustice and would consistently curse Ling Tuisi as a bad person. But right away I could already tell that that person was a fake, unfortunately at that time I did not yet complete the Heavenly Glow, and I did not have much strength in my body, so I was not as tough as him.”
After speaking up to this point, Ding Dian let out a faint smile from the corner of his mouth and said: “You were definitely unlucky to be unjustly beaten by me in vain. If you had not attempted suicide, by now you probably would have been beaten to death.”
Di Yun said: “I was framed by others, if not for big brother...”
Ding Dian waved his left hand back and forth, he did not want Di Yun to continue. He said: “It is all chance of fate, in this world everything leads to the word “fate.”
Ding Dian fixed his eyes on a certain object. Under the moonlight, amidst the debris in the corner of the abandoned garden grew a small purple flower swaying in the wind. It gave off a sense of loneliness and mournfulness. He said: “Help me pluck the flower.” Di Yun did as told and handed him the flower.
Ding Dian held on to the small purple flower and said slowly: “With my scapula pierced and my body in prison, I figured everything out. Ling Tuisi most definitely wants to kill me. The sooner I hand over the sutra and manual the sooner he kills me. But if I don’t speak, he will actually not kill me, for there is always a chance that I will concede. He can merely torture me and beat me, he wants me to suffer the depths of external pain, but he would not actually hit me in my vital areas.”
Di Yun said: “Correct. That day when I pretended to want to kill you, the gaoler actually became alarmed and did not dare to be too vicious.”
Ding Dian held on to the small flower and slowly swayed his fingers. The purple flower too began to sway in the wind. He continued:
“I was confined in prison for well over a month. I became frustrated and anxious, I nearly went insane. One night a small servant girl approached me. It was actually the close servant girl and chrysanthemum friend of Lady Ling I had encountered from the chrysanthemum meet. She was the reason how I knew Shuanghua back at Wuchang. I wasn’t sure how much money Shuanghua spent to persuade the gaolers to let the servant girl see me. However, my chrysanthemum friend did not once speak to me, nor did she hand anything to me. She merely stared at me without expression. In the gaoler’s hands he held a sharp saber and pointed it at her back. I realized that the gaoler was indeed very afraid of magistrate Ling, so he could only let the girl see me, but would not let her speak.
“My chrysanthemum friend stared at me for a few moments, then slowly tears began to drip from her eyes. The gaoler gave continuous hand gestures and signalled for her to leave. My chrysanthemum friend saw that in the courtyard outside the prison grew a small chrysanthemum flower. She fetched it for me and handed it to me through the iron fence. She then pointed at the window sill of the distant building outside the prison. A fresh basin of flowers were placed on top of the window sill. My heart became filled with delight, for I knew that the flowers were placed by Shuanghua as a means to keep me company.
“My chrysanthemum friend could not stay any longer and turned her back to leave. She slowly approached the iron gate to exit to the courtyard, when suddenly from up high an arrow was shot and pierced right through her heart. She died instantly. It turns out that Ling Tuisi was afraid that my friend would break me out of prison, so he had men prepare an ambush from the roof. A second arrow soon followed, and the gaoler too lost his life. At that time I was scared out of my wits, I was afraid that Ling Tuisi may be harsh and unreasonable that he may even kill his own daughter. I did not dare to provoke him any further. Every time he came to interrogate me, I pretended to be deaf and mute.
“My chrysanthemum friend died for me. If not for her, how would I have survived these last few years? How would I know that the flowers on the window sill were placed by Shuanghua? However, Shuanghua never once appeared in front of me, she never once peaked from her window to give me a glance. I did not understand, sometimes I even faulted her. How could she be so cruel?
“As a result I decided to focus my attention on my training. I practiced the Heavenly Glow relentlessly, for I knew that once I complete my training, I would no longer be constrained by these iron chains. I could only hope to escape and take Shuanghua with me to a faraway place. However the Heavenly Glow was a skill that required exquisite attention, it was not a martial arts that could merely be completed through rigorous training. Furthermore, my scapula was pierced, and my leg muscles were weak, so naturally it was several times harder for me to complete my training than anyone else. It was not until several months ago when you attempted suicide did I finally complete my training successfully. I only made it through these desperate times thanks to the consolation of the basin of fresh flowers.
“Ling Tuisi tried so many tactics and techniques to try and sheath my secret. He imprisoned you together with me, it must have been part of his plan. He knows that if he sends a fake person to deceive me, it would never work, so he actually sent a truly innocent young man together with me. As time passes, I will be able to distinguish between true or bogus. Once I become good friends with you and reveal to you all my secrets, even if he cannot find any information through interrogating me, he could more or less make you his target instead. You are young and ignorant, honest and sincere, if someone pretends to be a good person, you will easily be deceived. However, all along I did not trust you, I myself was held captive, my chrysanthemum friend died unjustly, I can trust no one.
“After many years, Ling Tuisi’s position as the magistrate of Jingzhou had been fulfilled, either he gets transferred or promoted to a higher rank. After much consideration he used money to deny his own promotion and transfer, he did not want a higher rank. All he wanted was the treasure deposit.
“You thought I never went out of prison before? As soon as I completed the Heavenly Glow, that was the first thing I did. However before I left I sealed your lethargic acupoint, so naturally you did not know.
“I thought that as soon as I jumped over the prison wall, an intense battle was inevitable. However, after so many years, Ling Tuisi no longer maintained such strict defences, the guards outside had dispersed a long time ago. He never would have guessed that Heavenly Glow was indeed so miraculous, even after having my scapula pierced and my leg tendons cracked, I could still complete such a remarkable martial art.
“After I arrived at the window of the high building, my heart began to beat intensely. It seems that I could remember the feelings I had during the very first time I met her in the same scenario. At last I gathered up enough courage and knocked on the window three times, yelling ‘Shuanghua!’
“From her dreams she suddenly woke up. In a blur she shouted: ‘Dian’ge! Is it really you? Am I dreaming?’ After so many painstaking days, at last I could finally hear her voice once again, my heart was filled with so much joy I nearly exploded. I trembled in my speech: “Shuang’mei, it’s me! I escaped!’ I waited for her to open the window. In the past every time we met I would wait until she opened the window and waved at me before I went in, I never directly ventured into her room before.
“However I did not expect that she would not open the window, she put her face next to the window paper and spoke softly: ‘Thank the heavens and earth, Ding’ge, you are alive and well. My father did not deceive me.’ My voice became bitter and I replied: “Yeah, your father did not deceive you. I am still alive. Please open the window, I want to see you.’ She hurriedly said: ‘No, no! I can’t!’ My heart sank instantly, I asked: ‘Why can’t you?’ She said: ‘I promised my father, as long as he doesn’t kill you, I can never see you again. He made me swear it, if I ever see you again, my mother will be bullied by evil spirits in the other world.’ She began to choke with sobs. The year she turned 13 she lost her mother, she treated her mother with utmost respect.
“I really hated Ling Tuisi and his ruthless and cruel nature. The only reason he did not kill me was so he could get my sutra and sword manual, Shuanghua did not even have to swear such a vicious oath. He decided not to kill me, yet he still forced his daughter to pledge never to see me again. This oath turned any of my hopes into mere soap bubbles. But I refused to give up. I said: ‘Shuanghua, leave with me. You can cover your eyes with a cloth, then you never have to see me again.’ She cried and replied: ‘That doesn’t work either. I don’t want you to see me again.’
The pain and sorrow in my heart I gathered through all these years suddenly exploded all at once, I yelled: ‘Why? I must see you!’ She heard the sadness in my voice and replied gently: ‘Dian’ge, after I found out that you were captured by my father, I begged him relentlessly to set you free. However, he decided to engage me to another person so as to fully end our relationship. No matter how I pleaded he would not accept. He forced me into submission, thereupon… thereupon… I used a knife and mutilated my own face.’”
When he heard this, Di Yun could not help but let out an “Ah” in reply.
Ding Dian said: “I was grateful yet felt pity at the same time. With a hard palm I smashed the window with a resounding blow. She was taken aback and closed her eyes. She covered her face with her hands, but I had already seen it all. The most beautiful face under heaven had been disfigured by over a dozen vicious slashes of the knife. Her flesh could be seen, many streaks of fresh red strokes. Her beautiful eyes, her beautiful nose, and her beautiful mouth, all were crooked and mutilated, her appearance was as horrifying as a demon. I extended my hands and hugged her tightly on my chest. She was one who cared greatly for her own image, if not for an inauspicious man like myself, how would she let her face suffer even the slightest bit of damage? I said: ‘Shuang’mei, how can beauty compare to love? Your face was mutilated because of me, in my heart, you are ten times—no, one hundred times—more beautiful than you were before.’ She cried: ‘We have already gotten to this point, how can we still stay together? I promised my father that I would never see you again. Ding’ge… please… please leave!’ I knew that at this point nothing could change what had already happened, I said: ‘Shuang’mei, if I return to prison, all I can see every day are the beautiful basins of flowers you place on the window sill.’ She cried and threw herself to me and declared: ‘Don’t… don’t leave!’
“We cuddled and leaned on each other intimately, we did not speak a single word. She did not dare to look at me, and I did not dare to look at her. Of course, I did not resent her ugliness, but… but… her face was indeed damaged beyond belief. After a very long while, from a distant place she wept. ‘Ding’ge, I cannot harm my deceased mother. You… you should never come and see me again.’ I said: ‘The two of us can never see each other again?’ She cried: ‘We will never meet again! I can only hope that the two of us will be buried together after death. If there was such a kind fellow who could grant me this wish, in the nether world I will pray to Buddha and bless that person every day.’
“I said: ‘I’ve got it. I know ‘A Deadly Secret’ is precisely the secret of the treasure deposit of Emperor Liang of the Yuan dynasty. I will tell it to you, listen closely.’ She said: ‘I don’t want to remember, why would I want to know it? My father was so obsessed with this treasure that he harmed you greatly. Ding’ge, I don’t want to listen.’ I said: ‘You have to find an honest and reliable person. If he agrees to fulfill our wish of being buried together, then you can reveal to him the sword mnemonics.’
“She said: ‘For the rest of my life I do not want to leave this building. With such a horrifying appearance, how can I dare to see anyone?’ But after further contemplation, she replied: ‘Fine, tell it to me. Ding’ge, I want to be buried with you at any cost, even if I have to beg someone with this ugly appearance, then so be it.’ Thereupon I told her the sword mnemonics in its entirety. She listened very attentively.
“Dawn was fast approaching. We said our farewells and departed and I returned to prison. From that point on I could enter or leave the prison at will. But every day I longed to see the flowers she placed on the window, so I never wanted to leave… someone wanted to assassinate Ling Tuisi, and I actually saved him, because… because if Ling Tuisi really died, then Shuanghua would be all alone with nobody left to take care of her…”
As he said this, his voice began to reduce to nothingness.
Di Yun said: “Don’t worry big brother, if you really don’t recover from this poison, I will bury you together with Lady Ling. However I do not wish to hear these rare sword mnemonics. If you speak then I don’t want to listen.”
Ding Dian laughed and said: “You are truly a good brother, our friendship was not in vain. You promise to bury us together, then I can die in peace. I am very happy…” The more he spoke the softer his voice became. He said: “If you do find the treasure deposit, you do not have to hog all the riches to yourself, instead you can use it to assist the many miserable people in this world, people like me or you, under heaven there are plenty. But if you do not listen to ‘A Deadly Secret’ then upon my death it will disappear forever, isn’t that a shame?” Di Yun nodded in approval.
Ding Dian took a very deep breath and said: “Listen closely, I am going to tell you a few numbers, definitely do not get it wrong.” Di Yun gave his undivided attention. Ding Dian said: “The first number is ‘4’, the second number is ‘41’, the third number is ‘33’, the fourth number is ‘53’…”
Di Yun had only began to immerse himself when suddenly outside the abandoned garden approaching footsteps could be heard. Someone said: “Search inside the garden!”
Ding Dian’s face changed colors and suddenly jumped up. Di Yun jumped up as well. From the back door of the abandoned garden approached three vicious men.
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End of chapter 3