# Chapter 107: No Minds With Magic Ties, No Bodies With Wings
Jiang Wang and the others drank hard that night, deliberately holding back their Dao essence so they could get properly, thoroughly drunk. After all their muddled talk, they had solved no practical problem, and the next day could barely recall what they had said—only that at some point they had all cursed Du Yehu together. But in each of their hearts, they all felt a good deal lighter.
As luck would have it, no sooner had they cursed Du Yehu the night before, than the man sent to deliver his letter arrived in Maple Forest City the very next day. There was a touch of minds meeting with magic ties in it.
The messenger was a simple, dull-looking soldier, who found Ling He first at the Dao Academy. When Ling He saw a man and no letter, his heart sank and he nearly burst into tears on the spot—until he learned the soldier only carried a verbal message. Nothing about death benefits or condolences, thank the heavens.
The soldier insisted, however, that the message could only be spoken when all three of them were present.
Helpless, Ling He went off with the messenger, dragged both hungover loafers out of bed, and finally they all gathered at Jiang Wang's house.
"Right then! Out with it! What message, all wrapped up so fancy!" Zhao Rucheng yawned, pelting out questions as fast as he could, utterly impatient.
He had always been bad-tempered on waking, and by now his grudge against Du Yehu had brimmed over entirely.
Jiang An'an had been sent off to the schoolhouse by Tang Dun, and Jiang Wang was slowly guiding a thin thread of water as he scrubbed his teeth.
The soldier glanced at him, and said in a low voice, "Master Du said, you three are to listen in proper, orderly fashion."
"What a cheek. Little master won't listen at all!" Zhao Rucheng flew into a rage and turned to leave.
Ling He grabbed hold of him, playing peacemaker. "Hear what ivory the dog's mouth can spit before you go."
"Pfft, cough—!" Jiang Wang choked on a mouthful of water.
Even a plain, honest soul like Ling He could not help cracking a dig, which showed just how much Du Yehu's behavior deserved a good thrashing.
Jiang Wang had grown curious now, and gave up brushing his teeth entirely. With a casual gesture he conjured three chairs into the middle of the courtyard and sat down in the center one himself.
Ling He pulled Zhao Rucheng along, and they sat down too.
"Right, we're orderly enough. Speak."
Zhao Rucheng was still nursing his grievance. "What's to stop him writing a letter—had to send a whole man running all this way? Been promoted, has he? Throat itch?"
The soldier cringed. "Master Du says writing letters doesn't satisfy him, that some feelings no words can carry. He insisted I make the trip, said I had to get his tone across exactly."
"Can't read, can't read! Blah, bla—"
"All right, all right, do your delivery." Jiang Wang cut Zhao Rucheng off in a hurry, letting the soldier continue.
The soldier cleared his throat twice, then imitating Du Yehu's booming voice, said thickly: "All of you listen up for Brother Tiger! Brother Tiger walked the path of charging the meridians with blood-qi, and now he's reached Minor Zhou Heavenly completeness! The Jiujiang Profound Armor hasn't seen a genius like me in all twenty years! Brother Tiger's already earned the rank of school-officer, only half a rank behind that brat Zhao Lang. But the Jiujiang Profound Armor is a good two, three, four rungs stronger than the Maple Forest City garrison—count it up yourselves!"
At this point, the soldier reached out and, tentatively, patted Zhao Rucheng on the head.
Before Zhao Rucheng could flare up, he quickly explained, "Tiger-sir told me, when I reach this part, I'm to give your head a pat."
Of course, he did not dare repeat Du Yehu's actual words: "Give that pale-faced pretty boy's head a good slap."
"Rucheng, eh. Of those two I don't worry, but you, you lazy good-for-nothing—the gap between you and your Tiger Brother keeps widening. Whatever will you do?"
The soldier went on mimicking: "Right, too much to remember anyway. That's all of it. Oh—I'm sure my little sister An'an misses me plenty. Tell her not to pine overmuch; on New Year's Eve Brother Tiger will come home for a visit! I'll bring her a gift! That's all!"
The soldier finished his recitation and let out a huge sigh of relief, as though a weight had been lifted. His expression was a perfect "not a single word did I miss, come on, praise me" look.
Jiang Wang and the others exchanged glances, each reading the same word in the other's eyes: "dolt."
Zhao Rucheng coughed lightly, and asked the soldier, "What's your name, then?"
The soldier answered in a booming voice, "I'm Zhao Erting! A soldier in Master Du's company! I happen to be home on visit, so Master Du had me bring a message!"
"Then how many soldiers does your Master Du have under him?"
"Three..." Zhao Erting gave a start, realizing his slip. "Master Du says I can't tell!"
"Looks like only three, then." Zhao Rucheng stroked his chin. "Right, you did well enough. You're a passable lackey. Mind yourself on the road back."
Kind-hearted Ling He wanted to keep him for a meal, but Zhao Erting had already scuttled off at full pelt, afraid of saying any more than he should.
Whatever the case, it looked as though Du Tiger had made a fine place for himself in Jiujiang. In the end it set all their hearts at ease.
Ling He rose and went back to the Dao Academy to cultivate. His foundation was complete, and he was now trying to build his own Minor Zhou Heavenly circulation.
Zhao Rucheng, yawning, headed for the bedroom: "Third Brother, I'm going to catch a second sleep in your bed."
...
In a dim, gloomy cavern, the scene was one of terrible carnage.
Corpses lay piled crosswise, one atop another, the stench of blood thick enough to sting the nose. It burrowed again and again into the heart, raising the hairs on the skin, prickling the scalp.
Fang Heling knelt on the ground, begging loudly. "Spare my life, I'm useful to you—very useful!"
This time he had joined his fellow disciples of the Dao Academy in hunting down two heretics who had been preying on the townsfolk. At first all went smoothly, but once the chase led them here, they realized it was a trap.
They were caught in a full encirclement.
His fellow disciples were slain almost the instant they were met. Only he had been quick enough to throw himself down and beg, and so had drawn out a while more of his life.
Shadowy figures ringed them on every side. No one spoke; they all just stared at him coldly.
Fang Heling trembled like a sieve, casting out chips of his own value without pause. "Whoever you are, whatever you want, I can help! I am the true-bred heir of the Fang clan of Maple Forest City, and my father's word rules the whole clan!"
"Oh?"
At that voice, Fang Heling saw for the first time that ahead of him, on a stone, sat a figure with his back turned.
He turned around, the skull-like white-bone mask on his face giving off a faint, sickly light. In the dim of the cavern, his eyes—the only bit of him uncovered, blazing with sharp light—seemed all the more fearsome.
"What else are you good for?" the one in the white-bone mask asked.
"I-I, I'm fast friends with many geniuses at the Dao Academy! Zhang Linchuan! Zhang Linchuan is my sworn elder brother! He's one of the Three Great Clans, our friendship runs deep!" Fang Heling scoured his mind, laying out his chips as fast as he could.
He thought he heard the masked figure laugh, but was not altogether sure.
"And?"
"And Shen Nanqi! Fifth on the Maple Forest City Dao Merit Roll—he's always taking me on missions!"
"Do you know Zhu Weiwo well?"
"Met him, met him!" Fang Heling was no fool; he knew that telling a lie easily caught out at a time like this would only cost him his last chance at survival. "Only met him. Someone like Senior Brother Zhu could never be controlled. I'm obedient, I'll cooperate! And anyway—he's already gone to Xin'an!"
The one in the white-bone mask gave no verdict, then suddenly asked, "Can you make the decisions for the Fang clan?"
Fang Heling hesitated for just a single breath, then said at once, "Yes! Yes! Completely! My father has only me for a son!"
"Very good." said the masked man.
Then someone stepped forward and shoved something white into Fang Heling's mouth.
Fang Heling swallowed it without daring to hesitate.
"I'll get in touch when there's need." The white-bone-masked man rose as he spoke, and walked deeper into the cavern.
Only when everyone around him had vanished into nothing did Fang Heling finally believe it—he had survived!
He sat silent for a long, long while. Then, alone, he walked out of that dim cavern, back into the light of day.
Clutching his knees that would hardly hold him, he dragged in two deep breaths.
Then he set off in the direction of Maple Forest City.