Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 124: Neither Side Need Seek To Find

The Tongtian River was one of the largest rivers in Dazhen. It stretched across half of the country, turning south across the southern border of Dazhen and then connecting to the East China Sea.¹ Aside from a couple places where the section of the river narrowed slightly, the majority of the waterway was very wide.

The place where Ji Yuan was located was so narrow that one could not even distinguish between the two banks or the surrounding cliffsides, but the river was quite calm, with very few waves.

Although fish floated up and down stream, there seemed to be no sign of them taking the bait.

“Mr. Ji~! Mr. Ji~!”

Someone on the shore called for Ji Yuan. It was the old man from whom he had rented the awning boat. At the moment, the old man was standing on the shore holding a small ceramic pot and some dumplings wrapped in dried lotus leaf, waving at Ji Yuan.

Ji Yuan put away his fishing rod, picked up the oar, and slowly rowed closer to the shore.

“Haha, Mr. Ji, here are two catties of home-brewed local wine. I specially brought it over for you. It’s cold out today, why don’t you stay in our village overnight?”

As the boat approached the shore, Ji Yuan stood up and took the old man’s offered wine and food.

“Thank you, Uncle Chen, but I am naturally resistant to the cold. Besides, this awning boat can keep out the rain, and the canvas can be sealed at the front and back. There are also blankets inside, so I won’t get cold.”

Old Man Chen shook his head. He was quite experienced in this, how could he not know just how cold the awning boat could get?

Mr. Ji was gentle, courteous, and knowledgeable, but he also liked to make trouble for himself. He had been staying on this covered boat for such a long time in such cold weather.

“Sir, did you not catch any fish today?”

The old man glanced at the fish basket at the bow of the boat; it was empty.

“Indeed. Two dragons passed by under the river and scared all the fish away. They hid everywhere, and did not dare come and bite the hook!”

Ji Yuan replied with a smile.

“Hahaha, Mr. Ji, you’re joking again! Enjoy your meal. I will be taking my leave now. If you cannot bear it at night, please come to Xiashatou Village. I have a guest wing in my home, you are welcome anytime!”

Ji Yuan set down the food and drink, and bowed to the old man.

“Okay, I will definitely come if necessary. Farewell, Old Man Chen!”

The old man also bowed, pulled his clothed tighter around himself, and turned to leave. It seemed that this Mr. Ji was truly not afraid of the cold, and he really was a good person; he paid enough for his rental and even helped him write a letter to his eldest daughter, who had married far away in a different prefecture.

After Ji Yuan watched Old Man Chen leave, he sat back down in the covered boat.

He gazed at the surface of the Tongtian River. Unlike the crowd of barges and decorated pleasure boats outside of Chunhui Prefecture and its capital, there were fewer flower boats² on the Tongtian River. Of course, that may have been due to the season.

Ji Yuan first pulled out the stopper from the ceramic pot, sniffed it, then took a sip of the wine. It was a little turbid, but the taste was alright.

He untied the hemp rope from the dry lotus leaf package and opened the leaf to reveal four steaming buns. Smelling the fragrance, Ji Yuan could determine that three were filled with vegetables, and one with meat.

He sat cross-legged at the bow of the boat, eating steamed buns and drinking wine as he gazed out at the surface of the Tongtian River. Just a moment later, another blurry shadow swam over from a distance, more than ten feet long. Countless aquatic creatures hurriedly fled to avoid it as it passed at the bottom of the river.

‘What is going on at the bottom of the river today? There are too many dragons in the river. Maybe not all of them are from the Tongtian River?’³

It was rare for flood dragons to appear in shallow water, and were difficult to find even in large rivers. Even if there were dragons, there wouldn’t be that many, and they would be lazy and unwilling to move all year round. Tongtian River could thus be regarded as an anomaly.

However, no matter how curious he was, Ji Yuan didn’t dare to stop one of the dragons to ask. With his limited skills, he would be unable to kill a dragon without drawing his sword and fighting with all his might.

Although “A Historical Account from Outside the Tao” held a strong prejudice against monsters, Ji Yuan did agree with it on one point: most dragons and other creatures had bad tempers.

Under the Tongtian River, a flood dragon swam in the water, undulating its body, all four claws pressed against its belly. Its eyes were bright like amber headlights. In addition to seeing everything at the bottom of the water, it also caught a glimpse in its peripheral vision of a mortal on a boat on the surface of the water, bobbing in the waves.

Just as it swam ahead, the flood dragon suddenly sensed someone on that small boat watching him. As it swam closer, it discovered that this person’s face was always turned towards his body.

After swimming down the river for a couple li under the boat, the dragon turned around once more, and found that the person on the boat was drinking by himself, not looking at him.

‘This person doesn’t have any spiritual powers or divine light… Could it have been an illusion? ’

The flood dragon shook away the thoughts in his mind and continued to swim forward. Soon, he would arrive at the true dragon’s thousand-year birthday celebration. All aquatic creatures from all corners of the region with even the smallest connection with the true dragon were eager to come here and celebrate his birthday. However, very few were qualified to enter; this flood dragon happened to be one of them.

Ji Yuan swallowed the wine in his mouth and chewed on the residue in the wine. Another dragon had passed by just now, and his intuition was quite sharp. Ji Yuan didn’t dare stare at him for much longer, as it seemed the other party had noticed him.

. . .

In the Tongtian River, in a section around 150 li south of Ji Yuan’s boat: the river was more than ten li wide, and was surrounded by mountains and forests. It was difficult to judge just how deep the river was here.

Under the cover of a layer of aquatic plants attached to the riverbed was a magnificent palatial building complex. This was not only the River Goddess’s seat of power, but it was also the true dragon’s home, the Dragon Palace.

At the moment, the inside of the Dragon Palace was very lively. Aquatic monsters hurried back and forth, some carrying stools, others lifting screens, some paving out crystal pathways, while some were busy clearing out underwater plants. Countless colorful fish also shuttled back and forth.

However, a man and a woman sighed in the main hall, in stark contrast to the vitality and festivity of the outside atmosphere.

“Ah… Dad hasn’t come back yet. It’s already at the very last minute, and he, the birthday man of the hour, is still not here!”

The one who spoke was a handsome man with a well-proportioned figure. He wore a long silk gown that resembled clouds floating on water, with a small gold and jade headpiece crown. He leaned back lazily in a soft chair.

Standing beside him was a woman in similar clothes to the man. She had a delicate and gentle face, and her hair was pinned up like a blooming flower. The side-locks of hair that framed her face were so long that they seemed to be about to drag along the ground. She, too, had a worried look on her face.

“He said that he was going to look for a friend of his because he couldn’t have him be absent from his birthday party, but he still couldn’t find him after searching for such a long time… Now look how much better this is, Dad can’t find his friend, and we can’t find Dad, ah…!”

While the two were complaining to each other, a monster stepped into the hall.

“Reporting to Goddess Jiang, Master Gao of Tianshui Lake has arrived.”

The woman nodded and waved her arm.

“Alright. Arrange for him to rest in the palace. Oh, and tell him not to show his dragon form as much as possible. Many of the aquatic creature guests have not advanced much in their cultivation, and his dragon energy will make them uncomfortable.”

“Understood. This subordinate will take his leave!”

After saluting, the yaksha left and walked out of the palace.

After the monster had left, the man who was lounging spoke.

“Do you think Dad won’t come back for his birthday?”

“How can that be possible! Dad still has a sense of measure!”

The woman immediately refuted him, and then thought about it some more and hesitantly added another sentence.

“If… I mean, if you transformed into our father, do you think the guests would notice?”

“Cough…cough…Little sister, do you know what you’re suggesting? You’re pushing me into a pit, a pit of rebellion!”⁴

The woman smiled awkwardly.

“I’m just joking…”

There was silence in the hall for some time. The man began to drink, and the woman sat in her seat with her eyes closed. In truth, her divine sense covered the underwater palace, checking up on the preparations for the banquet.

During this period, Yakshas and other aquatic monsters all came to report to the two about the arrival of various important figures.

. . .

At this moment, on Wafeng Mountain at the border of Chunhui Prefecture, the Old Dragon Ying Hong was standing on the cliff above Dark Wind Ravine, gazing at the sword strike that had split the mountain below.

Even though much time had passed, with the Old Dragon’s level of cultivation, he could still sense a faint but unrelenting sword intent that permeated the air.

When Yin Zhaoxian passed the imperial examination and returned home, the county, led by the county magistrate, held a grand banquet. At that time, the Old Dragon had gone back to Ning’an County once more, thinking that Ji Yuan might return to congratulate his friend, but he hadn’t.

He privately went to look for Yin Zhaoxian and found him drunk. After carefully questioning him, he learned that the man had almost been harmed by a demon. After chatting a little more, the Old Dragon heard about Yin Zhaoxian and the City God’s conversation, and privately speculated on a few other events.

After circling Chunhui Prefecture for a long time, he finally found Wafeng Mountain, and saw the elegance of this sword strike. It was no wonder that the City God of Chunhui Prefecture would ask whether the master Yin Zhaoxian knew used a sword.

“Ji Yuan, Ji Yuan… I’ve been looking for you for three years, but I still can’t find you. Where in the world have you been?”⁵

The Old Dragon was left dumbfounded and a little amused. Usually, people would look for him, but now he was the one looking for someone else.

He was hidden so convincingly that the Old Dragon was starting to doubt what was real!

1. East China Sea. If it hasn’t already become obvious, our Fantasy China is pretty much China with very few name changes.
2. Brothel on a boat — see chapter 80 footnotes
3. T/n: JY counting dragons like he’s playing bingo and then going “seriously, why are there so many of you guys??” cracks me up every time
4. The original doesn’t have that comma separation, but I wanted to highlight the play on words. To “pit” someone means to intentionally lead them into a trap. To “push someone into a pit” metaphorically means to force someone to do something unpleasant. We’re playing with both meanings here.
5. T/n: well you see, he got high and played chess with himself for 3 years