Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 257: The Goddess In White

[T/n: Note on chapter title]¹

With a full stomach, having rested for a while, and having slept all day, Wang Li was now in good spirits, and his speech was full of energy.

This “White Deer’s Fate” was Wang Li’s own completely exclusive story, and he had only told it on private occasions in the capital and in some prefectures. This was not the kind of story that most people were familiar with, and he could be sure that no other storyteller had mixed in with the guests here to “steal his story.”

Therefore, this story was something that the other storytellers would never hear. The response every time the story was told was not bad. In addition, this was indeed a “dream from an immortal,” so Wang Li at this moment was feeling extraordinarily confident.

“Shuaa…”

The paper fan in his hand opened, and the calm Wang Li picked up his attention-stick and slapped it heavily on the table.

“Crack!”

After the crisp sound, the woman beside him plucked the instrument in her hand. The chords of the zither and side plucked the hand-made musical instrument, and the chords of the zither and pipa rang out. In the moment, Wang Li’s voice left a slightly hazy feeling.

“It is said that during the Shuncheng dynasty,² in a remote county town of our Dazhen, there was a scholar surnamed Zhou…”

Wang Li was indeed very good at storytelling. The combination of chord music and his outstanding ventriloquism created an immersive feeling for the audience. He imitated the scholar’s spirit, the voices of the elders of the family, and even the charming laughter of the women.

The guests originally thought it was a story about rushing to take the imperial examinations to seek fame. After all, at present, the son of the Gao family had just passed the imperial examination, so this kind of story would be quite suitable for the occasion. However, as the story progressed, it seemed as though sequential layers of thin gauze curtains were drawn back, and the mythological undercurrents of the story began to gradually reveal themselves.

Ji Yuan was listening attentively. Occasionally he looked around, distracted, and found that all the guests, both nearby and far away, were all serious and invested. Almost no one touched their chopsticks or drank.

He had also heard some storytellers tell their stories before. Some of them were very good — at least, they could attract Ji Yuan’s attention, but storytellers as skilled as Wang Li were indeed rare.

From an objective standpoint, Wang Li’s current skills were more sophisticated now than they were when he was at the New Year’s Eve banquet at Prince Jin’s palace. Obviously, in addition to Ji Yuan’s technique of conveying information through objects, Wang Li’s own talent was the key to his progress.

“Wuuhoooo…”

The strange and empty sound of a deer’s call came from behind the screen. The guests in the room clutched their trouser legs and clenched their fists. Many people felt their scalps grow numb, and goosebumps spread on their bodies. They all recognized this monstrous cry.

Wang Li’s imitation of the deer’s cry made it feel even more as though there was no human behind the screen, but rather a demon deer.

“Slam…”

“Slam…”

“Slam…”

Several windows were blown open by the wind.

“Whoooooo… Whooooo…”

A cool night breeze blew in through the windows on the second floor of the Zhongtai Building, making everyone feel even colder.

The servants of the Gao family hurriedly closed the windows again, but the emotions brought up by the story did not subsisde.

If it weren’t for the shadows cast by a lamp behind the screen, which meant that the audience could still see the gentleman holding a paper fan, some people might even have stood up in fright.

Ji Yuan’s eyes were indifferent. Wang Li spoke very well, but the “plot” seemed to have changed. His gaze swept towards the window.

As a gust of cool wind blew past, a woman in white with light makeup appeared on the originally vacant seat at a table in the corner, staring in the direction of the screen.

‘Interesting. There is no divine light visible, but there is a lingering scent of incense. Could she be a goddess? ’

Ji Yuan remained silent, but a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“Crack!”

The attention-stick smacked down and woke everyone up.

“If you want to know what happened next, we shall listen to the continuation after a cup of tea!”

After Wang Li spoke, many guests breathed a sigh of relief. Patriarch Gao immediately stood up and said.

“Everyone, let us eat and drink first. The new dishes have not been touched yet. Come, come, everyone, let’s eat, let’s eat!”

Most of the guests were so engrossed in listening now that they didn’t spare a thought to eating. Now that the storytelling had ended, everyone resumed eating and drinking, but many of them continued to discuss the story as they ate.

Ji Yuan did the same. He picked up a piece of the freshly-served white-cut chicken³ over glutinous rice, dipped the edge in the dipping sauce, and put it into his mouth to savor the taste.

“Oh, this famous storyteller from the capital is really extraordinary!”

“Yes, yes, I got goosebumps all over just now.”

“You too? Me too!”

“Oh, what a coincidence.”

“Mr. Wang’s ventriloquism is really good. I have seen ventriloquists once or twice before, but none of them were as good as he is.”

“Yes, and there is also the matter of this “White Deer’s Fate.” This story is so good but I haven’t heard it before. Is it really Mr. Wang’s own creation?”

Hearing this, a young man at Ji Yuan’s table seemed very excited.

“He said it was imparted to him by a god in a dream. I also heard that Mr. Wang Li travels the world looking for all kinds of magical stories. He is quite a strange man.”

Ji Yuan just continued eating the food, echoing the words of the people chatting around him. From time to time, he glanced at the other side of the screen. Based on the shadow cast by the lamp from inside the shades, Wang Li was also taking this opportunity to drink tea to quench his thirst. One of the woman who had just played the pipa stood up and fanned him with a paper fan.

Behind the screens, Wang Li also tried to rest at this moment. After drinking tea, he closed his eyes and relaxed. After about a quarter of an hour, he opened his eyes and bowed with cupped hands to the woman beside him.

“Thank you, young lady. You should take a rest. You still have to play the pipa later.”

“Okay!”

The woman put down her fan and walked out of the screen, sitting back in her seat. Her companions immediately started chatting with her, pointing at the screen and laughing.

As time passed, Ji Yuan could clearly feel that the guests were not paying attention to the dishes, because Wang Li was about to start speaking again. Looking at the woman in white who had just arrived, it seemed she was in a similar state.

Ji Yuan was the only one at his table who continued eating. The dishes in Zhongtai Building were delicious. He had mostly eaten simple meals in recent years, and occasionally changing his accustomed flavors was really intoxicating.

“Crack!”

The attention-stick cracked. Wang Li stood up and tossed aside the paper fan, and the full-bodied voice sounded again. Now no one was eating anymore, and everyone listened intently.

“Last time, we spoke of Miss Bai, who turned out to be a white deer that had become a spirit. She appeared in front of Scholar Zhou in the form of young woman…”

Wang Li began to tell the story again. Because the story at this time had progressed to a certain point, it began to have fewer details about the scholar studying hard to seek an official position, and there began to be many more mythological details and plots of mysterious love.

During this part of the tale, there were ghosts, demons, and some dangers. Some plots were designed by Wang Li to set a pacing of ups and downs for the story.

Ji Yuan had to sigh again in his heart: Wang Li was truly a talent. It was obvious that Zhou Shusheng, whose yang energy was weak and had been touched by evil spirits, had encountered a ghost on the road at night, but Wang Li added details and changed it to make it become a thrilling and magical story, with evil ghosts and magicians appearing together, and the Lady White Deer saving her husband…

Even Ji Yuan felt the same sense of fun that the derived from watching dramas in his previous life. The guests were already fascinated.

In the end, when he described how the white deer followed her old husband down into the underworld to seek an audience with the City God, and was detained an had her soul extracted, most of the female guests were already in tears.

“Ever since then, the Lady White Deer has sequestered herself in the underworld, living with Scholar Zhou. Every year, on the anniversary of Scholar Zhou’s death, the Lady White Deer is whipped in the underworld. True love is the hardest thing to find in this world, and this love between a human and demon who shall forever be together is truly bittersweet…”

When Wang Li said this, he gently pressed on the attention-stick, making a dull sound.

“Wuuwoooo…”

The faint sound of deer crying came from behind the screen again.

The guests around him still felt like they were being electrified when they heard it, but there was significantly less fear, and the emotional weight was even heavier.

Many people subconsciously rubbed their arms and thighs. They had gotten a lot of goosebumps at the end of this story.

“Clap clap clap…”

“Wonderful!”

“Well said, well spoken!”

“Clap clap clap…”

“So wonderful, extremely wonderful!”

“Mr. Wang is truly a great talent!”

“Yes, it was really well-told.”

…

The full audience applauded and praised the storyteller Wang Li for his superb skills.

There were four chapters of this story in total, and the full tale took nearly two hours to tell. When he had finished, the two screens were carried away by the servants, revealing the sweating Wang Li inside.

Patriarch Gao and Young Master Gao also stood up together and bowed with cupped hands in thanks.

“Thank you Mr. Wang for your midnight wit. Thank you, sir.”

Wang Li hurriedly got up and returned the bow, speaking humbly.

Ji Yuan also applauded, but his attention was naturally more focused on the window. He saw the woman staring at Wang Li with cold eyes, waving her long sleeves with both hands.

“Woo… woo…”

Some of the windows that were closed before were blown open again. The wind was stronger, and carried more disturbances than before. Many of the winds seemed to turn and twist into some of the lampshades, causing the flames to shake violently.

The lights flickered in the Zhongtai Building. Some guests were disturbed by this strange change. The Gao family ordered the servants to close the windows, but found that many windows could not be closed.

The wind was getting stronger and stronger, and the candles in the lampshades were extinguished one after another.

“Ah…”

“What’s going on!”

“Master…”

Everyone panicked, but Wang Li in the center of the hall staggered and felt slightly dazed…

But in the next moment, all the winds stopped. The windows that could not be closed before suddenly lost their resistance, causing several of the servants who were trying to close them to stumble into the windows.

The woman in white looked around and looked out of the window in astonishment. She waved her hands but found that there was no reaction around her.

“Heh…”

Ji Yuan chuckled lightly, and lifted his index finger off the table. The characters “still winds”⁴ remained on the edge of his cup in the form of rice wine stains.

1. 神女 (shénnǚ): literally translates to “goddess.” However, be aware that sometimes “goddess” in Chinese is used to refer to beautiful women. In this case, it’s an actual goddess
2. It isn’t clear here whether it refers to an emperor’s dynasty or just the name for a period of time
3. Also known as “Cantonese poached chicken”
4. 定 (dìng): to fix/to set/to coagulate, 风 (fēng): wind