Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 258: One Must Be Realistic

[T/n: note on chapter title]¹

Judging from the appearance of this woman in white, she was likely a ghost cultivator who had gone astray. She lacked understanding and control over her wind-control techniques, and her cultivation level was not very high. It was impossible for her to play tricks by calling the wind to mess with people in front of Ji Yuan.

The woman was nervous for a while, but she did not find anything else unusual, so she felt relieved.

As soon as the wind calmed down, the guests who had previously been disturbed settled down. The waiters of the restaurant and the servants of the Gao family quickly light the lamps that had been extinguished. Some people checked the wooden pins on the windows, wondering how they could have been blown open by the wind just now.

From sunset up until now, they had finished the entire story, and the dishes had almost all been eaten. This banquet could truly be regarded as a feast, both for the guests and for the hosts.

The guests said goodbye and left one after another. However, it was not yet time to clear the tables. The sound of the zithers and harps continued throughout the building, and people were still exchanging cups and drinking. Those who had stayed behind were all wine-lovers. The story just now was fascinating, so they didn’t drink much before, as they didn’t want to get drunk and miss it. Now, of course, they naturally planned to stay drunk.

Wang Li rubbed his dizzy forehead. He was the one who was hit hardest by that cold wind just now, so he was now sober.

“Mr. Wang, the patriarch ordered to settle your payment, please come with me.”

A steward of the Gao family came to Wang Li’s side and led the storyteller, who had completely cleared up his table, to collect his payment.

Wang Li was overjoyed when he heard about the money. He hurriedly picked up his belongings and went downstairs with the steward.

Ji Yuan saw that the woman in white also stood up in a hurry, and followed Wang Li downstairs. He drank the wine in the glass in front of him, wiped off the wine-stained handwriting on the table, and stood up.

However, Ji Yuan did not go downstairs directly, but instead walked over to the table where the patriarch of the Gao family sat, and bowed with cupped hands to the Young Master Gao, who was still accompanying him.

“Young Master Gao, thank you for your hospitality. I will take my leave first, as I have something else to do. Please give my regards to Patriarch Gao!”

After all, Mr. Gao was very old, so he couldn’t stay up late. Additionally, he had drank a lot of wine because he was so happy, so he had returned to his house to rest. Either way, most of the elders of the same seniority had already gone back.

Young Master Gao didn’t know Ji Yuan at all, but he felt that he couldn’t simply dismiss his request to “give my regards to Patriarch Gao” out of hand. Besides, Ji Yuan was indeed quite elegant, so he hurriedly stood up and returned the bow.

“Okay, Master² Ji. Take care!”

Ji Yuan, who had been about to turn around, instantly became happy when he heard the words “Master Ji.”

“Ha, Master Ji? Hahahaha…Interesting, interesting…”

Although this Young Master Gao was well-educated, his habits were not those of a scholar; because most of the Gao family’s friends were businessmen, the people who had attended this banquet were all wealthy merchants.

Since he didn’t know Ji Yuan, Young Master Gao naturally assumed that he was an individual from a wealthy family with ties to his father, so he called him Master Ji out of habit.

Ji Yuan smiled and shook his head.

“Young Master, now that you have graduated from your schooling, you will most likely go to Wan Province to serve as an official. The journey is quite long, and the climate is slightly different. You need to prepare well. Before leaving your hometown, don’t forget to pray at your ancestors’ temple and burn incense, and bring a handful of soil from your hometown with you.”

“Wan Province?”

Young Master Gao thought for a moment, then understood the reason in an instant. From the end of the previous year up to the beginning of this last year, the “Bloody Silk Incident” had shaken the court and the general public. There were many rumors circulating in You Province, but in the end it was too far away, so they only knew that a lot of people were killed, all of whom were corrupt officials. They didn’t know exactly how serious it was. From what Mr. Ji was saying, it seemed as though there were still a lot of vacancies in the official positions there?

‘Wan Province is a good place! It’s also a great opportunity to develop my ambitions! ’

“Thank you, Mr. Ji, for your advice!”

Young Master Gao solemnly bowed again. This time, he did not call him Master.

Ji Yuan nodded, then turned to leave. Young Master Gao watched him go downstairs, then sat down to continue drinking.

I couldn’t help but think that among all the people his father knew, there actually was one who didn’t smell like copper coins. He felt as though he had met a celebrity.³ He had to go back and ask his father. It would be best if he could invite this Mr. Ji to his house and be able to chat with him.

Downstairs, the butler of the Gao family borrowed the Zhongtai Building’s silver scale to weigh the silver taels in front of Wang Li. There were two ingots of silver in total, one of five taels and the other of one tael.

“The weight of the silver is exactly right. Please take it, Mr. Wang. Five taels is your remuneration. This extra tael is the additional reward that the patriarch ordered to give you.”

Wang Li bowed solemnly.

“Thank you!”

Only then did he take the money. His expression grew even more joyful. He said goodbye and then left Zhongtai Building after thanking them again and again.

After Wang Li left, the woman in white followed him out. As she passed by the butler of the Gao family, the latter suddenly shivered.

“Hooh… it’s cold tonight…”

As soon as he turned around, he saw Ji Yuan coming down, and he smiled and nodded again. Ji Yuan smiled back and strode out of Zhongtai Building.

Although the night watchman had not yet come around to ring the gong of the third watch, it was almost the end of the Hai hour.⁴ Most residents of the city were already soundly asleep, and the streets were empty.

After Wang Li walked out of Zhongtai Building, he hurriedly headed south.

“Whooo… whoooo…”

The night wind blew, making his body grow cold. Wang Li tightened his clothes around him and his steps quickened.

When he came to a fork in the street, he hesitated for a while. He could either choose to go home, or go in another direction. In the end, he did not choose to go home, and instead turned to the west.

“Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang, please wait!”

A cold and pleasant voice came from behind him. Wang Li turned around doubtfully,⁵ and found a woman in white fluttering robes standing behind him.

Wang Li looked around, but it seemed that no one else was following him.

“Are you calling for me, young lady?”

The woman bowed to Wang Li and smiled.

“I heard that Mr. Wang’s “White Deer’s Fate” is filled with sincere emotion. It is a blessing to hear the last three chapters today.”

She heard it before?

Wang Li frowned. He had never spoken of “The White Deer’s Fate” in Chengsu Prefecture. How could she have heard of it before? Could it be that this woman had heard his story in other places?

“Oh, thank you for your praise, young lady. It’s late at night, and it’s too careless for a young lady to walk on the streets alone. You should head home quickly.”

“Mr. Wang, you are right. I am very afraid to walk alone at night. I wonder if Mr. Wang could send this little girl home?”

“This… a man and a woman…”

“Does Mr. Wang want this little girl to walk alone?”

The woman in white asked again. Seeing that Wang Li was still hesitating, she moved closer to Wang Li and whispered something.

“Mr. Wang, please follow me. I can help you see Duan Muwan again.”

“Wan’er!? You know her? Let’s go, let’s go!”

Wang Li no longer hesitated and left with the woman. Behind him, Ji Yuan, who was still following them, frowned and thought for a moment.

‘Who is Duan Muwan? This woman in white’s divine incense power is not very stable, and I don’t know where she came from. ’

Ji Yuan kept, each footstep as though the ground were shrinking, and followed Wang Li and the woman comfortably.

Wang Li, as an ordinary man, didn’t notice, but Ji Yuan could see it clearly in this moment. Because they were being led by the woman in white, the pair’s walking speed was unusually fast, almost faster than an ordinary person’s running pace.

In the night wind, the three of them walked farther and farther away, before finally arriving at the city wall. The woman dragged Wang Li to walk on the city wall and, as though they were walking through space, they quickly stepped out of the city and left Chengsu Prefecture’s capital.

Wang Li was caught in a confusion technique, and did not realize his current situation at al. He simply thought that he was still walking along the city streets with the woman.

Ji Yuan was as light as a swallow. He leapt up and dropped down the city wall, still following the two of them. He wanted to see what this goddess was up to.

Soon, the two of them had already walked ten li away from the city. Only then did they slow day. It seemed as though they didn’t have any specific destination.

“Mr. Wang, I have something I don’t quite understand, and I wanted to ask you.”

“Did Wan’er ask you to ask? Miss, please go ahead.”

Wang Li frequently looked into the distance, believing that someone would be waiting there.

The woman in white turned around with a cold expression and stared into Wang Li’s eyes.

“Mr. Wang, where did you get the story of “The White Deer’s Fate”? Was the Lady White Deer in the story truly imprisoned in the underworld, and tortured year after year?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen her. And Wan’er? Where is Wan’er?”

Wang Li seemed absent-minded, still bewitched.

“Wang Li! I’m asking you a question I’ve been looking for you for so long, don’t play dumb here!”

“Ah? Miss, you have been looking for me for a long time? Stop joking, where is Wan’er?”

The woman in white sneered and swung an arm at Wang Li. The latter stumbled and fell to the ground, rubbing his stinging forehead, and woke up.

“What… where is this? Am I… am I dreaming?”

It was wilderness as far as his eyes could see. There was no trace of the streets and buildings of the city.

“Wang Li, tell me how you know the story of “The White Deer’s Fate.” How could you, a mere mortal, know about such things, and… and… in such detail…”

Wang Li was rubbing his arms in this moment, looking a little flustered. He had fallen at an awkward angle just now, and it hurt a lot. This likely was not a dream; it might be that he had encountered a demon.

“Auntie… lady… I said before I started telling that story that it was imparted upon me by a god in a dream. I slightly modified it and polished it to bring the story to life.”

“A god? Haha, imparted by a god in a dream? What deity would specifically entrust you with the story of a monster falling in love?”

Wang Li gulped.

“Actually, I received the three words “White Deer’s Fate” written by that god, and when I touched them, a scene appeared in my mind, and then I fell into a dream…”

The woman was stunned for a moment. To convey knowledge through objects?

In that case, it was a little more credible.

Thinking of this, the woman grew furious.

“So, Lady White Deer is truly suffering from being whipped in the underworld just to accompany her husband? That bastard Zhou Niansheng actually dragged her into the underworld with him. The whipping of the underworld will destroy her soul!”

There was a cold blue light in the eyes of the woman opposite. Her pale face approached Wang Li’s, and one hand grabbed Wang Li’s neck. Her nails were very long.

“Ghost… gho… gho… ghost…”

Wang Li was so frightened that his face turned pale, his legs became weak, and his survival instinct made him tremble to defend himself:

“No, no… That god… the outcome imparted by the gods is… it was more favorable… Lady White Deer, although she went to the underworld… but… the land gods and the immortal guaranteed that… the underworld did not make things difficult for her. She only received one lashing every year…”⁶

The grim-faced woman was visibly stunned.

“Didn’t your story say that the Land God who pleaded for mercy was turned away by the City God, and the White Deer was whipped all day long every year on Zhou Niansheng’s birthday?”

“This… it’s just… it’s just a slightly embellished creation… I swear to the heavens that I would never lie to you!”

A dim light flickered in the woman’s eyes, as if to see whether Wang Li was lying or not, but the latter’s face was pale, and he dared not look at her.

“How dare you lie to me!”

In a rage, woman’s fingernails suddenly grew longer, clawing at one of Wang Li’s eyes.

“Freeze.”⁷

At the instant of Ji Yuan’s command, the blue nails were only an inch away from Wang Li’s left eye. The latter was so scared that he was paralyzed, his breathing shaky.

T/n: I’m participating in Art Fight (an art trading game) for the first time! Feel free to come attack me with art over the entire month of July. Cheers! https://artfight.net/~Mango_to_sleep

1. 还是 (háishi): one had better, 得 (děi): ought to/must, 实事求是 (shíshìqiúshì): lit “seek truth from facts,” idiom which means “be practical and realistic”
2. 老爷 (lǎoye): respectful “Lord”/master. There really isn’t any good way to consistently and distinctly translateall these honorifics, so unfortunately a lot of them are just going to fall under different versions of “master”
3. T/n: oh buddy if only you knew
4. 9-11 pm
5. Interestingly, 疑惑 (yíhuò) could be translated as either “doubt,” “confusion,” or “suspicion.” I’ve been translating it depending on context but I figured I’d make a note of it here
6. T/n: you truly haven’t lived until you translate grammatically incorrect sentence fragments in the form of mumbling
7. 定 (dìng): to fix/to set. I translated as “freeze” because it fits better in context than the exact translation