58: Ask for secrets

As he spoke, his goatee twitched, and his scrawny fingers constantly fiddled with the iron abacus hanging at his waist, producing crisp clicking sounds.

Wu Jiulong stroked his grizzled beard, his gaze sweeping across the bookshelves: "Are there any Secret Manuals of Grade Three or higher?" The old man's voice was soft, but it made the shopkeeper's face change dramatically.

The shopkeeper waved his hands repeatedly, his sleeve falling back to reveal a ghastly scar on his wrist: "The customer must be joking. Grade Three and above are un 傳之秘 (secret techniques not passed down) of the major Schools. How could this small shop dare to sell them?"

He nervously glanced left and right, lowering his voice: "However..." He made a special gesture with his finger under the counter, "We do have a few rare Grade Four items, all of them are..." He paused meaningfully, "good things with unusual origins."

Finally, after nearly two hours of bargaining, the Wu Family spent nearly eighty thousand taels of silver to purchase three Grade Four Secret Manuals: "Snowflake Sword Art," "Dragon Subduing Hand," and "Stone Splitting Palm," as well as more than ten Grade Five and Grade Six Cultivation Techniques.

Wu Guohua particularly valued a copy of "Chasing Wind Steps." The gilded characters on the sheepskin cover had faded slightly, but when the inner pages were opened, the human figure diagrams outlined in ink were still clearly visible.

He gently caressed the worn edges of the pages, thinking that this would perfectly complement the Flowing Wind Skill. The annotations left by the previous owner on the pages were also quite exquisite; some insights even enlightened him.

When they walked out of the Myriad Scrolls Pavilion, the sun was already setting in the west. Golden sunlight pierced through the high and low signboards of the West Market, casting mottled shadows on the ground.

Wu Guohua carefully placed the newly acquired Secret Manuals into his personal brocade pouch, feeling their weighty presence. He knew that these Cultivation Techniques would become important leverage for them against the Cloud Soaring Sect.

From a distance, the melodious chime of the bell tower rang out, startling a flock of roosting crows. Their black figures swept across the sky, full of evening glow, like a flowing ink painting.

When they walked out of the Myriad Scrolls Pavilion, the setting sun was already in the west. The orange-red sunlight slanted through the eaves on both sides of the street, casting mottled light and shadows on the bluestone slabs.

The scent of cooking smoke mixed with osmanthus flowers drifted in the air, and from a distance came the sound of the night watchman's clapper, long and lonely.

The three walked back along the Qin Huai River. The river surface shimmered with sparkling light, dotted with dozens of pleasure boats. The colorful lanterns hanging from the bows were already lit, resembling a flowing river of stars in the twilight.

On the largest pleasure boat, several singers dressed in light gauze were performing. The sound of the pipa was like pearls falling onto a jade plate, and the flute's melody was as graceful as an oriole's song. The river breeze blew, bringing wafts of cosmetic and wine scents.

"Look at that!" Wu Wenbin suddenly pointed at the river.

They saw a luxuriously decorated double-deck pleasure boat slowly passing by, with several young men in brocade robes standing at the bow, competing in a game of pitch-pot. Each time someone scored, it would trigger a burst of cheers, startling the night herons roosting on the willows by the bank.

Wu Guohua, however, was drawn by a towering pagoda on the opposite bank.

The pagoda was entirely black, shimmering with a metallic luster under the setting sun. Its spire pierced straight into the clouds, more than ten zhang higher than the tallest corner tower of the imperial city.

Every few floors of the pagoda had a protruding circle of eaves, from which hung bronze bells that jingled in the evening breeze.

"That's the Star Gazing Pavilion," a clear voice came from behind them. The three turned around and saw a Young Master in brocade robes, fanning himself with a gold-flecked folding fan.

This Young Master was about twenty years old, with a face like jade and picturesque features. A jeweled short sword hung at his waist, its slender gold chain gently swaying with his movements.

"It's the tallest building in the capital. It is said that the Pavilion Master is a Grade One Innate Grandmaster who can observe the stars at night and deduce heavenly secrets."

As the Young Master spoke, he used his folding fan to cover half of his face, revealing only a pair of smiling eyes as he scrutinized the three: "Seeing that you are unfamiliar faces, you must be here for the Hundred Sects Tournament, right?" His voice was not loud, but every word was clear, indicating his considerable Internal Energy cultivation.

Wu Wenbin cupped his hands in return, the subtle patterns embroidered on his sleeves faintly visible under the setting sun: "Exactly. May I ask the Young Master's name...?"

"My surname is Liu, and I am the seventh in my family. My friends all call me Liu Qi." The Young Master smiled as he closed his folding fan, revealing his entire handsome face.

He wore a jade thumb ring on his left ring finger, which he unconsciously twirled as he spoke.

"Seeing your extraordinary demeanor, you must be elites participating in the Hundred Sects Tournament." Liu Qi's gaze lingered on Wu Guohua's sword at his waist for a moment, a glint flashing in his eyes, "I wonder if you are interested in joining my 'Listening Rain Pavilion'? Although we cannot compare to a large School like the Cloud Soaring Sect, we do have a place in the capital."

Wu Jiulong narrowed his eyes, the sparks in his pipe flickering. The old man noticed that when Liu Qi stood, his feet were neither too close nor too far apart, seemingly casual but actually containing a hidden method. As his sleeves swayed, faint silver threads wrapped around his wrists were vaguely visible.

"Young Master Liu, we appreciate your kind offer." He exhaled a smoke ring, his voice hoarse as if rubbed with sandpaper, "However, we are new here and wish to look around more."

Liu Qi did not press the matter. He took out a gilded name card from his sleeve. The name card was made of excellent Xuan paper, with gold edges, and the words "Listening Rain" written in cinnabar on the front. The back featured a detailed ink painting of a pavilion.

"There will be a small gathering at the Listening Rain Pavilion in three days," he handed the name card to Wu Wenwu, his fingertips inadvertently brushing the other's pulse point as they exchanged, as if testing his Internal Energy, "If you are interested, you may come and have a light drink with this card."

After speaking, he cupped his hands in a bow and turned to leave. His walking posture was very peculiar; he seemed to be strolling leisurely, but each step covered twice the distance of an ordinary person's step. In a few breaths, he disappeared into the crowd.

By the time they returned to the guesthouse, it was completely dark. Two large red lanterns hung at the guesthouse entrance, casting long shadows of the three.

The night attendant quickly greeted them, courteously leading them through the corridor. Night-blooming jasmine was planted on both sides of the corridor, its rich floral scent particularly intoxicating in the night.

Wu Guohua eagerly lit the bronze oil lamp in the room. The wick was made of high-quality cotton thread, burning with almost no black smoke.

He spread out the newly acquired Secret Manuals one by one on the huanghuali wood desk, carefully studying them under the bright lamplight.

On the flyleaf of "Snowflake Sword Art" were eight large characters: "Sword emerges like snow, penetrating everywhere," the brushstrokes like iron hooks and silver strokes. Turning to the inner pages, it meticulously recorded thirty-six sword moves, each accompanied by detailed human figure diagrams.

What surprised Wu Guohua the most was that the blank spaces on the pages also contained annotations from previous owners, written in cinnabar with insights such as "This move should be coordinated with the third form of the Flowing Wind Skill."

"Dragon Subduing Hand" was a powerful and unyielding external Cultivation Technique. The sheepskin cover had yellowed, but the inner pages were well preserved.

It began with "Strength erupts like a thousand jun, momentum like a soaring Dragon," and the eighteen palm forms recorded thereafter were all overbearing, with some even requiring coordination with special Internal Energy circulation routes.

The style of "Stone Splitting Palm" was entirely different, emphasizing "heavy as a mountain, stable as a rock."

The Secret Manual used rare red sandalwood slips, and each slip was engraved with densely packed small characters that required considerable effort to read clearly.