Mm...
It had been a while, but a bond event had come around again.
Yet honestly, Gu Chengming truly couldn't imagine what sort of bond event the Qingxin Formula would have.
Judging by the Qingxin Formula's temperament, perhaps it would be some grand event well-suited to a bit of fun?
Well then—even a Galgame master couldn't skillfully handle the bond events of every personality type out there.
Because there had been far too many sudden incidents during this period, Gu Chengming hadn't gotten around to cultivating any of the basic sword formulas suited to himself.
First there had been the pink skeleton at the Yayuan, then the great case of the rogue cultivators at the Commerce Guild—every single matter reeked of something sinister.
Amid such a turbulent situation, he had no choice but to plan his cultivation path even more carefully.
After all, the moment he cultivated a new basic sword formula, the «Huiyuan Sword Formula» within his sea of consciousness would inevitably enter a state of "fusion and deduction."
In that state, the Huiyuan Sword Formula not only lost its ability to cultivate on its own—even its sword-chess and bonds might be affected. In the safe environment of a sect that would be no matter, but right now he was in the Capital of the Great Qian, where undercurrents surged...
After turning it over again and again, Gu Chengming ultimately decided to play it safe.
At the very least, he would wait for the Capital's muddy waters to settle a little before making plans.
Speaking of the Capital's muddy waters...
Gu Chengming raised his head toward the direction of the Imperial City, brows slightly furrowed.
Half a month had passed.
That battle at the Jubo Commerce Guild had been utterly vicious, both in scale and in nature.
A Second-Realm rogue cultivator killing in broad daylight on the street, a Third-Realm expert openly deploying a formation, and it had even implicated the Red Apricot Sword Manor and the Ministry of Rites.
At the time it had caused no small commotion in the Capital—nearly every street and alley could be heard discussing the matter.
Yet now, only half a month later, it was as though someone had pressed the whole affair down from behind the scenes. Almost no one talked about it anymore.
Even those censors and remonstrating officials, normally the keenest to catch wind and chase shadows, now uttered not a single word about it.
Just as Gu Chengming was musing, the Night-Patrol Token at his waist suddenly began to tremble. It was a message from Vice-Commander Liu.
"Come to the Bureau at once. An honored guest wishes to see you."
The Night-Watch Bureau, the Vice-Commander's office.
Vice-Commander Liu paced back and forth.
Seeing Gu Chengming enter, he finally let out a breath of relief. He strode forward, grabbed Gu Chengming's sleeve, and spoke as he led him inward:
"You're finally here."
"Commander, what's happened?" Seeing him in such a state, Gu Chengming couldn't help feeling a bit puzzled.
"The one inside..."
Vice-Commander Liu pointed at the tightly shut carved wooden door of the inner hall, an indescribable expression on his face: "It's Her Highness the Second Imperial Princess, Ji Yixi. She asked for you by name."
The Second Imperial Princess of the Great Qian, Ji Yixi.
Hearing this name, Gu Chengming's expression turned somewhat subtle.
Because he knew of Ji Yixi—not through the rumors of the Capital, but through the player forums.
Though Gu Chengming rarely searched for anything story-related, the trouble was that wherever there was a community, spoilers were nearly impossible to fully avoid—take this Princess Ji Yixi, for instance.
She counted as an extremely important character among the immortal sects, and many players had wailed and called her "Xixi-wife."
The branching story endings that had been uncovered for her were countless—yet without exception, every one of them seemed to conclude in death.
Of course, since he hadn't actively searched, Gu Chengming's understanding of this Princess Ji Yixi was limited to scattered fragments and a few reaction memes.
The only information he knew about her was that Ji Yixi bore some secret of the imperial family, and that she cultivated an exceedingly formidable method called the Great Qian Record.
Of course, even that scrap had been gleaned from a reaction meme of Ji Yixi saying, "You are not allowed to cultivate the Great Qian Record."
"Go in. Don't keep Her Highness waiting."
Vice-Commander Liu patted his shoulder, gave him a look that said "pray for your own fortune, watch your words and deeds," then tactfully withdrew.
No lamp had been lit within the room, and the light was rather dim.
The window lattice was half open, and the light streaming through fell precisely upon a red sandalwood chair by the window.
There sat a woman, dressed in an unembellished palace robe of cyan, her hair simply coiled and pinned with a jade hairpin of excellent quality yet unostentatious. Hearing the door push open, she did not immediately turn her head, but kept her original posture.
Gu Chengming stepped forward a few paces and said, "Gu Chengming, Night-Patrol Guard of the Night-Watch Bureau. May I ask what Her Highness requires of me?"
It was a long while before Ji Yixi seemed to come to her senses and turned her head.
"Your dossier—I've read it."
"One month on the job, slew two Third-Realm evils and several Second-Realm ones. Meticulous of mind, considerable in ability."
Gu Chengming's expression remained as usual: "Your Highness flatters me. This subordinate merely acts according to the law."
A trace of confusion seemed to flash through Ji Yixi's eyes, but it vanished in an instant.
She no longer dwelt on it, and instead stated her purpose bluntly:
"The Night-Watch Bureau is, after all, caught at the eye of the storm. Would you be willing to come to the Demon-Catching Bureau?"
"I've reserved a Chiliarch's post there for you."
A Chiliarch—that was a position reachable only by someone at least in the late Second Realm with considerable merit to their name.
Were anyone else to hear this, they would surely have been moved beyond words; this was a genuine, rank-skipping promotion, and what's more, standing behind it was an Imperial Princess.
But Gu Chengming merely went slightly blank, then shook his head.
"Many thanks for Your Highness's kindness, but this subordinate finds his days at the Night-Watch Bureau quite agreeable—the colleagues are harmonious and the superiors considerate. Moreover, having only just arrived in the Great Qian, my foundations are unstable; it would truly be unwise to change posts so frequently."
"Furthermore, this subordinate is a disciple of the Wenjian Sect. Were I to become too deeply entangled in court affairs, I fear it would be hard to explain to the sect."
She merely nodded, as if she had long anticipated this result—or rather, as if she didn't care about the result at all.
"Mm."
She gave a single acknowledgment, then abruptly shifted the topic without any lead-in whatsoever:
"In a few days, it will be the Shangyuan Festival."
Gu Chengming: "...?"
Wasn't this leap a bit too large? One second they were discussing alliances and taking sides, and the next they were talking about a festival?
Ji Yixi paid no heed to his confusion. She drew a gilded invitation from her sleeve, set it gently on the desk, and pushed it over.
"On the Qinhuai River, the Harmonious Joy Sect's 'Drunken Dream Boat' is holding a banquet."
"Go take a look."
Gu Chengming's gaze fell upon the invitation. It gave off a faint scent of rouge and powder, and its cover depicted a painted pleasure-boat threading through clouds, mist, and a sea of flowers.
Wasn't this exactly the place Elder Yu had been pining over before—the one she'd even fabricated her own undercover history to brag about?
"Your Highness, this is..."
"I simply feel that you ought to like it."
Ji Yixi rose to her feet and said, "Perhaps there is something there that you need."
Having spoken these head-and-tail-less words, she said no more, didn't even spare Gu Chengming another glance, and walked straight out the door.
Only when that figure had completely vanished at the entrance of the corridor, taking the attending guards along with her, did the oppressive atmosphere within the room slowly dissipate.
Having seen off this great deity.
Vice-Commander Liu, who had been waiting outside the whole time, quickly slipped back in.
He first poked his head about to confirm that Ji Yixi had gone far enough away, then closed the door and looked at Gu Chengming with a tense face.
"Well? What did Her Highness say to you?"
Gu Chengming picked up the gilded invitation from the desk and answered truthfully: "Her Highness asked whether I'd like to go to the Demon-Catching Bureau and serve as a Chiliarch."
Vice-Commander Liu paled in shock: "And you agreed?"
"This subordinate declined." Gu Chengming smiled. "This subordinate is doing perfectly well at the Night-Watch Bureau—why would I go to the Demon-Catching Bureau?"
Hearing this, Vice-Commander Liu's tensed shoulders instantly slumped, and he let out a long breath.
"Good lad, clever of you."
He plopped down into a chair, picked up that cup of cold tea and gulped it down to calm his nerves, then his expression turned grave:
"Don't be fooled—this Second Princess keeps a low profile and shows neither hill nor water on the surface, but in this Capital no one dares to look down on her."
"Even in a place as faction-riddled as the Demon-Catching Bureau, she holds a place of her own. To put it bluntly, here in the Night-Watch Bureau, apart from our Director Zhou who can wholly ignore her, anyone else who met her would have to bow three feet lower."
"Since she came in person to seek you out, it means you've already entered her sights... From now on, be sure to act with caution."
Gu Chengming toyed with the invitation in his hand, lost in thought.
...
Meanwhile.
A carriage bearing no imperial insignia, plain in appearance, was rolling slowly along the bluestone road back toward the inner gardens.
Inside the carriage.
Ji Yixi sat quietly, an antique bronze mirror placed before her.
The mirror's surface had not been polished to any great brightness; it could reflect only a blurry outline. She gazed at the mirror, her eyes somewhat hollow, as though through that layer of mottled verdigris she were watching some distant place.
It was utterly silent within the carriage—even the sound of breathing was nearly inaudible.
After a long while, Ji Yixi parted her lips slightly and, facing that mirror—or facing a listener that did not exist in the air—gave voice to an exceedingly faint question.
There came no response at all.
Only the rumble of wheels grinding over stone.
Yet Ji Yixi seemed not to mind. She still held that posture, as if listening to some clamorous low murmur—the voices of countless "hers."
They drifted and sank in different tributaries, and after a moment.
Countless answers of denial converged from those distant tributaries.
All the "reflections" were shaking their heads.
Ji Yixi blinked her somewhat aching eyes.
"...So it is, after all."
She murmured softly, her voice for the first time carrying a faint trace of emotion:
"None of them have ever seen him before. Then where did he come from?"
The small courtyard in Jishan Ward was always especially tranquil after nightfall.
The moon climbed the willow tips, and the wind set the osmanthus shadows swaying.
When Gu Chengming pushed open the courtyard gate, he saw, just as expected, a purple figure curled up on the flowing-light, cloud-piercing swing frame.
Yu Wenqiu wasn't reading a storybook today; instead she held a plate of sugar-steamed cheese pastries newly bought from the Eastern Market, feeding them now and then to that orange cat she'd long since grown familiar with. One person, one cat, moving in sync, both languid as could be.
Hearing the gate, Yu Wenqiu's ear twitched slightly, but she didn't turn around—she merely mumbled a vague phrase:
"You're back? Why so late today?"
Her tone was so easy and natural, utterly without the Elder's airs she'd put on back at the sect—she resembled nothing so much as the head of a household who'd been keeping it running for ages. Although the only thing she kept running was the eating and drinking.
Gu Chengming closed the courtyard gate behind him, and rather than heading to the kitchen, he walked straight over to the swing. From his sleeve he drew out that gilded invitation, still carrying a faint residual warmth, and casually set it on the low table by Yu Wenqiu's side.
Yu Wenqiu glanced at it. By the dim glow of the stone lantern in the courtyard, she made out that line of elegant small characters on the invitation—
—[On the Fair Festival of Shangyuan, the Drunken Dream Boat Invites].
Yu Wenqiu shot bolt upright with a "whump."
"An invitation to the Shangyuan Festival Flower-Courtesan Banquet?"
She jerked her head up, those eyes sparkling as she looked at Gu Chengming, her whole face writing out "take me, take me."
However, once her gaze made a circuit of Gu Chengming's empty sleeves and hands, her originally surging enthusiasm was instantly doused as if by a bucket of cold water.
"Just one?"
"Mm, just one."
Gu Chengming recounted today's encounter with Ji Yixi.
"Ahh..."
Yu Wenqiu heaved a long sigh and flopped limply back into the swing chair.
Hugging the orange cat, chin propped on its head, she mumbled, "Why couldn't she have given one more."
Watching her in this state, Gu Chengming found it amusing, and couldn't resist teasing:
"Elder, I recall you once said that, back in the day, for the sake of an investigation you'd gone deep undercover on that flower-boat for several days—what grand spectacle haven't you seen? A mere Flower-Courtesan Banquet like this surely shouldn't even catch your eye."
Yu Wenqiu was choked by these words, feeling a bit guilty, her gaze drifting:
"That... well, you know, it's been so many years since then."
"What they call revisiting old haunts—it's also a kind of cultivating the heart."
Gu Chengming set the invitation aside and soothed her:
"Since the Elder wants to go so badly, then I'll just bring back plenty of the pastries from there when the time comes."
At this, the atmosphere eased somewhat.
As if struck by a sudden thought, Gu Chengming abruptly asked: "By the way, Elder, you've read widely and seen much. I wonder if you've ever heard of a method called the Great Qian Record?"
If it were a truly formidable method, surely Elder Yu would know of it.
Perhaps he might even deduce, along the way, how Ji Yixi had come to notice him—and why.
Hearing those three words, Yu Wenqiu, who was smoothing the orange cat's fur, did not pause her hand in the slightest.
"The Great Qian Record?"
Yu Wenqiu blinked, brows knitting slightly, and in the end shook her head.
Gu Chengming found it rather puzzling. Yu Wenqiu's reaction didn't seem feigned—she truly didn't know.
Now that was interesting.
A method that was famous in the game, one that could even serve as a core setting, was something even Yu Wenqiu—an Elder of the Wenjian Sect—had never even heard of.
Was this method so secret, so hidden that even the Wenjian Sect wasn't qualified to know of it?
Seeing this, Gu Chengming asked no further, only kept the matter quietly in mind.
...
The afternoon of the next day.
Gu Chengming had just returned from reporting in at the Night-Watch Bureau. As he reached the mouth of the alley, he saw a woman in a plain-colored long skirt, dressed as a maidservant, waiting not far off.
She was the personal handmaid at the side of Steward Yun of the Yayuan. Seeing Gu Chengming, the maid hurried forward to salute, her movements respectful enough that not a single flaw could be found, then presented a letter with both hands.
"Young Master Gu, my steward says: last time, it was thanks to Your Excellency's righteous intervention that the Yayuan's good name was preserved. This kindness, all of us at the Yayuan shall never forget to our dying day. As the Fair Festival of Shangyuan draws near, the steward has specially reserved a Drunken Dream Boat invitation for you—a most excellent seat—and hopes Your Excellency will not disdain it."
Gu Chengming took the letter and opened it. Inside was, astonishingly, a gilded invitation identical to the one Ji Yixi had given.
Only, in the corner of this invitation, there was an additional small plum-blossom seal—evidently a VIP seat from within the Yayuan.
Gu Chengming put away the invitation, his heart stirring with a subtle feeling. Now he'd be able to bring Elder Yu along after all.
Should he say it was his good luck, or Elder Yu's?
Gu Chengming pinched the extra invitation, originally intending to hide it away first and tease that Elder of his who'd been drooling over it for so long.
But on second thought, if he didn't mention it now and only produced it once the Shangyuan Festival actually arrived, he'd likely be nagged about it by that Elder for the better half of a year.
So, after the evening meal, when Gu Chengming, feigning offhandedness, set this second invitation in front of Yu Wenqiu, she let out a cheer on the spot and clutched the invitation, unable to put it down.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance watched this scene and deeply approved.]
[It felt that, for a Heavenly Emperor going on an inspection tour, how could there be no close attendant accompanying at his side? Though this Little Yu was usually a bit lazy and idle, in such a grand setting she could just barely qualify as a sword-bearing handmaiden.]
Gu Chengming found this quite funny.
Ever since Heavenly Emperor Bai had been appraised by Yu Wenqiu as "lacking in follow-through," it had held a grudge against Little Yu, demoting her straight from "beauty" to "demon cultivator seizing his body," and now, having finally been promoted back up a bit, she was still only a "sword-bearing handmaiden."
Looking at it this way, Heavenly Emperor Bai was rather vindictive.
But on reflection, that was fairly normal?
What protagonist of a fantasy novel doesn't hold grudges.
As for the origins of this Shangyuan Festival, many versions circulated among the common folk of the Great Qian.
And according to the records in the «Miscellaneous Records of the Great Qian» and the ancient texts of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, at the founding of the Great Qian, the Gate of Ghosts grew turbulent and the barrier between the Yin and Yang realms blurred. Every fifteenth night of the first lunar month, countless masterless lone spirits would wander the mortal world, leaving the common people unable to sleep at night.
The Founding Emperor, wielding the Son of Heaven's Sword, severed the Yin malice, and decreed that the myriad people light lanterns on this night, using the blazing Yang fire to guide the lost souls back along their road, and using the warmth of ten thousand households' lantern-fires to drive away the bitter cold of early spring.
As time went on, this day, originally tinged with overtones of sacrifice and exorcism, evolved into the Shangyuan Festival.
When night fell, the east wind by night released a thousand trees of blossoms, and blew them down further still, stars falling like rain.
Countless Kongming lanterns rose slowly into the sky, merging into one with the star-river above. Both sides of the streets were hung with all manner of flower-lanterns: revolving lanterns spinning out scenes of clashing steel and warhorses, rabbit lanterns trailing long tassels, children carrying lanterns weaving and frolicking through the crowds. The peddlers' hawking cries and the gongs and drums from the opera stage all carried a fair semblance of a peaceful, flourishing age.
Gu Chengming and Yu Wenqiu mingled into the bustling, jostling crowd, following the flow of people toward the banks of the Qinhuai River.
Today's Elder Yu had clearly dressed up with care: a simple, elegant moon-white ruqun, draped over with a brocaded feather-down cloak, her hair coiled high and pinned with only a single antique-styled jade hairpin, which made her look all the more pure and refined, otherworldly. The only thing was that the string of candied haws just bought in her hand demolished that refined air entirely.
"Little Gu, look at that lantern!"
"Aiya, this shop's osmanthus-sugar lotus root smells so good—we absolutely have to buy some on the way back!"
Passing through the bustling main street, the view before them suddenly opened up. Countless painted pleasure-boats cruised slowly across the river's surface, brilliant with lantern-fire, the sound of strings and flutes never ceasing.
And at the very center of these pleasure-boats, a colossal vessel like a palace upon the water lay quietly moored at the heart of the river.
That was the Drunken Dream Boat.
It stood a full five storeys tall, its entire body crafted from precious aloeswood, with carved beams and painted rafters of the utmost extravagance. A faint mist coiled about the hull—that was a formation effect unique to the Harmonious Joy Sect.
Yu Wenqiu craned her head upward, forgetting even to chew the candied haw in her mouth: "This Harmonious Joy Sect really is wealthy..."
Gu Chengming deeply agreed.
The two came to the dock and presented that gilded invitation.
The moment they stepped into the main hall, Yu Wenqiu's eyes went straight.
But this time what she stared at was not the beauties—it was the long side tables flanking the hall, laden with a dazzling array of fine delicacies.
"That, um..."
Yu Wenqiu turned her head, looked at Gu Chengming, and cleared her throat:
"Little Gu, you see, there are a lot of people on this boat and too many prying eyes. If we huddle together it'll easily draw attention—bad for our observation of the enemy's situation."
"This Elder has decided to venture deep behind enemy lines and scout over there a bit. You just move about freely here."
With that, she didn't even wait for Gu Chengming to respond, slipping away as if her soles were greased toward that corner piled high with delicacies, vanishing in the blink of an eye into that crowd of guests sampling the fine food.
Watching that Elder of his who'd already started in on a plate of roast goose, Gu Chengming helplessly shook his head.
Never mind—this Drunken Dream Boat was guarded by a grand formation, with Harmonious Joy Sect experts holding the fort, so presumably nothing would go awry.
"Brother Gu!"
A voice came from off to the front-side.
Gu Chengming looked toward the sound and saw, beside a table not far off, Song Qing in an azure-cloud Daoist robe waving at him with a face full of excitement.
And seated around Song Qing were several young noble lordlings clad in brocade of various colors. By their bearing and dress, most were probably scions of the Capital's great families or rising talents of the sects.
Gu Chengming smiled and strolled over.
"Brother Song, it's been well since we parted."
"Haha, I just knew a lively occasion like this couldn't do without Brother Gu!"
Song Qing rose with great enthusiasm, pulled Gu Chengming over, and introduced him to those around:
"Everyone, this is the one I've often mentioned to you—an outstanding disciple of the Wenjian Sect, a Night-Patrol Guard of the Night-Watch Bureau, the man who days ago broke the Jubo Commerce Guild's plot with a single man and a single sword: Gu Chengming, Brother Gu!"
"Oh? So this is the Young Hero Gu who slew the rogue cultivator?"
A brocade-clad lord holding a folding fan lit up and hurriedly rose to salute:
"Your great name has long been admired! I am of the Tiance Manor..."
"I am..."
In an instant, the once somewhat reserved company all rose one after another to exchange pleasantries.
Gu Chengming handled it with ease and soon grew familiar with this group.
Once seated, Song Qing personally poured Gu Chengming a cup of wine and said: "Brother Gu may not be aware—today, besides being the Shangyuan Festival, is also the Harmonious Joy Sect's triennial Flower Goddess Festival."
"Every three years, the Harmonious Joy Sect's branch halls in each region select their most outstanding disciple and crown her with the title of Flower-Courtesan."
Just as he was speaking, another voice came over.
"Young Master Gu, Young Master Song."
Gu Chengming turned, and it was none other than that Steward Yun Wan of the Yayuan.
Yun Wan walked up before Gu Chengming, made a graceful bow, and spoke with a hint of familiarity in her tone:
"Since our last parting, this humble one had even worried that Your Excellency would be too busy with affairs and unwilling to grace us with your presence."
"With Steward Yun's gracious invitation, how could I not come?" Gu Chengming offered a courteous reply.
Yun Wan smiled, then took from the tray held by the maid behind her two cups of spirit wine, amber in color, and handed them to the pair:
"This is the Drunken Dream Boat's specially brewed Floating Life Dream, made from thirty-six kinds of spirit flowers, buried beneath a spirit spring for three years before it's ready. Won't you two young masters give it a taste?"
Gu Chengming took the wine cup and sipped lightly. The liquor slid down his throat—not harsh at all, but instead carrying a long, lingering floral fragrance.
Right after came a warm current spreading into his four limbs and hundred bones, giving one a tipsy, dreamlike feeling of drunken reverie.
"Fine wine." Gu Chengming praised.
Yun Wan covered her lips and laughed softly: "When the Flower Goddess Festival begins shortly, I do hope you two young masters will lend your support. And should you take a fancy to any of the maidens, just tell this humble one—I'll surely arrange it properly."
Having said this, she exchanged a few more pleasantries, then went off to attend to the others.
Before long, the lights within the cabin suddenly dimmed.
The once-clamorous hall also gradually fell silent in that moment.
Then, amid swirling mist, twelve maidens in rainbow garments of various colors—like immortal sprites stepping out of a painting—holding palace lanterns, round fans, flower baskets and the like, danced gracefully to the music.
The guests below watched, utterly entranced. Quite a few young cultivators of weaker self-control already had a dazed look in their eyes. Just as Song Qing had said, these dance steps secretly accorded with the principles of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, and this music had the effect of regulating spiritual energy.
The song and dance lasted roughly half an hour.
When the music ended and the gathering dispersed, the Flower Goddesses withdrew from the stage, yet the atmosphere below remained as fervent as ever.
Some gathered to discuss the performance just past, others paired off in twos and threes to drink in competition and compose poems. Gu Chengming found it a little stifling, so he greeted Song Qing and came alone onto the deck.
The wind outside was rather cool, carrying a moist water-vapor as it blew against his face.
On the river's surface, lantern-fire still blazed bright. Countless lotus lanterns drifted slowly downstream along the current, bearing people's beautiful wishes.
Gu Chengming leaned on the railing, took a deep breath of the cold air, and sobered his head a little, which had grown somewhat tipsy from that "Drunken Dream Fragrance."
There were quite a few people on the deck too, mostly guests come out to take in the air.
In a corner, he spotted that Elder Yu of his.
She was sitting on a long bench, a string of candied haws in her left hand, a plate of pastries pilfered from who knows where in her right, and before her was even set a pot of wine.
Gu Chengming smiled and didn't go over to disturb her good cheer.
He withdrew his gaze and was just about to turn back inside when he caught a faint yet familiar aura.
[Piercing Insight]activated.
Gu Chengming's pupils contracted slightly.
At the stairway on the other side of the deck, a person dressed in cyan, looking like an utterly inconspicuous house-servant, was lowering his head and hurriedly making his way downstairs.
Although that person had deliberately restrained his aura, and had even used some secret technique to alter his build and features, the Yin-malice aura within his body that had not yet fully dissipated was incomparably clear.
—It was just like that Third-Realm rogue cultivator.
Gu Chengming's brows knit slightly, and he watched as that rogue cultivator melted into the crowd, no longer to be found.
The night wind was faintly cool, blowing the lanterns on the deck into restless swaying.
Since that Third-Realm rogue cultivator could appear so openly on this Drunken Dream Boat, even possessing the leisurely mood to change into an inconspicuous outfit and walk about the cabin, it meant he too must surely hold an invitation.
It was not yet clear how many aboard this boat were that Third-Realm rogue cultivator—or rather, people of the power standing behind him.
Once that rogue cultivator sensed something amiss, it would inevitably alert the snake by beating the grass...
"I need to think of a way to ferret this person out."
Gu Chengming tapped his fingers lightly on the hilt of his sword, mulling over whether he ought to inform Elder Yu of this matter.
At that very moment, a dialogue box appeared before his eyes.
[The «Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method» sensed your confusion and reminded you: Ritual and law are the Heavenly Way; rules are the compass and square. So long as one dwells within this order, all things have their place, and all matters have their sequence.]
[It can survey the terrain by means of ritual, and discern the great from the minute.]
Only then did Gu Chengming suddenly come to his senses—that's right.
In the past he had always made use of this Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method's passive ability, and had nearly forgotten about its active one.
One of the reasons this Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method counted as a superior heart-method was precisely that it possessed an extremely comprehensive ability—so-called ordering Heaven and Earth through ritual—which carried rather a "formation" sort of flavor.
So long as he established upon this Drunken Dream Boat a set of order belonging to "ritual," then all existences that did not conform to this order, or that harbored ill intent and schemed to disrupt it, would stand out as conspicuously as an ink dot on white paper.
"How is it done?" Gu Chengming asked inwardly.
[The «Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method» instantly perked up and began holding forth in an endless stream.]
[It declared: This is a grand ritual, and requires the utmost rigor.]
[First, one must set nine ding cauldrons and eight gui vessels at the very center of the banquet, to symbolize the dignity of the Son of Heaven or the majesty of the feudal lords; the number of ding and gui must not be off in the slightest. Second, the seating must be precisely arranged according to the directions of the Five Elements—the East governs birth, the West governs slaughter, the South governs brightness, the North governs the obscure.]
[Furthermore, the suspended musical instruments must be arrayed below the steps, corresponding to the five directions by the five tones of gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu; the positions of the musicians must secretly accord with the array of the twenty-eight constellations, not disordered by even a hair's breadth.]
[Lastly, one of high virtue and prestige must, holding the jade zhang that masters the formation, stand at the host's seat upon the hall, and the grades of all vessels of food and wine goblets used must accord with their station. Throughout the banquet, the placement of every food table and the movement-trajectory of every wine goblet must be driven by dedicated stewards of cuisine and masters of seating and mats.]
[Only when hosts and guests bow, yield, ascend and descend all in accord with rhythm, with not a single transgression of measure, is the ritual complete. At that point, the order of Heaven and Earth shall be wholly within your grasp, and demons and goblins shall reveal their forms of their own accord.]
"..."
Nine ding and eight gui? Suspended music arrayed by the steps? And it had to match the constellation array as well?
Setting aside where he was supposed to procure these ritual vessels, even if he got hold of them, putting on so grand a spectacle aboard this Harmonious Joy Sect flower-boat would have that rogue cultivator catching on that something was wrong long ago.
Gu Chengming asked whether there was anything simpler.
The «Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method» was also somewhat stumped. After pondering a long while, it listed several schemes such as the "Village Wine-Drinking Ritual" and the "Ritual of Scholars' Mutual Audience."
But without exception, all required exceedingly elaborate preparation, not only demanding that everyone present cooperate in performing the rites, but even imposing strict requirements on the number of steps one walked and the angle of one's bow.
Gu Chengming sighed, thinking to himself that perhaps he'd better just ask Elder Yu.
And at that very moment, something suddenly occurred to him, and he asked tentatively in his heart:
"The core of so-called ritual—isn't it just that the noble and the lowly have their order, and each rests in their proper place?"
"If female cultivators aren't allowed to sit at the table and eat, would that count as a kind of ritual?"
[The «Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method» was stunned to hear this.]
[The «Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method» hemmed and hawed. Though it very much wanted to shout "It counts!", it also felt that, as an orthodox heart-method, it couldn't show itself to be quite so blatant.]
[And what's more, it was also quite puzzled: on this Drunken Dream Boat, on this very turf of the Harmonious Joy Sect, just how were you going to accomplish the feat of "not letting female cultivators sit at the table"?]
Seeing this, Gu Chengming instantly felt sure of himself.
The first-floor main hall, the rear chamber.
Borrowing the prestige of the Night-Watch Bureau, Gu Chengming, on the pretext of investigating hidden dangers, obtained the guest seating chart from the busy Yun Wan's hands.
The densely packed information of sect womenfolk and noble belles on the chart he swiftly committed to memory.
Having used his identity as cover to achieve the aim of gathering intelligence, Gu Chengming dismissed Yun Wan with a few words.
At this moment the passage from the rear chamber leading to the main banquet hall was temporarily empty; most of the maids were busy in the front hall, while the guests were still on the deck or the second floor admiring the lanterns. The banquet hall was utterly empty, with only the neatly arranged tables and chairs.
Gu Chengming, without the slightest hesitation, followed the memory in his mind to determine the seats originally assigned to the female cultivators.
"Mm... the chairs of the Yunyue Sect's female disciples—steal them outright."
"The chair of the Minister's Manor's young lady... steal it."
"The Harmonious Joy Sect's own inner-gate stewardess too—steal it as well."
In the span of but a few dozen breaths.
The banquet hall, once neatly arranged with not an empty seat, instantly became somewhat ragged and uneven.
As far as the eye could see, every guest position marked "female" on the roster was now bare and barren, without so much as a cushion left.
Having done all this, Gu Chengming stood in the center of the hall and clapped his hands in satisfaction.
[The «Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method» was rather shocked.]
[It had never imagined that "ritual" could be upheld this way—no need for nine ding and eight gui, no need for bells and drums in unison, one need only carry off the chairs to eradicate, at the very root, every possibility of transgression!]
[The «Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method» bowed deeply to you, prostrating itself utterly.]
Right after, the characters turned into great golden words.
[You are the true great master of ritual!]
At the same time, within Gu Chengming's field of vision, the original cabin had now transformed into countless crisscrossing lines.
Every seat, every table, every lantern had become a single point. The auras of most of the guests were a mix of gray and white, or a rouge-pink tinged with a touch of wine-color.
But in a corner private room on the second floor, an aura suffused with a thick, bloody reek was rather conspicuous.
Found it...
...
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