Cang Lan Dao - Chapter 31.1

Chapter 31.1
Zhang Yiran, where is Liu Xiniang?

Luo Wanqing, listening to Cui Heng’s tone, felt guilty for some reason. She hesitated but told half-truth: “I went to find Lord Zhang to ask for these things back.”

“Oh,” Cui Heng nodded, pondering, “Yesterday, you went to pick up the horse. Today, you retrieved things. You quite tied up, ah?”

“It’s okay ……”

“But after entering the Inspection Department, you should focus on the department’s affairs. The existence of the Shadow is to solve these problems. The Agent should not be busy with these mundane matters; otherwise, what do you want me to do as the Shadow?”

Cui Heng smiled, looked at Luo Wanqing, and seemed concerned: “Are there other things? Why not let me fetch it?”

“No.” Hearing this, Luo Wanqing hurriedly shook her head, did not dare to say more, only said: “All good.”

“That’s good.” Cui Heng nodded and said, “Then let’s eat. After eating, have a good rest. You’ll start your lessons tomorrow. After three months, you can start to take over missions formally.”

Hearing Cui Heng’s words, she knew that these two days were a vacation he had given her. She nodded and went back to the table to start eating.

Cui Heng glanced at her, walked to the table, and picked up the things she had brought back. He threw away some of the opened medicines, left the useful ones, and said, “The maid is outside; call her to come over to clean up after eating; I’m leaving.”

Seeing him leave, Luo Wanqing remembered the gold beads and flute she gave to Zhang Yiran and hurriedly said, “That, Guanlan.”

“Hmm?”

“What you gave me, do I need to tell you if I deal with it?”

Cui Heng was silent for a split second, thinking for a moment before saying, “What I gave you was given to you by the Inspection Department, so you can just handle it on your own.”

“It’s not something you got through special meaning?” Luo Wanqing was suspicious, and Cui Heng nodded, “Well, each agent makes different quotas, and the Department Master gives you a higher ceiling.”

“Why?” Luo Wanqing didn’t understand.

Cui Heng saw her asking more questions and had a few moments of impatience, perfunctorily saying, “Because you have a future.” Cui Heng waved his hand, “I’m leaving.”

Luo Wanqing was too embarrassed to bother Cui Heng again and sat in the house alone, eating her meal, thinking about Cui Heng’s words.

Did Xie Heng give her a high monthly salary because she had a future? Could it be because she killed Zhao Yuyan?

Luo Wanqing thought about it and felt that she was a bit too conspicuous, and it was normal for Xie Heng to notice her. But why did he meet her just once if he noticed her? But Xie Heng had a lot of work to do, and she was just a new agent under training, so it was normal not to see her. She still needs to get through the training period earlier to have more chances to contact Xie Heng. After killing Xiang Sizi and settling her family, the next one will be Li Guiyu. Her eyes were slightly cold, and she lowered her head to eat, then she let the maid come in and clean up the table. She went to her bed to meditate and regulate her breathing, and after practicing the inner strength techniques that Cui Heng had given her earlier, she went to sleep in the late hours of the night.

On the second day, Cui Heng came to call her early and led her to the martial arts training ground. The martial arts ground was bustling with people, and many people were fighting inside. Cui Heng led her through the training ground and said: ”Every morning, you must come to the training ground to report; there are masters here; they will teach you the basics orderly. Practice martial arts for 8 hours daily, and use the rest of the time to learn hidden weapons, mechanisms, and formations; you won’t need to learn poison.” Cui Heng glanced at her, “The Seven Insects and Seven Flowers Pill is nicely made.”

“The antidote ……”

“Give it to me another day.” Cui Heng smiled, “Keep it as a souvenir.”

These words caused Luo Wanqing to freeze, not knowing why someone wanted to keep the poison as a souvenir.

Cui Heng led her into a room in the deepest part of the training ground. In the room sat a floating young man wearing a greenish-blue Taoist robe with a lotus flower crown on his head; when he saw Cui Heng come in, the young man hurriedly stood up and respectfully said, “Young Master Guanlan.”

“This is Dao Zhen,” Cui Heng introduced with Luo Wanqing, “He’s in charge of the Agent’s introductory courses.” Cui Heng glanced at Luo Wanqing and introduced Dao Zhen, saying, “This is the new Agent, Liu Xiniang; take good care of her. Don’t neglect her.”

“Yes.” Dao Zhen’s tone was gentle but extraordinarily serious.

Cui Heng handed her over to the other party and then instructed, “I still have some things to do. You can practice here first, and I’ll come back for you when the evening classes are over.”

“Okay.” Luo Wanqing answered, and Cui Heng stayed briefly, turning to leave.

When he left, Dao Zhen glanced at Luo Wanqing and said softly, “Agent Liu has just taken up her post. Every day, we will start with the stance. One hour of stance, one hour of actual combat, followed by one hour of hidden weapon, formation, and mechanism. If the Agent is diligent, we’ll add more.” Saying this, Dao Zhen led Luo Wanqing into the martial arts training, using his duster to roll up a basin of water and directly fling it to Luo Wanqing.

Luo Wanqing panicked and hugged the basin of water. She saw Dao Zhen smile faintly, lifting his hand and pointing to the plum blossom pile, ordering, “Get on the plum blossom pile, lift the basin of water over your head, and stand for an hour.”

Luo Wanqing knew her basic skills needed improvement; she didn’t dare to be slow and followed Dao Zhen’s words, practicing her stance. Then she came with him to the hidden weapon room.

The first hidden weapon was the Thousand Machines. Her task was to change all the forms of the Thousand Machines as fast as possible. The matter of being fast was all about precise control of the muscles, as well as proficiency. She practiced the disassembly and assembly of the Thousand Machines on one side while listening to Dao Zhen, who was giving lessons on formations and mechanisms. After the lecture, he let her take the Thousand Machines into the formations room and walk alone. These formations were ever-changing, and various arrays nearly killed her. After she escaped, she then was thrown in again. Over and over again, by the time she saw Cui Heng again at night, she was completely flat on the ground and could no longer get up. She loaded the Thousand Machines repeatedly, and now her fingertips were shaking.

Cui Heng squatted down, sizing her up, and smiled, “Xiniang, do you want me to carry you back?”

Although he was asking, Luo Wanqing could see that he didn’t intend to make a move, and neither did she.

Luo Wanqing swallowed her throat, which was so dry that it hurt a little, hurriedly climbed up and mumbled, “I’m still okay.”

“If you’re still okay,” Cui Heng cocked his head, pointed his toes and laughed, “Follow me?”

Luo Wanqing froze, but since Cui Heng asked, she gritted her teeth and climbed up, following Cui Heng.

Cui Heng’s lightness skill didn’t make any sound; he slowed down and led her into the night, pointing out, “Hold your breath, control your body muscles. Have you ever seen a cat?”

Cui Heng landed on the tiles silently; he cocked his head, “How does a cat control its body? How about you give it a try?”

Luo Wanqing’s whole body ached, but she still followed Cui Heng’s words, controlling her body.

Cui Heng led ahead of her, teaching her how to hide. When the two of them returned to the room, Cui Heng smiled and said, “Hiding yourself in the darkness of the night is an essential thing.”

As Luo Wanqing listened, she couldn’t help but tilt her head to look at him. The youth’s face was hidden under a mask as if he had been walking in the darkness for a long time. She opened her mouth to ask but felt it was presumptuous; hesitating for a long time, she finally nodded and softly said, “I’ll learn it well.”

The Inspection Department has a complete system; they seemed to have a lot of experience and had cultivated many agents; during the daytime, she followed the Inspection Department to learn, and at night, she followed Cui Heng to learn. She felt she was progressing rapidly, even if it was just for a day. Her speed of assembling the Thousand Machines was getting faster, her stance was getting stable, and her strikes were getting organized.

Cui Heng left early and returned late daily; like a parent raising a child, his daily task was to send the child to the teacher and pick the child back up at night. The good thing is that Cui Heng is mindful of Zhong Lingshu’s persuasion and lets her sleep at midnight daily.

Luo Wanqing was tired from the day and slept well every night. But Cui Heng was different. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, when she was in a daze, she could still hear Cui Heng going out. It seemed like he didn’t even sleep.

Luo Wanqing didn’t ask him what he was doing in the middle of the night; she knew that Cui Heng becoming her Shadow was a complete overkill. Cui Heng’s role was more like introducing her; when she could take charge of her own, she would change to another Shadow—such a talent, if the Inspection Department used him for another job, it was normal.

After a couple of days like this, on the seventh day of March, Cui Heng did not come to fetch her. Dao Zhen sent a message, saying gently, “Young Master Guanlan has something to do. Agent Liu can go back on her own.”

Luo Wanqing had just exited the formation, and when she heard Dao Zhen’s words, she was a bit puzzled, “What does he have to do?”

Dao Zhen smiled and said, “Today, the Inspection Department summons him. After Agent Liu goes back, don’t go out. Young Master Guanlan asked me to advise you to rest well this night; don’t work too hard.”

Luo Wanqing nodded, but her heart became curious. The Inspection Department had summoned a Shadow over; something big should have happened; what was it? But she knew Dao Zhen wouldn’t tell her, so she didn’t say much. After saying goodbye to Dao Zhen, she returned to her room. After washing up, the maid extinguished the light. She stood at the window to look out at the distant back mountains.

The back of the mountains was quiet. It was where Xie Heng lived, like a faint lamp hanging high in the middle of the mountains. Luo Wanqing gazed at the solitary lamp in the mountains, her heart somewhat overwhelmed. It had been two days; had Li Guiyu come yet?

As she stood on the windowsill frowning in thought, Zhang Yiran was supervising the work in the countryside. The rainy season was approaching, but the outskirts of Dongdu had many unrepaired dykes, so he was sent to build them day and night. He walked along the river and patted the newly built dike. After observing and confirming that there were no problems, he breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the river workers, and said intolerantly, “You guys go and rest first and switch shifts with the next batch of people.”

“Lord Zhang.” The river worker busily said, “You also go and rest. It’s been a day. You’re a scholar. How can you stand this?”

“I’m fine.” Zhang Yiran shook his head and only said, “This repairing matter is urgent. I will accompany you ……”

“Lord!”

Before he finished the words, an anxious voice rang out.

Zhang Yiran hurriedly turned around and saw that his attendant, Zhang Rong, was trotting over. He excitedly said, “My Lord, it’s out the door!”