MatHaz
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Chapter 203: Judgment
🕑 Added 2022-12-28 23:00:03 +0000 UTC~~~
Song Daiyu listens to his story. At first, she does so with amused interest, but that amusement fades before Liu Jin hits the halfway mark, leaving only interest behind. Disgust, shock, and disbelief are the next to take turns playing across her face. Her eyebrows rising and falling, and her skin paling and greening as Liu Jin tells his tale.
In the end, only pure, simple shock remains on her countenance.
“I do not wish for you to be telling the truth,” Song Daiyu tells him once they are alone. Yi Jiao has long since retired to the accommodations provided to them by Manager Xiong, Liu Jin’s story having proven too much for her to handle.
“Does it sound like I am lying? Liu Jin asks her.
Song Daiyu does not reply immediately. She takes a long drag from her pipe and breathes a long stream of smoke into the air.
“It sounds like you made the most inconceivable story possible just to shock me,” she scoffs, the pipe twirling between her fingers. “The only thing missing was a surprise appearance by the Wandering Wind.”
She tries her best to sound angry, but Liu Jin does not fail to notice how tightly she holds on to her pipe or how it trembles as she waves it around.
It is only natural. Liu Jin didn’t just tell her he encountered one of the three major powers from beyond the Dead Plains. He told her that they had agents in the Eternal Flame Clan, that they were very likely present in the Storm Dragon Empire, and that Duke Lai might be knowingly or unknowingly working with them.
It is a lot to take in.
“I understand how outlandish it all sounds,” Liu Jin says, drawing a small laugh from Song Daiyu. “But do you believe I am lying to you?”
Song Daiyu’s green eyes peer into his for a long time.
“I have never known you to be a dishonest man,” Song Daiyu says before trailing off.
“But that was a long time ago,” Liu Jin finishes for her with no small amount of sympathy and understanding.
Old acquaintances is how Song Daiyu described them, but even that term is too kind. They talked, fought in a tournament match, and talked some more. It has been years since then. The time since they last saw each other far outstrips any length of time they ever spend together.
They are strangers with familiar faces. Nothing more.
“Indeed,” Song Daiyu says sadly. “We meet again after so long, and you warn me against doing business with Duke Lai. However, you do so wearing the colors of the Eternal Flame Clan.” She points at his robes with her pipe. “Your interests and mine are opposed. Why wouldn’t you lie to me? You have every reason to.”
She looks expectantly at him. As if waiting for him to deny it.
On this, however, Liu Jin must disappoint her.
“You are right,” he says. “I am here as a disciple of the Eternal Flame Clan.” He frowns and pauses. “Allow me to rephrase. It is no mere formality that has put me here. I joined the Eternal Flame Clan so I could be here today. I am fully invested in this mission.”
“And for your mission, you would ask me to turn my back on a deal that would greatly boost the reputation and power of the Song Clan as well as my status.” Song Daiyu sighs theatrically and moves to sit next to him. She leans in so her face is dangerously close to his. “Would you really be so cruel?”
Even though her dress somehow slips below her shoulders, and the scent of lavender surrounds him, Liu Jin’s gaze remains on Song’s face. He has far too much experience with Lu Mei to be swayed by something like this.
“I would,” he says.
Song Daiyu’s face falls.
“Even though you know I am acting in concert with your wife, you will still ask me to stop?” She tries next
At that, Liu Jin falters. It does not last more than a second, but it is enough for a flicker of doubt to appear on his face.
“I… am still unsure how I feel about that,” Liu Jin admits. “I never expected anyone else to be on a road parallel to mine. Now that I say it aloud, I realize how foolish that makes me.”
After hearing what happened to Eastern Port City, Xiao Fang would surely have his hands full handling the Xiao Sect and the many attempts to usurp his position that would ensue due to his father’s death. Meanwhile, the Divine Frozen Palace would not allow Xiao Shuang to put herself in danger, whether to aid her brother or to avenge Eastern Port City. She would be safe but perhaps not content.
Those had been the assumptions he had been working under.
How naive of him. Time passes, and people will not be content to stay still. The world neither revolves nor depends on Liu Jin’s actions.
“Then won’t you reconsider your stance?” Song Daiyu asks. Just as doubt flickers on Liu Jin’s face, a glimmer of hope shines in Song’s eyes.
However, once more, Liu Jin must disappoint her.
“No,” he says sadly. “It is true I still do not know how to feel about this, but I do not intend to turn my back on the Eternal Flame Clan. I have met many people and made several commitments. I do not intend to betray them.”
“I imagined you’d say something like that.” Song Daiyu sighs and places a hand over her forehead. She takes another drag of her pipe. “Oh, why did you not go to the Divine Frozen Palace after Eastern Port City fell? We would not be having this problem if you had!”
“I did not think that possibility was open to me at the time,” Liu Jin replies, startling Song, who perhaps had intended her question to be purely rhetorical. “You might have thought well of me, but to the Divine Frozen Place, I was merely an inconvenience. My marriage to Xiao Shuang was simply an obstacle that prevented them from taking Xiao Shuang right away. I was nothing more than a speck of dust that happened to fall on their prized jewel. If I had gone there, even assuming they believed who I was, I doubt they’d have allowed me to talk to anyone important, let alone see Xiao Shuang.”
He smiles sadly.
“That is why I sent you that letter. You had the name and relevance I lacked and could see Xiao Shuang where I could not. I never once considered the Divine Frozen Palace would go as far as to move their influence in the court so they could declare war on the Storm Empire.”
Even now, it seems incredible to him that they are doing exactly that. Certainly, the attack on the Eastern Port City could be considered an insult to them, but the Divine Frozen Palace has already obtained everything they could want from the Xiao Sect. They merely needed to go through the motions of saving face.
“I see. So that’s why,” Song Daiyu mutters. “I suppose I cannot blame you for thinking like that. It is only natural. Still, if a name was all you needed, you could have come with me to the Divine Frozen Palace! Had you kept trying to find me instead of vanishing, we could have gone to Shuang together!”
“That… is something I could have done,” Liu Jin admits, thinking back to why he did not do so at the time. “Perhaps the possibility did not occur to me. I was not at my best back then.”
Perhaps he did not believe Song Daiyu would actually deliver his letter.
Or maybe…
“Has Xiao Shuang…” Liu Jin begins talking, then stops. The words suddenly seem stuck in his throat. He swallows and pushes on. “Has she talked about me?”
“Of course she has!” Song Daiyu rolls her eyes as though it should have been obvious. She looks ready to say more, but Liu Jin’s next words stop her.
“Does she resent me?”
“What?” Song Daiyu blinks at the suddenly stone-faced Liu Jin.
“Does she resent me?” He asks again. “I made things quite clear in my letter. Had I not helped that soldier… Had I possessed the presence of mind to just talk to someone… Things… Things could have gone differently.”
As he talks, realization gradually dawns on Song Daiyu’s face. “Ah,” she says, “so that’s what it was. You never tried to visit her because you were afraid she would blame you for the loss of her hometown.”
Liu Jin does not say anything.
That is enough of an answer.
“You are such a fool, Jin,” Song Daiyu says, shaking her head. “I have been that girl’s friend all this time, and I can tell you that whenever she speaks to me of you, which is quite often, it is always with unbearably sweet fondness. She never once thought to blame you.”
Those words alone take a weight from Liu Jin’s shoulders. A shadow is cast off from his back.
But not completely.
Not until he sees Xiao Shuang again and hears it from her lips.
“Fear and shame. How unsightly of you,” Song Daiyu says, pointing at him with her pipe. “Had it not been for those, you’d have gone to the Divine Frozen Palace, and things would be much better now.”
“Would they?” Liu Jin asks. “It is because I joined the Eternal Flame Clan that I am in a position to warn you of those beyond the Dead Plains.”
If he had never joined the Eternal Flame Clan, he would have never been sent to Dead Plains. He would have never encountered the Death Fashioning Scripture. He would have never talked to Patriarch Feng and learned how deeply embedded their spies were in the Eternal Flame Clan.
Without all that, it would have never once occurred to him the puppeteers could be people from beyond the Dead Plains. He would still be blind to the machinations of the powers from the other side.
“You still insist on that story.”
“I do,” Liu Jin replies.
“Do you really believe Duke Lai is working with people from Beyond the Dead Plains?” The doubt in Song Daiyu’s voice is undeniable. “I would imagine his lands would be far richer if that were the case.”
“It is not certain he is working with them. However, Elder Fa of the Eternal Flame Clan is. It is he who has helped shape our policy in this region, and it is his underling who is working with Duke Lai,” Liu Jin says. “Whatever the goals of those Beyond the Plains might be in this place, I doubt they will allow the Divine Frozen Palace to do as they plan.”
Song Daiyu’s lips form a thin line.
“If I listen to you and you’re wrong, I wouldn’t be just walking away from a fairly lucrative deal. My actions could be taken as an insult to the Divine Frozen Palace. It could ruin everything I have achieved so far.”
“But if I am right and you don’t listen to me, you will be placing yourself, the Five Blessings Group, and even the Divine Frozen Palace in danger.”
“I know!” Song says, losing her temper. Her green eyes flash angrily. “Damn you, I know!”
Liu Jin wisely stays quiet after that. No one speaks for several minutes.
“I apologize,” Song Daiyu says at last. “That was unseemly of me.”
“You face a difficult choice. It is understandable,” Liu Jin replies. “I do not envy you.”
“What would you do if I decide I don’t believe you?” Song Daiyu asks him seriously.
“I would ask you to at least not tell Duke Lai what I have told you in this room, though I would not blame you if you did. Who knows? It might even make him think,” Liu Jin replies. “I would also ask you not to try to hand us over to him. I would hate fighting you.”
Song Daiyu chuckles. “Always so honest.”
“I am willing to subject myself to any test you might have to verify the veracity of my story,” Liu Jin tells her seriously. “I know the Five Blessing Group is bound to have ways of ascertaining whether someone is lying. Whether it is painful or dangerous, I will submit myself to them if it helps you believe me.”
Song Daiyu does not answer immediately.
“My grandfather once told me strong cultivators do not change easily.” She looks him in the eyes. “You have become a strong cultivator, Liu Jin.”
Liu Jin’s eyebrows rise slightly. “Do you trust your judgment of me that much?”
“Of course not,” Song Daiyu says, much to his surprise. “If our one meeting was all we had, I would not believe you. It is not even because of what I have gained thanks to your letter of recommendation. I have already told you, haven’t I? I am your wife’s best friend. Do you have any idea how many stories that woman has of you? I took you for a cold man, but it seems you were quite the cute child.”
Liu Jin blushes. She laughs.
“So no, Liu Jin. I will not trust my judgment or my memories of you. I will trust Xiao Shuang’s judgment. Thank the Heavens you were blessed with such a good wife.”
Liu Jin smiles. “Always.”
It is Song Daiyu’s turn to smile. “You two really are similar,” she says. “And don’t think we are not going to talk about the woman you are with later. Please, tell me she’s at least prettier than the one you brought here. A mere beauty is simply not enough.”
“Rest assured, Lu Mei is not just a beauty but a great beauty,” Liu Jin says with confidence.
“Interesting.” Liu Jin can tell Song Daiyu wishes to ask more but forces herself not to. “But no matter, let us talk business. What will you do now?”
“Well.” Liu Jin thinks about his options before coming to a decision. “Since I am in a Five Blessings Auction House, I wish to purchase something from you.”
“Oh, what is it?”
“A sample of Duke Lai’s Qi.”
~~~
Mini-Character List
Liu Jin: Our protagonist. Still carries some guilt. Getting better.
Song Daiyu: A member of the Five Blessings Group. Friend of Xiao Shuang. Driven to smoke by Liu Jin.
AN:
What would have happened if Liu Jin had gone to the Divine Frozen Palace? Would things be better? Would they be worse? Who knows? It’s always interesting to think about the roads not taken. At least, that’s how it is for me. There’s just so many possibilities, you know?
Sometimes, I even think about how the story could have gone if Eastern Port City had never fallen.
See you all next year!
Edit: Was Liu Jin saying the name of the Death Fashioning Scripture out loud a mistake from me? Yep. Fixed now.
Comments
The Tallest Tree
Very well done, an enjoyable but believable reunion
Catherine
If I remember this right he was 12 when it fell and joined the eternal flame clan when he was 14. He has been there for less than a year so he is 14/15 I think.
GloryHound
question is there a timeline? How old was jin when eastern port fell? how old is he now?
burning_the_paper
I don't know how beneficial the path he has taken will be, especially in the short-term. The rest of the world will not quietly sit by and let him impose his will upon them, and this goes doubly for those in positions of power. His father's goals were also noble, to punish the traitors and the wicked, and it all ended in a bloodbath. Also, we don't know what his Dao, and therefore the shape of his ultimate goal, may turn out to be. Feng Zhi is not completely wrong for calling Liu Jin a snake and distrusting him. And let's not forget that Lu Mei was right, Liu Jin does not actually care for most people as individuals - he might feel bad about having to kill or sacrifice some of them, but ultimately he will do so if he believes it will benefit the many.
Yoav
I didn't realise that one can buy samples of qi.
Catherine
Thank you for the chapter 😄 I’m so glad Song has turned up, I’m really enjoying her moments so far. Have a fantastic break and a happy New Year!
Catherine
He only speaks about what happened in the Dead Plains and after not what happened before then. Also she leaves before he finished so I doubt she’s heard anything he really wants kept quiet
Robert Davidson
It's sad, but the fall of Eastern Port City may well prove to be beneficial overall on the long run. Without that impetus, Jin wouldn't be on the collision course with "might makes right" that he's locked into now.
Robert Davidson
Song Daiyu was pretty clearly set up to be one of Jin's wives right from her introduction. Her friendship with Xiao Shuang only confirms that - and gives a good reason for her to be around more often, now that Shuang is active again in the plot.
V
Don't fully follow why its okay for Yi Jiao to hear Liu Jin's story here, isn't his backstory something of a secret? Or maybe I forgot some older parts of the story that are relevant here.
LordMarksman
Honestly I wouldn't mind reading "What if?" chapters based on if things played out so and so by Liu Jin doing this instead of that. I do wonder what might have happened if he did travel with Xiao Fang and helped him rebuild the Xiao sect.
Amelgar
>Song Daiyui in two places instead of Daiyu
JunglyBush
For the scroll Lei Kong recovered, dummy :P
burning_the_paper
I don't want to sound like PSA commercial, but wouldn't Song be around Liu Jin's age, and she's already a habitual smoker? Also, I really wish this story avoids the most irritating Xianxia trope where the protagonist constantly leaves his wives behind - outside of his servant Lu Mei is the person that is most familiar with Liu Jin and knows most of his secrets, it's a pity that she almost never seems to be with him when he's on one of his escapades. I am curious to see how Song, Lu Mei and Xiao Shuang interact with each other, if indeed Song is going to be one of the future wives. Xiao Shuang may very well be trying to get Song to marry Liu Jin, since she is the one that first entertained the idea of him having multiple partners.
burning_the_paper
He might not have used their actual name, and if you read the text he says he met one of the three great powers from beyond the Dead Plains.
Chunq
Ave Xia Gam Y, A Very Cliche Xianxia Monogamy Story.
Yoav
He put protection talismans on the room + the 5 blessings has their own protection. Also wasn't he talking about that story with jiao in the room?
Hunter8k
Why is Liu Jin openly speaking the name of 'death fashioning scripture'? Didn't Patriarch Eternal Flame warn him against that?
Argivian
Ah, so he can test if the Duke has a flesh bud
Mat Haz
Shoot! Yeah...
Blahful
First!!! Did you mean death fashioning scripture? Instead of embracing..
