Song Lin has to head off trouble from an unexpected quarter…
Note: PLEASE DO NOT link any translations on this site to anywhere on Novel Updates, whether it’s the updates list or reading lists.
© 12 and
theresanother.wordpress.com 2017 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the translation without express and written permission from 12 is strictly prohibited.
Ch. 19 | The Colonel from the League
The arrow finally came to rest on a place which turned out to be where Feng Chulian was living in seclusion — Crescent Moon Ridge.
Styx commented with a frown, ‘The High Priest Feng Chulian has been leading a life of seclusion in the mountain for a very long time and never bothers with outside affairs. Other than praying for rain at the Sacrificial Altar every year, he hardly ever leaves his mountain. Why would Dandan go there? Could they actually be acquainted?’
Song Lin inhaled deeply before laughing grimly. ‘Nice, very nice, this little rabbit actually has so many patrons. I want to see just what other surprises he can produce.’
Just then, the huge door of the Song Manor was pushed open and one of the guards came stumbling in, nearly losing his balance as he knelt prostrate before Song Lin. ‘Second Master! Men from the League are here!’
‘The League?’ Styx started and then looked at Song Lin. ‘Most likely they’re here to investigate that rabbit.’
Song Lin was in a bad mood to begin with and upon hearing that men from the organisation he disliked were here, replied coldly, ‘Let them wait outside.’
The iciness of his tone sent shivers up and down the guard’s spine. ‘B-but… those are men from the League… ’
Song Lin said again without any change in expression: ‘Let.them.wait.outside.’
This time the guard replied almost instantly, ‘Understood!’
He got up and walked gloomily back to the entrance. For at that exact moment, government soldiers in uniforms were lined up in more than ten precise rows outside the entrance. At their head stood a tall, ramrod straight officer. Not a stitch was out of place on his dark blue uniform, the medals pinned to his chest which signified his rank were highly polished, he wore black silk gloves and held a slender leather whip. His shiny black boots were spotless¹ and a cap with its brim pulled low shaded his eyes.
He pursed his thin lips and asked, ‘What did Second Master Song say?’
The guard gulped and answered shakily, ‘Second Master said… to let you all wait outside…’
Complete silence descended after he said this.
The officer’s expression, half-hidden by his hat, hardened considerably.
There seemed to be a dark cloud hovering above this group of soldiers.
The guard wailed internally: Of all the dratted luck! Why did I have to be on guard duty today?!! I still want to live for a few more years, aarrgh!!!
After a long, pregnant pause, the officer suddenly raised his hand and adjusted the angle of his hat slightly, the corners of his mouth lifting in a sneer. ‘Oh? This Second Master Song doesn’t seem to understand that when the League wants to investigate a person, nobody can stop us.’
His ghastly sneer almost reduced the guard to jelly. ‘… Col-Colonel… Second Master is very busy today and is really unable to receive visitors so why not… come back another day?’
The colonel paid not the slightest attention to this, instead shoving the guard aside and leading his troops directly into the Song Manor.
The guard: Deuce!
¹ 纖塵不染 xiānchén-bùrǎn. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.
Some servant girls were presently tending to the plants in the courtyard and were frightened by this spectacle. They dropped their garden shears and began whispering to each other behind their hands. ‘What’s happening? Why are men from the League here?’
‘Look how fierce they are, looks like they’ve come with ill intent…’
‘Is Second Master in trouble again? Should we inform Eldest Master so he can do something about it?’
The colonel came to a stop in the middle of the courtyard and told the servants in a severe tone, ‘Tell your Second Master to come out.’
‘Eh? But Colonel…’ The servant girls were all at a loss. What were they to do? The League may have had a lot of authority but this was the Song Manor after all and here, Second Master’s word was law.
The colonel’s voice turned even more forbidding. ‘What are you all waiting for?’
At this point, Styx came striding out, his grey changshan billowing out behind him, not a wrinkle in sight. He fixed his usual codfish eyes on everyone in the yard. ‘What’s all the fuss?’
The guard stumbled in at a run and knelt by Styx’s feet, reporting sotto voce, ‘Your Excellency… they were bent on coming in… I couldn’t stop them…’
The colonel clasped his hands behind his back and raised his chin. ‘The League wants to investigate you. Who cares whether you’re willing or not?’
Styx’s face darkened. ‘Colonel Chen Yang, please get something straight — this is the Song Manor.’
The man addressed as Chen Yang slapped the whip lightly against his palm as he strolled slowly round the courtyard. ‘So what if it’s the Song Manor? You Five Great Clans have been stirring up trouble² in Ridge City and trying to cover it up, but have you become so complacent that you’ve forgotten whose jurisdiction you’re all under? You had better get it straight, no matter how powerful the House of Song is, it still has to submit to the League’s authority. Otherwise, this world would be in chaos.’
² 呼風喚雨 hūfēng-huànyǔ. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com.
Styx glared at him and was just about to speak when Song Lin’s voice suddenly floated over to them. ‘Colonel Chen Yang is right. Styx, don’t be unreasonable.’
Everyone looked over to the source of this voice only to see Song Lin walking out leisurely and greeting Chen Yang.
Chen Yang assumed the fake smile he kept for official use as he said, ‘Second Master Song, it’s been a while.’
Song Lin did not waste time on superficialities and said without preamble, ‘You’ve brought so many soldiers to the Song Manor… what exactly are you investigating?’
Since they had come straight to the point, Chen Yang beckoned to one of his subordinates behind him who promptly presented him with a scroll drawing. Chen Yang swiftly jerked the scroll open. It was a portrait of a youth dressed in chequered dungarees, with a pair of eye-catching rabbit ears on his head and delicately pretty features; the picture of innocent cuteness.
Song Lin narrowed his eyes, stroked his chin and concluded after a long inspection, ‘Hmm… not a very good likeness.’
Chen Yang’s mouth twisted angrily. ‘I wasn’t asking for your opinion of the drawing!’
He took a deep breath to calm himself before saying, ‘Second Master Song, the League will not permit a spirit beast to roam unchecked in Ridge City. This rabbit was capable of slaughtering the tiger-crocodile all by itself so obviously its spiritual calibre is very high. It’s also rumoured that it’s not bonded to any Guardian of the Song clan. Allowing a powerful spirit beast of dubious origin to run loose is a serious threat to the city’s safety. The most appropriate course of action is to have the League take charge of this spirit beast. I hope Second Master Song will turn it over to us without any trouble.’
Song Lin listened very patiently to this lengthy speech and then spread his hands at the end of it. ‘I’m personally happy to cooperate with the League, but… there’s no such rabbit here.’
Chen Yang’s genial expression was instantly replaced by a cold one. ‘I thought you were a sensible man. Do I have to resort to force³ instead?’
Song Lin said resignedly, ‘I don’t know who’s been spreading rumours about me at the League, but I really don’t have such a thing here at the manor. You’re welcome to search the place if you don’t believe me.’
Chen Yang knew that Song Lin had always been arrogant because of the support from his older brother, Song Fuyan. Song Lin probably supposed he wouldn’t dare to search the place which was why he was so cocky but having brought so many men with him, Chen Yang was hell-bent on capturing that spirit beast. Having reached this conclusion, he flicked his whip and said, ‘That being the case, I’ll take you up on your offer!’
His soldiers answered with one voice and began fanning out, flinging open every room door and ransacking every corner.
Styx was instantly outraged. These government soldiers were also too reckless, daring to take such liberties even when they were inside the Song Manor. He walked to Song Lin’s side and asked quietly, ‘Second Master, are we going to tolerate such behaviour from them?’
Song Lin did not bat an eyelid as he replied, ‘Let him search.’
³ 來硬的 láiyìngde. Please consider reading from theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com rather than from novelscraping sites.
After a lengthy search, all the soldiers assembled in the courtyard and reported to Chen Yang, ‘Colonel, we didn’t find the spirit beast shown in the drawing.’
Chen Yang’s expression changed slightly and he clarified with his subordinate, ‘You searched the whole place?’
‘Yes, there really was nothing.’
Chen Yang grunted and finally could only say, ‘Let’s go.’
‘What’s this? Leaving just like that? You people don’t seem to think much of the Song clan.’ Song Lin’s icy tones were heard then, his manner so intimidating that the soldiers found themselves rooted to the spot. ‘Without so much as a by your leave, you bring so many men to my manor, demand that I turn someone over and when you can’t find what you’re looking for, you just leave? When have I, Song Lin, ever suffered such unjust treatment?’
Chen Yang stared at Song Lin. ‘What do you want then?’
Song Lin blew lazily on his nails. ‘Apologise.’
‘You!’ Chen Yang gritted out, his back stiffening even more after a sidelong glance at his subordinates. ‘There were hundreds who witnessed what that rabbit did at the beast colosseum the other time. Just because we couldn’t find him here today doesn’t make him any less of a threat. I advise you not to endanger the entire population of Ridge City for your own selfish gain.’
Song Lin said, ‘Are you implying that I’ve hidden it somewhere?’ He shook his head resignedly. ‘Meaning you don’t trust that your men carried out their duty properly?’ His expression turned grave as he changed topics. ‘But these men were personally trained by you, isn’t that so? The League has so many things to oversee every day — since when is a little rabbit one of them? Or do you have something against me, Colonel?’
Chen Yang was unable to think of any comeback to this and it was a while before he calmed down sufficiently to say, ‘Fine. I’ll apologise.’ He hesitated before saying as quickly as he could, ‘My apologies for having disturbed you!’
Song Lin nodded with satisfaction and then put on a show of magnanimity by smiling amiably and remarking, ‘I’m afraid you’ve made a fruitless trip. If you’re still bent on catching that rabbit, do search the city a few more times. I’m also looking for him so if you have any leads, let me know. My thanks in advance.’
Chen Yang was seething. It was bad enough to be leaving empty-handed, now he was being humiliated into the bargain. His expression turned stony and he marched his men away.
Song Lin gazed after their departing backs. His smiled vanished and he issued orders to Styx, ‘Get ready. We’re going to pay a visit to the Priest’s Manor.’
(Approx. 1871 words)
☆ Please show moral support by reading the original and free translations from hiding in plain sight. © 12 and theresanother.wordpress.com 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the above material without express and written permission from 12 is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to 12 and theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Example here.
©
Translated and edited by 12
hiding in plain sight 
I guess it’s convenient that Dandan ran away when he did. I hope Song Lin and Dandan can have a proper conversation this time. Thanks for the translation!
LikeLiked by 1 person