Volume One: The Dragon Rises from the Wilderness Chapter 115: Daoist Guiyuan

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The ship’s galley lay at the stern of the cabin. Fireproof stoves were built along the walls, while chopping boards, firewood, rice jars, and water urns stood arranged around them. A window opened toward the stern, allowing refuse and slops to be emptied overboard and offering a view of the rudder and the churning waves. In one corner lay a mattress, presumably where the ship’s cook slept.

It was an indispensable place.

The meals for twenty or thirty people all came from here, yet the galley was partitioned off by the cabin walls, forming an independent little world of its own.

By now, the wooden buckets containing the food had already been carried out. Though the old man who prepared the meals looked advanced in years, he was hale and hearty, his hands and feet quick and nimble. He was cleaning the stoves when, apparently sensing someone behind him, he said without turning his head, “There are rules for sailing at sea: four meals a day, with no rest day or night.”

As he spoke, he tossed down the rag in his hand and ordered, “What are you standing there for? Get to work!”

Yu Ye stood behind the old man, still studying him intently. He could not help staring for a moment, but he soon rolled up his sleeves, picked up the rag, and began wiping the stoves.

The old man sat down on the mattress, lifted a small wine flask to his lips, took a sip, and let out a satisfied sigh. Then, with his eyes half closed, he said, “Four meals to cook every day—trying to work this old man to death, are they? I’m not putting up with that. I’ll have to catch a few servants to order around!”

The meaning was clear: he was the only one doing the cooking, and he had no intention of suffering for it. The Chen family’s young men were merely servants for him to command at will.

And Yu Ye had naturally become one of those servants.

He silently wiped down the stoves. Once everything was in order, he tossed aside the rag, pulled over a stool, and sat down. Before he could speak, however, the old man smiled faintly.

“Lad, is there something you want?”

“Heh!”

Yu Ye could not help grinning as well. “There is indeed something I do not understand. I beg you, Senior, to enlighten me!”

The “Senior” he addressed was the gambling old man he had encountered in Chenling Town.

That same old man had later appeared at Chenling Mountain, Beiqi Mountain, and the Pill Peak Inn in Kunshui Town, after which he had vanished without a trace. Who could have imagined that Yu Ye would meet him once more upon the vast sea? Yet the man had transformed from an old hand of the martial world into a cook with an apron around his waist and the smell of grease and smoke clinging to him.

Yu Ye’s shock and bewilderment were beyond words. He did not raise an alarm, but quietly entered the galley. He had already made up his mind to uncover the answers to the doubts in his heart.

The old man seemed to have expected this. He held out his hand.

“Hand it over.”

“Oh?”

“Wine, of course! Asking questions is not difficult, but one must honor one’s teacher and show respect before seeking instruction. Bring me a jar of wine, or there will be no discussion!”

Yu Ye suddenly understood and produced a jar of wine with a flip of his hand.

Fortunately, he had brought several jars with him. Today, they had finally come in handy.

“Hehe!”

The old man took the jar and set it on the floor. Nodding in satisfaction, he said magnanimously, “Very well. Ask whatever you like!”

“Senior, may I ask your name?”

Yu Ye raised a hand in greeting, his expression expectant.

“Guiyuanzi!”

The old man looked no different from when they had first met. Though his beard and hair were white, his face was lean and refined, and his bearing extraordinary. Yet when he stroked his beard and smiled, a hint of sly cunning shone between his brows and eyes.

“Senior’s name sounds like that of a Daoist cultivator.”

“Who says I am not a Daoist cultivator?”

“You… I remember that you came from the martial world…”

“This old man is a Daoist cultivator from the martial world.”

Yu Ye’s thoughts became hopelessly tangled, and for a moment he could not find his way through them. He could only change the subject. “At the foot of Beiqi Mountain, I buried two corpses. Yet they vanished that very night. Was that your doing, Senior?”

“Hand it over.”

“Oh?”

“Wine! When asking someone for a favor, one must first show proper courtesy. Bring me a jar, or there will be no discussion!”

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The old man called himself Guiyuanzi, a Daoist cultivator from the martial world, yet at this moment he merely stuck out his beard and held out his hand with utter solemnity.

Yu Ye was stunned for a moment, then had no choice but to produce another jar of wine.

One question, one jar.

Guiyuanzi had certainly not changed his greedy nature.

After accepting the jar, he unexpectedly countered with a question. “What you just mentioned—did you see it with your own eyes?”

Yu Ye answered truthfully, “I did not.”

“Hehe!”

Guiyuanzi stroked his beard and laughed smugly. “Since you have neither proof nor evidence, what you speak of has nothing to do with this old man.”

“Senior!”

Yu Ye hurriedly said, “That night, you toyed with my two brothers. I saw it myself from the tree…”

“Nonsense. What were you doing up a tree?”

“I…”

Guiyuanzi looked at the two jars of wine before him, delighted beyond measure. “Hehe, go on. Ask your questions.”

Yu Ye, however, clamped his mouth shut, his expression wary.

He had the belated realization that he had been cheated.

Yet even knowing he had been cheated, he could do nothing about it. Who was to blame when he had delivered himself straight to the old man’s door? He deserved to be outmaneuvered. Or rather, from the moment he had stepped aboard the sea vessel, he had already fallen into the old man’s scheme.

After a silent pause, Yu Ye produced another jar of wine. Before Guiyuanzi could reach for it, he tucked it against his chest and carefully phrased his question.

“Were you the one who sent a message to A-Hu, helping me avoid paying the fare and revealing my origins? And how did you come to be the ship’s cook…”

Before he could finish, Guiyuanzi once again reached for the jar.

Yu Ye turned aside to evade him and continued, “When Gan Xing and Qiu Yuan returned to Qizhou, was it because they had betrayed the Cloud River Sect, or were they deliberately doing so in order to hunt down the disciples of the Daoist sect?”

Guiyuanzi kept his hand extended, impatient beyond endurance. “My wine!”

Yu Ye remained unmoved and urged him, “Please answer first, Senior!”

Unable to seize the jar, Guiyuanzi grew furious. He flung back his sleeve and said, “Hmph! You have asked six separate questions and brought out only one jar of wine. Are you trying to bully this old man?”

Yu Ye was baffled. “I asked only one question. Why are you angry, Senior?”

“Ha! Just because you asked it all in one breath, you call it one question? What kind of ridiculous logic is that?”

Guiyuanzi blew out his beard and glared, exasperated. “You asked about the message, probing into my background. You asked about the fare, touching upon my relationship with the Chen family. You asked about Gan Xing and Pan Yuan, implying that I had colluded with the Cloud River Sect. You hid questions within questions and asked six things in all. You are still wet behind the ears, yet you dare play tricks on an old man. Outrageous!”

“Senior is overthinking it.”

Yu Ye turned his palm over, and another jar of wine appeared in his arms. He gestured toward it. “I ask in all sincerity. Please clear up my doubts, Senior!”

“Hmph!”

Guiyuanzi snorted disdainfully, but his eyes remained fixed on the jar. He tugged at his beard and struggled inwardly for a moment before shaking his head.

“Very well. Let this old man take the loss. Listen carefully. A-Hu and I have no personal relationship. He agreed to take me out to sea, and I agreed to tend the fire and cook for him. We each get what we need. However, I was the one who told A-Hu that trouble was certain to arise on this voyage, and that only a lad named Yu Ye could help him escape the danger. Naturally, he refused to charge you a fare. As for Gan Xing, Qiu Yuan, or the Cloud River Sect, none of that has anything to do with this old man. I merely knew that the two men were sworn enemies of the Daoist disciples.”

At this point, a crafty look appeared in his eyes. He continued, “Now you ought to be asking why A-Hu listens to me, shouldn’t you? Hehe, buy one and get one free. I’ll answer that one without charge. Because I am Guiyuanzi—the one whom the martial world calls Daoist Guiyuan. That is right. Do not call me ‘Senior’; your little tricks cannot fool this old man. Remember this: from now on, call me Guiyuanzi or Daoist. Now, hand it over.”

Before Yu Ye could loosen his grip, the jar in his arms was snatched away.

“Hehe! Out here on the open sea, even silver cannot buy wine!”

Guiyuanzi gazed at the four jars before him, his eyes shining. He possessed none of the composure expected of an elder. Instead, he had gone from gambler to drunkard, and now urged him eagerly, “Lad, keep asking your questions. Hey, don’t go!”

Yu Ye had already risen to his feet. He spread his hands. “I have no wine left.”

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Guiyuanzi sighed regretfully. “Oh, come now. What kind of cultivator travels without carrying dozens of jars of wine?”

“Old Daoist, I will seek your instruction another day.”

Yu Ye cupped his hands, turned, and walked away.

“What do you mean, ‘Old Daoist’? You should address me respectfully as Daoist…”

Guiyuanzi was just about to remind him, but the young man had already disappeared. He could not help grumbling, “Hmph, that sly little brat is just as mercenary as any common trader!”

Then he looked at the four jars of wine, and his brows rose with delight.

“Hehe, no wonder my eyelids were twitching this morning. Fortune was clearly meant to come to this old man…”

Yu Ye returned to the cabin, where everyone was still eating.

He went to the place where he slept, ignored the suspicious looks of Tao Feng and the others, and lay down without a word. Picking up his bamboo hat, he covered his face with it.

After visiting the galley, most of the doubts in his heart had vanished. There was no need to question Guiyuanzi further, especially since the few jars of wine he possessed had all been given to the man as gifts.

Guiyuanzi, the man known throughout the martial world as Daoist Guiyuan?

A gambling addict had become a drunkard, and now he had turned out to be a Daoist. How many of his words were true?

For the moment, it seemed that whatever he said concerning other people was probably true, while not a single word concerning himself could be trusted.

At the foot of Beiqi Mountain, he had clearly been the one to move the corpses, yet he had denied it outright. That alone revealed the measure of his honesty. If Yu Ye was a sly little trickster, then Guiyuanzi was a thoroughly seasoned old hand, a shameless rogue, and a cunning old fox. Yet without evidence, there was nothing Yu Ye could do to him. All he could do was leave the matter unspoken and remain more vigilant in the future.

Fortunately, Guiyuanzi had nothing to do with the Immortal Sect of Qizhou. But what sort of person was he, really…?

In the afternoon, the call for the next meal rang out once more.

Yu Ye took a flatbread onto the deck and walked alone to the bow, where he leaned against the cargo and sat down.

By this point, the sea vessel had traveled so far that no land or mountain could be seen in any direction. There were scarcely any seabirds left. All that remained was an endless expanse of ocean, its rolling waves surging without cease.

The sails bellied in the wind, driving the great ship swiftly forward. In a single day, it could travel several hundred, even over a thousand miles. A three-month voyage was therefore no small distance. In other words, Qizhou and the Great Marsh must lie somewhere between fifty and one hundred thousand miles apart…

“Why did the Chen family choose to set sail in the seventh month?”

As Yu Ye sat there chewing his flatbread and letting the sea wind blow over him, a petite figure settled down beside him.

Meng Qingqing had arrived without invitation. Then she answered her own question.

“The seventh month marks the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, when the northern winds blow southward. The sea vessel can ride those winds straight to Qizhou. In the spring of the following year, the warm winds travel north, allowing the vessel to return with them to the Great Marsh!”

Yu Ye glanced back at her.

A disciple of the Daoist sect actually understood the art of navigation?

Meng Qingqing pressed her lips into a smile and continued, “Do you know how one distinguishes the sea routes upon the open ocean?”

Yu Ye shook his head.

With the sun, moon, and stars, determining direction was not difficult. But how did one identify the sea routes themselves?

Meng Qingqing continued speaking on her own. “Naturally, by using nautical charts and a compass.”

Yu Ye had never seen either nautical charts or a compass. He could only praise her sincerely. “Your knowledge is truly broad, Fellow Daoist.”

Meng Qingqing smiled sweetly again. “Everything I have said came from the young master—that is, from A-Hu. I do not dare keep it to myself, so I came to tell you honestly.”

She was kind-hearted, after all.

Of all the people aboard the ship, she was the only one with whom he could hold even a few words of conversation.

Then her smile faded, and she suddenly switched to telepathic speech.

“Several of the senior brothers have already decided to eliminate Gan Xing and Qiu Yuan. What should you and I do?”

Yu Ye was faintly startled. He fell silent.