Chapter 98: A Causal Relationship Out of Nowhere

Tie Xinyuan smiled without answering, simply taking the pouch embroidered with a longevity peach from his backpack and placing it before Shan Yuanxing.

Shan Yuanxing’s understanding of the Fushou Cave far exceeded that of most people. When he saw the pouch embroidered with the longevity peach—the emblem of the Fushou Cave—his expression finally changed. He stroked it in his hands for a long while before saying, "You are but a child. Even if you possess the talent of Gan Luo or the wisdom of Qu Ji, opposing the Fushou Cave will likely bring disaster upon your mother.

"The Fushou Cave is a den of iniquity in the heart of Tokyo City. I have petitioned the Kaifeng County magistrate many times, and have gone to the Kaifeng Prefecture office repeatedly to beg the authorities to root out this malignant tumor, yet all my efforts have come to nothing. As a mere child, what means could you possibly have to eradicate the Fushou Cave?"

Tie Xinyuan shook his head and said, "I have no intention of eradicating the Fushou Cave. I merely saw Butcher Cui beaten to death in the street and retrieved this pouch, fearing that those with greedy hearts might steal the silver within. If that were to happen, the family who paid for it might never see their loved one return."

Shan Yuanxing opened the pouch, pulled out a string covered in knots, and handed it to Tie Xinyuan. "If you can decipher the meaning of these knots, I shall go."

Tie Xinyuan frowned as he took the string, staring at the twenty-plus knots of varying sizes. "Quipu? Knot-records?"

Shan Yuanxing smiled and nodded, pointing at the string. "The Fushou Cave is a labyrinth of winding passages, a world unto itself. Unless one can unlock the secrets of these knots, no one can easily walk into the Fushou Cave and complete a transaction with those wretches."

Tie Xinyuan furrowed his brow. "Tokyo City does not sit high. Whenever there is a major flood or heavy rain, the city suffers from severe waterlogging. Ever since Wang Ben diverted the river to flood Daliang, every dynasty has sought to submerge this city if they could not capture it by force, by digging through the Yellow River or the Hong Canal. I know not how many times this Kaifeng City has been rebuilt. It is a city built upon cities, so it is no surprise that there are strange places beneath it. However, I do not believe those wretches possess the courage or wisdom to explore its depths.

"Therefore, I suspect their range of activity cannot exceed the scope documented in the *Tokyo Architectural Manual* and the *Construction Standards*. These wretches generally lack high intelligence; to walk through a maze of underground tunnels, they must have a target to cross-reference. I believe this knotted string is actually the key that tells one how to navigate the Fushou Cave. If one can decipher the meaning of each knot, then the Fushou Cave will hold no more secrets."

Shan Yuanxing placed the knotted string on the table, turned, and went back into his room. He returned shortly after holding a red cloth bundle. Upon opening it, it revealed another string covered in knots, though this one had fewer than Butcher Cui's.

Tie Xinyuan laid the two strings side-by-side on the table and laughed. "Do you see it? The knots on these two strings follow the same logic. If you look closely, you will find that both were crafted by the same hand, merely at different times."

Shan Yuanxing nodded. "You are correct. I obtained this five years ago after I killed one of those wretches."

Tie Xinyuan was startled. He looked up at this old scholar, who was watching the sky with his hands tucked into his sleeves, never imagining that this old man possessed the courage to kill.

"You shouldn't have said that."

"It matters not. I am now alone, with no ties to bind me. Why shouldn't one speak of killing? Do you think the authorities would come to hold me accountable for killing a piece of filth?"

Tie Xinyuan did not want to say more to a murderer. He stuffed both strings into his backpack, bowed, and said, "I will return to study these two strings; such things should not be beyond me."

Shan Yuanxing smiled. "Heaven has never been fair. Some are born with silver spoons, others are born into imperial nobility. A person with heaven-sent wisdom like yours is rare in a century. Treasure it, and do not waste Heaven's favor."

Tie Xinyuan pointed to his own head and asked with a smile, "Are you not surprised? Or have you met a child even more brilliant than I?"

Shan Yuanxing said with a hint of pain, "You will meet one."

After uttering that cryptic remark, Shan Yuanxing returned to sharpening his blade on the whetstone. This time, the lubricant the old man used was a bottle of Lihua Bai wine; he would take a sip himself, then spray a mouthful onto the blade, as if drinking with the sword.

Xiao Qiao, who had been waiting outside, saw Tie Xinyuan emerge and hurried over. "Did that old man agree? I bet he wouldn't dare go to the Fushou Cave. The neighbors all say he’s terrified, spending his days sharpening blades instead of doing anything useful. He used to have excuses—his mother wasn't dead, his daughter wasn't married—but now he has no excuses, and still, we never see him take his blade into the Fushou Cave. You chose the wrong person."

Tie Xinyuan gritted his teeth and said, "I’ve suddenly realized that the older you get, the sillier you become."

"It's true! I've decided to stop thinking about things. Since you help me think, and any idea I struggle to come up with gets overturned by you anyway, I might as well not think at all. It’s easier that way, and it saves me from making mistakes that annoy you."

Tie Xinyuan blinked. "You must continue to think. Even if I reject your ideas, you must keep trying."

Xiao Qiao’s eyes darted around, and she smiled. "Then I will think, since you said so."

Tie Xinyuan nodded. "That's right, I said so."

Xiao Qiao scratched her head and whispered, "Then I'll say it."

"Go ahead."

"You said you were worried that Master Deng would hire people from the Fushou Cave to hunt us down, so you had Butcher Cui thrown into prison to sever their connection. Now that Butcher Cui is dead and in prison, just as you said, we should be safe. Why do you still need to go to all this trouble?"

Tie Xinyuan shook his head. "Things are not as simple as you say. Once you are tainted by karma, it can cling to you like a maggot in the bone. Look, the cause of this was you stealing wine. We needed to protect you, so we caused Butcher Cui’s death. By killing him, we incurred the karma of a human life. That karma isn't settled yet. There was life-saving money in Butcher Cui's pouch. If that money isn't delivered to the Fushou Cave, that person will die.

"You see? Your act of stealing wine has escalated into a matter of life and death. If we want to resolve this karma, we must return the money to the Fushou Cave and redeem that person. Only then can things return to their normal track. Otherwise, in the end, it will all boil down to paying for a life—very likely your own. This is what we call retribution."

Seeing Xiao Qiao’s dismissive expression after he finished, Tie Xinyuan smiled. "I know you may not take this to heart, but it doesn't matter. We have time to watch the changes in the world slowly. You will realize the truth of these words eventually. The older one gets, the more one believes in this. When you are old and can no longer walk, you will realize that what I said today was gold."

After parting with Xiao Qiao, Tie Xinyuan arrived at his family's shop on Zaozhong Alley.

The shop wasn't officially open yet, but with the liquor brewing license, they had started selling wine. It wasn't high-quality, and the quantity was small, so it didn't attract the attention of the large wine houses. Instead, many smaller shops wanted to affiliate themselves with Seventh Brother's Soup Noodle Shop to sell their own wine.

The Great Song's liquor monopoly was ruthless. The government held a monopoly on all yeast, and private individuals had to pay high prices to the government to buy it. If someone were caught hoarding more than ten jin of yeast, they would be exiled three thousand miles to Lingnan, where they could brew their own wine to drink alone.

The famous Seventh Brother's Soup Noodle Shop would not open until after the eighth day of the first lunar month; otherwise, it was said to be bad for the coming year's harvest. Tie Xinyuan didn't understand the origin of this, and his mother wouldn't explain it, so he stopped asking—asking only made her angry. Thus, while other noodle shops were bustling, his own shop primarily sold sausages, side dishes, and wine.

Sausages needed to age for ten or fifteen days to be delicious. The ones currently being eaten were from the first batch smoked; the cured meats weren't ready yet, so eating them was no different from eating plain steamed meat, save for a slightly better texture and flavor.

"The manager of the Liudehe Trading House came to see us. I don't know how he found out we have a brewing license, but he insists on merging our shop with his. He wants us to take a forty percent share while he takes sixty percent. Son, what do you think?" Wang Rouhua asked from behind the high counter, looking down at her son as he entered.

"Liudehe is the largest shop on Zaozhong Alley. I hear they have branches in Taiyuan, Huaizhong, and the Jingdong Circuit. They are the best in the business. If we merge, we won't have to manage anything, and they would be delighted. It wouldn't be strange if we became wealthy within three to five years," Tie Xinyuan said, tossing his backpack onto the table with a smile.

Wang Rouhua knew without looking that her son wasn't interested. The license was something he had brought home, so if he didn't want to use it, that was fine. Neither of them cared for that kind of wealth, nor did they lack for it; there was no need to turn the Emperor's favor into mere coin.

If the license was only for their own use, that was fine. It could probably be passed down for a hundred years without issue. As long as they didn't try to make all the private wine in the Great Song come from their license, then as long as the Great Song dynasty existed, that license would remain valid. It was, after all, a grace bestowed by the Emperor upon a common household, meant to be passed down through the generations.