Chapter 102: A Tale of Truths and Lies

Chapter 102: The Tale of Truth and Lies

Talking about heroes with Dan Yuanxing is a sorrowful topic.

Storytellers in Washizi Market never lack tales of heroes. Whether it’s the grand feat of Pangu creating the world, or the tragic figure of Xingtian who, even after losing his head, still wielded his axe to confront the Yellow Emperor, or the ambition of Zu Ti rising at cockcrow to lead a northern expedition, or the fearless Qin king breaking through Dou Jiande’s army with a hundred riders—these stories leave listeners wide-eyed and full of admiration.

But Dan Yuanxing’s kind of actions fail to spark any interest in the storytellers, and likewise, the audience finds no fascination in his tale.

A hero is supposed to reach for the moon in the ninth heaven, or dive into the depths of the five oceans to catch turtles. Even beating to death one or two tigers or killing a couple of crocodiles would earn some fame. Yet a hero like Dan Yuanxing, who was broken with two fractured bones and had his head beaten into a pig’s snout, can only lie quietly in bed, utterly ignored.

Tie Xinyuan understood that heroes like Dan Yuanxing were the most common in everyday life. It was precisely because of such heroes that the moral edifice built by the ancestors of Huaxia did not collapse. Their deeds were like bricks, forming the foundation of all social moral systems.

“I couldn’t hold back any longer. If I kept sharpening, I’d have no blade left to hone… In a moment of recklessness, I took my knapsack and went… I never intended to survive. Underground, the sewers twisted and turned. I ignored every fork and just followed the first waterway I saw… I walked for nearly two hours… then my head took a heavy blow…

When I came to, someone asked what I was doing there. I said I was there to redeem a person, and mentioned that butcher Cui had been stabbed to death with an awl for snatching a child. I found the Fushou peach knapsack and didn’t want a child to die because of a misunderstanding, so I came…”

After listening to Dan Yuanxing’s broken account, Tie Xinyuan gave him a bowl of dark medicine, helped wipe his mouth, and said, “Rest well and heal. Now we wait for them to contact you. If they return the knapsack to you, it means they’ve started to accept you. I think you might become a new butcher Cui.”

Dan Yuanxing smiled, “I still feel sturdy. Let’s take our time with this. You’re too young and I’m too old. I only wish to help you uncover the truth about those people before I die.

Heh, when you become an official, you’ll be able to destroy this den of evil in one fell swoop.”

Tie Xinyuan looked at him seriously and asked, “How can you be so sure I’ll make this my life’s mission?”

Dan Yuanxing laughed, “I’ve lived over seventy years. Though I’ve made no progress in scholarship for decades, my eyes are not blind.

It’s funny, but I believe you’re a shrewd child, already planning for your future at such a young age.

The Fushou Cave is a cancer in Tokyo City. The authorities have tried and failed to root it out multiple times. It seems this situation will continue.

From now on, you start investigating Fushou Cave. By the time you become an official, no one in Tokyo will know it better than you. If then you can destroy it in one go, hahaha, that will be a great achievement—enough to launch you straight to the top.

People used to say that those who passed the imperial exams and became officials were descended from the stars. I didn’t believe it, but seeing you now, I don’t know what to think anymore—only that it’s a brilliant plan.”

Tie Xinyuan leaned close to Dan Yuanxing and whispered, “You know I want to use you, so why don’t you refuse?”

Dan Yuanxing raised his hand, fondly patting Tie Xinyuan’s head and said with a smile, “How do you know I’m not using you? Since this is something both of us want to do, it’s not a matter of who uses whom.

Go back quickly. Come here less often. Those filthy people will be watching me in secret. If you come too frequently, you might get dragged into trouble.

On the sixth evening of every month, I’ll come eat soup dumplings at your family’s shop. If I find anything, I’ll tell you there.”

Tie Xinyuan kept the ginseng his mother gave him, then left Dan Yuanxing’s home with Baozi. This time, Tie Xinyuan did not ask Baozi to carry him; instead, he hung his head low and trudged slowly toward the Imperial City’s edge.

Baozi kept glancing sideways at Tie Xinyuan, thinking it foolish to ignore him after paying money. He couldn’t understand why such a fool was called a prodigy.

But soon his attention was drawn to the jingling of ten copper coins in his pocket. Clutching them tightly, he eagerly anticipated the five more coins he might get tomorrow.

His mother’s hairpin was lost somewhere, and the blind old woman was very unhappy, tossing and turning all night without sleep.

If he had fifteen copper coins, he could buy a bright new copper hairpin for his mother—though he feared she’d scold him for wasting money.

While turning this over in his mind, Tie Xinyuan suddenly pointed ahead at a red lantern and asked, “Why is this lantern red? And why are there black lines drawn on it?”

Baozi looked at him with even more pity. How could someone who didn’t even know that be called a prodigy?

To spare his best customer from being mocked, Baozi hurriedly explained, “That’s a carp lantern. That family has a plump little baby born, just like you and me, with a little ‘chicken’.”

Tie Xinyuan scowled and shot back, “Then what kind of lantern would a family hang if their baby was born without a ‘chicken’?”

Baozi scratched his head in confusion. “Impossible! All babies have a ‘chicken’. I saw yours when you peed by the roadside that day. You have one. How could anyone’s baby not have one?”

Tie Xinyuan let out a low growl, realizing Baozi was right—and that he was a fool. Otherwise, why would he be discussing the difference between boy and girl babies with Baozi?

The two fools, one big and one small, stood mesmerized before a household’s door, staring at the carp lantern. Soon a cheerful, hearty man emerged and without a word stuffed three cash coins into each of their hands, apologizing that the candied fruit was all gone and he hadn’t expected visitors coming to celebrate.

No matter what, they took the money. Tie Xinyuan bowed and wished the child health and longevity, while Baozi, continuing their earlier topic, wished the child would grow a big ‘chicken’.

The man smiled gratefully at Tie Xinyuan’s blessing, but when Baozi finished, he beamed widely, dug into his pocket again, and stuffed a handful of coins into Baozi’s hand, refusing to take no for an answer.

Tie Xinyuan and Baozi bid farewell to the cheerful man and continued home. Along the way, Baozi jingled the coins in his hand, the clinking sound seemed to mock Tie Xinyuan’s intelligence.

“Stop staring at the three coins in my hand. Looking won’t make me give them to you. You’re so clever—next time a family has a baby, just say your congratulations, and I want to see how they react!”

Baozi pouted and put the coins back in his pocket, saying, “Why are you so dumb? For a house with a carp lantern, I’ll say that. For one with flower lanterns, I say their baby looks as pretty as a flower, and they give me money too. My mother taught me that long ago.”

Once again, Tie Xinyuan’s stupidity was proven, so he immediately asked Baozi to carry him.

As the evening drum sounded, the streetlights began to blaze brilliantly. Lanterns stretched endlessly, lighting the street like a market in the sky.

Baozi stood in front of a small jewelry shop, unwilling to leave, greedily staring at a golden copper hairpin without blinking.

“You want to give it to your sweetheart? Good heavens, is there a woman who’d like you?”

Tie Xinyuan, full of anger, finally found a way to vent with the most cutting sarcasm about Baozi’s fantasies.

“My mother!”

Baozi stopped him cold with just two words, silencing the venomous words in Tie Xinyuan’s throat. How a child looks has nothing to do with how much a mother loves him.

Tie Xinyuan couldn’t understand why he always hit walls with Baozi. Thinking carefully, ever since hiring Baozi, he’d never gotten the better of him.

“I have some money here if you need to borrow.”

Baozi shook his head. “My mother’s hairpin got lost, and I don’t know who took it. I’ve searched everywhere but can’t find it. She’s unhappy, so I want to buy her a new one. I just worry she’ll say I’m wasting money.”

“Why don’t you just say you found the lost hairpin?”

Baozi was delighted with the idea and began bargaining with the shopkeeper, while Tie Xinyuan fell silent.

The moment he uttered that little white lie, he immediately realized why he always struggled with Baozi. When lies meet undeniable truth, the mask naturally falls away.

The most enchanting words in the world are lies, because they paint a scene so beautiful it defies reality, described in the most captivating language—commonplace for lovers, whose words are fantasies not grounded in the real world.

Truth, however, is not so pleasant. It often hurts someone, but it lasts longer and carries a deeper, more enduring weight.

(To be continued.)