# 183. Blood Glow
*What do I have to do with the Confucianists, I’m only a Nightwatcher putting on a confucian skin…* Xu Qi’an thought mockingly, before straightening his expression, and staring intently at the jade mirror.
Not long after, words appeared on the surface, as Four’s message came over: 【Once upon a time I travelled the western realms. The people there generally were illiterate, backwards and uneducated; they hardly knew what “ritual” meant. However, the locals were still enthusiastic hosts. They enthusiastically welcomed me, as a travelling swordsman, but when I told them that I was a “scholar”, their attitudes turned completely upside-down.
【They hurled abuse, threats, and tried to expel me, leaving me with no choice but to leave. Afterwards, never again did I reveal my scholar identity.】
*…is this the so-called resentment underachievers had towards the top of the class?* Xu Qi’an did not comment, waiting for the following message.
【FOUR: I thought that the western realms just hated scholars, but later I realised that they didn’t hate scholars, but rather the confucianists — proper orthodox confucianists. This reminded me of a passage I read in a history book once. About five hundred years ago, the Buddhist faith was flourishing in the Great Feng, and they spread their faith everywhere.
【But good things didn’t last forever, and not a hundred years later, the court started to eradicate the Buddhists. The person who started this policy was the prime minister of the time, who had another title — the dean of the Cloud Deer Academy.】
*The scholars of old almost all came from the Cloud Deer Academy, the split in confucian orthodoxy only came around two centuries ago…* Xu Qi’an wrote: 【That’s it?】
The Great Feng was the land of the confucianists, if the Buddhist house wanted to spread their teachings into the central plains, it would be only expected that the confucianists would try to stop them. In the same vein, the western realms’ prejudice against scholars also made sense.
There was no gossip here.
【FOUR: Heh, THREE, you’re getting idle.】
Xu Qi’an: “???”
*Shall I bite my nails, and make a “head trembling” scene?*[^1]
【FOUR: Or rather that you’re too busy revising for the spring exams, and haven’t had time to read history? What I’m saying is, when enacting the Buddhist eradication policy, that prime minister had said: *If buddha does not die, then all will be buddha; my mandate is thus, to break the Buddha’s path.*
【From then until now, I have yet to understand its true meaning.】
*If buddha does not die, then all will be buddha; my mandate is thus, to break the buddha’s path… what?* Xu Qi’an’s head was filled with fog.
【FIVE: Perhaps it was to rouse the spirits of the people?】
*Well played, Five!* Xu Qi’an laughed.
【ONE: No, the third rank Confucian is called “Mandate Seeker”. “My mandate is thus…” are certainly no jesting words. FOUR’s message has reminded me of several details of that event — that prime minister was called Du Zhongshu, and after he eradicated buddhism, he became a third rank Mandate Seeker. To put it another way, his “Mandate” was to eradicate buddhism from Feng.】
*Reaching third rank “Mandate Seeker” after eradicating buddhism?* Xu Qi’an recalled something that Scholar Zhang Shen had mentioned once to him off-handedly: the Confucian mandate seeker was a process of “finding one’s destiny in life”, hence the “mandate”.
*A mandate must be a monumental goal, that one must attain with righteousness and vigour… to reach mandate seeker after eradicating buddhism, this is getting interesting… this suggests that eradicating the religion was a righteous, proactive thing to do?*
Xu Qi’an pondered as he messaged: 【A Mandate Seeker is similar to a Buddhist’s “great ambition”. To enter Mandate Seeker by eradicating buddhism, means that eradicating buddhism was the right thing to do.】
With the backing of a confucian scholar like Three, every realised the strangeness in this statement. *If buddha does not die, then all will be buddha…* perhaps this wasn’t just said in jest.
Perhaps there was something deeper hidden behind the veil, and not something so simple as “territorial conflict.”
For a long time, no one talked, as if they were all pondering what could be behind this action. After many minutes, number Two said:
【TWO: THREE, how many high ranked martials are in this inspectorate envoy?】
【THREE: On the surface, there is only one Gold Gong. As for clandestine operations, I do not know.】
*Oh of course, “only” one Gold Gong…* Two lampooned.
Anyone who remotely knew about the Nightwatchers knew that Gold Gongs were fourth rank martial artists. On the battlefield, a fourth rank martial was worth a thousand battle-hardened warriors.
Under the category of “mortal men”, the fourth ranks with their “Intent” were the top of the top.
Above them were third ranks, those that could resurrect from a single broken limb — but they were no longer considered “mortal”.
*If my entire brigade, me included, went up against a Gold Gong, then mutual destruction would be our best outcome.*
Number Two sighed.
There was another long moment of silence, and only when he was sure that all the other members had gone offline, Xu Qi’an stowed away his little mirror, and left his room. Standing at the side of the deck, his gaze towards the vast river, he emptied the waterfall that had been building in his bladder.
“Have you not seen — that the waters of the Yellow River come from upon heaven, surging into the ocean, three thousand li it flies down towards earth…[^2] high it shakes nine heavens, low it fills nine seas… Guanyin sits on her lotus flower, the Queen Mother sinks down low… come today forty eight thousand years, yet no people come through the passes of Qin, the son of Xu has a way for birds, that crosses the summit of E’Mei mount… and return![^3]”
Fastening his belt, he returned to his room.
…
The next day, as the sky slowly lightened, Xu Qi’an awoke. Looking left and right, he saw his two colleagues already awake, deep in meditation, refining qi.
*Everyone’s so hard-working, so full of vigour every day…* Xu Qi’an sat up, and stretched lazily.
Refining Vitality, Qi, and Spirit were three parts of a whole. When qi overflowed from the top, middle, and lower *dantian*, then one’s spirit would suddenly surge in strength. This is when one would begin to practice visualisation, and prepare to cross into Refining Spirit.
Xu Qi’an’s qi had long since filled his *dantian*, and was close to overflowing. Added to his daily visualisation meditation, his spirit grew with every passing hour. What he lacked was just the right opportunity which he could use to break through.
How could this opportunity come, Xu Qi’an did not know; Wei Yuan hadn’t told him, as Daddy Wei had not realised that Xu Qi’an’s cultivation was progressing at such a frightening pace.
He was still under the impression that his favourite little Bronze Gong was still building his qi.
Sensing that Xu Qi’an was awake, Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng stopped their meditation, and the former said:
“After this trip to Yunzhou, the constabulary will give us a bonus, I’ll finally have enough dowry money to marry.”
Zhu Guangxiao had a childhood sweetheart who lived neighbouring him. The two of them had deep, sincere feelings for each other. Like a pimp and a young sprout — hand in hand.
But his sweetheart’s father asked for a hundred tael dowry from him, otherwise he wouldn’t even consider it.
Zhu Guangxiao’s monthly salary was only five taels of silver, adding onto that some under-the-table deals, he could really only hope to make around eighty taels in a year. However, he also had to attend social gatherings, maintain his standard of living, and the odd brothel trip… hence he could really only save around thirty taels of silver.
It was already pretty impressive; brothel time was already a hard requirement — even ordinary people demanded brothel services, let alone a vitality-filled masculine-qi martial artists.
*Hell… don’t be planting flags. Someone like you, I’ve seen hundreds if not thousands of on telly in my previous life…* Xu Qi’an rolled his eyes.
“Congratulations! Wishing Guangxiao an early marriage.” Song Tingfeng said, before glancing at Xu Qi’an, just happening to spot a purple perfume pouch at his waist, with white lotus flowers embroidered on it: “Ningyan, did Fuxiang give you this?”
“Nope!” Xu Qi’an let him take it off.
“Rascal, do you also have a soon to be wed lover?” Song Tingfeng’s thin eyes widened, as he said sourly.
“Nope.” Xu Qi’an took back the pouch, and laid back down. Putting the pouch under his nose, he hummed a light tune: “She’s just my sister, my sister said that purple had great charm.”
“Why don’t you marry?” Zhu Guangxiao expressed his confusion.
From his point of view, not only did Xu Qi’an enjoy great appreciation from Duke Wei, but also received two thousand taels of gold from His Majesty, his future (and his money’s future) were full of flowers and rainbows.
And he was at that age anyway.
“He’s like me, a lone wanderer.” Song Tingfeng commented.
“Shoo, we’re not the same.” Xu Qi’an lounged on the bed, his head resting on his hands, sighing: “Let me get used to this a bit more.”
All in all, he had only come to the Great Feng for three months, his heart hadn’t yet settled here, and gotten used to life. Hence he lounged around the Jiaofangsi, lingering on Fuxiang’s warm comforting chest, and had not a single thought of marrying and settling down.
Zhu Guangxiao nodded lightly, suggesting: “This depends on what you want in a wife.”
“What I want…” Xu Qi’an thought for a whole: “Long wavy hair.”
“You certainly have a strange request.” Song Tingfeng frowned.
Xu Qi’an glanced over: “That was three requests.”
After washing and brushing, Xu Qi’an had breakfast, and then went to see Jiang Lyuzhong.
“What is it?” Jiang Lyuzhong sat by the table, looking at a map of Yunzhou. His eyes, like those of eagles, made one feel great pressure when looked at.
“I would like to ask Gold Gong Jiang about cultivation.” Xu Qi’an picked up a small cake, and stuffed it in his mouth: “How do I get to refining spirit?”
Xu Qi'an had previously thought that advancing in cultivation was a gradual and natural process.
When one accumulated enough, they could naturally advance to Refining Spirit.
But from Chu Caiwei's requirements for advancing to Master of Alchemy, he was inspired to examine the Martial Artist System, discovering that advancing from the Refining Vitality to the Refining Qi also had a requirement: one must not lose their virginity!
Jiang Lyuzhong laughed and said, "It's very simple. When your mental strength reaches a certain level, your forehead will ache, and that's when you're ready to advance to Refining Spirit. As for the method, well, you cannot sleep for ten days."
"What? Not sleep for ten days? Is that serious? Won't you die from that?"
Seeing Xu Qi'an's bewildered expression, Jiang Lyuzhong explained, "You heard correctly. Not sleeping for ten days. If you make it through, you'll advance to Refining Spirit. If you don't, at best you'll fall unconscious, at worst you'll die from mental exhaustion. On the road of the martial artist, every level is a life-and-death test."
"Why must one not sleep for ten days?" Xu Qi'an asked, puzzled.
"When you're in the Refining Vitality stage, you often push your physical limits. Each time you break through these limits, your physical strength increases. But do you know the limits of your primordial spirit?"
Xu Qi'an shook his head.
"The best way to break through the limits of your primordial spirit is to stay awake. Ten days is just a rough standard; everyone's limit is different. When you try to advance to Refining Spirit in the future, you'll have firsthand experience."
"Won't the body be unable to take it?"
"That's why the Refining Vitality and Refining Qi are foundational for Refining Spirit, including daily visualisations to strengthen your spirit. This increases your chances of advancing to Refining Spirit." Jiang Lyuzhong chuckled and added, "You're still early in your journey. The most important thing on the path of martial arts is the will to endure hardships and not aim too high."
"Gold Gong Jiang is right," Xu Qi'an nodded in agreement. "I have already reached the peak of Refining Qi."
Jiang Lyuzhong: "???"
He stared at Xu Qi'an in disbelief for a few seconds and then said unhappily, "Don't joke around. I remember when you joined the Nightwatchers, you were still in Refining Vitality. How could someone reach the peak of the Refining Qi in less than three months... it can’t be true?"
Xu Qi'an shrugged. "If it weren't true, why would I ask you this? Well, I'll take my leave now."
Xu Qi'an left Jiang Lyuzhong's room, leaving the Gold Gong sitting alone at the table, muttering to himself, “This doesn't make sense, this doesn't make sense....
"Does Lord Wei know about this?"
…
Six days passed in a flash, and Xu Qi'an's first experience of a long voyage on a boat was summed up in one word: Fuck!
On the deck, Song Tingfeng listlessly gazed at the river, watching the passing grain transport ships, and said, "We should reach Yuzhou by tomorrow. Gold Gong Jiang promised us a day of rest. I'm sick of eating fish."
"Yuzhou is famous for its rich iron mines and its prosperity. The beauties at the Jiaofangsi must be very charming," a Bronze Gong chimed in.
Xu Qi'an didn't care whether the beauties at the Jiaofangsi were charming or not; he just wanted to get off the boat as soon as possible and have a good meal.
In the depth of winter, vegetables and fruits were already scarce, let alone while floating on water. He had been eating fish every meal for this entire period, and now, just seeing fish made him nauseous, almost to the point of developing an eating disorder.
At that moment, Xu Qi'an, who was leaning on the railing, inadvertently caught sight of a government ship coming towards them.
On the deck of the government ship, a few clerks in black uniforms also noticed Xu Qi'an's ship. Upon seeing the Bronze Gongs in Nightwatcher uniforms on the deck, the clerks visibly panicked and instinctively stepped back.
They quickly steadied themselves, maintaining their composure, but did not glance this way again.
*...The instinctive panic upon seeing us is a sign of a guilty conscience. Although they tried to recover and remain calm, their averted eyes only highlight their guilt... Are they naturally afraid of the Nightwatchers?*
Old detective Xu Qi'an thought suspiciously.
The clerks' reaction on the other ship was exactly the classic guilty behaviour he had studied in psychology.
To be sure, he decided to confirm it.
Xu Qi'an reached into his chest pocket and lightly tapped the back of a jade mirror, taking out the "magic book" he received from the Confucian academy, tearing off a page that recorded the Qi Watching Technique.
The "magic book" contained mostly Qi Watching Techniques. On the day they escorted Jinwu Guard Captain Zhou Chixiong to the capital, Xu Qi'an had thick-skinnedly asked Zhang Shen for more techniques to replenish the gradually depleted book.
Chu Caiwei had been present at the time and had become a major contributor to the skills.
As for why it was mostly the Qi Observing Technique, it was because the technique was simple and easy to record.
"Hiss..."
As the page burned, a clear light shot out from Xu Qi'an's eyes as he looked towards the official ship ahead.
He saw a sticky, bright red glow of blood.
According to the Qi Observing Technique, those who have killed will be stained with a blood glow for a period of time after the act.
-----
[^1]: Reference to scene in *Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World*
[^2]: A slight butchering of the opening line of [Li Bai’s *Bring in the Wine*](https://eastasiastudent.net/china/classical/li-bai-jiang-jin-jiu/)
[^3]: Parody of Li Bai’s *Difficulty of the Shu Road*. Also bruh.