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In those days, the old people along the river still remembered that on the forty-third day before spring, there was a trail of blood floating along the Yangtze River. The fat in the blood froze on the water and coagulated on the edge of the embankment. For several months, a rotten board that read “one thousand coins, kill one person” leaned against the corner of the Mahuo Temple. There was even a string of a hundred coins, along with a yellow paper filled with names and addresses hanging under the roof beams in the corner.

But the beggar who took money to kill people had disappeared. Some people said that he was caught by the authorities and sent to the frontlines. Some said that he died in the freezing rain the night he destroyed Huang Kui. Others said that he went to Changsha, because someone had given him a big golden horseshoe to kill someone there.

People in Changsha still mentioned these things about Chen Pi Ah Si even after liberation. As Xi Qi had said, the Chen Pi who had killed the hitmen’s leader was no longer the same. He finally understood his own value.

There was another rumor that seven years before the Great Epidemic in Changsha, the Mystic Nine’s Hong family received a southern apprentice. The boy was sitting on the eaves of the Hong family’s inner courtyard and said to Er Yuehong who was trimming three red flowers, “Are you the most powerful person in Changsha?”

Er Yuehong looked up at him and replied, “Little boy, you’ve made a mistake. The fiercest surname in Changsha is Zhang.”

“I’ll find him later.” As soon as the words fell, a nine-clawed hook instantly flew at Er Yuehong, opening like a ghost’s claws.

Er Yuehong raised his hand and gave it a gentle tap. The nine-clawed hook was extremely fast, but his hand seemed to slowly reach up and grab it, as if he were holding a flower.

At that moment, only the boy on the eaves could see that Er Yuehong’s attention wasn’t on him, but on the weapon in his hand. He gave it a curious look and twisted his fingers, causing the nine claws to bloom. As the mechanism retracted, the nine claws in Er Yuehong’s hands fell off like withered petals and scattered on the ground.

It was said that this defiant boy’s name was also Chen Pi. Later, he became the only southern apprentice in the Hong Mansion. This novelesque wuxia story also came from Changsha’s common folk, which makes it too hard to research.

In fact, Er Yuehong and Chen Pi’s first meeting shouldn’t be like this at all. Not to mention whether the timing was correct or not, but the description was really romanticized. Based on how the Nine Gates were at that time, someone like Chen Pi stepping on the eaves of the inner courtyard shouldn’t be able to leave alive. There should be a lot of stories about them, but they can’t be investigated now. We can only rely on our imagination.

The Mystic Nine had a long history, which made it difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. They had experienced things that were completely different from ordinary people’s experiences, which made it seem romantic. And people always had a need for romance. As the old people told their tales, the edges and corners of history were softened. It was just like a wool sofa under a warm lamp. It was suitable for reading in early winter, not for stirring up one’s blood.

When Wu Xie was in a rural village in Fujian, he lined up the Zhang family’s tree with Zhang Haike and shared all kinds of stories about the Mystic Nine. Zhang Qiling’s long gaze on the name Zhang Qishan also made people think about it. Did they ever meet each other? People in the Zhang family had a long life, so why did Zhang Qishan choose to die like an ordinary person, while Zhang Qiling had to live so long? If they had a brief intersection in time, what would they talk about?

In Sand Sea, the “greatest project” Zhang Qishan supervised buried one of the biggest secrets of this century. The destinies they had stumbled into were finally intertwined. Wu Xie was like an unavoidable button, finally seeing “the ultimate” of the whole world.

Many people say that the story of “Grave Robbers’ Chronicles” is over, but for me, it has just begun.

This chapter is the introduction. “The Mystic Nine” will be divided into several volumes.

The tentative titles are “Changsha Ghost Car”, “Crescent Hotel”, “Corpse Meteorite”, “Ancient Heimiao Village”, and “Dongting Lake Ghost”.

Most of you have seen it in the TV drama, but the actual novel content will be very different. The scenes that can’t be shown in TV dramas and can’t appear because of production problems will also be reflected.

Please forgive me if I don’t write for a long time and my skills become rusty. Serial novels can’t guarantee I’ll stay in shape every day. Read the text for free and hopefully share it a lot. I feel encouraged when it’s spread and praised. Thank you all.

This chapter is short, so I’ll write a few more paragraphs to increase the number of words.

*

Yin Xinyue was peeling a pomegranate while Lieutenant stood off to one side, waiting for Zhang Qishan to come out of the study. Yin Xinyue looked at the thick documents in Lieutenants’ hands and said coldly, “Batch after batch after batch. Every day it’s like you’re presenting the memorial to the emperor (1). Will you all die if you don’t?”

Lieutenant said solemnly, “Madam, if we approve it privately, we’ll really be dead.”

Yin Xinyue’s eyes widened and she almost threw the pomegranate, but she managed to hold herself back. She stood up irritably, rolled her eyes, and asked Lieutenant, “Zhang Rishan! What’s the purpose of your name? What did you do to your parents to make them give you this name?” (2)

Lieutenant was still very serious as he smiled and said, “Madam, I was born in Baishan. They meant to name me “Baishan”, but a stroke was removed out of respect for Fo Ye since his name is Qishan. He’s held in high esteem, so the character “Qi” is taller to show authority (3). Madam, don’t make fun of my name.”

Yin Xinyue was stunned and took a long time to recover before she dazedly said, “How can you say something so ridiculous? Why don’t you just go be a eunuch?”

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TN Notes:

(1) The memorial to the emperor (folded in accordion form) was an official communication to the Emperor of China (like a status report). They were generally careful essays in Classical Chinese and their presentation was a formal affair directed by government officials. They were used in imperial China as a means of regulating corrupt local officials who might otherwise have escaped oversight. More info here

(2) Fo Ye’s wife called Lieutenant “Yueshan” (曰山) in the raw which caused a debate on whether it’s a typo or not lol. Since the characters for “Rishan” are (日山), you can see why (there’s a teeny tiny little difference between 曰 and 日). The Great Translation God (i.e. Tiffany) thinks it’s a typo so we’re rolling with Fo Ye’s wife calling Lieutenant “Zhang Rishan”. Shan (山) means mountain and Ri (日) can mean sun, but Tiffany said it can also mean “fuck” (probably like a regional dialect kind of thing). So Fo Ye’s wife is basically like “Did you offend your parents so they named you ‘Zhang Fucking Mountain’?”

(3) It doesn’t translate over well, but a reader in the comments below gave a beautiful analysis that I will shamelessly copy/summarize here (and of course, we’ve got Tiffany’s input lol): the generation name is shan (mountain, 山). The main Zhang branch is based in Changbai Mountain (長白山), which can also be abbreviated to just Baishan (白山). Apparently Fo Ye and Lieutenant’s generation have names based around Baishan to indicate that they’re from the main branch. Lieutenant’s name is Zhang Rishan (日山). His name is basically Baishan, but with one stroke removed from the Bai (白 –> 日) to show humility.

Depending on how you look at it, Zhang Qishan’s name (启山) can basically be Baishan, but with two extra strokes added (白 –> 启) to indicate that he is held in high esteem. Or you can just count them as two totally different characters and say “启” has one more stoke that looks taller than “日”. The strokes will look like they’re the same height if it’s “白”, so the stroke is removed to show humility.

The generation names thing is where each member of a generation (i.e. siblings and paternal cousins of the same generation) share the same character. The sequence of generation names is typically prescribed and kept in record by a generation poem. In place of a biological generation, the character could be used as an indicator of seniority among peer groups. More info here

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