Small Building, Study
A young lady was sitting there, it was the Canton Princess. She blinked her large almond shaped eyes, as though she was concentrating on her painting. The person in the painting was a man. Although it was incomplete, one could see that his eyes were like stars in the night sky, and his nose was sharp. His eyebrows were long, and his lips were sharp and defined. His posture was tall and straight, and he was indeed a handsome young man.
The Canton Princess was drawing at this point. She paused for a moment, as though she had thought of something. She smiled, and turned her brush. Within a few strokes, she had drawn a mask.
This man had an imposing aura around him, and was holding a smiley mask in his hands. He looked extremely adorable, and anyone who saw him could not help but laugh.
"Oh, and here I was wondering why you've changed so much today. You're no longer behaving atrociously outside. So it's because you've fallen in love with someone. Tell me the truth, when did you hook up with him? I shall skin him alive. How dare he hook up with my daughter!" A voice spoke from behind.
The Canton Princess was in a trance as she looked at the painting. At this point, she was startled, and almost stabbed the man in the face with her brush. She looked up and saw the Grand Princess looking at her with a smile that was not a smile. Her face flushed red all the way to her neck. She threw down her brush and stood up, wanting to explain herself. She then mumbled, "Mother!"
The Grand Princess looked at her bashful expression, and her smile deepened. She then looked at the painting on the table, and exclaimed, "This man is Ying Prefecture's Top Scorer Pei Zi Yun? After listening to his poems last night and seeing his demeanor, you fell in love with him at first sight? "
The Canton Princess's face turned red, and did not speak.
"You want to ask how your mother would know? You're so shy, it's hard for me not to know." The Grand Princess sat down and picked up a cup of tea handed to her by a serving maid, "This man is not simple. He became a Top Scorer at such a young age, and his poems are all over the world. Not to mention, his poem 'Bringing in the Wine' has spread far and wide. I'm sure you've heard of it?"
"'Bringing in the Wine' was written by him?" The Canton Princess's eyes lit up.
"That's right!" At this point, the smile on the Grand Princess's face disappeared, replaced by a look of worry, "Not only that, he also wrote a 'Strategy to Pacify the Pirates', and it reached the ears of the heavens."
"Although he's just a High Scholar, he's much more knowledgeable than many of the older officials in the court. He's well-versed in literature, poetry, and politics. At such a young age, he can be considered a genius. However …"
"But what?" the young princess asked anxiously.
The Eldest Princess took a sip of tea and looked at her daughter meaningfully. "However, this child has entered a Taoist sect. Actually, there is no harm in entering a Taoist sect. Not being able to become an official might be a good thing."
"It's just that don't look at how young he is. He has killed at least dozens of people. He killed bandits, Daoists, and black-robed guards. Hehe, he's incredible." At this point, the Grand Princess's tone turned cold.
When the Young Princess heard this, her jaw dropped and she took a step back.
Pei Mansion
The sun rose over the city walls in the distance. As the rooster crowed, Pei Zi Yun got out of bed. He saw the kitchen maid serving him soy milk, fried dough sticks, and porridge. The little maid was waiting by the side.
"Indeed, the life of a landlord is good!" Pei Zi Yun couldn't help but admit this. As he walked, he heard a voice outside, "Young Master, Young Master, are you in? I've brought the things you've asked for. "
It was the voice of the granny broker. Pei Zi Yun took a few big strides to the door.
Someone was knocking on the door of the mansion, and the sound of knocking could be heard. The door opened, and the granny broker walked in with a serving maid. She was carrying a large basket.
The moment she entered, she said, "Young Master, I've found what you've asked for. It's just that I didn't manage to buy the things that belonged to a few people. Please forgive me, Young Master."
The moment the granny broker opened the door, she said, "Young Master, I've found what you've asked for. It's just that I didn't manage to buy the things that belonged to a few people. Please forgive me, Young Master."
"How many things have you collected? Bring them out for me to see." Pei Zi Yun replied. It's only been three days, and this granny broker's fighting prowess was astonishing!
The granny broker then shouted to the serving maid, "Gui girl, bring everything out for Young Master Pei to see. It's just that Young Master, I've bought these things according to your instructions. I don't know if they're real or fake, but those people have sworn that these things were passed down from generation to generation. There's no mistake. Take a look."
Following the granny broker's instructions, the serving maid retrieved some wooden swords, metal bowls, basins, a few red and yellow stones, a few tattered clothes, and a few Daoist books and Buddhist scriptures.
Seeing that the basket was filled with all sorts of strange items, yet they were all personal belongings. She then pointed at the items in the basket and said, "Tell me, what are these things?"
Looking at these items, Pei Zi Yun felt extremely unhappy. Two hundred taels of silver had been spent on these things.
"There's no Spiritual Sustenance for these." Pei Zi Yun touched the relics on his hands and realized that as soon as he touched them, a little bit of paint fell off his hands.
The granny broker hurriedly smiled and gestured, "Young Master, this is the relic of Monk Hui Chong from Ji Shi Temple. The old monk from the temple brought it out to sell for fifty taels of silver. He originally wanted a hundred taels of silver, but I felt that it was too expensive. Hence, I slashed the price by fifty taels of silver."
"Oh?"
Pei Zi Yun's face twitched as he placed his hand on his sword. He had an urge to kill the granny broker. Was she treating him like a fool? All these things, these stones that were dyed with paint cost fifty taels of silver. That was even more expensive than gold.
The granny broker could sense Pei Zi Yun's anger and hurriedly retrieved a Daoist book from the basket, "Young Master, take a look. This is a Daoist book that was bought from Clear Mystery Monastery. The people in the monastery said that this was written by Daoist Qing Song himself. He placed it in his house. Daoists are greedy, and only sold it for a hundred taels of silver."
Pei Zi Yun's eyebrows twitched as he received the Daoist book expressionlessly. There was no Legacy in it. He flipped it open and saw that there were some Dao techniques written on it. It wasn't anything special, but there were some that he hadn't seen before.
"It's the real deal, and must have been created by the Daoist himself. Many of them are unique and can be studied. Actually, this alone is worth it." Thinking this way, Pei Zi Yun calmed down and continued reading.
Stretching out her hands, she retrieved the tattered clothes and introduced them, "Young Master Pei, this is Daoist Qing Song's clothes."
"A wooden sword!" Pei Zi Yun received the sword and felt a jolt of electricity coursing through him. There was a Legacy, and his heart warmed up.
"Young Master Pei, this is a wooden sword. The Daoist from Clear Mystery Monastery said that this was a wooden sword used by Daoist Qing Song."
The rest of the items didn't have any Legacy. There was a Daoist book, a wooden sword, a flute and a brush. Pei Zi Yun then understood that the granny broker was just an ordinary person, and wouldn't be able to differentiate between the items he wanted to buy. It was normal for her to be taken for a fool. However, his luck wasn't bad this time, and his chances of winning were very high. It was obvious that this granny broker was colluding with outsiders to plot against him. Pei Zi Yun couldn't allow that to happen. His face fell, "Granny broker, what are you buying? Do you really think I'm a fool? "
"Tell me, are you colluding with those people?" Pei Zi Yun's gaze was ice cold. The granny broker's thoughts were exposed, and her heart turned cold. She swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said, "Young Master Pei, how would I dare?"
"You wouldn't dare? Forget about the other items, this sarira is obviously a piece of dyed stone. You're an old granny broker, can't you see through this? "
"The other items can be considered treasures, but these tattered clothes, do you really think I'm a beggar? You're buying everything? "
"You might not know this, but Zhang Cheng is already dead." Pei Zi Yun wore a smile on his face as he spoke plainly, "The constable informed me that he had a sudden illness, but the truth was that he had died from a thousand layers of paper."
"Do you know what a paper is? It's a piece of wet paper that was stuck onto Zhang Cheng's face layer by layer. He struggled with all his might, but was unable to move. All he could do was breathe. "
"Pasted layer by layer, it's called a thousand layers of paper. In actual fact, after more than ten layers of wet paper, he couldn't breathe anymore. He bled from all his orifices and died with his tongue sticking out."
"Why, does your granny broker wish to have a taste of this?"
Hearing such a horrifying incident, the granny broker felt a chill run down her spine. She scolded herself under her breath. How could she fool a High Scholar like this?
She forced a smile and said, "Young Master, how would I dare? If you don't like it, I shall return it."
"Return this so-called relic. I've given you this job, and you've already earned quite a lot. Don't ask to be punished. Continue to pay attention to the rest of the shops. If you want to buy anything, bring me there to take a look."
Hearing Pei Zi Yun say this, the granny broker heaved a sigh of relief, "Yes, yes. I will take note. There are only a few shops left. These few shops are asking for too much, and two are unwilling to sell. Young Master, what do you think?"
"No problem. Bring me there next time. If I like it, I'll reward you." Pei Zi Yun regained his usual smile.
When the granny broker heard this, she hurriedly replied, "Yes, Young Master!"
She then left with her serving maid. When she touched her back, she realized that it was wet.
Pei Zi Yun locked the door and returned to his room. The sun had just risen and was shining down on the courtyard. He entered his room and locked the door. He then instructed the kitchen maid, "There's no need to call for me, I'll come out myself."
Pei Zi Yun lay down on his bed and placed the wooden sword under his pillow. The moment his head touched the pillow, he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him and he fell into a deep sleep.
In his haze, he could hear the sounds of "Heng Ha, He, Ya".
In front of him, several Daoist children were wielding wooden swords and slashing at him repeatedly.
A Daoist was supervising them as he scolded them, "The world is on the brink of destruction. You Daoist children refuse to practice the sword. When I'm not around, how are you going to protect yourselves? Don't cry, continue practicing."
The scene before his eyes changed. He was in a bamboo forest. Initially there were seven or eight Daoist children, but now there were only three or four of them.
The Daoist who was teaching them had a head of white hair. He looked at the Daoist children coldly, "Every day, if you don't chop down a hundred pieces of bamboo, you're not allowed to eat. This sword technique needs to be passed down from generation to generation."
The scene changed again. Pei Zi Yun was sitting cross-legged in a room. An incense stick was slowly rising into the air. All of a sudden, a bright light flashed. The incense stick was cut in half, but the smoke was not disrupted.
"Pa pa!" The door was pushed open, and an old Daoist entered. His hair was all white, "Your sword technique has already surpassed mine. I have nothing else to teach you."
In the next moment, the sky was filled with dark clouds. Raindrops fell onto the faces of the crowd, as well as onto the corpses. Shouts and screams could be heard.
This person's face was whiter than the moonlight. He unsheathed his sword and charged towards the crowd.
The unfathomable gleam of the sword pierced through the air. Wherever it passed, people fell like straws. Blood splattered everywhere. Cries and screams filled the air.
He retracted his sword and changed it into a flute. The person then started playing the flute. The sky had turned dark, and it was drizzling. The sound of the flute wasn't loud. It started off as thin as a strand of hair. It seemed to be there, but it wasn't there at all. It swirled around the night sky before dissipating into the surroundings.
He retracted his flute and turned it into a brush. Outside the window, it was drizzling. The soft tip of the brush glided across the clean paper, as though it was dancing. Pei Zi Yun took a few steps back. He saw a figure sitting cross-legged on a piece of paper. His left hand was placed on top of his left foot, while his right hand formed a circle. He heard the person sigh, "I started off by killing, raised my flute, and congealed it into a painting. Can I use my sword to enter the Dao?"
Following this sigh, Pei Zi Yun opened his eyes and looked around. It was almost noon. Although the door was shut, the sun shone through the window. Dust and sand danced in the air, as though it was a lifetime ago.
"For sixty years, I've been a swordsman. I've swung my sword a few times and sheathed it again. This bitter journey of seeking the Dao is like a dream!"
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