Chapter 13: One Method Subdues a Hundred Schools |
That very night, Li Shun lay upon his brand-new bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
Part of the reason was simple. He had long since grown accustomed to the hard wooden plank bed he had slept on for twenty-six years. Now that he suddenly found himself in a spacious and comfortable room, it instead left him feeling oddly unsettled.
The other reason…
As he thought about how this residence, bestowed upon him by the authorities, was very likely under the strict surveillance of the Great Qian court, Li Shun felt a constant chill along his spine. Every movement he made, even every breath he took, could be observed.
It was as if he were standing naked beneath the blazing sun, completely exposed. The sensation left him unable to eat or sleep in peace.
The next morning, Li Shun walked back and forth in the courtyard with dark circles under his eyes, limping slightly.
“There is no such thing as guarding against a thief for a thousand days.”
“Rather than worrying about whether this courtyard is being monitored, I might as well take the initiative and test it myself. In any case, I possess the divine ability Threefold Self-Reflection. I need not fear falling into irreversible doom.”
“Although there are only a little over ten days left before the seal on the Lengshan Venerable is broken, it has only just been stolen. There is no way I can hand it over so soon in exchange for merit. That County Magistrate Fang Xun is no easy man to deal with.”
“Besides, I still have more than eighty stalks of Lengshan Grass in reserve. That should be enough to handle any emergencies.”
After carefully weighing the pros and cons in his mind, a ruthless glint flashed in Li Shun’s eyes as he finally made his decision.
He pushed open the door and entered the study. Without the slightest hesitation, he picked up a brush and wrote a bold line of characters across the pristine white wall:
“One day, when my ambitions soar to the heavens, I will dare to laugh at the Emperor of Qian as no true man.”
But Li Shun felt that was not enough.
Fearing that any possible surveillance formation might have blind spots, he dragged his injured leg through every room in the courtyard, covering all four walls with shocking, treasonous declarations:
“Heaven shall destroy Great Qian.”
“Though Xiang has but three households, it shall be Xiang that brings down Qian.”
…
After finishing dozens of such lines in one breath, Li Shun calmly sat down in the grandmaster’s chair in the study. Folding his hands over his abdomen, he closed his eyes to rest, patiently waiting.
If there truly were surveillance methods set up by the authorities within this residence, then it would not take long before the wrath of the Lengshan County yamen descended upon him. Armored troops and constables would burst through the gates and seize him as a traitor on the spot.
In the suffocating silence of waiting, Li Shun idly began to toy with the brush he had just used to write those rebellious verses.
This brush was not something he had purchased himself. It had already been prepared in the study of this courtyard.
He had just written dozens of lines in one go, yet he had never once dipped the brush in ink. Even so, the tip remained richly saturated, showing no sign of drying out.
The entire brush was carved from a strange wood with a faint golden hue. Along its body were engraved four tiny characters:
“L County Thousand-Hair Brush.”
At the end of the handle was an exquisitely crafted rotating wooden knob. Li Shun twisted it open and peered inside.
What he saw made his eyes narrow slightly.
The endless supply of ink did not come from any ordinary source. Instead, embedded deep within the shaft was a small cube-like crystal emitting a faint, dark glow.
The surrounding light seemed to be silently devoured by this crystal, only to be transformed within into a steady stream of ink.
Li Shun had already sensed something unusual while using the brush earlier. When he held it suspended vertically in the air, not a single drop of ink would fall from the tip.
Only when the brush tip touched the surface and he wrote with force did the ink begin to seep out, flowing in accordance with his will.
“From a glimpse through a narrow tube, one can already see a leopard. The strength of the Great Qian… is evident even in small details,” Li Shun mused inwardly.
One hour passed. Then another.
The sun had already climbed high into the sky, yet outside the small courtyard there remained a deathly silence.
“It seems I was overthinking things.”
“No matter how one looks at it, in the eyes of the Great Qian authorities, I am nothing more than a lowly laborer. No matter how suspicious Fang Xun may be, he would not waste his attention on someone like me.”
Li Shun quietly let out a breath of relief.
“Still, since I’ve already activated Threefold Self-Reflection, I can’t afford to waste this opportunity.”
A glint flickered in his eyes. He casually tossed the “L County Thousand-Hair Brush” onto the table and strode out of the courtyard.
Before leaving, he made sure to lock the front gate tightly, preventing anyone from entering.
Not long after, Li Shun arrived with practiced familiarity at the bookstore in Lengshan County known as “Jixia.”
Inside, it was as dim and desolate as ever. Aside from him, there was not a single customer in sight.
“You’ve been exempted from ten years of labor. Your complexion really has improved quite a bit.”
Behind the counter, Zhou Xunzhen glanced up at Li Shun and spoke with a faint, knowing smile.
“What is it this time? Still here to exchange for the fragmented pages of the Record of Emperor''s Exegesis?”
Li Shun did not respond. Instead, he subtly turned his head and cast a glance toward the half-closed doors of the shop.
Zhou Xunzhen chuckled softly, immediately understanding.
With a nearly imperceptible flick of his wide sleeve, the two heavy wooden doors of the bookstore shut tightly without a sound, completely sealing off the outside world.
Only then did Li Shun drag his injured leg forward. He leaned against the table, bracing himself with both hands, and lowered his voice as he spoke, word by word:
“This time, I’m not here for the Record of Emperor''s Exegesis. I want…”
“To trade for precise information regarding ‘Borrowing Lifespan from Heaven, Cycles of Twelvefold Longevity.’”
At the mention of those eight words, Zhou Xunzhen’s expression remained as calm as an ancient well. He gave a faint smile and replied in an even tone: “The method of the Cycles of Twelvefold Longevity is not some unspeakable secret among the upper echelons of Great Qian. Its level of secrecy is even lower than the Record of Emperor''s Exegesis you previously acquired. Anyone in Great Qian who has been granted a noble title may learn of it and practice it.”
“But…”
His tone suddenly shifted, and his gaze sharpened like a blade.
“Beyond that, not a single word may be passed on!”
“This method was personally created by the Emperor. Without official authorization, anyone who dares to spread it privately… even I would suffer backlash.”
Zhou Xunzhen’s explanation was nearly identical to what Feng Guan had said before.
Li Shun frowned slightly, unable to hide the disappointment rising in his heart.
“However…”
After a brief pause, Zhou Xunzhen spoke again.
“I can give you five words. They may help you glimpse some of the deeper mysteries of this method.”
“What five words?”
Zhou Xunzhen did not answer. He simply smiled and raised his hand, extending five fingers.
Li Shun shook his head with a bitter smile, but his movements were swift and practiced. Reaching into his robes, he retrieved a stalk of Lengshan Grass that emitted a faint blue glow. With great care, he plucked five crystalline leaves from it and pushed them across the table.
This time, there was none of his usual pained reluctance. Instead, he wore a faintly self-mocking grin.
“Heh. By the grace of heaven, I’ve been spared ten years of labor. My pockets are a little fuller now. But at my age, if I still fail to grasp a path to longevity within ten years, these old bones of mine will likely be buried right here in Lengshan County. Five leaves it is.”
With a sweep of his sleeve, Zhou Xunzhen collected the five leaves.
Then, using his finger as a brush, he forced out a faint thread of golden light from his fingertip and began to write across the wooden table with fluid, effortless strokes.
In the dim bookstore, the golden light formed seven bold characters, sharp and powerful, lingering without fading.
Li Shun’s gaze locked onto them, his pupils shrinking abruptly:
“The Emperor used this method to subdue the Hundred Schools!”
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