"It's done!"
In the warm room, heated by a copper stove, Qi Xiu, sporting dark circles under his eyes, a stubbly beard, and a weary expression, revealed a hint of joy.
It had taken seventeen days.
He had finally managed to roughly imitate Monk Huai's Calligraphy.
Although it only captured about sixty percent of its spirit, for an ordinary person, it was already remarkably similar.
Enough to allow Qian Yuzhe to take center stage at the upcoming birthday feast.
Once this task is accomplished, I'll really need to rest for a while. This past half-month has almost drained me dry.
Smiling wryly, Qi Xiu slowly sat down on a chair, massaging his sore back.
For these seventeen days, aside from eating, sleeping, and using the privy, he had practically started studying the rubbings the moment he opened his eyes. He worked for over sixteen hours every day, as if he had returned to a period of relentless toil. Adding to the pressure, the birthday feast was just over a month away. Although Qian Yuzhe didn't voice his impatience, he would visit at least two or three times a day, which put immense pressure on Qi Xiu daily. An ordinary person would likely have crumbled under such strain.
Fortunately, he had his Proficiency. Each session of copying and learning slowly but steadily increased his Calligraphy Realm. A vast amount of calligraphic knowledge and insights constantly welled up in his mind, seeping into his very being. The "True Relics of Monk Huai," this veritable iceberg, was gradually melting under his relentless efforts.
Although this past half-month was arduous, the gains were not insignificant.
With a thought, Qi Xiu called forth the ink-wash text displaying his status:
[Calligraphy (First Realm): 67.4%]
[Culinary Arts: 7.6%]
Half a month of intensive work, and his First Realm Calligraphy had improved by nearly seventy percentage points of proficiency. This allowed his calligraphic attainments to soar as if launched by a rocket. The most noticeable change was that copying the "True Relics of Monk Huai" became increasingly effortless; he could now write freely without relying on the rubbing. He could even imitate characters not found on the rubbing.
At the same time, his mastery of the "Suppress" Character became more adept. Originally, to write such Divine Marvel characters, he had to concentrate for thirty breaths just to grasp the character's structure and flow. Then, executing the strokes cautiously and slowly would take another thirty breaths. In other words, writing a single "Suppress" Character took a full minute. But as his proficiency increased, this process had been shortened by more than half. Now, he could write one in just fifteen breaths.
CREAK—
The door was pushed open, and the cold wind from outside swirled in. The sudden chill invigorated Qi Xiu considerably.
"Zi Yuan, how is the progress?"
Stepping over the threshold, Qian Yuzhe entered the room, a meal box in his hand. Qi Xiu's courtesy name was Zi Yuan. Over the past half-month, he and Qian Yuzhe had become more familiar, and their manner of addressing each other was no longer so formal.
"Fortunately, I've managed to live up to your expectations. Today, I've achieved a Minor Achievement." Handing the imitated work from the table to Qian Yuzhe, Qi Xiu pursed his lips.
"Oh? Let me see." A hint of joy in his eyes, Qian Yuzhe took the paper.
There were still over twenty days until his father's birthday feast; time was indeed tight. However, this kind of imitation was inherently very difficult, so he hadn't pressed Qi Xiu too hard.
Unfolding the paper, Qian Yuzhe's gaze fell upon it, and he was inwardly stunned.
Excellent! The brushwork is decisive, the spiritual essence translucent. An ordinary person likely wouldn't be able to tell this was an imitation at all. To have made such progress in merely half a month... I truly didn't misjudge him. Qi Zi Yuan is a man of great talent!
"Zi Yuan, you truly are an unpolished gem. If I had known you possessed such talent, I would have invited you into my pavilion long ago to be my chief calligrapher."
Seeing Qi Xiu complete the task, Qian Yuzhe's mood, which had been somewhat gloomy these past few days, brightened considerably.
"Young Master, you're too kind. If it's alright, we can begin tomorrow."
Qi Xiu looked at Qian Yuzhe, his brow furrowing slightly.
Researching and imitating Monk Huai's Calligraphy is only the first step. The crucial part is to enable Qian Yuzhe to learn it too. This young master doesn't have Proficiency. Getting him to master it in a short time will be no easy feat.
"Yes, that's fine. Time is indeed getting tight, so let's start tomorrow."
"Rest well today. Here's some food I had the kitchen prepare for you."
Qian Yuzhe lifted the lid of the meal box, and a rich aroma instantly wafted out. The steaming, exquisite four dishes and one soup immediately made Qi Xiu's stomach growl with anticipation.
"Oh, by the way, don't go out at night for the time being. I'll have a house servant prepare a chamber pot for you. Sleep early, bolt the door well, and if someone knocks, ignore it."
Huh? Knocking? Who would be knocking?
Hearing this, Qi Xiu's eyelids twitched, and a chill crept down his spine. Something about Qian Yuzhe's words feels off.
"Don't worry. There have been some prowlers about recently, sneaking into the Qian Residence at night to steal. I'm worried one might harm you, so just be extra careful at night," Qian Yuzhe said with a smile, offering a few more words of caution before getting up to leave.
Staring at Qian Yuzhe's retreating figure, Qi Xiu remained seated, his expression complex.
Prowlers stealing things... And they knock?
「Night fell.」
Inside the dimly lit room, the candlelight flickered. Qi Xiu tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling.
"If someone knocks, ignore it..." Qian Yuzhe's warning from earlier replayed in his mind like a haunting refrain. I won't be able to sleep until I figure this out.
Sitting up, Qi Xiu rubbed his temples and looked towards the door and windows. A "Suppress" Character, inscribed on white paper with divine and ancient-styled script, was now pasted over the cracks in the door and windows.
I don't know if it'll work.
Leaning against the side of the bed, Qi Xiu rested his chin in his hand and gazed out at the lanterns in the corridor, which swayed gently, casting a dim, yellowish glow.
Wax dripped down the candlestick. The night deepened.
Despite his unease, Qi Xiu, who had been pushing himself for half a month, felt an overwhelming drowsiness surge through him. He struggled to keep his eyelids open but eventually succumbed and drifted into a deep sleep.
HISS—
The candle burned out. The room plunged into darkness.
After an unknown amount of time, the moonlight began to fade. An bone-chilling wind suddenly started to howl through the corridor outside. One by one, the lanterns hanging under the eaves flickered out. A hollow, dim darkness, like a rising tide, gradually engulfed the area.
SHUFFLE, SHUFFLE, SHUFFLE—
Faint, eerie footsteps echoed in the dark corridor. A numb, rigid figure was revealed in the sparse moonlight. It was a man with an expressionless face, his skin ashen-blue and covered in dark, ominous corpse spots. He wore a long robe and was barefoot, his eyes a lifeless, ashen gray, devoid of any spark.
It stood inexplicably still in the corridor for several minutes. Then, the man in the long robe moved, his rigid body taking steps with mechanical stiffness.
Half a minute later, "he" stopped before Qi Xiu's door, turning woodenly to face it. His ashen-gray, lifeless eyes slowly swiveled, their numb gaze staring through the door's lattice at the soundly sleeping Qi Xiu. "He" slowly raised his right hand, covered in corpse spots.
HISS—
The instant the man's palm touched the door, the "Suppress" Character pasted behind it suddenly flared with a golden glow. Amidst billows of white smoke, a Divine Marvel and ancient power forcefully repelled "his" palm.
Looking down at his repelled hand, "he" stood frozen on the spot. After a moment, the man in the long robe turned rigidly. The shuffling sound of his steps resumed as "he" approached the next room.
「The next day, daylight broke.」
Qi Xiu woke up, yawning and rubbing his eyes.
Looks like I was worrying too much. Nothing strange happened last night, after all.
Putting on his clothes, Qi Xiu got out of bed, walked to the table to pour a cup of water, and his gaze inadvertently swept towards the door.
The "Suppress" Character that had been pasted on the door was still there. But most of its ink had vanished. Less than a fifth of it remained!
CLANG—
The teapot in his hand wobbled, nearly slipping and crashing to the floor.
His face grim, Qi Xiu strode to the door and peeled off the white paper bearing the "Suppress" Character. The paper was undamaged, yet the ink had vanished into thin air.
It seems something really did come last night. It was just that the power of the "Suppress" Character kept it out.
Swallowing hard, Qi Xiu felt a scalp-numbing chill despite it being broad daylight.
He pushed open the door. A house servant carrying a bucket hurried past.
"Excuse me," Qi Xiu called out, stopping the house servant. "Did anything happen in the Qian Residence last night?"
"How did you know?" The house servant looked startled for a moment, then quickly waved his hands in denial. "Nothing, nothing at all!"
With that, he hurried away, giving Qi Xiu no chance to ask further questions.
Something's wrong! Something dark is definitely happening in this Qian Residence.
His unease growing heavier, Qi Xiu returned to his room to change his clothes. After a quick look to his left and right, he briskly moved through the corridor towards the inner courtyard of the Qian Residence.
"Hurry, hurry! Everything must be cleaned up before the Master wakes!"
Covering his nose and mouth with a handkerchief, the Qian Residence's steward berated the busy house servants in a low voice, constantly urging them on. More than a dozen house servants, armed with buckets and mops, bustled in and out of a side courtyard.
Clean water went in.
Bloody water came out.
"Steward Zhao, did something happen again last night?" Sun Biao, the head of the Qian Residence's guards, approached with a frown, four burly guards in tow.
"Captain Sun, you're finally here! We lost two more last night. They looked even more horrifying than the previous ones—all their internal organs gone, and the room drenched in blood. Hurry and get the bodies out of there. If the Master sees them, it'll be a disaster!"
"Got it. Let's go, men."
Leading his subordinates into the side courtyard's room, Sun Biao and his men soon carried out two bodies covered in white shrouds. To avoid being seen, they deliberately bypassed the main roads of the Qian Residence, taking a small path instead.
"Sigh... more and more people are dying, Boss. Is there really no way to deal with this?" one guard muttered.
"Deal with it? How? All those masters they invited were useless—they ended up dead themselves! That thing... it comes and goes like a shadow. We can't even catch it."
"Then why haven't the Lords moved out? Are they just going to stay here and wait to die?"
"Who knows? But I heard Second Master invited an expert from his sect. Maybe they'll have a way to handle that thing."
"Let's hope so. Otherwise, we're in danger too. I haven't even married a wife to carry on my family line yet!"
"Tch! If you went to the pleasure houses less, you'd have a wife by now. Careful you don't catch some nasty disease."
"What do you know! I go there to drink and unwind!"
"Heh."
By the side path, near a dry rock garden, a scholar in a cyan-gray cotton robe stood sideways behind the rockery, his hands tucked into his gathered sleeves.
As Sun Biao and his men walked past, chatting and laughing, a gust of wind billowed, whipping the white shrouds off the bodies. Two corpses, their faces twisted in hideous death masks, their chests and abdomens deeply sunken, were exposed to Qi Xiu's sight.
Inhaling the lingering metallic scent of blood in the air, Qi Xiu clenched his fists hidden within his sleeves.
This Qian Residence... I can't stay here any longer.