「The next day.」
Qi Xiu arrived at the Qian Residence again by carriage. But this time, his destination was not Qian Yuzhe's red-walled courtyard, but Qian Yuchuan's martial arts training ground.
"Mr. Qi, I'm afraid I have to trouble you again. I'm truly sorry," Qian Yuchuan said with his usual hearty laugh, familiarly slinging an arm over Qi Xiu's shoulder. "I heard from my younger martial sister that you have matters to attend to back home? Don't worry, once you've finished copying the scripture for me, I'll personally send someone to take you home."
You're actually quite a decent fellow.
Glancing at the smiling Qian Yuchuan, Qi Xiu steadied his emotions. "If the Second Young Master entrusts me with a task, I shall do my utmost."
"Hahaha, good, then let's get started quickly."
Arriving in the inner room, Qian Yuchuan took out the animal skin scroll again and spread it neatly on the table. The best quality brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were all ready.
From the scent of the ink, Qi Xiu knew it was the finest ink from Shangtai Bookstore, priced at one hundred and fifty wen a pot.
His gaze fell upon the animal skin scroll. Qi Xiu first roughly skimmed its entire content.
The scripture was not long, containing just over three hundred characters, and appeared to be an incomplete fragment.
The person who wrote this scripture had a calligraphy style very similar to Monk Huai's. Or rather, this person must also be an enthusiast of Monk Huai's Calligraphy.
The translation wouldn't be too difficult.
Knowing the difficulty and content of the translation, Qi Xiu looked at Qian Yuchuan, who was watching with anticipation, took up the brush and ink, and began to transcribe.
"Profound..."
"True..."
"Meaning..."
One character after another was transcribed onto the white paper.
Two hours passed. Yet, only a few scattered eight or nine characters were on the entire sheet of paper.
"Mr. Qi, your translation speed... why is it so slow?" Suspecting that Qi Xiu was deliberately procrastinating, Qian Yuchuan stepped forward.
"Please forgive me, Second Young Master," Qi Xiu answered confidently, offering a slight bow. "This person's calligraphy is bold and unrestrained, with strokes interconnecting, making it difficult to distinguish. I must repeatedly ponder and compare to confirm each character. If I go too fast, I'm afraid I'll mistranslate them."
"I see..." Frowning at the mention of potential mistranslations, Qian Yuchuan pondered for a moment and said no more.
If you're not afraid I'll suffer cultivation deviation from the pressure, then by all means, keep rushing me.
Snorting coldly to himself, Qi Xiu turned back and continued translating. And after Qian Yuchuan's urging, his method of translation became even more peculiar.
Sometimes he would translate two characters from the beginning of the piece.
Sometimes he would ponder over one from the end.
Half a day passed. The paper was densely covered with twenty or thirty characters, yet they didn't form a single complete sentence. It was disorganized and meaningless.
Taking a deep look at Qi Xiu, Qian Yuchuan's mouth curved slightly, and he left the room.
「Outside the house.」
A whip kick shattered a wooden post as thick as a large bowl, sending wood chips flying everywhere. Gong Yan, hearing the door open, turned to look.
"Senior Brother, why have you come out? Is that kid finished translating?"
"No, the little fellow is throwing a tantrum." Qian Yuchuan sat on the steps by the door, twisting his neck until it made CRACKING sounds. "Truly a scholar; his mind is indeed sharp. He's finding ways to delay, and has even made me hesitant to act."
Hearing this, Gong Yan's delicate brows furrowed slightly. "Should I go and 'remind' him...?"
"No need for that. At his current speed, no matter how much he drags it out, he can only delay for seven days at most. If we press him too hard and he ends up giving us a scroll full of errors, what then? My elder martial brother will be back by the end of the month. With his keen eye and knowledge, he'll certainly be able to spot any deliberate mistakes or omissions by the boy. At that time, he'll be yours to deal with..."
Glancing over his shoulder, Qian Yuchuan's gaze seemed to penetrate the wooden planks, fixing on the figure inside, bent over and translating the scripture.
「Inside the room.」
Sensing a faint, prickling gaze on his back, Qi Xiu's expression became as still as water.
Seven days. Time is tight...
...
「Five days passed in a flash.」
「Night fell.」
「Qian Residence - Side Courtyard.」
To ensure Qi Xiu's "safety," Qian Yuchuan had placed him in a side room. His meals were delivered daily. Except for trips to the latrine, his movements were restricted to this room.
Sitting on the bed in only an undershirt, Qi Xiu's hands constantly shifted through various palm shapes. Veins bulged on his hands, muscles twitched, and tendons trembled. His bluish-black skin made his palms look as though they were cast from raw iron, exuding a chilling hardness.
Without the aid of iron sand, relying solely on palm techniques for training, his proficiency improved at only a third of the usual rate.
Dispelling the bluish-black hue from his hands, Qi Xiu, drenched in sweat, exhaled deeply.
Trapped in Qian Yuchuan's courtyard... At first, I only tried to practice my skills. I didn't expect that merely practicing palm shapes could also improve proficiency. It's just that the speed is much slower than training with iron sand.
"Two days left..." Qi Xiu stood up and walked to the door. The sky outside was incredibly gloomy, with dense clouds obscuring almost all starlight.
If I can't escape soon, I'll be "drinking tea" in the underworld.
Furrowing his brow as he looked toward the main house not far away, Qi Xiu was just about to turn back to rest on the bed when the "Suppress" Character stuck on the door suddenly reacted.
Hm?
Crouching quickly, Qi Xiu pressed against the door and peered through the lattice. He saw a stiff, wooden figure slowly entering the courtyard. Each step it took landed with a dull THUD.
Narrowing his eyes, Qi Xiu strained to make out the figure's appearance. It was a tall man, clad in long robes and barefoot. His complexion was deathly pale, devoid of any vital color, and dark brown corpse spots were visible on his exposed skin.
Is this the "Aberration" of the Qian Residence? Not knowing if this thing was the same kind of existence as the ghosts he was familiar with, Qi Xiu decided to call it an "Aberration."
As he watched the eerie figure enter the courtyard and head towards him, Qi Xiu's expression grew solemn.
Is it looking for me again? Once could be an accident, twice a coincidence, but this third time…
I suspected before that the Aberration appeared in Nanguang Alley looking for me. It just hadn't made a move for some reason. Now, seeing the Aberration appear in the courtyard and walk straight towards him, Qi Xiu became even more certain.
Watching the emotionless, cold man approach, Qi Xiu slowly backed away from the door. He picked up a thick stack of "Suppress" Characters from the table.
"Big Brother, barging into my courtyard so brazenly to take someone, isn't that a bit disrespectful?"
BANG! The door exploded. Qian Yuchuan, charging like a wild bull, burst into the courtyard, a fierce wind in his wake. His incomparably powerful right hook smashed viciously into the Aberration's face.
WHAM! The Aberration was instantly sent flying like a shadow and embedded straight into the courtyard wall, twitching and unable to move.
"COUGH, COUGH. Your man? Yet how is it that I, your elder brother, heard he belongs to Yu Ze?" From beyond the courtyard gate, a man in a fox fur cloak, holding a white handkerchief and coughing lightly, walked out, leaning on a jade-embellished, gold-inlaid cane. This was Qian Yuhan, the Eldest Young Master of the Qian Residence.
Seeing the middle-aged man leaning on a cane, looking unwell yet subtly exuding an air of authority, Qi Xiu rolled his eyes and rubbed his temples.
Are these three Qian brothers insane? Are they going to torment a poor scholar like me endlessly? Can't they find someone else to pester?
"Yu Ze's man? Since when did I know about that?" Qian Yuchuan said, his arms folded, barring Qi Xiu's doorway with a playful look on his face.
"COUGH, COUGH. I, your elder brother, didn't come here tonight to trade barbs. To put it plainly: hand over this scholar. Yes or no?" Qian Yuhan stated, raising his eyelids.
"Hmm? Since Elder Brother has spoken, I, Yu Chuan, shouldn't refuse. But this scholar is still useful to me. I hope Elder Brother understands." Since the Icefall True Skill had not yet been fully translated, Qian Yuchuan naturally couldn't hand Qi Xiu over.
"Heh, heh. Very well, very well." With a soft chuckle, Qian Yuhan slowly turned, seemingly giving up and preparing to leave.
However, just as his figure was about to disappear completely into the shadows, a soft whisper floated over, "The day after tomorrow is Father's birthday banquet. Yu Ze has already arrived at Qingtan Mountain and will probably return with Daoist Wu in two days. I hope, by then, you can still be this defiant."
After Qian Yuhan departed, the cold figure Qian Yuchuan had punched into the wall also vanished strangely.
The smile faded from Qian Yuchuan's face, replaced by a grim and ferocious expression. His iron fists clenched, emitting a metallic CREAK.
"Phthisis Ghost, do you think things will end well for you when our youngest brother brings that demonic Daoist back? Two days? You'd better cherish these last two days of yours."
...