Chapter 7#
Knowing Oneself and Knowing One’s Enemy#
Wei Chuyun shook his robes and sat down, placing his scrolls and ink on the desk, saying: “The birds and beasts on Baihua Peak are not very likeable; that sparrow just now was indeed unusual towards you.”
The person’s tone seemed like casual chat, though slightly stiff. Xiao Man didn’t notice much; he had never chatted with someone he wasn’t familiar with, especially since this topic involved his own background secrets, so he remained silent, put the spiritual fruit brought by the sparrow into his storage ring, and quietly moved a bit towards the window side.
“The spiritual fruit brought by that sparrow is called Bigen Ling. I’ve read in travelogues that the taste during the day is better than at night,” Wei Chuyun changed the subject, starting a new topic.
Xiao Man: “…”
Xiao Man had read very few travelogues and still didn’t know how to respond. He lowered his eyes and opened the Gushan heart method to start reading.
He didn’t have much experience interacting with people and had few friends. In the hundred years of his previous life, the thing he did most was recite Buddhist scriptures. If Yan Wushu was in seclusion, he could go for several months without speaking to anyone.
In this life, things had improved; as soon as he arrived at Baihua Peak, he had companions he could walk with, but all of this should be credited to Qu Hanxing.
Qu Hanxing was someone who had never given Xiao Man a sense of distance from the beginning, whether it was the blow he struck during the brawl that night or how he had draped himself over Xiao Man’s shoulder first thing yesterday morning. Qu Hanxing was thick-skinned; initially, Xiao Man had thought about shaking him off, but the person soon did things that made him grateful.
As for Mo Juntian, this youth was cute and likable, with an aura that made Xiao Man feel a sense of closeness, and his attitude was good, so Xiao Man couldn’t help but ask the youth if he wanted to eat grapes.
As for this member of the Wei family from Luochuan—
As soon as Wei Chuyun came over, many people noticed. Now that he asked and Xiao Man didn’t answer, with everyone staring, the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Xiao Man had no intention of currying favor with such a prestigious family. He began to miss Qu Hanxing and Mo Juntian, hoping they would quickly come to Chaoyu Tower, preferably choosing seats near him, and then hoping the instructor would quickly arrive, ring the small bell on the desk, and start the lecture.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Before long, Qu Hanxing’s voice was heard:
“Brother Man, you’ve never had the pan-fried buns from Wugu Tower, right? The soup inside is especially plentiful. We packed some for you; there are two meat-filled ones and two vegetable-filled ones, and even some chili sauce—”
Qu Hanxing’s tone was very cheerful, but his expression paused when he saw the person sitting next to Xiao Man: “Eh, Wei Chuyun? Why do you have the leisure to come to our back row?”
Wei Chuyun turned his head and said seriously: “Naturally, because I wanted to.”
In Chaoyu Tower’s classes, disciples had no fixed seats. Qu Hanxing couldn’t say much and looked at Xiao Man, asking with his eyes if they should change seats.
“Thank you for bringing me the pan-fried…” Xiao Man also declined Qu Hanxing’s kindness with his eyes. However, he had never heard of pan-fried buns before, and Qu Hanxing spoke quickly with a very strong ’er’ accent, so for a moment, he couldn’t accurately repeat it.
“It’s pan-fried buns (shengjianbao), which are buns that are pan-fried in oil directly after being wrapped!” Mo Juntian poked his head out from behind Qu Hanxing and handed a small food box to Xiao Man, “Please enjoy!”
Qu Hanxing and Mo Juntian sat at the empty desk in front of Xiao Man. Xiao Man opened the food box.
Inside the box were two plates and a bowl; the small bowl contained bright red chili sauce. Xiao Man couldn’t eat much spicy food, yet couldn’t help but try—he first dipped a tiny bit of a bun into it, and after eating it, dipped a bit more, repeating this several times, only to find Wei Chuyun watching him.
Xiao Man could feel that Wei Chuyun had no ill intent, so he pushed the food box towards the middle and asked: “Do you want some too?”
“No need,” Wei Chuyun waved his hand, “Just wanted to remind you to eat quickly; it won’t be long before the instructor arrives.”
“Thank you,” Xiao Man said.
Xiao Man picked up his pace and, just an instant before the instructor walked into Chaoyu Tower, finished the last bite, put away the bowl and chopsticks, closed the lid, placed the food box under the table, and cast a cleansing spell on himself.
A Taoist walked in quickly, headed straight for the front desk, sat down, rang the small bell, and said to everyone: “Quiet now.”
This person’s voice was very familiar, and his appearance was also very familiar. Who else could it be but Instructor Yang from yesterday morning?
Xiao Man was slightly surprised, thinking the instructors at Baihua Peak held multiple roles, but then he saw Qu Hanxing raise his right hand and ask in a drawn-out tone: “Instructor, you must have the day wrong, right? Today is for studying formations.”
“The instructor teaching you formations has business elsewhere; I will be taking this class,” Instructor Yang said indifferently.
Someone exclaimed: “You can teach formations too?”
“Of course—not,” Instructor Yang said with a straight face, teasing the disciples with a drawn-out tone, then changed the subject: “Yesterday we studied introductory fire talismans, but there are still some who can’t draw them or aren’t proficient. So this class will be for you to practice.”
A portion of the people immediately complained, very reluctantly taking out the “Introductory Talisman Techniques” and talisman paper they had used yesterday from their storage rings.
Most Gushan disciples were active and competitive, including this batch of low-level disciples who had just entered Baihua Peak. Their favorite was the daily afternoon swordsmanship class, where they could swing their swords freely on the practice field, reviewing old moves and honing new techniques. Xiao Man didn’t mind; he lowered his eyes, formed a meditation seal with his hands, and began practicing the Gushan heart method.
After an unknown amount of time, someone in Chaoyu Tower asked: “Instructor, our Gushan is a sword sect, yet we spend so much time every day learning things like talismans, formations, alchemy, and medicine. Learning so many things without specializing in any, what is the point?”
Instructor Yang didn’t answer immediately, but scanned the room with deep eyes and asked: “Is there anyone who can answer his question?”
No one volunteered to stand up.
Instructor Yang called on someone: “Xiao Man, your talismans are drawn the best; you answer.”
Xiao Man had just finished a small cycle of circulating spiritual energy according to the Gushan heart method. Hearing someone call his name, he looked up, somewhat bewildered.
Wei Chuyun quickly repeated what had just happened in a low voice to Xiao Man, and added: “If you don’t want to answer, I can help you.”
“No need,” Xiao Man shook his head.
Xiao Man stood up and looked at the person who asked, and everyone else in the building looked at him.
Xiao Man thought for a moment and asked a question: “If you were to capture a villain, what would you do?”
The person said: “Naturally, find the villain, draw my sword, and beat him down.”
Xiao Man asked again: “If the villain is hiding in the shadows and attacks with talismans, what would you do?”
The person: “Dodge, or raise my sword and cut the talisman paper in two.”
“Whether dodging or drawing your sword, you must move during this process. But what if, by some mistake, you walk into a formation the villain set up in advance? At that time, what would you do?”
“It’s just a formation; I’ll just raise my sword and hack it apart!”
Such an answer drew a sigh from Instructor Yang, and the person’s proud expression immediately crumbled. Then, Xiao Man asked again: “But you don’t recognize this formation; where should you hack? If you trigger a trap inside or accidentally enter a ‘death gate’, wouldn’t you be asking for trouble and seeking your own death?”
The person stood there stiffly like a post, opening his mouth to speak after a long while, but stopped before any words came out.
He couldn’t argue; his face turned flush red.
Xiao Man felt he had fulfilled the instructor’s request, nodded to Instructor Yang, and sat back down.
Chaoyu Tower was quiet. Instructor Yang walked slowly from one end of the aisle to the other, then turned back to look at the disciples:
“As the saying goes, ‘know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle.’ When fighting someone, if you can’t even figure out the opponent’s moves, how can you talk about victory?”
“Furthermore, if you go out in the future as a disciple of Gushan and don’t even recognize the most common talismans, formations, medicines, or pills, wouldn’t that bring shame to our Gushan’s reputation!”
The low-level disciples hurriedly said, “Yes.”
“Brother Man is indeed Brother Man; you’re actually so good at debating!” Qu Hanxing gave Xiao Man a thumbs up.
Xiao Man flatly refuted: “I was just giving an example, not debating.”
In the time that followed, people would occasionally bring their scrolls over to ask Wei Chuyun questions. Because Xiao Man had been praised by the instructor as “the person who draws talismans the best” and because of the truth he had spoken in just a few short words, many people ran over to consult him.
Qu Hanxing was among them, but he turned around too late; by the time he leaned over, many people were already crowded around Xiao Man.
“Sigh—” Qu Hanxing let out a long sigh, tapped his head, and planned to turn back and figure it out himself.
Wei Chuyun happened to be free and pointed his finger at the newly drawn talisman in Qu Hanxing’s hand, saying: “Your problem lies in…”
He solved Qu Hanxing’s confusion, using very easy-to-understand terms, moving from shallow to deep in a step-by-step manner, attracting even Mo Juntian.
The three people’s heads huddled together, discussing in low voices. After Xiao Man finished answering the last person’s question, he took out the spiritual fruit the sparrow had brought earlier, divided it into four portions with a few movements of his hands, and leaned in, becoming the fourth head huddled together.
“This fruit is quite crisp.”
“Can the wind talisman be drawn as you said?”
“As expected, it tastes better when eaten during the day. Wind talismans cannot; the composition of wind talismans and fire talismans is different…”
They chatted back and forth, finishing one question and starting to research the next. Xiao Man listened for a long while; his neck was a bit tired, so he raised his hand to rub it, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone standing under a tree outside the window.
Someone Xiao Man didn’t want to see.
He pretended not to notice and returned to the discussion of talisman techniques. But in the next instant, Yan Wushu, outside the window, flicked open his folding fan and fanned a gust of wind into Chaoyu Tower.
A new talisman paper Xiao Man had just taken out was blown away.
Yan Wushu was always like this, using strange tricks when Xiao Man didn’t want to pay him any mind.
This person also used a spell, so no one except Xiao Man noticed his presence.
Xiao Man turned his head and met Yan Wushu’s gaze, then looked around at his surroundings, seeing that the instructor was not there, before standing up and going out.
He walked somewhat slowly, naturally.
It was nearly noon, the mountain sunlight was blindingly bright, the wind was not cool, and the ears were filled with the noise of cicadas. Xiao Man stood under the eaves of Chaoyu Tower and asked Yan Wushu from several feet away: “Why are you here?”
“I’ve been here for quite a while,” Yan Wushu said.
His mind was complex. Having calculated for a whole night, during the three months of seclusion, Xiao Man had spent every day at Qiyin Residence brewing tea and planting flowers, never going out, and no one had ever come to Xueyi Peak. Furthermore, on the night he came out of seclusion, Xiao Man had only been away for less than an hour.
The reason for the soul injury was a mystery.
Not only that, Yan Wushu also found that he couldn’t calculate Xiao Man’s future. The threads of fate were woven in the deep, black, misty night, and even the stars in the sky couldn’t illuminate the trajectory.
—The stars themselves were losing their own trajectories.
The warning from Fog Island still rang in his ears, and Yan Wushu was worried that Xiao Man was one of those stars.