"Um... what is this?"
Chen Luo extended one finger. With a slight stir of his thoughts, a wisp of mistlike, multicolored qi seeped from his fingertip, winding around his finger like a smoky serpent.
When he had written nearly fifty thousand words, Chen Luo discovered a pea-sized mass of multicolored mist inside his body. Only after examining it carefully did he realize that every time he finished writing a character of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, a negligible thread of mist would appear within him.
Now that he had nearly completed a third of the entire book, that pea-sized mass of mist had condensed to the size of a finger.
"Is this qi?" Chen Luo was puzzled. As far as he knew, qi was the foundation of cultivation in this world, and it had to be obtained by reciting the classics. That was why there were only Three Qi beneath Heaven.
The cyan qi was the Righteous Qi of the Confucian school.
The purple qi was the Innate Origin Qi of the Daoist school.
The Golden Qi was the True Meaning of Reincarnation of the Buddhist school.
Besides these three kinds of qi, there was also something called Half-Qi. It referred to a dynasty's fortune, whose color was determined by the Five Virtues of Dynasties. For example, the Great Xuan Dynasty belonged to the Gold Virtue, whose corresponding color was white.
Apart from that, there was no other qi beneath Heaven.
"Young Master, Young Master..." Xiao Huan suddenly rushed into the study, startling the multicolored mist on Chen Luo's hand into swiftly burrowing back into his body.
"What happened?"
"Outside... There's someone outside, dead at our doorstep." Xiao Huan pointed toward the door with one hand and pressed the other against her chest, panting heavily as she spoke.
"Let's go take a look..." Chen Luo rose and walked outside. When Chen Xuan and Chen Ping had left that morning, they had taken everyone from the manor to the outskirts of the city. The servants had not yet been summoned back, so only Chen Luo and Xiao Huan were in the manor now. He had no choice but to handle this matter himself.
"The young lady ran out of face powder, so I wanted to buy some more. But the moment I opened the door, I saw him lying at our doorstep. He scared me half to death." When they reached the entrance, Xiao Huan pointed at one of the stone lions in front of the door. Sure enough, Chen Luo saw someone leaning against it, head drooping, looking utterly lifeless. Quite a few spectators had naturally gathered around to watch.
Chen Luo slowly approached the man. Xiao Huan tugged at his sleeve from behind and whispered, "Young Master, let's report this to the authorities. You've only just recovered, and what if his ghost comes back to haunt you?"
Warmth filled Chen Luo's heart. This little maid looked careless and carefree, but she had not expected her to care so much about him. As expected, servants took after their masters. He was just about to give Xiao Huan a dazzling smile of thanks when he heard her continue, "It wouldn't matter if he haunted you, but I'm the only one left in the manor. I'm scared..."
Sure enough, she was still the Xiao Huan he knew!
Chen Luo ignored Xiao Huan and walked over to the man. To be honest, with Zhong Kui protecting him, he truly was not afraid of some petty ghost.
Chen Luo carefully sized up the man. His face was filthy, and he looked around seventeen or eighteen, about the same age as Chen Luo. He was male, with a Broken Sword clutched in his hand, while his ragged shirt revealed a body covered in wounds.
"What a poor soul..."
Chen Luo reached out and checked beneath the man's nose. As expected, he could no longer feel any breath. He then felt for the man's pulse, but there was no sign of a heartbeat either.
"He's completely dead..." Chen Luo sighed and rose. He was just about to tell Xiao Huan to hire a passerby to report this to the authorities when a strange sound suddenly came from the corpse on the ground—
"Grrr..."
Chen Luo froze for a moment, then hurriedly crouched down and said softly, "High-end ingredients often need only the simplest cooking methods."
"The skin of Soup Dumplings is paper-thin, almost translucent. When you open your mouth and take a bite, the fresh, savory juices flow into your mouth. Then you bite into the meatball soaked in that juice—neither greasy nor cloying, smooth and refreshing on the tongue..."
"Grrr..."
"Liangshan Suckling Pig is roasted with the skin on. The tender, thick skin is the essence of the meat. The best time to take it off the fire is when it turns golden. Big chunks of lean meat paired with dipping sauce made from ground chili peppers, soybeans, and sesame seeds—just thinking about how fragrant it is..."
"Slurp..." Xiao Huan, standing nearby, swallowed. Although she had no idea what Soup Dumplings or Liangshan Suckling Pig were, combined with Young Master's strange tone, his words still made her drool unconsciously.
Almost at the same moment, the corpse that had been "completely dead" suddenly raised a hand and grabbed Chen Luo's sleeve. In a weak voice, he said, "Two more passages..."
"Xiao Huan, go get a bowl of porridge!" Chen Luo gave the order. Xiao Huan froze, then hurried into Chen Manor. A moment later, she came running out with a bowl and handed it to Chen Luo. "Young Master, it's just a little cold!"
"That's fine!" Chen Luo took the small bowl and held it to the man's lips. "Can you hear me? I'll feed you some porridge. Slowly swallow it yourself..."
After saying that, Chen Luo was just about to feed the porridge into the ragged youth's mouth when a flash of golden light suddenly flickered inside the youth's mouth, blocking the porridge outside his lips.
"Namo Amitabha Buddha..." A Buddhist Chant sounded behind Chen Luo. "Little benefactor, there's no need to trouble yourself. He can't eat any food!"
Chen Luo frowned slightly and followed the voice with his gaze. A monk with a clean, fair face and a kasaya stood not far away, pressing his palms together in greeting.
"A Buddhist disciple!" Chen Luo's heart stirred. This was his first time seeing the Buddhist school of this world. At a glance, it seemed rather similar to the Buddhist school of the world he knew.
"Master, why is that?" Chen Luo asked sincerely.
The monk's expression did not change. "This humble monk cast a spell on him. For ten days, he may not consume a single grain of rice or a drop of water."
Xiao Huan frowned and stepped forward. "You monk, are you trying to kill someone? An ordinary person would die after ten days without food or water! Aren't you afraid the authorities will arrest you?"
The monk smiled faintly and took a piece of paper from his robes. "This benefactor borrowed one hundred taels of silver from this humble monk and made a wager with me. If he can go ten days without eating a single grain of rice or drinking a single drop of water, the debt will be wiped out with an Annihilation Stroke. If he fails, he must acknowledge this humble monk as his master, return with me to the Western Buddhist Domain, and become a Novice Monk."
"If he cannot hold out, yet refuses to admit defeat to this humble monk, and ultimately starves or dies of thirst, then he will have settled the debt with his own life. We will owe each other nothing."
"Now, there are still two days before the term of this loan expires."
Chen Luo was just about to speak when Xiao Huan cursed, "You monk, stop trying to deceive people! This young man's clothes are tattered, and he doesn't even have a decent sword. You claim he asked you for one hundred taels, but where's the silver?"
At Xiao Huan's words, the surrounding spectators began discussing among themselves, pointing at the monk. Yet the monk remained calm and unhurried as he slowly said, "In Qiansong County, there were two brothers. The elder brother raised horses for a wealthy household. The younger brother mounted a horse to play, but startled it and fell off. To save his younger brother, the elder brother shot three arrows and killed the fine horse. The wealthy household demanded one hundred taels in compensation, threatening to take him to the authorities otherwise. Wracked with guilt, the younger brother put up a sign by the roadside offering to sell himself—but the price was one hundred taels."
"One hundred taels. A child like him could buy twenty people. Naturally, no one would buy him." The monk spoke blandly, without a trace of emotion. "Someone told him that in a gambling den, people sold separately were worth more than when sold whole."
"One finger, five taels. Stab yourself once, ten taels. One ear, fifteen taels. One eye, thirty taels..."
"When I led this little benefactor into that underground gambling den, the younger brother had already lost both ears and one eye. He was rather pitiful... The gambling den's owner had been beaten half to death by this little benefactor. Yet the younger brother grabbed him and said the other party still hadn't paid him!"
"As it happened, this humble monk had one hundred taels on him. I told this little benefactor that if he acknowledged me as his master, I would give him the silver. He refused. I then said he could make a wager with me, and I would give him my one hundred taels. He agreed."
"This little benefactor took the one hundred taels of silver from this humble monk, along with every valuable possession and his clothes, and gave them all to the other party."
"This little benefactor is so kindhearted. Indeed, he is fated to be connected with our Buddhist school..."
"Connected with your Buddhist school, my ass!" Chen Luo cursed. "He's about to lose his life! I'll repay the one hundred taels for him. Hurry up and undo the spell!"
The monk shook his head slightly. "No, no, that won't do. This humble monk doesn't want money. I only want a disciple!"
Anger surfaced on Chen Luo's face. "He's about to die!"
"This humble monk knows. But this humble monk does not want silver."
"He owes you silver, not his life!" Chen Luo snarled. "I'll repay him. You won't lose out!"
The monk ignored Chen Luo and looked toward the youth. "Little benefactor, all you need to do now is call me Master, and this humble monk will immediately undo the spell."
The youth awakened by Chen Luo did not even have the strength to turn his head. His lips merely parted slightly—
Ptooey!
Chen Luo suddenly stopped being angry as well. He stared coldly at the monk and shouted, "Xiao Huan!"
Xiao Huan hurried over to Chen Luo's side. Chen Luo whispered a few words into her ear. Xiao Huan froze and glanced at him suspiciously, but she still turned and ran off.
Chen Luo ignored the monk and walked back to the ragged youth. He gently patted the youth's shoulder. "Hold on a little longer. I can help you..."
Before you continue