The Su Qing'an Everyone Adored

In this bustling town Wen Chun Pavilion was already considered one of the best brothels.

Although it cannot compare to the grandeur of the Capital City, the architecture of this courtyard is still exceptionally refined.

Several poplar trees with drooping new branches stand in front of the gate, while a flowing water scene unfolds in front of the window. The flowers and pond in the courtyard are also quite pleasing.

Inside, there are elegant rooms for the young ladies, just like Li Shishi's residence in Zhen'an Ward. The furnishings inside are not shabby. Music, chess, calligraphy, painting, writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone are essential items. Antique porcelain and other decorations are also plentiful. Even the screen in front of the bed exudes a sense of refinement.

This is the treatment that most talented and beautiful geishas receive. They sell their art but not their bodies, but for most guests, dancing, singing, reciting poetry, and chanting lyrics is already an extremely elegant affair.

Generally, the guests who can come to such high-class entertainment venues are of very high quality, mainly consisting of literati, officials, wealthy merchants, and chivalrous figures, with literati being the majority.

Some are full of heroic spirit, laughing and talking about the world; some are devoted to their female confidantes, enjoying the warmth and softness of their companions; and some are pure literati who simply come to sit down, drink a few cups of tea, eat some snacks, chat, or listen to a girl sing a few songs.

Of course, there were also guests who enjoyed reciting poetry, painting, drinking, and playing chess with the girls. This shows how high the bar was for courtesans in the Great Song. In order to cater to the preferences of different guests, they had to be proficient in almost everything. It would be too difficult to do this without receiving an excellent education from childhood.

For some reason, Su Qing'an was quite popular with the older sisters. During this time, she was even led into the boudoir by a beautiful older sister named Luo Jinyu, where she passively learned some meaningless information. In the end, she was dragged back by Li Shishi.

The boy wasn't interested in the rivalry between the two Courtesan. He sat in a corner of the main building of the Wen Chun Pavilion, sipping the tea that the older courtesan had poured for him. During this time, he did manage to find out which nearby shop had the most exquisite and appealing items.

Moreover, he didn't use his Manas consciousness to scan his memories; he asked questions earnestly and diligently, which made him somewhat happy.

Su Qing'an himself didn't know why, but the more he detached himself from ignorance, the less willing he was to use this unconventional nature of being detached from the world to pry into other people's lives and memories.

Perhaps they feel that even if it doesn't harm or affect people, it's still a bad thing, or maybe they simply don't like living too detached from the mundane world.

The young man preferred to live authentically in this mortal world, not caring if his white robes were stained with the filth of the world. This was essentially a subconscious aversion to the Ascended State and a gradual manifestation of his personality.

At this moment, twilight is faintly visible outside the window; the night has not yet fallen.

The room was full of guests, and the rather noisy sounds were transformed into a faint, warm atmosphere by the steam rising from the teapot and the gentle breeze from the window.

The conversations and trivial whispers of others converge into a gentle stream, naturally categorizing and extracting a wealth of useful information within the consciousness. All the peripheral memories temporarily considered meaningless are swept into the subconscious, only to surge forth like a tide when the corresponding information is found, replicating the correct answer.

In the past, those Soul Essence was less than one-tenth of what it is today could easily become leaders in various fields.

As for now—even if he discards the Manas consciousness and reverts to a normal soul, Su Qing'an is still a Leaf World apart from the average human being.

A man dressed as a wealthy merchant sighed and said:

"Brother Chen, do you know that the world is about to descend into turmoil again?"

"First, the Liao Qingzhou was illuminated by a sky full of colorful clouds at midnight; then, at the Martial Arts Gathering, a martial artist of seemingly unparalleled skill appeared, stirring up a storm with a flick of his finger on a zither, as if he had personally received the Legend of the Immortal."

"This is always a sign of a chaotic world."

Someone poured a glass of wine and said softly:

"Yes, strange phenomena frequently occur in the world, and immortals personally teach and leave behind their teachings. If either one happens, it's fine, but when both occur, it's hard not to overthink it."

The wealthy businessman replied:

"Looking at its history, this almost always indicates that the current era is one in which the Immortal Chi Yuan believes he cannot protect the land alone. I'm afraid that in the future, demons and monsters will run rampant. It's best if we avoid going to some remote and dangerous places."

He shook his head and sipped his wine.

"Moreover, since the alliance between our Great Song and the Liao Dynasty, we have enjoyed peace for over a century, but now things are restless again."

"So the Martial Arts Gathering held under this pretext? In the end, it only left behind a few rank-one martial artists, which didn't affect the overall situation."

"Although our country is wealthy, our military situation is truly worrying. We can only hope that this region will not be affected."

The person sitting opposite waved their hand, but their opinions differed:

"To be honest, the Liao Kingdom is also struggling internally. Didn't they recently spread rumors that some areas there were tainted by demonic energy? As a result, some military camps and other villages were completely wiped out, and many of the zombies that were born were burned in the fire, leaving nothing behind."

He lowered his voice:

"I have quite a few relatives who do trade over there. Last time I took him out for drinks, when things got really lively, he started complaining to me, saying that things aren't peaceful in Liao Kingdom either. It seems there are separatist forces operating in the rear, robbing money, grain, and caravans."

"He almost got caught up in it, and this scared him so much that he rushed back to the Great Song overnight. He absolutely refused to get involved in that mess. The Liao Kingdom is not as peaceful as our Great Song. They might not even be able to take care of themselves right now, so how could they dare to start a war? I think the tension on the border and what happened in the Capital City a few years ago are just them trying to show their teeth and bluff."

The man, drinking his wine, was filled with boundless pride:

"If you ask me, the goal of this Martial Arts Gathering isn't to defend against enemy forces, but to destroy the Liao Dynasty."

"Forget about worrying about the impact on Qinglong Town, brother, you should be more concerned about whether your relatives in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun will be affected."

"Furthermore, the celestial phenomenon appeared in Qingzhou, yet the Legend of the Immortal appeared in our Great Song. Consider the difference. The tide is in our hands; what is there to fear?"

Upon reflection, the wealthy businessman realized this was indeed the case.

The appearance of the immortal in Qingzhou, combined with the recent rumors of demons appearing in the Liao Kingdom, is enough to show that the situation there has reached a point where the Immortal Chi Yuan could display such power, demonstrating the severity of the rampant demons.

In contrast, the Great Song not only did not have such a situation, but also had people who personally experienced the Legend of the Immortal. Even if things went wrong in the future, the existence of such people could be considered as taking precautions.

He put his arm around the girl's waist and said:

"After hearing your words, much of the knot in my chest has been relieved."

"Let's continue drinking."

Su Qing'an remained silent for a while. Almost everyone in the main building had discussed similar topics. A sentence surfaced from the depths of her memory in response to this scene.

Topics among men: women and online politics.

This point seems to remain true even though it differs from the dynasties he has lived in before. And this scene appearing in the Wen Chun Pavilion carries an even more subtle meaning.

"SuSu, I've bought a gift! Guess what it is?"

The girl's light footsteps reached his ears, accompanied by a delicate fragrance mingled with her rouge. Her brightly colored nails, dyed with balsam juice, complemented her skin beautifully, and her slender fingers held a box, which she proudly waved in front of the boy.

Su Qing'an was slightly taken aback.

Wrists white, skin red, like jade shoots; tuning the zither, drawing the thread, revealing the tip at an angle.

She turned her back to others, carefully tucking her drooping hair, and lightly applied rouge to her face before the mirror.

The boy suddenly recalled this Tang Dynasty poem, but not for admiration of how beautiful Li Shishi's fingers were. Instead, he was suddenly reminded of a vivid image from the depths of his memory: the girl kneeling before the tombstone, tears falling with the rain.

Fragmented yet familiar words welled up from the depths of my memory:

[Xiao Xi, this is Su Qing'an, from Shenzhou. Don't you really like Shenzhou poetry? You can ask him about it later.]

This is the core reason why I memorize so many poems; otherwise, this particular poem would never have appeared in the memory recall mechanism.

But... who is that?

Li Shishi looked at the boy's stunned and silent expression, feeling somewhat worried.

The Udu-dust in her eyes seemed to reflect this as well.

"Susu, what's wrong?"

On the scales, the falling bead became the last straw pulled out of the vortex of memories.

The tattered and fragmented painting intermittently swept him into the massive tide, and for the first time, a clear emotion with distinct tension allowed the boy to clearly perceive the filling of the blanks.

Ultimately, his memories returned, leading him to the answer.

He was an older man who had chosen to entrust his life to someone he had only known for a short time; a father who pretended to like Oda Nobunaga in order to maintain his dignity in front of his daughter, and in the end, took Oda Nobunaga's words as his final words.

And it was also the first time that he deeply felt the fear of the possibility of loss.

--Kambara Shuichi.

When did this happen?

My mind was a complete mess. I could only remember the fragmented details and the ending of the events at that time, but I had no recollection of the St. Freya Academy, which had dispatched me. My teammates, who should have been there, were like a photograph with parts of the characters torn out, detached from the whole incident.

The boy became accustomed to the incompleteness of his memory recovery and quickly stopped his instinctive exploration.

Things that cannot be looked back upon are the price itself, reduced to [Ashes] and nothingness. No matter how hard one tries, in a blank world, one can only get blank answers.

Let's keep waiting.

Wait, and hold onto hope.

There will eventually come a day when everything will be restored, and looking back on all the past experiences with such clarity is a wonderful experience in itself.

He said:

"It's nothing, I've just regained a little bit of my memory."

"Let's go, Senior Sister Shishi."

Li Shishi breathed a sigh of relief and said:

"It's good that she's alright. We should probably head to Haikou to pick her up soon."

Su Qing'an nodded and stood up, glancing again at the wooden box in her hand, and softly answered the other person's previous question:

"It's a bracelet, and probably a very delicate and small one."

"Rongyue is ultimately a martial artist and swordswoman. She is not suited to ornaments that are easy to fall off. After much thought, there are very few ornaments I can give her. A bracelet that is too heavy will affect her ability to draw her sword, so it would be best if it were as light and small as possible."

Upon hearing this, the young girl opened the wooden box, her fingertips lightly touching the exquisitely crafted silver bracelet with dragon patterns. Looking at the exceptionally slender, silvery-white ring, she said frankly:

"Yes, that's why I spent ages looking in that store outside and this was the only one that fit."

"Although I think it looks great, she might not accept it."

"After all, she's different from ordinary girls. I think that if this bracelet even slightly affects her sword-wielding, it would be an intolerable flaw for her."

Su Qing'an took the wooden box from her hands and said softly:

"Rongyue is a very polite and obedient child. If it was a gift from her Senior Sister Shishi, she wouldn't refuse it. At most, she would try to repay you later, which might cause you some trouble."

"But as you said, if it would affect her sword-wielding, she probably wouldn't usually carry it, which would defeat the purpose of giving it as a gift."

"Since we've gone to the trouble of delivering it, it's better to remove this flaw."

The boy picked up the silver bracelet.

--The engraving on it features an exquisite pattern of auspicious clouds and dragons dancing together. This is a piece of fine craftsmanship by today's standards. The semi-openwork technique makes the overall appearance more ethereal and achieves a sense of lightness.

Well, it must be very expensive.

"Senior Sister Shishi, I'm going out for a bit."

However, it was still somewhat inferior to the modern craftsmanship in my memory. With the intention of achieving perfection, [Hidden] concealed its presence, and the Heaven and Earth Qi allowed Su Qing'an to arrive at the nearby jewelry store in a few breaths.

The young man, like Buddha in the human world, walked to the nearby streets. He visited several shops that specialized in high-quality handicrafts. His Manas consciousness formed a network from top to bottom, with [carving] as the key period, replicating the relevant memories. His powerful Soul Essence was directly connected to his body and landed on his fingertips. In just a few breaths, he integrated the understanding and ability of several master craftsmen in this field over a lifetime.

Although I don't like to deliberately use the Manas consciousness, it is not forbidden to use it for the sake of Hua's disciples, provided that it does not harm others.

Su Qing'an returned to the table. Under Li Shishi's gaze, delicate, thread-like Heaven and Earth Qi appeared in his palm, while the silver bracelet floated between them, undergoing a further processing and carving that surpassed any tool.

He didn't add anything excessive, but only made appropriate improvements in the details. After a while, the patterns and openwork details of the entire silver bracelet were filled in and perfected, showing a lifelike quality that was never seen before.

But this was just a side effect; Su Qing'an's goal was to make the bracelet have real value to a swordsman.

The Heaven and Earth Qi transforms into particles invisible to the naked eye, and the Manas consciousness deduces a completely new and structurally simple formula for the Honkai Energy.

This is somewhat similar to the various skills equipped on the armor used by Satou Yunona during the St. Freya era. As long as Honkai Energy was purely output, the armor could be converted into corresponding abilities through a formula and displayed in the real world.

Su Qing'an has a way to achieve a wonderful result similar to enchantment by sublimating the control of Honkai Energy through the Manas Consciousness, but if he wants to keep it in an object for a long time, it is better to choose a simpler formula.

For example, a complex skill like [Thousand Stars], even if left inside an object, will quickly collapse due to the loss of a few Honkai Energy particles, causing the original fixed cycle to break down and become unable to withstand any disturbance.

However, the opposite is true for a very simple and straightforward formula. Because the emission and structural requirements of Honkai Energy particles tend to be crude and simple, even if it encounters strong external interference, it can still achieve the result of cyclical immortality by absorbing the Heaven and Earth Qi nearby.

The ability he chose this time is closely related to the memories he just awakened.

As some memories of their first mission resurfaced, the effects of the St. Freya Academy crest were also recalled.

That is, it will naturally get hot and shiny when it encounters a certain Honkai Energy, serving as a reminder to students who do not have keen perception of their specific situation.

Although this seems useless to Jiang Rongyue, who has only recently learned the Honkai Energy Domain, humans cannot constantly cover their Honkai Energy Domain to enhance their perception.

Because no one can ignore sleep and mental inattention indefinitely.

Objects, on the other hand, continue to fulfill their duties until they are completely destroyed.

Although this was Su Qing'an's first attempt to inscribe a semi-permanent ability formula within an object using pure Heaven and Earth Qi, it was still not a difficult task.

In just five minutes, the idea was put into practice.

The young man slipped the bracelet onto his slender wrist. The Heaven and Earth Qi surrounding the exquisite silver bracelet caused it to vibrate slightly, producing a sound like silver bells that rang out in the breeze. A gentle, moonlit glow emanated from it, making the artifact appear even more ethereal.

From Li Shishi's perspective, the silver bracelet that was originally resting on her skin began to float naturally as the Heaven and Earth Qi surged forth, emitting a trembling sound like a gentle spring breeze without touching any skin.

Clearly, this also stems from the other party's ingenious design.

As long as Jiang Rongyue truly begins the battle, the bracelet will not affect her movements in the slightest once the Heaven and Earth Qi stirs.

Can...

Li Shishi complained:

"Although I think the light is beautiful and the sound is pleasant, wouldn't it mean I can't use Qi techniques freely in situations where I don't want to be discovered?"

Su Qing'an said calmly:

"You could consider this a test and a routine assignment."

"Once Rongyue can control the brightness and timbre within it on her own, she will probably be able to try learning more advanced Qi cultivation techniques."

The girl's fingertips trembled slightly as she fiddled with her hair, and she murmured softly:

"Su Su is too strict. Even Sister Chi Yuan, Rong Yue's master, isn't as strict as you."

After hearing this, Su Qing'an thought for a while and began to reflect on whether he had done something similar before.

Otherwise, why would they be so skilled?

However, both Kevin from the previous timeline and Jiang Rongyue now are the type who would never admit defeat, complain, or grumble about the grueling training.

Kiana, from the previous timeline, was the only one who would complain, but thanks to Mei, she escaped the hell of tutoring.

Therefore, even if the boy regains all his memories, he would probably still be completely clueless about the situation.

At that moment, a feather fell around Li Shishi, and the girl's voice faded away:

[Great Master Li, the demon's remains are almost ready to be moved to the warehouse in Haikou.]

Please tell my martial uncle that he/she can come at any time.

She removed the silver bracelet from the other person's wrist, placed it in the wooden box, and said:

"Perfect timing, let's go then."

"I hope Rongyue will like it."

The boy gazed at the dusk gradually swallowed by the night and whispered:

"Um."

Do I have memories of twilight from the past?