Ink Fragrance Shop

Chu Shaoqiang wrote a letter and put it in an envelope.

Before sealing the envelope, Chu Shaoqiang took out the letter again and carefully checked every word and phrase.

Five days have passed, and it's time to give Inner State an explanation for the matter concerning Scholar Guo and Tian Dasong.

Chu Shaoqiang took the two men to the Qiu Luoye's Territory, intending for them to make contributions and be promoted to the Cloud Realm, but they ended up losing their lives instead.

These past few days, Chu Shaoqiang has been thinking about how to absolve himself of responsibility, but he hasn't come up with a suitable reason yet.

It's best to report the facts, but the wording should be more refined. Don't use the word "failure" casually; you could change it to "gradual progress."

As Chu Shaoqiang was revising a letter, a man with large eyes, a long face, and wings on his back, resembling a bat, appeared before Chu Shaoqiang.

Chu Shaoqiang knew someone had arrived. The man who looked like a bat was named Wang Fuqi, and he was Chu Shaoqiang's exclusive messenger to contact Inner State.

"Go back and rest first. I'll call you when I've finished writing the letter."

Wang Fuqi bowed and said, "Lord Chu, I've come to deliver a message to you. Something has happened to the three officials who were guarding the contracts."

Chu Shaoqiang wasn't too concerned about this. Although those who guarded the contracts were all from Inner State and held high positions, it was none of his business.

If there's no connection, why did Wang Fuqi come all the way to deliver the message?

Could there be a connection?

"Was Qiu Luoye's contract stolen?" For Chu Shaoqiang, this was the most important bargaining chip to threaten Qiu Luoye.

If the contract is stolen...

That would be a tremendous boon for Chu Shaoqiang.

This would give him a very good reason for his previous defeat.

Wang Fuqi shook his head and said, "The contract wasn't stolen, but it was destroyed."

"Who did it?" Chu Shaoqiang was skeptical. "With the contract destroyed, the Curse Art would naturally be triggered, and Qiu Luoye would surely die. It couldn't have been him who committed suicide."

Wang Fuqi said, "We still don't know Qiu Luoye's condition. Last night, Lord Fan was the first to notice that something was wrong with Qiu Luoye's contract. He touched it, and suddenly his body caught fire, which immediately spread throughout his body."

Lord Lu rushed to rescue Lord Fan, but the fire also engulfed him, and both of them were burned to ashes.

The remaining adults ran outside, Lord Zhong was a little slower; a spark landed on him, and he too was burned to ashes.

Chu Shaoqiang was skeptical. After considering the cause and effect, he asked, "Did someone tamper with the contract in Inner State? Or did someone in Pro State alter another contract and transfer the method to the contract in Inner State?"

Wang Fuqi said, "Lord Chu, you've seen the Inner State Library before. It's so small that not even a fly can get in there. How could anyone tamper with it?"

Chu Shaoqiang chuckled, "Fuqi, that's because you know too little about some things. Something happened in the library before, and it happened not long ago..."

I think this matter needs to be investigated starting in Inner State. I don't believe it was done by people from Pro State.

"How capable must someone be to send such a powerful technique from Pro State to the Inner State through a contract?"

Wang Fuqi said in a low voice, "Lord Chu, let's not worry about how capable this person is for now. I've come to deliver a message to you to tell you that the Censorate has pinned this matter on you."

"It's on me?" Chu Shaoqiang exclaimed in shock. "Why?!"

"The Censorate says that it was because of your incompetence that Qiu Luoye took such a risk, and the charge has already been leveled against you. You'd better think about how to explain yourself when you get back."

"Go back? Explain?" Chu Shaoqiang shook his head and said, "We can't go back, and we can't explain."

Wang Fuqi was startled. "Lord Chu, I'm just passing on a message. If you have any other ideas, I really have no idea."

As they were talking, Wang Fuqi was about to leave when Chu Shaoqiang called him back.

"You little brat, you don't understand anything. If I go back now, I won't be able to explain anything clearly. I'll just have to wait to be punished, and I might even lose my life."

"What does Lord Chu mean?"

"What the higher-ups want is land, Proper Land. We have to take the land back!"

Wang Fuqi nodded and said, "I'll go to the Qiu Luoye's Territory and see what the current situation is."

"Go look for Qiu Luoye again?" Chu Shaoqiang sighed. "There are Three Thousand Three-Headed Monsters there. How many people would we need to take to occupy that place? Let's look elsewhere."

Wang Fuqi said, "But if Qiu Luoye dies, we should be able to pick up the pieces."

Chu Shaoqiang shook his head and said, "Is Qiu Luoye really dead? I don't understand this either."

Qiu Luoye, covered in bandages, was gnawing on a pumpkin. After finishing one, she picked up another and continued gnawing on it.

Ma Wu didn't quite understand. "Brother Qiu, when did you start liking vegetarian food?"

Before the Qiu Luoye could answer, Stone said from the side, "Our Autumn Master usually loves to eat vegetarian food. Eating meat with you guys outside is just for show. He's an elephant; vegetarian food is just what he enjoys..."

Bang!

The tiger kicked the stone.

It's not about being vegetarian, it's about elephants.

The tiger roared, "Seventh Master said we're not allowed to call Master Qiu an elephant anymore! How could you forget that so quickly?"

Although the contract was destroyed, Li Banfeng did not want Qiu Luoye and Qiu Daxiang to have any connection anymore, so he forbade anyone to mention the nickname Qiu Daxiang.

Qiu Luoye regained his status and his cultivation level stabilized, but how much combat power he has recovered is currently unknown.

Qiu Luoye himself had no idea what to do, so all he could do was eat like crazy.

"Pumpkin skin is good stuff, eating the skin will make you grow stronger!" Qiu Luoye ate another pumpkin, wiped her mouth and said, "Where did Seventh Brother go? I haven't seen him all day."

Ma Wu said, "Seventh Brother is tired. He said he wants to get a good night's sleep for two days."

Qiu Luoye hugged the pumpkin and said, "I owe Seventh Brother too much. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay him."

Ma Wu laughed and said, "Brother Qiu, don't think that far ahead. Eat your fill and get some sleep. Take care of your health first, and then we'll talk about the future."

Portable Abode, Li Banfeng was not sleeping; he was taking an art class.

Today, his art teacher isn't the Blood-Containing Pendulum, but Hong Ying.

Hong Ying comes from a prestigious family and received an excellent education from a young age. She is skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and her painting skills are particularly exquisite.

Unlike the pendulum Western Painting Skills, Hong Ying studied Ink Wash Painting. She felt the size of the paper with her hand and quickly painted a Beauty Picture. The woman was bending over to pick flowers. She had a delicate and beautiful face and a graceful figure, but her clothes were not very elegant.

The record player glanced at it and asked, "You shameless woman, aren't you ashamed to draw something like this?"

"Pah!" Hong Ying spat. "You still know shame? Don't you remember how you were last night?"

The record player played a slow tempo, softly singing, "What happened last night? What's wrong with being close to your own man?"

Hong Ying ignored the record player, hung the painting on the wall, and asked Li Banfeng, "Seventh Son, what do you think of this painting?"

Li Banfeng sneered, "I can't even be bothered to look at this kind of frivolous painting."

"Then please take a look!" Hong Ying said, pointing to the painting. "This is the door! This is the entrance! There are only two places, how can you not tell them apart?"

Li Banfeng explained, "I had a few too many drinks last night, and I really didn't know it was you. I thought it was my Wife. My Wife doesn't distinguish between people like that."

"You madman! You're going to deny everything after you've eaten my food! You think all my suffering was for nothing?!"

While outwardly arguing with Hong Ying, Li Banfeng was thinking about other things.

He was reviewing the process of saving the Qiu Luoye.

The first hurdle was overcome by using the Fool Cultivation Skill.

The second trial was passed thanks to the Red Lotus's elixir.

The third hurdle was overcome thanks to Zhang Wanlong's seeds.

These people seemed to have no dealings with each other, but by using their methods, Li Banfeng resolved what appeared to be an unsolvable predicament, the predicament set up by Inner State.

Is there any connection between these two?

Taking advantage of Hong Ying's momentary calm, the record player held the speaker close to Li Banfeng's ear and asked in a low voice, "Husband, where did you learn the Flesh Grafting Technique?"

Li Banfeng did not lie to his Wife: "I learned it from Fool's City."

"Fool's City?" The Wife sensed something was wrong. "Husband, this technique doesn't seem to come from the Foolish Cultivator's place."

"My Wife, which Daoist school do you think this technique originated from?"

"This Little Slave is unaware of the techniques and dares not speculate," she said, the volume of the record player fading as she spoke. "My lord, would you be willing to teach this technique to this Little Slave?"

Li Banfeng smiled and said, "If my Wife wants to learn, of course I'm willing to teach her."

The record player chased away the others, leaving only the two of them in the main room. Li Banfeng taught the record player the techniques.

"When I first learned the Flesh Grafting Technique, I mistook it for a means of possession by a soul. Only after I truly understood the mechanism did I realize that I had misunderstood it."

This technique doesn't involve the soul attaching to the body; rather, it involves attaching the body to the soul. There are two key elements: layering and piecing together.

The piling process proceeds from the inside out, with patching and mending on all four sides. The key is realism; where flesh and blood connect, the joints must be seamless.

After listening to it, the record player was puzzled. "My lord, this seems to be a technique used in glue repair."

"Is it the glue repair technique?" Li Banfeng had heard Qiu Luoye mention glue repair before, but he knew very little about this technique.

The record player continued, "My lord, you've never entered the path of glue repair, so how can you learn the techniques of glue repair?"

"I can't learn it on my own," he said, taking out a box of paste from his pocket. "This is from Fool's City. It's all about sticking flesh together."

The record player used a stylus to catch the paste, held it to the speaker nozzle, smelled it, and scoffed, "It smells like perfume. I wonder which vixen gave it to you!"

Li Banfeng exclaimed, "My Wife has a good sense of smell! That woman's makeup is quite heavy!"

The record player sprayed steam all over Li Banfeng's face. "Shameless madman, going out to seduce women so openly?"

Li Banfeng smiled and didn't argue, but taught his Wife how to use the paste.

After leaving Portable Abode, Li Banfeng checked on Qiu Luoye's condition and then inquired about business matters with Ma Wu.

Ma Wu sighed, "This is the Back Third of the territory. Business is not easy in the surrounding areas. If we want to develop Seven Autumn City, we will have to put in a lot more effort."

Li Banfeng looked eastward. "Is that the Ink Fragrance Shop over there? Is business good there?"

Ma Wu didn't know what to say, "Ink Fragrance Shop is a place for literati. Shen Rongqing came from there. If you can understand their temperament, you can barely do business. If you can't understand their temperament, you can't do anything."

What are the temperaments of scholars?

Ma Wu shook his head and said, "I'm not sure, and I can't explain it. I went to the Ink Fragrance Shop twice when I was a child, and I never wanted to stay there for another second."

Seventh Brother, let's try to focus our efforts elsewhere. It's best to avoid contact with the people at the Ink Fragrance Shop.

"Seven Autumn City is destined to become a landmark of Pro State; how can it not interact with its neighbors?"

Lu Chunying chimed in, "Seventh Brother, my mom also wants to take me to the Ink Fragrance Shop. Why don't we go together?"

Li Banfeng looked at Xiao Yeci and said, "Then let's go for a walk!"

Xiao Yeci looked at He Yuxiu: "Sister, are you going or not?"

He Yuxiu shook her head repeatedly and said, "What would I do there? Go looking for trouble?"

The next morning, Li Banfeng, along with Xiao Yeci, Lu Chunying, Lu Yuanxin, Tan Fucheng, and others, boarded a train bound for the Ink Fragrance Shop.

When he got off the train and walked on the platform, Li Banfeng felt very strange.

This place is different from a normal Train Station. The floors and pillars are made of wood and painted red. The platform roof has a distinct ridge and is inlaid with glazed tiles. If the train hadn't been right behind him, Li Banfeng would have thought he had entered the veranda of some wealthy family.

Huff, huff~

As the train pulled away, Li Banfeng felt the entire platform shaking.

Upon reaching the platform entrance, a man dressed in a long blue robe, his hair slicked back and shiny, politely asked, "Gentlemen, please wait. May I ask what your credentials are?"

Li Banfeng was taken aback. "Why?"

Xiao Yeci pondered for a moment, then took out the train ticket and presented it with both hands.

The man took it with both hands, checked it and found it to be correct, then extended his right hand towards the door and said, "Please take your time!"

This is a ticket inspector.

Tan Fucheng snorted and said, "Why do you have to talk about proof when checking tickets?"

Lu Yuanxin reminded him, "Brother Tan, be mindful of your status."

After leaving the station, Xiao Yeci kept reminding Lu Chunying, "My dear NanNan, act like a well-mannered person, or people will laugh at you."

Tan Fucheng summoned Carriage Driver, Carriage Driver looked at the group and asked, "There are many roads ahead, but which way do you all want to go?"

Tan Fucheng replied, "Let's go to the inn."

"There are dozens of inns near the Ink Fragrance Shop, but where are you all headed?"

"Well..." Tan Fucheng didn't know how to start. He had also pulled a rickshaw before, and in theory, calling a rickshaw shouldn't be this complicated.

Li Banfeng vaguely heard a sigh, "Home."

Home?

Whose house is this?

P. S.: Who's speaking?

Thank you to reader Unicorn Dragon for this third Silver Alliance membership. I am truly grateful.