Who Was the Brush, Exactly?

Upon seeing Ge Jun's corpse, He Caiyuan trembled.

The Peddler laughed and said, "Feeling bad? Your master is dead, don't you really want to kowtow? You can kowtow once, and I'll let you pass."

He Caiyuan's tears streamed down his face; he was truly heartbroken.

After hesitating for a moment, he did not kowtow, but sighed deeply and said, "Lord Ge's kindness to me is as heavy as a mountain, and now he is leaving like this, causing me unbearable pain!"

The Peddler sighed, "It's rare to find such loyalty from you. I should have let you see him one more time."

"But it's not too late now. This toad isn't fast. If you set off immediately, you can still catch up with him on the Road to the Underworld."

He Caiyuan wiped away his tears, shook his head and said, "That person has passed away, and I have no more regrets. From now on, I am willing to follow you, serving you at your beck and call."

The Peddler laughed and slowly emerged from the darkness, pushing his cart towards He Caiyuan.

With his status and strength, coupled with his profession of traveling all over the country, what kind of people hasn't he seen?

But people He Caiyuan always manage to give the Peddler some surprises.

"Tell me first, how did this clam get to Pro State? Who sent it? I want to see who broke the rules."

He Caiyuan said, "I am not aware of the details at the moment."

The Peddler looked at He Caiyuan and said, "You know nothing, what use are you to me?"

He Caiyuan quickly changed his tune. "I've heard some rumors. Someone said that Ge Jun accidentally entered the Ink Fragrance Shop and was trapped by the Local Earth God, unable to get out."

"Accidentally?" the Peddler chuckled. "You accidentally left the Inner State and stumbled into the Ink Fragrance Shop, is that what you mean?"

He Caiyuan wasn't stupid; he knew these words were unbelievable, so he quickly explained, "This is just a rumor. Please give this old servant three days, and I will definitely be able to find out the truth."

The Peddler got goosebumps.

After exchanging only a few words, He Caiyuan had already taken the initiative to call him master and even referred to himself as an old servant.

"Are you truly willing to follow me?" The Peddler sat half-reclined on his cart, casually fiddling with Pellet Drum. He Caiyuan lifted his long robe, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed to the Peddler: "This old servant is willing to entrust my life to my master!"

The Peddler nodded and said, "Alright, I'll take your life."

Chu Shaoqiang, who was standing nearby, saw everything very clearly. He knew that the Peddler would not let He Caiyuan off the hook.

He just didn't expect that He Caiyuan would suddenly lift the long robe that had fallen to the ground.

Beneath his robe were two large characters written in blood.

The words "net" and "kill" flew swiftly toward the Peddler.

These two characters were secretly written by He Caiyuan when he begged the Peddler for mercy.

The word "kill" is used to describe fighting the Peddler, which is easy to understand. What Chu Shaoqiang couldn't understand was...

What is the word "net" used for?

Trying to trap Peddler with a net is a bit childish, but the character for "net" is not a single net; each stroke is layered and nested with hundreds of tiny "net" characters.

The fact that He Caiyuan could write the character "net" right under the Peddler's nose shows his skill. According to He Caiyuan's deduction, the Peddler would definitely break up the character "kill" first, and then attack the character "net". At that time, hundreds of nets would be spread out at the same time, He Caiyuan would buy He Caiyuan some time. With this time, he would have a chance to get away from the Peddler. He watched as the two characters flew over. The Peddler was still sitting on the cart, holding Pellet Drum and swaying it left and right, easily catching the two characters.

Hundreds of nets were spread out at once, but they didn't catch the Peddler; instead, they caught the Pellet Drum.

The Peddler laughed, He Caiyuan wept.

He knew the Peddler was tough, but he didn't expect him to be this tough.

The Peddler brushed aside the layers of silk netting with his hand, revealing He Caiyuan's bloodstains on the drumhead.

"Is this your blood?"

He Caiyuan got up and ran.

The Peddler held the drumhead with his left hand and the drum handle with his right, and with a gentle twist, He Caiyuan fell to the ground in a twisted shape, motionless.

Sweat streamed down Chu Shaoqiang's face as the Peddler looked at Chu Shaoqiang and said, "It's your turn."

Chu Shaoqiang said tremblingly, "I don't know why Ge Jun came to Ink Fragrance Shop. I received a message from Inner State saying that he was trapped here. They said that as long as he is rescued, they will no longer pursue the matter of Qiu Luoye."

"Is that really all you know?"

Chu Shaoqiang nodded repeatedly. "I don't have the guts to lie to you. I'm telling the truth. If you can spare my life, I'll be eternally grateful. If you insist on killing me, please just give me a quick death."

The Peddler walked up to Chu Shaoqiang, took a piece of burlap, shook it out, and used it to wipe Chu Shaoqiang's sweat:

Look how scared you are! You can't even wipe your sweat off. Here, take a bar of soap and wash yourself.

The Peddler reached out, and a piece of soap flew from his cart. Peddler picked it up, smelled it, and said, "It smells like roses. Try it."

After saying that, the Peddler stuffed the pancreas into Chu Shaoqiang's mouth.

Before Chu Shaoqiang could resist, the piece of soap was forced down Chu Shaoqiang throat.

The strong rose scent, along with the foam, rose up down his esophagus. Chu Shaoqiang didn't dare to struggle, and didn't even dare to spit out the foam. He stood obediently in place.

After eating the pancreas, Chu Shaoqiang knew in his heart that his life was saved.

But he also knew that unless the Peddler agreed, the soap would never be produced again, and he would have to do many things in the future, the specifics of which would depend on the Peddler's instructions.

"Go on, go wash your face." The Peddler waved his hand, and Chu Shaoqiang took off running.

The Peddler walked into the forest and saw Li Banfeng bandaging his wound with duct tape.

"This Western stuff doesn't work, it can only stop the bleeding. I have Snow Cream here, I'll put some on you, it will help the wound heal faster and won't leave a scar."

Li Banfeng sneered, "When did you get here? Did you arrive a while ago just to watch me get beaten up?"

The Peddler said with a serious expression, "How could that be? I just arrived!"

How tough is it?

"How many drumbeats did you hear just now?"

Li Banfeng recalled, "Dang dang dang, fourth tone."

"No," the Peddler shook his head, "It was clang! Clang clang clang! Five sounds. I hit it once to knock the clam over, and then I immediately came out to save you."

"It just crashed and overturned?" Li Banfeng didn't believe it. "Besides, I've been guarding the door the whole time."

"Where did you go in from?"

"You mean that lake? There's more than one entrance there. We still don't know which entrance Ge Jun came in from. It's really tough on that scholar who endured it for so long."

That scholar?

"You mean the Local Earth God of the Ink Fragrance Shop?" Li Banfeng was about to ask this. "How did the Local Earth God become like that? He doesn't distinguish friend from foe, he attacks anyone he sees?"

"You can't ask me that," the Peddler said with a wry smile. "I sold a pen, and it's been used up like this. It breaks my heart to see it like this."

"You're selling pens?" Li Banfeng picked up his Judge's Brush. "This was a gift from someone, not something you sold to me."

The Peddler shook his head and said, "I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about your Judge's Brush."

"You sold me a Judge's Brush's Pen?" The question was so convoluted that Li Banfeng frowned and said, "Could you explain it more clearly?"

"You don't understand?" the Peddler laughed. "Ask your Judge's Brush! It can guess the meaning in three sentences and see through people's hearts in five. Let's see if it can understand."

Isn't this supposed to describe Murong Gui? How did it become Judge's Brush?

The Judge's Brush's pen, standing to the side, retorted to the Peddler, "Guess what?!"

"Vulgar!" the Peddler exclaimed. "Spending too much time with such a vulgar person will corrupt even Wise Scholar."

Li Banfeng picked up the Judge's Brush's pen and said, "Is he the Wise Scholar?"

The Peddler nodded and said, "Yes, he's the number one talent at the Ink Fragrance Shop, a natural-born genius with a knack for words."

Murong Gui was originally a poor scholar. In his youth, he amassed a fortune through his knowledge.

Even when his cultivation was still at the level of a mere landowner, he already held considerable prestige at the Ink Fragrance Shop and had established a large faction called the Ink Scholar Gang.

At that time, the Local Earth God of the Ink Fragrance Shop was named Inkwell Scholar -Peck Ink Scholar). When his name was used for a gang's name, Inkwell Scholar was far from angry; on the contrary, he greatly admired Murong Gui and took him in as a disciple.

The Inkwell Scholar used special means to get Murong Gui to bypass the Inner State and reach the clouds, where he handed over the land of the Ink Fragrance Shop to the Wise Scholar. The Inkwell Scholar then disappeared without a trace.

From then on, Murong Gui became Local Earth God at the Ink Fragrance Shop.

Li Banfeng looked at the Judge's Brush and said, "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

After a long pause, the Judge's Brush said, "Too long."

Li Banfeng asked the Peddler, "Why did Murong Gui turn into the Judge's Brush?"

The Peddler sighed, "There are many things involved here, and it would take a long time to explain them in detail. Everyone thinks that Murong Gui is good at understanding people's hearts. If he guesses correctly, it is only natural, and if he guesses incorrectly, he is guilty of a heinous crime. But no matter how clever his methods are, who can guess so accurately every time? Even if he guesses correctly, who can deal with it so properly every time?"

As the Head of the House, he's blamed for everything; as the head of a gang, he's blamed for everything; and as the head of a region, he's the one to blame for everything.

The Ink Fragrance Shop is full of literati, and you know how literati talk—they speak in riddles and are hard to understand. They won't stop criticizing you over the smallest thing.

Furthermore, the place called Ink Fragrance Shop is unique. Those who can't read need to learn, those who can read need to continue learning, and the learned need to study even more. Just maintaining the rules of the area is exhausting enough, and on top of that, figuring out people's hearts is simply too much for Murong Gui to handle.

At this point, the Judge's Brush shouted, "The Old Thief has escaped!"

Which Old Thief?

The Peddler said, "He was talking about the Inkwell Scholar. He was especially happy the day he left the Ink Fragrance Shop."

After Local Earth God for several years, Murong Gui changed, completely changed.

Li Banfeng asked, "What has it become?"

The salesman picked up the judge's pen and wrote the word "wisdom" under the willow tree, and the residence of the Earth God appeared.

He led Li Banfeng across the frozen lake and into a pavilion in the bamboo forest.

The Local Earth God of the Ink Fragrance Shop was currently in the attic. The clams in the lake had been killed by the Peddler, so he didn't need to exert himself on the lake's surface, but he was still writing furiously at his desk, not about "killing" or "..."

He wrote down the three rules of the Ink Fragrance Shop.

"The blind should feel ashamed," "The learned should strive," and "The world should learn literature."

The Peddler pointed to the wall and said, "These are the words left by Murong Gui back then."

Li Banfeng looked up and saw four large characters, written in a bold and powerful style, that read, "I don't guess!"

The Peddler shrugged. "He's stopped guessing, he's stopped caring about anything. There's a saying in Outer State, 'to give up,' you know?"

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "I understand."

The Peddler continued, "Because he had abandoned his business, the Ink Fragrance Shop had run into a lot of trouble. I sold him a pen; this pen has a spirit and can help him maintain order in the area."

I wanted the calligraphy brush to help him with some things, but who knew that shameless Murong Gui would secretly join the Lazy Cultivator Sect and use their methods to transfer his literary cultivation to the brush.

He transformed himself into a pen, and the pen into Local Earth God. He disguised himself as a magical artifact and circulated among the people.

They escaped.

Poor me, a perfectly good pen, diligently guarding this place for so many years. My spirit remains, but my intelligence has been worn away to almost nothing.

Now he doesn't distinguish between friend and foe, he attacks anyone he sees. Luckily, he recognized me and didn't lay a hand on me.

As he spoke, the Peddler patted the "Local Earth God" with affection.

The "Local Earth God" raised his head, stared at the Peddler for a long time, then opened his mouth and bit the Peddler's hand.

"Let go, let go now!" The Peddler kicked and pulled his hand out.

The bite was so hard that the Peddler trembled in pain.

Li Banfeng looked at the Judge's Brush and asked, "How did you transfer your cultivation to a pen?"

"Hmph!" Judge's Brush responded, turned over, and went to sleep.

P. S.: Order is very important at the Ink Fragrance Shop.