A Flock of Geese Outside the Window
It was something he could solve with a snap of his fingers, and Li Bai would never waste a second more effort than necessary.
"Thank you, Great Wizard! Thank you, Great Wizard! See the banks of Qi, where green bamboo grows so lush. What a refined and cultured gentleman—chiseling and polishing, carving and grinding. You are that gentleman!"
To show his gratitude to Li Bai, Huoleini had even dredged up a few lines of classical Chinese, taken from "Qi Ao," a poem in the Book of Songs.
Essentially, the poem praised a gentleman of both virtue and talent, who was kind and humorous. His beauty lay in his character and bearing, his talent and learning, and he inspired feelings that would never be forgotten.
"Chiseling and polishing, carving and grinding" referred to diligently pursuing knowledge and virtue, and to being learned and talented.
Put simply, it meant: "I can never repay your kindness. I'll remember it for the rest of my life."
But Great Demon Li didn't see it that way. He finally lost his patience and beat Huoleini up on the spot.
"Damn you, 'bandit gentleman'! Your whole family's a bunch of bandits! You're nothing but a filthy robber who deserves to get shot!"
Thankfully, in the Book of Songs, "refined gentleman" didn't mean "bandit gentleman." The character 匪 was used in place of 斐, meaning elegant and cultured, with style and class.
Li Bai, however, had taken it literally.
After finally escaping his nightmare, Huoleini got a thorough beating for nothing. His spirit had already been utterly worn down, and just a few punches and kicks were enough to floor him.
"Zzzzz..."
Huoleini stayed in his tiger-descending-the-mountain pose, bottom in the air, and began snoring loudly.
You could say he'd gotten