Setting a Formation on Paper

Shen Tang asked curiously, "This is an encrypted word spirit?"

[Viewed head-on, it forms a ridge; viewed from the side, it forms a peak. Near or far, high or low, each view differs.]

She had seen it on Qi Shan's scroll. Judging by the notes, it should have been a military formation word spirit meant to ambush people, immensely deceptive. The crux of the entire word spirit lay in the first half of the line. If one's opponent lacked experience and failed to see through it, one careless step would lead them straight into the trap—the favorite of old schemers.

But the way to break it was simple enough.

The key to breaking the formation lay in the latter half—"I cannot know Mount Lu's true face, only because I am in the midst of this mountain." If one reacted quickly enough, all they needed to do was widen the distance, weave and circle around, keep their own front and rear secure, and avoid being cleaved through the middle and scattered by the enemy. Then they could see the military formation's true face.

Besides that, there was an even simpler, all-purpose method—use absolute force to Cut Through the enemy. That, too, could break the formation.

Qi Shan's expression turned grave. "Looks like it."

Shen Tang asked again, "How do we break it?"

Who would have thought Qi Shan would ask in return, "How would I know?"

Though that was what he said, his eyes and expression clearly meant otherwise. Shen Tang choked at his question. "If even Yuan Liang doesn't know, then there's even less chance I would. Are we just going to sit here staring at each other?"

Just sitting there staring at each other was impossible.

Qi Shan was not that bored, either.

He merely watched Shen Tang in silence. She turned her eyes away.

After a long while, Shen Tang muttered in a low voice, sounding somewhat unsure, "Yuan Liang... did I get us into trouble...?"

The silent atmosphere flowed quietly through the room.

When Qi Shan said nothing, she could not help overthinking—she truly had not expected her luck to be this rotten. Going out to find work and earn money had landed her in this mess, and she had never imagined the drawing paper the Male Courtesan gave her would hide a secret—an exceedingly rare encrypted word spirit.

She could tell with her toes that she had been dragged into some unknown trouble. Since Qi Shan was close to her, he likely could not remain uninvolved either.

And Qi Shan had deliberately kept something from her...

So annoying! (＃￣~￣＃)

"Heh. This counts as trouble?"

Qi Shan lifted his eyelids. Yet the words from his mouth surprised Shen Tang. Gone was his usual languor; a trace of sharpness showed in his expression.

He leisurely sorted through the drawing papers, leaving only the little figure sketch Shen Tang had drawn untouched. With a scoff, he said, "I knew Xiaocheng was a muddy pool, yet I still dared to come. Naturally, I would not fear this little trouble. I'm not afraid of entering the game—I'm afraid I won't even be able to find its door."

Put plainly, he had come looking for trouble, not to live out peaceful years. Shen Tang's experience had instead Hit Exactly what he wanted.

Young Master Shen truly was formidable.

It was only the second day, yet she had already given him such a great surprise!

"You Li, get some sleep early. Come take the drawings tomorrow."

Shen Tang stared blankly at Qi Shan. She only managed to catch the hem of his clothes as he left, her mouth hanging open for a long while without knowing what to say.

After a long time, she opened her mouth and cursed.

"Fuck!"

So what if he knew more?

="=🖕!

Then, all at once, it was as though every bit of strength had drained from her.

Fine. Knowing more really was impressive!

She leaned backward and lay flat on the wooden floor. Eyes wide open, she stared blankly at the beams overhead, her thoughts wandering wildly.

She was so, so, so, so annoyed!

That inexplicable fire in her chest rampaged everywhere, unable to find an outlet. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became; the angrier she became, the more the flames rose. Around and around it went.

Finally, she exerted strength through her waist and abruptly sat up.

She snatched up the little figure sketch. With no time to admire her Proud masterpiece, she fixed her eyes on the blank space of the paper, closed her eyes, and recalled what Qi Shan had just done, gathering literary qi in her palm. The instant the literary qi touched the paper, her surroundings shifted from clear to blurry.

She felt her consciousness burst into a highly subtle "other space"—heaven and earth were desolate, yin and yang intertwined—just as she prepared to escape that godforsaken place, a crisscrossed chessboard suddenly lit up beneath her feet, and a blurry figure Appeared in the distance.

Who was This Person?

The instant Shen Tang had that thought, her body abruptly sank. Her consciousness returned to her body, and that line of word spirit appeared on the paper before her eyes as well.

[Viewed head-on, it forms a ridge; viewed from the side, it forms a peak.]

"What does this mean...?"

Shen Tang steadied herself and repeated the process once more.

With mental preparation this time, when the chessboard appeared again, she calmly Looked Towards the shadow. Relying on her sharp eyesight, she could vaguely make out that it was a tall, lean Youth. At first glance, his build resembled Qi Shan's, but compared to Qi Shan, his temperament held a few more traces of despondency.

His features were hidden in the darkness, and he said nothing. When he saw Shen Tang appear, he merely raised his Right Hand and flicked his folding fan.

Shen Tang instantly tensed, ready to draw the Kind Mother Sword. Yet a huge black disk gathered above the chessboard. With the Youth's motion, it dropped decisively with a smack.

Immediately Following, shouts of battle erupted. Two majestic cities, one black and one white, rose on either side of the chessboard, while the black and white pieces upon it transformed into countless tiny soldiers locked in relentless combat. From the state of the board, the fighting had clearly reached its fever pitch, and victory or defeat was about to be decided.

Shen Tang: "..."

What was she supposed to do now?

Shen Tang blinked blankly, then tried making a random move. The Youth opposite her immediately followed with a move of his own. The moment the pieces landed, they transformed into little black figures and joined the slaughter. The white figures on Shen Tang's side were cut apart and scattered by the black cavalry, breaking into isolated clusters with no help in sight.

At this point, the outcome needed no further words.

A few breaths later, she abruptly opened her eyes, her face shifting back and forth through black, white, red, and green before she finally suppressed the urge to flip the table.

She had thought the encrypted spirit incantation was simply an encrypted spirit incantation—the two were like a safe and its password; once one cracked the spirit incantation, one could crack it. Who knew that the encrypted spirit incantation meant the encrypting side arranged troops and set up an endgame, while the decrypting side had to take the field and break the deadlock?

Shen Tang folded her arms and glared at that little-figure diagram.

She practically glared sparks out of the paper.

If one try did not work, she would try again.

Next door.

Qi Shan sensed Shen Tang's literary qi stirring. His raised brush paused, and a drop of ink fell, blooming into a small blot on the paper.

When he came back to himself and glanced at the sheet, his brows drew together slightly. He resisted replacing it with a fresh page, while a meaningful slight smile curled at the corner of his lips. He had drawn Erotic Illustrations several times before, some explicit and some subtle, featuring both men and women. Though he was a little rusty after not picking up the brush for so long, it did not take him long to regain his old touch, like a fish in water.

Not until the dawn sun rose and the rooster crowed.

Qi Shan stretched, gathered up the dried Erotic Illustrations, and prepared to hand them to Shen Tang so she could turn them in—the person behind this was also drunk on the wine, not interested in the wine itself; how well they were drawn did not matter, and a sloppy job would do. The moment he pulled open the door, he saw a familiar figure standing there.

"Young Master Shen?"

The visitor was Shen Tang.

Qi Shan asked again, "Why are you up so early today?"

Hearing the sound, Shen Tang turned around and shot back irritably, "Wouldn't Yuan Liang know whether I slept at all last night? Where's the drawing?"

Qi Shan handed over the painting and said out of nowhere, "The one who set the formation is an expert."

If Young Master Shen, a half-baked amateur who had only entered the path midway, could break the formation, who knew how many literary-heart strategists would clutch their chests and cough up blood.

Shen Tang asked, "You broke the formation?"

Qi Shan shook his head. "No."

One look at the dark circles beneath Young Master Shen's eyes, and he could tell she had not had a pleasant night. Her anger was so fierce that even her literary heart had grown restless.

It was normal that she could not break it. There was no need to get so worked up.

Young people should learn from him more. He was very calm.

What the hell...

Was this some backend paragraph bug? Why was everything piled together?