When You Need a Poem, You Regret Not Knowing Enough

Can reading books cure illnesses? It had to be said, Zhou Guanyu's idea was truly crazy—at least, that was what Ma Feifei thought at the moment.

"Sorry! I don't know how to treat illnesses. You'd better seek someone else." Ma Feifei refused. He still had poems to write, so treating patients was out of the question. Of course, if Zhou Guanyu was right and Zhou Zhuling could suppress her illness by reading, then she could read all she wanted—as long as she paid.

"Clouds Yearn for Garments, Flowers for Beauty... what was the next line again?"

"Damn it, you only regret not knowing enough poems when you need one! Huh? Where did that saying come from?"

After being refused, Zhou Guanyu vaguely felt that he might have acted too impulsively. Whether Ma Feifei could treat illnesses or not, they had only just met, yet he had rashly come begging for treatment. That did seem rather presumptuous.

And curing an illness through reading... it really did sound absurd. At that thought, Zhou Guanyu's excitement immediately faded, and he returned to sit beside Zhou Zhuling in disappointment.

"Enough. There is no need to force things too hard. Let nature take its course," Zhou Zhuling comforted him as she watched him return in silence.

Zhou Guanyu nodded and said softly, "Your brother was too rash. But this shopkeeper truly is no ordinary man."

"Yes, I can see that." Zhou Zhuling nodded and, unusually, lifted her eyes to glance at Ma Feifei.

Ma Feifei was currently scratching his head in frustration. His purple robe was worn crookedly, his sleeves rolled high enough to expose his undershirt, and blue ink stains dotted his clothes. Ordinary people did not behave like that.

But what happened to this robe supposedly never getting dirty?

"The shopkeeper is composing poetry," Zhou Guanyu explained on Ma Feifei's behalf. "Men of exceptional literary talent tend to have a few quirks."

"Composing poetry?" Zhou Zhuling asked curiously.

"Yes! Earlier, I heard him say something like, 'Clouds Yearn for Garments, Flowers for Beauty.' The imagery was truly beautiful." Zhou Guanyu praised it. He would never be able to write such a beautiful line himself.

Zhou Zhuling savored the verse carefully before saying after a long while, "It is a line praising a woman's beauty."

Her lovely eyes turned toward Ma Feifei again. He still looked the same, but in Zhou Zhuling's heart, she now agreed with Zhou Guanyu. This was indeed a man of extraordinary literary talent.

An hour passed, and the literary genius Ma Feifei finally squeezed out another poem, bringing the total to twenty-seven.

Mother of god! This is killing me.

"What now? I still need three more poems before I can make a book, but I can't think of anything else!" Ma Feifei knocked on his own head in discouragement. He felt a little sorry for his Chinese teacher.

"Ah, what a pity. Li Bai's famous Invitation to Wine—I only remember the opening line. Otherwise, I could have finished another poem."

He remembered quite a few poems, but either he only knew the first line or two, or he only knew the most famous verses. They all started strong and ended weakly; writing them down like that simply would not do.

Ma Feifei was in despair!

"Forget it. It's five o'clock. I'm getting off work first. I'll think about it after dinner." Ma Feifei looked up at the clock hanging overhead, sorted the pages covered in ancient poems to one side, then walked over to the Zhou siblings. "Sorry, but the Mysterious Bookstore is closed for the day. If you two still want to read, please come early tomorrow."

"Oh, right. Here is your refunded payment." Ma Feifei handed four spirit crystals to Zhou Guanyu.

The Zhou siblings exchanged a look and nodded. They knew the store's rules, so they said nothing. Still, they had been getting really absorbed in their reading, and having it suddenly taken away left them somewhat reluctant to leave.

"Thank you for having us."

In the end, Zhou Zhuling and Zhou Guanyu took their leave.

Watching the Zhou siblings depart, Ma Feifei stroked his chin and pondered, "Why does it feel like their attitude when they left was a little different from when they came?"

"Never mind. Time to close up. Tonight, I'll treat Old Man Wang's daughter to Braised Turkey." Ma Feifei thought happily.

Meanwhile, after the Zhou siblings returned home and finished dinner, Zhou Zhuling went back to her courtyard for a walk. She seemed to be feeling quite well today. Her body felt unblocked, and her illness had not flared up even once. She had even eaten half a bowl of rice at dinner. While walking, she no longer needed Maids to support her, and she felt some strength returning to her body.

"Could it really be because of that book?" Zhou Zhuling wondered. The idea that reading could suppress her illness was still difficult for her to believe.

But if it was not because of that book, she could find no other explanation.

"Sister, Teacher Huang is here."

In the distance, Zhou Guanyu walked over with a burly middle-aged man. He wore coarse gray linen clothes, and his face was weathered by hardship. Yet at this moment, surprise was written across it as he approached Zhou Zhuling.

"Miss, has your condition truly improved?" He had only just learned from Zhou Guanyu that Zhou Zhuling's illness appeared to have improved, and he found it utterly astonishing.

Why was he astonished? Because Zhou Zhuling's illness was considered incurable across the entire Azure Dragon Continent. Not even a Spirit Saint could cure it.

"Teacher Huang." Zhou Zhuling greeted him with a smile. "It has indeed gotten a little better."

"May this old man take your pulse?"

"Of course."

The three went to the reception hall. Zhou Zhuling sat in the seat of honor, Zhou Guanyu stood at her side, and Teacher Huang sat nearby, fingers pressed to Zhou Zhuling's pulse.

It seemed that her meridians were not quite as chaotic as before.

They were still somewhat unstable, but no longer as violent.

Her condition seemed to have been suppressed, though there was no sign of actual improvement.

"Strange." Teacher Huang withdrew his hand from Zhou Zhuling's fair, tender wrist, stroked his beard, and muttered to himself.

"How is she?" Zhou Guanyu could not help asking. If anyone in the Zhou family cared most about Zhou Zhuling's condition, it was definitely not Zhou Zhuling herself, but Zhou Guanyu.

Teacher Huang did not answer. After thinking for a quarter of an hour, he finally said, "Miss's condition has not actually improved. However, for some reason, the energy within her body seems to have been suppressed by something, causing it to calm down."

Teacher Huang also asked about Zhou Zhuling's meals and medication that day, but found nothing different from before. This only made him more puzzled.

"That should not be possible! Then what could be the cause?"

"Miss, did the Chu Saint visit today?" Teacher Huang looked up and asked.

The only explanation for this situation was that a Spirit Saint had suppressed Zhou Zhuling's illness, using their powerful spiritual energy to forcibly restrain her injuries.

However, this method could only ease Zhou Zhuling's suffering for a few days and would have no substantial effect. Furthermore, even for a Spirit Saint to suppress the illness in Zhou Zhuling's body would require a tremendous amount of spiritual energy. Great Chu and Great Qin were about to go to war, so logically, the Chu Saint should not be spending so much spiritual energy suppressing Zhou Zhuling's illness at a time like this!

But if it was not the Chu Saint, who else could it be? Within Great Chu, only the Chu Saint had reached the Spirit Saint realm! Could it be a Hermit?

Before he knew it, Teacher Huang had imagined all sorts of possibilities.

Zhou Zhuling shook her head. "Zhuling has not seen the Chu Saint."

For some reason, however, Zhou Zhuling did not mention their visit to the Mysterious Bookstore that day to Teacher Huang. Even Zhou Guanyu, who stood beside her, remained silent on the matter.

Perhaps the notion of curing illness through reading really was too absurd for either of them to speak of.

"Then all I can say is that Miss is blessed, protected by Heaven!" Teacher Huang said with a hearty smile. Truthfully, as the disciple of the Medical Sage, he had treated Zhou Zhuling's injuries for nearly half a year, yet he had never encountered anything like this. He could only attribute it to Heaven's protection.

Zhou Zhuling and Zhou Guanyu looked at each other and could not help smiling.

"Perhaps reading really can cure illnesses!"

The next day, to further confirm whether their guess was correct, Zhou Zhuling and Zhou Guanyu set out early for the Mysterious Bookstore.

However, the Mysterious Bookstore was rather far from Zhou Manor. By the time the two arrived in their carriage, it was already nine fifteen.

When Zhou Zhuling and Zhou Guanyu entered the Bookstore, they discovered there were already customers inside. Well, neither more nor less—two people!

Staring at the empty bookshelves, the Zhou siblings took a long while to react. They looked at each other in utter disbelief!

There were no books left to read!