Zhuge Pen

"I'm afraid our little shop doesn't have the Zhuge Pen you're looking for, sir. I'm terribly sorry."

After hearing the shop assistant's answer, Huang Shang nodded and walked out.

During this time, he had studied with even greater hunger and thirst.

Knowledge was power.

The saying had come true.

And by observing his classmates, he had also discovered that Literary Qi wasn't unique to him.

To some degree, it lingered around every scholar. Among Zhang Zai's students, for instance, several had no less Literary Qi than he did.

It was just that they couldn't use it, like people sitting atop a mountain of treasure but unable to enter.

There was nothing to be done about that.

After all, the conditions were too stringent: the Dao Scripture as a foundation, peerless talent to awaken it, and heavenly treasures to spur it onward.

Fortunately, he had chosen to wield literature as martial arts and had already blazed a path unlike any other in this world.

Being one of a kind was certainly impressive, but it also came with its inconveniences.

He had run into a problem with weapons.

An ordinary writing brush simply couldn't bear his Literary Qi.

Xu Feng knew nothing about this path, so Huang Shang had to find a way himself.

After asking quite a few classmates, Huang Shang had received a recommendation—

the Zhuge Pen.

The Zhuge Pen had become famous in later generations, earning lavish praise from Su Shi.

At the time, Su Shi had been banished to Lingnan. After finally making it back to the capital, he used a Zhuge Pen and was filled with admiration.

To be clear, the Zhuge Pen hadn't been invented by Zhuge Liang. It was made by the Zhuge family, master penmakers from Southern Tang.

By now, Zhuge Gao of Xuanzhou was renowned for his penmaking.

"Penmaker Zhuge Gao, first in all the land."

What Huang Shang wanted was a Zhuge Pen made by Zhuge Gao himself.

It wasn't exactly a spiritual treasure, but it was the best of a mediocre bunch and ought to meet his needs for now.

Unfortunately, there were too many scholars, and writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were the most sought-after goods.

Never mind a brush made by Zhuge Gao himself—even ones made by other members of the Zhuge family were beyond the reach of an ordinary person like Huang Shang.

Demand far outstripped supply.

"It's time to go home and sit the Provincial Examination."

Huang Shang sighed and made up his mind.

With the fifty strings of cash Xu Yue had paid for his paintings, Huang Shang wasn't short of money. But in Great Song, status came from academic honors.

Ever since he began cultivating Literary Qi, his senses had sharpened, his mind had cleared, and his thinking had become twice as efficient.

Zhang Zai had already left, but Huang Shang could still learn from his classmates.

He had grasped most of the essence of the Guan School.

The Provincial Examination would be no problem.

And the examination itself would also be a process of accumulating Literary Qi.

The scholar's path of cultivation was just that plain and unadorned—and dull.

Before reaching home, Huang Shang knocked on the door, but nobody answered.

He couldn't help feeling puzzled.

Ever since Xu Feng had moved in, the servants had been dismissed.

Cultivation allowed no disturbance from outsiders.

At first, Huang Shang had thought Xu Yue would soon show up, but the woman Xu Feng called his older sister had remained as elusive as a dragon, appearing only to vanish again.

It had put a great deal of pressure on him.

If both Reincarnators were right in front of him, then if he slipped up somewhere, he'd still have a chance to make up for it.

But now one was in the open and the other in the shadows. Those involved were often blind to what an outsider could see. Xu Feng was easy enough to handle, but if Xu Yue noticed anything, he'd be in danger.

"Good thing I've got a lot more energy than before. If I had to stay on edge all the time, I really wouldn't be able to take it!"

"Huh? Where is he?"

He took out his key and entered the house. Looking around, Huang Shang realized that Xu Feng was nowhere to be seen.

The Reincarnator had been pretending to nurse his injuries all this time, just to build a bond with him.

Huang Shang hadn't held back either; he had learned quite a bit from Xu Feng.

Knowledge was interconnected, and so was experience.

Though their cultivation systems were different, many of Xu Feng's tricks had given him useful insights.

One could polish jade with a stone from another mountain.

That was why Huang Shang liked Xu Feng quite a lot.

It was just that the thought of Xu Yue watching from the shadows gave him a headache.

But now Xu Feng had suddenly left without a word.

Huang Shang touched the bedding. It was still warm. He frowned slightly. "He left in a hurry..."

After thinking it over, he didn't go out. He stayed in the house, reading and reviewing his lessons as he waited for Xu Feng to return.

From their time together, he had roughly judged Xu Feng's strength.

The guy might be a little thick-headed, but he was unquestionably powerful in a fight.

He wasn't just a Star-ranked powerhouse; he was probably one of the best among the one-star rank.

When Huang Shang had chosen his undercover target, he had been given the peak combat strength of every character in the story.

According to the Main God Temple's ratings, only the Sweeping Monk and Xiaoyaozi were two-star powerhouses in this world. Everyone else was one-star.

With Xu Feng's strength, he had no need to fear the story's powerful characters in a one-on-one fight. Even if he couldn't beat them, he could always retreat.

If they weren't story characters, then they had to be hostile Reincarnators.

Sure enough, just after Huang Shang finished dinner, Xu Feng entered the room, looking terribly grim. "Something's happened to my sister!"

Xu Feng was such a terrible actor that Huang Shang could tell at a glance whether he was faking it.

Now his lips were pressed tight, his fists clenched, and deep worry showed in his eyes. He definitely wasn't pretending.

Huang Shang spoke up. "Calm your mind! Steady your breath!"

Those words weren't empty comfort. He was urging his Literary Qi to soothe Xu Feng's emotions.

Xu Feng drew a deep breath, and his expression settled.

Ever since entering the space, he had always acted together with Xu Yue. They had worked seamlessly and surged forward all the way. Now that his older sister—the one who held them together—was in trouble and he couldn't even reach her through their Star Marks, he had lost his composure.

When it came to the safety of one's own kin, concern clouded the mind.

But he was a battle-hardened Reincarnator after all, and he began to explain what had happened. "My sister and I came to Kaifeng together to investigate the Western Xia people's plot. That night, she saw someone sneak out of the imperial city and followed him. She discovered that the thief was hiding in Worry-Free Cave."

"Worry-Free Cave!" Huang Shang's expression darkened.

He hadn't forgotten how the Beggar Sect disciples had threatened to take him into Worry-Free Cave.

Worry-Free Cave—what a name. Its very existence was the greatest mockery.

It was a place where filth and vice festered beneath the bustling capital. Countless tragedies had occurred there. It was forbidden ground for the authorities and a paradise for criminals.

Xu Feng continued, "My sister didn't act rashly. She kept investigating, but today she suddenly disappeared. Her last known whereabouts were in Worry-Free Cave, and her communications have gone dead. I'm worried."

Huang Shang asked in puzzlement, "What do you mean by communications?"

Xu Feng hurriedly covered for himself. "It's a secret martial arts technique. We can send messages directly into each other's ears. As long as my sister and I are within ten li of each other, we can communicate."

A look of partial understanding appeared on Huang Shang's face, though he was secretly envious.

The perks of being a Star-ranked powerhouse really were something else.

That ten-li radius meant a circle with a radius of ten li.

Its area was roughly eighty square kilometers.

Though Eastern Capital Kaifeng Prefecture covered more than six thousand square kilometers, the urban area was only about three hundred square kilometers.

That range could already cover a quarter of the capital.

Huang Shang asked about plenty of other details, and Xu Feng did his best to describe them using ancient terms.

Huang Shang got the gist and made his judgment. "This seems like a trap, meant to lure you into an ambush!"

Xu Feng didn't like using his head, but that didn't mean he was stupid. Remembering Xu Yue's abilities, he wasn't alarmed; instead, he was relieved. "That's right. They can't do anything to my sister. Heh, as long as she's all right!"

Huang Shang shook his head. "Saving someone is like fighting a fire. There's no time to lose. Let's head to Worry-Free Cave and act according to the situation."

Xu Feng froze.

He had only wanted Huang Shang to help him think of a plan, because he knew his own mind was too straightforward for all that scheming.

He hadn't expected Huang Shang to know there was danger and still be so willing to risk himself. Deeply moved, he thought for a moment and said, "Those enemies aren't people you can deal with. But I don't know Kaifeng as well as you do. Let's make this clear: you can only come as far as the outskirts. Don't join the final battle."

After a pause, his expression shifted. "Wait here!"

With that, he sprang out of the room.

Xu Feng returned after only a quarter of an hour and pulled a brush from his robes. "Here!"

Huang Shang's eyes lit up as he took it.

The brush Xu Feng had brought out was none other than a Zhuge Pen.

Its handle was made of Xiangfei bamboo, and its bristles were crafted from two kinds of animal hair, interwoven and set in a full, rounded tuft that was neither too soft nor too stiff.

Even more pleasing to Huang Shang, when Literary Qi filled it, there was no resistance at all. The fit was extraordinarily good.

Xu Feng smiled. "I knew you were looking for a brush you could use, so I asked a buddy to get one for me!"

"A man of the jianghu robbing the rich to aid the poor—beautifully done!"

Huang Shang silently gave him a thumbs-up, accepted the brush, and nodded. "There's no time to lose. Let's go!"