After a moment's thought, Zi Bofeng took out another sheet of paper and wrote three large characters on it: "Nine Dragons." Before he had finished the strokes, the paper began to struggle. The moment he lifted his brush, it suddenly transformed into nine little dragons, all wriggling and waving their tails as they raced to fly out the window. But they couldn't escape their explosive fate. Before long, they vanished into thin air outside.
After several more experiments, Zi Bofeng had a general understanding of what his first art, Unity Transformation, could do.
In the Monster Raising Art, there was a distinction between spiritual energy and spirituality. The amount of spiritual energy depended on the brush and ink Zi Bofeng used, while spirituality came from the meaning of whatever he wrote or drew.
Spiritual energy was the energy scattered throughout heaven and earth. All things possessed it, though in varying amounts. Spirituality, on the other hand, was like the various obsessions Zi Bofeng had seen. Some things had it, and others did not.
Numbers like "one, two, three" had no particularly clear image of their own, so after being written on paper, they would only slowly dissipate, as long as they didn't exceed the limit. The character for "dragon," however, had a complete image, so just as Zi Bofeng had imagined, it transformed into a dragon. Numbers and characters combined could produce even more effects. A complete sentence could turn his thoughts into action. But spiritual energy and spirituality were both consumable. Once they were used up, that was it; they couldn't truly make these things into monsters.
It seemed mysterious, but it was just a little trick, of no practical use—something to make fireworks for fun. So far, the Galloping Horse Stone and the Yan Clan Heavenly Soldiers he had commanded had acted for a long time according to his wishes because they had absorbed the obsessions of many people, and had also sacrificed a great deal of spiritual energy.
The Monster Raising Art still had the word "raising" in it, after all. Like Uncle Blue Rock, one had to nurture it over time before it could truly become a monster. To raise something properly, first, it needed to be able to bear the load and hold more spiritual power and spirituality. Second, it had to be something that could be written on repeatedly. In that regard, paper wasn't a good medium.
Zi Bofeng lowered his head to look, then nodded. "I'll use you for an experiment!"
As he spoke, he picked up an object from the desk, dipped his brush in clean water, and began to write on it.
As long as the strokes remained, it didn't matter whether he used water or ink. He had already confirmed that with Uncle Blue Rock.
After writing for a while, Zi Bofeng felt dizzy and saw stars. He didn't have much spiritual power to begin with, and he had been recklessly overusing it since yesterday. Now he had exhausted himself.
The sun was already up. Zi Bofeng hurried home for a quick breakfast, then took a bucket and went up the mountain to recharge with Uncle Blue Rock.
It was nearly noon by the time Zi Bofeng came down from the mountain. He was full of energy, his body brimming with spiritual energy, and felt as hale and hearty as ever!
As soon as he reached the foot of the mountain, Zi Bofeng spotted four or five people waiting outside his study. One of them looked ferocious—it was Si Gou. The others stood nervously as he berated them. Yan Lao Wu stood farther away beneath a tree, arms crossed as he watched. When he saw Zi Bofeng return, he turned and left.
"Si Gou, are you bullying people again?" Zi Bofeng glared at him disapprovingly. The moment Si Gou saw him, he bowed and scraped. "Scholar, how would I dare bully anyone? They've come to pay their taxes."
"Oh? Pay taxes?" Zi Bofeng quickly walked over and clasped his hands in greeting. "Blind Granny, Uncle Tuozi, you've all come."
The people who had come to pay were all honest folk. At the front was Blind Granny. She wasn't actually blind, but there was a yellowish-white spot on her eyeball. Zi Bofeng recognized it as a cataract. It was nearly covering her entire eye; soon, she really would be blind. Blind Granny's husband had died long ago, and her son had gone off to seek his fortune and never returned. Now she lived alone. She was a little eccentric, and made a living by performing rituals for people. Zi Bofeng didn't care much for her, but he hadn't expected her to be the first to come pay taxes.
Behind her stood Lao Tuozi. He was holding Xiao Tuozi by the hand, and the child was watching Zi Bofeng timidly.
Zi Bofeng reached out and rubbed the boy's smooth, bald head, then casually gave him a wild fruit he had picked on the mountain.
Xiao Tuozi clutched the fruit tightly and shrank behind Lao Tuozi, watching Zi Bofeng nervously.
When Lao Tuozi saw Zi Bofeng, he hurriedly held out a bag. "Scholar, this... this is our tax... it's all here... it's all here..."
He muttered like a nervous wreck, watching Zi Bofeng take the bag with great reluctance. After rubbing his palms together for a long while, he finally said, "Scholar, you can keep what's inside, but... but give me the bag back. I made it from a trouser leg, and it's the only one I've got..."
He pointed to one leg of his trousers, which was cut short, exposing a filthy, hairy shin.
Zi Bofeng felt as if the bag might slip right out of his hands. Pinching one corner, he passed it to Lao Si. "Come on, Uncle Tuozi. Let's go inside and count it, then make a record."
"Y-yes... it's all there, I guarantee it. I brought everything, everything..." Lao Tuozi rambled as he shuffled after Zi Bofeng into the room. Zi Bofeng took out a ledger he had prepared in advance, wrote down Lao Tuozi's name, then had Si Gou empty the contents of the bag.
With a clatter, copper coins and bits of silver spilled across the table.
Seeing the silver, Zi Bofeng said to Xiao Tuozi, "Xiao Tuozi, go to my house and ask my father for a small scale."
Only then did he begin counting and weighing the scattered copper coins and silver.
There wasn't much money, and it didn't take long to count and weigh it. Zi Bofeng frowned. "Uncle Tuozi, this isn't enough. You're short by twenty coins. You must have miscounted. Go back and fetch the rest."
"I'll go get it right now, right now..." Lao Tuozi said, but he didn't move. He just stood beside them, staring blankly.
Blind Granny came forward. "Scholar... this is all I have..."
It was another pile of scattered coins and bits of silver. Once it had all been weighed, it turned out she was even farther short than Lao Tuozi. Zi Bofeng's brow furrowed. "Blind Granny, this isn't enough either..."
"Not enough? Not enough... The ancestors will blame me..." Blind Granny trembled. She pressed her palms together and murmured under her breath for a moment, then began performing a ritual in the courtyard. Zi Bofeng couldn't help rolling his eyes. The old woman was going off on one of her eccentric spells again.
A moment later, Blind Granny felt her way back inside, one hand on the doorframe. "Scholar, the ancestors just sent me a message. They said if I paid my taxes, the old man would let this blind granny see things again... Scholar..."
Blind Granny held out a thin, withered hand and took Zi Bofeng's hand. Then she put her other hand into her mouth, gave a sharp tug, and placed a bloodied gold tooth in his palm.
"Good heavens!" Zi Bofeng yelped. He flung the tooth away and stared at Blind Granny, eyes wide.
Blind Granny felt around on the ground until she found the tooth. She cupped it in her hand and held it before her eyes, gazing at it reluctantly.
"It's all gone... all gone... Ancestors..." She left the gold tooth on the table, then walked away, dazed and staggering.
Zi Bofeng watched her retreating figure, not knowing what to feel.
"That old woman never showed off, and she wouldn't even spend money on vegetables. She just ate coarse steamed buns. Who'd have thought she had a gold tooth hidden in her mouth..." Si Gou picked up the tooth, wiped it on his lapel, and bit down on it. He clicked his tongue. "Pure gold. That old woman sure knew how to hide things! No matter how I grilled her, she kept saying she had nothing valuable..."
"Si Gou!" Zi Bofeng roared. Half of it was because of what he'd said, and the other half because he had actually put someone else's gold tooth in his mouth and bitten it.
"Heh, Scholar, I was just saying, heh, just saying..." Si Gou immediately bowed and scraped.
"Scholar." Lao Tuozi, who had been standing nearby, led Xiao Tuozi forward with an awkward grin. "Scholar... there's really nothing left in my house... How about... how about my Xiao Tuozi? If you're willing, you can keep him and I'll use him to pay the tax..."
"What?" Zi Bofeng stared at Lao Tuozi, eyes wide.
For a moment, he couldn't understand.
"You old fool, your stupid kid's so scrawny you wouldn't get a few ounces of meat if you boiled him. You think he can pay your taxes?" Si Gou bellowed from the side. "Get lost, get lost! Go home and bring your sheep!"
"Scholar..." The pain in Lao Tuozi's eyes seemed ready to spill out, but he still forced himself to smile and bow. "Xiao Tuozi's little brother is only three months old. My wife is useless and doesn't have enough milk, so the little one depends on that old ewe's milk to live... We don't have enough money at home to feed another mouth. Please, take Xiao Tuozi. He's timid, but he works hard. You can beat him or scold him as you please... Xiao Tuozi, hurry and kowtow to the Scholar..."
Xiao Tuozi knelt and kowtowed to Zi Bofeng, his gaze vacant. "Scholar, please take me in!"
Zi Bofeng even wondered whether Little Stone understood what was happening to him, or what the words he had just said meant.
Looking at the child, with a big head and a thin neck like Little Stone, kneeling on the ground and begging him to take him in, Zi Bofeng felt a sudden stab of pain. He quickly helped Xiao Tuozi up, then gathered Lao Tuozi's tax money and put it back in the bag.
Before picking up the bag, Zi Bofeng paused. In the end, he still handed it back to Lao Tuozi, his resolve unwavering.
"Scholar..." Lao Tuozi was stunned.
"Take it home. Live your life well and raise Xiao Tuozi properly. He's a good boy..."
Lao Tuozi walked away, looking back every few steps. Zi Bofeng's thoughts churned, but he didn't know how to ease them. He turned and saw Si Gou staring at him blankly. He glared at him. "What are you looking at?"
He gathered Blind Granny's money from the table and handed it to Si Gou. "Si Gou, take this to Blind Granny. If I find out you swallowed even one coin, I'll break your legs. Understand?"
Si Gou asked in confusion, "Scholar, we're not collecting these taxes?"
"We are. Starting with yours!" Zi Bofeng glared at him. "Enough questions. Get going!"
Si Gou hurried off.
Before you continue