Bookmarks Hidden in Books, Shadows Within

Qiu Yan's heart stirred. He got up and walked over, ignoring the Ginseng Baby and the other items. He went straight to the two books, reached out and tried to pick them up, but the books only hovered a few inches before falling back down.

Snap! Snap!

Two more sounds.

"Hmm? These two books are surprisingly heavy!"

Raising an eyebrow, Qiu Yan bent down to pick up the book, his doubts growing stronger.

He used his Divine Ability powers to take the two books, but the books were heavy and, caught off guard, they fell to the ground.

Prosperity Capital possesses the power to suppress Divine Abilities, but being so close, merely taking two light books wouldn't have affected him much, yet he still failed.

Now, Qiu Yan reached out to pick them up, only to find that the two books were not heavy at all. He picked them up easily, rubbed them between his fingers, and felt the paper texture, which did not seem particularly special.

"The paper in these two books is just ordinary, and the binding thread is nothing special. Why would there be anything unusual about them?"

Puzzled, he opened the book.

The pages flickered, and the words inside swept across Qiu Yan's eyes. With his cultivation and realm, he could read ten lines at a glance and remember everything he read. In just a few breaths, he had taken in the contents of both books.

"The contents of the book also don't possess much hidden power. Judging from the wording, it should be the reading notes of a former scholar. Although it quotes some sayings of Sage, it doesn't inspire any power of Human Path Order. In other words, this book, inside and out, has nothing extraordinary about it. It's just that when I absorbed it with my Divine Sense, I felt an unbearable heaviness..."

As he pondered, he glanced at the various objects on the ground, extending his senses to notice that several of them were exhibiting disordered energy.

"Where did they come from?"

Qiu Yan was aware of the departure of the Ginseng Baby and the Eight-Character Ancient Seal Inscription, but he did not stop them. Although these items came from different backgrounds and were not ordinary objects, they were, in essence, sentient beings.

"Dragon Qi is formed from the collective will of all living beings within the dynasty's territory. Those who obey its teachings become subjects of the dynasty, and even demons should be considered part of the Dragon Qi, able to linger around it, though their Divine Ability powers will inevitably be greatly diminished..."

After making contact with the City Intent, Qiu Yan gained some understanding of this matter. Moreover, in the past few days, he had been exploring the Book of Fortune. Although he had not explored the deeper mysteries, he had vaguely sensed a manifestation of abundant Fortune. He then discovered that the Fortune structure on the Ginseng Baby's body was similar to that of the Book of Fortune!

For this reason, Qiu Yan even considered that after the pages of the Book of Fortune were used up, he could use the "power" of the Ginseng Baby to replenish them.

Leaving those aside, even in Prosperity Capital, with Ginseng Baby by their side and protected by Fortune, nothing should be in too much danger. Besides, none of these guys are easy to deal with.

"The Ginseng Treasure used to leave without a trace, but this time it triggered the restriction. It must be because its Divine Ability were suppressed. Speaking of which, it always brought back valuable items when it returned before, mostly related to Literary Dao. It's a thief not to be underestimated. This time, it's back in the world, so it shouldn't fail again. As for these two books..."

Seeing the group struggling to get up, Qiu Yan immediately realized that they had accidentally stepped into some kind of restriction and were almost sealed off, but they had managed to overcome the effect and rush back.

Crackling! Crackling!

Suddenly, the palm-sized Incense Burner emitted a crisp sound, and light and shadow scattered across its surface.

"You! Not only did you forcibly abduct and drive me, but you also used me as a shield! This is utterly outrageous!" A faint thought emanated from the Incense Burner.

Sensing this thought, Qiu Yan shook his head, his gaze returning to the two books in his hands.

"The material isn't anything special, and the contents aren't extraordinary, but the fact that the Ginseng Baby targeted it and brought it back means it's no ordinary item. Besides, I personally experienced the strange phenomenon just now... Hmm?"

As Qiu Yan was thinking and flipping through the book, he stopped and stared at the middle of the book.

There, a thin bamboo strip was inserted.

This is a bookmark.

Looking at the bookmark, Qiu Yan felt a strange sensation, as if he were seeing not a bamboo slip, but a person!

In his perception, a scholar was sitting upright, studying a book and trying to decipher its profound meaning.

He blinked, and the strange scene he had been perceiving disappeared. But Qiu Yan knew that what he had just witnessed was not an illusion, but a real sensation.

He reached out, took out the bamboo bookmark, held it in front of his eyes, and examined it carefully, turning it over and over, but he didn't find anything strange about it.

However, the fact that a book that could make Divine Sense feel heavy and caused Qiu Yan's perception to change could not reveal anything strange was strange enough in itself.

"Since the Divine Ability power isn't being revealed, perhaps it's..."

Thinking of this, he flicked his finger, and the bamboo bookmark bent and then straightened, vibrating incessantly. A small flame then ignited at Qiu Yan's fingertip.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

The flames emitted a blinding light, but had little heat, as if they were burning in another dimension.

The Fire Seed of Human Path!

The flames spread along the bamboo skewer, quickly engulfing it completely. As it burned, Fire Star scattered from the skewer, revealing what had been hidden.

"As expected, they were hiding something, but they weren't using extraordinary power; they were using the power of Human Path!"

Qiu Yan's expression gradually turned serious, as if he had suddenly realized something.

"My understanding of the power of Human Path seems to be somewhat one-sided. The people I've encountered before who could mobilize the power of Human Path were mostly Grand Confucian scholars. Their own pursuit was mostly to spread their doctrines throughout the world. Even if their doctrines had certain limitations, they wouldn't show a dark side. But the power of Human Path used to conceal this bookmark seems different. It's not a grand and majestic path, but a kind of cunning method. I've never encountered it before. No, perhaps I have, but I didn't realize its characteristics."

Thinking of this, the Legalist School Divine Sense within Qiu Yan's Divine Soul trembled slightly.

"The Divine Sense of 'The Nothing Is Better Than Explicit Law' was condensed from the bamboo slip sent by Elder Han. However, besides the Manifest Law Spirit, that bamboo slip also contained some content on Mind Arts. At that time, no Human Path Order was in harmony with it, so I overlooked it..."

As he was still thinking, on the other side, the bookmark's trembling gradually subsided, and a Fortune became clear, like a thread wrapped around one end of the bamboo stick, then extending out, out the window, and disappearing into the depths of the night sky, vaguely connected to someone.

As soon as this thread of Fortune appeared, the book changed again. The words in the book slowly faded away, and then a blood-red glow emerged, forming rows of characters in mid-air.

Qiu Yan stared intently, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he read it aloud in a low voice.

"Zhang Jiashuo, a Juren (successful candidate in the imperial examination) from Fenghua County Jiangnan Circuit... This record actually includes his name and place of origin!"

A thought struck him, and he vaguely grasped a clue. While organizing his thoughts, he continued to look down. Behind that line of text, his life story and areas of expertise in Literary Dao were clearly presented. Even the books he had read, his beliefs, and his academic inclinations were clearly recorded. In Qiu Yan's previous life, this would have been considered a complete personal file.

Immediately afterwards, Qiu Yan focused his mind once again on the book in his hand. This time, the feeling was completely different. The book, which was originally just a book bound with ordinary materials, exuded a strong and mellow intention and Votive Thoughts. The degree of this intention was almost comparable to the incense Votive Thoughts gathered by a group of believers who had prayed and prayed for blessings for a month!

"Could it be that someone is also eyeing Confucianism scholars...?"

As Qiu Yan pondered, his thoughts became clearer and clearer, and his ideas gradually became more organized. Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck his mind!

Finally, the figures coalesced into several scholars, including Luo Jiayun and Zhou Guan, their thoughts wandering before finally settling on a signboard—

<The Book Hoard Inn>!

"Books... bookmarks... Fortune... could there be some connection between them? Could it be that the Ginseng Treasure, by sheer accident, has actually opened up a new chapter?"

Thinking of this, he looked at the Ginseng Baby and the other items. What he saw was the Eight-Character Ancient Seal Inscription stimulating his understanding of fire, scorching the Copper Furnace.

As for the Ginseng Baby, it was already curled up in a corner, fast asleep, seemingly not caring at all about the "stolen goods".

"Ginseng Treasure's heart is like that of an innocent child, devoid of distinction between good and evil. Upon seeing something he likes, he instinctively wants to collect it, not out of possessiveness. Now that his wish has been fulfilled, he is carefree again. However, he still needs to find out where he obtained these two books."

Thinking this, Qiu Yan used his Divine Sense to retrieve the Eight-Character Ancient Seal Inscription and conveyed his doubts to them.

"You're asking about the origin of these two books?"

Upon hearing this, the Eight-Character Ancient Seal Inscription revealed a hint of displeasure and stammered, "It was all because of that ginseng acting on its own! This time, I came to the capital of the Central Plains Dynasty hoping to witness the prosperity of the Lantern Festival, but unexpectedly, that ginseng led me all the way to a less crowded place, into that Hanlin Academy. The people inside were all so rigid, and that ginseng was even more unruly, stealing books and triggering the restrictions. If I hadn't been so quick-witted and decisively used my mount to avert disaster, the losses would have been considerable."

"Hanlin Academy?"

Upon hearing this name, Qiu Yan's heart stirred.

"These two books were stolen from the Hanlin Academy?"

"That's right!" the Eight-Character Ancient Seal Inscription complained, then went back to suppress its "mount." "If it causes any trouble, that's none of my business."

Qiu Yan ignored it and fell into deep thought.

"The Hanlin Academy? They've even stolen from the Hanlin Academy..."

Sweat beaded on Qiu Yan's forehead as he pondered another matter, "However, are there restrictions within the Hanlin Academy? Could the mastermind be hiding inside? Speaking of which, if Metropolitan Examination and achieve a good ranking in the Palace Examination, I should be able to enter the Hanlin Academy! At that time..."

As he was thinking, his body suddenly trembled, and his Divine Soul leaped as he felt a pulling force from outside the window.

The next moment, the Heart Ape his soul roared! (To be continued...)

ps: Thanks to "I am not a saint" and "Tea Ceremony Master" for the reward!

Thank you to "Eat the Elixir" for the monthly vote!