A Game Within a Game, a Man Beyond Men

Yang She's room was not hard to find; his main Academician Lecturer-in-Attendance was to manage the Book Repository.

Squeak.

The door opened, and Qiu Yan walked straight in without knocking.

Ta-da!

His footsteps had a certain charm to them.

Inside the room, Yang She was reading a book when he heard the noise. He looked up, a hint of surprise on his face.

"Qiu Yan?"

After seeing Qiu Yan's face, he uttered his name, then frowned and said, "Now I should call you Qiu Learning." His words were neither respectful nor malicious.

After the initial surprise, the Academician Lecturer-in-Attendance narrowed his eyes, stood up, and smiled, "Your subordinate greets you..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Qiu Yan interrupted him, saying, "Yang Shijiang, there's no need to say anything more. You may know why I've come here, but you certainly don't understand my True Intention. I've actually come to save you from your suffering."

"Save me? What do you mean?" Yang She still had a slight smile on his face, but his expression was already quite dignified, so this smile inevitably gave people the feeling that it was a forced smile.

Qiu Yan didn't respond. Instead, he stepped into the room, and an oppressive feeling immediately gathered from all directions, about to press down on him. But then Qiu Yan's body trembled slightly.

Snap!

A crisp sound rang out from the empty room, as if something had broken, and instantly, the oppressive feeling in the room vanished!

Upon hearing this, Yang She's smile froze on his face, his expression darkening as he stared intently at Qiu Yan, remaining silent.

Qiu Yan didn't speak, but simply walked forward to the bookshelves at the edge of the room. He glanced around, his senses enveloping them.

This seemed to have touched Yang She's sore spot. He turned around, walked out from behind the table, and rushed to the bookshelf. Staring at Qiu Yan, he smiled and said, "Scholar, you'd better make your intentions clear. Although you are now an official, this Book Repository is not another place. There are many rare books here, and they cannot be damaged." As he spoke, he held a bamboo stick in his hand.

Qiu Yan glanced at him and said calmly, "The books here are all good books, many of them rare copies. However, the bookmarks are not good; many are stained with blood."

Having said all that, Yang She knew there was no need to beat around the bush any longer, and asked directly, "Since you've come prepared, Scholar, I won't say anything more, but I'd like to remind you of something..."

He narrowed his eyes. The sternness on his face faded, replaced by a sinister look. "Don't think that pulling out the needle or stopping it will make things alright. The moment you touch that needle, your own Fortune will be tainted!"

As he spoke, he gripped the bamboo skewer tightly in his hand. "Why did I let Di Ai shoot the Invisible Needle in the palace? Was it really that urgent? Not at all. It was precisely when you were rising to prominence and your Fortune was at its peak that I was able to join in unnoticed, and as your Fortune rose, I could penetrate even deeper into your schemes!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qiu Yan's Fortune surged, and his originally magnificent aura showed signs of collapsing and crumbling!

"Fortune is an elusive and intangible thing, but it is not unfathomable. However, since you came to the Hanlin Academy as soon as you left the Imperial Palace, you did not obtain official robes or seals, so your Fortune has not increased much. But now that you are the head of the Hanlin Academy, your Fortune will naturally rise as soon as you step into this place. It is unstoppable and you are just being entangled and tightened by the Karmic Thread within the Invisible Needle."

As he spoke, Yang She's expression grew calmer. Suddenly, he jerked his hand, and the bamboo stick in his hand seemed to transform into reins, about to pull Qiu Yan over.

But Qiu Yan remained unmoved, letting his own Fortune fluctuate.

"Hmm?" Yang She frowned slightly upon seeing this, then sneered, "It's useless to stubbornly resist. Although Fortune is not directly related to life and death, it can indirectly affect you. Even if you have great supernatural Divine Ability, you will be suppressed to some extent in Prosperity Capital, and then suppressed to some extent by the Literary Thought of the Hanlin Book Pavilion. Furthermore, even if Fortune in my hands, you cannot turn the tide! Come, come, why don't you tell me your set of theories, so that I can improve my Dao!"

"Your Dao?" Qiu Yan turned his gaze to Yang She. "You perhaps think that you have condensed the Literary Heart, possess a complete set of Human Path pursuits, reside in the capital, and orchestrate events across the world, controlling the Fortune of all scholars?"

"Oh? You know quite a lot, but I can't control the Qi and Blood of all the students in the world by myself. The Karma would be too heavy." Yang She didn't answer directly, but his words implied that he was right.

"If you ask questions based on your knowledge, you will attract the unwise; if you have a deep understanding of one thing, you can discern all the hidden truths." Qiu Yan uttered these words. "It seems you have learned the teachings of the Legalist Sage quite well. By asking questions based on what you know, you can obtain the unknown. By gaining a deep understanding of certain things, you can discern many secrets. These bamboo sticks represent what you know. By using them to investigate the changes in the world, you can know the affairs of the world and Fortune without leaving home."

"Hmm? From what you're saying, you've actually figured out I'm a Legalist School." Yang She was somewhat surprised, then shook his head. "However, it's not easy for you to say these things; it shows you do have some understanding of my Legalist School."

Qiu Yan did not follow the man's words, but instead asked, "A few breaths ago, the Hundred Schools Aura appeared, Doctrine Battlefield. Were you aware of this?"

"Hmm?" This question made Yang She puzzled.

Seeing this, Qiu Yan finally confirmed his initial guess. On the other hand, he followed the connection of the Fortune and delved into the bamboo stick, discovering a clue.

"Now that everything is clear, there's no need to delay..."

With a thought in mind, Qiu Yan stepped forward, raised his hand, and grabbed at Yang She!

"Still want to resist?" Yang She seemed to have expected this. He flicked his fingers lightly, and the bamboo skewer in his hand made a crisp sound, as if it had been bent or broken. Correspondingly, several parts of Qiu Yan's body suddenly exploded, his clothes ripped apart, and his flesh was mangled!

This was a case of substitution!

Qiu Yan was not afraid, but said, "Yang She, you became a third-ranked scholar ten years ago and then entered the Hanlin Academy. For ten years, you have not been able to leave this place. In the last four years, you have firmly occupied the position of Academician Lecturer-in-Attendance. Do you think that all of this is due to manipulating Fortune?"

"You investigated me?" Yang She's eyes changed. "But why bring this up now? My plans and my deeper meanings are beyond your comprehension." As he spoke, he retreated rapidly, but his hand didn't stop. He flicked a bamboo skewer, making it pop. Bloodstains appeared on Qiu Yan's body, but Yang She seemed oblivious, simply getting closer!

Not only that, Qiu Yan continued, saying to himself, "Yang Shijiang, you Legalist Coercion Method, but do you also know about the Inverted Words, Reversed Deeds? You studied under Grand Confucian in Jiangling, learning Confucianism, never Legalist School. Now, do you want to sink even deeper? Wake up!"

Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!

As soon as Qiu Yan uttered those two words, his voice grew louder and louder, and in the blink of an eye, it echoed throughout the entire room, deafeningly loud!

Even the books on the bookshelf couldn't withstand the weight and fell down one after another!

"Such a precious book, and you actually..." Yang She exclaimed in shock, then his whole body trembled violently as two words pierced through his ears. Then, those two words seemed to solidify and slammed into his body.

Boom!

The entire room, along with the entire Book Repository, collapsed!

"Wrong!"

With a shout, Yang She suddenly opened his eyes and began to breathe heavily. Looking around, he was still sitting in the chair behind the table. The surrounding scenery was exactly the same as before, without any change, not to mention the books falling down, or even the room and Book Repository collapsing.

"The Book Repository many rare books; why would I damage them?" Qiu Yan's voice came from ahead.

"A hallucination? An illusion!" The next moment, Yang She's gaze focused on Qiu Yan standing in front of the door. "You used the sound of the door opening and footsteps to cast an illusion on me? Everything just now was an illusion? No wonder I woke up."

Qiu Yan shook his head. "It might be an illusion, or perhaps a time-shifting technique, but waking you up doesn't mean you're free from the illusion." As he spoke, the distorted scene on his hand slowly dissipated, leaving no trace of blood on his body and his clothes intact.

"Regardless of the method, to still be able to unleash Divine Ability under the suppression of Dragon Qi, Prosperity Capital, and Hanlin Literary Thought is truly remarkable. Therefore, I cannot hold back any longer!" Before Yang She finished speaking, he tossed the bamboo stick into the inkstone on the table, staining it with ink. "All your Literary Thought achievements are mine to accept!"

He smiled, his eyes filled with the satisfaction of victory. But a few breaths passed, and nothing changed in the room. Qiu Yan was still standing in front of the door, quietly watching him.

"What happened?" Yang She was startled, a look of surprise on his face. He looked at Qiu Yan, then at the ink-stained bamboo stick, his face full of doubt. "The Fortune Bookmark got ink on it, it should..."

Qiu Yan shook his head and said, "You are just an ordinary Confucian scholar, without Divine Ability, Legalist School Literary Heart. After I cut off your contact with the outside world, how could you possibly control this bamboo stick? Perhaps you haven't woken up yet?"

"What did you say? You said I'm just an ordinary Confucian scholar? I..." Yang She's expression suddenly changed. His mind raced as he tried to recall the events, and a flood of memories rushed out, causing him to let out a miserable cry and slump into his chair.

"His thoughts and ideas were forcibly implanted into him, his mind was twisted, and he became a puppet, doing things contrary to his own will and inconsistent with the facts, and he did this for many years. How pathetic! And the person who could do such a thing is truly ruthless! What do you say, Han Shidu?"

As he spoke, Qiu Yan suddenly turned around, his gaze falling on the doorway.

A smiling man stood by the door; who else could it be but Han Bian, the Academician Reader-in-Attendance? (To be continued...)

P. S.: Thanks to "" for the monthly vote!