"This here is writing."
The lady wrote a line of elegant characters, then spoke to Su Mu.
Su Mu committed them carefully to memory, then picked up the brush and began copying them.
The lady watched from the side. Seeing that the characters Su Mu wrote were so crooked they bore no resemblance to proper characters, she bit her red lips and forced herself not to laugh aloud.
Now she was completely certain that Su Mu really was illiterate.
She could tell that just from his handwriting.
His handwriting was worse than a three-year-old's, reaching a level that even someone deliberately trying to write badly could not achieve.
"All right, let's leave it here for today."
Su Mu could also tell that she had been wanting to laugh all along, but merely spoke with an expressionless face.
It was already dark. Su Mu still had things to do on Earth and needed to go back for a bit.
The lady dipped into a gentle curtsy. "Then this humble girl will take her leave."
"Mm."
Su Mu nodded lightly, looked at what he had written, then crumpled it all into a ball and set it alight.
All dark history. I can't let outsiders see this.
The lady turned into a wisp of blue smoke and slipped into the painting, which then began fluttering erratically.
Su Mu looked at the painting with a hint of helplessness. "Are you laughing?"
No sound came from within, but the painting's movements grew increasingly exaggerated.
"Laugh if you want."
Su Mu reckoned she had been holding it in for quite a while.
"You jest, young master. How could this humble girl... pfft!"
Before she could get halfway through, her words gave way to a string of silvery laughter.
Su Mu rolled his eyes and returned to his room.
When Su Mu opened his eyes again, he was already back on Earth.
Su Mu stretched, and a series of cracks and pops immediately rang out throughout his body.
That feels good!
Su Mu could not help taking stock of himself. Compared with before, he suddenly felt a little stronger all over this time.
He had only noticed this subtle sensation because he had left and then abruptly returned.
It seemed that the medicine really was quite effective.
Su Mu felt a surge of delight. Since the medicine worked, he could set a time to go home and get a few doses for his dad.
Su Mu picked up his phone, intending to settle on a time to go back.
Only when he picked it up did he notice that quite a few messages had accumulated.
"What's going on? Hardly anyone usually contacts me, right?"
Su Mu was somewhat puzzled. Only after opening the messages did he realize things had gotten a little out of hand.
Videos of the abnormal phenomena caused by the dragon's resentment at the overpass had now spread, and some had already been deleted.
But seeing that quite a few group chats and Moments posts were all about this, Su Mu could not help rubbing the space between his brows.
He had thought that since he would deal with it tonight, he should still be in time. He had not expected the matter to blow up anyway.
Fortunately, things were not too serious yet. There was still time to deal with it now.
According to Xiao Wu, his little bit of Spiritual Power would be enough, because the Dragon Vein was not particularly large.
Su Mu checked the time, felt it was about right, and got up to head out.
After taking a taxi to the vicinity, Su Mu got out and walked toward the overpass.
Perhaps because it was already late, there was hardly anyone nearby. As he approached the construction site, he found that quite a few areas around it had already been cordoned off.
Earlier, quite a few nearby residents had come to join the excitement after seeing the videos, so the surrounding area had been blocked off.
Seeing no one around, Su Mu quietly slipped inside.
A short while later, he finally reached the edge of the foundation pile.
The black Qi here was now several times denser than what Su Mu had seen before.
"Step through the Seven Stars, probe out the dragon's configuration, and draw out the Dragon Vein. That's how it goes."
Su Mu recalled the instructions and, after making certain there were no mistakes, smoothly completed the Seven Stars footwork. The golden field before him immediately changed.
The golden mass slowly took the shape of a dragon.
This was the Dragon Vein.
Su Mu studied it curiously. The lifelike golden dragon coiled before him, and the sheer impact of the sight was something outsiders could hardly appreciate.
Su Mu took a deep breath, then lightly touched the golden dragon with his Spiritual Power and gave it a tug before walking forward.
At first, Su Mu walked quite easily, but after three meters, his steps began to grow heavy, as though an immense force were pulling at him, refusing to let him advance.
Every step cost Su Mu tremendous effort, and whenever his foot landed, a deep footprint appeared in the ground.
Sweat kept beading on his forehead.
"Didn't Xiao Wu say this was easy? Why is it so exhausting?!"
Beads of sweat the size of beans streamed down Su Mu's forehead, and his face was flushed red with strain.
His feet came down little by little as he advanced step by step, drawing the golden dragon behind him along as it shifted its body inch by inch.
"Almost there, just a little more!"
Su Mu planted another foot. Now he could feel that with just one more step, he would be able to draw the Dragon Vein away completely.
At that thought, Su Mu rallied himself. Sweat had already soaked his clothes, and when he raised his foot, it trembled uncontrollably.
Boom!
At last, his final step landed. The footprint in the ground was far deeper than any of the others, and the crushing pressure on his body vanished with it.
Su Mu let out a heavy sigh of relief and collapsed limply onto the ground.
It seemed he would have to retain some skepticism toward what Xiao Wu said in the future. Was this something a human could do? Over that tiny stretch just now, Su Mu had felt as though he would be crushed.
Su Mu lay on the ground, feeling as though every bone in his body was about to fall apart.
But soon, a series of footsteps came from the distance. "I think I heard something. Shall we go take a look?"
"Probably someone who saw those videos that spread earlier and sneaked in."
Su Mu had fairly sharp hearing. Hearing the voices in the distance, he hurriedly rolled over and got up, then hastened away.
If they caught him here, he would inevitably have to offer a whole explanation. To spare himself the trouble, he had better leave quickly.
Soon, several workers arrived and swept their flashlights around, but saw no suspicious figures.
Only when they noticed the footprints left in the ground did they freeze. "These footprints? Who left them?"
Seeing such deep footprints all of a sudden in the dead of night made them all feel rather creeped out.
After exchanging glances, they hurried away.
They had better tell the person in charge and see how he would handle it. In any case, they did not dare linger here.
The ground in this area was fairly solid, after all. How could anyone so easily stamp such deep footprints into it?!