Gathering Literary Inspiration

"Oh, right. You won't get into any trouble for bringing me out like this, will you?"

Su Mu suddenly remembered how strict the rules had been in ancient Huaxia. He had no idea what things were like here, but he hoped the maid beside him had not broken any rules by bringing him out.

"If there were going to be trouble, I couldn't have brought you out."

The maid shook her head as she answered. She had already reported to the eldest princess through Divine Sense earlier; Su Mu simply knew nothing about it. There was a slightly strange look on her face now.

"You're rather odd. Never mind not knowing certain things about cultivation, but why do you seem so curious about everything around you?"

Among all the common people in Great Liang, few cultivated, so it was perfectly normal for Su Mu not to understand such things.

But his curiosity about everything around him was somewhat strange.

"Isn't this the imperial capital? I've never been here before, so I'm a little curious."

Su Mu gave her a straightforward answer.

The maid thought it over and felt that made some sense. Although she did not know exactly where Su Mu came from, he certainly was not from the imperial capital.

If Su Mu had been from the imperial capital, the fluctuations on the day of the ritual could have been sensed right here.

Su Mu followed a step behind the maid. Though he looked around, he never strayed an inch from her side.

Under the present circumstances, he still felt that staying beside her was a little safer.

"Is there anything particular about that gathering of literary inspiration you mentioned earlier? Could you tell me more about it?"

Su Mu was curious about everything here, but his attention was still mainly focused on the Academy of Righteousness.

"Gathering literary inspiration is just gathering literary inspiration. As for anything particular..."

The maid's slender brows drew together slightly, as though she were recalling something.

"There isn't much to it. Those scholars are quite particular about their ink, brushes, and paper, though. They all like the finest quality."

The maid did not know much about these things. She waved a hand. "You'll understand once you see it yourself."

Seeing this, Su Mu could only follow her.

Along the rest of the way, Su Mu noticed several people whose clothing clearly marked them as cultivators letting their gazes linger on him. The looks they gave him made his skin crawl.

There were even a few bald monks in monastic robes who stared at him for a long while, only withdrawing their gazes when they noticed the maid beside him.

Su Mu felt thoroughly unnerved. His intuition told him that all these fellows wanted to deliver his soul to the next life.

Fortunately, with the maid watching over him, he did not have to worry about someone actually rushing out to deliver his soul.

After another tea's worth of time, the maid finally brought Su Mu to their destination.

A hubbub of voices rose ahead, mixed with an unceasing stream of hawkers' cries.

The maid led Su Mu to a place nearby that looked like a restaurant. "Are there any places left on the fifth floor?"

"There's one room left, but it costs fifty taels of silver today."

A young attendant who looked like a waiter answered at once.

Fifty taels?

Hearing the amount, the maid furrowed her brows into deep ridges and looked somewhat hesitant.

"If you'd like to book it, you'd better hurry. There might not be anything left in a little while."

The waiter's words made the maid resolve herself. Gritting her teeth, she fished out fifty taels of silver and handed them over.

The waiter's face lit up with delight, and he escorted the two of them upstairs.

"What would you two like to order?"

"Just a pot of tea."

Parting with fifty taels of silver clearly pained the maid immensely. She ordered nothing else, asking only for a pot of tea.

Seeing this, the waiter brought them a pot of tea, set it down, and left.

"Don't you use Spirit Stones to pay for things? Why are you using silver?"

Su Mu was somewhat puzzled. These were people who cultivated toward immortality, yet they still used silver. It seemed a little strange.

"Spirit Stones aren't something you casually use for transactions. They're only used for large transactions, and even then, people generally don't trade in Spirit Stones. Silver and gold are used much more often."

At this point, the maid gave Su Mu an increasingly strange look. "How can you not even know that?"

"Well, I've never had any dealings with you immortal cultivators before."

Su Mu laughed it off and bluffed his way through.

Still, Su Mu now had something of an idea. If he understood correctly, Spirit Stones were like gold back on Earth, ordinarily kept as something like wartime reserves.

Their standing, however, would be far higher than that of gold on Earth.

Having worked that out, Su Mu asked no more questions. He sat down and looked around.

"That's where the scholars from the Academy of Righteousness will be gathering literary inspiration later."

The maid now concentrated as well, fixing her gaze on a restaurant in the distance.

The top floor of that restaurant had been built like a wooden pavilion, its interior visible from every direction.

It was quite far from their own restaurant. Fortunately, Su Mu was now a soul, and his eyesight was much better than before.

"Even a place this far away costs fifty taels of silver."

Su Mu sighed with feeling. Although this was his first time being brought somewhere like this, he could understand that the fifty-tael price must have been because of those scholars.

It was like a concert. Naturally, tickets for closer seats cost more.

"Of course. Any closer, and it would cost even more."

The maid pursed her little lips, still feeling the pain of spending her silver. "You'd better come through. Don't let my money go to waste."

For the eldest princess's sake, the maid could no longer spare a thought for her silver.

In the past, she would never have come to a place like this.

Su Mu felt a little pressured now, too. Hearing her words, he could only nod to show that he would do his best.

The maid drank tea beside him for a while before several men in long robes appeared at the distant restaurant and entered the pavilion together.

They chatted and laughed. They were too far away for Su Mu to hear what they were saying, but he could clearly see many people looking at those scholars with reverence.

Through gauze curtains in some of the distant buildings, he could also see quite a few women seated inside. Presumably, they too had come for these scholars.

It seemed the scholars of the Academy of Righteousness really were extremely popular.

The scholars in the distance chatted and laughed, then sat facing one another and leisurely drank together.

"When will they start gathering literary inspiration?"

Su Mu watched for half an incense stick's worth of time. Seeing that they still showed no sign of doing anything, he began to grow anxious.

"Probably soon."

The maid checked the time and answered.

Reassured by her words, Su Mu settled back into his seat and stared intently, curious about what this gathering of literary inspiration was that could improve the chances of surviving a tribulation and make those immortal cultivators flock to it like ducks.