Chapter 42: Reputation
Out of Yanbo Tower.
Yan Xiaowu slowed down.
He pulled Jiang Zhou from behind, grinned, showing his two rows of iconic white teeth, and said excitedly: "Brother, you really have the mouth of a silkworm, and your words turn into poetry (silk)!"
“…”
As soon as he left the restaurant, Jiang Zhou's drunken eyes suddenly regained some clarity.
"I am just repeating what others have said. I think you are the one who can speak eloquently. Why didn't I notice that you talk so much nonsense before?"
"Ding……"
"when……"
“Knock knock…”
As he was speaking, suddenly the sound of chimes came from afar.
The clear and melodious sound of chimes and the loud and clear bells are accompanied by the Buddhist chants.
"Namo Namo, the great Brahma is infinite..."
"Vajra Samadhi, liberation from the six realms..."
“Namo Namo…”
"Om Mani Padme Hum..."
Jiang Zhou raised his head and looked in the direction of the sound, his eyes suddenly widened.
Amidst a golden auspicious light, a group of monks in white robes lined up in two rows and were slowly walking towards them from the other end of the street.
Everyone holds a Buddhist instrument in their hands.
The vase, the canopy, the twin fishes, the lotus, the right-handed conch, the auspicious knot, the victory banner, and the wheel.
Jade chimes, silver bells, iron chimes, golden bells, bronze drums, and wooden fish.
Wherever he passed, golden lotuses appeared, flowers fell from the sky , Buddhist chants lingered, and golden light flashed.
The people of Wu County stepped aside and bowed down in worship.
If one could bathe in the golden light and feel the smallpox touching one's body, one would be extremely excited.
This scene made Jiang Zhou almost suspect that he saw the Buddha traveling.
"It's the monk from Dafan Temple!"
Yan Xiaowu exclaimed.
Then he turned around and ran in the opposite direction of the monk.
Jiang Zhou was already full of food, and now he was shaking so hard that he wanted to vomit. He couldn't help but ask, "Why are you running?"
Yan Xiaowu kept walking: "I don't want to meet this bunch of bald donkeys. Haven't you heard that if you see a nun, you will lose every time you gamble. If you see a monk, everything will go wrong! It's bad luck!"
“…”
Jiang Zhou knew that there must be something wrong with him, but he was feeling very uncomfortable and was too lazy to ask.
…
As night fell, Wu County's bustling day gradually became superficially calm.
It is just past midnight, the time when the old and the new meet.
A clear whistle suddenly broke the peace that had just arrived.
The roar was like a dragon's roar, shaking hundreds of thousands of miles away and reaching into the sky.
A ray of brilliant light shot up into the sky from the southeast direction of Wu County.
The thick clouds were broken open, revealing the brilliant galaxy.
On a mountain in the southeast, there was brilliant light everywhere, dense and hazy, like clouds and fog, spreading over an area of thousands of miles.
There were some twinkling lights in it, competing with the bright stars in the sky, and it was not even inferior to them.
Many people in Wu County were awakened from their sleep by this clear whistle.
Having just experienced the disaster of the Goddess of Yanshan, the people of Wu County were still in a state of fear and felt quite uneasy.
But since the brilliant light rose into the sky, they seemed to hear waves of chanting coming into their ears.
It seems as if the ancient sages are reciting immortal chapters in my ears.
They couldn't understand a word or even hear it clearly.
But the sound of reading made them feel peaceful and fearless.
At this moment , a vast "river" appeared in the vast sky.
It was the result of countless indescribable brilliant lights coming together.
Brighter than the stars in the sky.
The light of this great river is enough to shine through the ages!
"The long and vast river!"
"Great scholar!"
"Who has broken through the destiny?!"
Not only in Wu County, but in countless places in Nanzhou, people cried out in surprise.
"Hahaha……"
Most of the ordinary people in Wu County had no idea what was going on.
They just heard bursts of laughter coming from the southeast, and all the strange phenomena in the sky slowly disappeared.
That seems to be where Bailu Academy is located.
Soon the night sky returned to clearness, as if nothing had happened.
…
The top of the Sujingsi stone peak.
Li Xuance and Xie Buyuan stood side by side, looking into the distance to the southeast in the direction of Bailu Academy.
Xie Buyuan shook his head and sighed: "Half of a Taoist theory has made him a third-rank scholar. Tsk tsk tsk ..."
Li Xuance was holding a piece of calligraphy, on which was written the half-article of Taoism that Jiang Zhou had written in Fengbo Tower today.
"Its release is like a machine... its retention is like a curse... its killing is like autumn and winter... the heart that is close to death should not be allowed to revive... so the non-existence is regarded as existence..."
Li Xuance finished reading it word by word, rolled it up neatly, put it in his arms, and said, "What a spicy article on Taoism. It really enlightens me."
He turned around and sat down at the stone table.
Xie Buyuan also sat down and said with a smile: "Today, his prose surpassed Bailu's and his poetry surpassed Xuzi's, which shows his attainments in Confucianism. This half of the Taoism is full of Taoism, showing two of the three religions of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. It seems that what he said is not false. You, the Sujing Division, have really picked up a treasure."
He slapped the stone table and said, "I forced Xiaowu to test his brother in order to help you verify this matter, but I offended this guy badly. Now he is holding a grudge against me. You owe me a favor."
Li Xuance did not comment: "Killing Hongni and flooding Wujun is such a terrible disaster. If not... how could he stay out of it and save his life? You have done him such a great favor, so it is only natural for him to repay you a little bit."
"Besides, from now on, he has a third-rank scholar as his backer. I dare not provoke him easily. If you want a favor, go and ask him for it ."
Xie Buyuan was so angry that he laughed: "Hey? You are a cold-faced and black-hearted person. You are going to destroy the bridge after crossing it, right?"
…
After a night, the person who caused the trouble was slowly waking up from his sleep.
When Jiang Zhou opened his eyes, he saw a round face as big as a pancake less than two inches away from him, with two small eyes wide open.
He was almost scared to death and punched her.
"You're awake." Yan Xiaowu said, looking back and forth at his face.
“…”
Jiang Zhou's mouth twitched slightly: "What are you doing?"
Yan Xiaowu leaned close to him and looked at him as if he was looking at a strange animal.
"Brother, you are a heifer on a boat this time - you are so awesome."
Jiang Zhou: “…”
What strange talent did this guy suddenly awaken?
Yan Xiaowu was still excited and said: "You don't know!"
"Now everyone outside is talking about what happened yesterday. The demon patrol guards in Yanbo Tower debated with the students of Bailu, and their poems and essays shocked the great scholars!"
"Those sour scholars from Bailu Academy are really shameless!"
"Oh, you have made a name for yourself."
"You don't know how many famous scholars and literati have come to Wujun just to find you, the demon patrol guard who is better than Bailu in literature!"
Yan Xiaowu was so excited that he danced with joy.
Jiang Zhou just felt a splitting headache.
The aftereffect of the alcohol in Yanbo Tower is too strong.
What gave him even more headaches was Yan Xiaowu’s words.
After the pain passed for a while, he remembered everything that happened yesterday.
"Why are you looking for me? I didn't make those things. My senior brother did."
Yan Xiaowu chuckled and said, "Come on, your senior brother? Why haven't I heard of you having any senior brother? Okay, just say these things to outsiders, it's not necessary to say them to me."
"He is really my senior brother, his name is Li Bai..."
"Alright, alright, it's your senior brother, his name is Li Bai!"
Yan Xiaowu waved his hand perfunctorily, and then said excitedly: "Do you know that there are so many people out there who are looking for you to write calligraphy, poems, and essays. Oh, there are even more people who want to compete with you in poetry and essays. I guess they want to use you as a stepping stone."
