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墨書 Inktalez
The Chinese nation has always placed great importance on the inheritance between masters and apprentices, even having the saying that one day as a teacher is a lifetime as a father, which proves the significance of mentorship. In some professions, without a mentor, your identity may not even be recognized. Although there are cases where a skilled individual can become a teacher, it is rare to find a master younger than their apprentice. After all, there is a dignity to uphold in the teacher-student relationship; it would be absurd if the master just came of age while the apprentice is nearing the end of their life, as the master would still need to support the apprentice in their old age.
So when the Fox Fairy Grandmother asked me to take Shaoming as my apprentice, I refused, feeling completely bewildered. What was going on?
Previously, Shaoming had respectfully completed every task assigned by the Fox Fairy Grandmother, but now he seemed just as confused as I was, looking at her with a blank expression, unsure of what she was planning.
"Mr. Yin, could you please step outside for a moment? I need to have a few words with this girl," the old lady said to me.
I nodded absentmindedly and stepped outside.
What is happening? Why is someone asking me to take on an apprentice out of the blue? This is ridiculous! Exiting the inner hall of the Fox Spirit Shrine, I found myself in a courtyard with a magnificent palace that looked more like a treasure vault than a place for living.
I walked towards that palace; since I had nothing else to do, I might as well explore and clear my mind.
The palace was dazzlingly ornate, with intricately carved beams and painted rafters. On the legs of the pillars were carvings of Nine Mysterious Maidens holding pipa instruments in flight, surrounded by qilins and cranes amidst clouds. The crimson pillars were so thick that it would take three people to encircle one.
The entrance to this palace consisted of two massive azure stones—stones I recognized as blue stone!
The significance of blue stone lies in its origin; it was used by Nuwa to mend the sky. Because it was used for this purpose, it became known as blue stone. During the Primordial period, blue stone was considered the best material for doors to celestial beings' abodes. After the Primordial realm shattered, most blue stones lost their spiritual energy but became valuable for suppressing tombs. Just think about it—if blue stone could seal up that sky, how much more could it do for a grave?
The stone suppressing Zombie Ba was also a piece of blue stone that still retained a trace of spiritual energy; however, it seemed that I had already blown that piece up.
The two pieces of blue stone before me clearly had lost their spiritual energy, but using blue stone as door panels for a palace could not possibly indicate anything ordinary.
I reached out to push the door, not really expecting it to open—just wanting to give it a try. To my surprise, before my hand even touched the door panel, the blue stone opened by itself.
It opened? I leaned in to peek inside; since the door was already open, I might as well go in.
Stepping into the palace, I was surprised to find it very spacious inside. I had thought it would be a treasure vault; however, upon entering, there were no treasures—there wasn't even any furniture.
Just as I turned around to leave, something caught my eye: there was an ancient painting hanging on one of the walls that drew me in irresistibly.
Although it is an Ancient Painting, it is actually rock art that has been imprinted using Fur. It is no longer clear what kind of Fur it was, and the painting depicts only one person, seemingly in the posture of drawing a bow to shoot, with nine circles drawn in the distance.
What is this? I frowned and planned to take a closer look at the painting.
As I approached the Ancient Painting, just as I was about to examine it carefully, I suddenly felt as if I had been struck by lightning; everything went dark. When I opened my eyes again, what lay before me was no longer an Ancient Painting.
The view suddenly opened up; the sky and earth were laid out before me.
It was extraordinarily hot here. Looking up, there were at least nine suns in the sky. In the distance, I could see groups of strange beasts chasing each other.
A shadow enveloped me, and when I looked up, it turned out to be a Peng Bird with enormous wings spread wide. The Peng Bird moved incredibly fast; after spreading its wings, it transformed into a streak of light. The light arced gracefully before landing in a vast and endless sea in the distance.
Just before the Peng Bird hit the water, it transformed into an enormous fish, half white and half black, resembling yin and yang.
The splashes of water soared hundreds of meters high, and the waves crashed against the shore, stirring up a whirlwind.
Suddenly, a robust man carrying a bow and arrows appeared on a distant cliff. He wore Fur and had long hair flowing loosely behind him; his face was resolute and confident.
The man reached for the bow on his back and casually drew an arrow. He placed the arrow on the bowstring, his muscles tensing as he pulled the bow to its full moon shape.
The arrow shot out like lightning, seemingly wanting to pierce the sky. Where the arrow passed, it left a clear trace of space being torn apart, which slowly healed after a long while.
The target of the arrow was not the sky but one of the suns hanging above—Hou Yi Shoots the Suns!
I never expected to witness the legendary scene of Hou Yi Shoots the Suns.
The targeted sun seemed to have a life of its own, desperately retreating backward. However, the arrow seemed to know its escape trajectory and accurately struck at the very center of the sun.
Thus, one sun was shot down; as it fell, its endless flames gradually extinguished with its descent.
When the sun set, the ground trembled as if an earthquake had occurred.
After a brief moment of calm, I saw that the sun had lost its dazzling brilliance and the endless flames surrounding it, leaving behind a bird-like creature resembling an enlarged crow, but entirely golden.
Could this be the Golden Crow?
On a distant cliff, Hou Yi once again drew his bow, preparing to shoot the second arrow.
The remaining Golden Crows began to panic, but it could not change their fate. As Hou Yi released his grip, another sun fell from the sky, leaving only eight brilliant entities behind.
Draw the bow, shoot the arrow, and watch it fall.
The Golden Crows seemed to have become living targets for Hou Yi. With each movement of his hand, another Golden Crow's corpse lay on the ground.
Each shot down Golden Crow was struck directly in the chest, piercing through their most vibrant feathers. A few drops of golden blood flowed from the feathers at the end of the arrow, and when they hit the ground, they melted a large pit into the earth. However, compared to the massive size of the Golden Crows themselves, this pit was still relatively small.
Although Hou Yi's gaze remained fierce, he gradually began to tire. I could clearly see that his hand holding the bow was starting to tremble slightly.
There were still three suns left; Hou Yi had three arrows remaining.
Hou Yi released another arrow, targeting the largest among all the Golden Crows.
Just as that targeted Golden Crow was about to be hit, an older Golden Crow flapped its wings and flew into the path of Hou Yi's arrow, using its body to shield the one aimed at.
Unfortunately, the bow was not aimed at that older Golden Crow, so it did not strike at its chest. The lack of golden feathers could not completely stop the arrow's trajectory.
The arrow pierced through the targeted Golden Crow and continued toward the older one.
The arrow struck true in the chest of the older Golden Crow; however, since one Golden Crow had already absorbed some of the impact force from the arrow, it could not fully penetrate its chest but merely shattered its golden feathers.
Even so, the Golden Crow let out a mournful cry as its endless flames began to extinguish, and its body involuntarily started to fall from the sky.
The remaining two Golden Crows let out long cries, glaring at Hou Yi with vengeful eyes.
"Enough!"
A furious roar echoed, and Hou Yi sensed something was wrong. He quickly drew an arrow and shot it.
The Golden Crow that had previously blocked an arrow lost its balance in the air and was struck in the chest, slowly descending.
Hou Yi shot nine arrows, causing nine Golden Crows to fall.
In an instant, the temperature dropped significantly, and Hou Yi exhausted all his strength, collapsing to the ground.
At this point, the scene before me began to blur. In my hazy vision, I noticed that the last Golden Crow seemed not to be dead yet, and it gave me a strange feeling—I felt like I had seen that gaze before!
"Wake up!"
Feeling a heavy blow to my head, I suddenly awakened from the Ancient Painting. Shaking my head, I saw that Fox Fairy Grandmother was standing in front of me.
"Old lady, what is this?"
"You know that our Tushan's ancestor is from the Tu Shan Clan, right?" Fox Fairy Grandmother replied evasively.
"I know, the wife of Human Emperor Dayu."
"This is the palace left by the Human Emperor," she said. "Come on, this place is also a forbidden area, but ignorance is no excuse. Mr. Yin, please follow me to meet Shaoming."
I followed the old lady back to the rear hall, where Shaoming was kneeling in front of a statue of a woman, his hands clenched as if he were praying for something.
"What is this?" I wondered, what is Shaoming doing?
"Praying for the goddess's blessings, starting tomorrow, she will no longer be one of us from Tushan." Fox Fairy Grandmother said with a hint of reluctance, "From now on, Girl will be entrusted to you."
Entrusted to me? Are you really planning to let her become my disciple? What can I teach her?
"Madam, this is no joke. My qualifications are shallow, and I have no special abilities. How can I be a teacher for someone? I ask you to think this over carefully."
"Are you looking down on us Fox Spirit?" The old lady placed a heavy hat on my head.
If I did, wouldn't that mean I couldn't leave the borders of Tushan?
"That's not what I meant," I quickly defended myself. This can't be taken lightly; it could lead to trouble!
But Fox Fairy Grandmother suddenly slammed her cane down, and I found myself unable to move in place.
With a flick of her red robe, she unexpectedly knelt down before me.
"Madam, what are you doing?" I exclaimed. Having an elder kneel is a serious matter that shortens one's lifespan!
"Mr. Yin, if you don't agree, I won't get up," Fox Fairy Grandmother's voice was as mournful as a cuckoo crying blood.
What should I do? I'm at a loss for a moment.
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