Nightfall

Life is Full of Craziness

Senior Brothers and Sisters in the mountain of the Academy were from the South China Sea islands, other countries, or distant lands. There were actually none living in Chang’an City. Having seen Brother II’s lovely little livehand, Ning Que had thought to move into the back mountain with Sangsang. However, as a newcomer in the Academy, he considered himself unqualified to be compared to Brother II. It might be considered indecent for him to make such a request. Besides, he thought the back mountain, though beautiful, lacked a sense of civil life. So he became the only non-resident student in the Academy.

Sangsang rushed to the western street and bought back several pens, ink and bizarre materials as per Ning Que’s list. She finished before the shops closed and streetlights were turned off. And then she was busy with cooking. She gave Ning Que the Old Brush Pen Shop’s daily business report as she was cutting vegetables.

“It was busy today, especially in the morning when the threshold was almost trampled. I had the shop door repaired yesterday, but it still wasn’t solid enough and broke again. The crowds only died down after people heard that you weren’t in.”

Suddenly thinking of something, Sangsang wiped her wet hands on her apron and took out a thick stack of name cards and invitations from the back room. She put them on the desk. “A lot of people left these inviting you to their mansions. There are too many, and their names are there in writing, so I didn’t take notes.

Ning Que glanced at the invitations and name cards, and looked to the Classics of Talisman, thinking he was too busy to attend any appointments. He replied, “You pick out the important ones and put them aside after dinner. I’ll handle them later.”

“How should I choose and manage them?” Sangsang asked seriously. As Ning Que’s little handmaiden, she had no experience in dealing with bigwigs from the Empire. She had no idea which kind of invitations were important.

“Just like selecting vegetables, you keep the fresh and expensive, and put aside the stale and cheap. As for what is fresh and expensive… I told you before about the imperial official system. Do you still remember? The ones from junior officials are expensive. I will handle and answer these letters out of etiquette, since what they really want is merely my calligraphy.

Sangsang listened to his reply with her brows slightly furrowing, and then whispered, “Master, your calligraphy can be sold for money now. Isn’t it a pity to give them calligraphy replies for free?

Ning Que laughed and continued to concentrate on the dozens of thick Talisman Classics in front of him. He had only read a few and really had no extra time to think about other things.

Master Yan Se had given him a total of 33 Classics on Talisman, which recorded Talismans left by precedent Talisman Masters. Together they added up to 387 sections, and 2477 talismans, as complicated as the sea.

Ning Que made a rough review of the Classics and gave a long and attentive gaze to one particular set of talismans. They seemed totally different and he could not find anything in common between them. Gaining nothing, he frowned deeper and deeper.

According to Master Yan Se, the Fu characters were for Ning Que’s reference only. As for how to write them, it all depended on his personal understanding. But how on earth was he going to get the references he needed to comprehend them? They looked like tadpoles, graffiti, rain drops and silk, rather than characters or pictures.

Ning Que randomly picked a book from the hill-like Classics and found that it was the first section of Volume Three, the beginning of the Water Volume. He was a bit excited when he discovered that the beginning was seemingly concerned with something like water, the most indispensable and closest thing to human life. This might make it easier for him to study it.