Chapter 143: Banshan Libationer
The Imperial Academy was in an uproar. A student from the National University murmured, "Could it be that scholar who defeated the Daozi has made a move again?"
Qin Mu's heart also trembled slightly. The old monk Jingming had come with the Buddhist Heart, with the same purpose as Dan Yangzi from the Daoist sect: to block the gate for three days, to diminish the Academy's prestige, and to sway the hearts of the people of Yanguo.
But now, before three days were up, Jingming had left with the Buddhist Heart and Buddhist Son. There was only one possibility: the Buddhist Heart and Buddhist Son had been defeated!
"I was clearly at the back mountain, drugging the green ox just now. There's no way I could have run to the mountain gate to defeat the Buddhist Heart and Buddhist Son…"
Qin Mu was bewildered. If it wasn't him who defeated the Buddhist Heart and Buddhist Son, then who was it?
He remembered meeting the Patriarch at the thatched cottage and the words the Patriarch had spoken. The Patriarch's words had held a hidden meaning, implying that within the Academy, besides Qin Mu, there was another person capable of defeating the Buddhist Heart.
If Qin Mu hadn't acted, the Patriarch would have had that person make a move.
And this scholar who defeated the Buddhist Heart and Buddhist Son was just as low-key as Qin Mu. After Qin Mu defeated Lin Xuan Daozi, he hadn't mentioned it to anyone either. This person had taken advantage of the moment when the Academy's scholars and libationers were drugged by the knockout incense, gone down the mountain alone, and defeated the Buddhist Heart.
At that time, besides the Buddhist Heart and the old monk Jingming, only that Dragon Qilin was at the mountain gate.
Although the Dragon Qilin could speak, he was a tight-lipped gourd, not a single seed would spill out. There was no hope of getting information from him. Unless they could get the green ox, the mount of Libationer Banshan, to give to him to eat, only then might he reveal who that person was.
But now, trying to drug that green ox again would be very difficult.
"Having an expert within the Academy who can match me is a good thing."
Qin Mu smiled faintly. He stopped trying to find out who made the move and returned to the Scholar's Residence with Hu Ling'er. Many in the Scholar's Residence already knew that the few imperial physicians had gotten their prescription from him, which had knocked out almost all the Academy's scholars. They all looked at him with some fear.
Suddenly, a timid voice came, softly saying, "Senior Brother Qin, was it you who defeated that Buddhist Heart and Buddhist Son?"
Qin Mu followed the sound and saw that the speaker was the quiet girl who had become a Grand Academy scholar with him, Si Yunxiang. This girl was always prone to shyness. Qin Mu had teased her a few times, making her blush bright red and at a loss for what to do.
Qin Mu shook his head. "Of course it wasn't me. When that person defeated the Buddhist Heart and Buddhist Son, I was being called in for a lecture by the Grand Libationer. Sister Xiang, did you see the person who defeated the Buddhist Son?"
Si Yunxiang shook her head. "I was just drugged by a fragrant smell, and I don't know what happened. I'm still a bit dizzy. I saw Senior Brother looking so energetic and not poisoned, so I thought it was you who drove away the Buddhist Heart and Buddhist Son."
Qin Mu's eyes flickered. "It really wasn't me. I'm also very curious to know who defeated the Buddhist Son."
Si Yunxiang saw some people looking their way, quickly returned to her courtyard, and closed the door.
Qin Mu took the opportunity to glance into her courtyard, but before he could see what was inside, the girl's door was already shut. Qin Mu had no choice but to return to his own dwelling.
"This Si Yunxiang is highly suspicious."
He steadied himself and whispered, "She wasn't drugged by the knockout incense at all. Someone who was drugged by the knockout incense wouldn't look like that. The knockout incense is a kind of anesthetic. Even after waking up, one would feel unwell for two or three hours. She showed no discomfort just now."
Hu Ling'er said, "Young Master, among the scholars drugged in front of the Imperial Physician Hall, Si Yunxiang wasn't there."
Qin Mu's heart stirred.
After the young Patriarch's lecture, he had asked Qin Mu to stay and help look after these scholars and National University students. Qin Mu and the little fox had both been helping there. The little fox had wandered around, planning to collect "spoils of war," but he had stopped her.
At that time, Hu Ling'er had seen the faces of everyone who was drugged. If she said Si Yunxiang wasn't there, then she wasn't.
"She is indeed lying."
Qin Mu blinked. "She had no reason to deliberately come out of her dwelling to lie to me. So, this means she actually wanted to show off. The thing she talked to me about was defeating the Buddhist Son, so that's what she wanted to show off. The one who defeated the Buddhist Son is her."
Qin Mu suddenly thought, why was the young Patriarch so certain that there was someone in the Academy who could defeat the Buddhist Son?
Could it be that he already knew Si Yunxiang had this ability?
Why did the young Patriarch know so much about this girl, Si Yunxiang, who had only recently become a Grand Academy scholar?
One must know that even for Qin Mu, the Young Patriarch, the young Patriarch needed to test him several times before he could be sure of his strength and ability.
This showed that the young Patriarch knew Si Yunxiang extremely well, even better than he knew Qin Mu.
And this girl's surname was Si, plus this little habit of showing off…
"Grandma really knows how to play!"
Qin Mu said with some dissatisfaction, "I won't expose her for now. Let's see what she's trying to do."
He was about to close the door when suddenly Libationer Banshan's voice came, saying, "Ox, bring my luggage over."
"Yes, Master."
Libationer Banshan pushed the door open and walked in, followed by a sturdy green ox carrying a large pack. This green ox hadn't fully transformed yet. It walked like a human but still had an ox-like form. It was the very green ox that Qin Mu had drugged.
"Which room am I staying in?" Libationer Banshan asked Qin Mu.
Qin Mu was stunned, but Libationer Banshan was quite familiar, laughing, "The west room it is. Wow, so much money! Scholar Qin, you're quite wealthy! Ox, we're rich now. Grab a handful and go down the mountain to buy some wine!"
"Is there wine to drink?"
Hu Ling'er cheered, hopping and skipping over, jumping onto the ox's head and crouching there, laughing, "I'll go with you!"
The green ox walked out with her, saying, "You drink too? Do you know drinking games?"
Libationer Banshan put down his luggage, tidied the room, and made the bed. He glanced at Qin Mu, who was still outside, and laughed, "The Grand Libationer told me to stick to you like a shadow, so naturally I have to live with you, to keep you from causing trouble everywhere. Did you write the words on the door?"
Qin Mu nodded.
Libationer Banshan clapped his hands vigorously in praise. "Well written! Your calligraphy has a lot of flavor, much better than those guys from the Painting Sage Pavilion. I don't even understand what the Painting Sage Pavilion in our Academy is for, and they still have the nerve to draw a salary from the court! By the way, do you snore?"
Qin Mu shook his head.
"I do."
Libationer Banshan said, "There are many National University students in our Academy who snore too. Especially that old nun, Abbess Yiqiu, her snoring shakes the heavens. Tsk tsk, it could kill an ox ten miles away. Luckily, this old nun doesn't sleep much, just meditates. If she slept, none of you scholars would get any sleep…"
Qin Mu was getting a bit agitated. This Libationer Banshan seemed to talk a lot, even more than Wei Yong.
Libationer Banshan talked for half an hour, and Qin Mu basically learned the habits, temperaments, and family backgrounds of all the National University professors in the Sword, Fist, Law, Three Suns, Imperial Physician, and Painting Sage halls and pavilions. Even the old secrets of the various Secretary Supervisors in the Heavenly Record Tower were spilled by Libationer Banshan—things like illegitimate children, old nuns meeting lovers, real or fake, this libationer told it all.
The green ox and Hu Ling'er came back drunk from the city. One ox and one fox were quite tipsy, calling each other brother and sister, as close as if they had come from the same womb. This green ox completely didn't remember that Qin Mu had brought this fox along to drug him.
Libationer Banshan quickly took the wine jug, took a few gulps, and his mind became a bit hazy. He said, "A few days ago, when I came back from outside, I thought I saw my master. You wouldn't have guessed, even though I'm a libationer, I didn't come from the Imperial Academy. I'm from the Combat Techniques School. I have a master. I was invited by the National Teacher to teach combat techniques to the scholars. I thought he was dead, but it turns out he's still alive."
Libationer Banshan took a sip of wine, staring blankly. "His legs were gone, but he ran incredibly fast. I chased him with all my might but couldn't catch up. Then I ran into a blind man who beat me up and asked me why I was following him. He was very unreasonable. He also wanted to recite poetry with me. I couldn't beat him at it, and then my master disappeared…"
Qin Mu was slightly startled. A master of the Combat Techniques School with no legs, and a blind man who loved reciting poetry?
"It seems like Grandpa Tu and Grandpa Blind. When did they leave the Great Ruins?"
Libationer Banshan was dead drunk, babbling nonsense. Qin Mu hesitated. Asking directly would certainly be rude.
"Green Ox, did you see that blind man clearly?" Qin Mu asked the green ox beside him.
This green ox looked at Qin Mu, a bit timid, clearly still remembering being drugged by him.
Qin Mu laughed. "You're still holding a grudge? You beat me up, but I only drugged you, I didn't hit you. What grudge do you have to hold? Have you ever seen a good person as magnanimous as me?"
Libationer Banshan burped, his expression strange. This young man from the Great Ruins clearly had some misunderstanding about the word "good person." He said, "Scholar Qin, you drugged him and wanted to eat him. It's only natural for him to be on guard."
"He wanted to eat me?"
The green ox cried out in alarm: "Master, you never told me that! You only said he drugged me, not that he wanted to eat me!"
Hu Ling'er stood on the ox's horn, holding a wine bottle, and said crisply, "Big Ox, haven't you heard that from fighting comes friendship?"
The green ox said angrily, "I've heard of from fighting comes friendship, but I've never heard of from not eating comes friendship!"
Libationer Banshan's expression grew even stranger. This fox spirit from the Great Ruins clearly also had some misunderstanding about the meaning of the phrase "from fighting comes friendship."
"Who taught this kid? He's a bit too much of a scoundrel."
Qin Mu didn't know what he was thinking. Libationer Banshan, the little fox, and the green ox were all drinking. He didn't like drinking, so he could only cultivate on the side.
Libationer Banshan's pupils contracted sharply as he stared intently at the saber technique Qin Mu was performing.
When Qin Mu finished performing the "Butcher's Knife Technique," Libationer Banshan suddenly threw his gourd aside, opened his robe, took out his saber, and danced in the courtyard, his voice carrying a sense of vicissitude: "A golden-inlaid saber with a jade hilt, its light pierces through window lattices at night. A man of fifty with no achievements yet, stands alone with his saber, surveying the eight wilds!" ①
"Standing alone with his saber, surveying the eight wilds" was precisely the sixth form of the Butcher's Knife Technique!
His saber clashed with Qin Mu's, sending out a series of sparks.
The two sabers collided, and Libationer Banshan laughed heartily: "Forty or fifty years, the wind and rain are dark and never return. Passing clouds fly by, a single line between the vast sky and earth!"
Qin Mu executed "a single line between the vast sky and earth," clashing with his saber, and chanted: "Don't boast, the people's wish comes after the calamity. Looking around the sea and sky, a trail of smoke all the way!" ②
The two sheathed their sabers, stood back to back, and each inserted their two sabers behind them.
"Junior Brother!" Libationer Banshan turned and bowed in greeting.
Qin Mu bowed in return. "Senior Brother."
Note ①: From a poem by Lu You of the Song Dynasty, "The Golden-Inlaid Saber."
Note ②: From a contemporary poem, "Shortened Form of Magnolia Flower, Recalling the Past in Changsha."