Chapter 223: A Thin Book Stirs Hearts
Liang Banhu and Qi Jian quickly caught on as well, following Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi in their search. The thatched cottage was not large, and in a very short time, it had been thoroughly turned over by the group, even the stove and the water vat were not overlooked. For a moment, dust was flying everywhere inside the house.
Tang Thirty-Six, however, had not yet caught on. Still pondering Chen Changsheng’s earlier words, he followed behind him, asking incessantly, “If you’ve torn up all the quilts, what are we going to sleep on tonight? Even though the quilts Senior Xun Mei left behind were unbearably sour and smelly, at least they were something to cover ourselves with. Let me tell you, there’s no way I’m covering myself with that ragged fur tonight—that thing’s too hot.”
Everyone thought to themselves that the young master of the Wenshui Tang family had indeed been pampered with silks and fine foods since childhood, different from the rest of them. At a time like this, he was only worried about whether he could sleep comfortably. Most of the disciples of the Mount Li Sword Sect came from humble backgrounds and already disliked Tang Thirty-Six’s usual demeanor; now they were even more irritated and paid him no mind.
Chen Changsheng had just finished searching under the kang bed, his face covered in dust. Hearing Tang Thirty-Six’s nagging behind him, he stopped his movements with some helplessness and said, “New bedding will be delivered shortly. Just be patient.”
Only then did Tang Thirty-Six relax a little. He asked curiously, “What exactly are you all looking for?”
Chen Changsheng replied, “Didn’t I just tell you? Senior Xun Mei’s notes.”
“What notes?” Tang Thirty-Six clearly still hadn’t caught on.
“His notes on interpreting the Heavenly Book Monoliths,” Chen Changsheng said, walking outside the cottage and looking at the bamboo fence, wondering if they might be hidden in the ground. If that were the case, they would be hard to find.
Tang Thirty-Six finally understood why everyone was so worked up. He quickly rolled up his sleeves and said, “This is something important. We need to find it fast.”
The cottage fell silent, leaving only the sounds of rummaging through boxes and cabinets, and the tapping of walls. But the quiet didn’t last long. Tang Thirty-Six’s voice rang out again, annoyingly: “Hey, if there really are notes, who do they belong to?”
Guan Feibai was standing on the stove, looking at the beam where cured meat hung. He replied irritably, “Whoever finds them first gets them.”
Tang Thirty-Six refused to accept that. “Why? We moved in first.”
Qi Jian wiped the sweat from his face and explained earnestly, “Senior Xun Mei said last night, when he was gravely injured in front of the Divine Path, that he was leaving this cottage to all of us.”
Zhe Xiu said expressionlessly, “Whoever finds them first gets them.”
Tang Thirty-Six’s eyes darted around. He thought that the Mount Li Sword Sect had four people, and judging by how diligently they were searching, they would probably find the notes first. So he made up his mind.
“Let’s compromise. No matter who finds them first, we’ll all read them together.”
Dust flew everywhere. More sections of the bamboo fence in the yard collapsed. The thatch on the eaves was torn off. Even the ground by the well was dug up. The entire cottage was nearly dismantled by the group when finally, a joyful shout was heard.
“Found them!”
Everyone was overjoyed and rushed back into the house following the sound. There, in Tang Thirty-Six’s hand, was a thin booklet. Tang Thirty-Six’s expression was complicated. He was naturally happy to have found Xun Mei’s notes, but the problem was that he himself had already proposed that whoever found them, they would all read them together…
“It would have been better if you had found them; then I might be happier,” he said, placing the thin booklet on the table with regret. “Why did it have to be me?”
“Where did you find them?” Chen Changsheng asked curiously.
Tang Thirty-Six pointed to the square table in front of him. “They were propping up one of the table legs. Didn’t any of you notice?”
Silence fell. Everyone had eaten two meals at this small square table in the kitchen, but who would have thought that Xun Mei would use such an important notebook to prop up a table leg? This was the principle of “dark under the lamp.” Thinking about how they had nearly torn the house apart, they couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed.
Liang Banhu looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said, “I didn’t expect you to be so good at finding things.”
Tang Thirty-Six said, “Back home in Wenshui, the old master’s card room had silver notes propping up the table legs. I used to steal them when I was a kid, so I got into the habit of glancing under tables. Who would have thought it would actually pay off?”
Still, silence. Everyone, including Chen Changsheng, lost the will to talk to him. They were simply not from the same world; it was really hard to have a pleasant and smooth conversation.
The dust gradually settled. They wiped down the tables and chairs and tidied up the house. When everything was done, the seven of them gathered around the small square table, staring blankly at it in the dim light of the oil lamp.
Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi raised their heads and exchanged a glance. They recalled that before he died, Xun Mei had specifically mentioned leaving this cottage for them to live in, saying he liked peace and quiet and didn’t want more people moving in. At the time, they had found it strange, but now they understood the deeper meaning hidden within.
Xun Mei had spent thirty-seven years observing the monoliths in the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books. The most important legacy he left behind was certainly not this thatched cottage or those three sour, smelly quilts, but rather the thin, worn booklet on the table.
Gou Hanshi opened the first page of the booklet, and six heads immediately leaned in. This thin booklet was Xun Mei’s notebook, recording his insights from observing the monoliths, but more importantly, it contained his various hypotheses and attempts before solving them. The dense, tiny characters represented thirty-seven whole years.
In his thirty-seven years at the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books, Xun Mei had solved dozens of Heavenly Book Monoliths. Naturally, he couldn’t have recorded the process of solving every single one in detail. But, as with all observers, the first monolith in the front mausoleum, the Zhaojing Monolith, held a special significance. His feelings upon first seeing it decades ago, as well as his choice of methods and psychological changes when he later tried to solve it, were all recorded very clearly.
The Heavenly Book Monoliths are eternal and unchanging, but the observers are all different. Future generations naturally cannot simply adopt the methods of their predecessors; otherwise, the elders of the Mount Li Sword Sect would have long ago taught their own methods of solving the monoliths to disciples like Gou Hanshi. However, the process and valuable experience of predecessors can provide ideas for later observers, helping them avoid detours. Xun Mei had observed the monoliths for thirty-seven years. Apart from the stele attendants who could never leave the mausoleum for life, and the saints and the Eight Winds and Rains who could freely view the Heavenly Books, how many people could claim more experience in observing the monoliths than him? If this thin booklet were to be circulated, it would undoubtedly become the target of countless forces vying for it.
The young people sitting around the table knew full well what kind of opportunity this was. Naturally, they treasured it immensely. They stared at the characters on the thin booklet, following Gou Hanshi’s fingers as he turned the pages, constantly thinking and absorbing.
The cottage was utterly silent.
No one knew how much time had passed when Gou Hanshi closed the booklet. Tang Thirty-Six, who had been deeply engrossed, jumped up in surprise and said, “What’s wrong? Open it up and let’s see more!”
Chen Changsheng said, “There’s plenty of time. We’ll read it slowly. We need time to digest it. Besides, we haven’t even passed the first monolith yet. Reading this part is enough for now.”
Hearing this, Tang Thirty-Six sat back down quietly.
Gou Hanshi looked at the notebook before him and sighed, “A senior is indeed a senior.”
Everyone felt the same sentiment.
The notebook clearly stated that Xun Mei had solved the Zhaojing Monolith in just two days. What was even more shocking and admirable was that in those first two days, Xun Mei only tried two methods of solving it. In the long years of observing the monoliths that followed, perhaps out of boredom or because the later Heavenly Book Monoliths were too difficult to crack, he had revisited the Zhaojing Monolith in his spare time and ended up finding seven methods to solve it. Seven successful methods of solving a monolith—what did that even mean?
Zhe Xiu, Guan Feibai, and the other five, having spent too long observing the monoliths in the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books during the day, had exhausted their mental energy. They also needed to digest and absorb the experiences from Xun Mei’s notebook, so they had each fallen asleep. Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi, having limited time observing the monoliths and having reached the Penetrating Obscurity realm, were still in good spirits. They stood in the yard, looking at the star-filled night sky, with no intention of resting.
“I want to go take another look.”
Chen Changsheng looked at the stars in the sky, thinking about the sixth method Xun Mei had used in his notebook, and suddenly felt an impulse to see how the inscriptions on the monoliths changed under the starlight.
Gou Hanshi said, “I was just thinking the same thing.”
Without further ado, the two of them crossed the orange grove and walked toward the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books. Soon, they arrived at the front of the mausoleum. The only path within the mausoleum, bathed in starlight, looked like a jade belt, very beautiful.
Just as they were about to ascend the mausoleum, Chen Changsheng suddenly stopped and looked at Gou Hanshi, asking, “You’ve been observing the monoliths for two days now. You should have understood them by now; otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense.”
It wasn’t that it wouldn’t be reasonable; it wouldn’t make sense. From the Ivy Banquet to the Grand Examination, he had fought Gou Hanshi three times and knew very well what kind of person he was. Although Chen Changsheng had taken first place in the Grand Examination, he knew it was only because he was more willing to risk his life than Gou Hanshi—or rather, more afraid of death. When it came to true cultivation realm and even knowledge, he was still quite a bit behind Gou Hanshi.
In the afternoon, Chen Changsheng had already determined that he was only one step away from solving the monolith. After seeing Xun Mei’s notes, this conviction was even stronger. Gou Hanshi had been observing for two days; there was no reason he hadn’t yet grasped the inscriptions.
Gou Hanshi was silent for a moment before saying, “I want to wait for my junior brothers.”
If he wanted to, he could solve the Zhaojing Monolith at any moment and move on to the second Heavenly Book Monolith. He didn’t want to hide this from Chen Changsheng.
How strong the attraction of the Heavenly Book Monoliths was for cultivators could be seen from Zhe Xiu’s pale face and the dazed expressions of Qi Jian and Liang Banhu earlier. Deliberately slowing down the pace of solving the monoliths for the sake of his fellow disciples? If someone else had said that, Chen Changsheng would never have believed it. But this was Gou Hanshi.
Chen Changsheng didn’t like Xu Yourong and didn’t care about that marriage contract at all. Because of these things, he couldn’t possibly have any goodwill toward Autumn Mountain Lord or the Mount Li Sword Sect. But this was Gou Hanshi.
Gou Hanshi said, “Another reason is that I’m waiting for someone. If nothing unexpected happens, you should be able to see him in a couple of days. I’ll introduce you then.”
“Aren’t you curious about what the inscriptions on the second Heavenly Book Monolith look like?” Chen Changsheng asked.
Gou Hanshi said, “Of course I want to know. But just as Senior Xun Mei wrote in his notebook, different methods of solving the monoliths represent different kinds of fun. Staying a couple more days won’t hurt.”
They continued ascending the mausoleum and soon arrived in front of the Zhaojing Monolith. The stele hut in the night was quiet and secluded. A dozen or so people were scattered on the stone platform in the forest. The arrival of Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi caused a stir. Two young scholars in front of the stele hut immediately turned cold-faced, not hiding their hostility at all.
(Hahahaha, I still managed to write it. At least for today.)