The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 289 Calligraphy Copybook (5k)

Seeing the injuries that could no longer be suppressed, the remaining members of the various factions were both shocked and furious.

"Who exactly is this deity?"

"What incredible power! But he's offended so many people at once, isn't he afraid we'll join forces and settle scores later?"

"He claims to be a Buddhist, yet he's skilled in manipulating the heavens and the earth; he claims to be a Taoist, yet he can summon thousands of Buddhist chants. This fellow's knowledge is diverse yet extremely profound. How come I've never heard of such a person before?"

".powerful."

Whether it's the four companies currently operating or the two that suffered losses earlier, they were all astonished.

They thought they had figured out how deep the waters were in Kyoto. Little did they expect, they were met with a rude awakening.

On the other side, Du Yuan looked at the finally peaceful fields and felt refreshed. She could finally get a good night's sleep.

As he spoke, he unconsciously looked at his palm and couldn't help but smile knowingly.

I just showed them my skills with "Buddha's Kingdom in the Palm, World in Five Fingers". Next time I encounter something like this, hehe, I'll switch to "Universe in the Sleeve" to deal with them!
Of course, the best would be another skilled monkey. If that's not possible, a gorilla will do!

"Oh, tonight was truly exhilarating!"

With a soft laugh, Du Yuan fell asleep again. He slept soundly through the night, and when he woke up in the morning, he heard the young man hurriedly knocking on his door.

"Sir! Sir! Get up quickly, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"

Upon hearing "something big has happened," Du Yuan was instantly jolted awake—could it be that last night's battle wasn't just a dream, but a real, earth-shattering fight somewhere?
He hurriedly pushed open the door and asked:
"What's wrong? Could it be that people have been displaced, the land has collapsed, and there is widespread suffering?"

Upon hearing this, the young man was stunned:

"Huh? No, it's not that serious."

"Could it be that a powerful being disregarded the innocent and used magic indiscriminately, causing such devastation?"

Du Yuan was still not relieved and continued to ask questions.

The other person instantly broke out in a cold sweat: "Uh, this isn't that scary."

Du Yuan sighed helplessly, "What could be so important that it's in such a hurry?"

The young man awkwardly bowed towards the palace and whispered:

"It was the Emperor who decreed that the country's name be changed to Jiayou!"

Jiayou? Jiayou? !

Du Yuan didn't think anything was wrong at first, but the next second she was suddenly shocked - was it Jia You Nian who appeared on the Millennium Dragon and Tiger List?
Wait, what does it mean to "change the country's name" to Jiayou?

"Change the country's name to Jiayou?" he asked again, uncertainly.

The other party nodded repeatedly:

"Yes, yes, yes! His Majesty issued an edict this morning as soon as he went to court, changing the name of the dynasty from Tianbao to Jiayou."

"It should be the era name that's been changed, not the country name?"

Unexpectedly, the other party was stunned when these words were spoken:

"Aren't these two the same thing?"

Du Yuan suddenly realized that this was the rule of this world.

And this time, he suddenly realized clearly that no matter how similar everything in front of him was, it was ultimately not the world he was familiar with.

His past knowledge and experience would always collide with this world in some unexpected corner, reminding him time and time again of his roots—he had always been a stranger in this land.

At this moment, he was like a grain of sand swept away from his homeland by a gale, and the surrounding mountains, rivers, and people were all unfamiliar and ambiguous.

Even when he used the great supernatural power of "Buddha Kingdom in the Palm" to fight against various forces, he had never experienced such a clear sense of weightlessness as he did now.

What is most bewildering is not the difference in the appearance of mountains and rivers, but the fact that the "yardstick" for measuring rules in daily life has become completely different.

It is these subtle differences that are most agonizing and hard to bear.

"Sir, sir? You don't look well?"

The young man beside him keenly noticed his absent-mindedness.

Du Yuan slowly shook her head and sighed softly, "It's nothing, I just suddenly miss home."

“Oh, sir, you miss home too?” the young man murmured, his voice falling. “I miss home too, but my home… is long gone.”

He said it somewhat awkwardly, but his words betrayed an undisguised envy: "You're just far from home, but I don't even have a home anymore."

After three years of severe drought in the southwest, his once relatively well-off family had long since withered away.

Du Yuan's heart sank, and he felt a pang of guilt. He raised his hand in a gesture of respect, his voice softening:
"I misspoke, I'm sorry."

“Sir, you don’t need to apologize,” the young man quickly waved his hand. “What does this have to do with you?”

Du Yuan didn't say anything more, but simply reached out and solemnly patted his shoulder:

"You not only understood the meaning of the book, but more importantly, you have a truly kind and virtuous heart. With this quality, you will surely pass the imperial examination."

He paused, his gaze becoming exceptionally serious:
"So remember, whether you are sent to govern a region or stay in the capital to serve in the court, you must stay true to your principles—the more power you hold, the more you must remember to seek the well-being of all people."

Du Yuan couldn't say whether this young man would stay in Kyoto to continue taking the imperial examinations, or whether he would embark on the path of cultivation due to that unspoken opportunity.

But he was certain that if the young man chose a career in government, he would surely achieve great things.

It was precisely because of this conviction that he couldn't help but offer a few more words of advice—the more capable an official is, the greater the calamity he will bring to the people if he loses his integrity.

Seeing Du Yuan speak of such importance, the young man straightened his back, clasped his hands in a respectful bow, and said:
"My name is Bai Zhan. I will remember every word of your teachings today!"

His eyes were incredibly bright, filled with determination:

"If one day I forget what I said today and lose my true self, rest assured, sir, there is no need for anyone else to do it. I will find a foot of white silk and end this life to atone for my sins!"

After carefully examining him for a long time, Du Yuan chuckled and patted his shoulder to encourage him.

Then he left the place.

After watching Du Yuan leave, the young man planned to go and say goodbye to the shopkeeper, since the shopkeeper was gone and there would be no one to pay him.

How could we possibly continue?
Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived, the shopkeeper warmly approached me and said:

"Young master, I was blind before, and now I've come to apologize! Rest assured, from now on you can use my shop as you please, and I will never charge you any money. As long as you pass the imperial examination and can write a few words for my shop, that will be enough."

Seeing the incredibly enthusiastic shopkeeper, Bai Zhan, who thought Du Yuan had said something, was both excited and embarrassed.

After all, he really had nowhere to go and didn't know how to deal with the situation.

Du Yuan, who had already left the inn, also murmured something to herself, as if sensing something:
"The owner of this inn is quite a remarkable person."

Du Yuan had actually heard the conversation between the wealthy merchant and the shopkeeper yesterday.

This reflects the strengths of Du Yuan's Confucian lineage in cultivation, but it is also a minor but significant trouble.

He unintentionally overheard many things he didn't want to hear.

It's really annoying.

He planned to look back and see if he could turn it into a situation where he could only hear things related to himself.

Otherwise, it would be too troublesome.
-
Early in the morning, in a teahouse outside the city, the owner, Old Zhang, rubbed his aching back and sluggishly shuffled out of the woodshed.

Ever since he made a rubbing of Du Yuan's handwriting yesterday to give to his wife, he was immediately sent to this woodshed—ostensibly to "reflect on his actions for a night," otherwise he wouldn't be allowed to step into the main house.

He was always afraid of his wife, so he didn't dare to utter a single word of rebuttal.

After all, if this woman hadn't ignored all advice and insisted on following him away from his hometown, enduring hardships all the way to the capital to make a living, he wouldn't have this teahouse to keep today.

This woodshed is really not a place for a person to sleep.

Not only is it drafty, but all sorts of insects come out at night, making it impossible to sleep.

He had barely stretched when he grimaced – he had twisted his back.

"Ouch, my back!"

As soon as the commotion inside subsided, his wife hurriedly lifted the curtain of the woodshed and rushed in, asking anxiously, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Seeing that it was just a twisted waist, the worry on his face immediately disappeared, replaced by a scolding expression:
"Look at you, at your age, how can you be so ignorant? Is it wrong to go to the temple to ask for a talisman for protection? Our humble family wouldn't attract the disapproval of the adults." "Besides, don't you see how many people outside are like us? I've heard that recently, there are far more people going to the temple to burn incense and pray to Buddha than ever before!"

The shopkeeper was starting to believe it, after all, the man who was holding onto the iron bar yesterday had given a very convincing account.

But he also genuinely felt that things that so many people considered reliable were mostly unreliable.

After all, what good things could possibly fall into the hands of ordinary people like them? They'd never get them!

So rather than seeking talismans at temples, he preferred to believe the words left by the man.

Therefore, he also argued:

"What do you know, you old woman? That gentleman was clearly capable; what he left behind is more reliable than what you say."

But his wife cursed:

"Nonsense! You think just anyone on the street can be a master? Do you think you have that kind of luck? Do you even believe it yourself?"

One sentence from him made the already henpecked shopkeeper lose confidence even more.

He wondered to himself, 'Could I have really misunderstood?'

Just then, a voice suddenly came from outside, its tone clearly tinged with anxiety:
"Old Zhang, Old Zhang, it's me! Old Liu!"

The shopkeeper followed the sound and found that it was indeed Old Liu, who had boasted about the gold dog head yesterday, who hurriedly came looking for him.

The shopkeeper immediately had a thought – could it really be him?
After a slight tremor in his throat, the shopkeeper turned to look at his wife and noticed that her expression had changed.

Clearly, they had the same idea.

After hurriedly opening the door and ushering the merchant inside, the shopkeeper asked:
"Old Liu, what's wrong? Could it be... could it be that you've encountered something unclean?"

Upon hearing this, the merchant's expression changed, and he said:
"How do you know?"

As he spoke, he lifted his coat, revealing a wound that had just been bandaged and was still bleeding.

“Last night, as soon as I got back, I ran into a ghost that came to take my life. Although I didn’t actually kill it, I was still scratched and torn to shreds.”

In just a few words, the shop owners felt a chill run down their spines, as if they had just been pulled out of an ice cellar.

There really are unclean things here!

The shopkeeper hurriedly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still feeling lingering fear, but also secretly glad that he had been more careful yesterday.

He quickly sat down, his voice still tinged with fear:

"Old Liu, tell me in detail, what exactly happened?"

The merchant dared not delay and quickly recounted his ordeal in detail.

Hearing that he even dared to be greedy and scheming towards ghosts' requests, the shopkeeper originally wanted to scold him for not knowing when to back down, but when his eyes swept over the heavy bag of gold on the table, the scolding and lecturing he was about to say all turned into a long sigh.

This is far too much gold. No wonder Old Liu lost his mind. If it were him, he probably wouldn't have been able to get past this if he hadn't already suffered a loss before.

Looking at the table full of gold, the merchant's eyes no longer held any greed, only deep fear and regret.

He gripped the shopkeeper's hand tightly and said earnestly, "My only hope now is that gentleman who enlightened me yesterday! Old Zhang, do you... do you remember which direction he went?"

The shopkeeper was about to tell the truth and even wanted to retrieve the calligraphy scroll left by the gentleman when his wife suddenly reached out and pulled him back, then smiled apologetically at the merchant:
"Brother, this is really scary. I... I need to talk to the boss about it privately."

Having said that, he dragged the shopkeeper into the inner room without further ado. Once inside, the shopkeeper asked, puzzled:

"Wife, what's wrong? That gentleman left Old Liu a life-saving treasure. Just take it out and everything will be fine, right?"

Unexpectedly, his wife peeked into the hall first, and seeing that the merchant was still anxiously waiting in the same spot, she lowered her voice and scolded him:
"Keep your voice down! You rascal, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Didn't you make a rubbing of the calligraphy? Give him the rubbing! We'll keep the original one that the master wrote for ourselves!"

The shopkeeper's expression immediately changed upon hearing this: "This, this won't do! That's meant to rescue Old Liu!"

"Save him? Who's going to save us?" His wife rolled her eyes, increasingly exasperated. "What, only Lao Liu gets into this kind of trouble, but we don't?"

"What a coincidence!" the shopkeeper hurriedly defended himself. "Old Liu got into trouble because he did something wrong. We've done nothing wrong, so what's there to be afraid of?"

His wife reached out and poked his forehead, saying:

"You idiot! Have you forgotten where our shop is located? To put it nicely, it's outside the city; to put it bluntly, it's just the middle of nowhere. Old Liu can run into trouble even in the capital, how can you, a shopkeeper in the wilderness, be safer than him?"

As soon as he said that, the shop owner couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Yes, our entire family business is here, so we can't run away even if we wanted to. Besides, this place probably isn't very safe!

Seeing that her husband had come to his senses, his wife comforted him:
"Don't worry, don't worry, we're not really abandoning you to your death. We just kept the original calligraphy copybook. Besides, didn't you say you asked for that copybook?"

"Since you asked for it, it's ours! Giving him a rubbing is already more than enough; after all, that's the extent of our relationship!"

Countless struggles flashed across the shopkeeper's face.

Every word his wife said made sense. Although she had her own selfish motives, who doesn't?

But in the end, the shopkeeper let out a long sigh:

"No, no, that's for Lao Liu!"

"Are you crazy?" His wife's face changed color at first, then hardened. "Let me tell you, if you dare give him the real thing, I'll go back to my parents' house and never see you again!"

The shopkeeper had expected to be frightened, but to his surprise, he felt only calm and guilt. He cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards his wife and said:
"I'm so sorry, I've really owed you so much over the years. But this is really impossible. If you want to go back to your parents' home..."

The shopkeeper took a key from his waist and said:

“You know where I hid the silver, so take it all. Also, take the calligraphy I made that I made; that will put my mind at ease on the road.”

"I only ask that you don't take it all, and remember to leave some for the workers' wages."

His wife's expression changed instantly:
"After so many years of marriage, are you really going to disregard our relationship for an outsider?"

The shop owner felt increasingly guilty and then turned his head away, unable to look at the shop any longer.
"It really won't work, really."

"why?"

"Humans, humans cannot do this."

His wife's face turned red and then pale. After a long while, she grabbed the keys from his hand and turned to leave.

Watching his wife leave, the shopkeeper looked helpless but did not try to stop her. He simply bowed again in the direction she had gone.

Then, he carefully took out the calligraphy scroll, walked into the hall, and said to the anxiously waiting merchant:

"Old Liu, to be honest, as soon as you left, that gentleman pointed out that you must have offended something unclean."

"Moreover, they left you this calligraphy, saying they would give it to you after you've suffered and realized your mistakes. I think now is that time."

The businessman could hardly believe it; what he thought was a dead end had actually turned into a survival situation.
He hurriedly stepped forward, took the calligraphy copybook with both hands, his whole body trembling slightly with nervousness, and carefully unfolded it slowly.

The moment it was unfurled, a line of powerful characters immediately caught the eye, bearing only four short words: "Go quickly and return quickly."

The merchant was taken aback at first, his eyes blank, then as if awakened by a thunderbolt, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he couldn't help but slap his thigh and say:
"Ah! Ah! That's it, that makes sense! Go and come back quickly! That ghost is clearly angry that I broke my promise. As long as I hurry over now and deliver the gold to its two elders to make amends, this matter will naturally be resolved!"

Having said that, he grasped the shopkeeper's hand tightly and said:

"Brother, thank you so much! Please wait a while, and I will repay you handsomely when I return!"

Having said that, the merchant hurriedly put away the gold and headed towards the capital.

He needed to explain things to his wife, then packed his things and rushed off to deliver the gold to the two old ghosts.

The shopkeeper was a little confused. What does "quick come, quick go" mean?

It wasn't until the merchant was about to leave that he snapped out of his daze and grabbed him, saying:
What does "go quickly and return quickly" mean?

The merchant was taken aback, looking at him with a puzzled expression, as if wondering why he would ask such a question:

“Brother, didn’t you see it clearly? The calligraphy scroll clearly says ‘Go quickly and return quickly’! Isn’t that obviously telling me to hurry up and make amends by sending the gold over?”

As he spoke, he took out the calligraphy scroll he had kept close to his body, unfolded it again, and handed it to the shopkeeper. Indeed, it bore the four large characters: "Go quickly and return quickly."

The merchant then hurriedly left without delay.

The shop owner was left standing there, completely bewildered.

Why is it a quick trip and quick return?
Doesn't it say "Open the door and good fortune" on it?

(End of this chapter)