Reading poems from Teyvat

"Miss Barbara, can I pursue you?"

"Eh?"

When Barbara heard this, she waved her hands repeatedly, skillfully and quickly distanced herself from the boy. When she came to her senses, she found that the boy just turned his head to look at the harp in the hands of the bard under the statue of the god of wind, listening to the music coming from afar. His eyes were too quiet, but they were like a layer of ice on a hidden turbulent undercurrent. So Barbara thought he was just joking to cover up his emotions, and said, "I don't have any intention of falling in love for the time being, but Mr. Shen, you can't go on like this."

Shen Zhigui thought that there would always be a price to pay for talking nonsense.

But when faced with Barbara's misunderstanding, he was too embarrassed to speak out directly, so he said, "I'm just looking for inspiration."

"inspiration?"

“Inspiration for poetry.”

Barbara's eyes became more worried:

After all, there are many bards in Mondstadt, some of whom have been tortured by the inability to compose poetry and run to the Church of West Wind to confess to the priest all day long. Shen Zhigui's behavior of staying up late at night and running to the city wall to play the flute is very similar to those crazy poets.

Shen Zhigui had no choice but to say, "I have found the inspiration."

"May I have the honor of being your first audience?"

Barbara really didn't believe this kind of talk. After all, those bards who came to confession were actually saying the same thing, but they had never produced any corresponding works.

Shen Zhigui thought about it and happened to think of a poem about lost love or hopeless secret love that had left a deep impression on him:

"The crab is peeling my shell

"The notebook is writing me

"I fall on maple leaves and snowflakes in the sky

“And you were thinking about me”[1]

After listening to this, Barbara was silent for a long time.

Then, a line of semi-transparent words appeared in Shen Zhigui's eyes:

"The ninth move of "The Blue Sky and Yellow Spring Song" - Flowers Fall and Water Flows - has been released."

Note [1]: This poem is said to be an entry for Wuhan University’s Three-Line Love Poetry Competition.

Chapter 74: Skills (Part 1)

Although there is a certain threshold for appreciating poetry, as a Mond, and a descendant of a famous family—although Barbara's parents are now divorced, and her surname is not inherited from the famous and long-standing family in Mond, she has received the corresponding education, so she quickly noticed the exquisite structure of the poems that Shen Zhigui recited:

On the surface, this poem is about describing some absurd things, but in fact, as long as you reverse the subject and object, you can find the second meaning hidden in the poem. But this is not all he wants to express, because this poem also has another meaning, that only when the world is so upside down will that person think of him.

But there has never been such a world, so that person will never think of him again.

Such delicate yet desperate emotions are hidden in this delicate structure, which even makes people feel that the reason why poetry is poetry rather than prose or any other genre is because there are always people who can create such exquisite works with just a few words. So at this moment, Barbara feels that she should feel honored as the first person to hear this poem, so she should pay tribute to the poet who can create such a work under the protection of the wind god——

Despite this, the young man seemed to be completely trapped in the quagmire of that relationship, unable to get out and seeing no hope of getting out.

She was about to say something to encourage the young man, but she was already infected by the hopeless despair in the poem, so she couldn't utter any words at this moment, so she just looked at him silently.

Shen Zhigui was busy looking through the move "Flowers Fall and Water Flows".

It must be said that Shen Zhigui's knowledge of martial arts at this time is definitely not lacking. Although he still can't understand the move "Jade Tower Floating Clouds Change Ancient and Modern", the move "Boundless Sea of ​​Ice" obtained through Gan Yu's recognition is purely a martial art that creates a grand scene. With Shen Zhigui's current true energy, let alone creating a scene of thousands of miles of ice and thousands of miles of snow as described in the description, he can't even support it in daily practice, so he can only put it aside for the time being. But now this new martial art has given Shen Zhigui a new perspective to re-recognize the true energy martial arts system:

The creator of this martial art believes that, in most cases, martial arts are skills used to fight against humans, and humans are contradictory individuals with emotional tendencies, constantly struggling with their past in their hearts. Therefore, in the vast majority of cases, rationality and sensibility are intertwined in the human soul. Therefore, the essence of this martial art is to use various means to guide out the enemy's internal contradictory emotions and rationality, causing it to fail step by step under the combined effect of the enemy's internal contradictions and external struggles.

Although Shen Zhigui believes that the philosophy of this martial art is very interesting, it has a fatal flaw for normal people. That is, ordinary people will never be able to consider so many issues at the same time when facing an enemy who is similar to themselves. Not to mention, the higher the martial arts skills, the more focused they will be in battle, and the more difficult it will be for this move to work. Therefore, this martial art is essentially a martial art that bullies the weak.

Of course, most of the martial arts ideas in the world are about defeating the enemy by leveraging one's strengths and avoiding one's weaknesses. In the final analysis, it is all about bullying the weak.

Shen Zhigui was very interested in the martial arts method of hiding true energy in other people's bodies and thus affecting their mental state.

Although this is actually two different directions from his previous idea of ​​"refining qi into spirit".

However, the more he studied this martial art, the more Shen Zhigui realized that Qi and spirit can indeed influence and transform each other, so the direction of "refining Qi into spirit" is not wrong. The only question is how to make the conversion? And, is there any hidden danger in using the Qi obtained by "Cinnabar disappears without a trace" to remove the remains of demons or karma to refine Qi into spirit?

Because the higher his martial arts skills were, the more he could feel the essential difference between the true qi he cultivated and the true qi collected through "the fish and birds in the world flying and sinking". He could use the former as easily as his arms and reach everywhere, but compared to the former, the latter was light and elegant, but often seemed more "clumsy" and "heavy" -

Of course, for Shen Zhigui, he can't even support the daily practice of "The Vast Sea Covered with Hundreds of Feet of Ice" now, so this shortcoming of the latter can basically be ignored.

But if he could really find the method to refine Qi and transform it into a spirit, he would have to take the hidden dangers of the latter seriously.

But in the final analysis, if he did not use that true energy, with his existing method of cultivation, even if he succeeded in practicing "Nanshan Dawn Snow Jade Rocks" and thus accelerated the process of accumulating true energy through "Coming Like Thunder and Collecting Wrath", the true energy obtained would seem to be too little.

Although he doesn't dare to use the "Cinnabar disappears without a trace when exposed to fire" skill easily now.

"So, in the final analysis, it's still a problem of internal strength and mental method."

Shen Zhigui said secretly in his heart.

However, now that he had finally gotten started with the philosophy of "All fish and birds in the world have their own flying and sinking", he could quickly understand the principles and techniques of the martial arts that he could understand. After reading through all this knowledge, he saw Wendy and thought of his skill in transmitting messages across thousands of mountains and rivers through the element of wind. He suddenly thought of a trick that might be feasible, and might even solve Shen He's problem. He said goodbye to Barbara, and walked towards the bard who was playing the instrument under the statue of the god of wind.

"When did you fall out of love? Or did you feel that there was no hope for you and those two people, so you fell in love with someone else and fell in love with that little nun?"

Wendy had obviously noticed Shen Zhigui a long time ago, so she probably used the wind element to capture his information in secret. When she heard him recite the poem, she asked after he finished playing.

Shen Zhigui almost wanted to raise his middle finger to this gossipy god.

But he still asked, "Can you teach me your technique of using the sound of the flute or the element of wind to convey sound and emotion?"

Wendy thought about it after hearing this and said, "You don't have the Eye of God, do you? And you have that phone, so you don't need this technique, do you?"

And even if he had the Eye of God, it would be impossible to use the element of wind to transmit sound over such a long distance.

Wendy can do this because he is the god of wind himself.

Shen Zhigui looked around and whispered, "I have a power similar to elemental force."

"uh-huh?"

Wendy held out her hand to him.

Shen Zhigui had no choice but to hold it and transfer the true energy into his hands.

Wendy carefully sensed it for a moment, pondered for a long time, and said: "It's an interesting power. Maybe you can really learn that skill through this power."

"But," he changed his tone, a cunning light flashing in his eyes, "My reward for helping you pass the message is to solve Tevarin's poisonous blood. What is the reward for teaching you this technique?"

"I'll buy you a drink?"

Shen Zhigui hesitated for a moment and then spoke.

Chapter 75: Skills (Part 2)

Shen Zhigui really couldn't think of any other issues in Mond that he could solve.

As for the Fatui, they were obviously not someone he could defeat at the moment.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have called Xiao over out of fear.

Although Wendy was mostly joking, she laughed when she heard him say that, and then said, "Then I'm going to go to Angel's Gift and get drunk!"

Shen Zhigui nodded:

Anyway, the consulting fee Keqing gave him was actually not low.

But after the two of them agreed, Wendy asked him to help as agreed. Although Shen Zhigui thought that it was not the Wind Flower Festival, he looked around and saw that there were only a few people there, so he stayed and became Wendy's assistant. After Wendy introduced him, the two of them split up and wanted to make a quick decision, but Shen Zhigui soon ran into trouble -

Wendy's level as a bard is obvious to all, and Shen Zhigui has never proven himself, so even if Wendy said that Shen Zhigui was his assistant, those "students" also had a sincere distrust of Shen Zhigui, so Shen Zhigui quickly gave up. When Wendy was about to solve the problem himself, he heard the clear voice of a girl behind him:

"Well, I can prove that Mr. Shen is an excellent bard."

Shen Zhigui turned around and saw Barbara standing there with a smile on her face.

Barbara's appearance reduced some of the doubts of those who doubted Shen Zhigui, but they still looked hesitant, so Barbara said, "Then I'll come and help..."

Now Shen Zhigui became the one who had doubts:

Miss, why are you here to join in the fun again?

But obviously, he had no room for refusal.

It would be better to say that after Barbara said this, the job of Wendy's assistant was actually transferred to her, and Shen Zhigui's current position became the assistant of the assistant. Those who originally had doubts about Shen Zhigui now confided their feelings to Barbara. However, in this way, rather than teaching the skills of writing love poems, it was more like a late-night intimate sister emotional radio station. They just asked whether they should present "Flowers of the Wind" to the person they confessed their love for, and whether the way of presenting flowers was appropriate. Few people would really take out their own works for Shen Zhigui and Barbara to revise.

虽然拿出来的那些作品其实也都在水准之上，不过有时候沈稚珪看到一些句子，例如“即便倾尽暗之外海的水也无法浇灭我对你的爱”之类的，会让他总想要接上一句“可暗之外海的水可以被倾尽吗？不能，所以我不爱你”，不过考虑这么做实在太欠揍了，所以沈稚珪也没有再多说什么。

However, when he saw that Barbara had been encouraging those people to express themselves bravely from beginning to end, he shook his head and chose to stand against Barbara and torture their hearts.

For example, when a person said that he liked a girl very much and also mentioned many signs that the girl also liked him, Shen Zhigui said that those signs were probably just out of politeness. But when a person said that he and someone were in love with each other, Shen Zhigui cited all the difficulties that might be encountered after marriage that would turn the current love into blind joy. He and Barbara were encouraging and pouring cold water on them. Soon some people couldn't stand it and walked away with a dead heart, but some people recognized their own hearts and chose to move forward.

This picture is quite strange.

Barbara didn't like the boy's behavior at first:

But soon, she understood that this was Shen Zhigui's experience as a person who had suffered a broken heart. Because he had experienced a broken heart, he felt that all love was doomed to fail. Although the problems he talked about after marriage were a bit too real, such as the relationship with both parents, financial and children's problems, and even the deterioration of feelings after marriage were really not something that someone of his age could understand, but Barbara had never been in love, let alone married, so it was natural that these problems could not be ignored.

But Barbara is the girl idol of Mondstadt after all.

So when some people saw her doing this, they couldn't help but ask about it out of curiosity, and Wendy even added fuel to the fire and started to spread the news. As a result, more and more people rushed to the square under the statue of the God of Wind. Some people even came specifically to let Shen Zhigui torture their hearts so that Barbara could comfort them in a soft voice. In the end, even the Knights of Favonius were alarmed and had to come out to maintain order.

Captain Qin looked at her own sister standing in the middle of the crowd from afar, and was a little dazed.

"It is said that the bard named Wendy wanted to teach the skills of writing love poems, and found the boy from Liyue to be his assistant, but for some reason, Miss Barbara also joined in, so things turned out like this."

A certain Knight of Favonius reported what he had learned to Jean.

Qin frowned when she saw Barbara and Shen Zhigui standing together:

Doesn’t the impression I have is that the young man has a good relationship with that Yuheng Star?

Barbara...

"In this case, maintain order at the scene and make sure no safety incidents occur. If you find someone trying to quarrel or fight, stop them and make sure no riots occur."

Qin gave the order.

"Yes."

Then the acting leader of the Knights of Favonius took a deep breath and walked towards the two men. The closer he got, the clearer the two men's voices could be heard:

"You think she smells good when she speaks now. Is it possible that it's just because she brushes her teeth and rinses her mouth diligently? But when you're really with her, you'll find that when she's too lazy to brush her teeth, too lazy to do oral care, and the food she eats has a strong odor, and you have to accept the imperfections in her daily life, she's not as perfect as you think she is now. Not to mention, after you get married, for the sake of your family and children, she doesn't have extra time to dress up and put on makeup, so you can see that her originally fair and beautiful face has become dull and oily, and her originally slender and graceful figure has become fat and stout..."

"I think that as long as two souls truly love each other, they can definitely overcome these difficulties! Please don't be discouraged, sir. Maybe you can discover more advantages of the person you love now!"

Obviously, these are two opposing viewpoints, and both sides have their own opinions, but Qin found that the cooperation between these two people is very interesting both for the parties involved and for the onlookers, so it is so popular. Not to mention, the appearance of these two people is also worthy of the audience, which is why so many people flock to it.

"Is Captain Qin also here for consultation?"

At this time, some people noticed the figure of the tall acting team leader, and they all made way and asked again.

Chapter 76: Skills (Part 2)

Qin is certainly not here for emotional counseling.

Although she actually longs for love and privately likes to read romance novels.

But as the acting leader of the Knights of Favonius, she didn't have the free time, not to mention that she didn't have any suitable candidate at the moment.

She just wanted to find out the relationship between her sister and Shen Zhigui.

When Barbara saw her, she became a little flustered, but she soon calmed down and continued talking to the person standing in front of her.

Qin stood aside and observed for a while before she was sure that they had no intention of developing that kind of relationship and were simply helping these people.

So she left again soon.

At noon, she came back again and was relieved to see the crowd finally dispersed. When Wendy was about to split the bill with the two people and Barbara just waved her hand to refuse, she stepped forward and said, "I am so grateful to you for bringing such vitality to Mondstadt at this time. I wonder if I could have the honor of inviting you to have lunch with me?"

Barbara was caught off guard and was a little at a loss, so Wendy stuffed the purse into her hands and turned to Shen Zhigui and asked, "What do you think, Xiaogui?"

Wendy even called Shen Zhigui by his nickname.

Shen Zhigui just frowned and said, "I won't do this kind of thing in the afternoon."

"Don't worry, I've made enough money now, so I can enjoy the wine during the Wind Flower Festival."

"If you say that, you might as well just let me treat you in the first place."

Shen Zhigui said.

"But you can't give up halfway on something you promised to someone, right?"

"That too."

The two men continued the conversation on their own, as if they didn't notice the sisters' unusual silence at all. They even walked towards the tavern near the square with their arms around each other's shoulders.

Although the two people, one tall and one short, don't look very coordinated.