Chapter 63: Literature
Finally back at school!
The dormitory was empty, but as the saying goes, a humble abode is better than a golden mansion. Jiang Hong tossed his luggage aside, opened all the windows and doors for ventilation, lay down on the bed, and sighed in relief. Cao Bin was right; at least for now, the school was indeed the safest place.
Stepping into the campus felt like entering a protective barrier, easing his entire being. Cangqiong University in the Qinling Mountains, now in late spring, was bursting with blooming flowers. The gentle spring breeze and warm sun made everything seem lazy and tranquil, with many students sitting among the flowers, reading or picnicking.
With the May Day holiday approaching, there were fewer students, and only a few rooms on the dormitory floor were occupied.
The dormitory was deserted. Zhang Xiting had gone to see his girlfriend right after his internship ended, while He Jian and Jin Zai's internships at the Demon Association hadn't finished and would continue until the last day before the holiday.
"Old Sun—! Play some music!" Jiang Hong shouted.
Old Sun, who had already been brought back early, was quietly perched on the windowsill, playing a song for Jiang Hong.
"Did you have fun in Guangzhou?" Old Sun asked. "I heard there was quite a bit of trouble."
Jiang Hong: "Yeah, you get to overhear a lot of secrets, huh?"
Jiang Hong had left Old Sun with Zhang Xiting, who then placed it on his office desk. With people coming and going in the department, Old Sun heard many things. Piecing together these bits of information and Jiang Hong's retellings, it had guessed most of the situation quite accurately.
Having relayed the message to Old Sun, Jiang Hong mused to himself, "Lu Xiu seems really concerned about that clone."
Old Sun said, "Of course, seeing another 'self' would infuriate anyone. I remember when I..."
Jiang Hong: "?"
Old Sun began to hesitate, and Jiang Hong asked, "Have you experienced something similar?"
Old Sun replied, "I can't remember now."
Jiang Hong wanted to use the May Day holiday to cheer up Lu Xiu, at least temporarily forget the unpleasant battles in Guangzhou. He first tidied up the dormitory, cleaned up, preparing a comfortable return for his roommates, and then sent a message to Lu Xiu, asking when he'd be free.
There was no response from Lu Xiu. Jiang Hong changed his clothes and went downstairs to bask in the sun. In the afternoon, he passed by the club activity center and decided to take a look inside.
This was the place where he had spent his first night after enrollment. Today, two people were training inside, both wearing Western fencing helmets, making it impossible to discern their faces. One was tall and robust, the other lean and tall, with a fire-breathing dragon depicted on the back of their slim metal armor.
Jiang Hong instinctively felt that one of them had to be Lu Xiu—but who was the other?
"From the moment your opponent appears," a deep voice said, "you're destined to only draw. Any small mistake could lead to total defeat."
Gergen Torquato Keda! Jiang Hong recognized the voice.
Lu Xiu didn't respond, just stubbornly crossed swords with Keda. The two maneuvered in the narrow fencing lane, looking for a momentary lapse in the other's defense, lunging like lightning and then quickly parting, their roles of attack and defense switching in an instant.
For the most part, the initiative in the attack was controlled by Keda.
"Difficult, isn't it?" Keda's voice said, "Very difficult, but the ones destined to lose are Yinghuo. The moment the enemy materializes and creates your clone, they've already lost."
Lu Xiu raised his sword, puzzled, focusing intently on Keda.
"The past cannot be traced," Keda's gaze under the mask was sharp, "your chances lie in the future."
"Ah!" In a flash, like lightning streaking through his mind, Jiang Hong, watching the duel, suddenly understood what Keda meant. He also realized why Keda said "Yinghuo is destined to lose" and Cao Bin's words "Chen Zhen is not afraid."
Hearing Jiang Hong's exclamation, Lu Xiu controlled the urge to look back, but Keda seized this moment. Their figures intertwined again, and with two crisp sounds of sword parries, Keda struck down with his sword, hitting Lu Xiu's shoulder. Lu Xiu immediately countered, striking Keda in the chest.
"Beep—" The scoring device lit up both lights.
"My point," Keda said, "I have the initiative."
Lu Xiu took off his helmet, threw it aside, and, drenched in sweat, sat down by the wall.
"What does it mean?" Lu Xiu asked.
Keda whistled towards Jiang Hong, winked mysteriously, and went to the changing room.
In that instant, Jiang Hong's hopes surged. His plan was becoming clearer!
Jiang Hong quickly walked over and sat beside Lu Xiu.
Lu Xiu: "???"
Lu Xiu, puzzled, looked at Jiang Hong.
In the spacious fencing hall, with the doors wide open, the bright spring sunshine and the flowers swaying in the breeze could be seen outside.
"What are you smiling at?" asked Lu Xiu.
"Nothing, nothing," Jiang Hong quickly said, his gaze shifting to Lu Xiu. He was organizing his thoughts to explain Keda's words to him but got distracted by Lu Xiu's puzzled look.
"Ah! You're so handsome!" Jiang Hong suddenly blurted out, sidetracked. "How can you be so handsome?!"
"I'm asking you a question!" Lu Xiu was almost at his wit's end with Jiang Hong.
Jiang Hong kept rubbing against Lu Xiu, not even sure what he was doing. Lu Xiu was sweaty from the fight, yet Jiang Hong kept nuzzling and nudging against him, as if wanting to burrow into his embrace.
Lu Xiu: "...................."
"Hurry up and tell me!" Lu Xiu said.
Jiang Hong replied, "Hug me and I'll tell you."
Sometimes Lu Xiu felt Jiang Hong was crazy. Jiang Hong himself realized this action was too gay, but his initial thought was that Lu Xiu, clad in his metallic armor, looked like a soldier figure, a life-sized, moveable figure, like a super-sized doll that would go along with whatever he did.
Just like seeing a huge plush doll, one can't help but want to bury into it.
"Okay, no more playing." Jiang Hong stood up and sat beside him, trying to be serious, not wanting to traumatize Lu Xiu. He had to explain.
But Lu Xiu draped an arm over his shoulder and pulled Jiang Hong into his embrace, allowing him to lean against his chest, saying, "Is this what you want?"
Jiang Hong felt like he was going to explode at that moment, a strange feeling. The cold yet soft metallic fabric on the outside and Lu Xiu's warm body on the inside created a contrast full of strength and determination.
Lu Xiu was always Lu Xiu. Maybe to others, he was cold and arrogant, but to Jiang Hong, he was always the strong and gentle dragon.
This is mine! Jiang Hong felt their connection, so clear and distinct.
"Go ahead," Lu Xiu said.
Jiang Hong rested on his lap, not doing anything too intimate, and laughed again, happy for Lu Xiu and for glimpsing hope in the future through the fog.
Lu Xiu removed his fencing gloves and placed one hand on Jiang Hong's face, then realizing his palm was sweaty, he gently touched him with the back of his hand instead.
"The moment the impostor appears," Jiang Hong explained, "your strengths, speeds, spells are all exactly the same, with identical values. It's very hard to defeat him, depending on the minute variables in the battle..."
Lu Xiu didn't speak, lost in thought, looking at the flower fields and the sports field outside the club center, and the overwhelming warmth of the spring sun.
"But from the moment he was created," Jiang Hong said, "all his values were set in stone. From there on, both of you will continue to grow..."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiu immediately said, "I understand."
Jiang Hong sat up and said earnestly, "So the hope of defeating him lies not in the past, but in the future! The longer it drags on, the better your chances. By the time you confront him again, as long as you've gained more strength than him, I believe you can win! Being defeated by him is not a disgrace..."
Lu Xiu looked at Jiang Hong and asked, "Do you need me to hold you a bit longer?"
Jiang Hong suddenly became embarrassed, his face turning red, "No, no, no, I was just... playing around, it's too weird, don't mind that."
Lu Xiu then stood up, slowly, but Jiang Hong knew that some sort of strength, or perhaps confidence, that had vanished before, was slowly returning to him.
Jiang Hong followed Lu Xiu, adding, "What Teacher Keda meant is differentiation. Since you've already differentiated, he's no longer a big threat to you. Chen Zhen is completely unafraid of the impostor, probably for the same reason, um..."
Lu Xiu put his sword back on the rack, and Jiang Hong played with it for a bit before putting it back. Suddenly, he thought of something: Lu Xiu seemed to have never used weapons.
No matter who the enemy was, he always used Dragon Language.
Maybe I can forge a weapon for him? Jiang Hong thought.
Keda's voice came from the changing room, "That's your next goal. Overcoming oneself, rebirth from ashes, this is the destiny all things must face, not just the phoenix. Every creature in the world must learn to overcome itself."
Lu Xiu didn't reply. Keda, changed back into his sports clothes and drying his hair, with a bag over his shoulder, blew a kiss towards Jiang Hong, saying, "I'm off, leaving you two some alone time."
Jiang Hong waved goodbye to Keda, and Lu Xiu turned, saying, "Help me take off the metal suit."
Jiang Hong then helped Lu Xiu remove his fitted suit from behind, gathered his equipment, and Lu Xiu went to shower while Jiang Hong neatly arranged his clothes.
"Where to now?"
As they left the club, Jiang Hong asked.
"I don't know," Lu Xiu paused, then suddenly said, "Sorry, I've been in a bad mood these past few days."
Jiang Hong quickly said it was okay, but now that the fog had cleared, all that was left was the question of how to proceed.
"Do you want to go out and clear your mind?"
Lu Xiu thought for a moment, hesitated, and Jiang Hong said, "Just say what you want to say. Where do you want to go?"
Lu Xiu looked into the distance and said, "There's nothing specific I want to do, just want... just want..."
Jiang Hong: "?"
Lu Xiu: "Just want to spend a few days alone with you, no one else."
Jiang Hong understood what Lu Xiu meant and knew Lu Xiu might feel embarrassed saying it, but he understood all too well. Lu Xiu's concerns and troubles, he just wanted Jiang Hong to share them, to bear them together, and wanted only Jiang Hong's company.
"Okay," Jiang Hong immediately said, "I was thinking the same thing."
"Your roommates haven't come back?"
"No."
"Sleep in my dorm tonight?"
"Okay," Jiang Hong replied.
"Is there any old archive in the school?"
During lunch, Jiang Hong said, "Let’s find a quiet library, shall we?"
Lu Xiu paused, then said, "Okay."
Jiang Hong said, "Like a place full of magic tomes, containing lost and powerful techniques..."
Lu Xiu: "Cangqiong University doesn't have such places. It's not a game with cheats to find secret martial arts."
Jiang Hong said, "Uh, then where might have such archives? The committee?"
"Nowhere has them," Lu Xiu found it hard to understand Jiang Hong's train of thought sometimes.
Jiang Hong thought about it and realized it was true. If there really were such places with secret techniques, everyone would be scrambling to learn them.
"Are there any hidden masters in this world?" Jiang Hong asked. "Like if we find one to apprentice under, we could learn some powerful techniques. They don't have to be world-ending, but at least something unexpected."
Jiang Hong was completely following the logic of wuxia novels. Seeing Lu Xiu staring at him without reaction, he asked again, "Do you have a master?"
Don't all experts have a powerful, aged master? Like Feng Qingyang to Linghu Chong, Zhang Sanfeng to Zhang Wuji, and so on.
Lu Xiu looked at Jiang Hong as if to say, "Are you an idiot?"
Jiang Hong: "?"
Jiang Hong asked again, and Lu Xiu finally couldn’t bear it and seriously answered, "Yes, Principal Cao."
"Oh right!" Jiang Hong remembered.
Lu Xiu reminded, "Your master is also Principal Cao."
"Ah, so we're practically from the same sect," Jiang Hong said. "Alright, let's find a library first! Preferably one with lots of ancient books."
Lu Xiu seemed like he wanted to say something but held back.
"Okay," Lu Xiu finally said.
The next day, Lu Xiu inquired at the committee and found out that Xi'an indeed had an ancient books library called "Cultural Heritage Library Center" in Beilin District. They obtained a letter of introduction from the school and went there together.
Despite the upcoming May Day holiday, a place like the Cultural Heritage Library Center wouldn't have any visitors, not even a manager. The person in charge adjusted the dehumidifying system and thermostat, handed them a couple of flashlights, and let them browse freely. Thanks to the letter of introduction from Cangqiong University, they were allowed to take photos. If there had been someone to operate the photocopier, they could have even made copies.
"Wow," Jiang Hong said, looking at the vast array of bookshelves, "Could there be any secret techniques and mysteries hidden here?"
Lu Xiu: "......"
Lu Xiu looked at Jiang Hong, who, holding a flashlight, said, "Let's start by checking the catalog, and pick out books that might be useful."
Cataloging was an enormous task, and the center hadn't completed it yet, partly due to a lack of staff. Most books could only be found through the most primitive card catalog, consisting mainly of thread-bound books, along with some bound fragments and partial volumes.
"What needs to be done?" Lu Xiu asked. "I'll do it."
"Help me pick out books with these keywords," Jiang Hong handed Lu Xiu a printed list of keywords, mostly related to mysterious events and phenomena, including terms like "Yinghuo," "Ley Lines," "Feng Shui," "Dragon," and other esoteric terms.
Lu Xiu didn’t argue with Jiang Hong, nor did he tell him the slim chance of success. He simply did as Jiang Hong asked, using the flashlight to search for ancient books among the dark shelves.
The place was covered in dust, and in the beams of their flashlights, it looked like countless tiny sprites were dancing in the air. The world grew silent around them as they sat on the floor, surrounded by growing piles of books.
"I've found the first batch," Lu Xiu said. "Now what?"
Jiang Hong: "Let's quickly go through them."
Jiang Hong opened the first book.
Jiang Hong: "......"
Lu Xiu: "?"
The text was vertical, traditional, and filled with a lot of ancient characters they couldn't understand.
Jiang Hong completely forgot about this aspect; reading ancient documents from before the Qing Dynasty for modern people was akin to reading a foreign language!
Jiang Hong: "Water something... forty, there's something about full fields... disaster... fleeing..."
Lu Xiu: "Floods of forty-seven, fields overflowed, a vast expanse of disaster, and rampant starvation. This is part of a county chronicle recording the Huai River floods during the Qing Dynasty's Daoguang era."
"Oh..." Jiang Hong said, "I see, okay, let's put this book aside then."
Lu Xiu's phone lit up, showing only a weak signal. Cao Bin was asking him: [What are you up to?]
Lu Xiu casually replied: [Looking for a way to defeat Yinghuo.]
Cao Bin’s reply was: [If you find it, remember to share with everyone.]
Jiang Hong: "What about this book? What does it say?"
Lu Xiu: "It's about how dike construction affected Feng Shui."
Jiang Hong: "You can understand all this?"
Lu Xiu: "I can only understand texts from the Qing Dynasty onwards."
After all, having lived for over 160 years, Lu Xiu's literacy began with the Qing Dynasty style of writing; even he couldn't understand texts from earlier periods. The library also had many documents from the Qin and Han dynasties transcribed during the Qing era, which were even more arcane.
"Old Sun, can you understand this?" Jiang Hong asked.
"What?" The Tianmao Genie responded in confusion, "I'm blind."
Jiang Hong: "???"
"You can't see anything?" Jiang Hong had never paid attention to this matter before.
Old Sun answered, "Yes, I can only hear things and sense the flow of spiritual energy nearby through my cultivation."
Jiang Hong instantly felt a bit guilty, thinking that he should install a camera for Old Sun.
Old Sun suggested, "Would you read it out loud for me to hear?"
Jiang Hong read a few lines, but he didn't recognize most of the characters, and neither did Old Sun.
"So, you weren't a scholar before," Jiang Hong thought, giving up hope, "Just play some music then."
Gentle music then filled the library as Jiang Hong and Lu Xiu continued to scrutinize together.
"What does this say?" Jiang Hong and Lu Xiu leaned in to examine it closely.
"I don't know," Lu Xiu honestly said, "It's from the Tang Dynasty, many of the words are different."
Jiang Hong started looking for translations and exclaimed in frustration, "Ah, heavens! Why didn't you stop me? I must be crazy!"
Lu Xiu didn't respond, and Jiang Hong caught a glimpse of Lu Xiu's expression out of the corner of his eye, asking, "Are you laughing?"
Lu Xiu seriously said, "What?"
Jiang Hong: "Are you laughing? Are you?"
Lu Xiu blankly replied, "No."
Jiang Hong: "You should have nipped this idea in the bud from the start."
Lu Xiu was silent for a moment, then said, "You're trying to find a way for me, why would I stop you? It might be useful."
Jiang Hong now realized the difficulty of this task. Lu Xiu said, "It's not too late to give up now."
"Let's stick with it for now," Jiang Hong said.
Jiang Hong and Lu Xiu flipped through nearly two hundred books in one morning. Towards the end, Jiang Hong skimmed through many books quickly and set them aside, while Lu Xiu would sometimes linger on them with interest.
Jiang Hong leaned on Lu Xiu's shoulder, dozing off. Lu Xiu was looking at a poetry collection by a local Qing Dynasty literati. The poems themselves weren't particularly outstanding, but they included some famous lines, among them Huang Jingren's "After parting, yearning is but a water; looking back, lifetimes have passed," which made Lu Xiu pause and glance at the sleeping Jiang Hong beside him.
He extended his slender fingers and gently stroked Jiang Hong's hair.
"After parting, yearning is but a water; looking back, lifetimes have passed."
A moment later, Jiang Hong woke up, and Lu Xiu closed the poetry collection.
"Let's not read anymore," Lu Xiu said. "Let's go have lunch, then go out in the afternoon and think of a plan."
Jiang Hong rubbed his eyes and yawned, saying, "No, I still want to keep looking."
It was a clumsy method, both of them searching for a clue to enhance Lu Xiu's strength amidst a sea of ancient documents, like finding a needle in a haystack. Moreover, many books on metaphysics had been burned during the Cultural Revolution.
But this was the only clumsy method Jiang Hong could think of.
Lu Xiu got up to put away the books, and as Jiang Hong was about to rise, he felt the All-Encompassing Book he had brought with him and took it out.
Maybe there's some old ghost or book spirit in the library? Right! I'm an exorcist, after all. Why do I always forget my exorcist's instincts, always opting for the hard way instead of turning to metaphysics?
Holding the All-Encompassing Book, Jiang Hong was about to activate it to see the hidden world of this place, but hesitated, fearing he might discover something eerie. So, he called Lu Xiu over first.
"You, you... stand next to me," Jiang Hong said.
Lu Xiu: "?"
Jiang Hong held Lu Xiu's pinky finger, feeling a bit more reassured, and activated the All-Encompassing Book.
"What are you looking at?" Lu Xiu asked.
The space around them once again shifted dramatically, like the ebb of a superficial tide, revealing a grid-like structure. The walls of the library, the distant sky and earth outside, and the direction of the ley lines beneath their feet became visible.
Jiang Hong said, "I want to see if there’s anything in the library... Huh? What’s this?"
Inside this layer of the library, Jiang Hong didn’t find any blurry human figures or light shadows that might represent ghosts. Oddly, he saw some thin lines on the bookshelves emitting an extremely faint light.
Lu Xiu patiently waited while Jiang Hong deactivated the power of the All-Encompassing Book. When he looked again, everything around was still pitch dark.
Activating the All-Encompassing Book again, those fine lines reappeared. Were they the spines of books? What books were glowing? And there was more than one!
"What are those books?" Jiang Hong muttered to himself.
"Which one?" Lu Xiu asked.
Jiang Hong looked around and said, "On the second shelf from the left, the third row."
Lu Xiu went over, and Jiang Hong instructed, "That one in front of you, take it down and have a look?"
Lu Xiu: "Are there more?"
Jiang Hong replied, "Yes, take them all down to have a look."
In Lu Xiu’s hands, those ancient books indeed emitted a faint glow.
Chapter 63: Literature
Finally back at school!
The dormitory was empty, but as the saying goes, a humble abode is better than a golden mansion. Jiang Hong tossed his luggage aside, opened all the windows and doors for ventilation, lay down on the bed, and sighed in relief. Cao Bin was right; at least for now, the school was indeed the safest place.
Stepping into the campus felt like entering a protective barrier, easing his entire being. Cangqiong University in the Qinling Mountains, now in late spring, was bursting with blooming flowers. The gentle spring breeze and warm sun made everything seem lazy and tranquil, with many students sitting among the flowers, reading or picnicking.
With the May Day holiday approaching, there were fewer students, and only a few rooms on the dormitory floor were occupied.
The dormitory was deserted. Zhang Xiting had gone to see his girlfriend right after his internship ended, while He Jian and Jin Zai's internships at the Demon Association hadn't finished and would continue until the last day before the holiday.
"Old Sun—! Play some music!" Jiang Hong shouted.
Old Sun, who had already been brought back early, was quietly perched on the windowsill, playing a song for Jiang Hong.
"Did you have fun in Guangzhou?" Old Sun asked. "I heard there was quite a bit of trouble."
Jiang Hong: "Yeah, you get to overhear a lot of secrets, huh?"
Jiang Hong had left Old Sun with Zhang Xiting, who then placed it on his office desk. With people coming and going in the department, Old Sun heard many things. Piecing together these bits of information and Jiang Hong's retellings, it had guessed most of the situation quite accurately.
Having relayed the message to Old Sun, Jiang Hong mused to himself, "Lu Xiu seems really concerned about that clone."
Old Sun said, "Of course, seeing another 'self' would infuriate anyone. I remember when I..."
Jiang Hong: "?"
Old Sun began to hesitate, and Jiang Hong asked, "Have you experienced something similar?"
Old Sun replied, "I can't remember now."
Jiang Hong wanted to use the May Day holiday to cheer up Lu Xiu, at least temporarily forget the unpleasant battles in Guangzhou. He first tidied up the dormitory, cleaned up, preparing a comfortable return for his roommates, and then sent a message to Lu Xiu, asking when he'd be free.
There was no response from Lu Xiu. Jiang Hong changed his clothes and went downstairs to bask in the sun. In the afternoon, he passed by the club activity center and decided to take a look inside.
This was the place where he had spent his first night after enrollment. Today, two people were training inside, both wearing Western fencing helmets, making it impossible to discern their faces. One was tall and robust, the other lean and tall, with a fire-breathing dragon depicted on the back of their slim metal armor.
Jiang Hong instinctively felt that one of them had to be Lu Xiu—but who was the other?
"From the moment your opponent appears," a deep voice said, "you're destined to only draw. Any small mistake could lead to total defeat."
Gergen Torquato Keda! Jiang Hong recognized the voice.
Lu Xiu didn't respond, just stubbornly crossed swords with Keda. The two maneuvered in the narrow fencing lane, looking for a momentary lapse in the other's defense, lunging like lightning and then quickly parting, their roles of attack and defense switching in an instant.
For the most part, the initiative in the attack was controlled by Keda.
"Difficult, isn't it?" Keda's voice said, "Very difficult, but the ones destined to lose are Yinghuo. The moment the enemy materializes and creates your clone, they've already lost."
Lu Xiu raised his sword, puzzled, focusing intently on Keda.
"The past cannot be traced," Keda's gaze under the mask was sharp, "your chances lie in the future."
"Ah!" In a flash, like lightning streaking through his mind, Jiang Hong, watching the duel, suddenly understood what Keda meant. He also realized why Keda said "Yinghuo is destined to lose" and Cao Bin's words "Chen Zhen is not afraid."
Hearing Jiang Hong's exclamation, Lu Xiu controlled the urge to look back, but Keda seized this moment. Their figures intertwined again, and with two crisp sounds of sword parries, Keda struck down with his sword, hitting Lu Xiu's shoulder. Lu Xiu immediately countered, striking Keda in the chest.
"Beep—" The scoring device lit up both lights.
"My point," Keda said, "I have the initiative."
Lu Xiu took off his helmet, threw it aside, and, drenched in sweat, sat down by the wall.
"What does it mean?" Lu Xiu asked.
Keda whistled towards Jiang Hong, winked mysteriously, and went to the changing room.
In that instant, Jiang Hong's hopes surged. His plan was becoming clearer!
Jiang Hong quickly walked over and sat beside Lu Xiu.
Lu Xiu: "???"
Lu Xiu, puzzled, looked at Jiang Hong.
In the spacious fencing hall, with the doors wide open, the bright spring sunshine and the flowers swaying in the breeze could be seen outside.
"What are you smiling at?" asked Lu Xiu.
"Nothing, nothing," Jiang Hong quickly said, his gaze shifting to Lu Xiu. He was organizing his thoughts to explain Keda's words to him but got distracted by Lu Xiu's puzzled look.
"Ah! You're so handsome!" Jiang Hong suddenly blurted out, sidetracked. "How can you be so handsome?!"
"I'm asking you a question!" Lu Xiu was almost at his wit's end with Jiang Hong.
Jiang Hong kept rubbing against Lu Xiu, not even sure what he was doing. Lu Xiu was sweaty from the fight, yet Jiang Hong kept nuzzling and nudging against him, as if wanting to burrow into his embrace.
Lu Xiu: "...................."
"Hurry up and tell me!" Lu Xiu said.
Jiang Hong replied, "Hug me and I'll tell you."
Sometimes Lu Xiu felt Jiang Hong was crazy. Jiang Hong himself realized this action was too gay, but his initial thought was that Lu Xiu, clad in his metallic armor, looked like a soldier figure, a life-sized, moveable figure, like a super-sized doll that would go along with whatever he did.
Just like seeing a huge plush doll, one can't help but want to bury into it.
"Okay, no more playing." Jiang Hong stood up and sat beside him, trying to be serious, not wanting to traumatize Lu Xiu. He had to explain.
But Lu Xiu draped an arm over his shoulder and pulled Jiang Hong into his embrace, allowing him to lean against his chest, saying, "Is this what you want?"
Jiang Hong felt like he was going to explode at that moment, a strange feeling. The cold yet soft metallic fabric on the outside and Lu Xiu's warm body on the inside created a contrast full of strength and determination.
Lu Xiu was always Lu Xiu. Maybe to others, he was cold and arrogant, but to Jiang Hong, he was always the strong and gentle dragon.
This is mine! Jiang Hong felt their connection, so clear and distinct.
"Go ahead," Lu Xiu said.
Jiang Hong rested on his lap, not doing anything too intimate, and laughed again, happy for Lu Xiu and for glimpsing hope in the future through the fog.
Lu Xiu removed his fencing gloves and placed one hand on Jiang Hong's face, then realizing his palm was sweaty, he gently touched him with the back of his hand instead.
"The moment the impostor appears," Jiang Hong explained, "your strengths, speeds, spells are all exactly the same, with identical values. It's very hard to defeat him, depending on the minute variables in the battle..."
Lu Xiu didn't speak, lost in thought, looking at the flower fields and the sports field outside the club center, and the overwhelming warmth of the spring sun.
"But from the moment he was created," Jiang Hong said, "all his values were set in stone. From there on, both of you will continue to grow..."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiu immediately said, "I understand."
Jiang Hong sat up and said earnestly, "So the hope of defeating him lies not in the past, but in the future! The longer it drags on, the better your chances. By the time you confront him again, as long as you've gained more strength than him, I believe you can win! Being defeated by him is not a disgrace..."
Lu Xiu looked at Jiang Hong and asked, "Do you need me to hold you a bit longer?"
Jiang Hong suddenly became embarrassed, his face turning red, "No, no, no, I was just... playing around, it's too weird, don't mind that."
Lu Xiu then stood up, slowly, but Jiang Hong knew that some sort of strength, or perhaps confidence, that had vanished before, was slowly returning to him.
Jiang Hong followed Lu Xiu, adding, "What Teacher Keda meant is differentiation. Since you've already differentiated, he's no longer a big threat to you. Chen Zhen is completely unafraid of the impostor, probably for the same reason, um..."
Lu Xiu put his sword back on the rack, and Jiang Hong played with it for a bit before putting it back. Suddenly, he thought of something: Lu Xiu seemed to have never used weapons.
No matter who the enemy was, he always used Dragon Language.
Maybe I can forge a weapon for him? Jiang Hong thought.
Keda's voice came from the changing room, "That's your next goal. Overcoming oneself, rebirth from ashes, this is the destiny all things must face, not just the phoenix. Every creature in the world must learn to overcome itself."
Lu Xiu didn't reply. Keda, changed back into his sports clothes and drying his hair, with a bag over his shoulder, blew a kiss towards Jiang Hong, saying, "I'm off, leaving you two some alone time."
Jiang Hong waved goodbye to Keda, and Lu Xiu turned, saying, "Help me take off the metal suit."
Jiang Hong then helped Lu Xiu remove his fitted suit from behind, gathered his equipment, and Lu Xiu went to shower while Jiang Hong neatly arranged his clothes.
"Where to now?"
As they left the club, Jiang Hong asked.
"I don't know," Lu Xiu paused, then suddenly said, "Sorry, I've been in a bad mood these past few days."
Jiang Hong quickly said it was okay, but now that the fog had cleared, all that was left was the question of how to proceed.
"Do you want to go out and clear your mind?"
Lu Xiu thought for a moment, hesitated, and Jiang Hong said, "Just say what you want to say. Where do you want to go?"
Lu Xiu looked into the distance and said, "There's nothing specific I want to do, just want... just want..."
Jiang Hong: "?"
Lu Xiu: "Just want to spend a few days alone with you, no one else."
Jiang Hong understood what Lu Xiu meant and knew Lu Xiu might feel embarrassed saying it, but he understood all too well. Lu Xiu's concerns and troubles, he just wanted Jiang Hong to share them, to bear them together, and wanted only Jiang Hong's company.
"Okay," Jiang Hong immediately said, "I was thinking the same thing."
"Your roommates haven't come back?"
"No."
"Sleep in my dorm tonight?"
"Okay," Jiang Hong replied.
"Is there any old archive in the school?"
During lunch, Jiang Hong said, "Let’s find a quiet library, shall we?"
Lu Xiu paused, then said, "Okay."
Jiang Hong said, "Like a place full of magic tomes, containing lost and powerful techniques..."
Lu Xiu: "Cangqiong University doesn't have such places. It's not a game with cheats to find secret martial arts."
Jiang Hong said, "Uh, then where might have such archives? The committee?"
"Nowhere has them," Lu Xiu found it hard to understand Jiang Hong's train of thought sometimes.
Jiang Hong thought about it and realized it was true. If there really were such places with secret techniques, everyone would be scrambling to learn them.
"Are there any hidden masters in this world?" Jiang Hong asked. "Like if we find one to apprentice under, we could learn some powerful techniques. They don't have to be world-ending, but at least something unexpected."
Jiang Hong was completely following the logic of wuxia novels. Seeing Lu Xiu staring at him without reaction, he asked again, "Do you have a master?"
Don't all experts have a powerful, aged master? Like Feng Qingyang to Linghu Chong, Zhang Sanfeng to Zhang Wuji, and so on.
Lu Xiu looked at Jiang Hong as if to say, "Are you an idiot?"
Jiang Hong: "?"
Jiang Hong asked again, and Lu Xiu finally couldn’t bear it and seriously answered, "Yes, Principal Cao."
"Oh right!" Jiang Hong remembered.
Lu Xiu reminded, "Your master is also Principal Cao."
"Ah, so we're practically from the same sect," Jiang Hong said. "Alright, let's find a library first! Preferably one with lots of ancient books."
Lu Xiu seemed like he wanted to say something but held back.
"Okay," Lu Xiu finally said.
The next day, Lu Xiu inquired at the committee and found out that Xi'an indeed had an ancient books library called "Cultural Heritage Library Center" in Beilin District. They obtained a letter of introduction from the school and went there together.
Despite the upcoming May Day holiday, a place like the Cultural Heritage Library Center wouldn't have any visitors, not even a manager. The person in charge adjusted the dehumidifying system and thermostat, handed them a couple of flashlights, and let them browse freely. Thanks to the letter of introduction from Cangqiong University, they were allowed to take photos. If there had been someone to operate the photocopier, they could have even made copies.
"Wow," Jiang Hong said, looking at the vast array of bookshelves, "Could there be any secret techniques and mysteries hidden here?"
Lu Xiu: "......"
Lu Xiu looked at Jiang Hong, who, holding a flashlight, said, "Let's start by checking the catalog, and pick out books that might be useful."
Cataloging was an enormous task, and the center hadn't completed it yet, partly due to a lack of staff. Most books could only be found through the most primitive card catalog, consisting mainly of thread-bound books, along with some bound fragments and partial volumes.
"What needs to be done?" Lu Xiu asked. "I'll do it."
"Help me pick out books with these keywords," Jiang Hong handed Lu Xiu a printed list of keywords, mostly related to mysterious events and phenomena, including terms like "Yinghuo," "Ley Lines," "Feng Shui," "Dragon," and other esoteric terms.
Lu Xiu didn’t argue with Jiang Hong, nor did he tell him the slim chance of success. He simply did as Jiang Hong asked, using the flashlight to search for ancient books among the dark shelves.
The place was covered in dust, and in the beams of their flashlights, it looked like countless tiny sprites were dancing in the air. The world grew silent around them as they sat on the floor, surrounded by growing piles of books.
"I've found the first batch," Lu Xiu said. "Now what?"
Jiang Hong: "Let's quickly go through them."
Jiang Hong opened the first book.
Jiang Hong: "......"
Lu Xiu: "?"
The text was vertical, traditional, and filled with a lot of ancient characters they couldn't understand.
Jiang Hong completely forgot about this aspect; reading ancient documents from before the Qing Dynasty for modern people was akin to reading a foreign language!
Jiang Hong: "Water something... forty, there's something about full fields... disaster... fleeing..."
Lu Xiu: "Floods of forty-seven, fields overflowed, a vast expanse of disaster, and rampant starvation. This is part of a county chronicle recording the Huai River floods during the Qing Dynasty's Daoguang era."
"Oh..." Jiang Hong said, "I see, okay, let's put this book aside then."
Lu Xiu's phone lit up, showing only a weak signal. Cao Bin was asking him: [What are you up to?]
Lu Xiu casually replied: [Looking for a way to defeat Yinghuo.]
Cao Bin’s reply was: [If you find it, remember to share with everyone.]
Jiang Hong: "What about this book? What does it say?"
Lu Xiu: "It's about how dike construction affected Feng Shui."
Jiang Hong: "You can understand all this?"
Lu Xiu: "I can only understand texts from the Qing Dynasty onwards."
After all, having lived for over 160 years, Lu Xiu's literacy began with the Qing Dynasty style of writing; even he couldn't understand texts from earlier periods. The library also had many documents from the Qin and Han dynasties transcribed during the Qing era, which were even more arcane.
"Old Sun, can you understand this?" Jiang Hong asked.
"What?" The Tianmao Genie responded in confusion, "I'm blind."
Jiang Hong: "???"
"You can't see anything?" Jiang Hong had never paid attention to this matter before.
Old Sun answered, "Yes, I can only hear things and sense the flow of spiritual energy nearby through my cultivation."
Jiang Hong instantly felt a bit guilty, thinking that he should install a camera for Old Sun.
Old Sun suggested, "Would you read it out loud for me to hear?"
Jiang Hong read a few lines, but he didn't recognize most of the characters, and neither did Old Sun.
"So, you weren't a scholar before," Jiang Hong thought, giving up hope, "Just play some music then."
Gentle music then filled the library as Jiang Hong and Lu Xiu continued to scrutinize together.
"What does this say?" Jiang Hong and Lu Xiu leaned in to examine it closely.
"I don't know," Lu Xiu honestly said, "It's from the Tang Dynasty, many of the words are different."
Jiang Hong started looking for translations and exclaimed in frustration, "Ah, heavens! Why didn't you stop me? I must be crazy!"
Lu Xiu didn't respond, and Jiang Hong caught a glimpse of Lu Xiu's expression out of the corner of his eye, asking, "Are you laughing?"
Lu Xiu seriously said, "What?"
Jiang Hong: "Are you laughing? Are you?"
Lu Xiu blankly replied, "No."
Jiang Hong: "You should have nipped this idea in the bud from the start."
Lu Xiu was silent for a moment, then said, "You're trying to find a way for me, why would I stop you? It might be useful."
Jiang Hong now realized the difficulty of this task. Lu Xiu said, "It's not too late to give up now."
"Let's stick with it for now," Jiang Hong said.
Jiang Hong and Lu Xiu flipped through nearly two hundred books in one morning. Towards the end, Jiang Hong skimmed through many books quickly and set them aside, while Lu Xiu would sometimes linger on them with interest.
Jiang Hong leaned on Lu Xiu's shoulder, dozing off. Lu Xiu was looking at a poetry collection by a local Qing Dynasty literati. The poems themselves weren't particularly outstanding, but they included some famous lines, among them Huang Jingren's "After parting, yearning is but a water; looking back, lifetimes have passed," which made Lu Xiu pause and glance at the sleeping Jiang Hong beside him.
He extended his slender fingers and gently stroked Jiang Hong's hair.
"After parting, yearning is but a water; looking back, lifetimes have passed."
A moment later, Jiang Hong woke up, and Lu Xiu closed the poetry collection.
"Let's not read anymore," Lu Xiu said. "Let's go have lunch, then go out in the afternoon and think of a plan."
Jiang Hong rubbed his eyes and yawned, saying, "No, I still want to keep looking."
It was a clumsy method, both of them searching for a clue to enhance Lu Xiu's strength amidst a sea of ancient documents, like finding a needle in a haystack. Moreover, many books on metaphysics had been burned during the Cultural Revolution.
But this was the only clumsy method Jiang Hong could think of.
Lu Xiu got up to put away the books, and as Jiang Hong was about to rise, he felt the All-Encompassing Book he had brought with him and took it out.
Maybe there's some old ghost or book spirit in the library? Right! I'm an exorcist, after all. Why do I always forget my exorcist's instincts, always opting for the hard way instead of turning to metaphysics?
Holding the All-Encompassing Book, Jiang Hong was about to activate it to see the hidden world of this place, but hesitated, fearing he might discover something eerie. So, he called Lu Xiu over first.
"You, you... stand next to me," Jiang Hong said.
Lu Xiu: "?"
Jiang Hong held Lu Xiu's pinky finger, feeling a bit more reassured, and activated the All-Encompassing Book.
"What are you looking at?" Lu Xiu asked.
The space around them once again shifted dramatically, like the ebb of a superficial tide, revealing a grid-like structure. The walls of the library, the distant sky and earth outside, and the direction of the ley lines beneath their feet became visible.
Jiang Hong said, "I want to see if there’s anything in the library... Huh? What’s this?"
Inside this layer of the library, Jiang Hong didn’t find any blurry human figures or light shadows that might represent ghosts. Oddly, he saw some thin lines on the bookshelves emitting an extremely faint light.
Lu Xiu patiently waited while Jiang Hong deactivated the power of the All-Encompassing Book. When he looked again, everything around was still pitch dark.
Activating the All-Encompassing Book again, those fine lines reappeared. Were they the spines of books? What books were glowing? And there was more than one!
"What are those books?" Jiang Hong muttered to himself.
"Which one?" Lu Xiu asked.
Jiang Hong looked around and said, "On the second shelf from the left, the third row."
Lu Xiu went over, and Jiang Hong instructed, "That one in front of you, take it down and have a look?"
Lu Xiu: "Are there more?"
Jiang Hong replied, "Yes, take them all down to have a look."
In Lu Xiu’s hands, those ancient books indeed emitted a faint glow.
