Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior-Chapter 100 - 91: Flickering Fireflies and Wildfire, Destiny Takes Form

Phew-------

Gongsun Hu, who was driving the carriage, tightened the reins. The chestnut-red steed raised its head and neighed, and the carriage slowly stopped outside the Forging Workshop. "Miss, we've arrived."

The carriage curtain lifted, and a sixteen-year-old maiden leapt down. The silver-threaded brocade skirt at her waist jingled with a white jade pendant. "Qiao'Er, hurry out!"

"Coming, Ms. Xuan, wait for me!"

As soon as the words fell, an eager response came from inside the Forging Workshop. Wu Qiao'Er, of a similar age, happily darted out, with Wu Lie following soon after.

"Good day, Uncle Wu." Li Xuan greeted Wu Lie.

"Miss Li, Qiao'Er is always mischievous. On this journey, I must trouble you to look out for her."

"Uncle Wu, you can rest assured and let me take care of Qiao'Er. Besides, Father will also be going to Shuangbai Town tomorrow, and Gongsun will protect us well."

Wu Lie's gaze settled on the burly man driving the carriage. He relaxed—this Gongsun Hu was Li Xuan's escort, a lay disciple of Vajra Temple.

Though only Eighth Grade Bone Forging, he practiced Vajra Temple's Cross-Training Martial Arts since youth, and has reached Third Bone Forging. His body is extremely strong, and his power is astonishing.

If it truly came to a deadly duel, Wu Lie, who had advanced to Seventh Grade with Second Bone Forging, might not have a certain victory.

"Father hasn't let me out these past few days. I'm almost stifled into a jar of pickles in the Forging Workshop! Let's go, let's go…"

"Me too. Just because I sneaked out of the city last time, Father grounded me for three months! This time, it's only because he's going to Shuangbai Town for a poetry gathering—after much pleading, he finally agreed to let me come."

The carriage had hardly gone far before the lively chatter of the two girls inside drifted out in fits and starts. Wu Lie listened with a headache. His own daughter was already mischievous; now there was Li Xuan as her companion.

As for "sneaking out of the city"—he'd heard that it was Li Xuan who took Gongsun Hu and snuck out for more than a hundred li, all the way to Baihe Town. They even wanted to go to Changfeng County, and in the end, Lord Li had people drag them back.

"The Shuangbai Poetry Gathering is near at hand, Lord Li will also go to Shuangbai Town. With Lord Li present, nothing will go wrong."

Watching the carriage vanish around the street corner, Wu Lie rubbed his forehead and turned back into the Forging Workshop.

"If only Qiao'Er could be half as steady as Su Mu…"

Thinking of Su Mu, Wu Lie's brows relaxed and a faint smile tugged at his lips. According to Master Zhao Ju, Su Mu took only ten days to Quiet his Heart and Concentrate his Spirit, gaining the ability to study Inscriptions.

He mastered the entry-level Melting Gold Technique in a month, and stilled his heart in ten days—such talent is astounding.

"Given Su Mu's age, there's no need to rush to make Treasure Artifacts… The Inscription path requires years of accumulation, and deserves to be honed patiently."

Months ago, Wu Lie, Zhao Ju, and two other masters had a private, lengthy talk, and tacitly agreed to let Su Mu explore freely. In their eyes, if Su Mu mastered Treasure-Making Art too soon, it might not be all good for him.

"The fourth forging room is always open for you… The rest depends on yourself."

When the carriage departed Qingyun City, thirty elite Cyan Cloud Army riders had waited a long while. The group mounted up for Shuangbai Town with whips and yells, the two young ladies in the carriage chattering away like a pair of sparrows.

The two, heading for the poetry gathering, didn't mention poetry at all.

In Shuangbai Town, Su Mu finished his meal, put down his chopsticks, and made for the Shuangbai Academy. The Academy was well known locally; a passerby pointed him to East City:

"Just follow the green-stone road straight. When you see the archway, turn right. The most bustling place is the Academy these days."

On reaching East Street, even from afar he saw upturned eaves and bracketed halls, a courtyard splashed with winter plum blossoms. Over the entrance hung a wooden plaque with four bold, dragon-like characters: Shuangbai Academy.

At this moment, the outer courtyard swarmed with people. Many vendors set up stalls selling brush, ink, paper, and inkstones. Children from the town frolicked and plunged into the crowd.

Days earlier, the academy's old master had posted out couplets. Su Mu first drifted unobtrusively around the crowd, his sharp eyes scanning everyone—he found no suspicious figures.

So he could only look to where the couplets were posted:

"Plum blossoms mirror the academy, the courtyard veiled in the sound of books; the sound travels cold nights waiting for the spring thunder…"

Su Mu murmured the lines, his eyes lighting up. Though in his previous life he'd studied science and engineering, he could still appreciate the brilliance: "This is… a 'stacked-head' couplet."

Before the postings was a desk manned by a student of the academy. To the left were brush, ink, paper, and inkstone; to the right, Cyan Bamboo Tokens, entry passes for the Shuangbai Poetry Gathering, granted to whoever matches the lower line.

All morning, only a dozen or so were handed out.

About a dozen young men, scholar-like in appearance, crowded round, brows furrowed, pens in hand, racking their brains. "The old master's couplet this year is truly marvelously crafted."

"I am but poorly learned. Which talented soul can unravel the riddle?" an onlooker, an old man in coarse clothes, hesitantly inquired.

"If you look closely, Elder, you'll see that the last word of the first phrase is matched to the first word of the next, linking them end to start. It seamlessly matches the wintry plum and is all in one breath."

Someone explained, and the student at the desk added proudly,

"More than that, the 'night' in 'cold night' also puns on 'career'. This way, 'cold career awaiting spring thunder' becomes the master's hopeful blessing for the academy's scholars—a hidden wish for years of hard study to bring success in the exams."

"Worthy of the academy; that's a profound interpretation!"

All nodded in admiration, secretly marveling that the master's couplet contained augury for the civil examinations.

As they debated, suddenly an ill-timed, lazy voice sounded out, mixed with a hint of mockery. In the corner, a ragged, sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth squatted, cleaning his ears with a plum twig.

"What's so hard about this couplet?"

"Since you think it easy, then let's hear what lower line you, little beggar, can give?"

"One lower line, ten taels of silver—fair for young or old."

Having spoken, he fell silent. The student at the desk slammed the table, "Absurd! The Shuangbai Academy is a holy place, not for you to act the charlatan!"

The scholars glared angrily; someone grabbed a broom and chased the boy off. The youth, driven away, merely patted the dust from himself and wandered off, unfazed.

The scene was instantly filled with delight. Only one person watched the departing figure, then quietly followed.

In a nearby alley, the ragged youth stopped, turned, and faced the follower.

"Brother, are you here to buy a lower line?"

It was Su Mu. His eyes glimmered. On the youth's dirty face, a faint apricot-yellow glow flowed over his skin.

But this glow was flickering, like fireflies or will-o'-the-wisp.

This was another person, aside from Li Zhihe, whom Su Mu had seen bearing Destiny. In fact, Li Zhihe, as Cyan Cloud Demon Slayer Director, only revealed his Destiny with official robe on; without it, Su Mu could not see it.

But this youth—ragged, looking every inch a beggar.

He wasn't a Martial Artist, yet Su Mu vaguely sensed an extraordinary aura about him—he was no ordinary person.

Su Mu had other uncertainties as well. He wanted to confirm whether this Destiny was one of the two he'd glimpsed that day when breaking through to Hidden-Dragon Level, Divine Travel in Cyan Clouds.

From what he saw now, this person wasn't the same one.

Ten taels of silver meant nothing to Su Mu these days. Spending a small sum to befriend a man with Destiny was more than worth it. Besides, he needed a couplet to attend the poetry gathering anyway.

"Here's ten taels of silver."

Su Mu didn't waste words. He took out a ten-tael silver ingot.

The youth wiped his hands, took the silver, and asked, "Brother, you must be a Martial Artist. Do you use a weapon?"

"The spear."

"A spear, not bad…" The youth nodded and casually recited, "Then listen well—my lower line is: Snow covers the twin cypresses, the cypress gathers spear energy, the energy spans the rainbow, stunning the northern wind. I wish you martial fortune everlasting."

As the couplet landed, Su Mu keenly sensed a change in the youth's bearing. The firefly-like Destiny glow faintly condensed into a shapeless scroll.

"Destiny turning into a scroll… I was right."

The lower line's "energy spans the rainbow" echoes "awaiting spring thunder." The "rainbow" is a metaphor for weapons' mastery, and for the Great Success in Martial Arts.

The upper line is literary, the lower martial. The matching is ingenious, and the Academy's name is subtly included.

"A superb match."

Su Mu praised. The youth merely cupped his fist, then left. Su Mu engraved the figure in his memory and headed for the academy gate.

"Sir, would you care to try?"

As Su Mu approached, the scholar who'd chased the beggar frowned, sizing him up. The man's features were stern, with a killing aura—how could he be a man of letters?

Doubtful, but not daring to say more, the scholar handed him the brush, voice tinged with coolness.

"I shall try, then."

Su Mu was unconcerned. With composure, he wielded the brush and wrote the lower couplet he'd just bought: Snow covers the twin cypresses, the cypress gathers spear energy, the energy spans the rainbow, stunning the northern wind.

"Snow covers the twin cypresses, the cypress gathers spear energy, the energy spans the rainbow, stunning the northern wind?!"

"What a match!"

"Marvelous, marvelous! This is the most ingenious match I've seen these days. Who is this man, that he could match so perfectly?"

The courtyard erupted in murmurs. The scholar's face changed several times, finally, with a trace of reluctance, he handed Su Mu a Cyan Bamboo Token engraved with "Shuangbai."

"Sir, please accept this bamboo token."