Chapter 2: Falling Brush Forms Characters

Lv Fang woke up from the bed, his pair of pitch-black eyeballs rolling around.

Everything that had happened in the dream just now was so real it didn't feel like a dream.

I had only heard of the story of "Liaozhai Yi Zhi Nie Xiaoqian" before, but now the entire text is committed to memory.

Could it be that his golden finger had arrived!

Lv Fang sat up from the bed, unable to hide his joy, and was just about to try it out.

An elderly man in a long gown approached, his face with a short beard looking relieved as he said, "Young Master, you've finally woken up."

Lv Fang recognized the elderly man in the long gown as the Chen family steward; one of the voices he had heard in his haze earlier was this old steward.

"Steward Chen, quickly send someone to Yuyang Mountain, Lingdu Temple, outside the city, and invite a Daoist priest to the manor to catch a ghost."

"Catch a ghost?"

Steward Chen looked suspicious.

"A few days ago, I was locked in my room..."

Lv Fang spoke concisely, embellishing slightly as he told the story of meeting the pretty beauty at night and discovering she was an evil ghost.

"No wonder! No wonder!"

Steward Chen was shocked and hurriedly went to call for people.

Lv Fang stopped him and instructed, "Have someone go to the county magistrate's office as well, explain the situation, and spend some silver; we must invite a virtuous scholar capable of subduing ghosts."

It was already getting dark; going to Yuyang Mountain outside the city would likely be too late, so reporting to the authorities was also a way.

Fearing that the evil ghost might come to harm him at any moment!

Lv Fang ordered Steward Chen to gather all the men in the manor and then go find some black dog blood and boy's urine.

Steward Chen bowed and accepted the order, "This old servant will go handle it immediately; it would be safer if I went to the county office myself."

After Steward Chen left, a dozen men arrived one after another, some carrying buckets of warm black dog blood and boy's urine, the fishy, foul stench filling the entire room.

Seeing this, Lv Fang felt much more at ease. Having just had some liquid food, his spirit and physical strength had recovered, so he got up and went to the study on the side.

He had a premonition that he would definitely gain something from "Liaozhai Zhiyi: Nie Xiaoqian," which he had obtained in the "Ink Brush Realm."

After trying many times, there was still no movement.

He thought he would take advantage of the fact that it wasn't completely dark yet to write out the text and see.

He dipped his brush in ink, but just as Lv Fang was about to write on the paper, he was blocked by a force and could not form the characters.

Did the Heavenly Dao not approve?

It was said that the characters of this world were once projected by the Heavenly Dao.

For an ordinary person to write characters on paper, they had to receive the approval of the Heavenly Dao of this world.

His predecessor had studied for over a decade and had never been able to write characters.

It wasn't just his predecessor; most people in this world couldn't do it either, and could only use simplified characters to maintain daily needs.

There was another kind of "writing" called elegant script, which was written by sages who had exhausted their hearts and blood and spent their entire lives in realization. Such classics were recognized by the Heavenly Dao and endowed with magical power.

For example, the elegant scripts of the three teachings; frequent reading could allow one to gain extraordinary power.

'The Ink Brush Realm gave me the full text, yet I can't form the characters? Isn't this teasing me? If you won't let me write, I'll write anyway!'

Lv Fang's stubborn temper flared up, and he gripped the "brush" tightly, determined to form the characters.

His knuckles turned blue and trembled from the excessive force.

Suddenly, the full text of "Liaozhai Zhiyi: Nie Xiaoqian" appeared before his eyes, and the brush tip emerged, piercing through the void, actually breaking the shackles of the Heavenly Dao of this world.

Lv Fang easily wrote on the paper: "Ning Caichen, a man from Zhejiang. Generous and upright, he valued his integrity. He often said to people: 'In my life, I have never sought a second woman.' He was on his way to Jinhua, and upon reaching the northern suburbs, he unpacked his luggage at the Lanruo Temple..."

This text was written by Pu Songling of the Qing Dynasty, with nearly three thousand characters in total.

Lv Fang's body had not fully recovered, but with his heart tied to the perilous situation, he wrote and stopped under the pressure, and the progress was quite considerable.

About an hour later, Steward Chen returned to report:

"Young Master, this old servant went to the county office and spent the silver, but after standing outside for a long time, the bailiff who came out replied that it had been noted, and someone would need to come to the Lv manor to confirm and go through the process; it probably won't happen tonight."

Lv Fang stopped his brush, looked at the night outside the window, and frowned, "Has the person sent to Yuyang Mountain returned?"

Steward Chen shook his head with a troubled expression, "Po County is some distance from Yuyang Mountain; I'm afraid they won't be back for a while."

Seeing the night growing darker and darker, not a single savior had been found.

Lv Fang was extremely anxious, forcing himself to calm down, and paced back and forth in the study with a blank expression.

His thoughts raced, and after careful deliberation, he rejected them one by one. Inadvertently seeing the paper on the desk, Lv Fang stopped and smiled bitterly: 'Truly, the darkest place is under the lamp.'

Just now, being interrupted by Steward Chen, he had forgotten about "Liaozhai Zhiyi: Nie Xiaoqian." Perhaps...

"Young Lady, you're back!"

"What is this smell! Why are you all staying here?"

There was a commotion in the outer room.

Lv Fang turned his head to look and saw a woman dressed in a yellow pleated skirt walk in. She was only seventeen or eighteen years old, with a snow-white oval face, bright eyes, and white teeth.

"Sister."

Lv Fang called out happily; in his memories, this white jade beauty was his own sister, Lv Ling.

She had been exceptionally intelligent since childhood, and in terms of conduct, managing the household, or scholarship, she had always surpassed Lv Fang by a wide margin.

By a stroke of luck, she had even learned a body of skills.

On the surface, Lv Fang was the head of the manor, but in reality, Lv Ling was the one in charge.

His predecessor would only reluctantly go to find Lv Ling when he needed silver, and would stay as far away as possible when he was idle.

Lv Ling's spirited eyes stared at Lv Fang, who had lost a large circle of weight, her heart filled with anger, annoyance, and heartache.

Her eyes reddened, and she actually began to shed tears.

"I've only been out for a few days, how did Brother get so thin? Are you trying to go on a hunger strike? Forget it, forget it! I won't restrict Brother anymore; do whatever you want."

Lv Fang smiled bitterly, subconsciously reaching out to wipe the tears from Lv Ling's face, but feeling it was inappropriate, his hand stopped in mid-air, at a loss:

"Sister, don't cry; there is an evil ghost harming me."

"An evil ghost?" Lv Ling furrowed her brows.

After locking her brother in his room and forcing him to study, this good-for-nothing brother had been unwilling to see her.

At first, he made a scene, but later he quieted down, and Lv Fang's appetite was excellent.

Lv Ling was busy with everything in the manor, so she didn't pay it any mind.

Even when she heard people say that Lv Fang had lost a lot of weight, she just assumed it was because of his studies.

"Young Lady, the Young Master has encountered an evil ghost..."

Steward Chen explained the ins and outs of "Lv Fang encountering a ghost."

Lv Fang stood where he was, nodding from time to time, adding and emphasizing that it was because the poor pretty beauty was eager to learn that he had taught her "knowledge."

After listening, Lv Ling's brows were almost twisted together. She took a yellow talisman folded into a triangle from her person and threw it toward Lv Fang, saying:

"Brother, keep this talisman on you; it can protect your safety."

Upon learning that people had already been sent to the county office and Yuyang Mountain outside the city.

Lv Ling had someone fetch a sword and sat in the room to keep watch.

Based on her good-for-nothing brother's temperament, she had doubted the authenticity of "encountering a ghost," but after careful thought, she denied it.

Her brother had lost so much weight, and going to such great lengths wouldn't gain him any substantial benefits; there was no need to lie.

Lv Fang clutched the warm triangular yellow talisman, his heart feeling stuffed.

The protective talisman was a gift from Lv Ling's master; for over a decade, Lv Ling had always carried it on her person, and it was said to have the effect of warding off evil and protecting the body.

A young woman hearing there was an evil ghost didn't hide, but instead kept watch here, and even gave him her protective item.

This sister was truly foolish!

Foolish enough to make one's heart ache!

Lv Fang worriedly said, "Sister, if you give this talisman to me, you..."

Lv Ling angrily interrupted, "If Brother had said so earlier, there wouldn't be such a predicament. Go rest yourself; if the evil ghost really comes to harm you, it will have to step over my corpse first."

"Hmph! Let's see if Brother dares to covet female beauty again in the future. It was in vain that I shed tears for you; had I known, I shouldn't have come back."

Although she said this, Lv Ling sat on the chair without moving, maintaining vigilance at all times.

Lv Fang apologized and bowed to the ground, "To have a sister like you, what does it matter even if I die today."

Lv Ling was not happy to talk, and instead turned her back.

Lv Fang shook his head with a bitter smile, thinking: 'With so many people here, the evil ghost might not dare to come.' He returned to the desk, picked up his brush, and wanted to finish writing the rest of "Liaozhai Zhiyi: Nie Xiaoqian."

Scratch, scratch, scratch...

The sound of the brush rubbing against the paper rang out.

Lv Ling's ears twitched, and she turned her head. Seeing Lv Fang seemingly writing, she got up and walked over.

Seeing the "vigorous and powerful" running script page by page on the desk, she couldn't help but be overjoyed, not daring to make a sound to disturb him, thinking to herself:

'May the ancestors of the Lv family bless us; Brother can already write characters.'

He did not know how much time had passed.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew the window lattice open, and it swung up and down, hitting the window eaves and making a dull sound.

Lv Ling hurriedly went to close the window lattice. In the time it took to turn around.

A cold wind began to "whoosh" in the room.

"The ghost is here!"

"Help!"

"Ah..."

Amidst the terrified screams, the dozen men in the room were swept up by the cold wind and thrown everywhere.

In mid-air.

A mass of gray fog revealed the appearance of an evil ghost, with a green face and fangs, green eyeballs bulging outward, and a body like gray fog wriggling like a worm. It did not touch the ground, floating in the air as it approached Lv Fang.

"Don't you dare harm my brother!"

Lv Ling drew the thin sword from her hand and slashed it across her finger.

As soon as the sword touched the blood, it actually began to tremble faintly, and a vague spiritual light rippled on the sword body like water waves.

This was the "Blood Sword Technique"!

Using one's own blood to nourish the sword, seeking to reach a mysterious and unpredictable sword realm.

The clothes on Lv Ling's body rustled without wind, and a sharp sword intent radiated from her.

With a delicate shout!

She tapped her toes and leaped up, dancing the thin sword until it was airtight, cold light shining brilliantly.

In a few breaths, she attacked the evil ghost a dozen times.

The evil ghost's figure drifted unpredictably, dodging the sword edge time and again.

Amidst the "bang, bang, bang" sounds, the sword light shattered the furniture.

Lv Ling spotted an opportunity, a feint suddenly changing into the move "Blood Sword: Cross Slash," cutting the evil ghost into four pieces.

Before she could even be happy, the evil ghost's gray-fog-like body had already restored itself into one. With a wave of its hand, a cold wind swept Lv Ling up and threw her heavily against the door and window.

Still too much of a stretch!

For Lv Ling to deal with an ordinary ghost, the unorthodox "Blood Sword Technique" might be able to do it, but this evil ghost was clearly not very ordinary. ===== CHAPTER 3 =====