Chapter 192: I Am Indeed a Fool

For the next two days, Ning Qing and Xiaoxiao kept Zhang Suannai company as they toured the ancient city.

Chen Shu had arranged a few small tasks for them, including what to eat and where to go for a stroll or a look, so that Qingqing could take Zhang Suannai to complete them. However, there was no strict schedule; it was better for the outing to be more casual.

He himself stayed at home to cook for the elderly couple and Chen Banxia, study the *Great Yi Divine History*, browse group chats, scroll through videos, play games, and focus on his cultivation.

Chen Shu intended to push his cultivation progress for this stage to the peak by the latter part of this month, then spend over half a month continuously pushing and polishing, apply to the Spirit Sect for a Promotion Potion in the middle of next month, and finish his promotion before school started.

"Sigh..."

Cultivation is truly dull.

Chen Shu's box of Qingling Pill had yet to be unsealed.

Because he felt that he had already grown accustomed to overcoming difficulties every day to execute his "Daily Cultivation" plan and enjoyed the sense of achievement upon completion; if he were to take the Qingling Pill and lose that sense of achievement from conquering his Lazy Cancer, he would feel empty inside.

After a moment of thought, Chen Shu made up his mind, opened the door, and went out.

"Bang bang! Chen Banxia!"

"What is it?"

Chen Banxia's groggy voice came from inside.

Chen Shu continued: "Do you often help people buy various potions to earn the price difference?"

"What about it?"

Chen Banxia came to open the door, rubbing her eyes as she looked at him.

Chen Shu felt not a shred of guilt for disturbing her sleep and said directly: "I have a brand-new box of Qingling Pill, the kind with one hundred and eighty pills, produced by the Spirit Sect. Help me sell it."

"Heh..."

Chen Banxia reached out to pick at her face: "I thought someone had reported me for buying on behalf of others to earn the difference and tracked me down to you..."

"Talk about business!"

"Do you have the receipt?"

"No."

"That's very difficult then. Although the Qingling Pill sold at pharmacies in the Spirit Sect is expensive, to be honest, in this day and age, as long as it's a Qingling Pill, the effect is the same; the expensive ones are just an IQ tax. Besides, it's not easy to sell without a receipt," Chen Banxia said, then asked him, "Allocated by the sect? Why don't you use it yourself?"

"Poverty forces me to overcome difficulties."

"Keep pretending."

"It's true."

"Is that so?"

Chen Banxia quickly regained her clarity, and upon thinking about it, it was indeed true—

Previously, in order to procure the Promotion Potion, Chen Shu had spent millions and hadn't recovered his funds yet, so he must be short on money recently. Moreover, he still had to date Qingqing; Qingqing's family was wealthy, and even if she didn't spend extravagantly on purpose, her expenses certainly wouldn't be low, so...

The moment to elevate her elder sister demeanor and maintain her elder sister majesty had arrived again!

Such matters really had to rely on a sister!

As expected, only a sister is the most reliable!

Chen Banxia suppressed the little pride in her heart and said without hesitation: "I'll transfer ten thousand to you!"

Chen Shu was stunned upon hearing this:

"What?"

"Transferring ten thousand, as dating funds; you keep that medicine and use it yourself!" Chen Banxia held her head high and chest out; for the entire summer vacation, this was her most triumphant moment!

"I won't use it, I'm afraid of developing a dependency. Someone like me, once I develop a dependency, I can't quit."

"Not bad, not bad, you have ambition!" The elder sister was very satisfied with her younger brother, even reaching out to pat his shoulder before saying, "Then I'll keep an eye out for you; cut the price in half, and it should be sellable."

"And that ten thousand yuan..."

"Transferring that to you too!"

"Wuwu, sister is so good!"

"Glad you know it!!" Chen Banxia was one step away from putting her hands on her hips.

"Then you go back to sleep."

"Hmph!"

Chen Banxia happily turned to go back to her room and kicked the door shut, making a loud *clatter*.

Chen Shu couldn't help but glance at the room of Chen Jiaoshou and Wei Lvshi; tomorrow morning, Wei Lvshi would definitely complain about her closing the door loudly again. In any case, Wei Lvshi's tolerance for Chen Banxia had been getting lower and lower these past few days, and she would likely give her a scolding.

"Tsk tsk."

Chen Shu returned to his room, gloating.

He took out his Mobile Phone.

Chen Shu: Has my dear Qingqing slept yet?

Qingqing: No

Qingqing: Haven't slept

Chen Shu: How has the playing been these two days

Qingqing: It's alright

Qingqing: Zhang Suannai beats up two groups of people every day

Qingqing: I calculated it; if I don't intervene, she'll beat up two more tomorrow

Chen Shu: /confused

Qingqing: That's just how it is

Chen Shu: Elaborate

Qingqing: Too long, don't want to say

Chen Shu: Tell me, tell me!

Qingqing: ……

Chen Shu: If you don't tell me, my heart will itch and I won't be able to sleep.

Qingqing: The day before yesterday morning, we were sitting by the lake staring blankly. She saw a tourist throwing trash into the lake and insisted on making that person pick it up. The person refused, so she beat up that person's husband.

Qingqing: In the evening, she went out alone to drink. Someone pestered her and spoke rudely, so she beat up that person and all of his companions.

Qingqing: Yesterday at noon while eating hand-grabbed rice, someone sat upwind of her and smoked. She went up and told them to put out the cigarette; when they didn't, she beat them up.

Qingqing: In the afternoon, she was riding a motorcycle along the river and was cut off by someone, so she beat up everyone in that person's vehicle.

Chen Shu: /thumbs up

Chen Shu: Zhang Suannai is living the life I wanted to live but never did.

Qingqing: ……

Chen Shu: Didn't she end up in the police station?

Qingqing: After she finished beating people, she threatened them, saying she was a closed-door disciple of the Sword Sect's Sword Master, and if anyone called the police and affected her sightseeing, she would break their legs.

Chen Shu: ……

Chen Shu: /thumbs up

"Impressive."

In this era of self-media, only Sword Sect Disciples would dare to do such things; even the Imperial Family isn't as arrogant as them.

Heh! Yet they just aren't afraid!

Go ahead and scold!

Go ahead and boycott!

My Sword Sect has survived for thousands of years; can a mere generation of young people make our reputation any worse?

Keep dreaming.

As long as the Sword God is still here, as long as the Sword Sect still has a Ninth Stage Cultivator, the Sword Sect cannot fall. Whether you call the police or file a lawsuit, it is impossible for anyone to truly do anything to the Sword Sect, which possesses gods and Zhan Lue Wu Qi.

"Tsk tsk."

Chen Shu even regretted joining the Spirit Sect a little.

Chen Shu: Then what about tomorrow?

Chen Shu: You aren't going to intervene?

Qingqing: No.

Chen Shu: Why?

Qingqing: If the world line is disrupted, the correction of the prediction takes time; it's not worth it for her.

Chen Shu: Alright.

Qingqing: We are leaving the ancient city tomorrow.

Qingqing: She wants to visit the Yuanzhou Cube Museum, and I haven't been there either; come be our tour guide.

Chen Shu: Fine.

Qingqing: Sleep early.

Chen Shu: Okay.

……

The next afternoon.

Chen Shu drove to the foot of Beauty Mountain, feeling quite speechless with Chen Banxia, who had insisted on tagging along, sitting beside him.

Before long, two motorcycles drove over.

Zhang Suannai was riding Ning Qing's mini motorcycle, and Ning Qing was riding Zhang Suannai's large sportbike with the little girl on the back; the two rode all the way into the parking lot and stopped beside Chen Shu.

After getting off the bike, Zhang Suannai looked at the small motorcycle left and right, her face full of confusion: "Why can't I ride as fast as you guys did that day?"

Ning Qing pursed her lips and ignored her.

Zhang Suannai studied it for a bit, poking here and touching there, but couldn't figure anything out, so she had to look up, only then noticing Chen Banxia:

"Isn't this Sister Banxia? You came too?"

"Yeah," Chen Banxia said with a smile, "Chen Shu insisted on having me come see the Square Body he helped excavate, so I had to come join in the fun."

"He helped excavate it?"

Zhang Suannai was forced to feign Surprise.

"You didn't know?"

"I didn't know."

Zhang Suannai had a premonition that this person was about to show off a little, but in order not to blow her cover, she had to cooperate, only able to pray in her heart:

Sister Banxia, don't say it, don't say it...

However, Chen Banxia just grinned and explained: "His dad is a history professor and is somewhat famous. He grew up influenced by it, and plus he worships the Shengzu, so he understands the history of the Xia Dynasty even deeper than his dad. When the Yuanzhou Fangti was excavated, they called his dad to help organize the artifacts, and they called him too, so they had already been inside the Square Body long ago. Later, after the museum was built, my mom also went in to visit once; now I'm the only one in the whole family who hasn't been in to look around."

"……"

She actually explained it even more clearly than she had imagined.

Although Zhang Suannai had long heard this silly vegetable bragging in the group chat, hearing Chen Banxia say it like this still made her feel a tiny bit more Surprise.

A kind of old farmer's respect for intellectuals rose up again...

"!"

Zhang Suannai hurriedly shook her head to dispel it, then immediately held her head high and looked at the Square Body embedded in the mountainside:

"Let's go!"

A pedestrian staircase had already been built on the mountain.

A platform had also been set up at the entrance of the Square Body; tourists could enter with their ID cards without buying a ticket. During peak periods, reservations were required in advance, but hiring a guide cost money.

Half an hour later.

Chen Shu declined the inquiry from the staff at the entrance about whether he wanted to hire a guide, and was the first to step inside the Square Body.

The space inside the Square Body was vastly different from the last time he came; the last time he visited, the interior was empty and pitch-black, but this time, not only were all kinds of lights installed everywhere, but the interior of the Square Body had also been partitioned into several levels, with each level exhibiting different items.

The first level was mainly related to the society and livelihoods of that time.

The second level leaned more towards elite culture.

The third level contained items related to Cultivators.

The fourth level was for products made from exotic beasts.

The fifth level, however, rose more to the level of the state and its rulers.

Chen Shu led them to start touring from the first level; basically, next to every exhibit, there was a simple introduction written for visitors to read its information, and there were even a few items that Chen Shu had personally retrieved himself, and he had even written the introductory text, yet at this moment he was walking here as a visitor, and his mood was inevitably somewhat strange.

"This 'Painting of the Holy Capital' is very interesting. Look at this little person; can you guess what he is doing?" Chen Shu turned his head to look at the group.

"I don't know." Zhang Suannai looked blank.

"I don't know." Chen Banxia also looked blank.

"He is delivering takeout," Chen Shu said with a smile.

"Delivering takeout?" Zhang Suannai blinked her eyes. "That was five thousand years ago, right?"

"Close to five thousand years ago."

"There were takeout delivery guys back then?"

"Yes." Chen Shu glanced out of the corner of his eye and discovered that several tourists had also been attracted and were looking over this way; he was not intimidated and continued to explain, "The period depicted in this painting was already the peak of Great Xia. Because of the unprecedented prosperity of the population and the Shengzu's economic mind—which was just like a transmigrator's—the takeout industry had already appeared in the capital at that time and was loved by the vast majority of the nobility... So, how was this industry born?"

"How was it born?" Chen Banxia asked, blinking her eyes.

"The 'Zhou He Chronicles' mentioned that the Shengzu, the old man himself, was actually a foodie. He loved to eat, and when he was working in the palace, he often missed a certain snack from outside the palace, so he specifically created a Spell that was much simpler and more economical than the communication technique, which was widely used for thousands of years afterward: the Single-direction Short-range Message Talisman. Every time he wanted to eat, he would use this short-range message talisman to tell a street vendor outside the palace, asking the vendor to deliver the snack. Later, it gradually developed, and there was a group of people who specialized in delivering takeout for high-ranking officials and nobles. The high-ranking officials and nobles didn't need to send the message talisman to a designated vendor; they only needed to send the message talisman to them. After they received it and opened the message talisman, they would go to different places to pick up the food according to the contents written on the talisman paper, and after picking up the food, they would deliver it to the designated location. Isn't it very similar to the takeout industry now?"

"Were the ancients that smart?" Zhang Suannai asked in surprise.

"The intelligence of the ancients was not lower than that of modern people; it was just that their horizons and knowledge could not compare to most modern people. If you don't broaden your horizons and study hard, it is not hard to imagine your IQ being surpassed by ancient people."

"..."

Zhang Suannai clenched her fists.

This person was mocking her again.

Taking a look at Qingqing and Xiaoxiao beside her, she gritted her teeth and swallowed this frustration.

Chen Shu gave her a light glance and continued, "So, what makes many people find it hard to believe is that the original purpose of developing this Single-direction Short-range Message Talisman, which later generations feel is incomparably practical, was not for military or political use, but for ordering takeout."

Seven or eight tourists had gradually gathered around them.

It seemed they had all come to listen in on the explanation.

Chen Shu didn't mind and continued his explanation.

In the history reflected behind these cultural relics, there are often many surprising or interesting points. A good historical and cultural guide should not just read out those dry and boring histories, but should dig out those interesting parts so that tourists can become interested and remember them.

By the time they walked all the way to the fourth floor, quite a few people were already following behind them.

Zhang Suannai scratched her head, her expression somewhat complex.

And Chen Shu in front was still talking eloquently: "Everyone must have heard of the 'Exotic Beast Classic'. It is a god-level cultural relic, touted as one of the greatest harvests in the global archaeological world in recent years. For a time, it could be seen on short videos every day. Of course, this copy is a reproduction by history scholars from Ling'an Academy; the real one is still at Ling'an Academy."

"It recounts the approximate time when exotic beasts appeared, solving this age-old mystery, yet it left behind other mysteries."

"That is, the exotic beasts described inside—some species we can still see today have now undergone significant changes compared to the descriptions."

"If it were only the changes of one or a few exotic beasts, then it might be that the descriptions in the book were unclear or the author's research at the time was not thorough enough, but the fact that most exotic beasts have undergone certain changes over these few thousand years is enough to explain a certain problem. Moreover, this kind of change clearly exceeds the scope of natural evolution."

"At the same time, it also depicts many powerful exotic beasts that were no weaker than a Ninth Stage Cultivator, but these exotic beasts seem to have vanished into thin air; not only can we not see a trace of them now, but their remains have never been unearthed."

"For example, a giant beast resembling a feline, with scales and bright fur, named the Imperial Beast—roughly meaning the emperor of all beasts, possessing ultimate power. It is said that it had the ability to kill a Ninth Stage. Yet, we can only witness the splendor of such a powerful exotic beast in the 'Exotic Beast Classic'."

Hearing this, Zhang Suannai also blinked her eyes.

As an ancient cultivator, she loved listening to these things.

But looking at the expressions on the faces of the tourists following beside them—either "So that's how it is" or "To think it's like this"—they were full of admiration for Chen Shu's knowledge. There was no lack of history enthusiasts who were intoxicated by the knowledge Chen Shu shared and developed a sense of worship. Even Chen Banxia, whose IQ she felt was about the same as her own, was listening with great interest and nodding repeatedly. Zhang Suannai's expression couldn't help but become complex again—this was also a scene she had once fantasized about; in her fantasy, the protagonist of the scene was her.

Yet in reality, it had become Chen Shu.

It was truly hard to accept.

Just at this moment, she suddenly saw Chen Shu cast a subtle glance at her... She couldn't help but frown. Could it be that he wanted me to be his straight man?

How could that be?

You're showing off, and I have to set the stage for you?

"..."

Zhang Suannai still compromised.

Because she thought that if she didn't help him be the straight man, he might ask Xiaoxiao or even Qingqing to help him, and that would be too difficult for her roommates.

Zhang Suannai thought reluctantly for a long time before blurting out: "Is there a possibility that the 'Exotic Beast Classic' is fake?"

"..."

That person's expression was extremely disappointed.

Zhang Suannai:???

What the hell are you disappointed about!? It's already very good that I'm helping you be the straight man! And you're still being picky?

She only heard Chen Shu explain to her: "Because I don't know much about exotic beast studies and the evolutionary history of exotic beasts, I didn't participate in the research of the 'Exotic Beast Classic'. I just heard from Professor Liu at your school that the theory of the 'Exotic Beast Classic' being a forgery had also been proposed, but it was quickly ruled out. Now their research direction leans more towards where exotic beasts came from, why they evolved so quickly, and why that portion of exotic beasts disappeared."

After hearing this, Zhang Suannai felt even worse—

What the hell are you disappointed about!!?

Didn't you get to show off anyway?

It wasn't until they were walking toward the fifth level that Chen Shu whispered to her: "Have you noticed that the Imperial Beast described in the 'Exotic Beast Classic' has a high degree of similarity to the giant beast projection summoned by Yan Keling?"

"Eh?"

Zhang Suannai was stunned for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Chen Shu asked again, "Didn't you have a fight with her? Have you forgotten already?"

"No!" Zhang Suannai said blankly, "You were looking at me just now because you wanted to say this?"

"Otherwise what?"

"N-nothing..."

Zhang Suannai's expression was awkward for a moment, and she hurriedly quickened her pace, passing Chen Shu and leaving him with only a back view where her face could not be seen: "Walk faster, I'm very interested in the Shangfang Sword on the fifth floor..."

Due to returning to my hometown to handle an incident and organize the subsequent detailed outline, I am requesting leave for today and tomorrow for single updates. The update will be in the morning, at 8:05, and I guarantee the update will be over 4000 words.

(Bows)