Chapter 9: Thoroughly Subdued

  "Bai Ming, you've been making things difficult for me time and again. I didn't want to bother with you before, but what you said today is not bad. It seems that I must beat you into submission!" Shi Sheng finished speaking, and the embroidery needle in his hand flew out lightly.

  "Ah!" Before Bai Ming could react, he was stabbed twice in the face, and blood flowed freely. He had just come to his senses when he pointed at Ye Fei and opened his mouth to scold him, but immediately received two more stabs. The pain made Bai Ming grit his teeth, and only then did he realize that standing still would only allow him to be beaten passively.

  Just as Baiming turned around and ran out not far away, his buttocks were stabbed with several more needles. The next moment, Baiming suddenly found that the embroidery needle was right in front of his eyes, no matter where he wanted to run, the embroidery needle would seal off the direction.

  "Move a bit, and I'll make it penetrate your eyes! If you don't believe me, try it!" Shi Sheng said emotionlessly. This time, if he couldn't subdue him, there would likely be even more trouble later on.

  As expected, Bai Ming didn't dare to move. Following Shi Sheng's instructions, he slowly turned his body around, wiping the blood from his face while staring at Ye Fei in extreme terror. What kind of people were these? He had never seen or heard of anyone using such a technique before.

  Lin Wan'er's face was shocked beyond measure, her hands covering her mouth as she stared at Shi Sheng's back in disbelief. At this moment, she didn't feel any fear, but rather a sense of safety that she had never felt before. As long as Shi Sheng was around, she wouldn't be in any danger.

  "Bai Ming, come here!" Shi Sheng called out to Bai Ming, who had already turned around and was running over with a thud, kneeling down on the ground before Shi Sheng could even speak.

  "Boss, from now on you're our boss. Whatever you say, I'll listen!" White Ming's face was serious and solemn, not looking like he was pretending at all. Originally, Shi Sheng wanted to teach him a good lesson, but didn't expect this kid to come up with such a move, which made Shi Sheng unable to take action.

  "Never mind, just don't bother me again!" Shi Sheng shrugged and put away his embroidery needle, turning to leave with Lin Wan'er.

  "I will never dare to trouble the boss again, and if anyone dares to provoke him, I, Bai Ming, will be the first to stand up for him." Watching the two figures gradually disappear into the distance, Bai Ming nodded solemnly.

  ……

  "Asheng is so powerful, is this the magical power of mind?" Lin Wan'er said with her beautiful eyes shining as she returned home.

  "It's settled then, so from now on, Sister Wan'er won't have to worry anymore. We'll never be bullied or go hungry again! I'm going to attend Li Yuanwai's birthday celebration tomorrow and I'll definitely get my hands on that ten taels of silver!" As soon as he finished speaking, Shi Sheng's eyes gleamed with excitement. Ten taels of silver was no small sum for the two of them at present.

  "Alright, after dinner, Ah Sheng should get a good rest and recharge his energy!" Lin Wan'er was very considerate, and after they finished eating, the two of them returned to their own rooms.

  Shi Sheng didn't need to prepare anything for this kind of thing, it was better to just go with the flow on the spot. What's important now is to continue cultivating, and he could only study the talismans again tomorrow.

  In this way, Shi Sheng began to manipulate increasingly heavy objects to exercise and strengthen his spiritual power. From time to time, he would control the embroidery needle to train his accuracy and speed. Once his spiritual power was exhausted, he would immediately sit down to meditate. Every time he recovered his spiritual power, he felt that it had increased compared to before.

  ……

  The second day, just at noon!

  The Li family, one of the top ten wealthy families in Gǔ Huái Village, had a grand mansion with a bustling scene outside, where people came and went, gathering around fifty or sixty onlookers, some watching the commotion, others trying their luck to offer congratulations. These ordinary people were unable to enter the mansion.

  Shi Sheng was one of them, standing in the corner of the crowd, sighing: "I knew it would be so late, I might as well have come at night. This big household really can't be relied upon to get things done on time. Fortunately, I didn't bring Wan'er with me."

  Shi Sheng didn't know how lively the mansion was, nor did he know how many people were inside. He waited until dusk before the gate finally opened and twenty or thirty people came out one after another.

  First and foremost, there was an old man over fifty years of age with white hair but a ruddy complexion, obviously well-preserved. He wore a black and white changshan, accompanied by a beautiful young girl in a green dress whose beauty was in no way inferior to that of Yuè Líng.

  Behind him were twenty or thirty figures, mostly young and talented locals who had been invited. Each of them held a folding fan in one hand or both hands behind their back, looking elegant and refined. However, the eyes of everyone in the crowd, intentionally or unintentionally, fell on that young girl.

  "Thank you all for attending my birthday celebration. Today, everyone can present couplets, as long as they are well-written and recognized by my daughter and the rest of you talented scholars as the best, will receive a reward of ten taels of silver!" Mr. Li said, finishing his speech, a servant brought over a chair, and Mr. Li sat down on it.

  The woman in the green skirt glanced at the crowd below, smiled slightly: "I'm Li Xuan, I suppose most of you know me, so let's not waste time on introductions. As for the rules of this contest, I assume everyone is familiar with them. Who will be the first to offer their congratulations?"

  "I'm here!" A young man in a yellow robe laughed and said, "The upper rhyme is 'Crane's longevity for thousands of years', the lower rhyme is 'Pine age for ten thousand ancient springs'!"

  "Not bad, the upper couplet highlights the crane's longevity, and the lower couplet implies that the star of longevity is eternal! What's your name?" Li Xuan looked at the young man and asked.

  "In the lower torrent!" The young man in yellow robe said excitedly.

  "A Fu, take note!" Li Yan said, and one of the servants beside her immediately picked up a pen and ink to record it. In the end, all the scholars still had to study and compare together.

  "Next, I'll go!" A somewhat timid young man stepped out of the crowd and recited a couplet offhand, but Li Yan slightly shook her head. The crowd also felt that it was no match for Hong Tao's couplet, so in the end, there was no record. The young man retreated back into the crowd with his tail between his legs.

  In this way, everyone recited their prepared couplets one after another, and time slowly passed by. A fine rain fell from the sky, but it didn't dampen anyone's enthusiasm.

  Until the end, no one spoke up, and Ah Fu only recorded twelve couplets. Unfortunately, dozens of people below the stage had couplets that were really too poor to be considered elegant, but it was not their fault. After all, these were ordinary people, how could they compare with those geniuses?

  "Since no one was around, Shi Mou prepared a couplet for Li Yuanwai." Shi Sheng said slowly.

  "Please!" Li Yan glanced at Shi Sheng casually, seeing that the rain was getting heavier and heavier, just wanting to end it quickly so that everyone could go back. She felt that Shi Sheng's outfit made it difficult for him to come up with a good couplet, but she still politely said a sentence.

  "The upper couplet is: Good fortune flows like the eastern sea's long waters!" As soon as Shi Sheng finished reciting this line, everyone couldn't help but widen their eyes in surprise.

  "Excellent! Good fortune is overflowing, just like the endless waters of the East Sea. Today, including us, there isn't such a wonderful upper phrase!" A talented young man waved his folding fan, and Li Yan was also surprised.

  "Hey, I'm looking forward to the next part. Such a great first part, if the second part isn't well-written, it would be a pity!" A young man wearing white clothes and with a robust build stood beside Li Yan, smiling as he said this, causing Shi Sheng's eyebrows to furrow slightly.

  "This young master, please recite the next line!" Li Xuan's eyes sparkled with a hint of expectation as she gazed at Shi Sheng.

  "May you live as long as the southern mountain's ageless pines!" Shi Sheng finished reciting slowly, and the crowd applauded wildly. Not only did the people below the stage look at Shi Sheng with new eyes, but even the talented scholars on stage couldn't help but glance at him with a changed expression. The young man in white robes couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

  "Haha, what a great longevity comparable to the old pine tree on Mount Nanyue! I'd be content if I could live half as long. Haha, no need for further comments, reward this young man with 10 taels of silver... no, 20 taels!" Li was overjoyed, never expecting that among these uneducated people, someone would come up with such a brilliant couplet.

  "It's indeed clever, but I'm not sure if it was done by myself. This reward is probably not that easy to give him!" The white-clothed young man standing beside Li Yan spoke out again in rebuttal. (End of this chapter, next chapter will be more exciting.)

  (PS: Everyone, brothers and sisters, please collect and recommend, wow!!!)