Chapter 23: The Birth of Flowers

  "Heaven and earth have a proper energy, mixed and flowing to form shapes. Below it becomes rivers and mountains, above it becomes the sun and stars. In humans it is called magnanimity, overflowing and filling the vastness of the universe. The imperial path should be clear and level, containing harmony and emitting brightness in the court. When time is exhausted, virtue appears, each one dripping with crimson and blue..."

  This stirring "Zheng Qi Song" is still fresh in Chen Jianchen's memory, and its original intention was to express a kind of unyielding and upright sentiment. However, he never expected that after traversing time and space, there would actually be "zheng qi" existing, and it would have great uses.

  Chen Jianchen took the Bi Xie pen, carefully examined it, and after finishing, he gently tapped the pen holder, hearing a clear and crisp echo that didn't seem like ordinary iron or wood materials. He brought it closer again, looked at the tip of the pen's hair, studied it for a while, and finally found an unusual place.

  White!

  On that cluster of plump and round brush heads, at the edge, there were two white hairs that did not have a single speck of ink on them, shining brightly, just like two shiny needles, pure white without blemish, with a crystal quality.

  The shape of the entire brush is very beautiful and smooth, let alone the pen holder, but the pen head is made from the hair of some animal, which has the four virtues of "sharpness, evenness, roundness and strength". It can be said that it is indeed "the tip of the brush is as sharp as a needle, and the hair is as sharp as an awl".

  Suddenly, two jade-like transparent hairs appeared on the pen tip, adding a touch of brightness and making the entire pen come alive as if it had acquired a spiritual aura.

  Chen Jianchen remembered it clearly, when he first crossed over, he studied the evil-warding brush dozens of times, looking at it back and forth, but didn't find any white hairs; in other words, the hair turning white should be something that happened later.

  He was even more fascinated by it and couldn't put it down, hoping to play with it and come up with some new tricks.

  But reality is reality, Chen Jianchen spent more than half a day, and the pen was still a pen, he was still him.

  Alas...

  The time has not come yet.

  He put down his pen and saw Yining standing upright on one side, as if she had something to say, so he said: "Yining, you don't have to be afraid, I won't harm you."

  Then she saw Yin Ning kowtowing on the ground, tears streaming out like a spring, dripping and flowing onto the floor.

  Chen Jianchen smiled and helped it up.

  Ying Ning hesitated for a moment, then suddenly took up paper and pen and wrote: "Ying Ning dares to ask the young master to take action and stand up for Xiao Hu."

  Chen Jianchen was taken aback for a moment, but quickly understood its meaning: "You want me to go deal with that wolf demon?"

  "If you, young master, help Yining avenge her great grievance, Yining will from now on be eternally grateful and repay your kindness. If I go back on this oath, may heaven and earth not tolerate me!"

  The little white fox's attitude was very resolute.

  Chen Jianchen chuckled: "Ying Ning, even if you didn't speak up, I wouldn't let the wolf demon off. This demon's behavior is cruel and it's been wreaking havoc in the countryside, how could I just sit back and do nothing?"

  With a righteous aura in his brush, it was as if he had gained magical powers, and his waist straightened up instantly. Moreover, according to his speculation, the secret of the demon-expelling brush must be activated in actual combat, which meant vanquishing demons and exerting the power of righteousness. Otherwise, no matter how many words he wrote, they would all be useless scraps of paper.

  The wolf demon in front of him was the best experimental subject.

  Yin Ning was overjoyed upon hearing this and thanked him repeatedly with bows.

  The two of them soon came up with a feasible plan to "lure the wolf into the house and catch the turtle in a jar".

  The biggest feature of this plan is that Chen Jianchen and Yin Ning do not have to put themselves in danger - doing so, of course, is due to Chen Jianchen's inadequate understanding of the use of the evil-warding brush.

  The discussion came to an end and everyone retired for the night.

  Lying in bed, Chen Jianchen was still excited, with his hands under his head, and it took a while to fall asleep.

  That night, he had a dream in which he soared through the Five Mountains and Four Seas, then rose straight up to the clouds, gazing out over the vast expanse of the land below, where he saw majestic mountains and rivers, and thriving people, his spirit invigorated, he took up his brush to compose a poem.

  In his dream, he stood proudly in the sky, with the blue sky as his desk and white clouds as paper. As he began to write, inspiration burst forth, and the brush head shot out brilliant light, dazzling and resplendent, bursting into a five-colored, magnificent flower...

  "My brush is as talented as Li Bai's, but I am not Li Bai."

  The next day, Chen Jianchen woke up leisurely and couldn't help but smile at himself.

  After washing up and having breakfast, he immediately went back to his study to start work. Meanwhile, Yin Ning cleverly hid herself on the top of a high bookshelf, keeping a safe distance as she peeked out to wait.

  But then Chen Jianchen unfolded sheet after sheet of white paper and picked up a brush to write on it, what he wrote was "The Righteous Qi Song" ——

  "Heaven and earth have a proper energy, mixed and flowing to form shapes. Below it becomes rivers and mountains, above it becomes the sun and stars. In humans it is called great harmony, overflowing and filling the vastness of the universe. The imperial path should be clear and level, containing harmony and spitting out brightness in the court. When time is exhausted, virtue appears, one by one hanging vermilion and blue..."

  "...is the majestic energy, forever preserved in its severity. When it penetrates the sun and moon, life and death are at peace. The earth relies on it to stand, the heavenly pillar relies on it to be honored..."

  He devoted his whole body and mind to it, his heart following the brush, ink born of intention, a single breath bringing it to completion. The final line "Wind and eaves unfold books, ancient paths illuminate colors" was just right. A perfect "Ode to Righteous Energy" was written on ten sheets of white paper.

  "Hurray!"

  After finishing, Chen Jianchen slammed the table and sighed, seeing that the ten sheets of white paper had flying characters, dripping ink, and every word had a spirit, which was really his most satisfying work since practicing calligraphy. Looking at himself again, he found that he had actually sweated all over, wetting his undershirt, just like after finishing a session of Jeet Kune Do.

  Writing is no easy task, it's mentally and physically exhausting!

  Turning back to take another look, the little white fox on the bookshelf had shrunk into a ball, its body trembling slightly, its head buried deep and not daring to lift it up half an inch.

  At first, when Ning started watching, she didn't think there was anything wrong, but the more she watched, the more frightened she became, and every time she tried to figure out the meaning of those lines of poetry, as soon as she got a little into it, her head would ache terribly, like being stabbed with needles, knowing that something was not right, she quickly buried her head and didn't dare to continue watching.

  Yin Ning's performance greatly boosted Chen Jianchen's confidence.

  "What's the name of this poem, young master?"

  Chen Jianchen folded up all the words and packed them away before Yin Ning dared to come down.

  "Zheng Qi Song was written by a respected gentleman I admire."

  Yin Ning didn't ask much more, thinking that using "Zheng Qi Song" to carry the righteous energy was truly apt.

  Chen Jianchen came out of the study, just wanting to go out, when Mo Sanniang called him back and said: "Liu Xian, where are you going?"

  "I feel like going for a walk outside."

  "Right now, there are wolves outside, it's dangerous, you'd better not go out. I heard this morning that Ah San from the neighboring village was bitten to death by a wolf on the road and had his heart eaten, it's really terrifying; it's said that Zhang Li has already gone to Jiangzhou City to report to the authorities, but the government replied that wolves eating people should be handled by local hunters, it's a small matter, no need to use official personnel...... I think those officials just want money, and also want carriages, horses, and labor fees."

  A San was actually bitten to death by a wolf, could it be the work of that wolf demon again?

  Chen Jianchen's heart skipped a beat, but he became even more determined to kill the wolf demon, saying: "I'm just taking a walk on the edge of the village, it doesn't matter, now that it's broad daylight, I reckon the wolf wouldn't dare to appear."

  Saying so, he didn't wait for his mother's nagging and went out the door.