Chapter 3: Painting Symbols

  For the entire afternoon, half of "Shan Hai Jing" was poured into Shi Yian's brain. Those obscure and difficult-to-understand sentences jumped around in his mind, and by dinner time, they had transformed into various strange ancient creatures. These birds and beasts with three heads and six arms were fighting wildly in his brain, feathers flying everywhere.

  "My poor nephew must have been tormented by his wooden uncle today, his eyes are all dull." The young uncle walked in leisurely with a fan and sat down beside Shi Yian.

  "I'm afraid to speak now, I fear that the strange birds and beasts in my mind will run out of my mouth as soon as I say something." Shī Yì ān swallowed his last bite of rice and spoke slowly.

  Young uncle slammed his fan shut with a "pa" sound and smiled as he announced: "Tomorrow I'll be the one teaching you!"

  。

  。

  After dinner, Shi Yi'an returned to Si Wei's residence. At this time, Yun Mo was repairing the wooden window on the wing room.

  "Yunmo, how long have you been here?" Shi Yi'an looked at him as he took down the already broken window paper and pasted a new one up with ease.

  "I'm a bit late, it was probably during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong that it was completed. The Shi family has never been prosperous in terms of population, and although the house occupies a large area, there are not many courtyards." Yun Mo said while repairing.

  About the content of Yunmo's answer, Shiyuan didn't understand a single sentence, including every punctuation mark. The time he came to Shifu's house and how many courtyards in Shifu's house had nothing to do with each other, and who was Emperor Shen Zong? Shiyuan was an engineering student, and he didn't know much about those numerous emperors in history, but at least he knew that this emperor should be from the Ming Dynasty. It turned out that this was the legendary feeling of being unclear and terrifying.

  "Did I hear a girl's voice here yesterday? Are they living nearby?" Shi Yi'an asked.

  Yun Mo stopped what he was doing and thought for a moment before saying, "No, there's only one woman in the house, Miss Sun, but she hasn't been home recently."

  "I'm not asking about women, I'm talking about kids, around 4 or 5 years old, about this tall." Shi Yian gestured with his hand on his thigh. He had just seen a few little girls like that when he was thinking about the crisis of his living situation, and before he could even approach them, they were scared off and ran away in all directions. This deeply hurt Shi Yian, who usually thought he looked pretty good.

  "Oh, you're talking about them? They're just some peach blossom spirits who have just cultivated human form." Yun Mo's tone was as if he was telling Shi Yi An that the ones in the plate were just a few steamed buns, so casual.

  " Peach Blossom Spirit?" Alright, it's said that they're a thousand-year-old Tian Shi family, and now with the Peach Blossom Spirit, it seems to match the script. However, Shi Yi'an stared tightly at Yun Mo and said: "You won't be some kind of demon spirit too, will you?"

  Yun Mo continued to stick window paper and said in a relaxed tone: "I'm not."

  Upon hearing Yun Mo's negative response, Shi Yi'an let out a gentle sigh of relief, but this breath was only halfway released when he heard Yun Mo continue: "I am Fang Ling."

  "Fang Ling?"

  "The soul of a house is just like the soul of a room." Yun Mo pressed the last piece of window paper on and smoothed it out with a tool. In Shi Yi An's eyes, Yun Mo's movements when pasting the window paper were gentle, just like those women applying skincare products to their skin.

  Shi Yi returned home like a ghost, making up his mind that he had to leave as soon as possible, or else he would become mentally ill.

  On the second day, at dawn, when a faint light had just appeared on the horizon, Shi Yi'an quietly slipped out of Si Wei's residence. The small wheels under his suitcase jumped and rattled on the stone path in the Peach Blossom Forest, making a loud noise that was particularly noticeable in the quiet morning.

  He walked all the way out of Si Wei's residence without encountering anyone, until he reached the gate and saw an old man with a shaved head sitting by the door. The old man was sitting in a chair behind the door, dozing off with his head lowered, wearing a vest that was impossible to discern its original color. When Shi Yi An approached with his luggage, his heart inexplicably racing wildly. The old man lifted his head upon hearing the noise.

  The old man's left eye socket was not an eyeball, but a bloody hole that pierced through the entire skull, and a faint light could be seen shining from the back of his brain. Seeing Shi Yian, the old man smiled and asked respectfully: "Young Master Sun is going out so early?"

  "Hmm." Shi Yian was still staring at the blood hole in a daze. The gurgling sound from the blood hole flowed out, and the old man casually wiped it away with his hand, erasing the blood. Watching his skilled movements, Shi Yian felt a tickle in her throat.

  The old man creakily opened the door and asked if he needed help with his luggage. Shi Yi thanked him but declined, fearing that he would get blood on him.

  Just as Shi Yi'an was about to pick up his luggage, he was stunned by the scene in front of him. Outside the door was a dense forest, with layer upon layer of leaves covering the path. The two stone wolves at the entrance were also covered in ivy, and their majestic appearance was gone.

  "This is called the Qimen Dunjia technique." His uncle's voice came from behind him, wearing a light green short-sleeved shirt today, which was less frivolous than usual.

  "It means I won't be able to run away." Shi Yinan turned his head and asked.

  "When you master the art of breaking through, such small tricks won't be able to hold you back. In fact, your work and all that can be found at any time, but having the opportunity to explore an unknown world is a rare chance." Xiao Shu took the suitcase from Shi Yian's hand, snapped his fingers to summon a black mist, and instructed the dark shadow to send Shi Yian's things back to Si Wei Residence. After going through so much, Shi Yian had become calm and collected, he knew that nothing was impossible in this mansion. If an alien were to appear here now, he would definitely smile and say hello.

  "How did you know I was here?" Shi Yian asked. He hadn't seen anyone else on the way, and it wouldn't be someone else spreading the news either.

  Young Master's arm was casually placed on Shi Yian's shoulder, playing with his fingers, and he said distractedly: "If I say it's calculated, a scientific guardian like you will definitely not believe it, so just assume I'm guessing."

  "What was that black fog just now?" Shi Yian asked.

  "My guardian, but the big black one's attack power is relatively low, so usually it can only be summoned to do some errands. " As he spoke, the young uncle found another guardian, a majestic and powerful monster with golden armor, four hooves and two heads, its eyes glowing red. Shi Yu An stood near the double-headed monster, close enough to smell the mixture of stomach acid and rotting food in its mouth. He was so overwhelmed by the smell that he stumbled backward two steps. "What do I need to learn to have this?"

  "Every family member who can come out of the house can go to the back hall to find their own guardian." The little uncle took that strange thing back.

  "So it's just choosing a guardian that you like?" Shi Yian asked again, at least he was now somewhat interested.

  "Essentially, it should be the guardian who chose you, and not every capable family member has a guardian. In your generation, there isn't one for Shifu Yiheng either. Alright, now is not the time to discuss guardians, although your talent is good, but it's also not something that can be achieved in a short period of time."

  The two were talking and had already returned to the study of Si Wei's residence. Xiao Shu immediately found a book from among the many books stored in Si Wei's residence, with the cover written "Introduction to Children's Painting Symbols".

  ……

  "I'm going, whose family's kid learns this kind of thing."

  "All direct and collateral relatives of the Shifu family will learn, but the difference lies in their different talents, so the effect of using them is also different." Xiaoshu pulled out a stack of talismans and continued: "Try it, it's not more difficult to draw than those organic chemistry molecules you had in college."

  Shi Yi'an picked the simplest one with a black line on his face and tried it out, drawing it out like a primary school student.

  "It's calming, but the drawing is terrible." Little uncle took a glance at the yellow talisman on the table and stretched out his hand to stick it onto the wall beside.

  "The first piece of advice I want to give is that your level determines the talisman's ability. If you forcibly use a talisman that doesn't match your abilities, it may backfire."

  "Fu papers come in different colors such as blue, yellow, pink, green and red. The deeper the color, the higher the magic required. However, except for yellow fu paper, other colors are now rarely seen. As for the ink used to draw the fu, cinnabar and chicken blood are commonly used. The principle is to use whatever is available."

  “……”

  "But it's said that the first generation head of the family, Shi Zhi, could use Taoist magic to write talismans on paper, but I've only heard about it and have never seen anyone else do it."

  Shi Yi'an listened to his younger uncle's words while carefully drawing the last, extremely complex talisman. Suddenly, a flame ignited on the paper, unlike any ordinary fire. The burning talisman quickly set other objects on the table ablaze, and everything that caught fire turned to ashes instantly. The fierce flames licked at Shi Yi'an's clothes, prompting him to stand up and take a step back, preparing to find something to put out the fire. His younger uncle grasped at the air with his five fingers, pulling out a blue talisman, and shouted "Extinguish!"

  The flame on the table was like being wrapped in something invisible, slowly shrinking towards the middle, and went out with a "puff", leaving only a table of ashes, and the half-burned "Introduction to Children's Painting" book.

  "Yunmo, trouble you to clean up here, we go to the book pavilion to find another book of painting symbols." Xiaoshu looked at the burned table with a lingering fear, and made a begging gesture to Yunmo who was standing at the door with a dark face.

  Yun Mo sensed it the moment the talisman paper caught fire. Any stir in the Si family's residence couldn't escape his perception. The two good-for-nothings were burning the desk in the study room, and he naturally discovered that as well.

  "Sorry, sorry." Shi Yi An Zhen didn't expect that drawing talismans could actually cause a fire, it seems like she needs to be more careful in the future.

  The two of them walked out of the Siwei residence, passing by the Peach Blossom Forest and the courtyard where Dabo lived. Dabo was standing at the entrance with a tall, stout woman, chatting. When he saw the two passersby, he greeted them with a "good afternoon".

  "What's the big deal so early in the morning?" asked Xiao Shu.

  "Lao San hasn't returned until now, I'm afraid something has happened to him. Tell Wen Xiu to go take a look." Da Bo explained.

  Young uncle smiled lightly and said: "What can happen, I think with old three's level, you can rest assured, but let Wenxiu go take a look, maybe she can help with something."

  The elder uncle nodded and sent the tall and sturdy woman away.

  "What's his name?"

  "It's Big Brother's protection." Xiao Shu explained, and then continued to say: "Although Wenxiu is a bit rough but the speed is fast enough and things are done carefully."

  "Can protection still be human?"

  "To be precise, the guardian can't be human, it just has a human-like form." Xiaoshu opened the door to the bookcase and was immediately choked by the dust that puffed out, coughing repeatedly. Covering his nose, he said: "Cough, I'll go find you a book on talismans, take a look at what other books you like, cough, help yourself."

  The bookshelf looked like it hadn't been used in years, with thick dust piled on various books that made you choke when moved. Shī Yǐ ān pulled out a relatively clean-looking book, shaking off the gray dust from the cover. These books were nothing but things like "I Ching" and "Zi Wei Dou Shu", which were not of much interest to Shī Yǐ ān.

  The only book that sparked his interest was an ancient erotic art book, but due to its age, the books were not well-maintained and many of them had been left in a damp corner, causing their pages to stick together. Shi Yinan rubbed his nose as he took out several moldy books from the bottom shelf and placed them in a dry spot.

  There is a book here that has been left for so long that green mold has grown on its cover.

  She barely recognized a "hand" character on the cover, but considering how disgusting the cover was, Shī Yǐ ān put the book on the desk by the window and ignored it.

  A little later, Shu Uncle asked Shi Yian to reflect on the danger of her residence and continue drawing symbols according to the new book. He then hastily left. Shi Yian sighed, looking at the words and paintings in the book with a worried face. When can such days come to an end?

  At night, Shi Yi'an bound all the talismans he had drawn into a book and prepared to hand them over to his younger uncle as "homework". With nothing better to do, he suddenly remembered that there was also an older cousin living in this house whom he had never met. He vaguely recalled his eldest uncle mentioning that this older cousin lived in the easternmost part of the mansion. Since he would be living here for a while, having someone around his age didn't seem so bad after all.

  The house where Shī Yì lived was not close to the Sī Wēi residence, and Shī Yì walked for nearly twenty minutes under the scorching sun before arriving. As he hesitated at the door, wondering how to enter the courtyard, he heard someone inside say: "Don't linger at the door, come in quickly."