Chapter 73: Blue Moonlight (Part 2)

Chen Wenjian lit the second lamp and covered the candle with a gauze lampshade to prevent the glare and sparks from damaging the already poorly preserved bamboo slips.

He went to the cold spring outside the courtyard and fetched half a basin of water. He took down a few porcelain bottles from the bookshelf and poured different doses of powders of different colors into the basin. After stirring them evenly with a large bamboo brush, he changed to a bamboo brush the size of a writing brush, dipped it in the prepared liquid, and evenly applied it on the flattened bamboo slips.

The soft brush removed the dust and stains from the bamboo strips’ grain, gaps and indentations, allowing the slightly blurred characters to slowly reveal their true appearance while deepening the mottled ink marks.

Next, Chen Wenjian brought out pen, ink, hemp rope and a roll of blank wooden slips, added color and ink to the old bamboo slips, strung them together tightly with new hemp rope, then poured water to wash his hands, and copied the contents of the bamboo slips onto the blank wooden slips one by one.

Chen Yunli squatted in a corner of the bamboo slips and watched the whole process. Surprisingly, he did not find it boring. Instead, he saw a bit of artistic sense like the rippling of flowing water in his slow and relaxed movements.

Chen Wenjian in this world is very different from the one in the previous two worlds. He is calm, indifferent, and full of bookish air. Even the dim and shabby room cannot conceal the gentle and elegant emanation from him naturally.

While Chen Wen was copying the bamboo slips, Chen Yunli flapped his wings and landed lightly on the edge of the wooden slips. Taking advantage of the fact that he couldn't see him, he squatted in the center of his field of vision and read the contents of the bamboo slips.

This is a short text that does not specify the historical background and is like an essay.

I was passing by Mingquan when I came across an old man playing chess under a pine tree. I stopped to watch. The situation was tense, but there was no further progress. I knew it was an endgame, and I couldn't help but feel itchy.

I tried to complete it, and the moment I made my move, I suddenly found myself in an abyss. Before my eyes, there were towering peaks, cascading waterfalls, a jade wheel hanging in the sky, and a white shadow in the moon. I walked on the snow and clouds, with a bowstring fully drawn.

Before I could take a closer look, the illusion had shattered into pieces like rain, the chessboard was overturned, the pieces were scattered all over the ground, and the old man had disappeared without a trace.

Chen Yunli read through the entire text at a glance, and Chen Wenjian's brushstrokes were just at the end. The handwriting flowed like clouds and water, flowing smoothly in one go, with a clear and elegant demeanor and a refined style.

He put down his brush, and Chen Yunli flapped its wings and landed on the side of the inkstone. Its long antennae folded inward, forming two delicate question marks.

Is this the record of Jian Ling's birth? Can this even be called a historical record?

Don't tell him that the protagonist is the old man who lured the author into a fantasy world and then disappeared.

Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Chen Wenjian's gentle and affectionate voice: "It is you."

Who is it? The author or the old man?

Chen Yunli chased after him curiously. His eyebrows curved slightly, and his smiling gaze fell on the second paragraph. He gently tapped the four words "White Shadow in the Moon" with his index finger and repeated it with emphasis: "It's you."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yunli carefully read the text again, and when he glanced at the "illusion", he suddenly understood.

This article is the carrier of Jian Ling's birth. The background must be in the ancient times. The chess game illusion that the author accidentally entered may not just be an illusion, but a real place, or a small world created by a master.

On the top of a thousand-foot-high mountain, the bright moon hangs in the sky, there are waterfalls and springs, thin clouds and white snow.

There is no doubt that he is the protagonist. The white shadow in the moon is definitely Bai Yueguang!

"So he was waiting here," Chen Yunli said in a voice only he could hear. "But who exactly is this person? And how did you find this bamboo scroll among the vast sea of ancient books and historical records, and how can you be sure that Bai Ying is the person you are looking for?"

Chen Wenjian lifted a lampshade and blew out the candle, then picked up another lamp and walked to the bookshelf in front. He raised the candlestick to illuminate the densely packed books above, shining his light as he walked, and his fingers stroked the spines of the books, new and old.

He said, "From the moment I heard your name in anecdotes, my obsession with you surged like a rootless sea, surging without reason. I scoured history books for you, studied diligently to gain admission to Songfeng Academy, and followed your footsteps for a year, ten years, even the rest of my life, piecing your life apart from the complex and indistinguishable records, then piecing them together, trying to depict your presence and life."

"Unfortunately, human power is limited. I am a mortal, and I am afraid that I will never be able to achieve this wish in my lifetime. If your soul is still here, and you remember my piety, would you be willing to come into my dream tonight and talk to me?"

Having said all, Chen Wenjian stopped at the end of the bookshelf, leaned against the window and looked up. The moon in the sky was as bright as the one in the fantasy world in the book.

The artistic conception is good and beautiful, but the dust and clouds have numb the whole butterfly.

He took back his words praising Chen Wenjian for being peaceful. Maybe he was the craziest person in this world.

Because he accidentally heard the name of a historical figure, he became obsessed with him and made pursuing his life goal. Chen Yunli is a vulgar person, and when faced with such a person, he can only describe him in one word: lunatic.

Chen Wenjian didn't know what he was thinking about. The corners of his lips curled up, and he waved his sleeves to sweep away the bamboo leaves that fell on the windowsill. The shadows of the bamboo in front of the window were as dark as ink, the wind rustled, and the night was getting late.

He looked back at the table and Chen Yunli subconsciously retracted his wings, but soon remembered that he couldn't see him now, so there was no need to be so nervous, and he relaxed.

Sure enough, Chen Wenjian seemed unaware of his presence. He tidied the table, put the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone back in their respective places, then turned off the lights and lay down to rest.

Chen Yunli breathed a sigh of relief and flew up. The slender silver-white butterfly drew a dreamy arc in the air and landed lightly on the head of the bed.

Chen Wenjian closed his eyes and fell asleep, and he shook his wings and jumped towards Chen Wenjian's eyebrows.

A flash of light appeared in the air, and Jian Ling's innate skill was activated.

The world of Nan Ke is created by Huang Liang.

I'm sorry, Mr. White Moonlight, I'll take your place in your dream tonight.

…

"This place...is it his dream?"

Chen Yunli's body sank, and after transforming from a butterfly into a human form and landing on the ground, what he saw when he looked up was not the colorful and confusing dream scene, but the black and white that blended together yet clearly distinguished.

It is like a stream-of-consciousness ink painting, with ink strokes scattered randomly in the pure white square space, flowing like semi-solidified liquid.

Chen Yunli reached out to touch it and scooped up a handful of black and white mist. It was a solid substance, but it disappeared in an instant.

For no reason, he thought of the wooden slips and ink used by Chen Wenjian to copy. The dream space should be the result of his obsession with collecting someone's life story. Since his obsession has not yet been fulfilled, there are only messy and unwritten ink marks in the dream.

“Da, da, da…”

The sound of ethereal footsteps suddenly echoed around him, as if someone was walking towards him on the glass-covered water surface.

Chen Yunli turned around suddenly and saw a dense rain curtain falling from the sky inexplicably. The owner of the dream was holding a bamboo umbrella with a white background and red plum blossoms, looking at him quietly.

The two looked at each other across the rain, and Chen Yunli didn't know how to react.

After a long while, Chen Wenjian spoke first: "I'm dreaming, right?"

"Dreamers don't realize they are dreaming." Chen Yunli explained, "However, this is indeed the place where your dream is."

Chen Wenjian raised his thin lips slightly and looked around: "It's not what I expected, too ordinary."

Just as Chen Yunli was about to respond, his gaze suddenly turned back and landed on Chen Yunli again: "You are not ordinary, you are too dazzlingly beautiful. It is obvious that you are not the existence in my dream. Who are you?"

That's good, it saves me the trouble of explaining.

With these few words, Chen Yunli regained the rhythm of getting along with him in the previous two worlds. He put his hands on his hips and said, "I am Jian Ling, born from the bamboo scroll you repaired today. The reason I am standing here is..."

"You used Jian Ling's innate ability, the Huangliang Dream." Chen Wenjian interrupted slowly... no, took over his words.

As he spoke, he moved forward with his umbrella, closing the distance between him and Chen Yunli in an instant, enveloping him beneath his umbrella. Raindrops pounded against the umbrella like Chen Yunli's out-of-tune heartbeat.

"Tell me, why did you fall into the dream?" Chen Wenjian reached out and stroked his temples. He withdrew his hand before he could bounce away. In his palm, there appeared a green butterfly with its wings flapping, ready to fly.

That was Chen Yunli's "true body".

Chen Yunli's eyes widened: "You've already discovered me?"

Chen Wenjian smiled faintly. "What a beautiful butterfly! I thought I stumbled upon you by mistake, so I didn't disturb you. If I had known you were Jian Ling, you wouldn't have bothered to enter my dream. You could have just told me directly if you had anything to say."

Chen Yunli glanced at him and always felt that there was something bad going on under his gentle and kind smile.

"Well, since you know who I am, I'll get straight to the point," Chen Yunli said. "I heard what you said in front of the bookshelf. You want to collect the life experience of a certain person mentioned in the bamboo slips. I can help you."

Chen Wenjian smiled noncommittally: "Do you know who he is?"

"Hmm...that white shadow in the moon." Chen Yunli didn't know it, but it didn't prevent him from pretending to have everything under control. "I am Jian Ling. As long as the people, events, and things recorded in the bamboo slips that raised me are close to the existence related to them, I will be able to sense them. Do you think I can help you?"

The hand gripping the umbrella handle tightened, and Chen Wenjian took another step closer: "I have never heard of Jian Ling having this ability."

"You're human, how could you possibly know the secrets of the Jian Ling clan?" Chen Yunli lied with his eyes wide open. "Besides, there's no benefit in lying to you. I'll tell you if it works or not once I come across something related. You won't suffer any loss anyway, so why don't you trust me this time?"

Chen Wenjian was silent for a while: "Tell me your conditions."

"There are no conditions. The person you're pursuing is also someone I want to understand." Chen Yunli extended his fingers to lift the blue butterfly in his palm. "If I have to give a reason, it's that I'm new in this world and have no place to go. I want to find something to serve as the first foothold of my butterfly life. How about this? Is this acceptable to you?"

Chen Wenjian pondered for a long time, his drooping eyelashes moved and slowly lifted.

He tilted the umbrella to block the increasingly dense rain for Chen Yunli. His sleeves were blown by the wind, brushing against Chen Yunli's temples and fluttering along with his hair.

"Okay, I accept."

Chen Yunli opened her eyes slightly and looked at him, seeing her own appearance in his clear eyes.

The face was still the same, handsome and handsome, with delicate features, but the clothes had changed, the hair had grown longer, and it was decorated with fancy vines, flowers, and branches. The complicated hair accessories hung and swayed from the tips of the ears, making it look like a butterfly wrapped in flowers.

Sparkling and bright, "dazzling" in the physical sense.

"Then... happy cooperation?" Chen Yunli tilted his head and extended his hand to him.

Chen Wenjian was stunned, and his eyes flashed with some unknown emotion for a moment, and then returned to a deep and calm state.

He held Chen Yunli's hand and smiled slightly, "It's a pleasure to work with you, Little Butterfly."