Chapter 57 The Thousand Silk Mounds Found
Below each hanging willow branch are green cocoons.
Cocoons, densely packed.
Cocoons layer upon layer.
The deep, rich, deathly dark green cocoons; the thick, dense forest-like deep blue-green cocoons with a hint of brightness; the jade-like dark green cocoons; the verdant cocoons interwoven with the green of the mountains; the deep green cocoons with a touch of blue; and the tender green cocoons like scallion leaves.
Hundreds and thousands of cocoons.
Each cocoon hangs on a willow branch. The cocoons of different colors are made of thin willow branches wrapped together, one circle after another, with larger circles overlapping each other. Small circles contain large circles, which become the oval cocoons in front of us.
This technique looked strangely familiar. Shao Yanzhe quickly realized that this was the same technique he had used to tie up the corpse before.
He slowly approached the cocoons. The outermost cocoons were a vibrant green, full of plant vitality. As he got closer, he seemed to faintly hear weeping sounds emanating from within.
He stopped in his tracks and looked around. The cocoons in this space were layered upon layered, thousands of cocoons connected together, stretching from his eyes to the end of his line of sight.
He stroked his chin, looking at the scene before him. It looked somewhat familiar. Then he remembered what he found familiar: the scene was extremely similar to a scene from a movie he had once seen, where there were graves one after another, and the whole mountainside was covered with graves.
Shao Yanzhe's gaze fell on the cocoon closest to him, the one with the freshest color. He slowly walked over and stopped in front of it.
He reached out and placed his hand on the cocoon, feeling a cool breeze from it, as if he were touching a huge block of ice.
After thinking for a moment, he took out the jade hairpin pen again, and the literary characters combined to form a short dagger about the length of a palm. He then began to cut the huge cocoon in front of him.
Layer upon layer of willow branches were cut open, and countless twigs fell to the ground. As the cocoon grew smaller and smaller, the person wrapped in willow branches was revealed.
Shao Yanzhe stared at the face that emerged from the cocoon; this person was none other than Chen Xuyan, the owner of the corpse.
At this moment, Chen Xuyan had his eyes closed, his face was deathly pale, and he looked as if he were dead.
He tapped Chen Xuyan's face with the dagger. Chen Xuyan's eyelashes trembled, and he slowly opened his eyes. His unfocused pupils gradually focused, and he soon saw the person in front of him.
"Hurry...he...is coming..." he said with difficulty, his eyes filled with anxiety.
Shao Yanzhe remained calm and did not panic despite his reminder.
"Don't worry, let me let you out first."
As he spoke, he increased the speed at which he cut the willow branches with his short dagger, quickly cutting all the willow branches wrapped around Chen Xuyan and freeing him from the cocoon.
As soon as Chen Xuyan landed, he expressed his gratitude: "Thank you so much, brother! I have no way to repay your life-saving grace. If you ever need my help in the future, I will go through fire and water for you!"
Shao Yanzhe grunted twice to indicate that he had heard, but his gaze swept around and he saw the willow branches with cocoons hanging from them trembling and making a buzzing sound.
Chen Xuyan also noticed the commotion around him. He hid behind Shao Yanzhe and asked tremblingly, "Is it him?"
"It should be."
As soon as Shao Yanzhe finished speaking, the cocoons hanging on the willow branches began to slowly move upwards, revealing the tree trunk that had been hidden in the middle.
A hoarse voice, remarkably similar to Mr. Liu's, rang out.
"who?"
The sound was very loud and kept echoing in the space above.
Shao Yanzhe watched that direction warily. Soon, under the dim green light in the space, he could see clearly that in the middle was a tree trunk with an old face.
His face was covered with deep furrows from tree bark, making him look much more weathered than Mr. Liu.
"Mr. Liu?" Shao Yanzhe called out tentatively.
When his name was called, Mr. Liu looked at him and said, "Shao Yanzhe? It's you? What brings you out?"
Upon hearing Mr. Liu's words, Shao Yanzhe immediately understood that this Mr. Liu and the Mr. Liu in the appearance of the willow tree spirit were the same person, and their memories were interconnected.
There is only the memory of Mr. Liu during the day; there is no memory of the two Mr. Lius.
Then, Mr. Liu's gaze shifted back and he saw Chen Xuyan hiding behind Shao Yanzhe. His eyes widened suddenly: "Chen Xuyan!"
Upon hearing the angry voice call his name, Chen Xuyan immediately shrank back and hid behind Shao Yanzhe, trying to conceal himself.
"Did you release him?" Mr. Liu's gaze fell on Shao Yanzhe.
Shao Yanzhe nodded: "That's right, he's still alive and asked me for help, of course I have to save him."
Mr. Liu stared at the two of them with exasperation: "How could you two do this? You are actually very intelligent, but you are limited by your bodies and cannot give full play to your talents. You might as well discard your bodies and be reborn. That way, you will have a smarter body and it will be easier for you to pass the imperial examination, won't it?"
Upon hearing this, Shao Yanzhe thought that what he said made a lot of sense at first glance, but upon closer examination, it was full of problems.
Why must one be reborn if they fail the imperial examination?
Is it true that everyone is born destined to pass the imperial examinations, and if they fail, they should just die?
He recalled Mr. Liu's earlier words, "If you don't pass the imperial examination, you'll die," and frowned. Wasn't that idea too extreme?
"No way! I study to understand the principles of things, not to pass the imperial examination!" Chen Xuyan peeked out from behind and loudly refuted Mr. Liu.
Upon hearing this, Mr. Liu was furious.
"Hmph! Stubborn fool!"
As he spoke, countless willow branches attacked from mid-air, each one whistling through the air. At this rate, they would probably be turned into hedgehogs on the spot.
With a gentle flick of his jade hairpin pen, Shao Yanzhe channeled his literary energy into characters. Rows of characters gathered and arranged, instantly forming a wall of words that acted as a shield in front of the two, blocking the attacks from the willow branches.
"Um?"
Mr. Liu's gaze fell on the wall of text, and he began to read the contents of the article carefully. Liu Zhi's attack also paused in mid-air.
After he finished reading it, he began to point out its shortcomings, but of course, he didn't forget to pick out its strengths and praise them.
This made Shao Yanzhe both amused and exasperated. Shouldn't they be considered to be fighting right now?
How could someone like Mr. Liu pause the fight to revise the other party's article first?
However, Shao Yanzhe listened attentively, and when Mr. Liu finished correcting the errors, he didn't forget to bow and thank him, saying, "Thank you, Mr. Liu!"
"It's nothing."
"However, even if your article is good, you still need to be taught a lesson!"
After Mr. Liu finished speaking, the willow branches that had been suspended in mid-air launched another attack, fiercely assaulting the corrected article.
Chen Xuyan couldn't help but shrink back: "Brother Shao, can you still hold on? I think Mr. Liu really enjoys reviewing your articles, why don't you write another one?"
Shao Yanzhe glanced at him but didn't say anything.
Chen Xuyan pulled his head back: "I was just kidding."
Shao Yanzhe quickened his pace with the jade hairpin pen in his hand. Just as the wall of words in front of him was about to be broken, another wall of words appeared in front of him.
He continued writing, using his jade hairpin pen to write three more articles to block the way.
Chen Xuyan: "Brother Shao, well done!"
Shao Yanzhe: ...
Although this might temporarily halt Mr. Liu's attack, it wasn't a sustainable solution; he needed to find a way to break the current stalemate.
While Mr. Liu was reviewing the articles, he once again brandished his jade hairpin pen, and countless literary characters combined to form sharp swords. Thousands upon thousands of these swords were neatly arranged in mid-air, their tips extremely sharp.
With a slight flick of his pen, the sharp sword transformed into a rain of blades, attacking Mr. Liu.
Mr. Liu, who was engrossed in reviewing articles, raised his eyelids slightly, not taking the attack seriously.
He stretched out a hand, and suddenly, countless willow branches appeared, weaving into a huge green wall that blocked his way.
"Brother Shao! Mr. Liu actually imitated you!" Chen Xuyan exclaimed in disbelief.
A look of surprise flashed in Shao Yanzhe's eyes, but he did not intend to stop attacking. Instead, he increased the speed of the sword rain.
In an instant, countless swords disintegrated from the green wall, followed by the crackling sound of willow branches exploding.
Mr. Liu was surprised to find that the willow branches had not blocked the sharp swords. He had not expected that these attacks, which he considered child's play, could destroy the woven willow branches.
At the same time, he vaguely sensed that this literary energy was different from the literary energy he had encountered before, and that there seemed to be a strange energy within it that could restrain him.
If he had more of that energy, he probably wouldn't be a match for him.
Moreover, given Shao Yanzhe's current strength, if he wanted to capture the person, he would probably suffer serious injuries himself.
At that time, the surrounding monsters, who were eyeing him covetously, took the opportunity to attack him.
This made Mr. Liu hesitate about whether or not to let Shao Yanzhe leave.
He thought for a moment and said, "Shao Yanzhe, with your intelligence and talent, you are fully capable of passing the imperial examination. You don't need to be reborn. You can leave here, but Chen Xuyan cannot. He must be reborn."
Chen Xuyan: ...
You're no good! Your whole family is no good!
Shao Yanzhe did not agree. He immediately refused, saying, "No! I must take Chen Xuyan with me!"
If Chen Xuyan doesn't go back soon, his body will really turn into a corpse.
He might not know, but since it's happened to him, he's going to intervene.
Mr. Liu was unwilling to compromise, so he and Shao Yanzhe remained deadlocked for a while. Later, he realized that the willow branches damaged by the literary energy could never grow back. If they continued to be damaged, he might become the first willow tree in history without any branches.
His eyelids twitched, and he felt incredibly frustrated.
Seeing that Shao Yanzhe was about to attack again, he had no choice but to compromise.
"Stop! Here's what we'll do. Shao Yanzhe, once you finish this test and pass, I'll agree to let Chen Xuyan leave with you."
As he spoke, he saw Shao Yanzhe give up his attack and frown in deep thought, and he breathed a sigh of relief, but he did not show it on his face, still maintaining a stern and indifferent appearance.
"How is it?" he asked.
Shao Yanzhe glanced at Chen Xuyan behind him. His hand holding the jade hairpin pen was covered in sticky sweat. He couldn't help but feel fortunate that Mr. Liu had retreated in time. Otherwise, after this wave of attacks, his literary energy would not have been able to withstand the next attack.
So, he frowned slightly, made a reluctant agreement gesture, and nodded in agreement: "Okay, I agree."
At the same time, Mr. Liu and Shao Yanzhe breathed a sigh of relief.
Very good!
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