Liuli and Shichan entered the house on the east side. Shichan lit a lamp on a dilapidated long table and sat facing Liuli behind the table. Paper was laid out in front of them. Shichan began to grind ink, while Liuli rested her chin on her hands and waited quietly.
The flickering candlelight illuminated Shi Chan's face, casting a warm glow. A gentle smile played on his lips as he looked down at the inkstone, his long eyelashes casting a small shadow on his face in the dim light.
Liuli stared intently at Shichan, her eyes gradually becoming deep and enigmatic, containing a hint of infatuation and love.
That gaze was so gentle that when Shi Chan inadvertently looked up and saw it, his heart skipped a beat, and a strange feeling slowly spread through him. Shi Chan couldn't explain what that feeling was; he just felt that Liu Li, illuminated by the lamplight, was too beautiful, so beautiful that she seemed otherworldly, more like a fairy from the celestial realm.
"Alright." Shi Chan coughed lightly, placed the inkstone in the middle of the table, and said with a gentle smile, "This humble monk will dictate, and the young lady can copy it down."
"Mm." Liuli nodded happily, dipped her brush in ink, and began to carefully copy the scriptures under the guidance of Shichan.
As a member of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan, Liuli is, after all, a lineage of divine beasts. Such ancient divine beasts often possess innate inheritances, such as methods for absorbing spiritual energy, instinctive physical movements, and the ability to transform into human form and learn human language and writing upon reaching adulthood. Because of these inheritances, divine beast races can gravitate towards humans, reducing some of their hostility. All of this represents the instinctive evolution of divine beast races after human cultivators have become powerful.
Because of these inheritances, Liuli could recognize human writing without learning it, and naturally she could write it by imitation. However, she rarely needed to write, and even when she could, she wrote very slowly, and her handwriting was crooked and extremely ugly.
At this moment, while writing a scripture, Shi Chan was slowly reciting another completely different scripture. He was doing both things at the same time, yet his mind was clear and not confused at all.
Writing was difficult, and the scriptures were also obscure and hard to understand. Before Liuli could even finish writing on a single sheet of paper, her eyes started to ache and her head was throbbing.
Her pen paused, her brows furrowed as she wrote a dozen more characters, then suddenly threw the brush down, clutching her head in despair, and cried out, "I'm not writing anymore! I'm not writing anymore!"
Shi Chan stopped dictating, looked up at her with amusement, shook his head and said with a smile, "If you're tired of writing, please take a break."
"I'm taking a break and I'm not writing anymore..." Liuli's little face scrunched up, and she said pitifully, "These scriptures are too difficult to write."
"Alright," Shi Chan said gently, "If you don't want to write it, then don't."
Liuli's small face slowly relaxed, and she rested her chin on her hands, tilting her head to look at Shichan's serious expression. The candlelight flickered and shone on his face, casting bright and dark shadows.
"Little monk." Liuli looked at him for a while, narrowed her eyes, and called out with a smile.
"Hmm?" Shi Chan looked up at her and asked gently, "What's wrong?"
Liuli leaned forward, resting her face on her crossed arms, her eyes smiling, and said earnestly, "I've found that I like you more and more."
Shi Chan's eyelashes trembled slightly, and his hand, which had been still for a long time, suddenly shook, causing a large drop of ink to drip from the tip of the brush. The ink spread on the paper, obscuring several characters.
He remained silent for a long time, unsure how to respond, his mind racing as he considered his words. After a long pause, he whispered, "...Thank you, young lady."
Liuli chuckled and said with amusement, "Silly monk, why are you thanking me?"
Zen Master still didn't know how to answer. After his lips trembled for a while, he lowered his head and began copying the scriptures again. He gave a single word that was irrelevant to the question: "...Yes."
"Silly monk..." Liuli's eyes curved into crescent moons as she asked with a smile, "Little monk, tell me, since I like you so much, do you like me back?"
Shi Chan's hand trembled slightly, pulling the brush to the side and leaving a long mark on the paper.
After a long silence without Shi Chan's reply, Liu Li watched as he lowered his head, not writing, as if he were in a daze. She pouted and frowned, pressing him for an answer: "Little monk, why aren't you saying anything? Tell me, do you like me or not?"
Shi Chan resumed writing, keeping his head down and not looking at Liuli's small face, and replied softly, "This humble monk... likes you, because you are a very important friend to me."
Liuli was initially delighted to hear the word "like," but after hearing Shichan's subsequent words, she became somewhat dissatisfied. After a moment of silence, she frowned and said unhappily, "Fine..."
Liuli stopped speaking, but lay on the table looking up at Shichan. Shichan, on the other hand, lowered his head and carefully copied the scriptures. The room fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of his pen swishing as he wrote.
Time passed slowly, and before we knew it, it was late at night. The noise outside had long since disappeared, and all was quiet.
Liuli yawned widely and said sleepily, "Little monk, do you still want to copy?"
Shi Chan looked up at her and said gently, "This humble monk wants to copy as many scriptures as possible, and I'm afraid I'll have to stay up all night. If you're sleepy, please go to bed."
"Okay." Liuli was really sleepy. She stood up, stretched, and said lazily, "Little monk, you shouldn't stay up all night. You should get some rest no matter what."
"Yes." Shi Chan nodded and said, "Thank you for your concern, young lady."
"Goodnight, little monk," Liuli greeted him, then lazily walked out.
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