"It's my pleasure."
"You're quite the smooth talker, much more tactful than your father," Luo Yi said with a laugh.
"I haven't used this gilded tribute ink before, so I'll give it a try." Qin Mu said, opening a box and taking out a round ink stick with gold threads attached.
At this time, the ink was not the square ink sticks that Qin Mu thought it was, but rather oval-shaped.
Adding a little water, Qin Mu slowly ground the ink. He found that grinding the ink allowed him to calm his mind and become more focused when writing.
The best Xuan paper costs the same as its weight in silver, and Qin Mu was reluctant to waste it, so he only took it out when Luo Yi asked him to write on it.
After checking the dimensions, Qin Mu knew what to expect. He picked up his brush and wrote the poem in one stroke. Then, he nodded in satisfaction and asked, "Master, are you satisfied?"
"You slut! Cousin, why did you write such a calligraphy for Grandpa?" Luo Tong asked, rubbing his nose.
"Hehe! You should stand on my side to see this." Ignoring Luo Yi, who was covered in black lines, Qin Mu said with a smile to Luo Tong, who was standing opposite him.
"Oh!" Luo Tong blinked, then walked over to Qin Mu, craned his neck to look, and said, "So it's frankness!"
"Your grandfather was always honest and upright; those two words perfectly describe him. I really don't know how else to comment," Qin Mu said, patting Luo Tong's head, mainly because he was worried that Luo Yi would beat him up later.
Luo Yi stroked his beard with great satisfaction, nodding as he looked on, becoming more and more pleased.
"We're still missing a seal."
"I'll carve one another day and then add it for you, my dear uncle."
"I had these two characters framed and placed in my study."
The ink used in the calligraphy has tiny gold particles in the characters, giving them a gilded appearance and a sense of grandeur and comfort.
"Not bad! Write a few more and hang them in the hall." Luo Yi said with satisfaction, then called a maid and asked her to have someone carve a seal for Qin Mu.
As the most powerful local tyrant in Youzhou City, this was nothing more than a trivial matter to him.
Qin Mu had no choice but to continue writing for him, which was a piece of cake for him. He treated it as calligraphy practice, and if Luo Yi wanted to hang it up, so be it. He wasn't embarrassed; it was others who would be.
I made one of each style: running script, cursive script, and seal script.
"Great virtue carries all things!"
"Harmony between heaven and earth brings wealth to the family; peace and good fortune bring happiness to the people."
"Harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things!"
It was both festive and easy to pronounce, and the seal was returned not long afterward.
"Huai Dao's Seal!" Four characters in clerical script. Although Qin Mu wasn't entirely satisfied, the material was excellent—flawless white jade. Even if Qin Mu didn't understand, he knew it was exceptional. But thinking about it, it was understandable; Luo Yi's family was wealthy and powerful, this little thing was nothing to them.
Without the many trivial matters of another world, Qin Mu only needed to focus on reading and learning to read, and he felt that he had made great progress.
He had little luggage, only two precious scrolls, which he carried with him. The next day, he followed Luo Cheng and left Youzhou, where he had lived for almost a month.
This time, Qin Mu finally understood why he was called the "Cold-Faced Silver Spear Handsome Luo Cheng." A silver spear, a suit of silver armor—he didn't look ostentatious at all; on the contrary, he was incredibly handsome. He'd probably be very popular with young women and wives.
Six other people went with him, one of whom was Lu Ce, who had been protecting him.
"They are my senior brothers, experts trained by my father since childhood, and the largest force in the Yan County Prince's Mansion," Luo Cheng introduced.
"Young Master, you flatter me." The five people turned to look at Qin Mu, only to realize that the speaker was actually blind.
"I'm not making this up. Ten years ago, who didn't know the famous Eighteen Riders of Yanyun?" Luo Cheng said seriously.
"The Eighteen Riders of Yanyun? I thought it was the Eighteen Banners of Yanyun." Qin Mu asked with some surprise.
Of course, this title is not something heard in this world, but rather a point of contention in another world: whether it refers to the eighteen individuals or the eighteen banner soldiers.
"Back then, our eighteen senior brothers terrified the bandits of Youzhou. After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Father disbanded them. Eight of them joined the army to lead troops, while the remaining six, concerned for Father's safety, stayed in the manor as guard commanders," Luo Cheng explained. Judging from his tone, he held these senior brothers in high esteem. Qin Mu guessed that the four he didn't mention were no longer alive.
"Hehe, don't listen to the young master's flattery. There are six of us who can't lead troops, so we can only serve as guards." It was the blind man who spoke, his eyes closed and somewhat sunken, his eyeballs probably gone.
“Young Master Qin, there’s no need to feel sorry. Although I can’t see, it doesn’t affect my life.” The blind man said with a smile, seemingly seeing through Qin Mu’s thoughts.
"Our eldest brother, Bu Fang, had his eyes destroyed by the snake people; our second brother, Bu Mang, is his own brother; our fifth brother, Zhang Shun; our seventh brother, Willful; and our ninth brother, He Cheng," Luo Cheng introduced.
"No rush, no rush. You can't really get busy even if you want to," Qin Mu muttered to himself.
"Our surname is Bu. The eldest brother's surname is Fang, which means direction, and mine is Mang, which means sharpness." The blind eldest brother, Bu Fang, and his younger brother, Bu Mang, explained to Qin Mu, whose eyes were fixed on them.
"Let's go! There's plenty of time to get to know each other along the way," Luo Cheng said.
After traveling for several days, Qin Mu finally understood why he had set off for Juyong Pass more than half a month in advance. The world was far larger than he had imagined. Along the way, there were many towering, uninhabited mountains that seemed to stretch endlessly into the clouds.
Sometimes, you can spend an entire day moving around at the foot of a mountain range, which gives you an idea of how big that mountain must be.
Through casual conversation, Qin Mu learned that these five former members of the Eighteen Riders of Yanyun, although they did not lead troops, were extremely skilled in martial arts. Even Luo Cheng could only avoid their sharp edge when facing the five of them working together.
The mountains are always shrouded in mist, especially in the early morning and evening, when one can only walk on foot with a horse.
Fortunately, none of the eight people were weak; they were all in good physical condition, so walking was nothing to them.
"Something's not right, the fog is getting thicker," Lu Ce, the oldest and most experienced, warned.
“That’s right. The mountains here aren’t very high, and we’ve been walking for half an hour. Logically, the fog should be getting thinner and thinner,” Bu Mang agreed.
"Could it be the weather?" Luo Cheng asked.
"No, dense fog is only possible in mountainous areas or by a river, and besides, it's not the right season," Lu Ce said, shaking his head.
As they spoke, they all stopped. Through their analysis, they all realized that something was wrong, and that moving forward rashly without understanding the situation would be unwise. They needed to discuss and devise a solution.
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