Chapter 34 Holding Your Hand (Self-Recorded): You Can't Go Out Naked.
Lou Yan became increasingly certain that he had been tricked.
I was locked in this temple for more than half a month, and all I did every day was copy books. My fingers developed thick calluses from the pen, and my knees were swollen and sore from kneeling.
However, Heng Qichun forbade him from using his spiritual power.
Lou Yan finished copying a whole sheet of paper, then couldn't help but kneel down and rub his wrists. He turned his head and looked at the book that still had more than eighty copies left, sighing in despair.
The ink was still wet, and the scent of lotus blossoms filled his nostrils, causing his thoughts to drift away.
When he first took human form, he made mistakes every day. He would either bite and break Heng Qichun's things or fight with the spirit beasts of Luduan Sect. Once, he even tried to go down the mountain without clothes on—but Heng Qichun caught him and gave him a good beating. After the beating, he was thrown onto the table and told, "You can't go out naked."
Until recently, when Nanyushan punished him by making him copy "Tongming Zhi", he had actually been copying the book all along.
But those books were all thin, so even if you were punished to copy them a hundred times, you could finish copying them quickly.
It's not like "The Record of Heavenly Secrets," but more like a book written in the heavens.
Lou Yan grumbled and wrote a few more words, but quickly gave up. His shoulders and wrists ached so much that he couldn't copy anymore.
He couldn't help but start to think about the source of this disaster—it certainly wasn't his own fault.
The blame lies with the person who compiled "The Record of Heavenly Secrets" back then. Why did he have to write such a thick book in the first place? Didn't he foresee that someone would later use it to punish his disciples by making them copy books?
Wait a moment.
Lou Yan paused in his arm-rubbing motion, then belatedly realized that the person who compiled "The Record of Heavenly Secrets" was his ancestor.
If he is watching from heaven, he probably can't hear his grand-disciple's complaints.
Lou Yan then thought again, then this matter should be blamed on his master.
They could have just stabbed him and given him a quick death, but instead they chose to punish him with this agonizing method, showing absolutely no regard for the wolf's life or death.
Lou Yan felt extremely regretful.
He was lost in thought and didn't even hear the footsteps behind him. He was clearly startled when Heng Qichun's voice interrupted his thoughts.
His master was already kneeling on the lotus-shaped prayer mat opposite him, holding the stack of copies he had made in his hands and examining them carefully, looking at each one page, his brow furrowing more and more tightly.
The first ten times it was passable, but the more you watch it, the less watchable it becomes.
With a loud bang, Heng Qichun slammed the entire stack of Xuan paper in front of Lou Yan, his tone full of reproach, "How could you write like this!"
Lou Yan glanced at the stack of papers without daring to breathe.
The ink on the top page wasn't completely dry yet. The tiny characters, no bigger than a jujube kernel, had distorted strokes and the ink was stuck together. Some characters were even blurred into a single mass.
It is indeed hard to look at.
But can we really blame him?
Lou Yan clutched his aching arm and couldn't help but lower his head. As an abandoned wolf, it was already quite an achievement to be able to recognize the complex writing system of the human world. He believed that his calligraphy skills were already at their peak, and if he were to have his fellow wolves appreciate it, he would surely become an object of worship for everyone.
But Heng Qichun clearly doesn't think so.
Lou Yan cautiously raised his eyes and saw that his master had gotten up from the futon, holding something that looked like a board in his hand, and walked around him to stand behind him.
Lou Yan shuddered, and the hairs on his body suddenly stood on end.
No way.
He's so old, why would he get his hands slapped by his master for not writing well?
Lou Yan subconsciously straightened her knees, already considering whether or not to reach out her hand.
Suddenly, the fragrance of lotus blossoms came near.
Heng Qichun stood close behind him, leaning over him to smooth out the clean Xuan paper on the table, then gently pressed the object in his hand against the edge of the paper.
It's not a wooden board, it's a paperweight that Lou Yan just carelessly left lying around.
Lou Yan still hadn't figured out what Heng Qichun was up to when he suddenly felt his arm lighten—Heng Qichun had gently gripped his wrist.
This seemed to be the first time Heng Qichun had ever grabbed his wrist in both his past and present lives.
Heng Qichun had long, slender fingers with tips as white as jade. He gently touched the back of his hand with his fingertips and said, "Take the pen."
Lou Yan instinctively picked up the rat-hair brush from the table.
Heng Qichun took his hand in his and guided him to dip it in the inkstone. The tip of the brush struck the edge of the inkstone, making a soft, gurgling sound. Then the brush landed on the Xuan paper, and Heng Qichun guided him to write the character "nine".
It is the first word in the first sentence of "The Record of Heavenly Secrets" and "The Nine Provinces in the Wild".
Heng Qichun was teaching him step by step.
"When writing this part, you need to put in force, and the strokes should be spread out, otherwise the characters will look like fly legs and be unpleasant to look at."
Heng Qichun's voice drifted into Lou Yan's ears. Lou Yan let out an "oh," and silently gripped the pen tightly, following his master's guidance, and buried himself in writing.
Actually, Heng Qichun is quite nice when you don't dislike him.
Despite the soreness in his arm, Lou Yan wrote a short line of text. He looked at it with satisfaction for a while and felt that he had exceptional comprehension. If he continued like this, he could probably surpass his senior master.
Before he could even enjoy his joy for long, Heng Qichun picked up the stack of copied text again, picked out dozens of pages with utter disgust, and said in a flat tone, "Burn all of these and rewrite them all."
Lou Yan's pupils dilated in shock.
Judging by the thickness, it must have been copied at least seven or eight times! If he keeps copying like this, it'll take forever!
Seeing that he didn't move, Heng Qichun didn't urge him. Instead, he made a hand seal and set the handful of Xuan paper in his hand on fire.
"Master!" Lou Yan suddenly sat up straight and reached out to salvage his handwriting, but fortunately Heng Qichun dodged and escaped unharmed.
Watching dozens of sheets of Xuan paper burn to ashes in Heng Qichun's hands, and seeing all his hard work over the past few days go to waste, Lou Yan felt a distinct sense of grievance.
He sniffed, pushed the pen away with his right hand, and then lowered his head without saying a word—it seemed as if he was lamenting the loss of those dozens of sheets of Xuan paper.
Heng Qichun raised his hand and pinched the space between his eyebrows, his expression turning cold.
I'm so tired.
Raising such a wolf cub from a young age, teaching him to eat and read, and explaining to him why he must wear clothes when going out.
Now, all he's asking is to copy a book for him, and he's doing it so reluctantly.
"Lou Yan," Heng Qichun sighed, looking at him, "what's gotten into you now?"
Lou Yan raised her head in disbelief, a hint of grievance in the corner of her eye, which overlapped with the beauty mark under her eyelid, adding a touch of ferocity to her expression.
But even with that same face, he tightly pursed his lips as he looked at Heng Qichun. After a moment of stalemate, he took another breath, rubbed his sore and swollen wrist in front of Heng Qichun, and grumbled, "My hand hurts!"
Heng Qichun seemed to be stunned for a moment, and didn't say anything.
After Lou Yan finished speaking, he lowered his head again and sulked. The temple was silent, except for the sound of flowing water and Lou Yan grinding his teeth.
People who have been demon lords have really bad tempers, and now they are beginning to regret why they didn't bite Heng Qichun's neck earlier.
Heng Qichun seemed to move slightly.
Lou Yan couldn't help but look up in the light of the hall, only to find that Heng Qichun had already knelt down again at some point.
He rolled up his sleeves, pushed aside the mess on the table, carefully picked out a stack of clean Xuan paper, smashed it with a paperweight, and then picked up his brush and began to write, stroke by stroke.
Lou Yan had excellent eyesight; he could barely make out the characters written by Heng Qichun by craning his neck.
The Nine Provinces lie untamed, the Six Realms of the Primordial World...
It really is the first sentence of "The Record of Heavenly Secrets"!
Thinking about it, it makes sense. Heng Qichun has cultivated for thousands of years and is already very familiar with the spiritual books and secret manuals in the Six Realms, let alone a beginner-level book like "The Record of Heavenly Secrets".
He probably already knows it by heart and can write it down from memory without even looking at the book.
only……
Lou Yan gritted his teeth and clenched his clothes, but he didn't expect that Heng Qichun would actually copy the book for him.
This feeling...this feeling is pretty strange.
It was as if his high and mighty master had finally stepped down from the altar and returned to being the kind person who had humbled himself and cleaned up his mess.
Honestly, if you don't dislike him, he's actually quite good.
Lou Yan thought to herself that this seemingly random thought had popped into her mind again, and she found it unbelievable—how could she have thought that Heng Qichun was a good person!
Am I really sick?
Lou Yan racked his brains to no avail. He stared at Heng Qichun's profile as he silently wrote for a long time. Finally, he resigned himself to his fate, moved his knees, and took half of the Xuan paper from his master's hand. He then began to copy the book stroke by stroke, following the example of the pages.
For nearly a month, the master and disciple had hardly left Shenxiao Palace.
Lou Yan copied books as soon as he opened his eyes every day. Apart from eating and sleeping, he spent all his time copying books. If he was willing to lower his head and whine pitifully in front of Heng Qichun, he would be fortunate enough to receive the favor of his master—Heng Qichun would generously pick up his pen and copy the books for him several times.
The copied texts on the desk were piled up to his calves. Lou Yan would count them again every night before going to bed. At this rate, he would be able to finish copying them all in less than a month.
He's going out! He's leaving!
The wolf is about to suffocate!
After finishing his count that day, Lou Yan happily hugged his quilt and went to sleep, but he had a strange dream that night.
In his dream, he was pinned down by a giant rock, unable to use any spiritual power. He cried out to heaven and earth in vain, and after struggling, he couldn't even make a sound.
He even vaguely wondered if he had returned to the feeling he had in his previous life when he was killed by Heng Qichun and could not be reincarnated, wandering the world as a lonely soul.
It was just as suffocating and heavy, making you wish you could die immediately.
Wait a moment……
Lou Yan struggled to raise his hands, trying to lift the "giant rock" on his body, but his hands were icy cold, as if they were some huge monster covered in scales.
He couldn't help but recall the mermaid that had led him to his death in his past life, and a chill ran down his spine.
Hmm!
Lou Yan suddenly shuddered and woke up from her dream.
Then his eyes met those of the Pixiu cub lying on his chest.
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Author's Note: Wolf: He's actually copying books for me...
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