Rune

Chapter 5 Downhill

The early morning in Yucheng was exceptionally quiet. There were not many pedestrians on the road. The small merchants moved the tables and chairs out of the shop. The base of the bluestone wall was damp, which added a little bit of weakness to the October weather. .

Xu Baiyan got up early, and the restaurant hadn't opened yet, so he went to the noodle restaurant opposite to eat a big bowl of noodles.

There is no marinade, just white noodles, drizzled with some soy sauce, but Xu Baiyan ate very deliciously, and when the noodle soup was finished, he rubbed his stomach to make sure that there were no oil splashes on the white school uniform, and then got up, He thanked the owner of the noodle shop and walked towards the school.

The school in Yucheng was built at the entrance of an alley in the northwest corner, and it was built by the government, while the schools in Daqin were almost all carved out of the same mold. Except for the different areas, the edges and corners of each building are the same , even if it is a foreigner who comes, he only needs to look at it to recognize it.

Before the hour passed, the school door opened, Xu Baiyan was still the first one to come, greeted the uncle who opened the door, and walked towards the hall.

In the hall, there are rows of small tables with futons under the tables. During class, students will sit cross-legged and listen to the teacher's lecture.

Since it is a small town, there is only one school, so the classes here are not separated, everyone is in the same hall, the beginners sit in the front, and the rest sit in the back.During the lecture, the teacher will talk about the content that has nothing to do with you. You can listen to it if you want, and you can study or sleep if you don’t want to listen, as long as you don’t make any noise or snore.

Xu Baiyan came to his seat and sat down. Now he was the only one in the hall, and he had nothing to do, so he picked up the sand table by the table and began to practice calligraphy on it with wooden sticks.After practicing for a while, some small footsteps finally came from outside the hall, the chatting and joking words gradually became noisy, and the quiet school became a little more lively.

"Hey? Have you heard that a talisman master may come to our city today." A voice came.

"Falun Master?! Is it true?"

"Of course it's true. I heard that they came all the way from the second counties in the northwest. Based on the time, they must have arrived in Yucheng today."

Saying that, the curtain of the school hall was lifted, and several students in the same white shirt came in.

These students are both male and female. Most of the men wear their hair in a bun, while the women use a wooden bun to pull up their black hair. Their skin is not delicate, but at least there are no sun marks. Such a group of people together makes Xu Baiyan look a little rough His thin skin and short hair are a bit abrupt, but fortunately, his eyes are always so warm and sincere, so the combination is not annoying.

"Bai Yan, it's so early?" one person greeted.

"Yes." Xu Baiyan responded with a smile: "I heard you just said that a talisman master is coming?"

"En!" Talking about Master Fu, the classmate got excited again: "My father got the letter, saying that he had set off from Hongcheng in the south with the convoy three days ago, and he will definitely arrive today." The man added emphatically: "It's a talisman master who travels down the mountain."

"Did you go down the mountain?" Xu Baiyan was taken aback for a moment, with undisguised expectation in his tone: "Then I have to go and see."

This is the truth, there is an essential difference between a talisman master who 'goes down the mountain' and an ordinary folk talisman master.

Because 'going down the mountain' means that the person was on the mountain before.

And the mountain is naturally Qianmo Mountain!
That is the most sacred place in the whole Great Qin, and all the powerful talisman masters are there.Daqin ruled the country with Talisman because of its prosperity. Even on the southern battlefield, it was because of Talisman that it suppressed those terrifying enemies in the extreme south. Otherwise, Daqin would have been destroyed long ago.

So Qianmo Mountain is a holy place, and the talisman masters who came down from Qianmo Mountain...er... Although they can't be called saints, they are enough to be respected by the people.

Another most critical point is that the talisman masters who travel down the mountain will intentionally look for people with the talent of talisman Tao during their travels.

If you get the approval of a talisman master, it's like getting a key to step into the holy path. Becoming a talisman master is a matter of Guangzong Yaozu. If the talisman talent is high enough, you might be able to enter Qianmo mountain practice.

If that's the case, it's more than honoring the ancestors. The eighteen generations of ancestors in the grave circle have to lift the graves and bow to the sky.

Not long after, the surrounding noise became louder and louder, and the school was already full of people.

In fact, according to the time, classes should have started by now.But the teacher still didn't come.

"Could it be another self-study?" Someone in the crowd seemed to mutter this sentence.

Sure enough, the next moment, the curtain of the school hall was lifted, and a slender, not tall female student walked in.She didn't go to the seat, but went straight to the podium in front of her.

"Today... the teacher wants to study the talisman, so I will study by myself first. The teacher... may come over in the afternoon."

There was a little discussion in the audience, but it quickly subsided. It seemed that everyone was used to this kind of thing.

This teacher has to 'study the talisman' every now and then. In fact, everyone knows that she just sleeps late and doesn't wake up.

"Okay, please be quiet, students, and study by yourself." The student on the stage said.

This person's name is Xie Qingwan. She is the most promising student in Yucheng. She is diligent and studious, and her grades have always been good. She is 18 years old this year and has reached the level of "studying". Hongcheng, a hundred miles away, might be Chaodu. No one in Yucheng has been able to go to Chaodu for many years.

Therefore, every teacher in the school loves her very much. Although this teacher is lazy, he is no exception. Every time he 'studies the talisman', the school is managed by this Senior Sister Xie.

Afterwards, the school became quiet. The [beginners] began to practice calligraphy, the [knowledge] students began to read notebooks, and the [students] began to prepare for the exam.

Xie Qingwan strolled in the hall, looking at the students in front of her.

I don't know whether it was intentional or not, she walked to Xu Baiyan's desk.

She and Xu Baiyan entered the school in the same year, and now five years have passed, and she is about to leave, but he is still pacing around, which makes Xie Qingwan feel a little uncomfortable.

"Xu Xuedi, that's not how it's written," she said.

"Oh?" Xu Baiyan was puzzled.

"I admit that your handwriting is very beautiful, but you have practiced handwriting for five years. No matter how beautiful the handwriting is, it is still a handwriting, not a symbol. You have to go to school and study, and you can't write here all the time. ah."

"so."

"So I think you write too seriously, and you have to devote energy to every stroke, which will only make you slower and slower. Just imagine, if you write every stroke, every drawing, you have to be serious in your mind. Think about it again, how long does it take you to write an article, others write an hour, you have to write two days, you will be many times slower than your peers."

Xu Baiyan nodded. He felt that what the other party said made sense. In fact, he had already thought about this question: "But... the teacher said, I can't rush, I must slow down, and I have to write beautifully."

"She told you that?"

"Well, she said that I might have a bit of talent for talisman, so she told me not to worry."

Xie Qingwan frowned, she was a very polite person, and she couldn't speak ill of the teacher behind her back.But seeing her classmates stagnate all the time, she really felt a little heartbroken.

So, she leaned down, made herself the same height as Xu Baiyan, and muttered softly: "I know you want to be a talisman master, and everyone in this world wants to be a talisman master. But have you ever thought that this teacher might be a... fraud?"

"fraud?"

"Yeah, she came to this town five years ago and said she could write talismans, but do you think she has written even one talisman? Besides, what is the identity of a talisman teacher? Master Fu, how could he come to our small town to be a teacher?"

"Maybe she's just too lazy to write."

"Maybe." The embarrassment on Senior Sister Xie's face became more intense: "Brother Xu, I'm actually just a little worried about you. I don't know what you do. You never told me, but I can see your hand It can be seen that your life is very difficult, right."

Xu Baiyan was stunned for a moment, and looked at his hands, they were a pair of hands full of calluses, holding knives and cutting people all year round, exposed to the wind and sun, they had long since lost the fairness they should have at this age.

"There are so many cocoons, how much farm work do you have to do, how much land do you plant, and how many years you have been a helper to make it like this?" Xie Qingwan said with emotion: "Every time you come the earliest and leave the latest. Do you have to work, can your body handle it? Don't think I haven't noticed that your meals have become simpler and simpler in recent years."

"Really?" Xu Baiyan was taken aback.

"Of course, a few years ago, you would occasionally eat a meat dish in the cafeteria at noon, but in the past few years, you only eat vegetables and tofu every time. All your money is spent in this school, is it worth it?"

Xu Baiyan nodded, and said with some emotion: "Yes, the money has indeed become less and less these years, but horse thieves are the only ones."

"What...?"

"Oh, it's okay." Xu Baiyan could feel that the other party really cared about him: "Thank you."

"You're welcome, I'm just saying what's on my mind." The other party responded.

The voice hasn't fallen
"Boom~boom~boom~"

Outside the school, there seemed to be bursts of drumming
It should be that Master Fushi has arrived.

(End of this chapter)