Day and night tour

Chapter 373 Being Deceived Repeatedly
"Clang! Clang!"

Lu Mingkun continued sharpening his knife with great enthusiasm. When he was almost done, he even started wielding the knife, singing opera as he danced.

"With a clang, the sword was drawn; with a crash, the horses trampled the enemy camp... The sword's edge was revealed; the enemy was already dead. What use was this iron sword now..."

Well, this play has even revealed my true feelings.

"I'll find you a corpse, I'll find you a body so you can comfortably dissect it."

Under the increasingly intense sunlight, Zhou Xuan descended the slope behind the mountain.

Although the overall order at Huifeng Medical College had been largely restored after the rat infestation, the members of the Bone Elders Association and the City God still dared not relax their vigilance, and disciples of the Bone Elders and the City God patrolled everywhere.

Zhou Xuan hadn't walked more than a few hundred meters when he encountered an old man dressed in a black robe and wearing a top hat.

"Hey buddy, come here for a second."

Zhou Xuan waved to Elder Gu.

There are many scholars among the Bone Elders, and Zhou Xuan cannot possibly know every one of them. However, all the Bone Elders know Zhou Xuan.

"Mr. Big."

Gu Lao removed his hat, bowed, and greeted Zhou Xuan.

"I don't have any Bone Elders' tokens left, so I can only ask you to help me make contact. I need to see Li Chengfeng."

"Oh, I'll contact Master Shu right now."

Elder Gu dared not delay and hurriedly conjured up a secret message from the sect, calling out to Li Chengfeng.

The secret message had barely been sent when the lanterns of the Wandering Gods appeared above Zhou Xuan.

Li Chengfeng quickly surrendered.

"Greetings, sir."

"Old Li, organize some people to find a guy with incurable rat infestation and do a live dissection."

"You...didn't you...didn't you entrust the research on the rat-like disease to Mother Wall?"

"Oh, it's been handed over to Mother Wall, but I need to have Fifth Senior Brother dissect it."

Zhou Xuan continued, "If I want to learn new techniques, I need to 'cater to their preferences,' and my fifth senior brother's biggest wish right now is to dissect a corpse. You know... this senior brother of mine is good in every way, except..."

He pointed to his temple and said, "I have a slight mental problem."

"Understood. We'll have Elder Gu put on a show, pretending to conduct an experiment, but the real purpose is to satisfy Fifth Senior Brother's fetish."

"That's understandable."

Zhou Xuan waved his hand and said, "Go and make the arrangements as soon as possible."

"Then there's no need to make arrangements, we have something ready."

Li Chengfeng then said, "We had everything arranged. The test subjects were selected, and the personnel were organized. All that was missing was the experimental equipment, but the Mother Wall intercepted it, so..."

"You sound like you're complaining?"

Zhou Xuan raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Don't dare, don't dare."

"To be honest, it really wasn't your turn to do the experiment this time. Miss Wall found me a partner, the smartest person in the Flesh and Blood Dynasty... an engineer... sigh..."

As Zhou Xuan spoke, he began to exert mental control over Li Chengfeng.

Deep within his mind, images of Li Chengfeng's meditation also appeared.

He secretly asked himself, "Old Li, what do you like the most?"

Upon hearing Zhou Xuan's instruction, Li Chengfeng, lost in thought, replied blankly, "I want to thoroughly research the rat-like disease, at least to understand its pathogenesis."

This is what scholars are like. If Senior Brother Lü has a strange fondness for corpses, then Li Chengfeng has a unique fondness for those extremely bizarre esoteric knowledge.

"Isn't this like finding a pillow when you're about to doze off?"

Zhou Xuan immediately put his arm around Li Chengfeng's shoulder and whispered, "Old Li, that engineer is very clever. She has actually figured out the transmission principle of the rat disease."

"Then... then please tell me your story, sir. I am all ears."

Li Chengfeng was originally listless, as if he had been smoking opium, his face was droopy, and he looked like a wilted eggplant.

But now that he heard Zhou Xuan was going to reveal the secret of the rat disease, his eyes lit up instantly—like someone who had just finished smoking opium.

If Zhou Xuan continued to keep him in suspense and didn't reveal the truth, Li Chengfeng might just fly up and bite him.

"Old Li, the origin of that rat disease is actually that the evil rat from the abyss didn't die. It divided its consciousness into tiny dust particles and scattered them throughout Mingjiang Prefecture."

"These particles of consciousness will multiply infinitely in the bodies of people infected with the rat-like disease... As for the spread, it's similar to how consciousness takes control of a person."

"It's almost like possession, you know?"

Zhou Xuan had other matters to attend to, so he kept it brief.

"So that's how it spreads... Sir... what method do you plan to use to control the rat-like disease?"

Li Chengfeng had a lot of questions, but Zhou Xuan couldn't just ignore them—his fifth incense stick hadn't been lit.
This suggests that the attempt to "cater to his preferences" was not fully successful, likely because Li Chengfeng's doubts have not yet been completely resolved.

"The way to control the rat disease? It can only be understood intuitively, not explained in words. Just reach out your hand."

Li Chengfeng obediently extended his hand.

"Close your eyes."

"okay."

Li Chengfeng closed his eyes again.

Zhou Xuan said, "I've placed the answer slip in your palm. Hold it tight, and open it after I leave."

"Okay," Li Chengfeng replied.

Zhou Xuan then touched Li Chengfeng's palm and then closed Li's hand.

"Hold on tight, you can only see it after I leave."

After giving another instruction, Zhou Xuan used his spirit to travel around and change his form, finally arriving at the largest bookstore in Mingjiang Prefecture.

After Zhou Xuan left, Li Chengfeng opened his eyes and, after confirming that the Great Master was far away, opened his hand.

There was nothing in my palm; it was completely empty.

"I was holding it tightly, so I can't see anything. It couldn't have just disappeared out of thin air..."

If the note clutched in his hand could simply vanish into thin air, Li Chengfeng would truly be ashamed of his "Seven-Stem Old Incense Stick".

After pondering for a while, Li Chengfeng came to a conclusion: "I know, it must be that the Master doesn't want to tell me and is deliberately lying to me."

The moment the word "deceive" left his mouth, it was as if a lightbulb had been lit in Li Chengfeng's mind, and he immediately realized the truth.

"Oh, a lie!"

"Since the essence of the rat disease is the evil rat's consciousness at work, then Master can use deception to fool the evil rats of the abyss."

"Master, how cunning you are."

Li Chengfeng thought to himself excitedly.

……

"I wonder if Old Li has figured it out yet."

Zhou Xuan knew that the consciousness dust of the Abyss Rat was spread throughout every corner of the medical school, which meant that countless eyes were watching him. Therefore, he could not casually communicate about how to deal with the rat, lest the news leak out.

But he wanted to build up his lineage after "catering to Li Chengfeng's tastes," so he used a deceptive method, hoping that Old Li would understand.

"Old Li is a scholar of the gods, with extensive knowledge and a good memory, he should understand, right?"

As Zhou Xuan was speaking, he suddenly sneezed.

"Who is scolding me?"

Immediately afterwards, he heard a "whoosh" sound of incense being lit from within the secret realm. It was the fifth incense stick—the magician had lit it.

"Old Li's on the right track," Zhou Xuan said with satisfaction.

Once lit, the incense burns slowly downwards, not very intensely, like a mosquito coil; you only see the flame, not the incense itself shrinking.

"It will probably require many attempts to please them."

Zhou Xuan immediately turned his attention to the bookstore and began searching for "melancholy masterpieces".

The newspaper industry in Jing Kingdom is quite developed, with a wide variety of newspapers of all types, and serialized story newspapers are naturally very common.

These serialized stories are mostly martial arts, supernatural tales, and romance. Once a story becomes popular, the publisher will bind it into a book and publish it.

Meanwhile, the largest bookstore in Mingjiang Prefecture, Mingjiang Window, was destroyed by fire, leaving only a charred frame. Forget about popular melodramatic stories, there wasn't a single good piece of paper to be found.

With no other option, Zhou Xuan continued his daytime tour, searching through dozens of bookstores of all sizes throughout the city before finally finding a well-preserved secondhand bookstore.

"Master's Old Books" is the name of the bookstore.

Although it's called a used bookstore, it's actually a bookstore that sells ancient classics from the ancient Jing Kingdom, including the Four Books and Five Classics and the old eight-legged essays.

These are books that ordinary people wouldn't buy, but some people who are inherently respectful of the elderly and conservative might buy them.

Moreover, these people are often obsessed with ancient books. They can go without food, but they cannot go without buying books. Therefore, the price of such books is quite expensive, dozens or even hundreds of times that of books on the street.

Now, the bookstore is empty, and the books are scattered haphazardly. The bookstore owner may have been in a hurry to escape the disaster and has no intention of managing the bookstore anymore.

"After searching for a long time, this is the only shabby bookstore I found."

Zhou Xuan felt that his plan had fallen through.

Zhou Xuan actually had two wishes when he came to the bookstore to buy books—first, to find a few melodramatic books to satisfy the engineer's hobby.

Second, find some interesting children's books.
At Huifeng Medical College, there are many children, and children love to read picture books and comic books. So, find some picture books and distribute them everywhere. The incense sticks that "cater to their preferences" will be filled up immediately, right?
But the books in this shop, once opened, are filled with pages of "benevolence, righteousness, morality, and classical Chinese phrases." Let alone a child, even Zhou Xuan felt his eyelids droop and he wanted to fall asleep after just a few glances.

"This history has no dates, and the words 'benevolence, righteousness, morality' are written crookedly on each page. I couldn't sleep no matter what I did. After looking at it carefully for a long time, I finally saw two words between the lines—'bored'."

After casually flipping through a few pages, Zhou Xuan felt quite helpless and turned to leave, but he realized that there seemed to be one place he hadn't searched—the boss's counter.

The bookstore owner spends all day lounging around in the bookstore, which is quite boring. When he's bored, he'll read some books or listen to the radio to pass the time. And those books he uses to kill time are usually hidden in the counter.

He took three steps at a time and walked to the counter, placing his hand on the drawer.

"Boss, if you were a pedantic old scholar who reads classical Chinese essays, I would definitely find you and make you copy classical texts a thousand times, until you feel like throwing up whenever you see 'zhi hu zhe ye' for the rest of your life!"

Zhou Xuan pulled open the drawer and his eyes immediately lit up. The first book that came into view had a book on the title page that was very explicit and erotic.

"That's right. As human beings, how can we spend our days reciting classical Chinese texts and preaching morality? The Sage of Calligraphy read books for half his life, couldn't he enjoy himself a bit?"

Zhou Xuan took "Little Imperial Uncle" in his hand, flipped through a few pages, and felt that this kind of book could definitely provide some people with good emotional value and satisfy their desires.

Aside from the Imperial Uncle, there was another stack below, including martial arts novels and melodramatic novels.

On the very first page of the melodramatic novel, the book's owner had written the cover message in pen: "A passionate love affair is reminding me that I am still alive."

"Hmm, a bit of a literary youth... Sure enough... even the most literary youth have to read porn."

Zhou Xuan felt like he had found a treasure. He packed the entire stack of books into a bag and then planned to return to the medical school.

He was about to leave when he suddenly turned around, looked at the room full of classical Chinese texts, and said, "Wait a minute, I think I know someone who likes to read these books."

……

Back at Huifeng Medical College, Zhou Xuan's bamboo house was piled high with books.

Zhao Wuyai came down from the bamboo house and saw a room full of old books. He picked one up at random and started flipping through it.

After reading only two pages, I immediately felt dizzy. "Oh dear, is this even worthy of being called a book? It's giving this little Taoist priest a splitting headache! This kind of book should be burned."

"Ya Zi, take a look at this book."

Zhou Xuan handed the young imperial uncle over.

"Pah, this is even more vulgar, filthy books, they'll dirty my eyes..."

Zhao Wuyai was filled with righteous indignation, adopting the posture of a "defender of morality".

"rub!"

The incense in Zhou Xuan's secret realm suddenly ignited, burning even more fiercely than when Li Chengfeng's "hobby" was fulfilled.

This is pornography, catering to their tastes?

"..." Zhou Xuan.

"Ya Zi, you're not telling the truth. If you want to watch, then watch. Don't play dumb with me."

"I really don't like watching it."

"Take the book and get upstairs. Read it secretly, otherwise it will have a bad influence."

Zhou Xuan threw the royal uncle into Zhao Wuyai's arms.

"Oh dear, you insist on making me see this... Fine... fine... I'll reluctantly take a look."

Zhao Wuyai carried the imperial uncle upstairs to carefully examine the book, his ascent was much faster than before.

Just as Ya Zi went up to the second floor, Xi Shan Wang came over.

He peeked out and said to Zhou Xuan, "Young master, I've found the person you wanted."

"Let them in," Zhou Xuan said to King Xishan.

King Xishan immediately waved his hand and said, "The esteemed master of Liuyun Village is inviting you in."

Following his grand invitation, the first person to enter was a middle-aged man in a blue robe.

This middle-aged man was none other than Xu Jingshan, the "Great Sage of Literature" who had been awakened by Zhou Xuan. He was the one who, while leading his people to share the chaos, still quoted the classic Confucian saying, "One should not be too particular about the fineness of food or the delicacy of meat."

As soon as he entered the house, he immediately cupped his hands in greeting, while also instructing the clansmen lining up behind him on the proper etiquette: "The etiquette for meeting between scholars. The offering is a pheasant in winter and a dried ham in summer. It is presented by the left-hand person..."

"Tsk tsk, this sour smell matches those old books so well."

Zhou Xuan ignored all the nonsense about etiquette, grabbed Xu Jingshan's hand, and said, "Xu Wensheng, you've finally arrived! I was worried you'd be bored, so I found these books for you. Take a look and pick whichever one you like."

"Alas, one should not accept undeserved rewards, especially for such precious books. As the saying goes..."

"Stop being so righteous, just take it."

Zhou Xuan pulled Xu Jingshan into the pile of old books. Xu Jingshan randomly picked up an old book, smelled it, and immediately his face lit up with joy. He said, "The book has the scent of ink and the fragrance of literature. The ink is rich in ink and the literature is superb... What a wonderful book!"

"Take the good books you want, don't be stingy with us."

"I wonder how Brother Zhou learned of my peculiar tastes? We scholars are oblivious to the world around us, focusing solely on our studies. The world knows nothing of us, and we know nothing of the world..."

"If you utter another word of nonsense, I'll use an inkstone to decorate your door."

Zhou Xuan didn't want to talk to Xu Jingshan anymore.

Xu Jingshan, unable to resist the allure of those "classic old books," immediately waved his hand and said, "Students, come in, come in! As you move these books, without missing a single one..."

Moving books is an elegant affair; one must be careful not to damage the edges or corners, and to avoid getting them wet so the ink doesn't bleed...

After another string of extremely irritating words from Zhou Xuan, the members of Liuyun Village... well... now they should be called "students"—carefully carried away the old books.

These former mountain barbarians, now "students of the Sage of Literature," have also become extremely fond of reading—mainly of those old classics. When moving books, they act like book thieves, making the most of every moment to flip through a couple of pages.

This also shows that they greatly appreciate and love these old books.

"bass!"

"bass!"

"bass!"

The fifth incense stick in Zhou Xuan's Secret Realm burned at an extremely fast speed after being accelerated multiple times.

When it comes to collecting incense offerings, generally speaking, more people means more power. Zhou Xuan moved the entire used bookstore over, and the "students" from Liuyun Village, just counting those who came to move books, numbered in the hundreds.
Everyone was overjoyed; the incense offerings, which were "catering to their preferences," were simply being collected in large quantities.

By the time Xu Jingshan and his students left with the old books, Zhou Xuan's incense had almost burned down to a inch.

He practices Nuo, and one inch of incense is equivalent to one stick of incense from other temples. Once that inch is burned out, he can learn the techniques of the second level.

"Old Xi, there are still a few books here. Why don't you take one and read it?"

"I'm a rough man, I can't stand that kind of influence, forget it."

After repeatedly begging for mercy, King Xishan left the bamboo house.

Zhou Xuan then took out the melodramatic novels he had prepared beforehand and brought them into the secret realm.

When he entered the secret realm, he saw the engineer and Miss Wall looking around at the fifth incense stick.

In the Kingdom of Well, those who practice the Way of Incense and Divinity have their true incense, like real objects, growing in secret realms.

Miss Wall waved to Zhou Xuan, saying, "Xuan, the engineer is praising you, saying you're collecting incense offerings incredibly fast."

"How come your incense sticks are burning so fast? It's only been a short while, and the incense sticks are almost full."

The engineers were incredulous.

"Teacher Gong, to be honest, I'm just waiting for you to finish burning this incense stick."

Zhou Xuan handed over the melodramatic novel he was holding.

The engineer had barely taken the book when he was drawn to the cover quote and read it silently: "A passionate love affair reminds me that I am still alive... This sentence alone shows the author's extremely lofty thoughts... I love, therefore I am, very philosophical."

She is a "lover of words and books," and transferred her love for cover quotes to the books themselves. In addition, this book is the type that engineers prefer, and she became completely engrossed after only a few pages.

"bass."

By catering to their desires, their needs were once again met, and the incense burned even faster, almost completely consumed.

"Just a little bit more?" Miss Wall said.

"It's not too bad, let's wait a little longer."

Zhou Xuan still longed for the incense offerings of his "Fifth Senior Brother".

While waiting, the engineer closed the book and asked Zhou Xuan, "This author must be a man of great ambition and with his own insights into life... It would be wonderful if I could meet him again."

Tsk tsk, no wonder they love watching melodramas. Their ability to empathize is too strong, and they even imagine the other person to be so perfect.
"Even someone as perfect as you looks at the Imperial Uncle."

Zhou Xuan chuckled and said, "We'll meet again if fate allows, but not now."

"why?"

My buddy emptied the store, even moved the royal uncle he was looking after. How am I supposed to meet him?
Just as the engineer had developed a strong interest in the bookstore owner, suddenly, there was another "whoosh".

The incense had burned an inch over; it seemed that Senior Brother Lü's body was ready for dissection.

"Now that the incense has burned down to the last inch, what is the second technique of the magician?"

Zhou Xuan asked.

"bluff."

The engineer temporarily set aside his interest in "book lovers" and began to tell Zhou Xuan about the second incense stick of the magician—"bluffing".

"How do you explain this method? And how do you accumulate incense offerings?"

"The first rule of fraud is to get close to the other person; the second rule is to have your own identity."

The engineer said, "Let's take the same example again. If you're pursuing a rich girl and want to swindle her by pretending to be a rich young master, then you need to bluff and portray yourself as a noble young man."

"Once the distance is narrowed and identities are chosen, the scam begins to unfold."

At this point, Zhou Xuan understood.

Such as the tea scam in the past, those scammers used language, photos, and voice messages to make the victims believe that she was really a pitiful tea-selling girl with a seriously ill grandfather.

"So, the way I want to build up this kind of reputation is to fabricate an identity and make others believe in my new identity?"

"Yes."

The engineer said, "Once you master this technique, you can fabricate identities that people will believe very quickly, making it seem like you're just bluffing."

"That was a very good move."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan said to the engineer, "The book you're reading is mine..."

"Are you trying to use your tricks on me again?"

The engineer smiled slightly and saw through Zhou Xuan's trick.

During the first incense stick's burning, Zhou Xuan unexpectedly controlled her mind, causing her to reveal her hobbies.

Is this a second incense stick?

"You think I will believe it?"

"real."

Zhou Xuan said very seriously, "Even the book you're holding, I wrote it..."

"Are you still acting? I have a brain, okay?" The engineer poked his forehead and said with a smile.

"Let me tell you the story of that book."

Zhou Xuan immediately began to explain: "In that book, the male protagonist isn't actually a rich young master; he's just a poor man who unintentionally makes the female protagonist believe he's a rich young master... As the story unfolds, the male and female protagonists fall in love, and gradually, the female protagonist learns the male protagonist's true identity. However, because they've already fallen in love, the female protagonist pretends not to have seen it..."

Zhou Xuan recounted the story segment by segment.

The engineer quickly flipped through the book and found that everything matched up except for a few minor details. Whenever she raised a question, Zhou Xuan would ponder for a moment and say, "This book was written a long time ago, and I sometimes get confused about some of the details."

"Engineer, you don't know, Ah Xuan is a famous scholar. He lectured on a book in Pingshui Prefecture and became famous throughout the prefecture. He lectured on another book in Mingjiang Prefecture, and the people of the prefecture flocked to the nightclub to listen to Ah Xuan's lectures."

"It really is you... I didn't know you were so talented?"

"It'll do alright," Zhou Xuan said modestly.

"So this... I love, therefore I am?"

"It's derived from the idea of ​​'I think, therefore I am'," Zhou Xuan said with a smile.

"Ah Xuan, please write a couple more books in the future. I really enjoy reading your books."

The engineers' admiration for Zhou Xuan was beyond measure.

"bass!"

"bass!"

Zhou Xuan's incense burner, the second inch of incense, also began to burn, and it accelerated twice in succession.

engineer:"……"

Miss Wall: "..."

The engineer and Miss Wall stared at each other, then simultaneously realized: "We...we've been tricked again?"

"Ah Xuan, you're a big liar!" Miss Wall stood with her hands on her hips, insisting that Zhou Xuan explain himself: "If you didn't write that book, how did you know its contents? Did you read it before sending it over?"

(End of this chapter)