The author of the book "The Book of the Dead"

Chapter 4: Training to be like a crane

The three-day rest passed quickly.

Yatou Zhang was very efficient. I don't know whether Liu Chong used his fists or something else, but in short, the father and daughter rented a house next door to Liang's house.

"Brother Liu, please take care of my grandmother at home." Liang Yue was a little worried before leaving.

The East Gate was in chaos and there were frequent thefts. Liang Yue would deliberately place a small amount of valuables in a conspicuous place at home before going to school to prevent thieves from returning empty-handed and taking their anger out on him.

Now that we have a master like Liu Chong, this kind of thing shouldn't be a problem.

"Don't worry, my dear brother. I will take good care of grandma." Liu Chong changed into an ordinary farmer's outfit.

Liang Yue walked to Taihu Academy.

The biggest event next month is the Qushui Liushang Banquet of the prominent Xie family.

Every autumn, the elders of the Xie family invited various noble families and famous talents from Kuaiji to a banquet. At the banquet, the scholars showed off their talents and personalities to their heart's content. This was a shortcut for young scholars to become famous.

"Brother Liang!"

"Brother Fu!"

"Brother Liang!"

"So it's you, my brother. This carriage is not suitable for your status today."

Liang Yue greeted everyone around him. He often helped these playboys with their teacher's homework, and they got along well with each other.

There were sixty students in the school, and Liang Yue's seat was in the last row.

The seats in school are not determined by academic performance but by family background. If the family is wealthy, they sit in the first five rows, and if they travel with a horse-drawn carriage, they sit in the first three rows. If they have three horses and a superior family background, they sit in the first row and sit alone.

"Hey! Brother Liang." Zhu Yingtai waved from the last row next to her.

Originally, Zhu Yingtai was qualified to sit in the first row. Perhaps Zhu's family believed that women did not need great talent and just needed to see the world and not be in the limelight, so the two of them sat at the same table for a year and a half.

"Brother Zhu, how are you today?"

Liang Yue sat next to Zhu Yingtai and patted his shoulder.

"It's okay, it's okay." Zhu Yingtai was used to being close to Liang Yue. Then he took out a few pages of paper from his book pocket like a thief, "Brother Liang, look!"

"Thank you, Brother Zhu. I will take care of all your homework later." Liang Yue took the paper.

Automatically ignore crooked fonts that look like flies crawling on paper.

There were complicated spells written on the paper. On the first page, on the first line, there were four big characters written: "Qin Dun Qi Men". There were four spells in total: Suo Bo (immobilization), Mi Yan (illusion), Summon Birds, and Bird Steps.

"interesting."

All spells related to birds, praying for blessings, and driving away diseases, as well as other folk production, are generally quite ancient.

The older the spell, the more likely it is to be true.

It has been about 400 years since Emperor Wu of Han sought immortality. Countless people have been seeking immortality and Taoism, and fake Taoists and swindlers have invented many magical skills and secrets to deceive the world.

The magic spells Liang Yue had come into contact with before were extremely exaggerated, and they often asked for the magical powers of the South Pole Immortal, the Five Heavenly Emperors, and the Purple Star Emperor.

This kind of magic with a touch of folk witchcraft might be quite real. I'll go back and see if I can practice it.

"Hehe, as long as I can help Brother Liang." Zhu Yingtai smiled and touched the back of her head. Servants were not allowed in Taihu Academy. Liang Yue had helped her with a lot of physical work these days, and she also wanted to help him.

The sun sets in the west and after dinner.

Inside the dormitory.

"Suobo!" A light shout came from inside the room.

Liang Yue put his index finger and middle finger together to form a sword, pointing at Zhu Yingtai from a distance.

Zhu Yingtai stopped holding the clothes, motionless, without blinking, one foot in front and one foot behind, like a thief who was stopped.

"Did it work? So simple?" Liang Yue looked at his hands in disbelief. He just recited the spell again and there was not even any route for the circulation of his Qi.

Is this it?

Suddenly, he saw Zhu Yingtai couldn't help blinking, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He stepped forward and patted Yingtai's hat: "Yingtai, don't be weird." "Oh, I'm just trying to make you happy." Zhu Yingtai said aggrievedly, covering the back of her head.

Late at night, the moon rises over the east wall, shining silvery like water.

Under the oil lamp, the scholar, wearing Yingtai's cloak, was writing furiously, copying the Shanglin Fu homework assigned by the school teacher, shaking his head from time to time and reciting in a low voice.

"The mountains are towering and majestic, the forests are dense with huge trees, and the rocks are jagged..."

Zhu Yingtai was covered with a quilt, with her head exposed, and her big round eyes stared at the scholar under the night light.

The two of them made eye contact, and Liang Yue said helplessly: "Are you still not asleep? Why don't you come and help me copy the book?"

Wow!
Zhu Yingtai pulled her little head back into the quilt and started snoring deliberately.

Life is dull.

Liang Yue tried to practice magic whenever he had time, but just as he expected, it had no effect at all.

In the Dharma Ending Age, it is impossible to absorb spiritual energy to form true qi, and without true qi one cannot cast spells.

With no hope for the future, the monks are like fish out of water, unable to do anything even with great abilities.

Even though Liang Yue was strong-willed, he couldn't help feeling frustrated at this moment.

With a flourish of his brush, he wrote down four lines of seven-character quatrain in the thin gold script on the tough rice paper.

Zhu Yingtai was reciting beside him, saying:

"I have trained myself to be like a crane, and under a thousand pines I have two boxes of scriptures. I came to ask Wu Yu, and he said, 'The clouds are in the blue sky, and the water is in the bottle.' What a beautiful poem."

After more than a year of life in the academy, Zhu Yingtai had some ability to appreciate poetry. After reading the seven-character verse, she was struck by a profound and ethereal aura.

"Brother Liang, is this your new poem?"

"Yes, the Xie family is fond of discussing metaphysics. This poem will surely be appreciated by the Xie family's nobles."

The Xie family was a well-deserved powerful family in the Jin Dynasty. They had many high-ranking officials, enormous wealth, over a thousand servants, and estates throughout the south.

This poem is not very good, but it is excellent for those who like it.

Liang Yue didn't want to copy too good poems, otherwise it would be easy to be exposed. Poets don't just write poems. They usually write eulogies, epitaphs, and prefaces for their friends. Over time, it would be easy to expose his lack of ink.

"Brother Liang is a man of great talent who can help the world and bring peace to the people. He will surely make a name for himself and stand out from the crowd." Zhu Yingtai exclaimed sincerely.

After more than a year of getting along, Liang Yue was the most knowledgeable person he had ever met, with knowledge of astronomy, water conservancy, military strategy, administration, literature, metaphysics, and the customs of the northern barbarians.

If he were to become a prime minister, he would definitely be the one who could bring peace to the world.

In fact, Zhu Yingtai didn’t know that this is the basic operation of cyber politicians. It’s one thing to say but another to do it.

However, in this era where reading a million words is considered erudition, Liang Yue, who has a photographic memory and memories of past lives, is indeed a learned genius.

Another day of rest.

Zhu Yingtai returned to the headmaster's home and strolled in the back garden with the headmaster's wife.

In the entire academy, only the principal and his wife, Mrs. Lu, knew her identity.

Zhu Yingtai chattered non-stop, and every three sentences she spoke were about Liang Yue. The headmaster's wife listened with a smile, with a complicated look in her eyes, and her thoughts went back to twenty years ago.

She thought of her best friend, Yingtai's mother, herself back then... and the feelings that had been buried for many years.

Flowers bloom and fade, plants flourish and wither. There is always a plum blossom standing tall in the wind, just like its predecessor.

"What poems did he write...?" the headmaster's wife asked casually.

In the pavilion on the other side, the headmaster looked excited and muttered to himself.

"Jiangzuo Prime Minister Xie Anshi is back... He's actually back!"

This time, not only the old gentleman of the Xie family will be present at the Qushui Liushang, but it is said that Xie Anshi, who has returned home due to illness, will also appear.

So this is not just a small gathering for the young people of Kuaiji to become famous, but a place of fame and fortune for the celebrities and hermits in the Three Wu regions.

(End of this chapter)