Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 156: The Youth in the Painting
Zhao Yi Fu heard the voice of the cultivator, but did not find any trace of him. This was really strange.

He looked around but couldn't figure out what was going on.

At this time, the surrounding soldiers were about to attack again, but Zhao Yi Fu didn't even look at them. He just waved his hand and the strong wind blew them back instead of advancing.

With his current understanding of strength, he can actually be said to have "entered the Tao through martial arts."

It's quite frustrating to say. I was clearly on the path of the Golden Elixir, but ended up cultivating into a martial arts-based Taoism.

At this time, the voice said, "Don't force me. If I weren't afraid of attracting strong men, I would have appeared and taught you a lesson!"

Zhao Yifu was quite surprised to hear this, then he burst into laughter as if something had occurred to him: "You escaped from Jingshan Province. Are you afraid of my teacher?"

That voice was unexpected.

But the next moment, Zhao Yifu suddenly bowed to the northeastern sky: "Please, Master Haoran!"

The next moment, a golden light flashed in front of everyone, and Zhou Su's yang spirit composed of righteous energy appeared.

He nodded slightly and said, "I didn't expect this shaman to come to you."

Zhao Yifu asked, "Master, what does this shaman mean? Why can't I see him?"

Zhou Su said: "You haven't read enough books."

"Most of the northern barbarians believe in shamanism, and shamans generally have three abilities: spiritualism, totems, and epidemics."

"This man's name is Mika. He's good at communicating with spirits and dealing with plagues. If you face him, be careful of his tactics."

After hearing this, Zhao Yifu finally understood why this Miga Shaman was driven away by Zhou Su, who had little actual fighting ability. It was because as luck would have it, Zhou Su, who in Zhao Yifu's eyes was only able to bluff, actually had a strong ability to deal with spirits, evil spirits or spiritual forces.

He accepted the teachings obediently. The teacher is still a teacher and he still likes to preach.

Mika was panicked. She didn't expect that Zhao Yifu was actually Zhou Su's student... No, should it be said that they were worthy of being master and disciple?
Zhou Su looked past the bewildered Mu Zhan and pointed to a watchtower on the top of the city wall. "The person is hiding there."

Then it stopped moving.

Zhao Yifu waited for a moment, then understood: let him go.

Then go for it.

Zhao Yi Fu drew out the killing knife, pointed it at the watchtower from a distance, and then swung it directly!

The next moment, the true energy in his body turned from yang to yin, gathered on the blade and then turned from yin to cold, and then a cold and icy blade energy was cut out, drawing a straight and condensed line on the top of the city, passing through the bodies of many bandits along the way but only leaving a bruise on their bodies without hurting them.

But until the sword energy hit the watchtower...

The next moment, the watchtower was suddenly split open, and then ice spikes exploded from it.

The aura of a cultivator suddenly appeared, and then quickly went out like a candle in the wind.

Zhao Yifu swung the killing knife in his hand and then put it back into his sleeve. Then he said to Zhou Su, "Master, it's done."

Zhou Su was actually a little dumbfounded. He didn't expect that after not seeing him for a while, this student had grown to this point.

But strangely, besides being surprised, he also felt a sense of relief that should not have been associated with him. He always felt that Zhao Yifu, who could make such a slash, was worthy of being his student.

Although he himself felt it was strange, he was just teaching Zhao Yifu to read. What did this kid's swordsmanship have to do with him?

……

"That's good. It seems like I don't have to make a special trip to Yuzhou since you're here."

Zhou Su nodded with satisfaction.

At this time, he and Zhao Yifu were sitting opposite each other and chatting in the Yuzhou government office.

There were still sporadic shouts and cries of killing outside. The bandits from Jingshan had been almost strangled to death.

Zhao Yifu bowed solemnly to Zhou Su and said, "I would also like to thank my mentor for taking care of my people."

Zhou Su waved his hand and said, "How can you talk about taking care of me?"

"Instead, I should thank your people. Without them as the backbone, my Brave and Fortitude Battalion wouldn't have been able to form so quickly."

"To be honest, I never imagined before that an army could attack a city without ladders or towers, scaling the walls directly... No matter how high the walls were, they wouldn't be able to stop them."

Zhao Yifu was stunned for a moment, then he remembered that his family members practiced the "Crane Claw Grappling Skill" as a basic skill, and using the crane claw to climb the city wall was simply a perfect match.

He said embarrassedly, "We still have to thank our mentor. If he hadn't given them the opportunity to achieve great things, they wouldn't have been able to display these talents."

Zhou Su said, "That's not necessary. I, the master, also relied on their fighting spirit to obtain my current position as 'Jingshan Tuanlianshi and Jingshan Jinglüeshi'."

Zhao Yifu said puzzledly, "It seems like these are all empty positions?"

Zhou Su said: "A nominal position is better, as it will facilitate temporary transfers."

"I'm afraid the court will soon have other plans for me."

Zhao Yifu nodded involuntarily after hearing this. He still believed in this aspect. After all, his mentor was in the emperor's favor.

This 'acting as Jingshan's governor' is actually the position of 'acting senior official', and with this 'acting senior official' position, there will naturally be a next time, and even a chance to become a full-time official.

However, the imperial court did not give Zhou Su an actual position in Jingshan, which meant that after dealing with the rebellion here, he would most likely be transferred elsewhere.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yifu sighed, "But if this continues, I wonder when we, master and disciple, will be able to meet again."

Zhou Su's heart softened a bit when he heard this, and he said, "What nonsense! You and I, both master and disciple, serve the imperial court. So what if we're separated by worlds?"

"What's more, just like today, if you want to be my master, just call me, and I will be grateful."

Zhao Yifu nodded in agreement.

Indeed, from a certain perspective, Zhou Su's Yang Shen is even more magical and powerful than the Yang Shen of his master Qiu Yuzi. In any case, Qiu Yuzi can't just "crawl along the Internet cable" like this.

At this moment, Zhou Suyuan's spirit illuminated everything around him. He saw the Fenglin soldiers, under the leadership of Yang Zaixuan, methodically clearing out the remaining evildoers in the city and maintaining public order. He couldn't help but nod in approval and said, "This young man is a promising general. He already has some of the demeanor of a lone crane."

Zhao Yifu was quite surprised when he heard this. He didn't expect that his second uncle seemed to have made considerable progress under Zhou Su's guidance?

But come to think of it, his second uncle had been hanging out with pirates and fighting against government soldiers for years, so he was at least familiar with military affairs.

In addition, my second uncle is now also a first-class master with great martial arts skills, and he is indeed a material in this area, and he has begun to transform rapidly.

He was very pleased and felt that the people around him were getting better, which was great.

He chatted with Zhou Su for a while and found that under his command, not only his second uncle was becoming brave and resourceful with the talent of a general, but even his cousin Zhao Xiangyu had become a fierce general... Well, although it is a bit exaggerated to describe a girl like this, this 1.95 meter tall big sister with supernatural powers is indeed very fierce.

As for Miss Zhou Qingzhao of the Zhou family, she seemed lukewarm.

She wasn't born with supernatural powers, and the art of warfare required experience and further study, so she only seemed to be doing things according to the rules...

However, just being average is actually better than many military generals who are just sitting there doing nothing.

They chatted for a while, and Zhou Su changed the subject: "It's just Qing Zhao... Alas~"

He suddenly sighed loudly.

Zhao Yifu asked curiously, "Master, why is this happening? Didn't Junior Sister Qingzhao behave very well?"

Zhou Su said helplessly: "Something is wrong with her mentality."

Zhao Yifu asked curiously, "Why is that? Didn't Junior Sister aspire to be a female general who defends her country? She has always been on the right path."

Zhou Su said, "Maybe it's because Xiangyu performed better, which made Qingzhao feel a little discouraged."

My goodness, this is a woman’s jealousy!
Zhao Yifu suddenly understood something: it is human nature to be competitive.

Zhou Qingzhao's mentality must have been a little unbalanced because of Zhao Xiangyu's increasingly outstanding performance.

Seeing that he understood, Zhou Su asked, "Jun Xin, you have to help me think of a solution."

Zhao Yifu pondered for a moment.

If it were in the past, he would definitely be confused and helpless.

But now...

He suddenly pulled the desk and waved his sleeve, and took out the pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

The little black cat Yi Yi also came out from the sleeve.

It looked around blankly, and then suddenly came to its senses.

As Zhao Yifu spread the paper on the table, he consciously sat in the corner at the top like a paperweight.

Then he held the ink block with his paws and ground it hard in the inkstone.

Zhou Su was amused by this and said, "If all the raccoons in the world were like the one you have, I would probably be tempted to marry one off to you."

Zhao Yifu rubbed Yiyi's head lovingly and said, "Yiyi is unique."

"Meow~"

Yiyi tilted her head in response to Zhao Yifu's praise, calling out softly and gently. Zhao Yifu's heart brightened at the sound, and he began to paint, quickly sketching out the lines one by one.

The painting presents a dim feeling in the mist and rain.

Suddenly I had a sense of memory, as if the scroll was a bronze mirror.

This is the foundation for Zhao Yifu.

Then the outline of a lady was clearly depicted, and people could tell at a glance that it was Zhou Qingzhao.

But Zhou Su immediately recognized that this was not the girl he knew today, but the sentimental girl from a year ago.

He blinked in surprise. He didn't expect that Zhao Yifu could express the character's temperament and texture with just a few simple strokes and the outline of the character.

It’s incredible. This painting skill can be said to be unique.

No, his painting skills still have some flaws. After all, Zhao Yifu is so young. It can even be said that there is still a lot of room for improvement in his painting skills.

But his expression already has the shadow of "Tao".

This made Zhou Su feel extremely surprised, and he couldn't help but call his old friend over to appreciate his disciple's progress together.

Liang Zhongzhi's Yin spirit quietly appeared. Yiyi tilted her head and glanced at him without any reaction.

Liang Zhongzhi's Yin spirit also looked at Zhao Yifu in the painting with shining eyes, watching the exquisite and highly textured figure appear on the scroll with a bronze mirror-like background.

Zhao Yifu's composition is very special, and the areas surrounding Zhou Qingzhao's portrait are blurred.

Although it can be seen that there are maids following her, and the familiar streets of Mozhou City are around.

But the maid didn't even deserve to have a face, and the surrounding street scenes were hazy as if shrouded in fog.

Only the main character is highlighted.

This is a portrait painting that is different from the current traditional techniques, but it allows people to clearly feel what Zhao Yifu wants to express: the girl in the past!
After completing the painting, Zhao Yifu carefully inscribed the following inscription in the lower right corner: [I vividly recall meeting Junior Sister Qingzhao in Mozhou City. Thinking of her lofty ambitions, I have a kind poem to give her. Her youth is yet to shine; she must persevere, forging ahead with perseverance, and a promising future awaits.]

After writing this paragraph, he stamped his own "letter seal".

He put down his writing brush and turned to look at the Yang God and Yin God beside him. After a brief pause, he bowed deeply and said, "Master, why are you here?"

Liang Zhongzhi looked at Zhao Yifu with a smile and said, "Junxin, your painting skills have made me very happy to see you."

Zhao Yifu blushed upon hearing this and said, "Disciple knows that I still have many shortcomings. I have only gotten this far by taking shortcuts."

Zhou Su had already carefully rolled up the scroll beside him and said, "How can this be considered a trick? This is such a touching painting. I can already imagine how excited my daughter will be when she sees it."

Liang Zhongzhi suddenly became interested and asked, "Since you said you took advantage of the situation, why don't you tell me how you did it?"

Zhao Yifu was bewildered. He said, "What I do is actually tailor-make works for those who need them. Although my painting skills are poor, if it is only to please those who need it, then I personally think that it is enough."

Liang Zhongzhi seemed to understand something after hearing this. He said, "If it were in the past, I would have said you were not following the right path. But now I can't say that. After all, you have strayed from your path of painting."

"Indeed, my painting practice and art practice have gradually become quite utilitarian, and I am increasingly thinking about how to please more people."

“Little do we know that the love we feel for painting is actually to please ourselves!”

Liang Zhongzhi suddenly had a sudden realization. He said, "Yes, my painting skills have been polished to the pinnacle. Even the Painting Saint can't give me any more guidance on my painting skills."

"But I always felt like I was missing something, unable to take that final step... Turns out, it was this step of pleasing myself that was missing!"

Liang Zhongzhi sighed and nodded at Zhao Yifu.

Then he disappeared without a word.

Zhou Su laughed and said, "It seems that your master is finally getting enlightenment. Now it's worth having you as his disciple."

Zhao Yifu was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, but he still sincerely hoped that his master could figure something out.

In fact, his so-called "painting way" is completely different from the "pleasing oneself" that Liang Zhongzhi just realized.

He actually doesn't like painting that much and has always regarded it as a tool.

A tool to connect yourself and others.

He found that language as a medium of communication is often prone to errors, but as long as there is a painting, the other party can understand what he wants to express and even see what he wants to see.

Freehand painting is the painter's unrestrained expression.

Fine brushwork painting is the painter's delicate expression.

Zhao Yifu believes that his paintings are the expression of a gentleman.

After putting away his writing brush and ink, he picked up Yiyi and gently rubbed its head.

The matter of Yuzhou has come to an end, and it is not his responsibility to think about the next thing.

After all, the governor of Yuzhou is still alive!
Yes, Lord Cheng is still alive, which is really a blessing.

At least Zhao Yifu can pass the blame.

……

On the other side, Zhou Su used the magical power of Yangshen to carry Zhao Yifu's painting back to his own camp.

He picked up Zhao Yifu's painting named "Shaohua" and went to his daughter's tent.

In Zhou Qingzhao's tent, she was adjusting her armor alone.

Her maid did not come with her because she was only good at talking but could not endure the hardships of the military camp.

And now she is very lonely.

Originally, he was very happy to be with Zhao Xiangyu in the military camp, but now he gradually felt uncomfortable.

She could only adjust her red armor over and over again. The ambition in her heart was still there, but she had more doubts about herself.

However, at this moment, Zhou Su said outside the door: "Qingzhao, are you resting?"

Zhou Qingzhao quickly put down the armor in his hand and said, "Father, I'm resting."

Meaning, now she doesn't want to talk to anyone.

Zhou Su secretly sighed that his daughter had become more thoughtful as she grew up.

But fortunately, he has a trump card.

He said, "Qingzhao, I came to you just to tell you that your brother Junxin sent you something. Would you like to see it?"

Upon hearing this, Qing Zhao quickly stood up and ran out, asking, "Brother's letter?"

Zhou Su said: "It's not a letter, he drew a picture for you."

Zhou Qingzhao was overjoyed when he heard this and said, "Brother, a gift of a painting? Hurry and bring it here!"

Zhou Su felt a little jealous. Why did it seem like he wasn't as popular with his daughter as that brat?
However, he still remembered his purpose and handed over the scroll, saying, "Here you go."

As he said that, he wanted to go in together.

However, Zhou Qingzhao snatched the painting away and pushed him out the door, saying, "My daughter wants to admire my brother's painting. Daddy, please don't disturb her."

Zhou Su touched his nose angrily and returned to his barracks reluctantly. Then he couldn't help but let his mind leave his body... Secretly glancing at his own daughter doesn't count as peeping, right?

However, his Yang Shen wandered around Zhou Qingzhao's tent and returned, feeling that there was no need for that. He had been watching Zhao Yifu paint the entire time, and he knew very well that there was no better advice in the world than this.

Sure enough, when I saw Zhou Qingzhao again the next morning, she had become energetic and full of confidence.

……

The next morning, Zhao Yifu was moving his camp back to his Fenglin County.

Since Cheng Zhizhou is still alive and well, there must be someone to clean up the mess.

As for whether his own achievements will be blacklisted?

Haha, you’re overthinking it. After all, the emperor was watching the live broadcast the whole time!
However, as he was on the road, he suddenly saw a faint light and shadow beside him.

Then he helplessly sent a message through his mind: "Master, why did you come to see me at this time? Is there something urgent?"

Zhou Suyang hid himself, and no one except Zhao Yifu could see him if he didn't want to.

He said, "Here, this is Qing Zhao's reply to you. Just read it yourself, no need to reply."

The old father seemed to be on guard against something.

Zhao Yifu smiled. He opened the letter without hesitation, glanced at it briefly, and then spread it out, saying, "No need to reply."

Zhou Suyang glanced over uncontrollably and saw the following words on the letter: "Thank you for your painting, brother. It has allowed me to see my progress over the past few days. I look forward to meeting you next time. I will definitely let you see an even better Qing Zhao."

Zhou Su's expression softened when he saw this. He said, "Qing Zhao is lucky to have a brother like you."

(End of this chapter)