A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

Chapter 132 The Earthsea Wizard (Two-part story chapter)

Lin Shubai stood at the bar entrance, his hands in his coat pockets. That's how the weather is in London: cool like autumn in the morning, warming up a bit at noon, and now it's slowly cooling down again.

"Where do you want to go this afternoon?" Allen pressed the car key.

"You decide."

"Then let's go to the Tower of London. Coming to London and not going to the Tower of London is like not coming at all."

The car drove for about twenty minutes before stopping in an underground parking garage near the Tower of London.

The Tower of London was larger than Lin Shubai had imagined; it wasn't just a single tower, but a complex of buildings with a round tower at each of the four corners of the city walls, and the castle in the middle that looked like a small royal palace.

There was a long queue at the entrance, with tourists stretching from the ticket office all the way to the plaza outside, winding around two bends.

"So many people."

"Of course, the Tower of London is one of London's most popular attractions, and it has more history than you might think."

After queuing for about twenty minutes, they finally bought tickets and walked through a stone archway into the interior of the Tower of London.

A guard dressed in traditional clothing stood in front of a building, explaining to a group of tourists. His clothes were red with black stripes, like a variation of a court clown.

"That's a beefeater, a guard at the Tower of London." Allen pointed to the man. "They're both guides and security guards. This guy is probably telling the story of Anne Boleyn, the queen of Henry VIII, who was beheaded here."

How many queens did Henry VIII have?

"Six, two were beheaded, one died of postpartum complications, two were divorced, and the last one lived until after his death."

They walked along a section of the city wall, where several old-fashioned cannons were placed, their muzzles pointing towards the Thames.

When you write historical stories, do you conduct on-site research?

Lin Shubai thought for a moment, "Four Generations Under One Roof is set in Beiping. I have been to the capital, but not to write a novel. I went to a competition. When I got there, I really felt that it was different. Those alleys, those gray walls, those old locust trees, reading about them in the book and seeing them in person are not the same thing."

So you believe in the power of being "on-site"?

"I believe it, but it's not a must-go." Lin Shubai withdrew his hand from the cannon barrel. "I think that as long as you read enough information, you can build a city in your mind."

Allen glanced at him. "That's an arrogant thing to say."

"It's not arrogance, it's the truth," Lin Shubai said. "Everyone who writes history is not writing history itself, but their own understanding of history. My understanding of 'Four Generations Under One Roof' is my own."

Allen didn't respond. They spent over an hour inside the Tower of London, looking at the crown, jewelry, armor, and the small cell where prisoners were held.

The cell was small, about three or four square meters. There were some words carved on the stone wall—probably left by people who were imprisoned here back then. Some were names, some were dates, and some were a sentence.

It was almost five o'clock when they came out of the Tower of London. Allen glanced at his watch. "Are you hungry?"

"good."

"I'll take you out for a nice meal, as a proper welcome back party."

After driving for about half an hour, the car stopped in front of a restaurant. The restaurant was small, with a black facade and the word "Rules" written in white on it. There were no other decorations, and it was so understated that it was almost invisible.

"This is one of the oldest restaurants in London, it's been open for over two hundred years." Allen said "Two" to the waiter who came over, and then followed him inside.

Lin Shubai followed him through a narrow corridor and into a small private room.

The two sat down, and the waiter handed them a menu. The menu was filled with the names of dishes, and Lin Shubai glanced at it but didn't recognize most of them.

"Can you order for me?"

Allen took the menu, flipped through a few pages, and told the waiter the names of a few dishes.

The dishes were served. The first course was a salad, with a few leaves laid out on a plate, sprinkled with a few nuts and slices of cheese. Lin Shubai took a bite and found the leaves to be a little bitter and the cheese salty, resulting in a strange taste when combined.

The second course was a thick mushroom soup, and the third course was the main dish: a piece of fish that was pan-fried until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, accompanied by a few asparagus spears and a small mound of mashed potatoes.

Allen cut a piece of fish and asked Lin Shubai, "Have you had any new ideas lately?"

"I'm writing a novel."

Allen's hand froze in mid-air. "What?"

Allen had only asked casually, but he didn't expect there to be one.

"What kind of story is it? Is it like 'Four Generations Under One Roof'?"

"No, it's completely different. This time I'm planning to write a fantasy epic."

Allen put a piece of asparagus in his mouth, chewed it twice, swallowed it, and then put down his fork. "Is that something like 'Hell Is Where God Isn't Here' about religion?"

"No, completely different. The story takes place in a world called Earthsea, a world without continents, a world of pure ocean archipelago located in the Northern Hemisphere, stretching from the ice fields in the north to the equator in the south, surrounded by an endless 'open sea,' with the dragons' territory in the far west."

"The Earth Sea is divided into four regions. The core region, also known as the Inner Polar Sea, is the center of the world. The dense island group surrounding the Inner Polar Sea is where the most advanced civilization is located."

"The outer area, the edge islands outside the core area, is divided into four borders: east, south, west, and north. The environment is more primitive and inhabited by pirates and barbarians."

"The continent of Karg consists of four large islands in the northeast, which are hostile to the archipelago civilization. The inhabitants have blond hair, blue eyes, and light skin, and their culture is similar to that of the Viking barbarians. Magic is forbidden."

"Dragon territory, a distant sea beyond the western border."

"Magic exists in the Earthsea world. The core of magic is true name and balance. Everything in the Earthsea has a true name, named by the creator, Xiguo Yi. Knowing the true name allows one to control its essence, and to command, heal, transform, and summon."

Allen's eyelids twitched after hearing this. "This sounds like a very grand story."

"Of course, in my plan this is a series of stories, and the legend of Earthsea cannot be told in one book."

Allen was silent for a moment, quickly calculating something in his mind. Lin Shubai didn't ask, but he guessed that Allen was calculating the book's size, market, cost, and publication cycle.

Allen picked up his glass and took another sip, leaning forward slightly. "In that case, could you tell me the story in detail?"

Lin Shubai put down his knife and fork and pushed the plate forward. "Of course, the first book is called 'The Wizard of Earthsea.' The story takes place on the island of Gont, on the edge of the archipelago. Here, the mountains are continuous, far from the core of the Earthsea civilization, and ancient witchcraft is still practiced."

"The protagonist's original name was Dun. He was the son of a blacksmith. His mother died when he was young, but he was born with a magical talent that was hard for others to match. The village's old witch was the first to notice this abnormality. He had a natural sensitivity to plants, wind, and illusions, so the old witch took him in as an apprentice and taught him rudimentary rural magic."

"Dun learned extremely quickly, far surpassing all the sorcerers in the village at a young age, but the witch knew he was impetuous and deliberately restrained him, preventing him from touching powerful forces."

Upon hearing this, Allen put down his wine glass. "So this is a story about talent and restraint?"

"Not entirely." Lin Shubai cut a piece of fish. "Talent and restraint are just the outer shell."

He didn't explain further, but continued speaking.

"When Dun was seven years old, invaders came to the vicinity of Mount Gongte. The villagers organized a resistance. Dun's father died in battle, and the village suffered heavy casualties. In extreme grief, Dun cast a powerful spell that he could not control. He wove a grand illusion and drove away the invaders."

"Upon hearing of this, the great wizard Ojam, who lived far away in the mountains, made a special trip to Gonte to find the boy. Ojam was one of the most famous wizards in the archipelago. He found Dun's father and, with his consent, took the boy as his disciple. According to the ancient tradition of the Earthsea, wizards would bestow a true name upon their disciples. Ojam named the boy Ged."

"During his time training with Ojaan, Ged learned knowledge far more profound than the folk magic, but Ojaan did not rush to teach him powerful spells. Instead, he took him to observe mountains, seas, the sun, moon, plants, and trees, teaching him the core laws of the earth and sea world:

Magic cannot defy balance; it cannot recklessly disrupt the order of life and death, light and darkness, movement and stillness. The strongest power is never about wanton destruction, but about knowing how to restrain and adapt.

Lin Shubai picked up his water glass and took a sip. "Later, Ged went to the Rock Academy, the highest institution of learning for all wizards in the Earthsea world. He learned very quickly there, faster than anyone else, but he was too proud. He felt that he was better than others and should be acknowledged."

"There was a student in the academy named Jasper, who looked down on Ged, an apprentice from the countryside. Jasper often mocked Ged's background in public and ridiculed his crude manners. The two went from verbal disputes to sharp antagonism."

"Ged was repeatedly provoked, and his anger and competitiveness continued to build. He desperately wanted to overwhelm his opponent with absolutely powerful magic and prove that he was far superior to the noble-born Jasper."

"The academy's teachers noticed the conflict between the two and repeatedly warned Ged to restrain his mind and strictly forbid him from touching forbidden magic, especially the art of summoning the dead. This is a serious crime that directly tears apart the boundary between life and death and violates the balance of the world. All generations of wizards have listed it as an absolute forbidden zone."

"But Ged, blinded by vanity and anger, had long since forgotten the precepts and advice. After a heated argument, he made up his mind to perform the highest-level summoning spell in front of everyone. Late at night, Ged went alone to the secluded cemetery of the academy and used forbidden magic."

Allen's eyelid twitched. "What did he summon?"

"He failed to summon what he intended. As the spell spiraled out of control, a gap was forcibly torn open the barrier between life and death. The dark power of the 'Dry Land' from the other side surged into the mortal realm through the crack, causing Ged to summon an invisible, shapeless dark monster that feeds on the souls of the living—'The Shadow.'"

Lin Shubai paused here, as if organizing his words, "The seven masters of the academy sensed the fluctuations of forbidden magic and immediately rushed over to join forces to cast a spell. They did their best to temporarily force the dark figure back into the rift and imprison it. However, this dark thing has already established a soul connection with Ged, so the imprisonment can only delay the inevitable and cannot completely eliminate it."

"Ged knew he had committed a calamity unprecedented in the history of Earthsea wizards. Because the Shadow would continue to track him, in order not to implicate Roc Island or those around him, Ged chose to flee the magical temple."

"After leaving Rook Island, Ged traveled between islands by merchant ships and fishing boats. He dared not stay in one place for long, because the shadows could always follow his scent."

"In the early stages of his escape, Ged lived in extreme fear. He dodged and fled desperately, barely managing to protect himself time and time again with his increasingly sophisticated magic. To evade capture, he changed his name, abandoned his wizard identity, and worked as a sailor and a laborer, mingling among the lower classes."

"During his escape, Ged also tried to find a way to fight the shadow. He visited reclusive sorcerers and ancient witches in various places, read incomplete ancient books, and asked elderly navigators, but everyone was helpless against this dark monster from the edge of life and death. They only told him that the shadow was an evil thing born out of imbalance, and once it was bound to a person, it would fight to the death."

"During his wanderings, Ged's magic was no longer a tool for competing with others. He used illusions to evade capture, used healing spells to help passersby, and used wind whispers to control the sea breeze and cross dangerous waves."

"Year after year of the long chase, Ged grew from a reckless boy into a peaceful young man. He began to calmly ponder a core question: Why was this monster fixated on him? What exactly was it? As his thoughts deepened, the truth surfaced: the shadow was not a demon from the outside world; it was a part that had split off from Ged himself."

"Back then, when he forcibly cast forbidden magic, his inner arrogance, greed, fear, and darkness were stripped away by the magical power, falling into the rift between life and death, transforming into this invisible shadow. It is the other side of Ged that he deliberately rejected and was unwilling to face, the shadow of his soul. The two are originally one, so it will never truly leave, and Ged can never destroy it by 'running away' or 'fighting'."

"Having realized this, Ged finally gave up his years-long exile. He stopped hiding, stopped in his tracks, and turned to face the darkness that had been chasing him all along. The final confrontation took place on a deserted coastline."

He opened his soul, no longer resisting or hating the darkness before him. He slowly reached out and called out the shadow's true name—a name that shared the same origin as his own, "Ged." The moment he called out his name, the dark monster ceased its aggression, and the two began to slowly merge.

"The shadow completely dissipated, and Ged's soul finally became whole. He accepted all his darkness and flaws and no longer obsessively pursued absolute power."

"After the storm subsided, Ged ended his exile. He was no longer the arrogant young wizard he once was. He chose to return to his homeland, the island of Gomthe, and to his master, Ogian. By this time, he had become a mature wizard who truly understood the importance of respecting power and protecting balance."

Lin Shubai finished the last sip of water in his glass. "This is the story of my first book, 'The Wizard of Earthsea.' On the surface, it's a fantasy adventure about a young wizard getting into trouble, going into exile, and exorcising demons. But at its core, it's a complete journey of self-redemption. The shadow that Ged releases is the negativity and darkness that exists in everyone's heart."

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