Sky Curtain: With a vermilion mirror, Jing travels through the modern world, shaking all dynasties.

Chapter 119: Teaching Li Bai to Compose Poetry?

Jiang Chuan and his two companions stayed until dusk, but the tavern door remained unopened.

As the sun set, twilight seeped in through the window, casting long shadows.

Lin Xiaoyu, sprawled on the bar counter, listlessly twirled an empty glass. Finally, she couldn't help but speak up: "Jiang Chuan, are you sure you didn't misread that golden sign? 'If a tavern is opened, the sages of the past should be invited to drink together.' Our tavern is open now, but where are the sages?"

Zhu Jingjing pouted and whispered, "Brother, is there some mistake? We've been waiting all day."

Jiang Chuan didn't speak, he just stared at the tightly closed door.

Suddenly, the door creaked open.

The newcomer was dressed in a blue robe with a wine pot hanging from his waist, as if he had casually pushed open the door of an ordinary tavern.

He stepped over the threshold, looked up, and his gaze swept over the tables, chairs, lanterns, and counters in the room. His relaxed expression gradually froze.

"How strange," he muttered to himself. "These tables and chairs, though simple in style, have a unique charm. The lanterns on the wall, though of an unusual design, are quite pleasing to the eye, and what's more..."

His gaze fell on a bottle of clear glass liquor on the counter. He walked over, picked it up, and examined it from all angles, marveling, "This bottle is as clear as water, and the liquor inside is clearly visible. Wonderful, wonderful! I have never seen such a rare thing in my life."

Jiang Chuan stared intently at the person. Despite his ordinary attire, he exuded an ethereal aura.

His lips moved, and he uttered a sentence: "May I ask if you are Mr. Taibai?"

The man turned around, raised an eyebrow at him, and asked, "How do you know me?"

After saying this, he took the wine gourd from his waist, tilted his head back, and took a swig.

Jiang Chuan took a deep breath. It really was Li Bai!

He wasn't in a book, nor in a dream; he was the living, talking, and drinking Li Bai himself.

"Young friend, may I ask your name?" Li Bai put down his wine gourd and looked at him.

Jiang Chuan quickly replied, "This junior, Jiang Chuan, has long admired Mr. Taibai's name. It is truly an honor to meet you today!"

Li Bai nodded, looked Jiang Chuan up and down in his ordinary casual clothes, and smiled slightly: "Young friend Jiang, judging from your attire, you are certainly not a person of our Great Tang Dynasty. I wonder why you have opened a tavern in such a desolate corner?"

"A desolate place?" Jiang Chuan was taken aback. His tavern was located on a main street near his home. Although it wasn't a bustling commercial area, it certainly couldn't be called a desolate place!

"Mr. Taibai, may I ask how you got here?" he asked hurriedly.

Li Bai scrutinized him carefully for a moment, and seeing that his expression was sincere and not feigned, he replied seriously, "I was traveling in Lushan and admiring the waterfall. Suddenly I saw a wooden house by the water, and I casually pushed open the door and went in. I didn't expect to end up here."

Jiang Chuan's heart skipped a beat after hearing Li Bai's words.

He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, gradually sorting out his thoughts.

The so-called opportunity was not about bringing a sage directly to him, but rather about connecting a "door" in some ancient place with the door of his tavern.

Li Bai pushed open the door of the wooden house beside the waterfall at Mount Lu, stepped inside, and there was his tavern.

In other words, the tavern's door is no longer just a door, but a hub, an entrance to another time and space.

As for which door will connect, when it will connect, and which dynasty it will connect to, he currently has no idea.

But at least, he figured out one thing.

The gold letter did not lie to him.

"Young friend Jiang, since this is a tavern, could you please give me a jug of wine?" Li Bai shook his wine gourd; after a day of sightseeing, that last sip was the last one in the gourd.

Jiang Chuan snapped out of his daze and quickly said, "Mr. Taibai, please have a seat. I'll serve you some wine right away!"

He turned and walked towards the counter, his eyes sweeping over the wine rack. What wine should he serve Li Bai?

The poet Li Bai loved wine all his life, and he probably tried all kinds of wines, including Dukang, Xinfeng, and Lanling!

After much deliberation, I finally decided to give him a glass of top-quality Moutai, to see if this national treasure of China could satisfy the poet who loves fine wine.

"Jingjing," he called softly after pouring the wine, "take it to Mr. Taibai."

Zhu Jingjing responded crisply, holding the wine cup with both hands, and carefully walked to Li Bai's table, gently setting it down: "Sir, please have some wine."

Li Bai was sitting at the table, one hand supporting his chin, staring blankly ahead, muttering to himself, seemingly unaware that someone was approaching.

Zhu Jingjing listened intently, and heard him softly reciting two lines of poetry over and over: "The sun shines on the incense burner, creating purple smoke; from afar, the waterfall hangs like a curtain before the river..."

He read it over and over again, his brows sometimes relaxing and sometimes furrowing, clearly anxious about not being able to get the last two lines.

Zhu Jingjing blinked and couldn't help but blurt out, "Sir, aren't the last two lines 'A waterfall plunges three thousand feet, as if the Milky Way were falling from the ninth heaven'?"

Li Bai suddenly turned his head, his eyes wide open, staring intently at the little girl.

Zhu Jingjing was startled by his gaze, took a half step back, and stammered softly, "Sir, did I say something wrong?"

"You..." Li Bai's voice trembled slightly, "What did you just say? Say it again!"

Zhu Jingjing looked at Jiang Chuan, who nodded slightly to her. She then mustered her courage and recited clearly, "The waterfall plunges three thousand feet, as if the Milky Way were falling from the ninth heaven."

Li Bai suddenly stood up, almost tipping over his chair!

He placed his hands on the table, leaned forward, and stared intently at Zhu Jingjing. His gaze held shock, ecstasy, and a complex mix of emotions that were hard to describe.

"A waterfall plunges three thousand feet, as if the Milky Way were falling from the ninth heaven..." he murmured, repeating it over and over. Suddenly, he threw his head back and laughed loudly. "Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! This line is magnificent in its momentum and incredibly imaginative, just what I wanted! No, it's even better than I imagined!"

After he finished laughing, he looked down at Zhu Jingjing, his eyes filled with astonishment: "Little sister, I wonder who your teacher is, to be able to compose such exquisite lines!"

Zhu Jingjing blushed at the praise and waved her hands repeatedly, "No, no, I didn't do that, it was..."

She looked at Jiang Chuan with pleading eyes, unsure whether she should tell the truth.

Seeing this, Jiang Chuan walked to the table, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Li Bai, and said, "Mr. Taibai, my sister is speaking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart."

"Young friend Jiang's words truly make me feel ashamed," Li Bai sighed and said, "I have racked my brains but could not come up with a good line, while your sister's casual remark has produced such a magnificent and awe-inspiring line! The world praises my poetry, but compared with your sister, I am truly just a name without substance."

Jiang Chuan shook his head repeatedly and said truthfully, "Mr. Taibai, you flatter me! In fact, the last two lines of my sister's poem were written by you!"

Li Bai was taken aback, staring at Jiang Chuan with a puzzled expression: "Did I write this line? How come I didn't know it?"

Jiang Chuan said, "Mr. Taibai, this is not actually the Tang Dynasty, but a later era, a thousand years ago!"