Chapter 1317: New Manuscript

**Chapter 1303: New Scripts**

Everyone laughed.

"That too! Beijia has a wine spring, right in Lingxu City! The spring water is sweet and clear, with a rich aroma. If you stand by the spring for a while, you'll get drunk."

He Lingchuan chuckled. This was true; Lingxu City indeed had a natural wine spring called 'Laoquan.' The spring water was sweet and rich, with a hint of alcohol, but it wasn't clear; it was rather murky.

The storyteller followed the script but often interspersed jokes and improvised. In his narration, Lingxu City and Beijia were painted with oil-like colors: intense, absurd, and vibrant. The patrons listened, utterly captivated.

Dong Rui cracked open a boiled peanut and asked He Lingchuan, "He's talking such nonsense, and you don't mind?"

"It's storytelling," He Lingchuan replied, unconcerned. "The more outlandish and bizarre it is, the more people will listen. If he only told ordinary village tales, why would locals pay? Our goal is for more people to listen and become familiar with these stories." He added, "It's about educating through entertainment. If the audience isn't entertained, then your 'education' will be utterly ineffective."

After eating and drinking their fill, He Lingchuan paid the bill, gave the change back to the storyteller as a tip, and then returned to the trading post. Fu Liushan was now staying there.

When He Lingchuan found him, he was sitting at a writing desk, holding a pen in one hand and a wine pot in the other. He wrote a little, then took a sip. He took a sip, then thought for a moment.

Dong Rui tossed a bag of boiled peanuts in front of him, while He Lingchuan handed him a piece of paper: "Wipe your mouth." The man had a ring of ink around his mouth, all smudged black. Biting on a pen was truly not a good habit.

Fu Liushan peeled peanuts while reporting to Island Lord He that he had recently churned out four or five new scripts. Dong Rui listened nearby, secretly amused. Didn't Fu enjoy going to taverns to drink, tell stories, and chat? Why was he more dedicated to writing scripts now?

"I've seen too many strange and wondrous things in my life; I can't write them all, simply can't finish them."

He Lingchuan took the drafts and examined them carefully, finding that the content of these scripts focused on famous battle scenes from the history of the Glimmering Gold Plains.

"These aren't urgent. I have a new story here that I need you to write up quickly."

"Oh?" Fu Liushan's eyes lit up. "Where have you been stirring up trouble again?"

"Not me," He Lingchuan denied without any sincerity. "We just happened to know."

Dong Rui cracked a peanut and chimed in, "Yes, purely by chance."

Fu Liushan secretly rolled his eyes, took a fresh sheet of white paper, dipped his pen nib thoroughly in ink, and said, "I'm all ears."

Then, He Lingchuan recounted the Battles of Shizhou Peak and Liuping in detail, with Dong Rui adding supplementary information. Fu Liushan wrote furiously, sometimes interrupting them with tricky questions. Well, seeing that both of them could answer every question, it was clear they were deeply involved in this matter! The so-called leader of the Black Armored Knights — wasn't that Rosheng Armor?!

It was well into the night when He Lingchuan finished his dictation. Fu Liushan had filled seven or eight sheets of paper.

"After you polish it, give it to Dou Wenguan. He'll distribute the scripts for the storytellers to practice." Aside from telling old tales for drinks at a few taverns, Fu Liushan was now only responsible for editing drafts and writing stories, occasionally communicating with the storytellers. All other matters, such as script copying, distribution to storytellers for practice, recruiting new storytellers, and logistics support, were handled by Dou Wenguan.

"Not so fast!" Fu Liushan expressed his dissatisfaction with He Lingchuan's inexperience. "Shizhou Peak and Liuping aren't far. I need to go there myself, hear what the common people say, and add more details."

He Lingchuan expressed the client's appreciation: "Master Fu, you get into the zone so quickly!"

"You're the one paying, after all," Fu Liushan grumbled. "But the leader of the Black Armored Knights in your story needs a catchy nickname – one that makes commoners cheer, makes opponents tremble in fear, and is also easy to say and spread."

"That?" He Lingchuan said casually, "You can think of it."

Fu Liushan sighed inwardly. "One just can't be too kind; being kind always brings trouble. Oh, right, the protagonist of the story, killing so many people and causing such bloodshed, could it be due to the influence of Rosheng Armor?" As a former guardian of the Rosheng Armor's seal, this was his greatest concern: He Lingchuan was indeed resilient and strong-willed, but he was still human after all. Could the Rosheng Armor subtly influence his personality? It was important to remember that Fu Xiong, the old patriarch of the Yingren tribe, didn't become irrational overnight; his mind was only completely corrupted by the Rosheng Armor over a period of five years.

Hearing this, Dong Rui also felt a pang of alarm and instinctively glanced at He Lingchuan. Yet, He Lingchuan was confident: "I believe the protagonist knows what he's doing."

Fu Liushan shrugged. Fu Xiong had said the same thing at first.

"The residents of the Glimmering Gold Plains value violence and revenge more than people elsewhere; you know this better than I do," He Lingchuan told Fu Liushan. "Therefore, the hero they need should ideally be powerful, mysterious, ruthless, and cruel, acting with thunderous means but a benevolent heart." All of this needs to be emphasized in the scripts and the storytellers' narratives.

Fu Liushan nodded, repeating the phrase thoughtfully: "Acting with thunderous means but a benevolent heart?" Perhaps the difference between He Lingchuan and previous owners of the Rosheng Armor, apart from Axun, lay precisely in those two words: 'benevolent heart'?

"Exactly." He Lingchuan stood up and patted his shoulder. "Remember, revenge must be thorough and satisfying for the common people to like it."

At that moment, the Ghost Ape jumped in through the window, baring its teeth at He Lingchuan. They went out at night to tear apart living people but didn't bring it along; it was a bit bored.

He Lingchuan stated bluntly, "You can't go." The Ghost Ape's appearance was too distinctive; it could easily expose the Black Armored Army's true nature.

The Ghost Ape's shoulders slumped, looking dispirited. Dong Rui casually grabbed a handful of peanuts from Fu Liushan's desk and offered them to the Ghost Ape, then said to He Lingchuan, "Oh, and that horn needs to be repaired again by someone from Songyang Manor. When blown, it sounds like a consumptive ghost wailing—no imposing presence at all!"

Fu Liushan watched their retreating figures, then thought about what He Lingchuan had just said, feeling it was somehow strange. Island Lord He was both brave and cunning; Fu Liushan always felt as though he was meticulously planning some major undertakings and carrying them out systematically. Yet, judging by their words and actions, these two seemed to lack seriousness all day long. He shook his head. Their outward behavior contradicted their true intentions – that was true duplicity.

As soon as He Lingchuan stepped out, Wan Qifeng approached him. Dong Rui immediately ran off; his shoulders were sore, and he needed a good massage. Wan Qifeng, meanwhile, followed He Lingchuan back to the study.

He Lingchuan casually set up a barrier before asking, "Is it sorted out?"

"Yes." Wan Qifeng took out a stack of documents and presented them to He Lingchuan. "This is the list we and the merchant association compiled from various sources. You wouldn't believe it until you look, but wicked officials, corrupt gentry, ruthless bandits, and highwaymen are everywhere on the Glimmering Gold Plains. We found this many just by casually collecting names."