Chapter 453: Who Exactly Is the Pen?

Upon seeing Ge Junma’s corpse, He Caiyuan’s body trembled.

The peddler smiled, “Feeling bad? Your master is dead; do you want to kowtow? You can kowtow, and I’ll let you pass.”

Tears streamed down He Caiyuan’s face; he was truly sad.

After a moment of hesitation, he didn’t kowtow. He sighed deeply and said, “Lord Ge treated this old man with immense kindness. For him to leave like this now brings me unbearable pain, as if my heart is being twisted by knives!”

The peddler sighed, “Such loyalty is rare. If I had known earlier, I would have let you see him one last time. But it’s not too late now. This toad doesn’t walk fast. If you set off immediately, you might still catch him on the Yellow Springs Road.”

He Caiyuan wiped his tears and shook his head, saying, “The man is gone; this old man has no more attachments. From now on, I wish to follow you, serving you however you command.”

The peddler chuckled, slowly emerging from the night and pushing his cart closer to He Caiyuan. Given his status, power, and profession of traveling far and wide, there was no kind of person he hadn't met. Yet, individuals like He Caiyuan always managed to surprise the peddler.

“First, tell me, how did this toad come to Puluo Prefecture? Who instructed him to come? I want to see who exactly broke the rules.”

He Caiyuan replied, “This old man doesn’t know the full details yet.”

The peddler looked at He Caiyuan and said, “If you don’t know anything, why should I keep you?”

He Caiyuan quickly changed his tone, “I’ve heard some rumors. Some said Ge Junma accidentally entered the Ink Fragrance Shop by mistake and was trapped by the local deity, unable to get out.”

“By mistake?” The peddler chuckled, “Meaning he accidentally left Neizhou and then stumbled into the Ink Fragrance Shop, right?”

He Caiyuan wasn’t foolish; he knew this wasn’t credible. He quickly explained, “This is just a rumor. Please, Master, grant this old servant three days, and I will surely find out the truth.”

Goosebumps rose on the peddler’s arms. After only a few sentences, He Caiyuan had already started calling him ‘Master’ and referring to himself as ‘old servant.’

“Are you truly serious about following me?” The peddler half-sat on his cart, casually fiddling with a rattle-drum.

He Caiyuan lifted his long robe, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed to the peddler, “This old servant wishes to entrust this life to Master!”

The peddler nodded and said, “Very well, I accept your life.”

Chu Shaoqiang, standing nearby, saw clearly that the peddler wouldn’t spare He Caiyuan. However, he hadn’t expected He Caiyuan to suddenly lift his long robe from the ground. Beneath his robe, two large characters written in blood appeared. One character was ‘net,’ and the other was ‘kill.’ They swiftly flew towards the peddler.

He Caiyuan had secretly written these two characters while begging the peddler for mercy. The ‘kill’ character was clearly meant for fighting the peddler, which was easy to understand. But Chu Shaoqiang couldn’t figure out what the ‘net’ character was for. To try and trap the peddler with a simple net seemed a bit childish. However, this ‘net’ character wasn’t just one net; it was meticulously drawn, layer upon layer, nesting hundreds of tiny ‘net’ characters within it. The ability to write this ‘net’ character right under the peddler’s nose demonstrated He Caiyuan’s skill. According to He Caiyuan’s plan, the peddler would surely first deal with the ‘kill’ character before addressing the ‘net’ character. At that moment, hundreds of nets would unfurl simultaneously, buying He Caiyuan a little time—just enough time for him to escape from the peddler’s grasp.

Watching the two characters fly towards him, the peddler remained seated on his cart. With a casual flick of his rattle-drum, he effortlessly caught both characters. Hundreds of nets unfurled together, not entangling the peddler, but instead wrapping around the rattle-drum.

The peddler smiled, and He Caiyuan cried. He knew the peddler was powerful, but he hadn’t imagined such an extreme level of strength. The peddler flicked his hand, clearing away all the layers of silk nets, revealing He Caiyuan’s bloodstains on the drumhead.

“Is this your blood?”

He Caiyuan got up and ran.

The peddler held the drumhead in his left hand and the drum handle in his right. With a gentle twist of both hands, He Caiyuan’s entire body twisted into a spiral shape, falling motionless to the ground.

Sweat continuously dripped down Chu Shaoqiang’s cheeks. The peddler looked at Chu Shaoqiang and said, “It’s your turn.”

Chu Shaoqiang stammered, “I don’t know why Ge Junma came to the Ink Fragrance Shop. I received word from Neizhou that he was trapped here, and if I rescued him, the matter of Qiu Luoye would no longer be pursued.”

“Is that truly all you know?”

Chu Shaoqiang nodded repeatedly. “I wouldn’t dare lie to you; everything I’ve said is the truth. If you can spare my life, I’ll be eternally grateful. If you must kill me, please make it quick.”

The peddler walked closer to Chu Shaoqiang, took a piece of burlap cloth, shook it out, and wiped Chu Shaoqiang’s sweat. “Look how scared you are; your sweat won’t even wipe clean. Here, I’ll give you a bar of soap. Go wash up.”

The peddler reached out, and a bar of soap flew from his cart into his hand. He sniffed it. “Rose scented. Try it.”

With that, the peddler shoved the soap into Chu Shaoqiang’s mouth. Chu Shaoqiang couldn’t resist; the bar of soap slid directly down his throat. A strong rose scent, accompanied by foam, began to rise back up his esophagus. Chu Shaoqiang dared not struggle, not even daring to spit out the foam, and stood obediently in place.

Having swallowed the soap, Chu Shaoqiang knew his life was spared. However, he also knew that unless the peddler permitted it, the soap would never come out. From now on, he would have many tasks to perform, the specifics of which would depend on the peddler’s instructions.

“Go on, go wash your face.” The peddler waved his hand, and Chu Shaoqiang took off running.

The peddler walked into the forest and saw Li Banfeng wrapping his wounds with tape.

“These foreign gadgets are useless; they only stop bleeding. I have some vanishing cream here. Let me put some on you; your wounds will heal faster and leave no scars.”

Li Banfeng snorted coldly, “When did you get here? Were you here all along, just watching me get beaten up?”

The peddler said with a serious expression, “How could that be? I just arrived!”

“How ‘just’?”

“How many drumbeats did you hear just now?”

Li Banfeng recalled, “Clang-bang-bang-bang, four beats.”

“Incorrect,” the peddler shook his head, “It was *bang*! Clang-bang-bang-bang! Five beats. I struck one beat first, knocking that toad over, and then I immediately came out to save you.”

“You knocked it over with one *bang*?” Li Banfeng didn’t believe him. “Besides, I was guarding the entrance the whole time. How did you get in?”

“You mean that lake? There’s more than one entrance there. We still don’t know which entrance Ge Junma used to get in. It’s also impressive that the scholar held out for so long inside.”

“The scholar?”

“Are you talking about the local deity of the Ink Fragrance Shop?” Li Banfeng was about to ask about this. “Why did the local deity here become like that? Attacking anyone, regardless of whether they’re friend or foe?”

“Don’t ask me about that,” the peddler chuckled bitterly. “I sold a brush, and it ended up being used in this state. It pains me to see it.”

“You sold a brush?” Li Banfeng picked up his own Judge’s Brush. “This was given to me by someone else, not sold by you.”

The peddler shook his head. “I wasn’t talking about you; I was talking about your Judge’s Brush.”

“You sold *a* Judge’s Brush *to* my Judge’s Brush?” Li Banfeng’s words stumbled, and he frowned. “Can you explain it more clearly?”

“You don’t understand?” The peddler chuckled, “Ask your Judge’s Brush. It can guess intentions in three sentences and read minds in five. See if *it* can understand?”

Didn’t those words describe Murong Gui? How did they apply to the Judge’s Brush now?

The Judge’s Brush, beside him, retorted to the peddler, “Guess my ass.”

“Crude!” The peddler heard it. “Spending too much time with this vulgar person, even the Intellectual Scholar has gone bad.”

Li Banfeng picked up the Judge’s Brush and asked, “Is *he* the Intellectual Scholar?”

The peddler nodded, “Yes, the Ink Fragrance Shop’s foremost talent, the one naturally destined for words, is him. Murong Gui was originally a poor scholar. In his youth, he amassed a fortune through his vast knowledge. Even when his cultivation was still at the basic level, he already held great prestige in the Ink Fragrance Shop. He established a large guild called the Ink Scholar Gang. At that time, the local deity of the Ink Fragrance Shop was named Eight-Measure Ink Scholar. His name was used for the gang, and far from being angry, Eight-Measure Ink Scholar greatly admired Murong Gui and took him as a disciple. Eight-Measure Ink Scholar used special means to allow Murong Gui to bypass Neizhou and ascend to the clouds, entrusting the Ink Fragrance Shop’s territory to the Intellectual Scholar. Eight-Measure Ink Scholar then disappeared without a trace. From then on, Murong Gui became the local deity of the Ink Fragrance Shop.”

Li Banfeng looked at the Judge’s Brush and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

The Judge’s Brush pondered for a long time before replying, “Too long.”

Li Banfeng asked the peddler, “Why did Murong Gui become the Judge’s Brush?”

The peddler sighed, “There are many things involved here; explaining them in detail would take forever. The world believed Murong Gui excelled at discerning people’s thoughts. If he guessed correctly, it was only natural; if he guessed wrong, it was a heinous crime. No matter how clever one’s methods, who can guess so accurately every time? Even if one guesses correctly, who can respond so perfectly every time? As head of a family, he was blamed for all family matters. As head of a gang, he was blamed for all gang matters. As lord of a territory, everything that happened in the region was his fault. The Ink Fragrance Shop was filled with scholars, and you know how scholars talk—their words are indirect and hard to decipher. If they encountered even a minor issue, their written and spoken condemnations would be endless. Moreover, the Ink Fragrance Shop was a unique place. It required illiterates to want to learn, those who could read to continue studying, and the learned to study even more diligently. Merely maintaining the rules of the territory was exhausting, and adding the burden of discerning people’s thoughts, Murong Gui simply couldn’t bear it anymore.”

At this point, the Judge’s Brush cried out, “The old thief ran away!”

“Which old thief?”

The peddler said, “He’s talking about Eight-Measure Ink Scholar. The day he left the Ink Fragrance Shop, he was especially happy. After serving as the local deity for a few years, Murong Gui changed, completely changed.”

Li Banfeng asked, “What did he become?”

The peddler picked up the Judge’s Brush and wrote the character ‘Hui’ under a willow tree, and the local deity’s residence appeared. He led Li Banfeng across the frozen lake surface and into a pavilion within a bamboo grove.

The ‘local deity’ of the Ink Fragrance Shop was currently in the pavilion. The toad in the lake had been killed by the peddler, so he no longer needed to exert effort on the lake surface. However, he was still furiously writing at his desk, not ‘kill’ and ‘battle,’ but the three rules of the Ink Fragrance Shop: “The blind should feel ashamed,” “The learned should strive,” and “All people should study.”

The peddler pointed to the wall and said, “These are the characters Murong Gui left behind back then.”

Li Banfeng looked up. The four large characters, written with heavy strokes and majestic presence, read: “This old man won’t guess!”

The peddler raised his eyebrows. “He stopped guessing, stopped caring about anything. There’s a saying in the outer prefectures, ‘letting things rot.’ Do you know it?”

Li Banfeng nodded, “I understand that.”

The peddler continued, “Because he let things rot, many problems arose in the Ink Fragrance Shop. I sold him a brush, and this brush had spiritual intelligence, capable of helping him maintain order in the territory. My intention was for the brush to help him share the burden. Who knew that shameless Murong Gui secretly entered the Slothful Cultivation Sect, and using their methods, transferred his scholarly cultivation to the brush. He turned himself into the brush, and the brush into the local deity. He disguised himself as a magical artifact, drifted among the common folk, and escaped. My poor brush, which diligently guarded this territory for so many years, still retains its spiritual essence, but its intellect has been almost completely worn away. Now, it attacks anyone it sees, regardless of friend or foe. Thankfully, it still recognizes me and didn’t lay a hand on me.”

As he spoke, the peddler patted the ‘local deity’ with affection. The ‘local deity’ raised its head, stared at the peddler for a long time, then opened its mouth and bit the peddler’s hand.

“Let go, quickly let go!” The peddler kicked and struggled, pulling his hand free. The bite was fierce, making the peddler tremble with pain.

Li Banfeng looked at the Judge’s Brush and asked, “How did you transfer your cultivation to a brush?”

“Hmph!” The Judge’s Brush responded, then rolled over and went to sleep.