Early the next morning, Li Wangyi came to the Upper Pavilion's Library.
He came both to return books and to see if any new acquisitions had arrived. As one of the most prestigious Confucian academies in the central Northern Zhige Continent, Hanshan Academy boasted an extremely rich collection of books. However, over the past decade, Li Wangyi had read nearly ten thousand books, having gone through almost the entire collection of both the upper and lower pavilions.
If the academy had not acquired any new books, he would have no choice but to buy them out of his own pocket, which was certainly not a pleasant prospect.
The Upper Pavilion's Library was built beneath a large camphor tree and was tended by an old man.
This old man had withered skin and pale hair, and was stooped and lean. All day long, he would dangle a large tobacco pipe, lying on a rocking chair puffing away, utterly devoid of scholarly decorum. Yet regardless of whether it was the vice hill masters or the Hill Master himself, everyone treated him with great respect, addressing him as Mr. Half-Mountain.
Scholars like Li Wangyi naturally did not dare to be remiss.
However, for some unknown reason, this Mr. Half-Mountain seemed rather disinclined to look upon Li Wangyi favorably, always wearing a gloomy expression whenever he came. Fortunately, he did not block him from entering the pavilion.
When Li Wangyi arrived this time, Mr. Half-Mountain was lying on his rocking chair in a doze, the glowing tobacco pipe resting right on his chest, completely unconcerned about getting burned.
"Mr. Half-Mountain!" Li Wangyi greeted him.
The old man gave no reaction whatsoever; only the dilapidated rocking chair swayed back and forth with a gentle creak.
Used to it, Li Wangyi simply walked straight into the library.
If the grumpy old man wouldn't give him the time of day, there was someone else who gladly would.
Sure enough, the moment he stepped into the pavilion, a nearly transparent, graceful figure fluttered up to greet him.
"Little Wangyi, you really did come today! I calculated the dates, and figured you should be finished with the batch of books you borrowed last time."
The ethereal figure was overflowing with enthusiasm, flying right up to hover inches in front of Li Wangyi's face.
This was Haoyu, one of the seven book spirits born from the Upper Pavilion's Library.
"Sister Haoyu, originally it would have taken a few more days to finish reading that batch. But because I missed you older sisters so much, I kept the lamps burning bright and worked day and night to get through them a bit early."
"Heh, Little Wangyi's mouth is as sweet as ever. That Xie fellow borrows plenty of books, but he's nowhere near as likable as you."
The book spirit covered her mouth with a soft chuckle, her delicate form trembling so much she almost shook herself out of existence. With great effort, she managed to steady her translucent posture, though her heart remained thoroughly delighted.
"Sister Haoyu, where are the other sisters?"
"It's my turn on duty today. As for the other six sisters, I heard a theater troupe has come to the town down the mountain, putting on a play about a book spirit and a Mohist swordsman wandering the pugilist world together, so they went off to watch the show."
"Then Sister Haoyu missing out on duty is quite a loss."
"Not at all. What's so great about some Mohist swordsman? None of them compare to my Little Wangyi."
After a round of playful banter, the book spirit helped Li Wangyi return the dozens of books he had borrowed previously.
"Sister Haoyu, has the pavilion received any new books lately?"
"Yes."
With a wave of her slender hand, several hundred newly arrived books instantly floated before Li Wangyi. After looking them over, he ultimately selected a hundred.
"Little Wangyi, there are also a few newly acquired secret manuals. They are the pavilion keeper's personal collection and aren't cataloged in the library, you know. Would you like them?" The book spirit suddenly leaned in close to Li Wangyi's ear, asking with a mysterious air.
The so-called pavilion keeper was none other than the lean old man lying outside.
"What kind of secret manuals?" Li Wangyi asked with some curiosity.
The book spirit stretched out her slender hand, and three books appeared out of thin air on her delicate palm.
Li Wangyi looked closely and saw they were titled *Buddhist Meditations on Joyful Zen from the Western Paradise*, *Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation Arts of the Changchun Daoist Sect*, and *Secret Chamber Records of Great Wei Imperial Consorts Competing for Favor*.
Opening them up, he found each book was accompanied by illustrations.
Ah, so it was that kind of book.
"Do you want them?"
Li Wangyi glanced outside at the old man lying there feigning sleep.
"I do!"
***
After borrowing the books, Li Wangyi returned to Tingxi Garden. In the afternoon, he received word that Xie Jiashu had gone down the mountain on scholarly travel.
As the setting sun sank in the west, in the blink of an eye, evening arrived.
Just as Li Wangyi was reading in the pavilion, a yellow-robed young girl of fifteen or sixteen was walking up the bluestone steps that led from the lower academy at the mountain base to the upper academy.
Though walking within a Confucian academy, this young girl carried a gleaming silver great spear and wore a fitted yellow warrior's outfit, making her look quite dashing and spirited.
Along the way, she overheard some idle gossip, and her horizontal brows furrowed slightly.
Then she turned sideways and looked toward a certain direction.
***
Maple Leaf Cottage served as the student quarters for the upper academy of Hanshan Academy. As an upper-tier student, Guo An and a few close friends lived alone in a courtyard.
By evening, the others had either gone to evening classes or gone to play in the town below the mountain. Only Guo An remained in his room to review his books.
Suddenly, with a booming explosion, the entire courtyard violently shook. At the same time, a violent, razor-sharp aura of metal swept into every corner.
Guo An reacted instantly. With a flash of his figure, he was already out in the courtyard.
There, planted aslant in the open ground of the courtyard, was a gleaming silver great spear.
Looking up into the air, he saw a yellow-robed young girl stepping through the void toward him.
"Qiu Susu? You..."
"Guo, you actually dare to publicly slander and insult my Eldest Senior Brother! Eat my spear!"
With a stern shout from the yellow-robed young girl, the gleaming great spear on the ground instantly flew back up into her hand, and she thrust it straight at Guo An.
"You, I—"
Boom!
A fierce battle broke out within Maple Leaf Cottage.
Half a cup of tea later, the battle in the courtyard came to an end.
The yellow-robed young girl landed in a secluded corner, using her spear to prop herself up. The once dashing and spirited girl was now bruised and battered, looking rather disheveled.
"Ugh, I need to disperse the bruises before I go back, so Eldest Senior Brother doesn't notice," she muttered softly, rubbing her aching and swollen cheeks with her hand.
Glancing around to confirm no one was watching, she transformed into a streak of yellow light and swiftly darted toward the uninhabited ravines of the back mountain. She would tend to her injuries for a few days before showing her face.
***
The courtyard where Guo An lived in Maple Leaf Cottage was now in utter ruins.
As for Guo An himself, he was in a truly miserable state. His cap had vanished to who knows where, his hair was disheveled, his long robe was in tatters, and he was covered from head to toe in filth, looking just like a beggar. The face that had once been passable was now swollen up like a pig's head, completely unfit to be seen in public.
Yet the tremendous commotion had ultimately drawn people over.
An upper-tier student who shared the courtyard returned and was utterly shocked to see such a devastated and wretched sight.
"Brother Ziming, what happened?"
Ziming was Guo An's courtesy name. Hearing his roommate's words, his expression turned deeply unsightly. After a moment of silence, he nonetheless told the truth.
"Qiu Susu caused this?"
"Sigh, why on earth did you go provoking Li Wangyi for no reason? You knew full well those three senior fellow apprentices have always been cut from the same cloth, yet you still slandered him in public. Isn't this just asking for trouble?"
"If it weren't for his Second Junior Brother, Yu Dubai, being away on scholarly travel and not yet returned, he surely would have come knocking on your door as well. If that had really happened, the consequences would only have been even more uncontrollable."
His roommate shook his head and sighed.
Guo An's expression grew even more unsightly, tinged with no small amount of regret.