The jujube tree in the yard swayed in the wind, and the rustling sound of the branches and leaves was very rhythmic. This rhythm seemed to fit the rhythm of Ji Yuan's writing, and there were also differences in the lightness and heaviness of the grooves in the gestures.
During the previous exchange with the old beggar, Ji Yuan did take the opportunity to chat with him about many trivial matters of the world. What the old beggar said was very different from what others said from his perspective.
The old beggar traveled thousands of miles, looking for certain patterns from the demons and immortals he met, the natural disasters and man-made disasters, and judging the differences in the qi of various parties and places. Using the old beggar's feelings to express chaos and order, peace and unrest was also beneficial to Ji Yuan, as it helped him understand the so-called partial situation of the world.
Such experiences are rare among immortals like Yu Huaishan who don't like to walk around in the mortal world, and even less likely among monsters like old dragons. Only talents like the old beggar who like to play around in the mortal world or practice cultivation in the red dust have such experiences.
So it's no wonder that the old beggar complained about Ji Yuan's rambling and deliberately avoiding him after leaving Ning'an County. In fact, it was not Ji Yuan's deliberate avoiding him. A big part of the reason was that Ji Yuan just wanted to hear these things in the first place.
Writing is not only a process for Ji Yuan to deduce his own Taoism, but also a process of meditation. While he was writing, he was also thinking about the past, especially the initial things about Monk Huitong and Yunzhou.
Monk Huitong has been fine all this time. It could be that there really is no trouble in Tingliang Kingdom or Tianbao Kingdom, or it could be that he is just lucky. It is also possible that he was shocked by something during a water and land ceremony when all the demons were eliminated.
To think of it in a bad way, the old dragon's rage and the killing spree and the subsequent water and land ceremony seemed to have alarmed the enemy, but everything has two sides. From another perspective, it was a warning to the enemy.
In this situation where one suddenly feels that the situation in Yunzhou may be changing but is still unclear, it is of course more appropriate to make a show of force to scare the enemy.
And although he couldn't explain it to other people, Ji Yuan was more inclined to infer that something would happen to Yunzhou sooner or later. In terms of time, this incident naturally did not constitute a so-called catastrophe of heaven and earth, but it would definitely become a major influence hundreds or thousands of years later.
Instead of all the chaos happening at once, it would be best to have a chance to stabilize a basic base first. Even if it is just Yunzhou, Ji Yuan has only opened up the situation in Dazhen, and other directions are still in the dark.
There are still only a few mature chess pieces, and although the chessboard is large, there are not many suitable positions for placing the pieces.
This is different from placing pieces on a normal chessboard. You can't just fill the empty space. It depends on chance, or the immortal palace, demon clan, monsters, ghosts, and every place where the situation is affected is a chess piece. The piece in Ji Yuan's hand must fall into the key position, and the weight or quantity of the chess piece must be one of the two.
'I feel so exhausted, I can only take one step at a time!'
Ji Yuan sighed and stopped writing with the wolf hair brush in his hand. Unconsciously, he had written thousands of words in dense, tiny characters on a piece of rice paper while thinking.
This made Ji Yuan, who had just reacted, stunned for a while, feeling quite confused as to what he had just written.
After putting the pen on the pen holder, Ji Yuan picked up the rice paper, blew on the ink, and held it in front of his eyes for careful inspection. Since the true meaning of his handwriting remained, he would not have the trouble of not being able to see clearly no matter how small the words were.
Moreover, since it was deduced by himself during his trance, as he continued to read it, some wonderful divine ideas also emerged in his mind, which were some nodes in his world that were difficult to continue.
The more he looked at her, the more his smile became more pronounced, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
“A stroke of genius, hahahahahaha… it’s truly a stroke of genius!”
After reading a page of tiny handwriting, Ji Yuan's previous slightly gloomy mood was swept away and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
As the saying goes, writing is a natural accomplishment, and is the result of happenstance by a skilled hand. This also applies to Ji Yuan's deduction of his magical powers at this moment.
Perhaps during his previous unconscious deduction, he couldn't help but think of the involvement of momentum, or perhaps it was extended to the wonderful use of the claws in his sleeves when Lao Long caught the monk before. In short, these thousands of words containing true meaning were an important breakthrough for Ji Yuan to overcome the art of Qiankun in his sleeves.
This made Ji Yuan even happier than when he made the Samadhi True Fire turn from virtual to real, because this was truly a wonderful method that he had deduced by himself without taking any shortcuts or relying on any external force. Although the breakthrough was only the beginning, he would have a clue afterwards.
At this moment, the residents of Tianniufang nearby who were busy at home could hear Ji Yuan's cheerful laughter.
"Who is laughing so happily?"
A country woman asked in confusion, and an old man weaving baskets nearby identified it and made a guess.
"It seems to be Mr. Ji's voice."
"Oh, that's rare. I've rarely heard Mr. Ji speak loudly."
"Maybe he has finally found a wife!"
"Oh no… "
The old man looked at his daughter who had yet to get married.
"Could it be that you still have improper thoughts about Mr. Ji?"
The country woman just smiled awkwardly and made a low defense.
"I don't even dare to look at Mr. Ji's..."
"It's good to know. Don't be a lazy toad and want to eat swan meat!"
“.…..”
. . .
Yin Zhaoxian was extremely busy with the reconstruction of Wanzhou, so he called Yin Qing, who had just taken the Jizhou provincial examination, back to Wanzhou to help deal with various matters.
Compared to Yin's mother who still treats Yin Qing as a child, in Yin Zhaoxian's eyes, his eldest son, who has already reached the age of 20, has long been a capable person who can stand on his own. He was also deeply impressed by the help he provided in the last cleansing of Wanzhou officials.
Most of the time, the Yin family members were too busy to care about other things, so naturally they would not come to see Ji Yuan. Old Long was dozing off most of the time, and his sleeping ability was just better than Ji Yuan's. The time spent in the mountains by the monks of Yuhuaishan was also passing very quickly, so not many other people would come or dare to disturb Ji Yuan.
In addition, there was no other unfavorable news during this period. Under such circumstances, it was the spring of the Dinghai year. Ji Yuan practiced quietly at home and made careful deductions. Before he knew it, nearly a year had passed.
In early April, the tranquility of Ju'an Pavilion was finally broken once again.
Early that morning, Ji Yuan woke up from his sleep and was flipping through the jade slips in the yard when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching Ju'an Pavilion in the alley of Tianniufang outside.
"Are you sure Mr. Ji is here?"
A man with a slightly weathered face asked an old man again, and the latter answered with a smile.
"Although Mr. Ji rarely goes out, he is definitely there. If he were really not there, the gate to the small pavilion would most likely be locked. Look, the gate is not locked."
The man with a haggard face also showed joy and bowed to the old man to express his gratitude.
"Thank you for leading the way, old man. This is to express my gratitude..."
"Hey, young man, we are from the same village as Mr. Ji. You said that you are an old friend of his, so it is my duty to bring you here. I can also show you the way home. How can I face Mr. Ji in the future after I take your money?"
The old man muttered to himself and turned away.
The man looked at the direction the old man left, then looked at the Ju'an Pavilion about ten feet away. He could see the lush jujube tree in the courtyard. He had been here before, but he hadn't been here for so many years that he had even forgotten the way.
When the man reached the gate of the small courtyard, Ji Yuan in the courtyard had already put down the jade slip and lightly tapped a magic trick to turn it into an ordinary bamboo slip.
"Master Lu, please push the door and come in. It's not latched."
A calm and upright voice came from inside, causing the man who was about to knock on the door to pause.
Feeling a little excited, his heartbeat quickened slightly, and after hesitating for a moment, the man pushed open the gate.
When he entered the Ju'an Pavilion, the first thing he saw was Ji Yuan, who was sitting in front of a stone table under a jujube tree. He was wearing a green shirt, a jade hairpin, and was stroking a bamboo slip. His half-open eyes were staring at him.
Mr. Ji in this state seemed a little different from the Mr. Ji in his memory, but he felt that this was how it should be.
The man was stunned for a moment, then quickly put down what he was holding and bowed.
"Mr. Ji, I come to visit you by the wind..."
He raised his head again and looked at Ji Yuan, saying with obvious excitement.
"Mr. Ji, you haven't changed at all over the years!"
Ji Yuan looked at the person who came. Compared with the elegant gentleman in the beginning, Lu Chengfeng looked much more vicissitudes of life. No one knew what hardships he had experienced over the years.
He had no weapon on him, and with a pair of calloused hands he picked up the things he had brought from the ground. It was just a jar of wine with a piece of paper with the words "Tu Su" on it.
Ji Yuan opened his Dharma eyes and looked at Lu Chengfeng's aura at this moment. He did not have the vigor and vitality he had in the past. He was only in his thirties, but he already showed signs of old age. He couldn't help but sigh.
"Ten years of misty rivers and lakes, half of my life has been spent on Tu Su, Mr. Lu, we haven't seen each other for more than ten years, right? Please come and sit down."
Lu Chengfeng listened in a daze. After a moment, he turned around, closed the gate, and walked into the yard.
"I heard that you like wine... so I brought this jar of wine here. It's not some precious wine, but something my father brewed when he was alive."
As Lu Chengfeng spoke, he placed the wine on the table. There followed a dozen or so breaths of silence. Ji Yuan did not speak or get up either. He sat beside him and carefully touched the bamboo slips.
"Mr. Ji, do you still remember that there were nine of us at the beginning?"
Lu Chengfeng suddenly asked this question. Ji Yuan was still touching the bamboo slips and calling out names one by one.
"Yan Fei, Lu Chengfeng, Luo Ningshuang, Du Heng, Wang Ke, Zhao Long, Lan Xiangning, Bao Dong, Dong Bicheng, I have always remembered your voices."
Lu Chengfeng was dazed again, as if he had just remembered that Mr. Ji was a blind man.
"Mr. Ji has a good memory, but I don't remember everything..."