Qiantang City, ten miles of Langyao.
Palace of learning.
Outside a secluded courtyard, dozens of people gathered. None of them were dressed like students from the academy. Most of them wore silk and brocade clothes, dressed like wealthy businessmen, and were followed by a servant carrying a book box. They were all pacing outside anxiously.
"Is it really today?" A chubby middle-aged man took out a delicate handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
A disciple standing guard at the door said with a smile: "Although we five gentlemen write very slowly, we have agreed to finish writing on a certain day. Don't worry."
Inside the study, Zhou Zheng, one of the Five Gentlemen of the Imperial Academy, dressed in green, wrote down the last four words:
Going down the mountain today.
He put down the wolf-hair brush in his hand and breathed a sigh of relief.
The book boy who was standing by saw Zhou Zheng stop writing, his eyes lit up, and he immediately opened the door of the study and shouted outside: "The latest volume of "Hot-Blooded Academy" is finished!"
"It's done, it's done, everyone—" The academy disciple guarding the door was pushed away by the fat middle-aged man before he could finish his words. As he was pushed away, all the people who had been guarding outside obediently rushed in.
"Copy it for me first, copy it for me first." The fat middle-aged man ran in front, shouting breathlessly.
"Don't grab it!" The book boy glared at her, and said in a threatening tone, "If the manuscript is damaged, who can afford to pay for it?"
Everyone was so frightened that they stopped in their tracks. The fat middle-aged man in the lead nodded repeatedly: "Young Master is right! Young Master is right!"
The book boy cleared his throat and asked, "Did you bring paper and pen?"
"Here we go!" The servants who were carrying book boxes immediately put them down and took out paper and pen from them.
"Well, everyone, for the next three days, I will read the manuscript aloud and you will take notes, how about that?" asked the servant.
"Very good, very good!" Everyone nodded. They were the largest booksellers in Qiantang City. They came here for the latest volume of "Hot-Blooded Academy". They were afraid that they would be a step behind others, so that others would start selling the latest "Hot-Blooded Academy", but they were still copying the manuscript. Now they let the book boy read and they memorized, which was very fair.
"Okay!" The book boy nodded, turned around and went back to the room, but found that there was no one in front of the desk, the side window of the study was open, and Zhou Zheng, one of the Five Gentlemen, was nowhere to be seen.
At the foot of Shili Langyao Mountain, two men in school uniforms had been waiting there for a long time. One of them was holding an ancient scroll and had a serious look on his face, while the other was wearing a white robe and was very elegant and gentlemanly. These two men were the third gentleman of the academy, Li Yanqi, and the fourth gentleman of the academy, Li Wai.
"Hello, two senior brothers." Zhou Zheng walked down the mountain and bowed when he saw the two of them.
"Junior brother, you are the second one among us to go down the mountain." Li Yanqi said in a deep voice.
"I am a humble junior brother, the youngest among my fellow disciples, but I got down the mountain first." Zhou Zheng said with his head down.
"You should have gone down the mountain." Li Yanqi said in a deep voice, "When you go down the mountain, you must protect your fellow apprentices, just like our second senior brother protected our academy back then."
"Junior brother, I've made note of it." Zhou Zheng nodded.
"Fourth Junior Brother, do you have anything to say?" Li Yanqi asked.
Li Wai shook his head without saying anything. He just slowly raised his right hand, which held a long sword.
The sword is long, sharp and without a sheath.
"The Ni Lin Sword." Zhou Zheng said lightly.
Li Wai smiled and raised his eyebrows at Zhou Zheng.
Zhou Zheng also smiled, walked past Li Wai, took the Ni Lin sword from his hand, and continued walking down the mountain.
Li Yanqi suddenly turned around and said to Zhou Zheng, "Fifth Junior Brother, do you still remember Jun Yan from those days?"
"Although there are many of you, even if there are as many as the world, I am enough." At a corner of the mountain road, Zhou Zheng's figure was finally about to disappear. He suddenly raised the long sword in his hand and continued to shout, "Zhou Zheng, one of the Five Gentlemen of the Academy, has the cloud!"
"What do you think?" Li Yanqi asked.
Li Wai smiled and said, "Senior brother performed well today and only said a few words."
"Why didn't you say anything? You should give more encouragement to our fifth junior brother when he goes down the mountain." Li Yanqi blamed.
Li Wai smiled and said, "I'm afraid that once I speak, it will give you inspiration, and then you won't be able to stop."
Li Yanqi sighed softly: "I should have been the one to go down the mountain..."
"Brother, you are devoted to learning. When the holy altar is opened in Shengjing City to hold a debate among the three religions, that is the day for you to leave the mountain." Li Wai patted Li Yanqi on the shoulder. "Now, what we have to do is wait for them to come back."
"When will you go down the mountain?" Li Yanqi asked.
Li Wai yawned and said, "I will stay in the academy for the rest of my life and will never go down the mountain."
Jimo Sword City.
A woman in red was leaning on the couch, with her sword and a pot of wine beside her. She squinted her eyes slightly, as if she was taking a nap. A female sword attendant walked in from outside the door, and seeing that the city lord was resting, she waited aside without going forward to disturb her.
"Yulang." Jimo Huaxue called softly.
The female swordsman sighed and took the wine jug from the table.
"You're here, what's the matter?" Jimo Huaxue heard the sound, woke up from her sleep, and asked softly.
The female sword servant hurriedly replied: "News has come. The three great families in Daze Prefecture, Tianshu Hall and Tianshui Villa, joined forces with Feng Yuli, the second in command of Tianxiao Cloud Realm, to try to kill Feng Yuhan and gain control of Tianxiao Cloud Realm. In the end, their plan was foiled by four young men from the Academy. Currently, the alliance between the three families in Daze Prefecture has been broken, and Feng Yuhan has regained control of Tianxiao Cloud Realm."
"Not bad." Jimo Huaxue smiled, "As expected of his junior brothers and sisters. What happened later? Did they return to the academy?"
"No. On the way, Bai Jile, the owner of Fusheng Zuimeng Tower in Shanglin Tian Palace, arrived and almost killed them all. But they should have escaped from Bai Jile. The current rumor in the martial arts world is that Nangong Xier and Su Baiyi had the secret manuals of martial arts left behind by the Demon Sect, and they have been quietly taken away by Demon City." The female sword servant replied.
"Devil's Castle?" Jimo Huaxue frowned slightly, "Is that true?"
"The secret agents in the city did see Zhao Xiaqiu, one of the Nine Evils of Demon City, traveling with them." said the female swordsman.
"Zhao Xiaqiu." Jimo Huaxue stretched out her hand and rubbed her brow. "If it's Demon City, there's no need to worry. They won't do anything to Nangong Xier and Su Baiyi. Don't worry about it. Just let them go."
"But Demon City has always been moody..." the female swordsman said worriedly.
"You're trying to trick me into going to Demon City." Jimo Huaxue shook her head, "I won't be fooled. Send someone to tell Nangong Xier and Su Baiyi that they're done being guests in Demon City, so don't rush back to the academy, and come to our Jimo Sword City and have a seat."