nycdaug 011 A bastard
011 A bastard
Carp leaping over the Dragon Gate.
Ever since Liu Rui returned from leveling up in the [Hidden Soldier Cave] at dusk, he had heard people mention those five words repeatedly, no less than twenty times.
At first, he was confused and thought that a high-grade [Moonlight Scroll] had dropped, or that a new leveling spot had been discovered.
Later, he realized something was wrong. When others talked about it, they would always whisper behind his back, acting like cowards who were afraid of being discovered.
Could this so-called "carp leaping over the dragon gate" be related to him?
Liu Rui frowned, somewhat impatient, and simply grabbed a player, asking him what he was muttering about.
Through the other party's hesitant narration, Liu Rui learned that it wasn't "the carp leaping over the dragon gate," but "Li Yu leaping over the dragon gate."
The "unlucky guy" who was pushed around and ended up in a miserable situation has now turned from a nobody into a phoenix, and is now entering the village in style, surrounded by NPCs.
Later, some players found out that "Unlucky Guy" had actually killed the BOSS monster [Corpse-Eating Python].
Many people couldn't believe it.
impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
That [Corpse-Devouring Python] is a [Mysterious Grade] BOSS!
How could he be killed by someone with a combat strength of less than 20?
However, some players inquired with the gatekeeper NPC about details such as "offering advice late at night," "walking into the python's mouth," and "killing the python naked."
The thousands of players finally gave up. Amidst their envy and jealousy, they couldn't help but feel admiration—this guy was definitely a ruthless character to have put himself in the python's mouth.
After learning Li Yu's real name, no one mentioned the nickname "Unlucky Guy" anymore, and instead said "Li Yu Leaps Over the Dragon Gate".
Defeating the giant python boss guarantees a huge loot drop, significantly boosting your strength. Adding favor with NPCs is equivalent to a surge in luck.
The analogy of "a carp leaping over the dragon gate" makes it seem perfectly reasonable to everyone.
Only Liu Rui found it tiresome.
A person he had previously ignored suddenly rose rapidly to a position he could only look up to. This change filled him with an indescribable sense of frustration.
Liu Rui even felt that others looked at him like a clown, and were all waiting to see him make a fool of himself. After all, he was the one who pushed Li Yu first, which led to Li Yu's unfortunate situation. Now that Li Yu had become successful, he was very likely to come looking for trouble with Liu Rui.
"Hold!"
Liu Rui cursed under his breath and slammed his fist hard on the frame of the shack next to him.
boom!
Dust and withered leaves fell in a rustling sound.
"Achoo!"
A few sneezes came from inside the shack, followed by a voice: "Brother, why aren't you asleep yet? We have so much to do tomorrow."
"I can't sleep!"
"What's wrong? Oh, you're still thinking about that 'Li Yu'?"
The speaker was Liu Rui's younger brother, Liu Zhi.
The two are brothers born of the same mother, but their personalities are quite different. Liu Rui has a bad temper and acts rashly; Liu Zhi, on the other hand, is calm and thoughtful.
Before transmigrating, Liu Zhi had often had to clean up his brother's messes. After transmigrating, he had even more to worry about.
I've gotten used to it.
Liu Zhi shook his head, put on his clothes, and walked out of the shack.
"Why bother with a lone wolf?" Liu Zhi advised.
Liu Rui said, "He killed the Corpse-Devouring Python, so he'll definitely get a lot of good stuff..."
"We also have good things, such as the 'Village Construction Blueprint'."
Just yesterday, Liu Zhi and his brother obtained a [Village Building Blueprint - Han Zhi Ju] from defeating monsters.
The conditions for using [Han's Gathering] are the same as those for [Zhou's Book Society]. As long as the prerequisite of [Defender of the Righteous and Strong (Strength ≥ 20, Intelligence ≥ 20, Charisma ≥ 20)] is met, a village can be built.
Liu Rui wasn't the type to worry, so the position of village chief naturally fell to Liu Zhi.
Of the three attributes, only [Martial Strength] is at a sufficient level for Liu Zhi. [Intelligence] is only level 13, far from enough. As for [Charm], thanks to a few accessories dropped by monsters in the [Hidden Soldier Cave], he has a total of 16 points after equipping them.
Unfortunately, we're still 4 points short.
However, aside from accessories, exquisite clothing, footwear, and magnificent weapons also increase one's charm. Liu Zhi has already raised the money and is preparing to make a trip to Gansu County.
He also has connections in terms of intelligence.
"As long as our charm and intelligence meet the requirements, we can establish a village and expand our territory. At that time, with a single call to arms, hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of players from all over Gansu will flock to us. Then, to put it bluntly, you and I, brothers, will be the local warlords."
Liu Zhi tried to paint a rosy picture of the future, diverting his brother's attention away from "Li Yu's leap over the dragon gate".
"Will those NPCs help him...?"
"With over a billion players entering the Han Dynasty, how many NPCs are there in the Han Dynasty? If hundreds of thousands, even millions of players in the entire Gansu County could all join our ranks, even a lone wolf, protected by NPCs, could be crushed eight hundred times over by us."
"That's true."
"Alright, alright, go to sleep. I have to rush to Gansu City early tomorrow morning. Brother, don't forget to contact that 'Ma Yijiao' and borrow the book at the price we agreed on before."
"it is good."
--------
The following day, Chenwangli.
After washing up, Li Yu brought a pound of python meat as a gift and went to the Wang residence with Xiong Ba.
During the journey, Xiong Ba brought up the matter of "acquiring [unknown items]". He said that after Chen Lizheng found out about this, he scolded him severely and ordered him to return the [scrolls] and other items.
They also said that "acquiring" doesn't require that much capital; a few pancakes in exchange for a [fragment] would be enough to make people scramble to get it.
So, after many twists and turns, the python eye and the scroll returned to Li Yu's hands.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Knock on the door.
The door opened, and the Wang family servants, seeing it was Li Yu, dared not be negligent. They bowed and asked the two to wait a moment before quickly walking into the courtyard.
Before long, the main gate swung open, and Wang Zhang, accompanied by his household servants, came to greet them. After exchanging pleasantries, they took their seats in the hall.
"Does my lord wish to study?" Wang Zhang asked.
"Yes, I will read it." Li Yu nodded, then got straight to the point without beating around the bush, "In addition, I heard that Boqing Gong is suffering from 'ventriloquism'. I saw a treatment method in an ancient book that might be able to cure this disease."
Wang Zhang was taken aback, then exclaimed happily, "Dangdang Zhenzhen?"
In total, he has had ventriloquism for one year and two months. The time is not particularly long, but the impact of this disease on his mentality and psychology has been too heavy.
Before his illness, Wang Zhang loved engaging in lively discussions. His greatest pleasure was inviting a few close friends to discuss current events and offer their opinions. When the conversation became particularly engaging, they would often stay up all night by candlelight.
After contracting this strange illness, he canceled banquets, shut himself in, and refused to speak with anyone. Even when talking to close friends and relatives, he was dull and hesitant, uttering only a few words at a time.
Thanks to his youngest daughter, Wang Rong, who chattered and smiled like warm sunshine every day, he gradually emerged from the shadows and began to socialize again.
Even so, this ventriloquism was like a fishbone stuck in his throat or a thorn in his flesh, causing him daily torment and unease.
Although Li Yu said that it "might cure the disease," his performance at yesterday's banquet gave Wang Zhang considerable confidence.
"My dear nephew, feel free to try them one by one!" In his emotional turmoil, Wang Zhang even changed his form of address.
"Do you have any medical books in your household?" Li Yu asked.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Wang Zhang hurriedly replied.
Then, with a command, the steward summoned seven or eight burly servants, who headed straight for the study.
Nowadays, most books are made of bamboo slips or wooden tablets bound together and rolled into volumes. These bamboo slips are divided into large and small slips. Large slips can hold more than thirty characters, while small slips can hold more than twenty characters.
One chapter is a short text, and one volume is a book.
Taking the Tsinghua Bamboo Slips as an example, the slips are about two feet long. The "Divination Methods" section has 63 slips, which are in a separate volume; the "Calculation Tables" section has 21 slips, which are also in a volume; and the "Chronological Records" section has 138 slips and more than 3800 characters, which are also in a volume.
The Wang family possessed five medical books: the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic, the Yellow Emperor's Outer Classic, the Bian Que Outer Classic, the Bai Shi Pang Pian, and the Materia Medica Classic.
Among them, the *Huangdi Neijing* (Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic) has 18 volumes, with 3 volumes missing; the *Waijing* (Outer Classic) has 37 volumes, with 20 volumes remaining; the *Bian Que Waijing* (Bian Que's Outer Classic) has 12 volumes, with 5 volumes remaining; and the *Bai Shi Pang Pian* (Bai's Side Chapters) has 25 volumes, with 8 volumes remaining. All three volumes of the *Bencao Jing* (Classic of Materia Medica) are present.
It's not heavy, only thirty or forty pounds in total.
However, due to their age, some of the simple pieces are cracked and the ink has faded; some of the leather ropes are worn out and appear to be broken.
The servants dared not be careless, so they used silk cloth as padding and carefully lifted and placed the items.
The fifty-one volumes of bamboo slips were transported back and forth more than thirty times.
The commotion was quite large, attracting many servants and maids to crane their necks and look.
Li Yu was somewhat embarrassed. He had originally planned to go to the study, but unexpectedly, the great scholar Wang was in such a hurry that he had brought the books over directly.
"Grandpa." A young man, looking travel-worn, appeared to have just returned from out of town.
"Nephew, this is my son, Wang Bin." Wang Zhang introduced the two to each other, "Zijun, this is Li Yu."
Li Yu bowed respectfully. Wang Bin raised his hand halfway, then suddenly frowned: "It's you, you scoundrel."
"鲰" means small fish, and "鲰生" is an insult.
Li Yu frowned, but before he could react, Wang Zhang flew into a rage, grabbed a square bowl beside him, and smashed it over his shoulder: "You brat, shut up!"
Wang Bin dodged awkwardly, protesting, "Grandpa, this man was disrespectful to Huai Ji..."
Bang!
A muffled thud came from the window outside, followed by a woman's soft cry of pain.