In the inner warehouse, there were messy ink ingots scattered all over the floor.
In the central open space, a girl in cold palace clothes and a small girl with a palm-sized crown, one big and one small, looked at each other silently.
"Mo Jing Huang Xuan?" Rong Zhen nodded.
The little nüguan corrected in a low voice: "It's the female fairy of Mo."
Rong Zhen pulled the corners of his lips slightly, raised his golden four-eyed fierce face again, and put it on his face calmly.
This taboo gold face is related to the rumored mythical creature named Fang Xiangshi from ancient times. It had an extremely ugly appearance. The word Fang Xiangshi means "fearful appearance".
Ancient books say that in the spring season, the evil spirits in the world are aroused and they are at odds with the people. When the various spirits and ghosts that cause chaos in the world see the fierce face of Fang Xiangshi, they will flee in terror...
Seeing the action of the girl in palace clothes wearing a mask, the little girl who calls herself "The Fairy of Ink" suddenly panicked:
"What does a fairy do?"
"Try your real name."
Rong Zhenyouyou said:
"I heard that the true name is the biggest taboo for every spirit. It is very important. If you identify and call out their names, you can trigger a certain power to avoid being harmed by them, and instead control the spirits for my use.
"It's rare that you are so good and reveal your true name. Naturally, I want to give it a try. Moreover, the effect will be even better if you try it with this mask on."
The little girl's expression changed.
"Fairy...Fairy, please wait."
Rong Zhen paused slightly while putting on the mask: "What's wrong?"
"Suddenly I remembered that...it seems that this is not my name. I was used to calling it..."
"Trying with me?"
"No, no! It's just that I haven't mentioned my real name for a long time. I didn't expect to ask this. I thought it was a common name, haha..."
Rong Zhen looked at her coldly and interrupted: "Real name."
"I said, I said..."
The little girl sighed sadly, and was forced to speak a short name in an ancient dialect that Rong Zhen had never heard before - and she didn't know if it was the language of goblins.
Rong Zhen is not surprised, this is the correct real name, not like a common name.
She vaguely felt that this dialect sentence, two syllables, seemed like one word, so she tried to ask:
"Wonderful idea? Die instantly?"
"Oh, it's not instant death, it's a wonderful idea." The little girl corrected her seriously with a small face: "Everyone I know calls me that, it's close to her real name."
After writing down the ancient proverb’s true name of this monster, Rong Zhen was no longer in a hurry and nodded:
"Then let's call you Miao Si."
Miaosi asked weakly: "Okay, fairy, can you not tell me my real name?"
Rong Zhen was noncommittal, looking down at her strange dress that mixed Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and at the same time said:
"Where's the bargain?"
She whispered: "Just a suggestion, a suggestion..."
Rong Zhen nodded and sneered: "Okay, if you have any other good suggestions, let's talk about them together."
Miao Si's eyes lit up, and she really believed it, and immediately said: "One thing, fairies must never call me by my real name while wearing this mask."
"Oh, what if I shouted accidentally?"
The little girl frowned and said: "Then I will definitely feel uncomfortable, maybe half of my life will be surrendered..."
"I understand, then do this."
"..."
Rong Zhen looked at her and suddenly said:
"However, if you can help me with one thing, I can let you go afterwards and promise that you will not give this real name to Si Tianjian."
"I, I have no money." Miao Si raised her face as big as the size of a fingertip and was about to cry without tears: "The people I know also live in a poor family, and they are even poorer... I have to go out and make money myself."
As she said that, she turned over the small golden bowl in her hand and shook it hard in front of Rong Zhen. There was not a drop of ink.
Rong Zhen interrupted: "I heard that you Mo masters can have an insight into the cultural style? Not only the grand cultural style of a city or a place, but also the unique cultural style of an individual?"
Miao Si was stunned for a moment: "Ah... um, you have such a useless skill. Wait, isn't this why the fairy was hired?"
Rong Zhen lowered her eyelashes, "What is the range of literary style you can see?"
"Anyone in Xunyang City can do it, especially those literati who like to use Han Lei Mo. Their literary spirit can be seen by this fairy. Fortunately, there are many people who use Han Lei Mo. Otherwise, how can they die just by eating ink?"
You are full, just like you eat vegetables, how can you do it without adding oil and salt?"
The little girl wearing dark Confucian clothes and holding a golden alms bowl shook her head and said with a somewhat smug tone:
"They foolishly use Hanlei ink. I am the female immortal of ink. I can also teach you the cultivation of literary spirit. Working for me is in vain. As for those who don't use Hanlei ink, their literary spirit can be seen by me if I get close."
After a pause, Miaosi tried to ask:
"Is the fairy looking for a good match and a young man with outstanding literary talents? Well, at this young age, the fairy is a little impatient."
Rong Zhen's expression was cold and he was too lazy to speak. He took out a piece of red paper, wrapped it with a few scraps of paper, and threw it on Miao Si's little head with a lotus crown that stretched forward:
"I am not interested in Fengyue poems, but I am looking for someone who is good at writing poems and still uses Han Lei Mo. This is a poem he wrote about Die Lian Hua. It has his style. You can search according to the picture and find this poem for me.
Man, when the matter is accomplished, not only will I let you go, but I will also give you a heavy reward."
"What...what kind of reward?"
Rong Zhen looked around at the messy library:
"The ink ingots on the ground are all yours."
"really?"
"No joke."
Miao Si carefully took the red paper and scraps of paper, closed her eyes, sniffed the text, and muttered:
"I'll give it a try... Let's first agree that there are a total of 109 ink ingots on the field, and the number cannot be less..."
Rong Zhen was speechless and waved his hand to interrupt: "It doesn't matter if I give you another hundred."
"Hehe, two hundred and nine, the fairy is so generous! However, I have to give this fairy a few days to find a certain human spirit. It is quite time-consuming and I have to walk around the city several times."
Rong Zhen waved the golden mask in his hand:
"Okay, but if you don't find it, just wait until you go to the Luodu Si Tianjian dungeon to eat it."
Miao Si waved her hands wildly, "I won't go to Luoyang, I won't go to Luoyang."
Rong Zhenqi asked: "Are you afraid of Luoyang or Si Tianjian?"
"I'm afraid." She shrank her head and said, "Xunyang is very good. It is elegant, famous, and prosperous. It would be better if there is no such big Buddha..."
"Isn't Luoyang also rich in culture?"
"But without the prosperity of the Meiji period, the emperor was too murderous." Miao Si said stubbornly.
Rong Zhen's mouth curved slightly: "You are a little ink master, your taste is quite tricky."
"It's the Ink Fairy!" She shook her fist and emphasized.
Rong Zhen ignored him and put away the red paper with Die Lianhua's poems and other items, leaving only a small scrap of paper for the inkling. Before leaving, she suddenly paused:
"I have admired your skills before and am a little curious. How do you leave every time you sneak in through the ventilation hole and eat an ink stick?"
"Actually... I ate a hundred in total. Every time I come here, I have to eat two small ink tablets to feel full."
Rong Zhen raised his eyebrows, Miao Si pointed his fingers and counted them one by one:
"The innermost one, the outermost one, and then disguised as the outermost one, lie down in the box and sleep, and wait for them to take it and sell it during the day. When I get to the guest's house, I sneak back home. Not only is it safe, but also
No one doubts hehe..."
"Ah."
Rong Zhen suddenly smiled, went out with long sleeves, and left a long sentence:
"Three days."
"What three days?"
"Three days later, at this point, come here to see me. Don't let me call you by your real name."
Before Miao Si could complain and bargain, the figure of the cold and cold girl disappeared, the inner door opened, and the evening breeze poured into the house.
The little girl wearing black Confucian clothes shuddered.
He lowered his head and looked at the scraps of paper, then looked at the ink ingots on the ground, and sighed in distress:
"With a stinky face, it's as if I owe you ingots, and now I want to find the owner of the Dielianhua. Well, first of all, if I rule out kindness, I probably have a grudge against you. I don't know if it's love or not.
This unlucky guy...
"Wonderful thought, wonderful thought, you have the nerve to say that others are unlucky, but you are even more unlucky tonight. If you revealed your real name, if you had known, you would have listened to Huang Xuan's words. The most stupid one, there is no one. One day, you will die of stupidity..."
The little girl in Confucian attire left the inner treasury dejectedly, and returned to a dilapidated courtyard to the west of Xingzifang a short time later.
The courtyard wall was old, and there was a mouse hole. Miao Si didn't care, so he just drilled into it and returned home.
She was accustomed to the thunderous snoring in the hospital. She rolled her eyes, but there was no other sound except the snoring.
He tiptoed back to the sleeping room that was converted into a woodshed, and prepared to quietly open the cabinet.
"Going to eat secretly again?"
Suddenly a girl's voice came from the darkness.
Miao Si was startled and fell to the ground with an "ouch".
He got up and asked weakly towards the small figure sitting quietly in front of the table:
"You...why aren't you sleeping yet?"
"How many times have I told you not to steal food? You have always promised to do it, but you are cheating again."
The little girl in red coat, who had been waiting quietly at the table for most of the night, turned her mouth downwards and spoke calmly:
"I brought Mo back, didn't you say you were full every time?"
Miaosi didn't dare to look directly at him, so he talked to him from left to right:
"It's because I'm full, or I just have insomnia. I went out for a walk...when did Xiaoxuan wake up, and how long have you been waiting?"
Huang Xuan said quietly: "You didn't wipe your mouth clean."
"..."
The wonderful idea instantly rectified the mistake.
She lowered her head and remained silent, like a child who had been caught making a mistake.
Huang Xuan sighed and blamed herself: "If only I could afford to buy ink, you and dad wouldn't be hungry and wouldn't tell me..."
The little girl's heart felt like it was being twisted - if she had a heart at all - the pain was unbearable.
She didn't dare to talk about what happened just now when she was caught red-handed by the fairy.
Under the background of snoring, the atmosphere at the table was somewhat silent.
Huang Xuan suddenly stood up, walked to the bedside, took out a small bag of scraps of Han Lei ink from under the pillow, and silently handed it to Miao Si:
"You take it and eat it. I'll get some during the day. You... don't steal ink ingots from now on. We are poor, but our ambition is not poor. Stealing is wrong. You can't expect to be strong and others won't catch you.
Just feel at ease, if something is done, it will be done, and there will always be traces.
"Besides, what you did has attracted many people to investigate. What if you are caught by them? I don't have money to ransom you, and even if you sell it, I won't have enough."
In fact, someone has already caught him... Miao Si secretly murmured in her heart.
Weirui raised her head and saw Huang Xuan's hopeful gaze, so she had no choice but to nod her head and agree.
"Wonderful idea." Huang Xuan frowned.
"Um?"
"You...can you eat less? How about we stop eating ink and eat rice? You can also eat meat. You are small and can't eat much, but some ink is more expensive than gold and silver."
"...?"
Miao Si had a straight face: "I am a Mo spirit, not a rat spirit. Why don't you raise a rat spirit and I'll go."
"Forget it, pretend I didn't say anything, don't be angry." Huang Xuan waved her hand.
Eat rice instead? It was an insult to her "elegant character". Miao Si crossed her arms, snorted, turned her little face to one side, and asked rather coldly:
"Are you looking for this fairy lady for something? It's strange not to sleep tonight. Normally you have to do things during the day and don't stay up late."
Huang Xuan was silent for a while and then said: "Do you still remember the two nobles I told you about last time?"
Miaosi nodded:
"Well. Didn't you take me to the Xunyang Tower that day to have a look, and asked me to write down the aura of the young Changshi and the Xie family girl. But looking back, it seems that the young Changshi doesn't like writing and pursues practical work.
.”
Huang Xuan pursed her lips: "My lady Xie has encountered difficulties recently."
"What difficulty?"
"She seems to be the Confucian Qi practitioner you mentioned. Now that she is promoted, she needs literary Qi."
"Hey, book translator?"
"I don't know, but can you go and help her?"
"Forehead……"
Miao Si looked at Huang Xuan's expectant expression and hesitated for a moment. After all, she was in the wrong tonight. She nodded and sighed:
"Okay. Where does this noble lady of the Xie family live?"
"Didn't you say you remember your breath?"
"Then there must be a general range. Xunyang City is so big, and it's so dark outside. Where can I go to find it? I eat too much, I don't grow tall, and my moral skills are still low. I don't even look at the whole city.
To be able to lock the Qi mechanism, you have to go nearby to smell the breath."
"Oh." Huang Xuan recalled the words left by the young man in the felt hat when he bought red leaves that day, tilted her head and said: "You should live in the Xunyang Prince's Mansion in Xiushui Fang..."
Miao Si tightened her face, nodded like a little adult, jumped up and touched Huang Xuan's head:
"Okay, you go to bed first, and I'll go give her some grace."
"Thanks for your hard work!"
After a while, Huang Xuan fell asleep. Miao Si finished eating the remaining ink and went out again.
She is only about the size of a palm. She hides in the darkness and travels quietly. If she encounters pedestrians or danger, she will turn into an ink ingot and pretend to be dead. She will try her best... without being discovered all the way.
However, the little girl who was on her way had a sad expression.
It wasn't Huang Xuan's troubles, but the instructions from the money-faced fairy that made her a little confused.
Finding the owner of Dielianhua is much more difficult than helping Huang Xuan's benefactor.
Huang Xuan's commission at least had a general direction, but the instructions from the money-owed fairy...
The cultural atmosphere of Xunyang City is rich and complex, and there is no general direction. If you look for it one by one, it will take who knows how long.
In addition, what if the owner of Dielianhua has not written poetry for a long time except for this poem?
There is no literary talent at all, how can she find it?
Like what she just complained to Huang Xuan, if she had the ability to see through the city's culture at a glance, Miaoshi would have run away with her bucket and applied for a job at the Confucian Academy, becoming a well-organized geek and a popular drinker.
Yes, isn’t it wonderful?
It's a pity that she is still young, not to mention the dangers of traveling far away, but if she goes to the academy now, she will be easily bullied by unscrupulous Confucian scholars. After reading a lot of books, Miao Si summed up the first rule of conduct for Mo Jing - beware of the bad scholars who trick you...
…
She is an ink master and is naturally sensitive to literary spirit. She should be present at the ink-making gatherings of elegant gentlemen and the study room of the house of poetry, calligraphy and etiquette. She is greedy for ink ingots and literary spirit. At the same time, she can also help literati, inspire inspiration and make a name for herself.
Poetry, fed back to her, complemented each other for promotion.
This is the talent of a spirit, but unfortunately, now he is following a poor girl and his young master, and he has no meal at all, and is so hungry that he faints.
Now, luckily, there is another fairy who owes money. Miao Si has already begun to think of a way out. Everyone knows how to bully Mo Jing, right?
Either threaten her to find her enemies, or persuade her to change her nature and eat rice... I may not be a human, but you are definitely a dog.
Now, the leak of his real name makes Miaosi more difficult. After all, if he can escape, the monk cannot escape from the temple.
She only has three days.
"Why do you all like the number three days? You can't change it to another one. Well, thirty days is very good. Next time I have to ask the fairy if it can be extended..."
In the midst of random thoughts, Miaosi muttered.
Soon, taking advantage of the darkness, I arrived at Prince Xunyang's Mansion. Following the breath I recorded that day in Xunyang Tower, within a few moments, the little nun came to a boudoir in a sneaky way.
The boudoir was dark, and there seemed to be no one there tonight, but the aura of that noble lady of the Xie family was definitely there.
No one is just right.
Miaosi slipped into the boudoir and looked around.
She jumped on the desk, took out the paper and ink, and was about to inject it. At this time, she caught a glimpse of a basket of familiar red leaves on the table.
It was Miaosi who guided Huang Xuan to make it. She taught Huang Xuan the poems on the red leaf folding fan and the characters she knew.
Hey, this is just right, it saves trouble... Miao Si nodded, turned into the basket, grabbed a red leaf, closed her eyes and poured in her literary energy, preparing to give the noble lady of the Xie family a surprise tomorrow.
But at this moment, Miaosi's little nose wrinkled, as if she smelled something. She opened her eyes and turned to look at the oil paper umbrellas on the table.
She suddenly put down the red leaves, jumped out of the basket, walked over and opened the oil-paper umbrella.
These oil-paper umbrellas seemed to have been exposed to the sun not long ago, and there was a fresh sunshine smell, similar to sun-baked quilts.
However, the focus of Miaosi is not on this, but on some of the above...familiar smells, as if they are familiar.
The two handwritings are not the same, but the style of writing is unmistakable.
Miao Si's face was stunned for a moment, and she took out the scrap of paper that Rong Zhen had given her not long ago.
Then she sniffed the vigorous literary aura on the oil-paper umbrella.
In the darkness, the little girl's eyes gradually widened: