Chapter 5 Part I

    "Big Sister, Big Sister, Xiao She wants to eat Baihu," He Yu called out to his older sister.

    Three days earlier, since Big Sister brought the little pet home, Xiao She had been eyeing it as if it was a delicious meal, but it dared not devour Baihu because Zhenzhu threatened it, saying she would not give it any magical water if it ate Baihu.

    When Zhenzhu first brought Baihu home, it was thin, weak, and without life force, merely lying down quietly. However, after Zhenzhu fed it goat's milk that she bought, mixed with spiritual energized water, its condition gradually improved. Now, it could stand and walk around, although it remained thin, slowly recover.

     Despite its frail body, Baihu's emerald eyes sparkled with an indomitable spirit and authority, something even larger animals couldn't exhibit. It showed no fear towards Xiao She; when Xiao She approached, it would adorably growl in warning.

    "Xiao She, behave. Baihu is now part of our family. Don't bully it," Zhenzhu firmly admonished. She wasn't as scared of Xiao She anymore; familiarity had turned her fear into comfort.

    "Big Sister, Xiao She understands. It won't eat Baihu. I'll keep a good watch," He Yu confidently assured her.

    "Good boy, He Yu. Come here, take this to Aunt Zhou, and tell her it's a gift Mother bought from town. I meant to give it to Aunt Zhou yesterday but forgot," she handed He Yu a wrapped of silk. Aunt Zhou and her husband had been very kind to the He family, and now that they had some money, it was time to repay their kindness.

    Miss Wang entered the city three days ago and took the opportunity to buy a large silk fabric for Aunt Zhou, intending it to be made into a dress.

    "Understood, Big Sister," he took the large fabric bundle before dashing out of the house immediately.

    After entrusting her brother with the errand, Zhenzhu prepared to practice her spirit energy cultivation as usual. Today was He Ming's turn to water the plants and herbs. She went to her bedroom to pick up the basic spirit energy cultivation manual her father had copied for Zhenzhu and He Ming, one for each.

    She walked to the table where she kept a few personal belongings. Two books were stacked there; the bottom one was a red-covered book from the Zhi shop, and the top one was the manual written by her father.

    "Huh?"

    When she picked up the top manual, she noticed the red-covered book underneath. What surprised her was that she could now read the cover of the book.

    How could this be? She hadn't been able to read it at all when she first got it. The cover still showed the ancient script, but now she could miraculously read it.

    The Character Stroke, the author, Tao Shaotou.

    This was...!

    Was this the original manuscript of Tao Shaotou's character stroke?

    This old, thick book could not be a manual written by Tao Shaotou, a man who spend all his life researching on the inscription. But if it really was Tao Shaotou’s, it should be at Qin Region as a Tao family’s passing down book. How could it be at the old bookstore in Yan Region? Moreover, she acquired it for merely five brass coins. Zhenzhu was so astonished that she found herself gasping for breath.

    The lost art of original characters, the most complex and high-quality character drawing techniques, lay in her hands.

    Without hesitation, she turned the page to see if she could understand the content inside.

    "I can read it!"

    She comprehensively understood the language and symbols on the strokes. The manual contained methods for practicing drawing characters, ways to carve characters onto objects, precautions during carving, and numerous complex characters that the author had recorded. It even included the art of inscribing characters on living beings, such as humans, animals, and plants. Some patterns have been long lost. She read the red-covered manual without boredom, opening a world of characters she had yet to know, making her realize how vast the world of characters was, much more than she had known.

    But more surprisingly, why could she read it?

    Was it because she was a spirit energy cultivator, allowing her to read such ancient languages? Because when she first got this red-covered book, she hadn't started practicing spirit energy yet. Without delay, Zhenzhu grabbed the red book and ran to her father's room.

    He Lei, who was enjoying a massage from Xiao She, flinched in surprise as she burst in.

    "What's wrong, Zhu’er?"

    "Father, read this book, see if you can understand it," she opened the first page of the red book and handed it to him, forgetting even Xiao She who was massaging her father.

    He Lei looked at the book and shook his head.

    "I've told you, I can't read it. It's an ancient language. If you want to read it, you'll have to wait. When we have money, I'll find a teacher proficient in ancient languages to teach you," he said calmly. His daughter was probably eager to read the characters quickly.

    "Eh? You can't read it?"

    "I told you before, I can't."

    "Oh, I forgot. Then, I'll go practice my spirit energy first," pretending to forget, she then left immediately.

    Zhenzhu packed the two manuals and necessary items into an old bag and headed to the stream behind her house, to the same rock, before unfolding the red manual again to review.

    Her father is also a spirit energy cultivator, yet he couldn't read it. So why could she? Could it be because of this golden fish scale?

    Never mind.

    Now, she wanted to read it so badly she could hardly stand it. Zhenzhu was very excited. Today, she would put aside her spiritual cultivation practice and focus on reading about inscriptions. It must be said that the patterns of inscriptions intrigued her more than spiritual cultivation. Perhaps it was because, in her previous life, she was familiar with and loved drawing lines. If it weren't necessary for inscription artists to be spiritual cultivators, she definitely wouldn't continue with spiritual cultivation.

    Zhenzhu spent time reading about simple character drawing and inscription methods, specifically how to engrave Enduring Characters onto objects. Once inscribed, those items would last longer than usual. She tried etching a pattern onto a large rock she was sitting on using a small stone.

    She became engrossed in practicing drawing patterns for over four hours. Eventually, the Enduring Character pattern was embedded in her memory. Given her background in pattern drawing, she could memorize it quickly. Unaware to others, memorizing within two shichen might be impossible since even simple original patterns by Tao Shaotou were much more complex than modern Enduring Characters.

    "Should I try inscribing characters now?"

    Zhenzhu was incredibly impatient. She wanted to try inscribing characters as soon as possible. If she succeeded, she would become an inscription master. Initially, she thought the profession was far-fetched, but now it seemed within reach.

    "I choose you!" She picked a bag to inscribe on. Zhenzhu decided to try inscribing Enduring Characters onto the bag.

    She placed the bag on the rock, focused intensely, and gathered spirit energy at her Dantian spot. Currently, she could create up to 95 spirit energy channels.

    Slowly, Zhenzhu pressed her index finger onto the bag, channeling spirit energy through her finger. Nowadays, inscription masters use special brushes as mediums for better stability of spirit energy, but Zhenzhu followed Tao Shaotou's method, using only her bare fingers to channel spiritual energy.

    It's said that producing the best brush involves over 70 meticulous steps, especially the brush hair, which shouldn't be too soft or too stiff. The softness affects the character strokes significantly, and a sharp tip is crucial for precise line thickness. The highest quality brush is known as "Hubi Brush", highlighting the importance of brushes for inscription master.

    With concentration, Zhenzhu drew line after line, maintaining a constant level of spirit energy. She carefully followed the precautions written in the book because mistakes could harm not just the object but potentially cause a dangerous backlash to the sculptor.

    Her index finger emitted a blue glow as spiritual threads were continuously woven into the fabric of the bag. Line after line interlaced, becoming increasingly intricate and complex, forming a pattern of interconnected designs. If a scholar with an excellent memory were to see such a complex inscription pattern, they would likely be quite bewildered.

    After three ke, she finally completed the inscription.

    "Phew!" She breathed out, exhausted.

    So that's why her father said that an inscription master needs to rest for a month after inscribing just once. It's indeed exhausting. But she thought, she did not exhaust to that extend. Zhenzhu was unaware that the golden fish scale hanging on her wrist nourished her spirit energy, aiding her significantly and reducing her fatigue. She could rest just for a day and then inscribe characters again.

    Zhenzhu looked at the pale bag now inscribed with intricate character patterns. It shimmered with a faint blue glow for a moment before the characters faded, but she could still feel the dense power of the characters on it.

    Now, it was time to test its durability.

    She hung the bag on a nearby branch before filling it with heavy stones from the stream. She kept adding stones until the bag was full. The bag's fabric, thin and seemingly fragile, didn’t tear and was able to bear the weight impressively. Under normal circumstances, this bag wouldn't have been able to hold so much weight; its handles would've torn off.

    Yet, Zhenzhu didn't stop there. She clumsily climbed a tree to further test the bag.

    "Let's see if you can bear my weight."

    When she reached a sufficient height, she stepped onto the bag, putting her full weight on it.

    Crash!

    "Ouch!"

    Something fell to the ground with a thud. The young girl fell and hit the ground hard. Fortunately, she had cleared the area of small stones beforehand, or she would have cracked her head open.

    Ouchhh, my bottom’s hurt.

    She turned to look at the cause of her fall.

    The bag was intact, but... the branch had broken!

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    "Big Sister! Big Sister! Xiao She and Baihu are fighting again!" He Yu's voice woke Zhenzhu early in the morning. Startled by his shout, she quickly got out of bed and ran towards the source of the commotion.

    She found Xiao She and Baihu wrestling and tumbling, neither willing to back down. Despite his small size, Baihu was fiercely determined, biting Xiao She's tail, while Xiao She retaliated by curling back to bite Baihu's leg. Both were covered in blood, a frightening sight.

    "Stop right now! If you don't, no water for you both!" Zhenzhu's command made them freeze as if they understood her words. Slowly, they took their mouth off the other’s body.

    "Come here, both of you!" Zhenzhu sat on the bench outside the house, with Xiao She coiling in front of her and Baihu, looking dejected, lying down beside her.

    Baihu used to be small, but after receiving daily doses of spiritual energized water, Baihu had grown significantly stronger. His body filled out, no longer skinny, and his fur shimmered more beautifully. Tired of Xiao She's constant bullying, Baihu had had enough.

    Thinking you’re the one who big? The other can grow big too.

    With the innate pride of a born predator, Baihu didn't care about the size difference. Xiao She, on the other hand, was merely trying to intimidate Baihu into submission.

    "Living under the same roof, why must you fight? Don't want to live together anymore? Then, I'll have Big Brother take you both to the forest to be released. I'll even hire a cart to take you to the fifth mountain from here, so you never have to come back. How's that?" She threatened as if they could understand.

    And they seemed to. Xiao She affectionately coiled around her leg, while Baihu nudged her other leg with his face, pleading.

    How could she possibly abandon them?

    "Then no more fighting!"

    Whine. Whine. Hiss. Hiss. They seemed to agree easily.

    "No water for three days. If I see you fight again, it's a month without water for each of you."

    Luckily, they could heal quickly due to the spiritual energized water they drank every day, making their recovery swift. In a few days, they would be as good as new.

    Having resolved the interspecies dispute, Zhenzhu went to check on the vegetable garden. Because she hurt her bottom and thighs, she walked lamely for several days, He Ming had taken over her watering duties. She was sternly reprimanded for not being more careful.

    While recuperating, she focused on practicing spirit energy cultivation and character drawing. Now, she could create up to 132 spirit energy channels and had learned several character patterns.

    Today, feeling much better, she decided to inspect the garden. She found He Lei and He Ming diligently weeding and caring for the plants.

    "Zhu’er, are you feeling better now?" He Lei asked upon seeing her. He could now walk without a cane, almost fully recovered with 700 channels of spirit energy, just 45 shorts of his original strength. He had helped his children to take care of the vegetables and herbs they had planted.

    "I'm fully recovered, Father."

    "Good, be more careful when walking next time to avoid falling again."

    "Yes, Father."

    "Look, Younger Sister, our Nengyan herbs have fully matured. We can harvest and sell them now. Shall we do it today?" He Ming asked eagerly, wanting to sell them quickly to exchange for spirit-enhancing pills for their practice. He had watched them grow patiently, and now they had reached full maturity and could be used.

    Normally, Nengyan herbs take 30-35 days to fully mature. However, when the He family used spiritual energized water for the watering, the herbs grew faster, reaching full maturity in just 17 days.

    "That sounds good. We can exchange them for spirit-enhancing pills sooner," she replied excitedly. They had been practicing solely with spirit food. Getting the spirit-enhancing pills would speed up their cultivation. Their father had mentioned that using the pills could double their practice speed.

    "I'll go get the basket right now," he said and quickly returned with a large basket.

    He bent down and began uprooting the herbs with focus. They had grown two plots of Nengyan herbs, each with 100 plants, all thriving flawlessly – a credit to Xiao She.

    "Younger Sister, would you like me to help carry it? We can harvest about 50 plants to sell today. I'll go into town with you," he suggested enthusiastically.

    "No need, I can easily carry 50 plants. You focus on your cultivation, so you don't waste the whole day going into town with me. Let's hurry; Aunt Zhou will be leaving her house soon."

    The father and children worked together to harvest Nengyan herbs. After got 50 of it, they washed them all then arranged it in a basket that they can carry on a back, instead of those small baskets that one have to use their hand to carry around, this was due to the increased volume,

    Zhenzhu hoisted it on her back carefully and set off to Aunt Zhou's house before heading to Fengfu Town as usual.

    "Zhenzhu, you're carrying a big basket today," Aunt Zhou remarked.

    "Oh, the herbs were ripe, so I harvested a bit more to sell."

    "That's great. Help your mother working, save lots of money. I still feel indebted for the beautiful silk your mother bought for me. It must have been expensive." She felt bad.

    "Please accept it. We're getting a good price for the herbs lately, so we have a bit of money now. My mother would be sad if you didn't accept it."

    "Ah, good. You've grown up, knowing how to earn money to help your mother," Aunt Zhou said fondly.