Wandering Gods of Day and Night-Chapter 13 - Nuodai

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"I still prefer your rebellious stance from earlier when you were critiquing the manuscript, switching between 'the writing is incorrect' and 'the skin is too thick.' Bring that back."

There was a hint of personal grudge in Zhou Xuan's words.

Yuan Buyu had no rebelliousness left, just flattery.

He grinned obsequiously, "I tend to be a bit impulsive; sometimes my mouth runs away with me. Little Class Leader, lend me the manuscript for a look-over; it's indeed well-written..."

Ha, so you lectured me just now, got so absorbed you're lost in it, but I won't let you see it, making you restless.

"Old Man Yuan, you can't borrow it. I need that manuscript."

Zhou Xuan turned and entered Silent Hall.

Earlier, he had retrieved the notebook because Lv Mingkun had come looking for him, "Junior Brother, the Class Leader is looking for you."

What was Zhou Xuan doing at night if not bringing gifts to Zhou Lingyi to nurture sibling relations?

He had no time to waste on Old Man Yuan.

Yuan Buyu could only watch helplessly as Zhou Xuan entered the hall.

Inside the hall, Zhou Lingyi was standing facing the wall. Behind her on the work area table were neatly arranged six corpses of executed criminals.

The bodies had already been anointed, filling the air with a fresh floral fragrance.

Zhou Xuan carefully navigated through the table with the bodies and walked over to Zhou Lingyi's side, "Sister."

"I heard about Lao Han's matter, and you don't need to apologize. His arrogance isn't new, and it's good that he's gone.

However, it's not easy to find a good, experienced driver in Ping Shui Prefecture. You fired him, so you need to find a new driver yourself."

Zhou Xuan marveled at Zhou Lingyi's sharp ears.

His issue with Han Jianshan had happened not long ago, yet Zhou Lingyi, without leaving Silent Hall, had already heard the details.

"Sister, I didn't come to see you because of Han Jianshan." Zhou Xuan pulled out a manuscript of the novel "Love of Lu Mountain" from the notebook and handed it over.

"I was cursed by a ghost baby, and it was you who saved me, resolving my worries. I remember the favor, so I wanted to give you a gift back in my room."

Zhou Lingyi raised the draft's white paper, exaggeratedly saying, "Oh, this is the gift? Isn't it too grand?"

This was sarcasm, Zhou Xuan could tell.

He patiently explained, "The paper may not be grand, nor the words valuable, but the story inside is filled with dedication."

This was true, though the dedication wasn't from Zhou Xuan but from Huang Zumo, the director of "Love of Lu Mountain."

"Alright, alright, I believe you. I'll read it carefully back in my room." Zhou Lingyi folded the white paper into squares and tucked it into her sachet.

"By the way, Sister, I've also written a manuscript on the same story as that novel. But it's my first time writing such a thing, I have no experience, and I feel many parts are poorly written. Shall we discuss it?"

Many relationships warm during these discussions.

But Zhou Lingyi wasn't interested in discussing it. She waved her fan, declining, "Sister hasn't read as many or as well as you have; writing is also not my forte. I'm afraid I'll embarrass myself, haha."

Haha,

Sister was embarrassed,

This big shot also lacked confidence at times,

But Sister's lack of confidence had a strange cuteness, unlike that old fogey Yuan Buyu, who lectured you on the manuscript without even reading a line.

It was truly exasperating!

"Sister, some great philosopher said that in art, it's about innate spirituality. Without it, reading all the books is pointless. In terms of spirituality, I like to think I'm okay, but compared to Sister, I'm a mile behind..."

The PUA Teacher Zhou class had begun.

Using words to attack one's psyche and undermine their confidence is a kind of PUA.

Similarly, providing emotional value with words, making someone blindly confident, is also a form of PUA.

This sugar-coated language really worked.

Zhou Lingyi wasn't easily swayed into blind self-confidence, but she couldn't help but smile, hiding her mouth with her fan, saying, "My dear brother, you're charming me; you've really changed recently, your words are so sweet."

"It's because Sister shares in my life's bitterness, leaving only sweetness in me."

Zhou Xuan even managed to deliver a cheesy pick-up line.

But don't underestimate how those words, despite being cheesy, were more effective in moving Zhou Lingyi than the earlier flattery.

She fell silent for a moment, her face showing a trace of melancholy.

Realizing her slip, Zhou Lingyi tried to regain her composure, placing a faint smile on her face, she said to Zhou Xuan,

"Brother, let's not discuss the manuscript. I truly don't have the skill. Let me recommend someone to you; you should talk to Yuan Buyu. Despite being a cook, he truly understands manuscripts.

No one in the Zhou Family's Troupe knows manuscripts better than him."

"You mean Yuan Dongwang? He's still waiting to borrow my manuscript!"

"What?"

"Old Man Yuan has already seen my manuscript. At first, he was so formidable, lecturing me and talking about the life of a storyteller non-stop."

"And then?"

"He got absorbed, stopped speaking a word, and even when I called him, he didn't respond. If I hadn't taken the manuscript away, he'd still be in the pavilion reading it now."

Thinking of Yuan Buyu's serious expression, Zhou Xuan found it amusing, crouching motionless and all from afar, looking like a powered-down Transformer.

Zhou Lingyi didn't find it funny, just surprising.

She knew who Yuan Buyu was.

In the last thirty years, he was a renowned figure in the "storyteller" Tangkou.

A storyteller specialized in narrating tales. The number of good manuscripts he's seen is like counting grains of sand in the Ganges.

A person like this showing such a reaction to Zhou Xuan's manuscript? What kind of masterpiece could it be?

In her daze, Zhou Lingyi took the manuscript from Zhou Xuan's hand, opening it to examine it closely.

From start to finish, she found the story touching and original, but the deeper mystery that so fascinated someone like Yuan Buyu she couldn't grasp.

It's normal not to see it. The differences between Tangkou are vast; each has its own skills and Dao level. What one Tangkou might see as scarcely more than ordinary, another might treasure.

"Sister, sister... aren't you getting absorbed too?"

Zhou Xuan hadn't planned much for the future. He just wanted to be a rich kid living comfortably. But now, plans were forming!

Why not become a literary plagiarist?

Even if one "Love of Lu Mountain" could enchant Yuan Buyu and his sister.

Imagine if I whipped out works by Zhang Henshui, Jin Yong, or "Golden Scales Are Not the Market Goods"... How would the people of Jing Country react!?

Wouldn't they be unable to put it down, reading through the night?

Zhou Lingyi finally snapped out of her daze. She sympathetically said, "Brother, today's gift to Sister is too grand."

That wasn't sarcasm.

"As a brother, you're sensible now, gifting such a precious item. As a sister, I shouldn't have further expectations, but I can't help but wish for another gift from you."

Asking me?

The emotions suddenly escalated.

Sister's change in attitude was like suddenly wearing a new mask.

Zhou Xuan was quite generous, asking, "What other gift?"

"Could you lend this manuscript to Mr. Yuan to read for three days, please?" Zhou Lingyi knew this request was unreasonable, her voice becoming almost inaudible at the end.

In Jing Country, writing could lead to wealth, and many literary friends focused on their own work, never sharing unpublished drafts with others.

Whether you call it petty or cautious against plagiarism, that was the atmosphere.

Zhou Xuan's manuscript wasn't like the ordinary writer's. If it captivated Yuan Buyu, it undoubtedly held something extraordinary.

Such a precious piece being borrowed for three days was hard to part with.

Zhou Lingyi made the request with trepidation, yet Zhou Xuan agreed decisively.

Without extra words,

Zhou Xuan walked to the hall entrance and called to Yuan Buyu, "Old Man Yuan, you're in luck. My Sister allowed me to lend it to you for three days..."

"Lend?"

"You want it directly?"

"No, no... it's just that happiness came a bit... suddenly." Yuan Buyu scratched his cheeks and throat anxiously, eagerly eyeing Zhou Xuan's notebook.

This expression, this state,

closely resembled a refugee waiting at a porridge shelter.

"Remember to return it after reading."

Zhou Xuan stretched his hand, handing over the manuscript.

"Thank you so much."

Yuan Buyu impatiently accepted, like a child, joyfully hopping as he ran to the dormitory.

From the bottom of his heart, Zhou Xuan was also happy.

He intended to mend the gap in sibling relations, and now, not only was it patched, but it seemed even slightly raised.

Sister owed him a favor now.

Zhou Lingyi was also pleased,

although Yuan Buyu was openly the Zhou Family's Troupe's divine figure, he was more a collaborator in practice.

Now that their grandfather had passed, the relationship seemed to wane, shaky in the wind.

Thanks to this favor, the bonds between the two tightened.

In the tumultuous Ping Shui Prefecture, under various Tangkou's covetous eyes on the Zhou Family's Troupe, having a divine person to guard meant fewer troubles.

Each of the three had their own joys.

Zhou Xuan was a pragmatist, now that his goal was achieved, there was no need to linger.

"Sister, I don't have anything else, so I'll head back to rest. You should rest early too and not overwork."

"Mm..." Zhou Lingyi nodded, gazing at Zhou Xuan's departing figure, thinking of the novel draft in her sachet—a gift from her brother.

Her heart finally softened a bit.

She gently pinched her palm, firming up a decision, calling out to Zhou Xuan, "Brother, wait a moment."

"Is there more?"

"Since you're in Silent Hall, why not pay respects to the ancestral Nu masks?"

Zhou Lingyi pointed to the walls filled with those damaged masks and said.

So these old masks were used in ancestral Nu rituals?

Do they have any special significance?

Why are they all broken?

Especially that chunk of charcoal, even if it were an old item, how could it be kept in such a state?

Zhou Xuan knew nothing about this.

Luckily, even the original owner didn't know.

Zhou Lingyi began to explain to Zhou Xuan, "Brother, you used to be indifferent towards the family business, and many things were never mentioned to you. But now that you're grown and sensible, it's time you learned.

"In this world, there are many Tangkou, and each Tangkou has people with unique skills. Some learn from gods, hence they're called divine people, and some learn from evil spirits, thus called ghosts!

Our Zhou Family's Troupe also has a Tangkou,

called 'Nuodai,' and our skills are learned from the Nuo God, so naturally, we're divine people!"

"Is Sister a part of Nuodai?"

Zhou Xuan listened, enchanted, and asked instinctively.

"No, I joined the Mingjiang Prefecture's Tangkou. The Nuodai Tangkou has always had few members, even in its peak only two or three. By our generation, there are no Nuodai left.

The path of the Nuodai Tangkou is more arduous and dangerous than any other, but once it gains momentum, its skills are exceptionally advanced.

All the Tangkou fear,

fear the Zhou Family's Troupe will spawn a new Nuodai!"

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