Chapter 7 Lin'er

Early in the morning, Xu Yang was preparing to go to the spiritual herb garden to check. As he was walking on the hillside, the ground under his feet suddenly shook violently, followed by a loud rumbling sound from the earth's crust.

After the shaking, Xu Yang was anxious whether the spiritual herb garden he was guarding was damaged by the earthquake, so he rushed to check. Suddenly, he noticed that the compass in the storage bag on his waist seemed to have moved.

He took out the compass and saw that the compass in his hand emitted a dazzling silver light, and the silver runes were flowing on the compass at a high speed. Suddenly, a silver light shot out from the compass and rushed straight into the sky. Xu Yang wanted to stop the movement of the compass, and hurriedly injected his mana into the compass.

Xu Yang only felt that his mana was sucked into the compass like a mud cow into the sea. The next moment, a string of silver seal characters the size of a walnut jumped out of it like a chick breaking out of its shell. Everything happened so suddenly that before Xu Yang could react, the silver seal characters jumped into Xu Yang's eyebrows and disappeared.

Xu Yang was startled and instinctively threw the compass on the ground. He quickly activated the Nether Fire Art and used his spiritual sense to look inside his body. He did not find anything wrong. The silver seal characters that entered his body had already disappeared without a trace.

Xu Yang was about to pick up the compass thrown on the ground when he suddenly saw a white shadow falling from the sky and shooting at the compass. Then, the compass on the ground quickly took off into the air with the white shadow.

Seeing this, Xu Yang's heart skipped a beat. Looking closely, it turned out that it was a snow-white crow holding the silver compass and flying away.

Without any hesitation, Xu Yang quickly threw out a black round bead, which turned into a black eagle in the wind. Xu Yang jumped onto the eagle's back and chased the snow crow with all his strength in the direction it flew away.

"Damn ghost bird, when I catch you, I will make you into roasted crows to go with wine!" Xu Yang shouted angrily.

How could the snow crow pay attention to Xu Yang and fly at high speed while grabbing the compass. This snow-colored crow seemed to be very familiar with the terrain here. It had already bypassed several peaks in a few turns.

After circling for half an hour, it had already chased out of the scope of the Wood Spirit Academy and entered the scope of the "Array Engineering Academy", a branch of the Tiangui Sect.

The Array Engineering Academy is a branch of the Tiangui Sect responsible for arranging and maintaining various arrays.

At this time, Xu Yang was getting closer and closer to the snow-colored crow. The crow swooped down and flew into a unique courtyard on the hillside. Xu Yang landed in front of the courtyard, and the black eagle turned into a black round bead and was collected by Xu Yang.

This courtyard was built according to the mountain terrain and faced a small lake. The green lotus in the lake was connected to form a green carpet. The snow-white lotus stood gracefully among the lotus leaves. The breeze blew and the lotus fragrance was refreshing.

Looking up, there was a horizontal plaque hanging on the door of the courtyard, with the three words "Tianxiangzhai" written on it.

On both sides of the gate hang a small couplet carved on rosewood. On the left side, it says: The dancing sleeves give birth to the fragrance of ink; on the right side, it says: The book opens with the rhyme of poetry; the font is elegant and handsome, complementing the surrounding beauty.

Red sleeves add fragrance, and the book opens with rhyme. Seeing this, Xu Yang had an idea in his mind. The environment here is so beautiful, its owner must be of extraordinary status, and most likely a hostess who likes to play with words.

"I am Xu Yang, the new outer disciple of the Wood Spirit Academy. I am sorry to disturb the senior's quiet cultivation." Xu Yang said loudly to the door.

"Xu Yang, a new outer disciple? You and I don't know each other. What do you want to do here today?" After a moment, a string of silver bell-like voices floated to the outside of the door through the crack of the door.

After a few short words came to his ears, Xu Yang felt as if he was listening to the ding-dong sound of the first melting snow in spring. Such a clear and sweet sound and color made Xu Yang's originally nervous mood eased.

"Don't blame me, senior. My silver compass was taken away by a crow, so I chased it all the way here. I just saw it fly into your mansion."

"Really?" Two crisp words again.

Not long after, the gate of the courtyard was gently pushed open with a creak, and a girl in white stood inside the door.

Xu Yang was stunned.

This girl has a good appearance. Her eyes are as crystal clear as stars in the night sky, her lips are as delicate as plum blossoms in May, and her white shirt is spotless like a white lotus emerging from the water. Xu Yang was already surprised by the beauty of the girl in front of him. There is always a love of beauty, not just about gender.

Xu Yang realized that he had lost his composure for a moment. He said quickly, "I am Xu Yang."

Seeing Xu Yang's expression, the girl smiled and said, "Please come into the courtyard and talk. People who practice Taoism should not be bound by worldly details."

Xu Yang smiled awkwardly and replied, "What the girl said is right."

"However, besides my father, you are really the first fellow disciple to visit me." After saying that, the girl giggled, and her pretty face was like a peach blossom.

Seeing that the girl was lively and approachable, Xu Yang naturally relaxed a little and said, "May I ask what your name is, young lady?"

"It seems that you and I are about the same age. Just call me Lin'er."

Lin'er waved her hand and let Xu Yang into the courtyard.

There seemed to be seven or eight houses in the courtyard. There were several flower beds in the courtyard, and there was a pavilion in the middle. A winding corridor ran through the pavilion and the houses.

The two came to the pavilion.

In the center of the pavilion was a stone table made of white marble, surrounded by four stone benches.

"Please take a seat."

Xu Yang adjusted his clothes with his hands and sat opposite Lin'er.

At this time, a maid with a dignified appearance walked out of the house not far away, holding a tray in her hand, and walked through the corridor to Xu Yang and the others.

She neatly arranged the tea set on the tray, poured a cup of tea and gently placed it in front of Xu Yang, smiled politely at Xu Yang, and then stepped aside.

"Please have tea." Lin'er waved her hand and said.

Xu Yang picked up the teacup with both hands and hurriedly thanked him. I thought, I don't know where this girl named Lin'er came from. Not only does she live in a good environment, but she also has such a graceful maid to serve her. Most of them are from a famous family.

I don't know if it's because I was a little nervous before entering the door just now, but Xu Yang felt a little thirsty. Picking up the teacup, I felt a fragrance in my nose, and the desire to drink tea became three times stronger.

The tea tasted sweet and mellow. A clear and spiritual air slowly spread from the abdomen to all meridians, and I felt refreshed. Even the fatigue from practicing martial arts these days was swept away.

"Good tea, I have little knowledge, but what I drink today is definitely not ordinary." Xu Yang said.

"This tea was sent by my father a few days ago. It is called "Fairy Spring". If you like it, you can drink a few more cups."

...

"Thank you Miss Lin'er for the good tea. What about the compass?" Xu Yang was still thinking about his compass.

"Please wait." As she said that, she saw Lin'er's jade hand gently raised to the air. Then a white shadow flew in from outside the pavilion. It was the crow that stole Xu Yang's compass, and it was holding the silver compass in its mouth.

"Xue'er, put the compass down." Lin'er glanced at the crow and said.

With a bang, the compass was placed on the stone table by the crow.

"Go and play by yourself."

This crow was snow-white except for its two black bean-like eyeballs. Hearing Lin'er's order, the crow rolled its eyes at Xu Yang, then tilted its neck, spread its wings and flew out of the pavilion, disappearing in an instant.

"It is this compass." Seeing the lost compass close at hand, Xu Yang showed joy.

"Xue'er is my pet, and she likes shiny things. I am sorry to have caused trouble to you, Junior Brother." As she said that, Lin'er took the compass with both hands and handed it to Xu Yang, and her eyes naturally swept over the compass.

"I am sorry to have caused trouble to Miss Lin'er." Xu Yang took the compass with both hands, looked at it carefully, and put it in his pocket.

"Excuse me, I accidentally glanced at this compass just now and found that it is not a thing of our sect, but it looks like the soul-chasing compass of Yu Dao Sect. How could Junior Brother Xu have a magic weapon of Yu Dao Sect?" Lin'er's tone was a little alert.

"Miss Lin'er, do you suspect that there is any connection between me and Yu Dao Sect?" Xu Yang said with a wry smile.

Seeing that he could not hide it, Xu Yang said sincerely: "I was originally an ordinary mortal from Laiyang State. When I went into the mountains to collect herbs, I met Senior Tu Sanli of Fenggui Hall. This compass was given to me by Senior Tu to pass on to a senior in the sect. I really don't know the specific origin. Judging from the young lady's conversation, she must be a well-educated and well-mannered person, and she shouldn't embarrass me."

"So that's it. It is said that Laiyang State respects Confucianism as the state religion, and children of a few years old are good at writing poems and lyrics. Since my junior brother claims to be well-educated and well-mannered, he must be good."

Lin'er's brows were lifted, and he smiled and continued: "It happened that I had nothing to do yesterday, so I wanted to write a short poem "Dielianhua". Now I can only write the first stanza. Can you help me write the second stanza?"

"Please teach me." Xu Yang was a little confused. He didn't know what Miss Lin'er meant by asking him to write lyrics.

Lin'er took out a white paper fan and gently unfolded it. She took out the pen and ink, held her breath and moved the pen, and a few lines of handsome small characters appeared on the fan: "Spring has come to a pool of green jade leaves. The green water is leisurely, and the longing is still unsolved. The whispers are rustling in front of the pond, and the beauty in the mirror in the water has faded."

After Lin'er finished writing, she blew gently on the fan to dry the ink, and then handed the written paper fan to Xu Yang.

Xu Yang took the paper fan and looked at it carefully. He couldn't help but think in his heart that this poem is obviously a feeling of longing. If it is a love between a man and a woman, how could it be expressed to a strange man who had only met once. It must be the love between parents. Just now, she mentioned that her father came to give her spiritual tea a few days ago. The longing in this poem must be her mother.

"May I ask if this poem expresses the feeling of missing your mother." Xu Yang asked.

"That's right." Lin'er nodded slightly.

Xu Yang thought about himself. Although he had just left home for a short time, his longing for his mother was growing day by day.

Xu Yang looked up slightly and saw a few willow trees with flying catkins by the lake in the distance. So he picked up a pen and wrote beside it: The morning breeze by the lake sways the willows. The flying catkins rustle, and when will the melancholy end. The wind blows like snow in the small building at night, and the moon is bright at the end of the world. "The pen moves like a dragon and snake, and it is finished in one go. Then he respectfully returned the paper fan to Lin'er and said, "I am sorry to show my ugliness."

Lin'er hurriedly got up and took the paper fan. After carefully looking at the back, she showed joy and bowed slightly and said, "Thank you for helping me fill in the second stanza. I will give you this fan as a return of favor."

Xu Yang took the paper fan very happily, thanked him repeatedly, and put it away.

Xu Yang didn't know that what he had just done was not just the second stanza of a poem.

The ink used for writing just now was originally a spiritual ink used to train the writer's spiritual power, which is beneficial to the cultivation of the state of mind. Its function is to reflect the thoughts of the writer when writing, and then eliminate the writer's distracting thoughts, thereby improving the spiritual power.

After Lin'er finished writing the first stanza, she blew it casually, but in fact, she had quietly imprinted a wisp of her spiritual consciousness on the paper fan with this breath.

When Xu Yang was writing, because he missed his mother, Tu Sanli's past of treating his mother flashed in his mind, and it was reflected one by one in the ink he had just written.

When Lin'er took back the paper fan and looked at it carefully, she quietly took back the spiritual consciousness imprinted on the paper fan, and the image in Xu Yang's mind just now was carried on it. Lin'er saw it clearly.

...

Xu Yang was worried that the spiritual grass garden he was guarding would be damaged in the earthquake. Seeing that the compass had been retrieved, he hurriedly said goodbye to Lin'er. When they met for the first time, Xu Yang did not rashly ask about Lin'er's origins. However, Xu Yang had a good impression of Miss Lin'er. He was in a good mood after recovering the lost compass and receiving the paper fan from Miss Lin'er.

Back to the Spiritual Herb Garden.

After a careful inspection, Xu Yang found that the Spiritual Herb Garden was only slightly damaged due to the protection of the formation. Xu Yang took care of it and restored it to its original state.

After returning to his residence, Xu Yang had a strange dream at night.

In a huge transparent crystal, a red egg was sealed, and a girl's phantom emerged in the egg.

The girl had no clothes on her body, and her curled up jade body, with smooth lines like a silver moon, quietly hanging there. Her red hair was scattered on her small shoulders, and a pair of white arms like lotus roots were tightly hugged in front of her chest, with a faint plump curve in the elbow that kept rising and falling with her breathing. From time to time, there were intoxicating shouts: "Come and help me, come and help me."

Xu Yang woke up from his dream and touched his cheeks, which were burning hot. Thinking carefully, could it be that the silver seal characters entered his body and caused hallucinations? This made Xu Yang confused.