Chapter 385 - 259: Jinling Dragon Vein, Six Dynasties Misty Water, Ling Shu’s Gift of Treasure (Part 3)
Chapter 385: Chapter 259: Jinling Dragon Vein, Six Dynasties Misty Water, Ling Shu’s Gift of Treasure (Part 3)
However, though the purple-clad woman’s Literary Qi was abundant, it seemed to fall short of Jiang Cai’Er’s. This was because Jiang Cai’Er’s knowledge spanned both ancient and modern times; she had absorbed the wisdom of countless books from contemporary society and had also integrated innumerable rare and secret texts from the Vientiane Secret Pavilion—even drawing nourishment from the thirty thousand volumes of the Yongle Encyclopedia. In terms of both scholarship and temperament, she was already without peer.
"I am indebted to you for granting me new life. Wenshu shall never forget your kindness."
The purple-clad woman bent her knees slightly, performing an ancient curtsy. Though she had just awakened, she was as radiant as the moon, her temperament and beauty unparalleled.
The hem of her Smoke Gauze Skirt rippled like the Six Dynasties Misty Water. The Southern Dynasty Hairpin dangling from her headpiece materialized fragments of *Jade Platform New Songs* in the air, and the Silver Bracelet on her fair wrist pulsed in sync with the Earth Vein. She was truly a Fairy descended to the mortal world.
"Please rise, Fairy. It was only what we had to do, no thanks are necessary." Li Xiang reached out and helped her up. Jiang Cai’Er rolled her eyes. ’Brother is just using this as an excuse to get a feel,’ she thought.
The purple-clad woman smiled faintly. Her slender waist, once bound by iron chains, and her beautiful long legs, once pierced by the Japanese Army’s iron stakes, were now held ramrod straight. It was as if a broken stone statue from the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum had been restored, imbued with the spirit of the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
She took a step forward and gently took Jiang Cai’Er’s arm. "Having met such a fine lady, how could I not be overjoyed? Little sister, would you be willing to burn incense and swear an oath with me, just as the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai became sworn sisters at Taoye Ferry?"
"Ah?" Jiang Cai’Er was taken aback. ’How could I possibly do that?’ she thought.
The purple-clad woman said, "We felt like old friends the moment we met, and I am indebted to you for saving me. I was just wondering how I could possibly repay you. If we become sisters, we can visit each other often in the future."
Jiang Cai’Er was moved by the idea and nodded. "If big sister wishes to be Liu Rushi, then little sister will be Dong Xiaowan."
The two immediately looked at each other and smiled, their bond seemingly deepening another level, leaving Li Xiang forgotten off to the side.
Watching as a virtual incense table flickered into existence, the two women performed their sisterhood ceremony with utmost seriousness and ritual. Li Xiang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
After the grand ceremony, Jiang Cai’Er and Wenshu Fairy held hands and chatted happily, seeming to have endless secrets to share. However, Wenshu Fairy had just awakened and lacked stamina, and she soon showed signs of fatigue.
Jiang Cai’Er had seen the Qinling Ancestral Vein and the Imperial Capital Spiritual Dragon before, so she knew her new sister probably needed to sleep. She pulled Li Xiang along and prepared to take her leave.
"Down here in the earth, time is meaningless. I don’t know when I will awaken from my slumber, so I have two gifts for my little sister and brother-in-law," Wenshu Fairy said.
Li Xiang: "..."
’Just like that, I’m the brother-in-law of a Dragon Vein Spirit?’ He couldn’t help but feel that the past few days had been like a dream.
"Big sister, you’re too kind," Jiang Cai’Er said, trying to refuse.
"No, no, you must take them. I only hope you won’t find them lacking." Wenshu Fairy immediately pulled an ancient hairpin from her hair and a jade pendant from her waist, handing them to Jiang Cai’Er and Li Xiang respectively.
The gift for Jiang Cai’Er was the "Purple Gold Literary Pivot Brush," which served as both a brush and a hairpin.
The shaft of the brush was formed from the finger bones of a Chancellor of the Ming Dynasty’s Imperial Academy, and its Wolf Hair bristles were crafted from the silver brow-hairs of a deer ceremonially released at Linggu Temple. It possessed a Profound Strange Superpower: by writing any poem from the *Jinling Scenic Poems*, one could briefly summon the corresponding historical scene. The scene would be extremely real—tangible, even—not an Illusion Realm created by something like the Purple Mirage Armor.
Simply put, it was like Ma Liang with the Divine Brush, but instead of painting, one wrote poetry.
Out in the wild and want to rest? Just write a line of poetry, and a quaint, antique mansion appears.
Feeling hungry? Write a line of poetry, and all sorts of fruits and delicacies appear on a table—real ones that can actually fill your stomach.
Thirsty and hot in the desert? Write a line of poetry, and a winding creek for a floating-cup party will appear, complete with a pond for swimming. How cool is that?
As for Li Xiang’s gift, it was the "Qinhuai Water Spirit Pendant." It was formed from the teardrops shed by Li Xiangjun on her blood-splattered *Peach Blossom Fan* and sealed within it the tonal patterns and rhythms of Du Mu’s poem, *Po Qinhuai*. It had a Superpower: depending on the user’s own strength, they could control dozens to hundreds of miles of the lower Yangtze River’s water veins.
Both of these treasures were Saint Tier. With Jiang Cai’Er and Li Xiang’s current strength, they could activate them, but they couldn’t unleash their full power—at most, they could only draw out thirty to forty percent of their potential.
It was hard to refuse their Fairy sister’s generosity, especially since the treasures were Saint Tier, so Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er accepted them with smiles and thanks.
After giving the gifts, Wenshu Fairy looked extremely weary. Her Spirit Body flickered in and out of existence, as if she couldn’t hold on any longer.
"Big sister, get some rest. We’ll come back to see you another day." Jiang Cai’Er hurriedly pulled Li Xiang away.
As she watched the two disappear into the distance, Wenshu Fairy’s Spirit Body vanished deep into the Earth Vein, leaving behind only a faint, ethereal voice, like a zither echoing through a valley: "When the Qinhuai’s waters reflect your face once more, forget not the crimson leaves of Qixia."
But Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er had no idea that at the very moment Wenshu Fairy awakened, strange phenomena filled Jinling City, shaking the heavens and the earth.
For instance, the waters of the Yangtze River suddenly flowed backward for seven seconds.
On the sycamore-lined avenue by the President’s Mansion, groves of Wei Jin Bamboo, described in the *Records of the World*, suddenly sprouted. From within their stalks echoed the thousand-year-lost masterpiece, Ji Kang’s *Guangling San*.
Illusions of the glazed tiles of four hundred and eighty temples shimmered on the surface of Xuanwu Lake. The Copper Bells on the Medicine Buddha Tower at Jiming Temple chimed without any wind, playing the beautiful melody of Liu Yuxi’s poem, *Stone City*.
The most bizarre sight was at the Jinling Eye Pedestrian Bridge—its steel cables transformed into the seal-script text of *The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons*. On the bridge piers, cast-iron talismans used to suppress the Dragon Vein during the Wang Jingwei puppet regime materialized, only to be scoured and peeled away by the river waters of a new era...