A life of clearness

Chapter 12 Coming
Half a month passed in a flash. After the earth dragon turned over, the people of Suicheng went from being panicked at first to being calm now and living their lives as usual. Some people in Suicheng had relatives in the three northern states, but Rong Qing could not feel their anxiety. She had never encountered such a situation, so she always took it for granted that everything was fine.

As long as Suicheng is stable and there is no unrest, people can always turn a blind eye to the disasters that are about to happen, and Rong Qing is no exception. Dugu Zhi's words did touch her at the time, but his one-sided words were not convincing enough. Is the court really as ruthless and cold-blooded as he said? Natural disasters are difficult to resist with human power, and can only be dealt with with effort. But if they have not taken any action, people can't help but think that the court thinks there is no hope at all.

Thinking of this, Rong Qing paused. Why? Thinking of the time Dugu Zhi mentioned, the court only responded when the disaster first occurred after the New Year, and then did nothing else. So early?

The fact that the court gave up so early meant that it knew the disasters would continue to occur.

But this is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster! Rong Qing's eyes widened slightly... The person who can cause the destructive power of a natural disaster is, without a doubt, a cultivator!

After coming to this conclusion, she felt cold all over. Even though the heat was still lingering in autumn, and even though there were crowds of people around her and children playing and playing across the street from time to time.

With their weak bodies, mortals are no match for cultivators.

She should also consider packing her bags and fleeing south. Judging from the fate of the three northern states, the sudden appearance of the monks had malicious intent.

But the next question is, how can she guarantee that the evil cultivator will not follow her south to carry out the massacre?
Unless...the three northern states were abandoned and used as pawns to preserve the remaining states.

"Practicing Qi, building foundation, forming Dan... at least forming Dan." Rong Qing murmured. "With some magic weapons, it should be possible to achieve the level of Yuanying attack." As for the possibility of Yuanying, she thought it was unlikely. This means that Jingguo now has at least two Yuanying cultivators fighting here. In such a "poor" place that can't give birth to children with spiritual roots.

"Mr. Yu, what are you talking about?" The shopkeeper of the bookstore next to the academy was very old and his hearing was not very good. He saw Rong Qing's lips moving and thought she had something to say to him.

Rong Qing saw the shopkeeper leaning over and quickly waved her hand, saying loudly, "Shopkeeper Li, I didn't call you."

"Oh." Shopkeeper Li nodded as if he had suddenly realized something. "You didn't call me."

"Your guests have been waiting for you at the tea table for nearly half an hour." Shopkeeper Li has a good memory.

"I was so busy repairing the book that I forgot about it." Rong Qing tapped her forehead with her fingers in annoyance and walked to the tea table in the back of the bookstore. The mother and daughter were quietly reading the same book.

Rong Qing's footsteps were very light, even though there was no one else in the teahouse except the three of them. But the aroma from the incense burner, the clean and spacious desk between the flower and bird screens, and the antique shelf beside the desk all made people breathe more lightly.

Another key reason why Rong Qing chose the teahouse was that the private rooms in the bookstore were quite expensive, and it would be very expensive to go there every night. In the teahouse, she only needed to order a pot of tea, and she was familiar with the shopkeeper, so she could always get the innermost seat.

Rong Qing sat down opposite and put the precious book box aside.

I was originally worried about what to do if the library collapsed, but I didn't expect the quality to be quite reliable. It was basically intact, and after sending people to move all the books and other items out, the library was closed for repair until now. Her bookcase was also taken out, and the items inside were still there, intact.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Rong Qing explained, "We have just finished repairing a set of scriptures today and are going back to our homes."

"No, it's the sir who has worked hard." Zhong Xiu said in a low voice.

Rong Qing chuckled, "As long as there's money to be made, it's not that hard." She spread out the tracing book for calligraphy and asked Zhong Xiu and Jia Jia to start practicing with one each.

In addition to practicing calligraphy, Zhong Xiu also had to recite aloud.

Zhong Xiu can recognize basic characters, but there are less than 100 of them. She can't understand more advanced articles at all. Rong Qing taught her from the beginning. She gave her a copy of Thousand Character Classic and taught her from the beginning of phonetic notation. At the same time, she could also consolidate the strokes while practicing calligraphy. "Jia Jia, you can't turn like this here." Rong Qing walked behind Jia Jia, bent down, and held her little hand. "You have to turn your wrist, press it, and then keep the angle unchanged and lift the pen. This is the right way." Feeling Jia Jia's little hand struggling in her palm, she let go.

Jiajia doesn't like to talk, but she understands everything. When she traces the red characters next time, she consciously makes changes. Rongqing feels relieved and turns to look at Zhongxiu.

Zhong Xiu noticed this and lowered her head in embarrassment. She and her daughter were both beginners, so not only did they write with uneven force, but also many ink spots splattered.

"It's good. Your hands have never been used to write before. Although they are stronger than Jiajia's, you still can't control them." Rong Qing comforted her, "It will be fine after practicing for a long time. It's a process like this."

Zhong Xiu hummed softly.

Rong Qing returned to her seat, opened the bookcase, and took out the notebook she had made. There were many words written on it, and it was a thick book. Only the last few blank pages were still usable.

Repairing books for the academy earned a lot of money. Even Master Guo put down many of his tasks and contributed to the academy. Although she did this to avoid the mysterious new master in the palace. However, she was forced to interrupt the puzzle of Baishi Temple just as she started, which was not a good feeling. Even if the teachers and students of the academy were divided into several groups to work together, it would definitely take a year to collect books on the three floors. She could only take advantage of this time and the little time before going to bed to do as much as possible.

After reading the notes in her hand for a while, Rong Qing looked up as if she had noticed something, and saw two people, one big and one small, who looked similar, staring at her intently. She lowered her eyes and saw that she had finished all the homework for today.

"It's too late to teach new ones now. How about this, I'll tell you a story." Rong Qing suddenly had a bad taste in her mouth.

He held a rolled-up notebook in one hand and rested the other on his bent knee, in a lazy posture.

"The story goes like this: Three hundred years ago in Jing State, during the reign of Emperor Zhao, there was a scholar from Yehu Prefecture. Although he came from a poor family, he was diligent and hardworking since childhood. But the strange thing was that despite his talent, his classmates and even his teacher disliked him very much. Every time he went to the private school, everyone ignored him on purpose. This was true even though he was the first to arrive at the school and did the cleaning for his classmates. Even when he asked the teachers about academic problems, the teachers were indifferent. The only thing that made the scholar feel comforted was that even though everyone ignored him, the desk that belonged to him had never been removed."

The teacher was speaking, and both mother and daughter listened attentively, with their hands placed on their legs.

As Rong Qing spoke, she sighed in her heart that the quality of the candles here was so good. The candlelight didn't even flicker, which created a lot of atmosphere.

She had to work hard and continue in that low voice: "On the year of the big exam, the scholar packed his bag and went to the capital to take the exam early. Unexpectedly, it suddenly rained heavily halfway. As the rain continued to fall, the fog in the mountains slowly rose. The scholar had to run and run, and in the rain and fog, he was surprised to find a small temple. Although the temple was old, it was not dilapidated. He pushed the door in and saw that there was a Taoist statue enshrined in the temple. In front of the statue, there was a tablet for longevity. The scholar bowed to the Taoist statue again and again on the cushion with gratitude. He planned to rest here temporarily and make plans after the rain stopped. But the rain continued until dark, and there was no sign of stopping. The scholar had to take out the flint from his bag and light a candle. As soon as the candle was lit, he heard outside the door..."

Two "knock knock" sounds.

Rong Qing was about to tap the table with her fingers, but stopped at this moment, and goose bumps instantly covered her back.

Zhong Xiu looked at Rong Qing who froze for a moment, raised his hands from his legs, and indicated that she did nothing.

Of course Rong Qing knew it wasn't her! She could tell where the voice came from.

Twisting her stiff neck, Rong Qing slowly looked to the right.

A huge black shadow was lying on the screen.

(End of this chapter)