On the second floor of the embroidery pavilion, there were a total of twenty-one private seats.
White silk curtains cascaded like waterfalls from the ceiling, and fresh flowers picked that very day were arranged in vases around the room, creating an atmosphere that felt like stepping into a fairyland.
However, the curtains of the other private seats had already been removed by the maids, leaving only the three seats reserved for the Young Master still veiled.
The Young Master, Bai Li, Chen Ji, Liang Gou'er, and Liang Mao'er were seated in one of the private seats, while She Dengke, Liu Quxing, and other martial artists sat in the other two.
Liang Gou'er didn't seem to mind.
Even though the curtains hadn't been removed, the maids kept bringing in food and drinks.
He found the small wine cups of the Qingyin Troupe too tiny, so he simply switched to using a bowl.
The Young Master rolled up his sleeves and sat in front of the table, staring blankly at the paper, unable to come up with a single line of poetry no matter how hard he tried.
He slowly turned to Chen Ji, who was still frowning in his sleep.
It seemed he couldn't be relied upon.
He then glanced at Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er... but quickly dismissed the thought.
Finally, he looked at Bai Li: "Hey, Bai Li, can you write a poem? I remember you used to write poetry."
Bai Li hesitated: "The things I wrote were criticized by my teachers as 'a mess.' I can't write anything decent. If I try, it'll just be a joke."
Liang Gou'er chuckled: "This Qingyin Troupe loves to make things mysterious. They're clearly here to make money, yet they set up all these obstacles... but the scholars and literati eat it up! If you ask me, White Robe Alley isn't as straightforward as Red Robe Alley. The girl Yan'er from the Golden Workshop has an amazing drinking capacity. She'll match you drink for drink. Now that's what I call fun."
Liang Mao'er smirked: "Brother, is it really her drinking capacity you like? I don't even want to expose you!"
At that moment, Chen Wenxiao's laughter came from outside the curtain: "Why are there still three curtains left? Are the friends inside trying to create a more serene atmosphere?"
The Young Master retorted from behind the curtain: "Great lines come naturally, crafted by a stroke of genius. Poetry isn't about quantity but quality. If it's not exquisite, what's the point of writing more? I think Madam Liu's game is a bit hasty, forcing everyone to write three poems about autumn on the spot. Sure, we can write, but what good can come from such a rushed effort? Do you really think the poems you just wrote will stand the test of time?"
The area outside the curtain fell silent.
Some pondered the Young Master's words, while others contemplated the phrase, "Great lines come naturally, crafted by a stroke of genius."
After a moment of silence, Chen Wenzong spoke: "I can't hear you clearly. Remove the curtain and speak."
The Young Master: "..."
He turned to look at Chen Ji, placing his last hope on Chen Ji waking up.
The Young Master worried: "Is Chen Ji dead?"
"Impossible, he's still breathing," Bai Li, the princess, said after some thought.
"He must be exhausted from being injured and then dragged out here by you guys."
"Let's wait a bit longer and see if he wakes up."
......
Chen Ji didn't wake up.
He was in the midst of a fierce battle.
At the peak of Green Mountain, Chen Ji and the giant halberdier were both panting heavily.
They had exchanged hundreds of blows, yet neither had managed to gain the upper hand.
At some point, Xuanyuan had changed into a black royal robe, its sleeves embroidered with gold threads depicting the Purple Forbidden Enclosure at the center, flanked by the Supreme Palace Enclosure and the Heavenly Market Enclosure.
The golden armor and royal banners were nowhere to be seen.
Xuanyuan sat upright on a large rock, and though he was merely sitting on a stone, he still resembled an emperor seated on a golden throne.
His expression was stern and solemn.
Like the black of his royal robe, he was calm, rational, and unyielding.
Seeing that the two weren't fighting, Xuanyuan coldly urged: "This battle has already lasted the time it takes to burn two incense sticks. How much longer are you going to dawdle? On a real battlefield, with soldiers packed shoulder to shoulder, you wouldn't have time to catch your breath!"
Upon receiving the order, the giant halberdier immediately swung his bronze halberd and charged forward.
Chen Ji's gaze didn't waver.
He stared intently at the halberd blade sweeping toward him, his body leaning back slightly.
The blade passed just in front of his nose, but it didn't harm him.
This dodge was effortless, as if in harmony with the world, natural and unforced.
Chen Ji's internal furnace had ignited sixteen flames, and his strength far surpassed that of an ordinary person.
Even when grappling with a spy from the Jing Dynasty, he held the upper hand.
But he had suddenly gained this immense strength and wasn't yet familiar with his own body or the techniques to harness it.
Techniques were like a lever.
Without it, you could only use eighty percent of your strength.
With it, you could unleash one hundred and twenty percent.
Now, Chen Ji understood what his body was capable of and where his strength lay.
However, the giant halberdier was no pushover either.
Seeing that his strike had missed, he twisted his waist and used the force of his hips to change the direction of the halberd blade.
What was supposed to be a sweeping strike from left to right suddenly reversed into an upward slash!
The blade grazed Chen Ji's chest, leaving a wound and forcing him to retreat from his planned counterattack.
But Chen Ji didn't look down at his wound.
Instead, he kept his eyes locked on the giant halberdier, as if the injury caused no pain.
He crouched slightly, like a leopard ready to pounce.
Despite being injured, he showed no signs of being at a disadvantage.
Xuanyuan had once said that Chen Ji had lost his combat instincts, but now he realized he was wrong.
In just one day, he had witnessed Chen Ji go from fleeing in disarray across the mountains to now fighting the giant halberdier on equal footing.
His footwork, techniques... even his strength utilization had become rougher yet more genuine.
Each punch and kick, though seemingly rushed and clumsy, was filled with a raw, direct ferocity.
"Only six hours," Xuanyuan murmured in amazement.
The combat instincts within Chen Ji's body were like an ancient sword that had been buried for millennia, now slowly being polished and revealed.
But though Xuanyuan thought this, he still taunted: "Six hours, and you still can't win? This giant halberdier is just a soldier in my army."
Chen Ji, panting, looked at the giant halberdier and smiled: "He's not very good with words, so don't take it to heart. You're really strong. It's only natural that I can't defeat you."
Xuanyuan raised an eyebrow.
Chen Ji looked exhausted.
After six hours of intense combat, the giant halberdier could still stand there full of energy, but Chen Ji couldn't.
Every second now was torture for him.
How many times had he died in a single day?
Forty? Sixty?
He had lost count.
At one point, Chen Ji thought about giving up.
Maybe he didn't need to learn the path of the sword seed.
But then he remembered how much he had already learned and how much more confident he had become, and a new surge of determination filled him.
The next moment, the giant halberdier swung his halberd again.
Chen Ji moved, but the wound on his chest caused him to falter.
His body couldn't dodge in time, and a chunk of flesh was sliced off his left arm!
This strike was a turning point.
From then on, Chen Ji could only dodge in desperation, with no chance to counterattack.
Xuanyuan sneered at Chen Ji: "I don't think you have a chance. Why don't you just let me return to the world? Leave your last words, and I'll kill whoever you want."
"I'll do it myself," Chen Ji panted as he dodged the giant halberdier's attacks.
"Oh? Are you that attached to that world?"
"I have a cat. What will happen to it if I'm gone?"
Xuanyuan was puzzled: "... A cat?"
"I've also made some new friends."
Xuanyuan laughed heartily: "You need friends? You once said you didn't need friends!"
"Were we ever friends?"
"Yes, but not anymore."
"Then let's get to know each other again."
As the bronze halberd came down in a vertical slash, Chen Ji suddenly lunged toward the giant halberdier.
His eyes locked onto the halberd blade like hooks.
The crescent blade of the halberd came down, and the giant halberdier had prepared for Chen Ji to dodge, but this time, Chen Ji didn't!
Instead, Chen Ji accelerated, passing the point where the blade would have struck.
He reached the halberd's shaft and, with both hands as if lifting a mountain, gripped the slender pole and stopped the halberd's descent!
The giant halberdier tried to pull the halberd back, but to his shock, Chen Ji yanked the shaft down and gave it a forceful shake!
"Let go!"
An inexplicable, immense force traveled through the halberd, causing the giant halberdier to involuntarily release his grip.
This strange disarming technique... it was the same move the giant halberdier had used earlier, but now Chen Ji had mastered it!
"Huh!" Xuanyuan's eyes lit up.
This refined disarming technique was a secret skill of his army, yet Chen Ji had learned it in just one day.
Chen Ji swung the bronze halberd like a full moon, forcing the giant halberdier to retreat continuously, unable to counter.
In an instant, the roles reversed.
The giant halberdier was pushed to the edge of Green Mountain with nowhere to retreat.
Chen Ji's halberd stopped just short of his neck.
"How about it?" Chen Ji panted.
"Will you teach me now?"
A long-lost sense of victory filled his heart.
In his heated breaths, Chen Ji felt as if he had climbed another insurmountable mountain, reaching the summit to witness the sunrise breaking through the sea of clouds—a moment of serene yet exhilarating triumph.
Xuanyuan, sitting leisurely on the rock, said: "Are you satisfied now? With your current strength, you're only fit to be a soldier in my army."
"Huh?" Chen Ji was confused.
Xuanyuan waved his hand toward the battlefield frozen in time, and another warrior with a long saber stepped out of the ranks.
He walked up to Green Mountain and knelt on one knee before Xuanyuan: "My king, what is your command?"
Xuanyuan pointed at Chen Ji: "This boy has gotten used to the giant halberdier's attacks. Now it's your turn."
Chen Ji's eyes widened.
He glanced at the battlefield below, where soldiers wielded all kinds of weapons, and his expression changed: "I can't fight anymore today. My friends are waiting for me to drink. Let's meet again tomorrow!"
With that, he leaped off Green Mountain.
Xuanyuan stared at the empty cliff edge, murmuring: "I really do need to get to know you again."
......
Back on the second floor of the embroidery pavilion, the curtains of the three private seats were still up.
Liang Gou'er's face was flushed from drinking, while the Young Master sat at the table, scratching his head: "Autumn... what can I write about autumn?"
Suddenly, someone beside him whispered: "I'm awake."
The Young Master turned to see Chen Ji slowly opening his eyes, his gaze sharp like a tiger ready to pounce.
Bai Li muttered: "What kind of dream did you have? You look so fierce."
The Young Master was overjoyed and whispered: "You're finally awake! Quick, we need nine lines of poetry. We're counting on you!"
Chen Ji looked at the handful of golden melon seeds in his hand...
Had even this not woken him up?
As he pocketed the nine golden melon seeds, he pondered: "Nine lines, right? Princess Bai Li, I'll dictate, and you write."
Bai Li's eyes lit up: "Alright, I'll write."
But as they began, Chen Wenxiao's voice came from outside the curtain: "Have the friends in these three seats not finished their poems about autumn yet? If you keep delaying, you'll hold up everyone's chance to interact with Madam Liu."
The Young Master replied with a smile: "We're already writing, we're writing."
Chen Wenxiao: "If you could write, why wait until now?"
Lin Chaojing's laughter rang out: "I recognize the voice behind the curtain. It's the Young Master. Brother Wenzong, it's just nine poems about autumn. We've been classmates with the Young Master for three years. Let's help him out. I'll write four, and you write five. Then we'll say they're his and remove the curtains."
Chen Wenzong hesitated: "That doesn't seem appropriate."
Lin Chaojing smiled: "Then I'll write all nine."
He rolled up his sleeves and called for a maid to bring ink, brush, and paper.
With a few swift strokes, he completed nine poems in one go, as if it were effortless.
Lin Chaojing handed the poems to the maid: "Take these to Madam Liu. If she finds them acceptable, remove the curtains from the Young Master's seats."
The maid smiled: "No need to show Madam Liu. Even a lowly maid like me can see how good these poems are. I'll remove the curtains now."
In truth, the pavilion was getting anxious about the three curtains still being up.
However, hearing Chen Ji's eloquent words and seeing Bai Li's swift writing, the Young Master panicked: "Wait, we can write our own. Don't remove them!"
But it was too late.
The curtains were removed, revealing the three private seats.
Liang Gou'er was drinking heavily, already half-drunk, while Liang Mao'er was eating dish after dish as if at a banquet.
She Dengke, Liu Quxing, and the other martial artists weren't much better.
Their tables were a mess.
Chen Wenxiao burst out laughing: "What's this? A feast?"
Lin Chaojing sat solemnly behind his table, his expression grave: "Tonight, Madam Liu has come all the way from the Qinhuai River to Luocheng. If she sees the literati of Luocheng behaving like this, how disappointed she would be! Young Master, tonight is a gathering of scholars. Why bring these uncouth martial artists to spoil the mood?"
The Young Master looked at Lin Chaojing: "I wrote a poem to get in. If you can come, why can't my friends?"
Lin Chaojing shook his head: "It's not that they can't come, but it's inappropriate. These martial friends would be better off eating at roadside stalls or visiting Red Robe Alley. That suits their status... Coming here is a waste."
The Young Master asked coldly: "Who should go to Red Robe Alley?"
"Naturally, those who are crude and seek pleasure."
The Young Master pressed: "Then who is suitable for White Robe Alley?"
"People like us, who are learned and of high status."
The Young Master slowly stood up.
Everyone thought he was about to confront Lin Chaojing, but instead, he turned to She Dengke and the others, bowing apologetically: "I'm sorry. Today, due to my recklessness, I've brought you here and exposed you to such ignorant and arrogant people. I apologize. If White Robe Alley is filled with such scholars, then we won't come again! I can endure insults, but I won't let my friends suffer. Let's go!"
Liang Gou'er was puzzled: "Young Master, where are we going?"
The Young Master stood tall and laughed: "Let's go to Red Robe Alley for some drinks!"
With that, he led the way downstairs.
Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er lifted Chen Ji's bamboo chair and followed.
The group moved together, not at all disheartened, as if they were heading to a celebration.
Bai Li sat at the table, holding her brush, watching the crowd leave in a flurry.
She opened her mouth as if to say something but stopped herself...
She had just finished writing the poem Chen Ji had dictated.
The Young Master called from the stairs: "Bai Li, let's go!"
Bai Li had intended to take the written poem with her, but after a moment's thought, she left it behind and hurried downstairs: "Coming!"
The second floor of the embroidery pavilion fell silent again.
Chen Wenzong glared at Chen Wenxiao before walking over to the Young Master's table and picking up the poem that had been written.
As he read it, he was stunned.
"Withered vines, old trees, crows at dusk, A small bridge, flowing water, a home, An ancient road, west wind, a lean horse, The sun sets in the west, A heartbroken man at the end of the world."
Not a single mention of autumn, yet it evoked the desolation of autumn winds and the loneliness beneath the bridge.
(End of Chapter)