He opened his eyes. The ink from the characters he had left on the writing desk last time was still spread across the surface. He replied softly:
“Mm, Miss Li, my ability seems to be usable only once every five days. The five-day limit has expired, so I’m here again.”
Li Zijun seemed to be thinking something over. “Five days? That’s a bit long, isn’t it?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Zijun pressed further. “What exactly do you look like? And where are you?”
The question came so directly that Yun Che’s heart tightened.
Controlling Li Zijun’s body, his gaze drifted away involuntarily, and his fingers also unconsciously tugged at the edge of his sleeve, a textbook look of guilt that was downright adorable.
“Uh, this…” His voice caught. “Li, Miss Li, you see, even the most basic cultivation entry-level stuff I have to learn as I go, and I still have to trouble you to teach me personally, hand in hand…
With my cultivation foundation, which is worse than a third-rate hack’s, if I were to say it out loud…”
He paused, then squeezed out a pitiful tone. “If I tell you, young lady, and you get angry someday, what if…
What if you come looking for me? With my tiny bit of crude skill, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even be able to take one of your fingers.”
He said it half-true and half-false, admitting his cowardice with complete sincerity. “I’m just… timid. I’m afraid of getting beaten up.”
“…”
In the sea of consciousness, Li Zijun’s will fell silent for a moment.
Then a clear wave of disbelief mixed with amusement swept over.
“You…” Her will seemed to be trying hard to hold something back, and Yun Che “heard” the sound of her nearly laughing out loud. “Are you trying to act pitiful in front of me?
You’ve chickened out?”
“Really cowardly! Completely, sincerely cowardly!” Yun Che immediately seized the opening. “Sister, you’re a great cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage, a figure who can make an entire region tremble with a single stomp.
So, can we not ask about this for now?”
His call of “sister” came out extremely naturally, but Li Zijun’s attention was instantly caught by another point.
“Wait,” her will came through, carrying a hint of curiosity. “You call me sister? How old are you?”
Yun Che froze, then instinctively answered, “I just turned twenty.”
“Twenty?” A hint of playfulness rose in Li Zijun’s will. “So you’re twenty? That’s six years younger than me.”
Only then did Yun Che remember that Li Zijun was twenty-six.
He quickly followed up. “Yes, yes, so calling you sister is only right.”
“Only right?” The amusement in Li Zijun’s will grew even stronger. “All right, since you’ve called me sister, then call me properly… say ‘Sister Zijun’ to me.”
Yun Che: “…”
Wasn’t this digging a pit and then jumping into it himself?
But the situation was stronger than the man, so he could only squeeze out three words: “Sister Zijun…”
His voice was soft, and a little awkward, but he did say it.
“Mm, good boy.” Li Zijun’s will came through, clearly pleased, with even a trace of smugness.
She seemed to very much enjoy being called sister by a younger man.
“Since you’ve called me sister once, then as your sister, I shouldn’t make things too hard for you.”
Li Zijun’s tone relaxed considerably. “Fine, let’s leave this for later. No rush.”
“Quickly, write me a few more characters.”
Her voice carried a faint smile. “If you make me happy, maybe… I won’t hold it against you for always hiding your face and keeping yourself concealed.”
Yun Che resignedly spread out the xuan paper. “What does Sister want me to write this time?”
“Write: ‘Within the four seas, one finds a kindred spirit; at the end of the world, one is as close as a neighbor.'” Li Zijun’s will came through again. “I really like this line.”
Yun Che smiled slightly and let the tip of his brush fall onto the paper. “Then watch carefully, Sister.”
First came the character “Hai.” With the three-dot water radical, he wrote with great steadiness and explained patiently, “To write ‘Hai,’ you first need the breadth of mind to contain rivers from all directions.
The three-dot water radical must not be scattered; it has to gather qi.
The first dot sets heaven and earth, the second carries the flow, and the third gathers momentum and stores strength. The qi between the three dots must remain connected, like waves chasing one another, endlessly renewing themselves.”
Once the three dots were finished, the aura truly flowed through.
“The inner ‘Mei’ component needs a square turn.” Yun Che continued moving his brush. “There is roundness within squareness, and bone within roundness.
The horizontal stroke must be level, symbolizing the broad sea surface; the turning corner must be hard, suggesting the unfathomable depths below. The final hook must be sharp, like a reef breaking through the waves.”
Once the character “Hai” was finished, it really did have the momentum of a vast ocean.
“The most important part of the character ‘Nei’ is the stroke of the ‘person’ component.” Yun Che’s brush tip turned. “The left-falling stroke must be long, the right-falling stroke must be steady, like a person opening their arms to embrace the four directions. When writing ‘Nei,’ the heart must be broad before the brush can open up.”
“The character ‘Cun’ is all about resonance.”
His brush never stopped. “The ‘Cai’ and ‘Zi’ components should be close yet apart, like kindred spirits who each have their own world yet remain in tune with each other. This vertical stroke must be straight, running through top and bottom, symbolizing friendship that never bends.”
Then came the final character, “Lin.”
Yun Che took a deep breath. “The character ‘Lin’ is the landing point of the whole line.
The ‘Ling’ component must be upright, like a gentleman standing in the world; the right-ear radical must be steady, like mountains and rivers that never move.
The final vertical stroke must run straight through to the end, like this bond of friendship. Even if the ends of the world separate us, its foundation will always remain firm.”
After writing ten characters, Yun Che set down his brush.
The ink on the paper had not yet dried. Each character was full of sinew and bone, and aura flowed through them.
From the breadth of “Hai” to the steadiness of “Lin,” the entire piece seemed to have truly frozen the meaning of “at the end of the world, one is as close as a neighbor” onto the paper with brush and ink.
Li Zijun’s will remained immersed in the piece for a long time.
After a long while, she softly said, “I never thought writing could be so…”