When Li Yijiu handed the drawing of a turtle to Fu Yangzi, she had deliberately cut the paper to a different size and crumpled it a little, so it wouldn’t look quite so familiar.
But Fu Yangzi still couldn’t help thinking of the expert who had also made him draw a turtle a hundred times.
What a coincidence.
Still, he didn’t associate that infuriating person with the inscrutable Jiang Yeyu. They weren’t remotely comparable, were they?
He just thought Li Yijiu’s drawing looked a lot like his.
But on second thought, his own drawing was exactly like the one on the cover of the Patriarch’s book. So, more precisely, Li Yijiu’s drawing didn’t resemble his; it resembled the one on the book cover.
His looked like that because he had studied it for hundreds of years.
But how had she managed to draw it so well?
Did she spend every day neglecting her proper work to draw turtles?
Fu Yangzi thought, exasperated.
Then he remembered that he had been the one to tell her to draw it, and that he had worn her out so badly. A touch of guilt rose in him. He looked around the hall, about to speak.
“Li…”
He stopped. Where was she?
Fu Yangzi scanned the faces of the disciples again and again, but still couldn’t find Li Yijiu. He checked the time as well. Class had already started.
So where was she? Yin Lan wondered.
Seeing this, Yin Lan said with gleeful relish, “Elder, are you looking for Li Yijiu? I think she skipped class and went back to the dormitory to sleep…”
“…”
Only then did Fu Yangzi suddenly realize that Li Yijiu had really meant it when she’d said, “I’m leaving.”
She had skipped class!
And he’d even seemed to give her permission???
…
After class, Lulu returned to the dormitory and, sure enough, found Li Yijiu lying in her soft bedding, sleeping as soundly as a mountain in a storm, completely unmoved even if heaven and earth came crashing down.
“…”
Lulu said, “…Fellow Daoist Li, is there really nothing left in Qingxin Sect worth staying for? You even dare skip Thunder Lord’s class?”
Li Yijiu woke up because she was hungry.
“What are we having for lunch?” she asked.
“…”
Little Lu wanted to dig out her heart and see if it was bigger than the sky.
Li Yijiu took out some snacks she’d packed up the day before and started eating, then tempted Little Lu. “Want some?”
“…”
Little Lu was tempted again when she heard about Elder Fu.
Lulu reached into the oiled-paper package, grabbed a handful of dried meat, and chewed as she said, “Good thing Elder Fu didn’t lose his temper, or you’d have been in serious trouble…”
“But you really shouldn’t have skipped that class. It was so interesting!”
“He actually admitted himself that the drawing on the Patriarch’s book cover really was a turtle! He said he’d overinterpreted it!”
“If only you’d been there!”
Li Yijiu tossed a piece of dried meat into her mouth. “What difference would it have made if I’d been there or not?”
It seemed this old disciple of hers wasn’t as stubborn as she’d thought. It was rare and admirable for him to set aside his pride and openly admit he was wrong in front of his juniors.
“How would it not have made a difference?”
Lulu looked at her in surprise. “Thunder Lord only chewed you out yesterday! And so many people laughed at you. Doesn’t it feel great to see this happen?”
Li Yijiu was far too calm.
Sometimes Lulu really couldn’t understand her. She grabbed another handful of dried meat. “You should’ve seen the look on those disciples’ faces. It was hilarious! Hahahaha…” Yin Lan had just returned too.
Just then, Yin Lan came back too.
Hearing their conversation, she was furious.
She’d heard that disciples who skipped Elder Fu Yangzi’s classes were usually punished severely. Some were even barred from joining Talisman Peak on Dao Selection Day.
But when it came to Li Yijiu, all that thunder had amounted to a few scoldings, and then it was over.
And he’d even admitted that Li Yijiu had been right about the turtle yesterday?!
“Lucky you!” Yin Lan said.
Yin Lan glared at Li Yijiu, figuring that Li Yijiu had simply happened to be there when Fu Yangzi discovered that the drawing on the book cover really was a turtle, and had therefore escaped punishment.
“My luck is always terrible,” Li Yijiu said. Then she lifted the wolf-hair brush hanging at her waist. “But I am lucky now. I’ve met such a generous roommate—you were willing to give me an Earth Grade spirit artifact.”
“…”
Yin Lan was so furious she could have burst.
She’d been trying so hard to forget about it, but that wretched Fifty-Nine just had to bring it up now and then, twisting the knife in her all over again.
Was she crazy or something???
Yin Lan erupted, “Shut up! Meeting you is the worst luck I’ve had in eight lifetimes!”
“How have you had bad luck?” Li Yijiu asked. “Go on, tell me. I love hearing it.”
“…”
You love hearing it? You said you love hearing it?!
Yin Lan’s vision went black with rage. She even drew her sword. “Fifty-Nine! I’ll kill you—”
Yu Jinmian hurried to restrain her. “Sect rules, sect rules, sect rules! Lanlan, don’t do anything rash. It’s not worth getting expelled over her. Don’t stoop to her level. Come on, come on, come on…”
Yin Lan was dragged away, flailing.
Li Yijiu was deeply disappointed that she hadn’t gotten to fight again.
Lulu laughed so hard she pounded the bed. “Hahahaha, Fellow Daoist Li, how are you so good with words? You make Miss Yin this mad every single time! Hahahaha…”
She and Yin Lan were both from prominent families.
Their families traded with one another, so the two of them had known each other for a long time.
The Young Miss Yin had always had everything go her way and was terribly proud. After arriving at Qingxin Sect, she’d suffered more indignities than she had in her entire life.
All thanks to Li Yijiu.
Once she’d finished laughing, Lulu wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and continued talking about Fu Yangzi’s class. “Oh, and Thunder Lord told us something funny.”
“He said he once met a Master of talisman arts who already knew the drawing was a turtle, but deliberately made him draw it a hundred times. Hahahahahaha…”
“That Master sounds so funny. This class was really interesting too!”
“But the funniest thing of all is Li Yijiu.”
Lulu, never one to miss a chance to watch the commotion, said, “It’s such a pity you didn’t go!”
“It’s no pity,” Li Yijiu replied. “I was immersed in it.”
She was the Master herself. She’d skipped class to teach the teacher, and then the teacher had taught the rest of them.
So why would she have gone?
Lulu didn’t understand what “immersed in it” meant, and continued, “Later, someone asked Elder Fu Yangzi: if it was just a turtle, shouldn’t they replace the cover of The Complete Talisman Compendium of Patriarch Mingdeng?”
“He said, ‘No.’”
“‘Whether it’s the talisman patterns or the turtle, they were both truly left behind by the Patriarch. Why should we replace it?’”
“‘The Patriarch was exactly who she was. She could create profound, wondrous talisman patterns and draw images that made people laugh and cry.’”
“‘Just because she’s so far removed from us, we mustn’t forget she was a real person, with flesh and blood.’”
“‘And we mustn’t lose ourselves in the image we’ve invented of her, arrogantly stripping away the vivid, human parts of her.’”
Li Yijiu deeply agreed. “Well said.”
But she would still skip any class she felt like skipping.
Lulu brushed the crumbs of dried meat from her hands. “Time for the next class. It’s Pill Peak Elder Yao Wuji’s alchemy class. You’re coming, right, Fellow Daoist Li?”
Li Yijiu nodded. “Let’s go.”
As they walked, Lulu said, “Elder Yao Wuji is the youngest Heaven Grade alchemist in the Spirit Domain. He’s as gentle as jade, and he has a good temper. He never scolds anyone. He’s completely different from Thunder Lord Fu Yangzi. The disciples like going to his classes best…”
“Different from whom?”
A voice suddenly came from behind her.
Lulu answered instinctively, “I said Fu—”
Wait. Who had spoken?
Lulu turned around stiffly.
The Thunder Lord she’d been talking about was standing right there, speaking in a dark, ominous tone. “Good temper? Never scolds anyone? Completely different from Thunder Lord Fu Yangzi?”
Lulu was terrified. Help—!
Thunder Lord was going to kill Little Lu!!!