Chapter 77
The System is Alive Again!
In the evening, Xu Xian returned home after completing his task. As soon as he opened the courtyard gate, a white shadow flew towards him.
He tilted his head to avoid it, and the snowball grazed his ear and hit the door behind him, splashing shards all over his neck, making him shiver from the cold.
Hua Xi was squatting in the middle of the yard, her two short legs stuck in the snow, holding another snowball in her hand, grinning from ear to ear.
Her hair, shoulders, and cuffs were all covered in snow, and a few snowflakes clung to her eyelashes, making her look like a kitten that had just rolled around in a flour bin.
"It's snowing, brother!"
The tortoise lay on the snow, with a small snowman the size of a fist piled on its shell, its two beady green eyes looking innocently at Xu Xian.
Hua Xi tossed the snowball into the air, jumped up, and headbutted it, shattering the snowball into powder that covered her head.
She then threw herself into the snow and rolled around, lying on her back with her limbs outstretched, leaving a small "大" (big) imprint on the snow.
Xu Xian smiled, "Hua Xi."
"Um?"
She lifted her face from the snow, a small pinch of snow still clinging to the tip of her nose.
"Want to go shopping for new clothes?"
She sprang up from the snow with a somersault, leaving a deep footprint in the snow.
She ran to Xu Xian, holding the tortoise, and looked up at him.
"Really? I want the kind with embroidered cuffs! I saw a red one at the tailor shop last time, with a plum blossom embroidered on the cuff, but it was a bit expensive, costing two taels of silver."
"Buy it! My brother's got money!"
Xu Xian reached out and brushed the snow off her hair, then smiled and took her hand to walk outside; her hand was also very cold.
The turtle poked its head out from her arms, looked at their clasped hands, then withdrew its head and made a gurgling sound from inside its shell.
...
The shop owner was dozing off at the counter when she was startled awake by the bell on the door curtain. She looked up and saw Xu Xian, and immediately put on a smile.
"Lord Xu has arrived. We just received a batch of new fabrics from Jiangnan, and the embroidery is exquisite."
Hua Xi released Xu Xian's hand, leaned over the counter, and stood on tiptoe to peer at the shelves.
He scanned the neatly folded coats several times, then suddenly pointed to the top red one with his index finger.
"That one! The one with the plum blossoms on the cuffs!"
The proprietress took the red jacket off and handed it to her.
Hua Xi took it and unfolded it. The jacket was very soft, with a white rabbit fur trim around the collar and red plum blossoms on the cuffs outlined in gold thread.
She held the coat up to her body; the sleeves were too long, and the hem almost reached her knees.
"It's grown up..."
Xu Xian smiled as he took the coat and turned up the cuffs.
"The embroidery is quite nice, with gold thread outlining. It won't fade after washing. Boss lady, do you even have her size?"
The proprietress smiled and pulled out a smaller version of the same style from the bottom shelf. "Yes, yes, yes, we have it, especially for little kids."
Hua Xi took the small-sized jacket and put it on. The cuffs reached just to her wrists, and the hem went just past her waist.
She spun around three times, her coat hem fluttering like a blooming red lotus.
"Brother, is it pretty?"
Xu Xian nodded, "It looks good. Let me take another look around."
She spun around again, this time even faster than before.
Hua Xi scooped the turtle up and rubbed it against her face. "I'll embroider a flower on your shell too. Red plum blossoms with a green shell will look beautiful!"
The turtle rolled its eyes, utterly speechless.
...
When she got home that evening, Hua Xi lay on the newly bought thick mattress with her legs crossed, the tortoise beside her pillow, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Xu Xian.
"Brother, what story are you going to tell today?"
Xu Xian leaned against the headboard, cleared his throat, and said, "Today we'll talk about how Li Bai cleverly used a series of schemes to help Xi Shi capture the Desolate Emperor."
"Who is Li Bai? Who is Xi Shi? Is the Desolate Emperor very powerful?"
"Li Bai is the Poet Immortal, the one who wrote 'The bright moonlight shines before my bed, I wonder if it is frost on the ground.' Xi Shi is one of the Four Beauties, but her true identity was the number one swordswoman of Yue, who could kill a black bear with one hand when she was only eight years old!"
Hua Xi's eyes lit up. "That's amazing!"
"The Desolate Emperor was the most powerful person in ancient times. He could fight ten Dharma Aspect Realm cultivators by himself, and after defeating them, he could still eat three bowls of beef noodles."
Hua Xi frowned slightly. "How did Li Bai and Xi Shi meet?"
"The story goes that Li Bai, sword in hand, entered Shu (Sichuan), and riding a donkey, he passed by the Huansha Creek, where the donkey's hooves splashed water all over Xi Shi..."
"And then Xi Shi beat up Li Bai?"
"He beat him up, but Li Bai was still not satisfied and challenged her to a second round. In the second round, Xi Shi beat him up again."
"And then?"
Xu Xian grabbed Hua Xi's hand, closed his eyes, and yanked it wildly.
"Later, the two became good friends and decided to capture the Desolate Emperor alive together. On the way, they also recruited Zhang Fei and Sun Wukong to join them... Zhang Fei was in charge of the front line charge, Sun Wukong was in charge of the rear raid, Li Bai was in charge of writing poems to record the battle achievements, and Xi Shi was in charge of beating people up."
Hua Xi patted the pillow, then suddenly remembered something and said seriously,
"Are four people enough? The Desolate Emperor is so powerful, should we call a few more helpers? Can Nezha come? What about Erlang Shen?"
"Call them next time; let these four test the waters today."
Xu Xian had just opened his mouth when he said,
"It is said that when Li Bai rode a donkey into Shu, he bought the donkey outside Chang'an for five taels of silver. The donkey had a terrible temper and would kick anyone it saw..."
Suddenly, a "ding" sounded in my mind:
[The system has detected that the host has broken through to the Meridian Opening Realm.]
The skill equipment slots have been increased to ten, with six slots currently empty.
Current cultivation speed: 1500/day.
The Holy Spirit Sword Technique is expected to reach the passing grade in eighteen days.
He was stunned for a moment, then his heart leaped with joy!
Brother Tong finally made a move.
For several months, apart from the daily AFK leveling up, the system has hardly made any noise. Now that I've broken through to the Meridian Opening Realm, it has finally regained its functionality!
The debt of gratitude owed to the Chief Justice is never enough!
There are ten slots for equipment and six empty slots, enough for him to stuff in six more martial arts techniques.
There are only 18 days left until I reach the passing grade for the Holy Spirit Sword Technique, at which point I can unlock a new technique.
Why did the passing grade change from three levels to six? The Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill unlocks a new technique at level three, and the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms also unlocks at level three.
The passing grade for the Holy Spirit Sword Technique is six levels?
Has the passing score for all divine skills doubled, or is the passing score different for each divine skill?
He tugged at his beard a couple of times, and when he got to the third hair, he decided to give up.
The system never explains anything, so asking is pointless.
"...And then? Did Li Bai meet Xi Shi?"
Hua Xi got up from the mattress at some point, lay on Xu Xian's knees, and looked up at him.
Xu Xian regained his composure and continued speaking...
...
With the Confucian Book Club approaching, the number of people in Kyoto is increasing day by day.
Students from academies across the states, literati who came to admire the place, merchants who took the opportunity to do business, and pickpockets and swindlers who took advantage of the chaos—you could throw a brick anywhere on Zhuque Street and hit three scholars and two thieves.
Xu Xian had to take Zhang Hu and Zhao Bao out every day to patrol the streets and maintain order. In half a month, they arrested several troublemakers who took advantage of the chaos.
Two con artists who dine and dash at a restaurant while posing as students of an academy, a fake Taoist priest who sets up a fortune-telling stall at the entrance of the City God Temple, and three habitual thieves who team up to pickpocket at the night market.
These people all share the characteristic of being stubborn, but they all go soft as soon as they hear they're going to be locked up in the inner sanctuary dungeon.
...
That evening, Xu Xian and Zhang Hu were patrolling the night market.
The streets were lined with stalls of all kinds, selling roasted chestnuts, noodles with soybean paste, and wontons, with steam rising and aromas filling the air.
Hua Xi squatted in front of the candied hawthorn stall, standing on tiptoe and waiting for the master craftsman to make it for her. The tortoise perched on her shoulder, its big, beady eyes fixed on the bubbling syrup in the sugar pot, drool dripping from its mouth onto its claws.
Xu first told Zhang Hu to go ahead and check things out, while he leaned against a nearby pillar and waited for Hua Xi.
His gaze swept across the crowd and suddenly he spotted a bald man, his face gleaming under the lantern light. He limped, but his demeanor was as leisurely as if he were strolling through his own backyard.
The sleeve of his left hand was bulging, clearly indicating that he had just smuggled something.
He leaned against the pillar without moving, watching the man sway past the wonton stall and casually grab a sesame seed cake from it.
The bald, crippled man also saw him, grinned, and came over.
"Xu Xiao... oh, he's now Commander Xu! Commander Xu is truly a heroic young man, he even managed to defeat the Crown Prince!"
"I thought you were a ruthless person when I was in Qingzhou, but I didn't expect you to be this ruthless... The Crown Prince, that's the heir apparent, and you just investigate and do whatever you want."
He tilted his head to avoid it, and the snowball grazed his ear and hit the door behind him, splashing shards all over his neck, making him shiver from the cold.
Hua Xi was squatting in the middle of the yard, her two short legs stuck in the snow, holding another snowball in her hand, grinning from ear to ear.
Her hair, shoulders, and cuffs were all covered in snow, and a few snowflakes clung to her eyelashes, making her look like a kitten that had just rolled around in a flour bin.
"It's snowing, brother!"
The tortoise lay on the snow, with a small snowman the size of a fist piled on its shell, its two beady green eyes looking innocently at Xu Xian.
Hua Xi tossed the snowball into the air, jumped up, and headbutted it, shattering the snowball into powder that covered her head.
She then threw herself into the snow and rolled around, lying on her back with her limbs outstretched, leaving a small "大" (big) imprint on the snow.
Xu Xian smiled, "Hua Xi."
"Um?"
She lifted her face from the snow, a small pinch of snow still clinging to the tip of her nose.
"Want to go shopping for new clothes?"
She sprang up from the snow with a somersault, leaving a deep footprint in the snow.
She ran to Xu Xian, holding the tortoise, and looked up at him.
"Really? I want the kind with embroidered cuffs! I saw a red one at the tailor shop last time, with a plum blossom embroidered on the cuff, but it was a bit expensive, costing two taels of silver."
"Buy it! My brother's got money!"
Xu Xian reached out and brushed the snow off her hair, then smiled and took her hand to walk outside; her hand was also very cold.
The turtle poked its head out from her arms, looked at their clasped hands, then withdrew its head and made a gurgling sound from inside its shell.
...
The shop owner was dozing off at the counter when she was startled awake by the bell on the door curtain. She looked up and saw Xu Xian, and immediately put on a smile.
"Lord Xu has arrived. We just received a batch of new fabrics from Jiangnan, and the embroidery is exquisite."
Hua Xi released Xu Xian's hand, leaned over the counter, and stood on tiptoe to peer at the shelves.
He scanned the neatly folded coats several times, then suddenly pointed to the top red one with his index finger.
"That one! The one with the plum blossoms on the cuffs!"
The proprietress took the red jacket off and handed it to her.
Hua Xi took it and unfolded it. The jacket was very soft, with a white rabbit fur trim around the collar and red plum blossoms on the cuffs outlined in gold thread.
She held the coat up to her body; the sleeves were too long, and the hem almost reached her knees.
"It's grown up..."
Xu Xian smiled as he took the coat and turned up the cuffs.
"The embroidery is quite nice, with gold thread outlining. It won't fade after washing. Boss lady, do you even have her size?"
The proprietress smiled and pulled out a smaller version of the same style from the bottom shelf. "Yes, yes, yes, we have it, especially for little kids."
Hua Xi took the small-sized jacket and put it on. The cuffs reached just to her wrists, and the hem went just past her waist.
She spun around three times, her coat hem fluttering like a blooming red lotus.
"Brother, is it pretty?"
Xu Xian nodded, "It looks good. Let me take another look around."
She spun around again, this time even faster than before.
Hua Xi scooped the turtle up and rubbed it against her face. "I'll embroider a flower on your shell too. Red plum blossoms with a green shell will look beautiful!"
The turtle rolled its eyes, utterly speechless.
...
When she got home that evening, Hua Xi lay on the newly bought thick mattress with her legs crossed, the tortoise beside her pillow, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Xu Xian.
"Brother, what story are you going to tell today?"
Xu Xian leaned against the headboard, cleared his throat, and said, "Today we'll talk about how Li Bai cleverly used a series of schemes to help Xi Shi capture the Desolate Emperor."
"Who is Li Bai? Who is Xi Shi? Is the Desolate Emperor very powerful?"
"Li Bai is the Poet Immortal, the one who wrote 'The bright moonlight shines before my bed, I wonder if it is frost on the ground.' Xi Shi is one of the Four Beauties, but her true identity was the number one swordswoman of Yue, who could kill a black bear with one hand when she was only eight years old!"
Hua Xi's eyes lit up. "That's amazing!"
"The Desolate Emperor was the most powerful person in ancient times. He could fight ten Dharma Aspect Realm cultivators by himself, and after defeating them, he could still eat three bowls of beef noodles."
Hua Xi frowned slightly. "How did Li Bai and Xi Shi meet?"
"The story goes that Li Bai, sword in hand, entered Shu (Sichuan), and riding a donkey, he passed by the Huansha Creek, where the donkey's hooves splashed water all over Xi Shi..."
"And then Xi Shi beat up Li Bai?"
"He beat him up, but Li Bai was still not satisfied and challenged her to a second round. In the second round, Xi Shi beat him up again."
"And then?"
Xu Xian grabbed Hua Xi's hand, closed his eyes, and yanked it wildly.
"Later, the two became good friends and decided to capture the Desolate Emperor alive together. On the way, they also recruited Zhang Fei and Sun Wukong to join them... Zhang Fei was in charge of the front line charge, Sun Wukong was in charge of the rear raid, Li Bai was in charge of writing poems to record the battle achievements, and Xi Shi was in charge of beating people up."
Hua Xi patted the pillow, then suddenly remembered something and said seriously,
"Are four people enough? The Desolate Emperor is so powerful, should we call a few more helpers? Can Nezha come? What about Erlang Shen?"
"Call them next time; let these four test the waters today."
Xu Xian had just opened his mouth when he said,
"It is said that when Li Bai rode a donkey into Shu, he bought the donkey outside Chang'an for five taels of silver. The donkey had a terrible temper and would kick anyone it saw..."
Suddenly, a "ding" sounded in my mind:
[The system has detected that the host has broken through to the Meridian Opening Realm.]
The skill equipment slots have been increased to ten, with six slots currently empty.
Current cultivation speed: 1500/day.
The Holy Spirit Sword Technique is expected to reach the passing grade in eighteen days.
He was stunned for a moment, then his heart leaped with joy!
Brother Tong finally made a move.
For several months, apart from the daily AFK leveling up, the system has hardly made any noise. Now that I've broken through to the Meridian Opening Realm, it has finally regained its functionality!
The debt of gratitude owed to the Chief Justice is never enough!
There are ten slots for equipment and six empty slots, enough for him to stuff in six more martial arts techniques.
There are only 18 days left until I reach the passing grade for the Holy Spirit Sword Technique, at which point I can unlock a new technique.
Why did the passing grade change from three levels to six? The Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill unlocks a new technique at level three, and the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms also unlocks at level three.
The passing grade for the Holy Spirit Sword Technique is six levels?
Has the passing score for all divine skills doubled, or is the passing score different for each divine skill?
He tugged at his beard a couple of times, and when he got to the third hair, he decided to give up.
The system never explains anything, so asking is pointless.
"...And then? Did Li Bai meet Xi Shi?"
Hua Xi got up from the mattress at some point, lay on Xu Xian's knees, and looked up at him.
Xu Xian regained his composure and continued speaking...
...
With the Confucian Book Club approaching, the number of people in Kyoto is increasing day by day.
Students from academies across the states, literati who came to admire the place, merchants who took the opportunity to do business, and pickpockets and swindlers who took advantage of the chaos—you could throw a brick anywhere on Zhuque Street and hit three scholars and two thieves.
Xu Xian had to take Zhang Hu and Zhao Bao out every day to patrol the streets and maintain order. In half a month, they arrested several troublemakers who took advantage of the chaos.
Two con artists who dine and dash at a restaurant while posing as students of an academy, a fake Taoist priest who sets up a fortune-telling stall at the entrance of the City God Temple, and three habitual thieves who team up to pickpocket at the night market.
These people all share the characteristic of being stubborn, but they all go soft as soon as they hear they're going to be locked up in the inner sanctuary dungeon.
...
That evening, Xu Xian and Zhang Hu were patrolling the night market.
The streets were lined with stalls of all kinds, selling roasted chestnuts, noodles with soybean paste, and wontons, with steam rising and aromas filling the air.
Hua Xi squatted in front of the candied hawthorn stall, standing on tiptoe and waiting for the master craftsman to make it for her. The tortoise perched on her shoulder, its big, beady eyes fixed on the bubbling syrup in the sugar pot, drool dripping from its mouth onto its claws.
Xu first told Zhang Hu to go ahead and check things out, while he leaned against a nearby pillar and waited for Hua Xi.
His gaze swept across the crowd and suddenly he spotted a bald man, his face gleaming under the lantern light. He limped, but his demeanor was as leisurely as if he were strolling through his own backyard.
The sleeve of his left hand was bulging, clearly indicating that he had just smuggled something.
He leaned against the pillar without moving, watching the man sway past the wonton stall and casually grab a sesame seed cake from it.
The bald, crippled man also saw him, grinned, and came over.
"Xu Xiao... oh, he's now Commander Xu! Commander Xu is truly a heroic young man, he even managed to defeat the Crown Prince!"
"I thought you were a ruthless person when I was in Qingzhou, but I didn't expect you to be this ruthless... The Crown Prince, that's the heir apparent, and you just investigate and do whatever you want."