FVN Chapter 57: The Luan Returns
Chapter 57: The Luan Returns
Chapter 57: The Luan Returns
Morning.
Zheng Fa walked into the Seventh Young Master’s study, arms laden with papers covered in talisman diagrams.
Bathed in the early sunlight, the Seventh Young Master sat slouched at his desk, disheveled and drowsy. His hair was a mess, his face unwashed, and his head nodded as he fought off sleep. Compared to the refined and tidy image he’d presented when they first met, he now looked utterly unkempt.
Hearing Zheng Fa’s footsteps, the Young Master remained oblivious, sleeping so soundly that a thin strand of drool was threatening to drop onto an open talisman diagram on the desk.
Zheng Fa placed the stack of papers in front of him with a soft thud.
The sound startled the Young Master awake. He slowly raised his head, squinting at Zheng Fa and the new pile of diagrams.
“What’s this?” he mumbled groggily.
“Today’s task,” Zheng Fa replied with a warm, almost angelic smile.
The Young Master nervously stretched out a hand, pinching the edge of the stack to gauge its thickness. His eyes widened in horror. “Why does this pile look even bigger than yesterday’s?”
“You were just starting out a few days ago, so I eased you into it with smaller tasks,” Zheng Fa explained gently. “But now it’s time for the real training to begin.”
“Eased me into it?” The Young Master’s voice was filled with disbelief. “I’ve been sleeping two hours a day, drowning in talisman diagrams the moment I open my eyes, and you call that easing into it? I’m about to collapse!”
Zheng Fa shook his head. The Sea of Diagrams tactic was undoubtedly harsh, especially for someone like the Young Master, who had never experienced rigorous study. But with only two months to prepare, there was no choice.
The diagrams weren’t randomly selected.
While Zheng Fa had no intention of sharing Old Bai’s notebook—a lesson learned from the trouble caused by Linghe Body—he couldn’t ignore the need to impart some of its methods to the Young Master. To bridge the gap, he studied the techniques in the notebook himself, then curated diagrams with similar traits to reinforce those techniques through practice.
This approach mirrored the concept of targeted training in modern education. Though more labor-intensive for Zheng Fa, it was safer and helped deepen his understanding of the material.
“I’m done! Not doing this anymore!” The Young Master pushed his desk away and stood up.
Zheng Fa wasn’t surprised. The fact that the Young Master had lasted this long was already impressive.
“Really not studying anymore?” Zheng Fa asked calmly.
“Not a chance!” The Young Master shook his head vehemently.
“Alright.” Zheng Fa turned to Gao Yuan. “Bring me the box.”
“Got it!” Gao Yuan exclaimed eagerly, scampering off and returning with a long, rectangular box.
“Look outside, Young Master!” Gao Yuan pointed to the window.
“What’s out there?”
Both the Young Master and Zheng Fa turned to look.
A massive bird, as large as the courtyard, soared overhead. Its expansive wings blocked out the sunlight, casting the room into shadow.
The bird’s body was covered in shimmering blue-green feathers, with streaks of fiery red plumage along the edges of its wings and tail, creating the illusion of a streak of flame slicing through the sky.
“A Qingluan!” The Young Master leaped to his feet. “My sister’s back!”
He began waving his arms frantically at the sky. “Sister! Sister! Save me! Please save me!”
...
On the Qingluan’s back, two girls stood—one in red at the front and the other in blue behind her.
The girl in red craned her neck, looking down at the sprawling Zhao family estate. She pointed excitedly. “That’s my home!”
“There’s my courtyard—it even has a little fish pond! I fell into it once when I was little.”
“That small building over there is my mother’s. She loves listening to those old-fashioned operas. I used to hate visiting her there.”
“And that yard we just passed? That’s my brother’s. It looks like it’s been renovated with a little garden now.”
The girl in blue, wearing a simple Daoist robe, listened to her companion’s animated chatter and asked softly, “You’ve been away for ten years, yet you remember everything so clearly?”
The girl in red smiled sheepishly. “When I first went to Qingmu Sect, I dreamed about home every night. Eventually, I drew it all out so I wouldn’t forget. I’d look at those drawings whenever I missed it. Not much has changed in ten years.”
The blue-robed girl smiled at her warmly. “Just now, someone was waving at us from that courtyard and shouting ‘Sister.’ Was that your brother?”
“No way!” the girl in red replied firmly. “That looked like an unkempt, haggard scholar—not my brother.”
Seeing her companion’s puzzled expression, she explained, “You don’t know what my brother’s like. He’s vain and lazy.
“One time, I gave him a light beating—it wasn’t even serious. He could’ve healed in a day, but he spent three months in bed just to avoid going to school. My mother spoiled him terribly. He’s probably even worse now!”
“...People can change in ten years,” the blue-robed girl suggested.
“Maybe—if he were possessed by some ancient monster. But what ancient monster would be so blind as to pick my brother?”