Chapter 350: Are You Worthy?

Duming Prefecture’s capital was another large city in Ji Province. Ever since he had visited the land of Zuyue, Ji Yuan had always felt a sense of awe whenever he saw the stable and majestic cities of Dazhen.

In fact, from a personal perspective, Dazhen itself had a lot of problems, but no place in the world was perfect. Dazhen already stood out compared to the surrounding territories.

Walking the streets of Duming Prefecture’s capital, Ji Yuan wandered around the city like an ordinary tourist. Finally, he chose a suitable street corner, and when no one was paying attention, he pulled out a table and two round stools from his sleeve’s dimensional storage and sat down on the spot.

Unlike Lu Shan Jun, who was testing Lu Chengfeng halfway through his journey, Ji Yuan had his own plans.

There were two places in the entire martial arts world of Ji Province with the largest number of martial artists: Dingyuan Prefecture and Duming Prefecture. Although Desheng Prefecture had Luoxia Villa, it had a weaker overall martial arts foundation than these two places, particularly when compared to Duming Prefecture.

This martial arts tournament was no casual gathering, rather it was a grand event for the martial arts community of Ji Province. Even the master and third master of Luoxia Villa were attending, intending to help elevate their status in the martial arts community of Ji Province, instantly and significantly raising the tournament’s prestige. Many martial artists from surrounding major prefectures had also come to participate, making it quite a large event. Even the Duming Prefecture’s government had been alerted.

Ji Yuan suddenly set up a table in the corner, not to sunbathe, but to sell his skills to earn some money. He was also waiting for someone.

The table wasn’t be empty; Ji Yuan took out the Four Treasures of the Study—brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—one after another, placed the brush on the brush holder, and began to grind the ink himself.

The weather might have seemed gloomy at the moment, but it was still early in the day. Ji Yuan knew that the sun would soon pierce through the clouds, bringing clear skies.

As Ji Yuan slowly ground the ink, the sunlight gradually gained strength, the clouds overhead began to dissipate, and more pedestrians appeared.

This street corner was clearly a favorite spot for some small vendors. Before long, some vegetable vendors and other merchants had set up their stalls or laid out carpets, some people frequently glancing at Ji Yuan.

Surprisingly, the first rays of sunlight that broke through the clouds shone directly on Ji Yuan’s desk, giving that spot a unique glow.

However, only a few vendors in the surrounding area noticed this scene, and after a dozen or so breaths, more and more sunlight shone down, and the weather gradually cleared up.

“Sir, what are you planning to do?”

Finally, a local vendor selling dried goods asked curiously.

Ji Yuan looked at him; his skin was dark and his face was deeply lined, making him look older than he actually was, which was probably only in his thirties or forties.

“Nothing so different from what you do, except I am just selling calligraphy and writing.”

“Oh.”

The man nodded to show he understood. So he was just selling calligraphy. There were many poor scholars who would do this before and after the New Year. They were less common at this time of year, but not unheard of.

Ji Yuan looked at the growing crowds around him, thought for a moment, picked up a wolf-hair brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote a few words on two pieces of white paper.

Transcribing letters to family, selling calligraphy and fortune telling.

Two sheets of white Xuan paper were placed on the corner of the table. Although they didn’t look particularly eye-catching, the handwriting was as beautiful as ever.

After he had finished writing, Ji Yuan placed the second stool opposite him by the table, intending it as a place for customers to sit down.

Unfortunately, although Ji Yuan’s appearance was quite good, from the table setting to his clothing, he definitely didn’t look like a fortune teller. He didn’t even have a sign. Simply displaying two sheets of paper was clearly insufficient, so, although there were many people coming and going, very few actually sat down at his stall.

However, Ji Yuan wasn’t really doing business; he was mainly there for one person in particular. When three people passed by in the distance, Ji Yuan finally opened his eyes, which he had previously closed to rest.

Although the three had already passed by the table, the leader’s gaze had glanced at the white paper on the table, so Ji Yuan knew they would return.

Sure enough, the three of them stopped seven or eight steps ahead and then turned back.

They were all dressed quite elegantly. The one in the lead had a small hairpin crown inlaid with white jade. He was of large statue and slightly overweight. He led the two behind him to the table, smiled, examined the calligraphy, then looked at Ji Yuan.

“Your handwriting is good, but does someone like you know how to tell fortunes?”

The man who spoke was about forty or fifty years old. Although he looked pampered, he had calluses on his knuckles and a darker skin tone on the base of his thumb. With Ji Yuan’s martial arts skills, he naturally knew that this was the result of years of training with weapons. After all, a person like this would never wield a hoe.

Upon hearing the question, Ji Yuan looked at them and smiled.

“I know a little. Are you here to buy calligraphy or to have your fortune told?”

Ji Yuan deliberately used an illusion technique to conceal his true appearance, so his pale eyes did not reveal anything even with such close eye-contact, and his expressionless gaze remained unchanged.

The leading man frowned and sized up Ji Yuan.

“Sir, have we met before? Why do you look so familiar?”

‘Lan Ningke, of course we’ve met.’

With this thought in mind, Ji Yuan squinted and pretended to ponder, then shook his head.

“I don’t remember, but maybe we really have seen it before. Are you here to buy calligraphy or to purchase a reading?”

Ji Yuan asked again.

“Alright, I’m not here for a reading. Just write me a couple of nice words. I want a long scroll of large characters, I’ll dictate and you write it.”

Ji Yuan nodded, pulled over a roll of paper from the side, took a brush, dipped it in ink, and spoke when he was ready.

“Please speak.”

“Write: ‘A chivalrous spirit, a dragon among men.’”

Ji Yuan wrote the eight bold and powerful characters in one go, and signed them as ‘Mr. Yuan,’ instead of his usual ‘Mr. Ji.’

“Excellent, excellent! Sir, your calligraphy is beautiful. How much is it?”

Ji Yuan thought for a moment and said.

“Nine taels of silver.”

Upon hearing this, the people nearby immediately erupted in anger.

“Nine taels? You might as well rob us! You really think this is some kind of famous masterpiece?”

Ji Yuan shook his head and explained.

“That’s not how it works. Any famous masterpiece might not be as valuable as my calligraphy. Besides, if you buy my calligraphy, I’ll give you a few words of advice, which might help you escape a major calamity!”

The man who had asked for the calligraphy earlier sneered. This vendor was a complete unknown, and although his calligraphy was indeed good, nine taels was an outrageous price. Even hiring a famous calligrapher in Chunhui Prefecture would only cost a few dozen taels. As for the so-called major calamity, that was all utter nonsense.

“Let’s go.”

The man put away the scroll, uttered these words, and left.

“Hey, sir, this is top-quality Xuan paper; it costs a hundred coins to buy a foot of it.”

Ji Yuan stood up and called out. Of the three people in front, only one of them turned around and glanced at Ji Yuan with a rather fierce look. He took out two pieces of silver from his money pouch, threw them on the table, and then left with his companions without looking back.

“Fine, I’ve lost money…”

Ji Yuan sighed and sat back down in his seat.

The stall owner who had spoken to him earlier clicked his tongue twice.

“Sir, how dare you ask for such an exorbitant price from that fierce-looking fellow? Nine taels of silver is enough to feed our whole family for a year or two. Even these two pieces of silver on the table are probably worth two hundred coins. You’re making a profit just by writing a few words.”

Ji Yuan was both amused and exasperated. Such sarcastic remarks were clearly the kind of layman’s rhetoric that only saw the money being paid and not the cost behind it.

“Brother, this is three-layered sandalwood paper made from Jin Province cork, processed over dozens of steps. It is only sold at Xiangmo Pavilion in the capital. The cost of just one foot is no less than a hundred coins. And that was more than ten years ago. The one he took was a full three feet long, including the mounting. Even if I don’t count the cost of the calligraphy, I’m still losing money.”

This was something Ji Yuan had taken from the Chu family as payment alongside his degree for the favor of allowing him to stay there.

The man next to him was startled.

“A single sheet of paper costs so much? Oh dear, sir, you’re really losing money.”

“Absolutely!”

Ji Yuan said irritably, then began to tidy up the things on the table.

“Sir, are you leaving?”

The stall owner next to him asked in confusion.

“You’re leaving after just one sale?”

“I’m not staying. If I get a few more sales like this one, I’ll lose a lot of money.”

The man next to him couldn’t help but feel a little smug. He chuckled and tidied up his stall. Just as he was about to say something more, he looked up and found that Ji Yuan was gone.

Not only was the man gone, but the desk and the stool had also vanished.

The man stood up and looked around the street, but he couldn’t see anyone. Not only was Ji Yuan nowhere to be found, the three people who had left earlier had returned in a hurry. Seeing their aggressive manner, the stall owner quickly sat down and pretended that he hadn’t noticed anything.

The three men returned to the spot where Ji Yuan had been sitting at the table, but looked around and couldn’t find him anywhere.

“Uncle Lan, the calligrapher has disappeared!”

“Strange, he was just here a moment ago.”

The man in the lead frowned, glanced around, and looked at the farmers selling dried goods at the stall to the side.

“Hey, where’s that guy who was over here? When did he leave? Where did he go?”

“I… I didn’t notice. I was just about to chat with this gentleman for a bit, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone. It’s really… a bit eerie!”

The farmer replied truthfully.

The three looked around. The man in the middle even unfolded the scroll again to examine it closely. The original text on it had clearly changed.

‘It is but wishful thinking to say that you are a chivalrous spirit, a dragon among men; you are not worthy of such a title.’

The calligraphy itself was still good, but with the extra characters, the meaning had become unacceptable. No wonder the three of them ran back in such a huff.

The farmer was illiterate, but he could still tell that there were obviously too many characters. He should have made a profit from those words, but judging from the man’s angry expression, it probably wasn’t anything good.

The man searched around but couldn’t find the vendor in question, and eventually left in anger.

The farmers who were setting up their stalls, after realizing what had happened, found it all rather mysterious.