nashuaworldcup Chapter 167 The Woman's Background
Chapter 167 The Woman's Background
The woman and her mother were originally from Zhejiang. Her father's surname was Lin, and he held the official position of Sima. Naturally, she was also a wealthy heiress. In terms of family background, Gu's mother had not misjudged her.
Three years ago, the Lin family was framed by their enemies and their property was confiscated. She tried her best but could only escape with her mother on her back. She lived in hiding and wandering for three years.
The hatred of wiping out one's entire family is irreconcilable. Lin had previously studied martial arts and had also sought out extraordinary people and learned some basic skills from them during these three years. As a result, she was able to identify monsters and even injure them.
But based on these alone, Lin was unsure if she could successfully take revenge. Nowadays, all sorts of evil and heretical forces are rampant, and she didn't know if her enemies might also be colluding with these people.
Fearing that failure would implicate her mother, she hadn't actually taken any action in the past three years. Instead, she quietly practiced the martial arts she had only learned halfway through her career and dutifully cared for her mother, planning to avenge her mother's death after she passed away.
At that time, Lin Shizi will be all alone. If she succeeds in avenging her family, she can give them an explanation. Even if she fails, she will simply go to the underworld to reunite with her parents, without affecting anyone else.
Having met the real fox spirit today, she doesn't ask Feng San Niang to truly take her as a disciple and impart immortal techniques. She only hopes that the other party can give her some guidance based on her current level, which will also help her take revenge in the future.
A poor mother and daughter from out of town actually harbored a deep-seated blood feud, something no one could have guessed.
"It is already remarkable that you have been able to cultivate to this level through your own exploration."
Although she was attacked with a dagger upon her appearance, Feng San Niang was not angry. As long as her secrets were not exposed, she always had a good temper. Although Lin Shi was skilled in martial arts and more powerful than ordinary people, in Feng San Niang's eyes, she was still a "weak woman".
Moreover, the attack was initiated by the white fox using her appearance to harass her. Feng San Niang greatly admired Lin Shi's vigilance and decisiveness.
"You wounded that beast with a knife, and a mark was made in front of your house. He will definitely come back tonight. I have already added magic to the dagger. Tonight, let's catch this beast with the severed tail, and I will become your master. Madam Lin, are you willing?"
The reason the white fox was avoiding Feng San Niang was simply because he couldn't defeat her. Running away like this wasn't a solution. Lin Shi had made an enemy of the white fox with a single blow. Demons treat fox spirits differently than mortals. He had been careless last night, and the white fox would definitely come back for revenge tonight.
Now, Lin is the bait, the white fox is the fish about to take the bait, and Feng San Niang is the one holding the fishing rod. This time, we must catch this beast and skin it alive.
"willing."
Since it was that white fox spirit who provoked them first, Lin was naturally willing to do so. She could not only deal with the monster that came looking for trouble, but also get guidance from the fox spirit. Who wouldn't want such a profitable deal?
As for the marriage proposal of Gu's mother today, Lin had not considered it at all. She was not married at this age only because her family was destroyed when she was discussing marriage. She was burdened with hatred and had no intention of thinking about marriage.
Lin's mother was willing to agree to the marriage proposal from the neighboring family. As a daughter, Lin could understand some of her mother's thoughts. Her mother was getting old, and she was afraid that the other party would be in a state of constant fear, which would be bad for their health. She never said that she wanted revenge. In Lin's mother's eyes, they were really living a low-key life and cutting themselves off from the past.
What Lin's mother feared was that after her death, her daughter would be completely without support. How difficult it would be for a woman to live alone. Although the Gu family was poor, Gu Sheng was at least a learned scholar and had some investment value.
Marrying her daughter off would not only give her a place to settle down, but if Gu Sheng really succeeded in the future, Lin Shi would also have a chance to return to her former life.
Little did she know that her daughter had been planning her revenge all along, without considering her future. If the revenge succeeded, all would be well; if not, she would face death gracefully. Marrying someone would be a burden.
"Alright, that beast will probably arrive around moonrise tonight. Be prepared."
Feng San Niang didn't understand why the target was changed midway, but this change actually made it easier for her to pursue the demon. The scholar surnamed Gu across the street was just an ordinary mortal, powerless against a demon, while Lin Shi possessed martial arts skills and could cooperate with Feng San Niang to capture him.
Fortunately, the other party changed their target. If White Fox had attacked Gu Sheng last night, the Gu family probably wouldn't have had the time to visit their neighbors across the street today, given that White Fox wouldn't have been able to resist much.
So, in a roundabout way, Lin actually saved Gu Sheng's life.
"So, the person in the painting is just a Taoist priest, not an immortal?"
Gu Sheng's approach was sudden in every way, but he usually made a living by taking on small orders for calligraphy and painting, and he was very familiar with the art supplies in the area. Meng Danqing wanted to buy the materials she wanted, so she needed such a "guide".
One side was curious whether the figures in these recently popular paintings actually existed, while the other needed a guide familiar with the area—this was perfect.
Meng Danqing thought there was nothing special about the person in the painting. Everyone had been here for so long that all sorts of outrageous rumors had already spread. Moreover, as far as these copied paintings were concerned, Meng Danqing felt that even if Juan Shoutian stood in front of him, he might not be able to associate it with him. The person in the painting was completely different from the real person.
"But that hair color... could it be that the Taoist priest has Western ancestry?"
Gu Sheng's main concern was the color issue. In terms of painting style, he was considered to be a relatively conservative school. There had been paintings of figures with unusual hair colors before, but they were basically the same few gods. Their images that have been passed down are the same, and no matter how they are painted, they all have the same few characteristics.
But if the painting doesn't depict a deity, then what's with the hair color? And that gold outfit—that's not something an ordinary person would wear.
"The cultivation methods practiced by innate people will gradually affect their appearance. Whatever their attribute leans towards, their hair color, eyes, and appearance will change little by little with their cultivation level. To put it simply, it is to cover their original appearance with a Dharma form."
Juan Shoutian does indeed have alien blood, but he has no connection with Westerners. Many innate people have normal black hair when they are young, but due to the influence of their cultivation techniques, their hair turns into various colors after a few hundred years.
However, the reason these paintings became popular was because of their unique colors, which suddenly made them a hit. Whether this is a blessing or a curse is hard to say.
The name of the Asura King who has been slain by countless eons is widely publicized, which is also related to his eerie red appearance. When little demons identify innate beings, they look at their color. This is indeed a way to make them recognizable. But not all innate beings are multicolored. Demons are also good at transformation. Won't this be used to deceive people?
No, they've already used it to deceive the enemy. Liu Qingyuan played a crucial role in dispelling the stereotypes about the colors on the bodies of innate beings held by illegal transmigrators. White-clad individuals were used for beatings, and red-clad individuals were used as spies, completely fooling everyone.
“I visited Nanjing once before. I didn’t expect that Nanjing would have these paintings in such a short time. Maybe I should go and see them.”
The last trip to Jinling was an accident, and I was in such a hurry to come back that I didn't even have time to say goodbye to the painter. Now that the illegal time travelers are gone, Jinling is holding a grand event for these paintings, so they can officially go to Jinling for a tour.
Meng Danqing really wanted to see what these original paintings, which had been copied countless times, actually looked like. He remembered that the painter Bai was quite skilled, and after actually seeing the real Juan Shoutian, he wouldn't have painted something that only resembled the colors.
Unless he painted this picture in real time while watching the sunrise with Juan Shou Tian, and was blinded by Juan Shou Tian and the sun while painting, resulting in the picture becoming blurred together.
Meng Danqing bought the paints and left. Gu Sheng watched from the side and saw that this person was spending money so easily. His eyelids twitched involuntarily. This was indeed a rich young man, the kind who was extremely wealthy.
“Young Master Gu, although I have been away from the Taoist sect for a long time, I have not forgotten some basic Taoist techniques.”
As they parted, Meng Danqing thought for a moment and felt she should remind the other person of something.
"Recently, a white fox has been causing trouble in the city. If any stranger comes to your door, regardless of gender, please do not trust them."
Gu Sheng is a talented but poor scholar, who looks like the kind of scholar in a Liaozhai story who would encounter monsters. According to Feng San Niang, the white fox she was chasing was a habitual swindler who bewitched mortals. Gu Sheng looks very dangerous.
If you can offer a reminder, then do so; after all, the other person acted as his tour guide.
"I have heard about monsters these past few days, but my family is poor, so no one should come knocking... Where are they?"
In the blink of an eye, the boy from before had vanished. In that instant, Gu Sheng felt that the other party was just like a monster, appearing and disappearing without a trace.
The real reason is that Meng Danqing, as an "unregistered resident" in this world, cannot enter through the main gate of the town. Although the city gate does not check people's documents every day, even if a person born in the innate realm is dressed simply, their face is still much better looking than that of an ordinary person. At a glance, one will always find something eye-catching about them.
When the gatekeepers see someone who is clearly not a local passing by, they will more or less become suspicious. If they are stopped and asked to show their identification, they will not be able to produce a local "identity card".
Therefore, even if Meng Danqing only bought some writing materials on a whim, he couldn't openly enter through the main gate. But unexpectedly, he ran into Feng Sanniang.
"...Are you Meng Danqing?"
Feng San Niang recognized the face opposite her, so she took a closer look. She recognized the face; it was Meng Danqing, the non-pen inspector. However, his clothes, hairstyle, and hair color had all changed, and she almost didn't recognize him.
Aside from the color, the most obvious change is probably that one is women's clothing and the other is men's clothing.
"So it's Miss Feng."
Feng San Niang hadn't changed at all. As the other party chased the troublesome white fox into the city, with the white fox in front, Meng Danqing thought she would change her appearance to avoid misunderstandings.
"This is what I used to wear when I was still in Daozhen. I thought it would be less conspicuous and easier to move around in."
Yue Wuque, Shu Longqinxin, and Meng Danqing—two with blonde hair and one with white hair—are all incredibly eye-catching in a crowd. So, it would be troublesome if Meng Danqing, dressed as Danxiazi and traveling alone to buy some art supplies, were to attract too much attention.
There are many spells that can change one's appearance. Cultivators have illusions, and demons can transform directly. It's not too surprising that Meng Danqing's appearance has been changed, but the two styles are too different, and Feng San Niang is afraid that she might mistake one for the other.
"Has Miss Feng found the white fox?"
"Found her, and not only that, I also met a lovely girl."
Thinking of Lin, Feng San Niang smiled. Perhaps it was due to her past experiences, but Lin's personality was indeed quite suitable for the path of cultivation. Taking such a disciple was not a loss.
Although she is now in love, it doesn't mean she can't take on another beautiful apprentice. Others aside, at least she'll be pleasing to the eye.
"We'll catch that beast tonight. Just wait for news."
I almost forgot, the person in front of me is also a beauty, as are her companions. They're really something. Some of their kind can't even transform into human form like this; they just look like this directly.
"Then Danqing wishes Miss Feng success tonight."
"It's natural."
……
"You mean this is the Heaven of Exhaustion?"
Looking at the paintings Meng Danqing brought back, Yue Wuque found the painting skills lacking, but in order to explain what he had seen in the city, he still bought a few paintings.
"If the gold color were a few shades lighter, the painting wouldn't depict the 'Juan Shou Tian,' but rather his favorite flatbread."
Yue Wuque gave a sharp critique of the paintings before him: none of these paintings were ugly, but the copyists had never seen the real artists, and their techniques could not compare to the original artists. As a result, not only did they incorporate their own painting habits into their copying, but because they had no real-life references, their paintings became increasingly abstract.
These works may only be good in terms of color, but what's the use of that? The original painting should depict a scene of a waning sky watching the sunrise, a scene that must have been a classic for him. However, all that is memorable about the whole picture is the glaring gold color. It has no charm at all, and even the shape has been distorted.
It's like asking someone who has never seen a lion to draw one. Without any references, relying solely on fragmented descriptions, the result is just a hodgepodge.
"If you let Juan Shoutian identify it, he'll probably only realize that the drawing is of himself when he's back to a state of sensory confusion."
"They all seem to be perspectives from a distance."
Shu Longqin picked up another painting, this one depicted a red figure, its features even more blurred than in Juan Shoutian's painting; he couldn't even recognize who it was.
Given the White Lotus Sect's previous arrogance, he guessed it was Shou Wanjie, since the person was already gone and even if he guessed wrong, they couldn't touch him.
"There's no description of their face, does that mean you've never seen them before?"
"The painting studio has several paintings that depict the subject's face directly, but..."
Meng Danqing hesitated for a moment and then reorganized her thoughts.
"The style of those paintings has been basically localized, so they are not very useful for reference."
With that kind of art style, it was really impossible to recognize who was who, so Meng Danqing didn't buy any, but took a few representative ones.
"According to the townspeople, these figure paintings originated in Nanjing, and the original artist may be the painter I met in Nanjing."
"He certainly has a lot of leisure and refined tastes."
Yue Wuque put the painting down. The information that could be deduced from these paintings was twofold: first, the painter used a large amount of paint to match the bright colors on the innate human body; second, the fact that these paintings could be popular here indicated that paintings of this style were probably everywhere in Jinling.
With such a foundation, the original artist must be someone with money and time, definitely not someone who makes money solely by selling paintings.
"In that case, let's go to Jinling next."