EFB Chapter 60 "A Brief Introduction to Yi Shu"
Chapter 60 "A Brief Introduction to Yi Shu"
A few days later, the two met again at their usual spot in Tingyu Pavilion.
Inside the private room, Bai Cailing pushed a cloth bag in front of the other person.
"The Life Fire Diagram and the subsidies are all here."
She picked up her teacup and took a small sip:
"President Xiao is always efficient; everything was taken care of in less than three days."
Gu Shenyan opened the cloth bag, inside which was a roll of yellowed parchment and silver notes.
When the parchment was unfolded, it revealed a drawing of a winding, serpentine monster.
The monster was entirely blue-green, with fleshy horns on its head, and was lurking in the abyss, surrounded by layers of water ripples.
【Chi Snake - Diving into the Abyss】
[Life Fire Divine Power: Hidden Abyss - Allows the user to merge with water, becoming undetectable]
[Rank: Fierce]
[Note: This is the first of the three life-giving fires of the Chi Snake, laying the foundation for what follows]
Gu Shenyan carefully put away the Life Fire Diagram and counted the silver notes.
It was exactly twenty silver dollars, not a penny less.
"Thank you for your help, senior."
Bai Cailing nodded, but her gaze remained fixed on him:
"By the way, how's your talisman business going lately?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Shenyan's face showed a hint of bitterness.
"It was good at first."
He sat back down in his chair, carefully choosing his words:
"During those days, I buried myself in drawing, creating water-fixing talismans, water-avoiding talismans, and evil-repelling talismans... I drew one after another whatever I was good at."
"In the first week alone, we sold about ten copies, earning more than thirty silver dollars."
Bai Cailing raised an eyebrow slightly when she heard the number.
Thirty silver dollars is a considerable sum for an ordinary family.
"But what happened next?" she asked.
"later……"
Gu Shenyan shook his head:
"After thinking about it carefully, I realized something was wrong."
He held up his fingers and analyzed them one by one:
"Firstly, my customers are only in schools."
"Those young masters and ladies may come from wealthy families, but they have limited spare money."
"Most of their monthly allowance comes from their elders in the family."
"Buying one or two talismans to try out is fine, but if I were to buy them all, I'd probably have to spend my monthly salary, which is obviously impossible."
"Secondly, talismans are not like food, clothing, or daily necessities; once you buy them, you can keep them for a long time."
"Besides, the talismans I draw are all basic ones, with limited effects. For them, it's just for peace of mind."
"If we really encounter any danger, these talismans might not be effective."
He sighed as he finished speaking:
"So in the days that followed, I stopped trying to sell them intentionally."
"When someone comes to place an order, I draw a few pictures."
With no one paying attention, he focused on practicing other talismans.
"For the rest of the month, I've only made about 80 or 90 silver dollars in total."
Eighty or ninety silver dollars—this amount is neither too much nor too little.
In the past, he would have worked himself to the bone for those spoiled brats, earning only ten or twenty silver dollars a month.
The fact that one can earn such income simply by drawing talismans is now a world of difference.
But compared to those real talisman masters, what is this little bit of money?
Bai Cailing was somewhat surprised after hearing his analysis.
She was initially worried that this poor boy would become greedy for money and, seeing that talismans could make money, would dive headfirst into it, drawing only a few familiar talismans day and night.
If that's the case, they could certainly earn more money, but the foundation of the art of talismans would be undermined.
When the time comes for the apprenticeship assessment, I'm afraid I'll embarrass myself greatly.
She even prepared a whole bunch of things to say, intending to give them some good advice.
To everyone's surprise, the other person figured it out on their own.
"I was overthinking it."
Bai Cailing put down her teacup, a slight smile playing on her lips:
"It's already remarkable that you can think these things through."
"In the art of talismans, a solid foundation is of utmost importance."
"Those basic talismans can earn some money, but if you only focus on these small profits, your future path will be narrow."
Gu Shenyan nodded: "What you said is true, senior."
He thought for a moment, then said:
"There is one person who has been buying my talismans these days."
"Oh?" Bai Cailing's interest was piqued. "Who is it?"
"Sun Chengzhi, the third young master of the Sun family, is in the school."
Gu Shenyan said, "His family owns several large cargo ships and does business by waterway all year round."
"Therefore, the demand for water-fixing talismans and water-avoiding talismans is extremely high."
He accepts whatever I paint.
"According to him, the talismans I drew were several times better than those he originally bought through his channels, but the price was only 80% of that."
Bai Cailing nodded upon hearing this.
"That's a stable path."
She said, "The biggest fear for businesses operating by waterways is floods and evil spirits."
"If you can supply goods on a long-term basis, it can be considered a steady stream of income."
Gu Shenyan responded and then took out a thin booklet from his pocket.
The booklet's cover was yellowed and the corners were badly worn, clearly indicating that it was quite old.
"By the way, senior."
He pushed the booklet in front of Bai Cailing:
"A few days ago, Sun Chengzhi brought this book over, saying he wanted to exchange it for two talismans."
"I looked at it for a long time and felt that there seemed to be some trick to it, but I couldn't figure it out."
"So today I'd like to ask my senior to take a look."
Bai Cailing took the booklet and opened the title page.
The words "A Brief Explanation of the Book of Changes" were written on it in tiny, neat characters.
She frowned slightly and continued scrolling down.
The contents are obscure and difficult to understand, such as "Taiji generates Yin and Yang, Yin and Yang generate the Four Symbols, and the Four Symbols generate the Eight Trigrams";
What does "Qian is three continuous lines, Kun is six broken lines, Zhen is an upturned bowl, and Gen is an overturned bowl" mean?
There are also various hexagrams, hexagram texts, and changing hexagrams...
Bai Cailing's head ached more and more as she looked at the document.
I'm not good at this kind of thing to begin with, and now these things are like gibberish to me.
"Are you trying to make fun of me?"
She slammed the booklet shut and glared at the boy with annoyance.
Gu Shenyan quickly waved his hand:
"Senior, you've misunderstood. I genuinely didn't understand, that's why..."
"It's okay if you don't understand."
Bai Cailing pushed the booklet back:
"The art of divination is more difficult than all other auxiliary arts combined."
"Talismans, alchemy, weapon crafting... these are not easy, but there are ultimately ways to follow them."
Even someone who is naturally dull-witted can at least learn the basics through hard work.
"The divination results may differ."
Her expression turned serious:
"Divination is about the two words 'heavenly secrets'."
"To glimpse the secrets of heaven and deduce destiny—such abilities are not something ordinary people can attain."
Even those veterans who have been immersed in this field for decades dare not claim to be experts.
"You've only just begun your journey in the arts, and your foundation is still weak. If you spend too much time on this..."
She shook her head:
"I'm afraid we'll lose the big picture for the small gains."
Upon hearing this, Gu Shenyan silently put the booklet away.
"What you said is right, I've got it."
Bai Cailing's expression softened a bit when she saw that he had taken her words to heart.
"It's getting late."
She stood up and walked to the window:
"Take the Life Fire Diagram back and study it carefully."
"You will be formally becoming an apprentice in half a month, so don't let it interfere with your important business."
Gu Shenyan nodded, stood up and took his leave.
Before leaving, he "casually" stopped at the counter and paid for his tea and snacks for the day.
By the time Bai Cailing realized what was happening, the other person had already left the teahouse.
"This kid seems to have a natural talent for social skills..."
The girl stood by the window, watching his departing figure, and shook her head helplessly.