When Shen Ying heard Shen Yu say that in this painted world, one could obtain anything one wanted, she immediately closed her eyes without a second thought. Pressing her palms together, she began murmuring under her breath, looking even more devout than when burning incense to her ancestors.
A moment later, she opened her eyes. As if guided by some unseen feeling, she reached out with her right hand and grasped a long spear that had appeared from thin air.
Dragon patterns coiled around the shaft. The moment she took hold of it, a searing heat flowed from her palm through every inch of her body.
“What a weapon!” she exclaimed, unable to contain her admiration. She casually flourished the spear, and the sound of it slicing through the air was exceptionally sharp.
Standing beside her, Lu Sui was buffeted by the force of the spear until his robes snapped in the wind. He could not help taking half a step back.
Shen Ying paid no attention to anyone else. She hugged the silver spear and examined it from every angle, growing more and more enamored with it.
“To be able to touch such a peerless weapon in this lifetime, I could die without regrets!”
She had once visited the Northern Garrison Army’s camp.
The old spears that merely took up space to the soldiers of the Northern Garrison Army were the very weapons she had dreamed of possessing.
No one knew how badly she wanted a spear like that, just as no one knew how much she wanted to join the Northern Garrison Army and become a great general like Feng Chunya, galloping across the battlefield.
This journey south was her only chance!
“It seems Fuyan was telling the truth.”
As he spoke, Lu Sui also closed his eyes and began to concentrate.
A book slowly descended into his palm.
After a brief moment of surprise, he opened it.
The last time the Goddess had bestowed a blessing upon them in Ye City, he had received a book on law. However, they had been pressed for time, and he had not managed to memorize all the statutes in it.
After flipping through several pages, he carefully closed the book in his hands. He repeatedly brushed at its nonexistent dust with his sleeve, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement.
“This time, I must take this book back to Xindu City and turn it into the cornerstone of fairness and justice. Then, equality before the law will no longer be a mere fantasy!”
Fang Shuo watched as everyone else received exactly what they wanted—a spear, a book, and so on—while he had only obtained a river that he could not take away.
He glanced around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he secretly closed his eyes and concentrated as he made his wish.
When he opened them again, a plate of pastries had appeared in his hands.
The pastries were exquisitely made. Their cakes were as white as jade, topped with golden osmanthus honey, and their sweet fragrance filled the air.
Shen Ying had just finished enjoying her new weapon and was about to put the spear away when she spotted the pastries in Fang Shuo’s hands.
“Fang Shuo, where did you get those pastries?”
Fang Shuo had originally intended to hide and enjoy them all by himself, but Shen Ying had caught him red-handed. He could only share them with her, despite the pain it caused him.
But after learning a hard lesson last time, he had become much cleverer. Instead of handing her the entire plate, he took just one pastry from it and offered it to her.
“Miss Shen, would you like to try one?”
Shen Ying glanced at the pastry Fang Shuo offered, then casually took the entire plate from his other hand.
She smiled so brightly that the corners of her eyes curved upward.
“Thanks. Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”
With that, she carried the pastries over to Fan Miaozhen and ate them with her, helping herself to the plate she had snatched away.
“…”
Fang Shuo stood where he was, looking first at Shen Ying’s retreating back and then at the single pastry remaining in his hand.
He suddenly felt so miserable he could have cried.
“Not one of the Shens is a good person,” he muttered viciously before stuffing the pastry into his mouth.
Beside him, Shen Yu was busy copying a mural.
“?”
Could he use disrespecting one’s teacher as grounds to throw this man out of his school? His head was beginning to ache.
Forget it. This was someone the Divine Lady had entrusted to him.
He would endure it a little longer.
Fang Shuo noticed that Shen Yu’s expression was not very pleasant. Realizing belatedly that he had said the wrong thing, he hurriedly explained, “Mr. Shen, that’s not what I meant. I meant that apart from you, none of the other Shens are good people.”
Shen Yu: “…”
After a long moment, he said to Fang Shuo, “Stand farther away from me. You’re blocking my view of the mural.”
“Oh, oh, oh.” Fang Shuo obediently moved away and went to watch the soldiers of the Northern Garrison Army practice with the various weapons they had wished for.
Watching everything unfold through the mural’s surveillance feed, the Little Fox munched on sunflower seeds and asked Yun Shu, “Host, the skill of this Dunhuang Flying Apsaras set pulls people into the murals. As long as they make a sincere wish while facing the mural, it grants whatever they ask for. Aren’t you afraid they’ll wish for an aircraft carrier?”
“Lil’ Sys, Shen Yu and the others are all ancient people. They’ve never even seen an airplane, let alone an aircraft carrier.”
Yun Shu glanced at the mural’s surveillance feed. “The mural can indeed grant any wish, but there’s a prerequisite: they must have a clear concept of what they want. If they vaguely wish for something that can fly through the sky, they’ll most likely receive a kite or a wooden bird or something similar.”
“Looks like I was worrying for nothing.”
The Little Fox scratched its head. “Then how long are you planning to let Shen Yu and the others stay in the mural?”
“One year inside the painting is equivalent to one day in the real world.”
Yun Shu slowly stroked the Little Fox’s back, her fingertips gliding over its soft, fluffy fur, as delicate as freshly fallen snow in winter.
She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment before continuing, “Although everything they experience in the mural is real, none of the objects they obtain through their wishes can be brought back to reality. I need to give Lu Sui some time to fully absorb that book on law.”
“Three years should be enough.”
*
Time slipped away like sand through one’s fingers.
Shen Ying and the soldiers of the Northern Garrison Army devoted themselves to practicing martial arts in the mural for three years, and their combat prowess improved by leaps and bounds.
Lu Sui was no fool, either.
He memorized the book of law so thoroughly that he could recite it backward and forward. He had even filled in some of the gaps in its statutes. All he needed now was to leave the painted world, return to Xindu City, and put the law into practice.
On this day, Lu Sui stood on the deck and gazed at the unchanging scenery around them. He sighed.
“Fuyan, we’ve been in this painting for three years, yet we still haven’t found a way out. Sometimes I wonder if we failed the Divine Lady’s test and were forgotten here.”
Shen Yu sat upright before a low table. An exquisite chessboard lay before him, its black and white pieces clearly distinguished.
He lowered his eyes to the game and said calmly, “There’s no point in worrying. Since we’re here, we should make the best of it. Why don’t you play a game with me?”
At those words, Lu Sui turned and walked toward him.
“You certainly know how to sit tight.”
Shen Yu did not answer. He picked up a black stone and held it suspended over the board for a moment before gently placing it down. Only then did he raise his eyes to Lu Sui.
His tone remained as even as ever.
“Since we’re already here, we might as well settle down. The Divine Lady sent us into this painted world without giving us any instructions. Perhaps She simply wants us to do as we please.”
At first, he had been anxious as well. There were still countless things he needed to do—how could he afford to waste his time here?
It was only when he was copying a mural that he accidentally glimpsed its secret. Time flowed slowly in this painted world: one year spent here amounted to no more than a single day in the mortal realm.
After learning this, he was finally able to calm down.
“You make a fair point.”
Lu Sui sat down. Just as he picked up a chess piece, the ship—which had not moved for three years—suddenly began to move.
