The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#240 - Xin word three hundred and thirty-seven

The duel between the only two first-rate experts under the age of twenty on the Celestial Pivot Rankings should have attracted much attention and the eyes of everyone. However, in the end, it didn't cause any ripples within the academy.

The two participants, Lu Jing and Yan Jun, as well as the onlooker, Wen Xiaochuan, didn't mention the fight to anyone afterward.

Therefore, this matter was like a stream flowing under the ice, rushing past, but ultimately silent.

However, Wen Xiaochuan did go to find Lu Jing afterward. She went early the next morning, but found that Lu Jing was in seclusion practicing his skills. So she went again two days later, but this time she was out of luck.

Lu Jing heard the sound of birds chirping outside the door early in the morning. He got up, pushed open the door, and saw a nightingale with blue feathers, a yellow belly, and slender legs standing on the peach tree in his yard.

After seeing him, the blue-feathered nightingale tilted its head and looked at him for a while, then spread its wings and flew down from the branch, landing in Lu Jing's outstretched palm.

Lu Jing untied the note tied to the nightingale's leg.

He unfolded it and glanced at the signature, discovering it was written by Yan Jun, before looking up to read it.

The note contained the clue Yan Jun had promised to tell him about how to obtain bamboo from Bamboo Trail.

Lu Jing and Xia Huai were punished for trespassing into Another Heaven, being fined one hundred bamboos from Bamboo Trail, two months of work in the academy's fields, and sorting five thousand books in the library.

Although Supervisor Huang didn't specify a time limit for completing these tasks, according to the usual practice of the academy, those punished would have to start the corresponding labor within a week from the date of punishment.

For example, Yang Tao, because he watched Lu Jing and Xia Huai enter Another Heaven without stopping them, was also fined twenty bamboos from Bamboo Trail.

Don't underestimate these twenty bamboos. Yang Tao had already started researching how to cut bamboo a month ago, but his progress wasn't very smooth. A month had passed, and he had only cut down two bamboos, and had already ruined hundreds of hatchets.

So he had also been busy looking for ways to deal with those bamboos during this time.

At the same time, according to Yang Tao, the academy actually had requirements for the time to complete the punishment, but it wasn't explicit, and would mostly be reflected in the year-end conduct evaluation.

If Supervisor Huang determined that there was any delay or negligence, then the conduct score would be lowered. In mild cases, there would be penalties in the coming year, and in severe cases, there was even the possibility of being expelled from the academy.

In short, once punished, it was best to complete it as soon as possible. Therefore, although Lu Jing was more concerned about the trouble in his dantian, he could no longer put the punishment aside and ignore it.

Fortunately, he had already been to the library once, and had already helped the goatee man sort out some books. Relying on his excellent eyesight, Lu Jing's progress in this work was not bad.

He roughly estimated the time. If he went twice a week in the future, and everything went smoothly, he would probably be able to sort out the five thousand books in about a month and a half.

Lu Jing didn't know what the situation was on the academy's fields for the time being, but because the time was fixed at two months, it was relatively easy to arrange. Therefore, the most uncertain thing left was cutting bamboo at Bamboo Trail.

In addition, Yang Tao still had eighteen bamboos to cut, so Lu Jing moved this matter to the top of his schedule.

The bamboos in Bamboo Trail were affected by strange objects, and were different from ordinary bamboos. Their bodies were extremely hard, even surpassing refined steel, so it was very difficult to cut them normally. Lu Jing himself had personally experienced this point.

Fortunately, Yan Jun now provided him with a method in the note.

"Xin Character Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven? What is that?" Yang Tao asked curiously.

At this time, it was still early, and Yang Tao was originally doing morning exercises in his yard. He didn't expect Lu Jing and Xia Huai to come to his door. As a result, after hearing Lu Jing's intention, Yang Tao immediately dropped the newly bought spear and became energetic.

"[Xin Character Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven], its name is Nie Tie. According to the 'Strange Object Records', Nie Tie's body resembles a bear, with black and white mottles, a small head, and paralyzed feet. It likes to eat gold, iron, and bamboo bones, and its dung can be used to cast weapons."

To be honest, Lu Jing's eyelids twitched when he first read this passage. Leaving aside the seemingly mysterious things in the back, just looking at the previous appearance description, it made him a little familiar.

For this reason, he also made a special trip to the library and borrowed the "Strange Object Records" from it, and found the page about [Xin Character Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven]. Sure enough, on the portrait on the right page, he found an animal that looked eighty percent similar to a panda.

Yan Jun said that when she was watching the stars at the Moon-Embracing Pavilion on the top of the mountain at night, she accidentally ran into Nie Tie, who wanted to eat her sword at the time, but Yan Jun flicked her finger to scare it away.

After coming back, she consulted the "Strange Object Records" and spent a lot of time to determine that what she encountered that night was Nie Tie.

Yang Tao and Xia Huai also surrounded Lu Jing's opened "Strange Object Records" Xin Character scroll, looking at the painting on it, but neither of them had seen the national treasure before, so now they were just marveling.

Although they felt that Nie Tie's appearance was very strange, but strange objects, it was normal to look strange.

Soon after, they turned the topic to how to use [Xin Character Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven] to complete the punishment.

Yang Tao said, "It's rare that this guy likes to eat bamboo, and he can also bite through gold and iron. It seems that we can try to use it to deal with the ghost bamboos in Bamboo Trail, but the key is how to catch it."

"Since Yan Jun encountered it at the Moon-Embracing Pavilion, we can also try to find it there," Xia Huai also suggested.

However, Yang Tao then shook his head and said, "My news is still well-informed. When the academy starts teaching, many people are wandering around. The Moon-Embracing Pavilion is on the top of the mountain, and it is also the highest point.

"Including me, many people have climbed up there, but apart from Yan Jun, I haven't heard anyone say that they have seen Nie Tie."

"If it's not just luck, then there should be other conditions," Xia Huai said, "Attract Nie Tie to the Moon-Embracing Pavilion. It's a pity that the words on the back of this page have been smeared with ink."

What Xia Huai said was that after the first half of the description of [Xin Character Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven] in the "Strange Object Records", there was actually the second half of the introduction, but it was covered by a large mass of ink.

The situation of [Xin Character Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven] was still good, at least there was still a description and a portrait, but the Shan Xiao that Lu Jing encountered before was simply deleted from the "Strange Object Records".