When Sun Mo arrived at the cabin, he had heard the entire story. He also met the maid after that.
“Greetings to Teacher Sun!”
The little maid greeted. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying and resembled large walnuts.
“Teacher, the painting is here!”
Lu Zhiruo pulled Sun Mo before the table.
Actually, Sun Mo really wanted to say that if the target was an ordinary painting, he could still do something about it. But famous paintings weren’t things that could be drawn just because one felt like drawing them. However, when he saw the papaya girl’s gaze that was filled with worship toward him. Sun Mo truly couldn’t bring himself to say the word ‘impossible’.
“This is a landscape painting, Wu Yezi is the name of the artist!”
Li Ziqi introduced. “Wu Yezi is someone from Linchuan. He has been learning how to paint ever since he was young. It’s said that when he was 19, he didn’t rest or sleep and spent a total of seven days under the snow to draw the Jiangdong Snow, becoming famous after a single painting!”
“He’s even a famous person?”
Sun Mo frowned. This wasn’t easy to solve, as there would be many people who knew about the paintings of such famous people. If he tried to copy it, any tiny mistakes would easily be spotted.
“Wu Yezi’s famous paintings are very expensive. Hence, I estimated that this painting must be something he drew recently and the number of people who knew about it would surely be very little. This is why the owner, the Jinling Governor, wanted to display and show it off in the Deer Tail Banquet.”
Li Ziqi guessed.
“Are there no other solutions that can save her?”
Sun Mo admired the painting.
This was a Riches and Honor, Solitary Life Painting and belonged to the category of a landscape painting.
Mountains could be seen in the distance, and thousand-foot waterfalls were cascading down, flowing through a field. In this tranquil utopia, a simple hut could also be seen.
It was covered in green moss, exuding an idyllic aura!
There were no humans in the painting, but one could see a pair of footwear placed before the doors.
“Not bad, there are a few parts that are quite impressive!”
Sun Mo’s lips twitched. Right now, he was also an artist after all. Hence, after taking a few glances, he understood the meaning of the painting.
This was the painting of a high official in retirement, living in a tranquil paradise separated from the world. He lived in a grass hut and lived a bucolic lifestyle.
Why did he say it was a high official?
Because the style of the footwear could only be afforded by wealthy people.
Using the words of the modern era, it would mean that the person in the painting was either a rich and powerful person with the net worth of over one billion dollars or some other major characters. That person then retired and ran to Mt. Zhongnan to build a grass hut there, living alone to pursue a free disposition of mind.
“What a troublesome painting!”
Sun Mo’s lips twitched.
“Teacher, can you replicate it?”
The papaya girl asked.
The little maid was sobbing as she looked at Sun Mo with a hint of final hope in her eyes.
“I can copy it, but I can’t replicate its effect.”
Sun Mo knew his own standard very well. Currently, he possessed the knowledge on two branches of Traditional Painting. The first branch was Character Painting; he had grandmaster-level expertise in it. The second one was Landscape Painting; his expertise was merely at the elementary level.
Naturally, Sun Mo still had time emblems and could use them to level up his proficiency, but he didn’t harbor any hope regarding this.
“Teacher, don’t be too humble. Her life is in your hands now!’
Lu Zhiruo waved her little fist. She was even more confident than Sun Mo.
“Teacher, I’ve already prepared the brush, paper, and ink!”
Li Ziqi didn’t feel that Sun Mo would succeed, but as for the preparations that must be made, she had already completed them.
“System, use three time emblems to improve my expertise in the landscape painting technique!”
Sun Mo instructed. Honestly speaking, he felt a little heartache. But after seeing the incomparably miserable and helpless look on the little maid’s face, he decided to go all out even if he had to use ten time emblems.
Ding!
“Congratulations, the proficiency level of your Traditional Painting, the landscape painting branch, is improved to the grandmaster-level!’
The system congratulated Sun Mo.
Sun Mo took up the brush and paused a little to settle his emotions. After that, he began to draw. The grandmaster-grade painting technique allowed Sun Mo’s drawing to be imbued with divine aid. He was able to casually draw out what he envisioned in his mind onto the paper.
“Teacher is so awesome!’
Lu Zhiruo was agitated, the Riches and Honor, Solitary Life Painting was about to be completed.
Even the little maid was so nervous that she had no way to breathe. She was focused on that piece of paper.
“Teacher’s drawing techniques are truly very impressive!”
Seeing Sun Mo’s copying skills being so flawless, Li Ziqi also felt anticipation. However, after the drawing was completed half-way, her heart sank gradually.
As expected, when two-thirds of the painting was completed, Sun Mo tossed his writing brush aside in vexation and crushed the paper.
“Ah?”
Lu Zhiruo didn’t understand. “Why are you crushing the paper? I think the painting was pretty good!”
“The level of that drawing hasn’t reached the Wondrous Blossom Realm.”
Li Ziqi explained.
If the painter didn’t achieve that mental state, even if the copy was exactly the same, it was useless. In this era, the only color available was black. If one wanted the painting to be vibrantly colored, they could only do so if they managed to get into the ‘Wondrous Blossom’ Realm.
Next, Sun Mo drew two more paintings but gave up halfway for both of them.
Li Ziqi glanced at the sky and her expression became heavy. Although her teacher’s drawing was very quick, it was getting late and the banquet was about to start. The amount of time he had left was not much.
“Teacher, why are you unsatisfied with these paintings?”
The papaya girl asked.
“They are drawn quite well and the concept within is still okay. But it’s still a few shades off being perfect.”
It wasn’t that Sun Mo was looking down on Wu Yezi’s painting, but rather, he could feel that their way of thinking didn’t really match.
“In that case, just draw it according to the sense of perfection in Teacher’s heart!”
Lu Zhiruo spoke in a manner of ‘as it should be by right’.
“What are you blindly talking about?”
Ying Baiwu was speechless. “Teacher is trying to copy this painting, how can he draw according to his own ideas?”
The iron-headed girl actually resented the papaya girl a little bit. Why was she finding trouble for their teacher? This was especially so given the fact that it was almost impossible to copy the painting exactly.
“Why not?”
The papaya girl blinked her eyes.
Ying Baiwu turned her head away. She was so angry that she didn’t wish to speak to a fool like Lu Zhiruo. Even if she didn’t understand painting, she also knew that trying to ‘copy’ a famous painting naturally meant following the concept of the original painter. If not, it wouldn’t be called ‘copy’.
“Zhiruo, copy means…”
Just when Li Ziqi wanted to speak to Lu Zhiruo about some common sense, Sun Mo’s eyes suddenly brightened because of Lu Zhiruo’s words.
(That’s right, why do I have to rigidly adhere to Wu Yezi’s concept?)
(Isn’t this painting simply representing a major character leading an idyllic lifestyle in retirement?)
After thinking of this, Sun Mo started to dip the writing brush in ink again.
Discarding Wu Yezi’s concept while drawing according to his own idea, yet not changing the entire scene—this also meant that Sun Mo was drawing the same thing, but the core that he wanted to present had now changed to his.
‘Any mountain can be famous with the presence of an immortal!’.
Back then, Sun Mo had had to entertain some people after work. He hadn’t wanted to go, but he had no choice. He couldn’t live a lifestyle of his choice back then.
‘Any river can be holy with the presence of a dragon!’
Actually, what Sun Mo was pursuing was very simple. He wanted to do something he liked. It was enough as long as he could earn enough to sustain him and his family.
Why did he have to force himself to drift with the waves and go with the flow? To live a dog-like life?
Bzz!
Sun Mo’s writing brush shone with a layer of light. Every time it brushed past the paper, the ink started to glow as well.
Motes of light drifted over and gathered on the paper, allowing this ‘Riches and Honor, Solitary Life Painting’ to be instantly filled with color.
The little maid, who was originally in despair, directly bit her right hand when she saw this. It was very painful, but she bit her hand even harder.
Because she felt that this was a dream. If she hadn’t awoken, it meant that she was not biting hard enough.
“It succeeded! It succeeded!”
Lu Zhiruo grabbed Li Ziqi’s arm and shook it fiercely. She was so agitated that perspiration could be seen on her face. “I’ve always known that Teacher is omnipotent!”
Dong!
Favorable impression points from Lu Zhiruo +500. Reverence (24,150/100,000).
“Is this something achievable by humans?”
Li Ziqi was in a daze.
Compared to the naive papaya girl, Li Ziqi knew how difficult it was for Sun Mo to do this.
The little sunny egg believed that her teacher could do it if it was just drawing a famous painting alone. But this was trying to copy another one!
Ying Baiwu didn’t know what expression she should make.
Sun Mo held the writing brush with his right hand, while his left hand held up his sleeve to prevent it from brushing against the paper.
Although his house back home was simple, it was heart-warming!
Every time after he had done overtime, Sun Mo just wanted to quietly stay in his cozy nest, drink some iced cola, and play some games. He didn’t want any nagging from his parents or requests from a girlfriend.
Eh!
(What am I thinking about?)
(Quickly wake up, I’m just a single-dog, how would I have a girlfriend?)
Sun Mo entered a state of self-forgottence, venting all the emotions in his heart out.
(Why do we have to adhere to the customary convention?)
(Why can’t we live freely with no restraints?)
(I really want a cozy space. It can be small, but when I’m in it, I’m the heavens and the earth and I’m in control of my own destiny!)
Swish~
The last stroke of the brush drew the tufts of young and tender grass that swayed with the wind. He stopped and took a few steps back, silently admiring the painting.
The coloring of the painting continued. Because this famous painting was created by Sun Mo’s Wondrous Blossom, some parts were different from the original.
“Wow, it’s completed!”
Lu Zhiruo happily leaped onto Sun Mo’s back. “Teacher is so awesome!”
“People would be able to tell the difference!”
Sun Mo shook his head.
“Teacher, you are worrying too much. The Jinling Governor would surely not think that someone would be able to copy a famous painting. As for the difference in details, he would assume that he must have remembered it wrongly.”
Li Ziqi had a self-mocking smile. If it was her, if she didn’t personally see it, she would also not have believed that this feat was possible. “Oh right, the name on the painting is Wu Yezi!”
Sun Mo filled the inscription portion up with Wu Yezi’s name.
“It’s done? It is really completed?”
“Yeah, it has succeeded. You don’t have to die anymore!’
Lu Zhiruo consoled.
Li Ziqi started to destroy the original painting and placed the new one into the box. Although there was a possibility they might be seen through, they had to try their best.
“I’ve done all I can!”
Sun Mo smiled and glanced at the maid. He consoled, “Although it might not be as precious as the drawing from Grandmaster Wu Yezi, it can be considered a famous painting too. There’s definitely no way to purchase it from the market.”
“Teacher, I feel that your painting is better than the one earlier!”
Lu Zhiruo wasn’t fawning. This was what she really felt.
“Yeah, in terms of concept, this painting by Teacher can form a resonance with me!”
Li Ziqi evaluated.
“Right, right, I feel it too!”
The little maid nodded hurriedly. Wu Yezi’s famous painting wouldn’t evoke any emotions if the viewer wasn’t a major character in court or a wealthy merchant. But Sun Mo’s painting was different. After all, he returned completely to his roots, drawing it from the perspective of an ordinary man.