Bang!
A large empty bowl heavily smashed onto the table before Sun Mo.
“Guest, do you take this place as an amusement park?”
The fat boss wearing a coarse garment glared at Sun Mo while holding a cleaver in his hand.
“What the hell do you mean?”
Sun Mo had a dumbstruck look on his face. (I merely want a bowl of meat to eat. There’s no problem, right?) “Boss, you might have misunderstood me. I will pay you according to how much the meat cost!”
To put it more elegantly, Sun Mo said that because he reminisced about the past. To put it vulgarly, he was trying to be funny. Actually, he didn’t really want to eat meat and just wanted to vent a little.
“For this shop of mine, although it is a little small, we don’t cheat people. We got famous due to our noodles, and when workers in the streets are tired from work, they will come in to enjoy a bowl of noodles, relishing in the food after a day of work. Yet, you are telling me you only want meat and not the noodles? If you are not here to tarnish my shop’s reputation, what are you here for?”
The boss held his cleaver that evidently was just used to cut meat. It was glistening with grease.
“You have misunderstood. I’m purely hungry and wish to eat meat. At most, I will pay you ten times the amount of money for the noodle, okay?”
Sun Mo was helpless. He took out a gold leaf and placed it on the table.
This was something Li Ziqi prepared for him. It was easy to bring it around and wasn’t heavy, yet it was valuable.
The eyes of a few customers at the side immediately brightened. They even stopped eating their star anise-flavored fava beans.
Upon seeing this scene, the constable placed his hand on the hilt of his blade, but soup stains could still be seen at the side of his mouth.
“Keep your gold leaf. You want meat? Go to the butcher shop next door. There’s fatty meat, there’s thin meat, minced meat, meat in buns, and so on!”
The boss’s tone was unkind.
During this era, doing business had an emphasis on honesty. If he dared to sell his beef noodles with no noodles, his reputation would take a hit sooner or later.
“Boss, might I ask if the boss of the butcher shop has the surname ‘Zheng’? Did he have a nickname called Zhen Guanxi*?”
Sun Mo clasped his hands.
“Who the hell is Zhen Guanxi or Zhen Dongxi? He’s just someone that sells pork and his surname is Zheng. Is such a ‘powerful’ nickname something a butcher can have?”
The shopkeeper was unhappy.
A few idlers at the side felt their eyes brightened. That nickname was so resounding, why didn’t they simply use it? They would definitely be able to become famous with such a nickname, right?
The constable frowned. Could that butcher be some villain who chose to hide his name and live in recluse? (Hmph, I’ve suspected that there’s a problem with him. As expected, I have to do a detailed investigation!)
“Still okay!”
Sun Mo heaved a sigh of relief as this incident wouldn’t degenerate into a brawl. However, he didn’t know the casual joke he made would actually help the constable solve a case of a missing young girl reported last year during the Lantern Festival.
“Boss, give me ten plates of beef, a salad mixed with bamboo shoots, and half a kilo of bamboo green.”
A slightly skinny middle-aged man sat in front of Sun Mo. “Bring another two bowls of noodles.”
The shopkeeper didn’t dare to be rash. Although the dressing of this middle-aged man was ordinary, he exuded an indescribable scholarly aura. With just a look, everyone could tell that he was a very able person.
“The money for the food is here!”
The middle-aged man pointed to the gold leaf on the table. “Also, this guy is a great teacher!”
The final sentence naturally referred to Sun Mo.
The shopkeeper’s heart pounded and he subconsciously glanced at Sun Mo. (Actually, this little gigolo-looking guy does have the style of a great teacher now that I think about it.)
“Two customers, wait a moment!”
The shopkeeper went to the kitchen and got busy.
Sun Mo suppressed the urge to activate Divine Sight to inspect this person’s data. He could tell that this middle-aged man wasn’t simple with just a glance.
“Let me introduce myself, this humble self is named Bai Wenzhang!”
The middle-aged man spoke and clasped his hands.
Upon hearing this name, if it wasn’t for the fact that Sun Mo did his utmost to suppress himself, he would have exploded in an outburst. He frowned intensely. Bai Wenzhang? Wasn’t this the name of the Dean from that manor Jiang Leng was from?”
“Jiang Leng was my student three years ago!”
Bai Wenzhang spoke bluntly.
“What can I do for you?”
Sun Mo’s gaze gradually turned unfriendly. With regard to this fellow who experimented on his student, Sun Mo felt no good will at all. Moreover, this fellow could casually discard his ‘failed experiments’.
Bai Wenzhang wasn’t bothered by Sun Mo’s hostility. He took out a palm-sized limestone board and placed it before Sun Mo.
“Please provide me with some guidance!”
Bai Wenzhang had always done things this way. He was too busy and was always short of time. Hence, he always went straight-to-the-point in his manner and speech. As for explaining his reasons to people?
There was no such thing!
Sun Mo looked at the limestone board. Honestly speaking, he didn’t want to care about this fellow, but just by taking a glance at that board, he immediately felt reluctant to shift his gaze away.
There was a very complicated spirit rune engraved on the limestone board. It looked ordinary, but it was like a world-level mathematical problem that contained a fatal attraction to all mathematicians.
The spirit rune on the limestone board possessed this power. Sun Mo believed that any spirit rune masters who saw it would thirst to unravel and solve its mysteries.
Bai Wenzhang nodded in satisfaction. Sun Mo passed the first test.
When an expert acted, one glance was sufficient to see if they knew their stuff or not.
If Sun Mo was clueless when he saw this spirit rune, this meant that his level of attainment in the study of spirit runes was merely so-so. If he was mesmerized and knew how to appreciate the beauty of it, this indicated that he was keenly interested in spirit runes.
As for his potential?
Bai Wenzhang wasn’t the sort of person who judged people by their talent. To him, he felt that interest was something more important than talent.
The shopkeeper brought the food over. But when he saw Sun Mo who was in deep thoughts, he suddenly felt humble in his heart and didn’t dare to head over to serve the dishes.
Because he felt that disturbing Sun Mo was an extremely huge sin.
“He must be trying to solve a difficult question!”
If earlier the shopkeeper still held a hint of doubt in his heart about Sun Mo being a great teacher, he completely believed it right now.
If one wasn’t a great teacher, how would one be so focused in contemplation?
Honestly speaking, people in contemplation would emit an aura that even they themselves didn’t realize. And at this moment, even those idlers in the shop had lowered their voices involuntarily.
“15 minutes have passed!”
Bai Wenzhang’s finger that was rapping on the greasy tabletop suddenly stopped. After that, he spoke, “This spirit runic lines are intersecting, but why don’t they interfere with the effects of each other?”
Everyone knew that the runic lines of a complete spirit rune would form a single path. Once the paths were intersected, this meant that the spirit runic lines would change, leading to a change in the spirit rune diagram. The effect of the diagram wouldn’t be able to be displayed then.
Sun Mo actually didn’t want to answer him. (Why should I give you an answer to your question?) But he remembered that this fellow was the Dean of the Dragonspirit Academy* and had a very high level of attainment in the field of spirit runes.
Naturally, the most important point was that this fellow was Jiang Leng’s ex-teacher. In Sun Mo’s heart, he felt a little unconvinced.
“Because of the spirit runes ink!”
Sun Mo answered.
Although the color of the limestone board was the same as the spirit rune, they weren’t drawn using the same ink. Hence, although they looked like they intersected, the runic lines weren’t actually connected.
Bai Wenzhang nodded and asked, “How many effects can this spirit rune produce?”
“I can see four types!”
Sun Mo felt a little depressed. He knew that he wasn’t able to see through it completely, but seeing four types was his standard.
When Bai Wenzhang heard this, his expressionless face revealed a look of shock for the first time.
Sun Mo could see four types within 15 minutes?
This aptitude was extraordinary!
Ding!
Favorable impression points from Bai Wenzhang +50. Neutral (60/100).
“Hehe, how stingy!”
Sun Mo silently mocked in his heart.
“Don’t look down on it just because it’s 50 points. Think about his identity. He is a great ancestor-level character in the spirit rune world!”
The system reminded Sun Mo.
“There are a total of 5.5 types of effect. The 0.5 is because this spirit rune is a fragmented one. It’s very normal that you can’t see it. This place is…”
Bai Wenzhang actually explained it. This was completely because Sun Mo was too outstanding, and he felt inspired to guide him a little due to the joy in his heart. After all, Bai Wenzhang was also a great teacher and had the hobby of educating people.
Otherwise, if he encountered a stupid fool, Bai Wenzhang wouldn’t speak. He wouldn’t even be bothered to glance at that person.
“It’s buoyancy!”
Sun Mo interjected and continued, “Oh, it means a type of energy that can cause people to be lifted from the earth’s surface!”
Bai Wenzhang was stunned and subconsciously glanced at Sun Mo. This was the most difficult part for him because in the great teacher world, such a concept didn’t exist!
(This Black Doggy Sun can see through it? He’s really somewhat impressive!)
Also, the term ‘buoyancy’ felt very vivid and full of images. He would be able to use this term too.
Hence, Bai Wenzhang pointed again. “This plac…”
“This is the effect of weight reduction. It can allow one’s body to become lighter.”
Sun Mo answered.
Bai Wenzhang glanced at Sun Mo and chortled. After that, his finger moved and pointed to the runic lines shaped like the word ‘串’. “This place…”
“Is to enhance speed.”
Sun Mo answered without the slightest hesitation.
Bai Wenzhang, other than being interested in spirit runes, had no other desires nor requests. In fact, it was very rare for him to be angry. But today, he really felt like grabbing the limestone board and smashing it onto Sun Mo’s head.
He wanted to smash it so heavily that blood would flow.
(Can you stop answering so quickly?)
(I still want some face, okay?)
Bai Wenzhang suddenly discovered that being a teacher to a good student, no…being a teacher to an excellent student, was also extremely difficult.
“Continue!”
Seeing that Bai Wenzhang’s finger stopped moving, Sun Mo urged him.
“This place…”
Bai Wenzhang’s finger moved toward the lines shaped like ‘八’ and paused there. He discovered that Sun Mo’s expression grew heavy and didn’t give ‘八’ the answer like how he did earlier. Bai Wenzhang’s mouth curled up in a gratified smile as he explained, “This has the effect of wind resistance!”
“Wind resistance? I thought it was buoyancy as well.”
Sun Mo pondered.
When Bai Wenzhang heard this, he frowned and glanced toward the limestone board again. Indeed, the division method of wind resistance and buoyancy looked similar. But just by looking at their effects, resisting the wind and buoyancy were actually the same – for the sake of making someone float up from the earth.
(Wait a minute, doesn’t this mean that Sun Mo actually managed to see through this spirit rune’s effect? It’s just that he mistook it as buoyancy?)
Bai Wenzhang suddenly felt a toothache. How infuriating! None of his subordinates was as skilled as Sun Mo. They weren’t able to dissect the rune to such an extent within 15 minutes.
“Luckily, I have an excellent personal student, or I truly would be angered to death by those fools.”
Bai Wenzhang smiled and asked the third question, “What do you think about this spirit rune diagram?”
“I wish to correct you. This isn’t a spirit rune, it’s four spirit runes. Oh, according to your division, it should be a fusion of five spirit runes!”
Sun Mo heard the system notification ringing after he spoke.
Ding!
Favorable impression points from Bai Wenzhang +200. Friendly (260/1,000).
Bai Wenzhang looked at Sun Mo with shock in his eyes. His purpose in asking this question was to test if Sun Mo could tell that it was five spirit runes combined into one. He didn’t expect Sun Mo to directly see through it.
“I…isn’t this talent a little too strong?”
The shopkeeper carried the dishes and watched the food turn cold as he felt a headache. (Should I go over or not?)
If he didn’t go over and delayed the great teachers from having their meals, this was basically a sin. But if he went over…Please, the two great teachers were in the depth of a discussion now. If he disturbed them, wouldn’t he be condemned to death?
“The famous Dean Bai who has a deadman face would actually reveal his shock so openly? If I say this out loud, Sir Starlord will definitely not believe me!”
Yao Guang squatted not far away and ate her sugar-coated haw as she watched Sun Mo with interest. One couldn’t help but say that Sun Mo was truly very handsome!
[1] Zhen Guanxi was a butcher in the novel ‘Water Margin’.
[2] Author referred to that place as the Dragonspirit Manor in past chapters.