Beside Tingtao Pavilion, the meandering water encircles.

At the top seat, Cui Yunqi looked at Wei Song with disdain, but suddenly his gaze caught sight of Chen Xu. He hurriedly raised his cup with a smile, greeting Chen Xu from a distance.

At that moment, the noise among the seats unknowingly diminished.

All eyes were on Wei Song, and they saw smoke from his mouth blowing towards the inkstone.

Between the bright sun in the sky, the patterns of mountains and rivers on the inkstone seemed as if they were about to emerge from the smoke, transforming into a grand display of light and shadow.

Not far away, in a roadside shed, townsfolk stood on their tiptoes, peering and exclaiming, "What a huge shadow; is the mountain from the sky descending to the Mortal World?"

"Could it be that the secrets within this ancient inkstone are about to be unraveled by this person?"

"Oh heavens, could it be that an Immortal Mountain is truly appearing?"

Seeing that grand light and shadow about to truly descend into the Mortal World as the onlookers suggested, some by Tingtao Pavilion even began to fidget, contemplating leaving their seats—

After all, who knows what dangers might come if such a gigantic shadow falls?

Little did they expect, just as the mountain and river shadows rapidly expanded to twenty or thirty feet in circumference, there was suddenly a gentle "crack" sound.

Wow, the sky-bound shadow shattered like brittle glass, crumbling into clouds and mist.

A breeze blew, and the clouds and mist quickly vanished without a trace.

Everything was so serene, as if the light and shadow had never appeared.

After a moment of silence at the full venue, came an uncontrollable sigh.

"Alas…"

"Is that all? What's going on?"

"It was just a Blinding Technique, how unfortunate!"

Looking again at the inkstone in Wei Song's hand, it was clearly still in its original form; where was the slightest hint of anything extraordinary?

Sighs filled the venue, resounding in everyone's ears. Although no one was openly mocking at that moment, Wei Song felt as if he were skinned alive by countless sharp arrows.

His whole body was suddenly prickling with heat.

He even felt a metallic taste rising in his throat.

This was a sign of blood rushing upwards.

Wei Song could only bite his teeth tightly, not daring to reveal anything unusual about himself. For fear of being discovered, that would truly be a loss of face.

How could he hold his head high and walk among the aristocratic families of Yunjiang afterward?

At the top, Cui Yunqi retracted his gaze and gave a reserved smile.

He was certain that Wei Song could not succeed because he clearly knew that this inkstone was not of Shu Yun's possession.

It was clearly from Prefect Ding!

And where did Prefect Ding's inkstone come from?

Ha, it was a gift from the Cui Family—

Oh, no.

It should be said that it was a bet lost by his father Cui Heng to Prefect Ding.

As for how to solve the puzzle within the ancient inkstone, Cui Yunqi honestly didn't know.

But he knew very well how not to solve it.

Wei Song, just a clown desperate for attention, unaware that the Wei Family is doomed.

Cui Yunqi made no effort to hide his likes and dislikes; he has always been a person with clear loves and hates.

They saw the inkstone being placed back into the tray, flowing down with the winding stream.

This time, the one retrieving the inkstone wasn't a scholar or cultural figure, but instead, a huddled, gaunt middle-aged man.

This person wore a cocoon silk robe that had been washed to a pale color, with a conspicuously missing left ear.

His appearance was quite remarkable, so out of place among the gathered throng.

But perhaps because his presence was too understated, as he sat by the winding stream, no one had noticed anything peculiar about him earlier.

It wasn't until he fished out the inkstone from the stream that all eyes, filled with astonishment, fell on him.

"Hiss, who is this person?" Wang Xin murmured softly, "Why do I feel an ominous premonition?"

Zhou Zhuo also furrowed his brow, his expression slightly stern as he said, "When things are abnormal, there must be something odd, look…"

They saw the man lift up the inkstone, suddenly hoisting it high, then stood up and left his seat. With a thud, in full view, he straightened up and knelt down in front of everyone present.

Wow——

Not far away, the crowd of onlookers under the shed were all shocked.

Along the winding stream, those attending the literary gathering were also surprised or curious.

Behind Ding Qian, A Chang shouted angrily, "Who is this madman, could he be trying to disrupt the literary event?"

The man below raised the inkstone and suddenly burst into tears: "I am Liu Xi, Master of the Cuiqing Dye Workshop in Guangde County. I have a tremendous grievance with nowhere to voice it. I beg each of you talented gentlemen of Guangde to hear my plea.

Please save me! I truly have nowhere else to turn, boo hoo hoo..."

He cried so pitifully, yet his hands held the inkstone high, trembling unsteadily, his eyes wild and shattered, as if he was on the verge of collapse.

It seemed at any moment, he might drop the inkstone from his hand in disagreement.

Who was he threatening?

Though the inkstone was quite extraordinary, it might not necessarily shatter if dropped normally.

But who present would dare say "Go ahead and drop it" or something similar?

Everyone needed to first observe the host's reaction.

At the head of the table, Prefect Ding Qian remained unwavering, while A Chang was about to act out in anger when he heard Wei Song in a startled voice say, "Be careful, don't move recklessly!"

This statement had little effect, as soon as he spoke, Liu Xi became even more agitated.

He swayed and shrank back slightly, arching his back, but raising his neck high, he cried out hoarsely:

"I have no way out now. You are all notable people in Yunjiang Prefecture. If even you won't help me, I might as well just dash my head here, boo hoo hoo..."

Wei Song immediately sighed: "When did we say we wouldn't help you? You claim you have been wronged, so explain your grievance properly."

This made sense, and instantly, many people present nodded in agreement.

Prefect Ding Qian at the head of the table smiled slightly, tapping his fingers lightly on the wine cup before him.

A Chang retracted his impending action and bent over to pour Ding Qian another cup of wine.

Liu Xi raised the inkstone, trembling with emotion, and said: "Yes, yes, I must speak! I—I was the Master of the Cuiqing Dye Workshop in Guangde County. I was never wealthy, but had some family property and could make a living.

I had no children, so five years ago, out of kindness, I adopted a ten-year-old boy from refugees as my adopted son.

I named him Liu Ji, intending to pass on the family business to him. I treated him with open heart, with all my love and care.

Who would have thought that last autumn, I suddenly fell seriously ill, and he revealed his true nature.

At that time, he stayed by my bedside day and night, pretending to be a dutiful son, but I lay in bed, feeling my body grow heavier and my eyes slowly unable to open.

My illness grew increasingly severe, I couldn't speak or move, but I could hear!

I heard him conspiring with my wife, saying to keep me alive for another ten days, and after he fully inherited my dye workshop, he would declare me dead and bury me.

I couldn't believe it; my illness wasn't really an illness at all, but his poisoning!

The two people closest to me betrayed me like this.

And ten days later, I truly closed my eyes completely, losing consciousness.

I thought I was surely doomed, but who would have thought that inside the coffin, I slowly regained some clarity.

I was inside the coffin, hearing them perform a fake funeral for me, yet there was no response to my cries to heaven and earth.

In the end, they buried me alive, forcibly in the coffin!

Do you know, know the torment of being buried alive?"

Liu Xi shouted in agony, but no one at Tingtao Pavilion responded.

On the mountain path, the crowd of onlookers in the shed were all silent.

It wasn't that people didn't want to respond, but Liu Xi's story was too tragic for anyone to find words to say at that moment.

After Liu Xi's roar, tears poured down in streams.

He didn't notice that the inkstone he held high was now shimmering slightly under the sunlight.

Until a young man, engrossed in the story, couldn't help but step forward a few paces, urging loudly, "What happened afterward? You were buried alive; how did you come to Yunjiang Prefecture?

You managed to escape alive, so why didn't you report it to the local authorities?"

Liu Xi's body shuddered as if recalling something terrifying, his tone suddenly changed, speaking in a low, eerie voice:

"That's because after I came out of the coffin, I was no longer myself..."

He turned his face, the ancient inkstone in his hand catching the sunlight, as if smoke was pouring down.

It was at this moment that Chen Xu noticed that unexpectedly, a food entry appeared on his face!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.