215 The Thin Notebook that Tempts People

Liang Banhu and Qi Jian also realized very quickly, and began looking for itwith Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi. The grass hut was not big at all, so inthat brief amount of time, it had already been completely searched by them.Even the top of the kitchen and the water tank was not neglected. For a while,the dust danced around inside the whole hut. Tang Thirty-Six on the other hand did not show any reaction, and still thoughtabout what Chen Changsheng had said before. He chased behind him, andconstantly asked, “If you rip open the bedsheets, where are we sleeping later?Although the blankets Senior Xun Mei left behind are indeed smelly and hard toput up with, at least there is something to cover up with. I tell you, I willnot sleep under that bloody fur skin no matter what. That thing is too hot.” Everybody secretly thought that this young master of the Wenshui Tang familyhad indeed led an extravagant life ever since he was young, and was differentfrom other people. At this time, he only worried about whether he could sleepcomfortably. Most of the Li Shan Sword Sect disciples originated from poorhouseholds, and did not like Tang Thirty-Six’s normal conduct at all, so rightnow, they were even more unimpressed with him, they all ignored him. Chen Changsheng had just finished searching through the fireplace, and hisface was covered with soot. Hearing Tang Thirty-Six’s whinging behind him, hestopped his actions helplessly and said, “The new bedding will be delivered ina jiffy, so don’t make a fuss out of it.” Only now did Tang Thirty-Six ease his mind slightly, and asked curiously,“What are you looking for?” Chen Changsheng said, “Didn’t I just tell you, it’s Senior Xun Mei’s notebook.” “What notebook?” Tang Thirty-Six obviously still had not realized. “His notebook for comprehending the Heavenly Tome Monoliths.” Chen Changshengwalked outside, and looked at the wattled fencing. He thought whether it couldactually hidden in the ground or not, and if it was, that it would be hard tofind. Only now did Tang Thirty-Six understand why everybody’s reactions were sointense. He quickly rolled up his sleeves, and said, “This is somethingimportant. We need to find it quickly.” The grass hut quietened down, and only the sounds of overturning boxes andknocking walls remained. However, this quietness did not remain for too long.Tang Thirty-Six’s headache-causing voice once again resounded, “I say, if therereally is a notebook, who does the notebook belong to?” Guan Feibai currently stood on the kitchen table, and looked at the beam whichthe cured meat hung from. After hearing that, he said in a bad mood, “Itbelongs to whoever that finds it first.” Tang Thirty-Six disagreed, and said, “Why so? We obviously moved in herefirst.” Qi Jian rubbed away the sweat droplets on his face, and said very seriously,“Last night, when Senior Xun Mei was heavily injured in front of the DivinePath, he said that he left this grass hut to all of us.” Zhexiu said expressionlessly, “It belongs to whoever that finds it.” Tang Thirty-Six glanced around, and thought how many people the Li Shan SwordSect had, and how diligently they were looking for it now. He was scared thatthey would find it first, so he brought out an idea. “We should take a step back. No matter who finds it, we can just look at ittogether.” Dust flew in the air, and the wattled fencing of the courtyard fell over evenmore.The grass of the roof was lifted, and even the flooring near the well waslifted. Just as the grass hut was almost taken apart by everybody, a pleasantlysurprised shout could finally be heard. “Found it!” Everybody was exalted, and rushed into the hut following the sound. They onlysaw that an extra, thin notebook had appeared in Tang Thirty-Six’s hand. TangThirty-Six’s expression was slightly complicated. He was naturally happy frombeing able to find the notebook Xun Mei had left behind, but the problem wasthat he had already suggested beforehand that no matter who found it, they wereto look at it together…... “I’d rather let you guys find it. Perhaps I would be happier.” He placed thatthin notebook onto the table, and said regretfully, “Why was I the one whofound it?” “Where was it?” Chen Changsheng asked curiously. Tang Thirty-Six pointed to the square table behind him and said, “It wasplaced under the table leg. Did you not see it?” There was a period of silence. Everybody had already eaten two meals on thatsmall square table in the kitchen, but nobody thought that Xun Mei wouldactually place such an important notebook under the table leg. Perhaps this wasthe logic of the darkness under the light. Thinking of how they had riskedtearing down the house, they could not help but feel slightly embarrassed. Liang Banhu looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said, “Who would have thought youhad the skill to find things?” Tang Thirty-Six said, “In the Wenshui Clan, grandpa often uses silver notes toraise the table leg. When I was young, I often went to steal them, so I glancedtowards it out of habit. Who thought it really was under the table leg.” There was still a period of silence. Including Chen Changsheng, everybody hadlost interest in talking to him. They were never people of the same world, soit was very hard to communicate both smoothly and happily. The dust slowly settled, the tables and chairs were wiped down again. The hutwas tidied up, and after everything was completed, the seven people stoodaround the small square table. Using the slightly dull lamp, they stared at thetable top. Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi raised their heads, and looked into eachother’s eyes. They thought how Xun Mei had specially left this grass hut forthem to live in when he was at death’s door. He had also said that he likedtranquility, and did not want too many people to move in. At that time, theyfelt that it was slightly weird, and only now did they finally understand thedeep meaning hidden within. Xun Mei spent thirty-seven years in the Mausoleum to view monoliths. The mostimportant property he had left behind obviously was not this grass hut, nor thesmelly blankets of the three beds, but the thin, old notebook on the table. As Gou Hanshi lifted open the first page of the notebook, six heads extendedforwards. This thin notebook was the notebook of Xun Mei. Inside it, it carriedthe records of what he had comprehended from the monoliths, and even moreimportantly, the various ideas and experiments he attempted beforecomprehending the monolith. Within these densely packed words carried a wholethirty-seven years of knowledge. Xun Mei spent thirty-seven years in the Mausoleum of Books, and hadcomprehended several dozens of Heavenly Tome monoliths. He naturally was unableto record the entire process of comprehending each monolith flawlessly, butjust like all the other monolith viewers, the meaning of the first monolith ofthe front mausoleum, the Reflecting Monolith, was especially different. Severaldozens of years ago, the feelings he had experienced when he first saw thestone monolith, as well as the choice of the method he took to comprehend themonolith afterwards and his change in mental state after comprehending themonolith, were all recorded extremely clearly. The Heavenly Tome Monoliths never changed, but those who viewed the monolithwere instead distinct individuals. The method of how a previous personcomprehended the monolith naturally could not be used directly by the followingpeople. Otherwise, people like the Sect Elders of the Li Shan Sword Sect wouldhave already personally passed the methods of comprehending the monoliths todisciples like Gou Hanshi. However, the process and valuable experience ofprevious people who comprehended the monoliths could help the following peopleto provide a path of mental thought, so they can avoid some of the manydeviations the path. Other than the Monolith Guardians who could never leavethe mausoleum in their life, and the Saints or members of the Eight Storms ofCardinal Directions that could view the Heavenly Tomes whenever they wished,how many more people were more experienced than Xun Mei who had spentthirty-seven years viewing the monoliths? If this thin notebook were to becirculated, it would definitely become the target for countless organisationsto fight over. The teenagers who sat around the table knew very well that this type of goodfortune was naturally incomparably valuable. Staring at those words in the thinnotebook, they constantly pondered and gasped as Gou Hanshi turned the pages. There was silence in the grass hut. After an unknown amount of time, Gou Hanshi closed the thin notebook. TangThirty-Six was deeply absorbed into it, so he stood up and said in alarm, “Whatare you doing? Hurry up and open it so we can see more.” Chen Changsheng said, “There is still a lot of time. We can look through itslowly later. There should always be time for digesting it. Also, we haven’tgotten past the first monolith, so just reading this part is enough.” Only after hearing that did Tang Thirty-Six sit down quietly. Gou Hanshi gazed at the notebook in front of him and said, “Senior indeed is asenior.” Everybody else also sighed concurring with his statement. The notebook had it written down very clearly that Xun Mei had only used twodays to comprehend the Reflection Monolith. However, what was even moremind-blowing and had made them show even more admiration was that in the firsttwo days, Xun Mei had actually only tried two methods of comprehension.However, afterwards in the long period of time he spent viewing monoliths,perhaps he was bored, or perhaps the later monoliths were too hard tocomprehend, he once tried comprehending the Reflection Monolith again in hisspare time. In the end, he actually discovered seven different methods thatcould be used to comprehend the Reflection Monolith.. Seven successful ways ofcomprehension, what kind of idea was that? As Zhexiu, Guan Feibai and the other three had already spent too long duringthe day viewing the monoliths in the mausoleum of books, their mental strengthwas overly exhausted. They had also understood as well as absorbed theexperiences in Xun Mei’s notebook, so they were all already asleep. As ChenChangsheng and Gou Hanshi only viewed the monoliths for a limited amount oftime, and also because they had already undergone Ethereal Opening, they stillhad a decent amount of mental strength, they stood in the yard and looked atthe sky full of stars. They did not intend to rest. “I want to go a look at it for a little more.” Chen Changsheng looked at those stars in the night sky, and thought of thesixth method Xun Mei used mentioned in the notebook. He suddenly had animpulsion and wanted to see the change of the monolith inscriptions under thestarlight. Gou Hanshi, “I also have such an idea.” When they said go, they went. The two crossed through the orange grove, andwalked towards the Mausoleum of Books. Not long after, they arrived in front ofthe mausoleum. It was the only path in the mausoleum, and under the brillianceof the star light, it was like a jade belt. It was very pretty. Just when he was about to ascend the mausoleum, Chen Changsheng suddenlystopped his steps, and looked at him. He asked, “You have already looked at themonoliths for two days, so you should have already comprehended it. Otherwise,it would not make sense.” Whether it made sense or not, he had already battled against Gou Hanshi threetimes from the Ivy League Gathering to the Grand Examination, so they were veryclear about what types of people each other were. Although he was placed firstupon the first banner, he knew that it was just that he did not fear death asmuch as Gou Hanshi, or that he just feared death more. If they really had thementioned cultivation level and the knowledge they knew, he was very lacking incomparison to Gou Hanshi. In the afternoon, Chen Changsheng was sure that he was only a step away fromcomprehending the monolith, and after looking at Xun Mei’s notes, he was evenmore sure of this thought. Gou Hanshi had already looked at it for two days, soit would not make sense that he was still unable to comprehend the monolithinscriptions. Gou Hanshi stayed silent for a while, before saying, “I want to wait for myjuniors.” As long as he wished, he could comprehend the Reflection Monolith whenever hewanted, and move onto the second Heavenly Tome Monolith. Regarding this, he didnot want to hide it from Chen Changsheng. Just how great of an attraction the Heavenly Tome monoliths had to cultivatorscould be known from just looking at Zhexiu, Qi Jian and Liang Banhu’spale-faced and senseless look. To purposely slow down his speed of monolithcomprehension for the pupils of the same master? If someone else had said that,Chen Changsheng would definitely not believe it, but he was Gou Hanshi. Chen Changsheng did not like Xu Yourong, and did not regard the marriagecontract with any importance at all. However, because of this, he did not havea favorable impression of Qiushan Jun or the Mount Li Sword Sect withoutquestion, but he was Gou Hanshi. Gou Hanshi said, “My other reason is that I am waiting for someone. If nothinggoes wrong, you will see him after two days. At that time, I will introduce himto you.” “Are you not curious what the monolith inscriptions of the second HeavenlyTome monolith is like?” Chen Changsheng asked. Gou Hanshi said, “Of course I want to know. However, just like what Senior XunMei has written in the notebook, different methods to comprehend tablets doesnot mean that it will bring different types of joy. There is no harm in stayingback for another two days.”