CH 11

Chapter 11: As fast as lightning, the Dayun motorcycle 

“Turn things to gold” and “golden house for mistress” couldn’t be counted on.

Shen Tang was admittedly disappointed. She didn’t dare to take risks. 

As time went by, bit by bit, the dark blue clouds became more and more reddish. It lasted until dawn. 

When the naughty ray of the sun touched her eyelids, Shen Tang awoke from her dreams. 

It was already daytime. She tiredly rubbed her right eye and murmured softly. 

“Why is it already 6 AM?”

Shen Tang added: “It’s already late”.

Qi Shan looked at her. To his surprise, he saw young master Shen sitting near the bonfire, roasting food.

“Did you not sleep last night?”

The rough linen prison uniform was wet with dew as it clung to the skin. After the night, it didn’t have any wrinkles on it.

Shen Tang didn’t lift her head: “I didn’t sleep. Too many things happened yesterday, so I couldn’t sleep. Mister Qi, do you want to try my cooking?”

She passed the fork made out of the tree branches to Qi Shan while talking. 

Only then, Qi Shan saw clearly what was in Shen Tang’s hand.

Three pancakes were strung together by tree branches, 

The pancakes were about the size of an adult's palm and were baked until both sides became browned, silently exuding the enticing burnt aroma of food.

They were in a desolate place outside the city. Where did the pancake come from?

He didn’t need to guess. 

He wasn’t polite with her: “Thank you very much”. 

Qi Shan is a particular person, so he had a “preparatory activity” before breakfast—to one’s surprise he wet the handkerchief with the water in the sack, then wiped the residual drowsiness off his face. He took out the wooden toothbrush from the bag and sprinkled some mint green powder on it. He rinsed his mouth with the remaining water.

After that, he took the grilled cake.

“A? Why is it sweet?”

Even though the sweetness wasn’t too strong and mostly covered by the burnt smell, after a careful taste it was still noticeable.  

Shen Tang uncovered her secret: “A cauldron is as sweet as syrup, it is not easy to get it*”.

After hearing this, Qi Shan immediately became dumbstruck, even the cake in his mouth lost taste. 

He frustratingly said: “… ‘A cauldron as sweet as syrup’ had its origins with righteous song, it also belongs to boost morale type magic phrase and its requirements of wenxin are extremely high…”

Did he really had trouble with this magic phrase?

Regardless of the outcome, is it that only the food comes out of the hands of young master Shen?

How can he look straight at this phrase later on?

“No matter the magic phrase, in my opinion, only the magic phrase that can let me eat fully can be truly useful”.  Shen Tang blew at the hot pancake and tasted it very carefully. When the taste filled her mouth, she was fully satisfied. The sugar on the pancake came not only from a “Cauldron as sweet as syrup’ phrase. I discovered that this phrase used too much of my wenxin, so I gave up on that…”

Qi Shan “…”

After all, did she bring disaster for other magic phrases for a bit of sugar? 

“Which one did you choose?”

Shen Tang unhurriedly extended her right hand: “The land of Zhouyuan is so fertile, that even a bitter vegetable like a Viola grows as sweet as sugar*”.

Malt sugar the size of a thumb appeared.   

Qi Shan frowned suddenly: “This sentence is so…”

Shen Tang threw the sugar into her mouth and chewed. She squinted her eyes, satisfied: “What's wrong with this sentence?”   

“No one has ever used it.”   

Shen Tang: “…huh?”

“All the magic phrases we use come from the seal of the state, or from that thief star. The magic phrases recorded on it are as vast as smoke, no one can tell how many there are. It has been more than two hundred years since the appearance of the thief star. More and more magic phrases are being used, but compared with the phrases that can’t be used, it is still the tip of the iceberg. This sentence 'The land of Zhouyuan is so fertile, that even a bitter vegetable like a Viola grows as sweet as sugar’ was just copied by me accidentally…”

He thought that this phrase was interesting, so he just copied it. 

Shen Tang “…”

Qi Shan asked her: “What is the effect of this phrase?”

Is it merely one grain of malt sugar?

Shen Tang asked without answering: “Didn't mister Qi see it?”

Her expression was too bright, like a clear spring in which the bottom is visible at a glance. Qi Shan couldn’t tell whether she was hiding something, but he knew that she wasn’t as innocent as she looked. No longer chatting, the two ate breakfast quietly, then disposed of the campfire.

They packed their things and get ready to go.

Because the rough linen prison uniform on Shen Tang was too eye-catching, Qi Shan offered her a clean old one. While waiting for Young Master Shen to change his clothes, he accidentally stepped on a place with soft soil. 

“Huh?”    

He squatted down and brushed aside the weeds, investigating. 

He pinched up the wet and soft soil, carefully checking it out. He discovered that it was completely different from the barren sand that could raise dust from three steps away. 

He unconsciously recalled something and pulled out the sword from his waist and stabbed the ground. When the sword's edge entered the soil, it was easy at first, but it became difficult to move when it entered six inches deep into the ground. The sword's edge was covered in some sticky soil.

He pulled out the long sword from the soil again.   

The soil on the sword reflected the situation truthfully.   

Qi Shan twirled the soil on the edge of the sword, and muttered thoughtfully: “The land of Zhouyuan is so fertile, that even a bitter vegetable like a Viola grows as sweet as sugar…”   

The general meaning of this sentence was that the land in Zhouyuan was fertile, and even viola and bitter herbs could be as sweet as caramel.   

The magic phrase of Young Master Shen…

Does the focus lie on “malt sugar”?    

Or on fertile land? 

Qi Shan lowered his eyes and began to clean the sword's body. He retracted the scabbard and got up as if nothing had happened. He rubbed the soil with his clogs to cover up the sword marks. Not long after, Shen Tang came out from the dense forest. 

The man's clothes were too wide for the eleven-year-old youth, so she had to use long straps to gather the sleeves around her wrists, narrowing it, and then she raised the excessively long hem to be even with the ankles. She wrapped the waist with a waist rope to fix the clothes.    

Coupled with a feminine, charming face that had a bit of a wild temperament, she looked like an outstanding boy.

Qi Shan exclaimed: “Young master Shen, let's go, keep up”. 

Shen Tang trotted a few steps: “Mister, here I go”.

As the sun rose and the scorching sun became hotter, Shen Tang wiped her sweat with a sleeve: “Mister Qi, don't you know the magic phrase for a tall horse? The 3rd-grade Zanniao from last night had weapons and a horse, very convenient”.

Qi Shan asked her calmly: “Young master Shen has wudan?”   

Shen Tang shook her head: “This…no…”    

“Because you don’t have a wudan, we don’t have any horses”.

This unenthusiastic verdict sentenced Shen Tang to the “death penalty”.   

Shen Tang almost wanted to breathe out her last: “Why? Aren't wenxin and wudan equal? This kind of magic phrase can't be shared?”   

She felt that her wenxin was looked down on!

Looking down at her two thin bamboo pole-like legs, she became speechless. Although the wound on her foot had been treated briefly, and she also wore the soft-soled straw sandals that Qi Shan had lent her, but the road was rough, and she didn’t know how long would it take to arrive to the nearest village…   

Qi Shan glanced at the young master Shen Tang, who seemed to be out of his body from the corner of his eyes, and then he burst out laughing.    

“There is no need to share this kind of magic phrase”.    

“How could it be unnecessary?”   

What is the equivalent to a tall horse in ancient times?    

It’s a luxury sports car!    

“Generally speaking, scholars with a wenxin travel by chariots and horses. Why should they be waste their energy like those reckless men?”   

Shen Tang: “…”    

After walking for a while, Qi Shan vaguely heard young master Shen who was following behind him weakly muttering.    

“Fast as lightning-”   

He was about to be amazed by young master Shen's superb perception. He was even able to understand the high-level magic phrase that could increase the marching speed of the army. 

Who would have thought that her next sentence would be -   

“Dayun motorcycle!”   

Qi Shan: “???”

*Wen Tianxiang "Song of Righteousness"

*Book of Songs, Daya