Li Sanjiang finally felt satisfied and couldn't afford to upset the girl, lest she wouldn't come for the makeup class tomorrow.
After dinner, as usual, Li Zhiyuan went to take a bath first. After his bath, he came out and saw Li Sanjiang standing at the edge of the north side of the terrace, holding a cigarette in his left hand and gripping something in his right. In front of him, under the moonlight, a parabolic stream of water shot forth.
"Little Yuanhou, done with your bath?"
"Done, Grandmaster, your turn."
"Uh-huh, wait for me in the room."
Li Sanjiang shrugged his shoulders, puffed his chest out, and then swung his thighs back and forth.
Li Zhiyuan then realized that he actually didn't need the chamber pot at night.
Entering the Grandmaster's bedroom, the Array was still there, but it had been freshly drawn.
After examining the Array for a moment, Li Zhiyuan blinked with some confusion. It was evident that tonight's Array was the same as last night's, yet it still differed from the one depicted in the "Golden Sand Luo Wen Scripture."
The variation from the book was understandable since it had been the same last night.
"But how come it's also slightly different from last night's?"
Li Zhiyuan could only suspect that the Grandmaster had made minor adjustments based on the efficacy of last night's Array.
Firstly, because he was still reading beginner-level books and hadn't seen any Array Diagrams;
Secondly, because his world was filled with rigor, and he momentarily couldn't break away from this rigorous mindset to consider another possibility.
Li Zhiyuan settled into his own spot.
Soon, Li Sanjiang finished his bath and came in, wearing white underpants that had a hole in them.
Just like yesterday, he first used a black rope to tie himself and Li Zhiyuan together in their usual positions, then he lit the candle, and finally, he too sat down inside the circle.
This time, Li Zhiyuan watched carefully and noticed that the talisman papers Grandmaster was using were pulled out from his underpants, which had no pockets.
Light the talisman, recite the scripture, and then before it burned down to his hand,
He slapped it onto the ground.
The candle didn't go out, and the lightbulb didn't flicker.
"Is it done, Grandmaster?"
"Not yet, wait a bit longer."
After saying that, Li Sanjiang took out another talisman, lighted it, and repeated the action, but this time he slapped the talisman onto the ground with even more force.
This crisp slapping sound made Li Sanjiang's mouth corners twitch from the pain.
But the forcefulness did the trick.
With a "whoosh," all the candles went out, and the lightbulb overhead flashed twice in a cooperative manner.
Li Sanjiang took a sigh of relief and said indifferently, "Go to sleep, Little Yuanhou, and remember, do not untie the rope."
"I know, Grandmaster."
Once Li Zhiyuan left, Li Sanjiang immediately blew on his palm:
"Hoo hoo...sss sss...so painful."
After blowing on his hands and then looking toward the bed, his face immediately took on a pained expression:
"Damn it, I hope it's not another zombie meeting tonight."
After returning to his bedroom, Li Zhiyuan didn't go to bed but turned on the desk lamp and continued reading the fourth volume.
After finishing the fourth volume, he took out the fifth but had only read a few pages before he fell asleep with his forehead resting on the desk.
In the rice paddy, the figure of an old lady appeared. If Li Zhiyuan were to see her at this moment, he would recognize her as the one carried on the hunched back of Niu Fu.
She hunched over, her eyes emitting a green light, and surprisingly, fine downy hairs began to grow on her deeply wrinkled face.
Her figure vanished from the spot; the next moment, she appeared on the embankment, then disappeared again, this time appearing inside the first-floor room.
She stopped amidst the pile of paper effigies, looking at the many paper humans, paper horses, paper houses... She cocked her head and showed a strange smile on her face.
Li Zhiyuan rubbed his eyes and lifted his head, surprised to find he had fallen asleep while reading.
He planned to go relieve himself and then go back to bed, following the example demonstrated by the Grandmaster.
Standing up, he walked to the bedroom door, pushed it open, and went out, unaware that "he" remained fast asleep, forehead resting sweetly on the small desk.
Outside, the cool night breeze was a welcome relief for Li Zhiyuan.
But soon, he heard the noise and commotion coming from downstairs.
Who could be making noise so late at night?
Wait... it's always very quiet even during the day at the Grandmaster's House.
Li Zhiyuan walked to the edge of the terrace, listening intently.
He heard men and women talking and singing, horses neighing, cats and dogs barking—all sorts of noises. It was as if a wild dance party was happening on the first floor.
But the first floor only had a big pile of paper effigies, could it be?
Li Zhiyuan was initially startled, then realized: Oh, I must be dreaming.
At that moment, Li Zhiyuan's gaze swept downward, and he was shocked to see a figure in a purple qipao standing on the embankment—Qin Li!
Eh, how did you walk out of the threshold by yourself?
Why do you appear in my dream!