Chapter 4 Chapter Three

"This is Fang Bin's notebook?" In front of Luo Zhongxia was a notebook with a light yellow cover, about two hundred pages. "That's right, Peter and I changed several stations before we found that locker. There was only this one thing in it. I thought it was some kind of treasure!" Yan Zheng said slightly complaining, he thought it would be Like the movie, there are always many secret treasures in the lockers at the station. "Have you all seen it?" "Who cares about it! As soon as we got it, we came to you immediately." Yan Zheng said, and then briefly described what happened in the subway, and of course he had to add more details to boast about his wisdom.

After Luo Zhongxia finished listening, he wondered, "You mean, the owner of that pen spirit is actually a foreigner?" "Exactly." "Peter, has there ever been a foreigner among the pen tomb officials?" Luo Zhongxia asked Monk Peter. The pen spirit was created by the master of the pen mound, and it is based on the talents of the world.Although talent is not unique to China, the spirit of pens is born from Chinese learning, so it is unimaginable for foreigners to be pen officials. "In history, there may be records of people from Korea, Japan, or Annan being the officials of the pen tombs, but the Westerners... I remember that only one person was once the official of the pen tombs."

"Who?" "Gao Luopei, the author...well, that's not the point, just open and look at this note." Monk Peter urged. Luo Zhongxia suddenly thought of something, turned around and looked around: "Where is Nineteen?" Yan Zheng said, "The ink in the Songtao Garden ran out, and she was worried about letting others buy it, so she went to buy new ink herself." "Should I wait for her to come back and watch?" Luo Zhongxia hesitated. Fang Bin has always been a figure whom Shijiu admired. Now that he is so close to Shijiu, it is more or less because of Fang Bin's finishing touch. He has always had mixed feelings about this.Now that Fang Bin's relics are in front of him, he can't make up his mind whether he should let Shijiu see them together.

Yan Zheng was very dissatisfied: "The notebook can't run away, let her read it when she comes back. Fang Bin is dead, no one is robbing you of a woman, are you fooled by Huai Su's Zen mind? " What an unreasonable direct hit. However, this kind of direct attack was indeed effective, Luo Zhongxia blushed, and had no choice but to hold the notebook in his hand.He himself was actually very curious, so he stopped insisting and slowly opened the first page.At this time, the Qinglian pen and the finishing pen in the chest jumped slightly, as if a dog taking a nap lazily glanced at the visitor and fell asleep again.

Only the first few pages of the notebook are filled with pen writing. The handwriting is well-proportioned and neatly arranged. It can be seen that the writer is a thoughtful and meticulous person. Luo Zhongxia was stunned by the first sentence on the first line of the first page. "To the successor of the finishing touch pen." Is it for me?Even Luo Zhongxia, who had a Zen mind, couldn't hold back his astonishment at this moment, and quickly looked down. "When you read this text, I think I'm dead. It's amazing that the past me writes in the future. But only in this way can I convey the message smoothly to the world. You. Forgive my pretensions, but it's all necessary."

The writing feels very wonderful, unhurried, calm and free, but permeated with thin sadness. Seeing Luo Zhongxia's uncertain expression, Yan Zheng asked curiously, "What's going on here?" Luo Zhongxia raised his eyes slightly, and said in a very confused tone: "A letter to me seems to be Fang Bin's last words." What else did Yan Zheng say, Luo Zhongxia said seriously: "Please let me I'll read it all in one sitting, this is also respect for the dead." Monk Peter and Yan Zheng felt the solemn power, so they both closed their mouths. Luo Zhongxia focused on the notebook again.

"My name is Fang Bin. I was originally an ordinary graduate student in the Chinese Department of a university, majoring in Chinese literature. When I was collecting materials for my master's thesis, I accidentally discovered the existence of the "Bi Tomb", and I was extremely interested in it. Since then, I have been looking for clues about it in the vast amount of historical materials and records. It has been about fifteen years since I graduated with a master’s degree. I have been committed to the study of pen mounds. It is just an allusion and legend of a literati. With the deepening of research, I discovered the huge figure of the pen mound hidden behind the history and its unique influence on Chinese culture. It is conceivable that this is very important for a person who has studied Chinese literature all his life. For me, what a temptation. A friend named Wei Shiran gave me a lot of help in this regard.

"The moment that really changed my life was seven years ago. I was looking for the site of Anle Temple in Nanjing, and I accidentally caught a glimpse of the process of a pen tomb official collecting a pen, which made me very excited. It has always been just a legend, but now it is a reality. My mood at the time was like a paleontologist seeing a living dinosaur. I had no intention of being involved in the world of the pen mound, but just wanted to be an objective researcher. Just watching. Probably because of fate, something happened to the pen official when he was receiving the pen, I rescued him, but because of this, I was sent to the spirit of that pen——as you guessed, That pen was Zhang Sengyou's finishing touch pen for drawing dragons in Anle Temple.

"The Bizhong official whose life was saved by me was very grateful to me, so he revealed his true identity to me. It turned out that he was a member of the Zhuge family in the Bizhong family, and his name was Fei Chang'an—maybe that A friend named Wei Shiran is also a member of the Bizhong, but he never told the truth, and I never asked—after Fei Changan’s introduction, I have officially entered the mysterious world of the Bizhong. The Zhuge family has always wanted to recruit me to cooperate , but as a researcher, I hope to maintain an independent and detached position, try not to contact them in reality, and only keep in touch with them online. The parents of Zhuge’s family are enlightened people and do not take this as disobedience. It has been a pleasure to cooperate. I rely on their knowledge of Bi Ling, and they are willing to let me do some systematic training for the younger generations of the Zhuge family. After so many years of accumulated research, my understanding of Bi Ling is even in the university. Above some members of the Zhuge family."

The following text suddenly became larger, as if the author wanted to emphasize its importance. "One day I used the dotting pen to do a divination for my future destiny. The result it revealed was amazing: I was just a successor, a transitional site, and my mission was to pass the dotting pen to the next suitable person The host, and he will be closely connected with the Qihou of Guancheng, and ultimately determine the fate of the entire pen mound. This requires my life as the price. I have been afraid and panicked, until today, I can completely calm down Write this text. "I don't know if you've gotten to know the dot-eye pen well, maybe you think it can dictate our destiny - in fact, it's just an illusion. The dot-dot pen doesn't make any predictions, it just pushes. The dot-eye The pen is like an engine. It cannot guide the direction, but it can push you to accelerate in the right direction. In other words, we have to be the ones who really control our destiny. The finishing touch pen is just to strengthen the choice—— As its name suggests: the finishing touch. The finishing touch is only meaningful if we outline the shape of the dragon of destiny ourselves. Without the shape, there is no eye touch.”

Luo Zhongxia quickly saw the end. "The next thing is the most important thing. While divining my fate, the dotting pen also reveals another thing, which is their existence. I have no way of knowing who they are and where they come from. The pen is also unable to give more detailed predictions. The only thing that is certain is that they are extremely terrifying, and they are a great threat to the Bizhong, the Zhuge family, the Wei family, and even everyone related to the Bizhong. They These are not the only things that are trying to subvert. This will be an unprecedented crisis for Bizuka. "I already have some clues in my hand. Everything is closely related to the Seven Lords of Guancheng. I decided to start the investigation. This will be a difficult journey. In order to prevent my death from coming suddenly, I take this notebook I stayed here. If it is the next owner who really pays attention to it, there will definitely be a chance to find it here and see my last words.” The words in the last paragraph are particularly large.Almost took up a page.The handwriting is strong and penetrates the back of the paper: "Fate is not certain. You can try to change it. This is the meaning of existence of the dotting pen. It gives us a choice for the future. Please cherish it." In addition to Fang Bin's signature, the inscription also drew a big symbol: α in the Greek alphabet. Luo Zhongxia slowly put down the notebook, he had lost the ability to express himself, and he didn't know what to express.The tone of the notes is calm and unhurried, as if a teacher is teaching earnestly, or as a soldier who is about to go to the killing field to explain his funeral. It turned out that the scene at Fayuan Temple was preordained long ago.Fang Bin was destined to be caught by them during the investigation, they were destined to take Fang Bin to Fayuan Temple to collect his pen, and they were destined to be dotted.Luo Zhongxia slowly closed his eyes, not knowing what it was like.Although he and Fang Bin had never met in life, and had only met halfway, after reading this letter, he felt that he had lost a teacher and friend.The sadness that should have been there when he witnessed Fang Bin's death in Fayuan Temple has until now penetrated into Luo Zhongxia's consciousness through the suicide note. "Give us a choice for the future?" Luo Zhongxia chewed Fang Bin's words carefully and fell into deep thought. Yan Zheng took the letter from Luo Zhongxia's hand and read it again, he also restrained his smile, showing a rare serious expression, smacked his lips for a long time and only said one sentence: "This man is a real man." This is probably Yan Zheng's highest evaluation of people. But Monk Peter clasped his hands together and silently recited the Buddha's name for the deceased, but his brows were slightly frowned.What he noticed was something else. "Wei Shiran?" He repeated the name repeatedly.Any member of the Wei family would frown upon hearing this name. "I didn't expect him to still be in touch with Fang Bin. How many things does this person keep from us?" "Judging from the tone of the letter, it seems that Fang Bin doesn't know Wei Shiran's real identity." Luo Zhongxia said. Monk Peter snorted coldly: "Real identity? There are probably dozens of his identities, and who knows which one is true. Even if the benefactor of the room has the finishing touches in his heart, he may have been deceived by him. Even you A tube of Qinglian's posthumous writing, maybe he got it by using Fang Bin." Everyone in the room was silent for a while, they had all experienced Wei Shiran's methods.In the battle of Yunmen Temple, they fought exhaustedly with Zhuge's family, but Wei Shiran took advantage of it and easily took away Wang Youjun's Tiantai Baiyun brush. "Is Wei Shiran the 'them' mentioned in Fang Bin's letter?" Yan Zheng muttered. Monk Peter adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, and said with a cold face: "Although it cannot be confirmed, I think the possibility is very high. The benefactor Fang said that the movements of 'them' have a deep relationship with the Qihou of Guancheng. Zhibi has a lot to do with Wei Shiran, so it's hard not to doubt him. I heard that Chu Yimin once mentioned that Wei Shiran was just a playful toy of his master, which shows that there is a lot of connection." Thinking of Xiaorong, Luo Zhongxia moved his lips to say something, but Monk Peter's analysis and reasoning were perfectly seamless and could not be questioned.He had to change the focus slightly: "That Qin Yi is so weird, I think it has a lot to do with 'them'." Monk Peter nodded, and said again: "Strictly speaking, the seven marquises of Guancheng, only Wang Youjun's Tiantai Baiyun is truly alive. In Zhongxia, you only have Qinglian's pen in your body, and the original pen is still missing. The remaining five pens, I’m afraid it will be the focus of coveted by various forces.” When he said this, the other two couldn't help being stunned.In Monk Peter's words, intentionally or unintentionally, the Zhuge family was also included in the "all parties", which is tantamount to treating them as enemies. Seeing the expressions of the two, Monk Peter gave a wry smile, and said, "It's not that I'm biased, it's just that the situation is chaotic, so we have to be careful. There is a Wei Shiran from the Wei family, and there are quite a few people in the Zhuge family who secretly loyal to "them" , such as Zhuge Chun, Ou Zilong, and that Qin Yi—God knows how many "they" are hidden, these two can't be trusted!" "Nineteen and Mr. Fei should be trusted by the Zhuge family, right?" Luo Zhongxia was halfway through talking, when he suddenly thought of something.Fei Lao's real name was Fei Chang'an, and he was the official who was rescued by Fang Bin.It seems that the situation related to the pen mound is much more complicated than imagined. Monk Peter smiled at him: "Look, so it's hard to draw conclusions now." He paused, his expression a bit bleak and desolate: "I have seen the methods of 'their', in Wei Zhuang... the patriarch They died in front of me. The abilities, methods and cruelty of "their" are far beyond our imagination. Zhuge and the Wei family have fought against each other for thousands of years, but they have never resorted to such methods. This time, they really It’s an unprecedented crisis.” Luo Zhongxia nodded. Although he had never witnessed the death of Patriarch Wei, he had seen Chu Yimin's viciousness, and Chu Yimin was just an abandoned son in the hands of his master.From this point of view, the power of "they" cannot be underestimated.For a moment, the three of them felt that there was a gust of dark wind behind them, as if there was an invisible evil force slowly climbing up from the endless abyss. The purpose of "theirs" is undoubtedly the seven princes in charge of the city, so Luo Zhongxia, who is carrying Qinglian's posthumous writing, is obviously the target of public criticism.Even though Luo Zhongxia had a mind of Zen, he couldn't help but smile wryly—I'm an ordinary poor student, how could He De shoulder such a mission!In fact, Luo Zhongxia was not alone, even Yan Zheng and Monk Peter had this kind of "what can you do?" mood. Among the three, not to mention the elders of the Zhuge and Wei families who are well versed in the inside story of the Bizhong, not even a formal member of the Bizhong.Monk Peter escaped into Buddhism, so he was only half of the Wei family. Luo Zhongxia and Yan Zheng were even worse. A few months ago, they didn't even know what the pen tomb was.But now the three of them seem to have become the fourth force beyond the Zhuge family, the Wei family and "them", and they are the key! The attack in the subway was probably just a prelude, and now a small group of them have been targeted.Everyone feels that there is something dark behind them, which is a normal stress response in the face of an overpowering enemy. What a blessing! Yan Zheng suddenly pointed to the end of the letter and asked, "But why did he draw such a symbol?" "Oh, this is pronounced Omega, which is the last letter of the Greek alphabet." Monk Peter explained, "But it's hard to guess what it means..." The three of them were talking, when Nineteen suddenly opened the door and walked in, holding a shopping bag in his hand, which was bulging with some ink bottles, brushes and snacks. "Hey, you are all here." Nineteen greeted, the bag was very heavy, and she was so tired that she was sweating profusely.She glared at Luo Zhongxia, but before she could speak, Yan Zheng strode over, took the bag for her, and said with a smile, "It's a sin, a sin, to let a beauty suffer." Only then did Luo Zhongxia come to his senses, blushed, and snatched the shopping bag from Yan Zheng's hand.His Zen mind can only be used for fighting, but it doesn't help at all to please girls.Nineteen pursed his lips, and was about to say something when he suddenly glanced at the notebook in Monk Peter's hand, and his eyes suddenly became sharp. "Here, where did this notebook come from?" Her voice was a little strange because of the sudden excitement. Monk Peter was quite plain-hearted, after all, he and she belonged to two families, and there was always some estrangement after a thousand years of feud. At this time, seeing her asking questions for no reason, he felt quite displeased.Luo Zhongxia, who was picking up the bag at the side, saw that Monk Peter's expression was a bit gloomy, and quickly took over the words, "Nineteen, this notebook was just found by Peter and Yan Zheng. It is a relic of Teacher Fang." Nineteen's eyes widened: "Teacher Fang Bin?" "Yes. We just got it, and I haven't had time to tell you about it." Nineteen didn't hear Luo Zhongxia's words at all. She almost snatched the notes from Monk Peter and opened them with trembling hands.Neither Yan Zheng nor Luo Zhongxia stopped her, their eyes were full of pity, even Monk Peter didn't make much movement, just sighed deeply.They all knew that Shijiu's feelings for Fang Bin were not just as simple as the teacher. "This is Mr. Fang's handwriting! I recognize it! It's exactly the same as the letter he wrote to me! He always likes to write the word "I" long..." Nineteen babbled unconsciously while flipping through the pages. , she herself didn't necessarily realize what she was talking about, because in an instant she was already in tears.Tears dripped down the pages of the book, moistening the dead man's handwriting. "It turns out, teacher...he had a premonition long ago. He agreed to come to Shanghai to see us, probably because he knew that his time was approaching. It's a pity that before he came, it was already..." Nineteen looked at me stupidly. The lines of Chinese characters seem to be integrated into the notebook. To her, the content of the notes is not important, but the hands and person who write the notes. Luo Zhongxia wanted to go over to comfort her, but was stopped by Yan Zheng's eyes. "It's not the time yet. Going to comfort her now will only be self-defeating. It usually takes a minute and a half for a girl to turn her grief into a need for a sense of dependence." Of course, these words can't be said directly, the stupid Luo Zhongxia couldn't understand the subtlety, so he had to stand where he was. Nineteen's emotions gradually stabilized, crying turned into whimpers, whimpers turned into sobs, and gradually became inaudible.She gently rubbed the smooth pages of the notebook with her palm, her eyes were full of sadness and nostalgia. Yan Zheng glanced at Luo Zhongxia, "Now is the time, if it's a man, hurry up and hug her shoulders." Luo Zhongxia walked over hesitantly, licked his lips, and summoned up the courage to stretch his arms over.Just when his fingers were still a hair away from Nineteen's round shoulders, a series of rapid chanting sounded out, and his arms quickly retracted like a frightened praying mantis. This is Monk Peter's ringtone.When he saw that it was Mr. Zeng Guifen who was calling, he was a little surprised and answered the call without hesitation.Zeng Guifen's anxious voice came from the phone: "Peter! Come to the Third Hospital quickly, something happened to Zheng He!" "What happened?" Monk Peter was taken aback. "He's awake." Zeng Guifen's tone was not joyful at all.