In the small bamboo forest, the child's voice fell silent for a moment.
After a moment, another handful of bamboo slips floated over.
Chen Xu raised his hand to take them, again lightly swiping through, but this time he counted that there were only ten slips in total.
"Not enough," Chen Xu said, "I must ask Your Honor to grant more bamboo slips."
The child's voice fell silent again, and then there seemed to be some emotion in that clear, solemn voice: "One bamboo slip represents one question. Are you sure you want more slips?"
Chen Xu said, "Why not?"
"Hmph!"
Above the mist, a soft hum burst through the fog.
The next moment, a flurry of bamboo slips fell down like a sudden downpour.
Chen Xu quickly raised his hand to catch them, his robe sleeves swirling up a series of breezes, finally grasping all the bamboo slips in hand.
"Be aware, student, if the bamboo slips that fall cannot all be filled with writing, blank slips will result in point deduction."
The clear child's voice in the mist carried a hint of amusement:
"Answer a question correctly, gain a point; answer incorrectly, lose a point; leave a slip blank, and you also lose a point. The teacher is instructing us that everything must be done in moderation to avoid greed.
If you lose points because of greed, then you must bear the consequences yourself. Do you understand?"
Chen Xu immediately clasped all the bamboo slips in his hands, then cupping his fists, bowed deep into the bamboo forest, saying, "The teacher's wisdom, I am taught."
"Hmph!" That childlike voice hummed softly again, this time disappearing, saying no more.
Chen Xu found himself holding bamboo slips without pen or ink, yet he was not anxious. Instead, he held the slips and walked slowly through the bamboo forest for a moment.
His steps were slow, observing the surroundings as he walked, until he felt as though something was poking at his feet slightly.
Chen Xu instantly had a thought, hurriedly bending down to search around.
Soon he found a small stone shard on the ground, with a slightly thin edge.
Chen Xu picked up this stone shard and found another slightly larger stone, placing them together to grind each other.
Soon enough, the slightly thin-edged stone piece was ground into a sharp blade.
Using this sharp blade as a knife, Chen Xu began carving on the bamboo slips.
First, he recorded the first question he remembered, simplifying the problem into concise language, then answered:
"According to previous question, take three steps from the leg, four from the base, multiply themselves and square root, getting five steps on the hypotenuse. The area of the field is clear, with three leg and four base, halved to get an area of six steps..."
Then answered the second question: "Warehouse A received three hundred and fifty piculs, actually accepted three hundred and forty-six piculs and five dou; Warehouse B received two hundred and fifty piculs, actually accepted two hundred and forty-eight piculs seven dou and five sheng..."
And so on, one after another in a grand display.
Before long, he had consecutively answered nine questions in full.
During the process, the sharp edge of the stone dulled several times. Without hurry, Chen Xu merely ground the stone again, waiting for it to be sharp before continuing to carve.
Just as he finished the ninth question, and the stone dulled yet again, requiring another sharpening, Chen Xu suddenly heard a heavy voice in his ear.
The voice sighed heavily, saying, "Ah, Scholar, you answer questions like this, half a day has passed, but most of your time has been spent grinding stones. Do you not find it wasteful?"
What sound is that?
Instinctively, Chen Xu turned his head and found a big-eared, bump-eyed, sparsely furred old monkey, like broken needles standing on end.
At the first sight of this old monkey, the thought popped into Chen Xu's mind: Ugly!
And it's not just ugly? It is incredibly ugly.
Looking closely, it's cruelty.
It isn't cruelty to it, but cruelty to the viewer.
Chen Xu's first reaction was to turn his head away, but for some reason, although he wanted to look away, his eyes seemed to have their own instructions, refusing to move.
In his ears, there was a buzzing sound, and his mind seemed to blur for a moment.
At that moment, he almost forgot who he was and why he was here.
He only knew to sincerely respond to the Ugly Monkey's words: "A sharp knife works in cutting firewood, if I don't grind the stone, how do I answer the questions?"
The Ugly Monkey tilted its head, saying in a heavy, strange voice: "But young man, do you know that among those who entered here with you, those scholars who came to answer questions, each comes from wealth, carrying swords by their side. Even without swords, they have short daggers; they simply don't need to grind stones like you."
The heavy voice was like the beat of a drum, each strike landing heavily in Chen Xu's heart.
Clearly, Chen Xu was just listening to an ugly monkey speak, but now it seemed as if he were listening to an echo from the worldly passage of time.
Chen Xu's heart thudded heavily, speaking: "They carry their swords, their daggers; I have neither sword nor dagger. Is it not right to grind a stone?"
"There's nothing wrong with grinding stones, but Scholar, how long will you grind stones before catching up to someone's light slash with a treasured sword or dagger?"
A phrase that pierced the heart momentarily made Chen Xu pause.
After a moment, Chen Xu asked back, "Then why must I compete with them on time and order?"
The Ugly Monkey hesitated.
Chen Xu laughed, saying: "Even if they have treasured swords or daggers, can they answer more questions than I do?"
Saying that, he picked up another bamboo slip, continuing to carve with bold strokes.
The tenth question was soon carved by him and answered.
Then came the eleventh question, twelfth, thirteenth...
When reaching the fifteenth question, Chen Xu once again ground the stone.
This time he heard the Ugly Monkey next to him say faintly: "Scholar, among those wearing treasured swords and daggers, some have already answered twenty questions. Aren't you anxious?"
Chen Xu replied: "If I were only anxious and stopped grinding the stone, that would truly be bad."
As he spoke, he continued grinding the stone, but suddenly heard a crisp sound, crack—
It turned out that the stone in his hand had been ground too many times, and now it suddenly cracked in his grasp!
Chen Xu was momentarily stunned.
The Ugly Monkey clapped its hands and laughed: "Young man, oh young man, after all, you are still young and aggressive. Don't you realize that the difficulties and obstacles of this world are far more than just grinding stones?"
Chen Xu put down the broken stone that was no longer usable, frowning slightly, saying: "It's just a stone breaking, why can't I find another one?"
Saying this, he gathered all the bamboo slips by his side and bent down to search again in the bamboo forest.
With a hand holding the bamboo slips and a hand propping up a walking stick, hobbling and bending to find something on the ground, truly every step carried its own difficulties.
The Ugly Monkey continued its relentless chatter by his ear: "Scholar, do you think if you find one suitable stone, you will definitely find two or three? Heh, you are too naive.
Even a suitable stone, if sought blindly like a headless fly, is like searching for a needle in the ocean.
Finding one is luck, but can you rely on luck to always be present?"