Scripture of Days Past

A boon? A boon from who? Chu Qiguang didn’t know the answer to that, but he instinctively knew that what had appeared before his eyes was called a boon.

He felt an intense, burning pain in his eyes, as if they were being incinerated, and in what seemed like no more than an instant, Chu Qiguang felt as if his eyes had been completely burned away, but they returned to normal the next instant.

At the same time, a secret surfaced in his mind. It’s said that the earliest Dao pursuers could see boons bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, but after committing an unforgivable transgression, everyone’s eyes were blinded by logic. These eyes will allow humans to see things they are forbidden from seeing.

He looked around to see if he could see anything different, but nothing seemed to have changed. Perplexed, he looked down at himself, and his face instantly stiffened.

His shadow was cast onto the ground by the light from the oil lamp, and it resembled a pile of black sludge with some type of living creature writhing around inside it.

Chu Qiguang carefully backed away, but the living creature immediately followed him, springing at him with alarming speed.

Chu Qiguang took evasive measures, darting through the darkness in a wraith-like fashion, yet the living creature easily kept up with him before wrapping itself around his calf.

However, Chu Qiguang couldn’t feel any physical sensation around his calf. He stopped to take a closer look, at which point he discovered that what had wrapped around his calf was a tentacle extending out of the shadow.

The tentacle was around the same thickness as a human forearm, and it had a twisted, dark green color. After wrapping around Chu Qiguang’s calf, it writhed and squirmed as if it were actually a living creature.

Chu Qiguang reached down to touch it, but his hand passed right through it.

He walked around, and the shadow followed him; the tentacle remained wrapped around his calf as well. Only when he made his way into the darkness did the shadow disappear.

This is supposed to be my boon? Now that the Ring of Ignorance has modified my eyes, I can finally see this tentacle, so does that mean it has been clinging to me all this time? What is it? Is it some type of illusion, or is it supposed to symbolize something?

With no one to answer any of his questions, Chu Qiguang could only return to the desk before picking up the book sitting there.

The Ring of Ignorance had already made him completely forget everything that he had just read. He was curious about just what knowledge was in the book that it had granted him these special eyes.

After reading A Deep Divine Into the Origins of the Immortal Dao from start to finish once again, Chu Qiguang managed to memorize all of its contents, but he still didn’t know why the Ring of Ignorance was interested in this particular book.

The book offers nothing more than conjecture based on rumors, unofficial historical records, and verbal accounts from the followers of the Immortal Dao. The author has even admitted that the information in some sections is likely incorrect. Is the Ring of Ignorance interested in the history of the Immortal Dao?

Once again, Chu Qiguang’s questions were met with no answers. He noticed that the Ring of Ignorance on his chest was still giving off some faint heat. Should I look for another book?

A strong sense of curiosity welled up in his heart, but not long after he approached the bookshelves, a voice rang out from behind him. ”The archives are closing soon at midnight; are you not going to leave?”

Chu Qiguang turned to see the gatekeeper emerging from the darkness with that same unsettling smile on his pale and gaunt face.

Out of curiosity, Chu Qiguang looked down at the gatekeeper’s feet, and he saw two tentacles extending out of his shadow, with each one wrapped around one of his legs.

”What’s wrong?” the gatekeeper asked as he looked down at his own feet. ”Have you grown weary from reading, or... have you seen something that you shouldn’t have?”

”What do you mean by that?” Chu Qiguang asked as he raised an eyebrow.

”Mysterious knowledge is always captivating, but sometimes, when you read too many books, you start to hallucinate,” the gatekeeper mused. ”That’s a telltale sign that you’re close to demonification.”

Chu Qiguang didn’t feel like he was hallucinating, nor did he feel like he was close to demonification.

He left the archives building with the gatekeeper. Along the way, he asked, ”Does the archives close every night at midnight?”

The gatekeeper nodded and replied, ”It closes every night at midnight and opens every day at noon. Make sure to remember those times if you want to come and read in the future.”

With that, the two of them slowly disappeared into the darkness.

***

Inside Chu Qiguang’s room, a rather shy Li Chu was being dragged along by Zhang Haizhu.

”Come in!” Zhang Haizhu beckoned as he led Li Chu to the desk before picking up his notes. ”You wanted to see my notes, right? Go ahead! If you’re missing anything in your notes, feel free to copy mine.”

Li Chu expressed his gratitude to Zhang Haizhu, and then he began flipping through the latter’s notes.

With so many prodigies around him, Li Chu felt a great sense of pressure and urgency.

The notes that he had taken during the lessons were far from comprehensive, so he wanted to copy someone else’s notes. Fortunately, Zhang Haizhu was happy to be of service.

However, after flipping through a few pages, Li Chu revealed a wry smile and sighed. ”Your notes are even worse than mine, Haizhu.”

Zhang Haizhu could only scratch his head with a sheepish expression.

The nearby Jiang Longyu snorted in disdain, and Zhang Haizhu glared at him, but he didn’t say anything.

”C-Can you lend me your notes, Young Master Jiang?” Li Chu asked hesitantly.

”Nope,” Jiang Longyu refused without any hesitation.

”Why do you want to see his notes?” Zhang Haizhu scoffed. ”He was almost falling asleep during the lessons; his notes are probably even worse than mine!”

”These handwritten notes from Lecturer Yi Shuang are really comprehensive, but there’s too much for me to read,” Jiang Longyu complained. ”Forget it, I’ll just get him to give me a private lesson. That should make things easier.”

He rose to his feet, then placed the notes in his hands into his cabinet before securing the cabinet’s door with a large lock.

”Don’t try to steal my stuff!” he warned. ”Otherwise, I’m going to report you to the instructors and get you kicked out!”