Martial Saint through Reading

Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Why Does the Gap Keep Getting Bigger?!

Chu Ming’s eyes flashed. [Disguise] had changed from ’entry-level’ to ’skilled’, and the later descriptions were omitted—the effect was rapid face-changing...

”Brother Chu, hey... don’t stop, you’re almost done.” Seeing Chu Ming stop just as he was about to paint him into a big clown face, Liang Yuan hurried to encourage him enthusiastically.

Ning Hao turned his head to take a look, then quickly turned back.

Can’t look, not even a little bit—if I look, I’ll definitely lose it.

Especially with that Senior Brother Chu, looking so serious while painting a flowery face...

Chu Ming ignored the two of them, picked up some rouge and black powder, dipped them, and began reapplying them on his face.

”Yes, yes, Brother Chu, just like that... hey... keep painting.”

Liang Yuan could barely hold it in, hurriedly turning his back.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ning Hao performing a fierce man’s teeth-gritting act...

”Pfft...”

He couldn’t hold it any longer—Liang Yuan just lost it completely.

”Ah, I can’t take it, can’t take it,” he clutched his waist, laughing hard for a long time before finally catching his breath, turning around, and then, before he could say anything, exclaimed, ”Brother Chu, you better stop painting... huh? Who are you?!”

Right before his eyes stood a man in a white long robe, pale complexion, clear bright eyes, his whole body radiating the scholarly spirit of a Scholar.

What do you mean, who?

Ning Hao heard the commotion, turned around gritting his teeth, and in nearly an instant, his expression changed from barely-suppressed laughter to confusion, then was overtaken by pure shock.

”Chu... Brother Chu?” He opened his mouth, asking in disbelief.

”Brother Chu?” Liang Yuan’s eyes widened, ”You disguised yourself?”

Stating the obvious—he realized he was just babbling out of shock.

”No, Brother Chu, you were just like that a second ago, how come now you’re like this?”

Like that? Like this? What do you mean?

Ning Hao looked at Liang Yuan; Liang Yuan met Ning Hao’s eyes. Their incredulous glances seemed to be holding an intense exchange.

Liang Yuan: Did I see wrong? Clown face to Scholar?

Ning Hao: ...

Liang Yuan: I just laughed for ages?

Ning Hao: The time it takes to finish a cup of tea?

Liang Yuan: In a cup of tea’s time, clown face turns to scholar? Are we reading the same Disguise Technique book?

Ning Hao: Your makeup’s ruined.

Liang Yuan: And then?

Ning Hao: You look like a clown role.

Their eyes fell in unison on the book set on the stone table—a thought suddenly sprouted in their hearts:

Maybe, Brother Chu didn’t learn disguise from this book at all. Maybe he already knew how to do it.

Yes, that has to be it!

”What do the two Senior Brothers think?” Chu Ming asked in a gentle voice.

This voice...

”Brother Chu, how come even your voice has changed?” Ning Hao asked in a daze.

Chu Ming pointed at the book. ”It says here, if you control the muscles by your throat as you speak, you can change your voice.”

”What? Brother Chu, you learned Disguise Technique from this book?” Liang Yuan’s brain was foggy. ”Weren’t you flipping through it like shua shua shua? You could actually see all the words and illustrations at that speed?”

”Really ten lines at a glance?”

”More than ten lines at a glance,” Ning Hao recovered from his shock, picking up the Disguise Technique book. ”Brother Chu even memorized all the content in such a short time.”

At this moment, Ning Hao had never thought this thin book could feel so heavy. With great seriousness, he looked at Chu Ming and asked, ”Brother Chu, am I right?”

Chu Ming paused for a moment, didn’t answer directly, and instead quickly packed up all the disguising tools, then fetched three painting scrolls from inside the room.

Ning Hao and Liang Yuan simply stood there dazed in the courtyard, until Chu Ming’s voice rang in their ears:

”Elder brothers, it’s getting late. Let’s head to the painting workshop.”

Ning Hao and Liang Yuan looked at the three scrolls in Chu Ming’s hands, the corners of their mouths twitching.

Liang Yuan couldn’t help it, lowered his voice, and asked, ”Brother Chu, how come you have three paintings in your hand?”

”I painted them,” answered Chu Ming.

”Yesterday you spent the whole afternoon painting one scroll, then dinner at the dining hall took up a lot of time, and you had classes all morning today. Where did you find time to finish two more?”

”...”

”Or... is it that Brother Chu can copy a painting much faster than half a day?” Ning Hao’s tone grew more serious.

”Not half a day?” Liang Yuan’s brow rose. ”Brother Chu, don’t tell me you can copy a painting like you do makeup—a cup of tea’s time and it’s done?”

”...Not that fast,” Chu Ming replied a little helplessly.

”Then how fast?” Ning Hao and Liang Yuan pressed together.

”One two-hour period?” Chu Ming offered, trying his best to minimize their shock.

Hiss—

Seeing the two about to gasp and go dumbstruck again, Chu Ming quickly added: ”Including mixing ink and stuff, two hours?”

”Brother Chu, what’s with that uncertain tone of yours?”

”You don’t want to discourage us?”

Liang Yuan’s eyes fell on the three scrolls: ”Open them up for a look?”

Although his gut said Chu Ming really did finish three copied scrolls, he just couldn’t believe it without seeing for himself.

”Junior Brother Liang, let’s hurry to the painting workshop,” Ning Hao interrupted after a pause.

After these days together, he was quite certain: Chu Ming never fakes anything, those three paintings must be genuine copies.

Liang Yuan opened his mouth a few times, his mind spinning, wanting to say something for himself. But no matter how he tried, it couldn’t measure up to this Junior Brother who’d only been in the academy a few days...

After a while sulking, he looked to Ning Hao.

Right now, their eyes both held the same emotion.

If yesterday, Chu Ming’s landscape painting and spontaneous poetry shocked them,

they thought, This Junior Brother just has talent, but if we work hard, we won’t lag far behind.

But today, both felt a hunch: Before long, this Junior Brother would leave them far, far behind—and only get farther!

So it was with poetry, calligraphy and painting, and now even the side path of Disguise Technique...

For a brief moment, Chu Ming no longer just shocked them—they genuinely admired him.

”Let’s go, let’s go, really getting late,” Ning Hao said.

”Wait up, I want a change of outfit.”

”Change what outfit? Where’s the time for that!”

”Change into a Scholar. There’s still time... isn’t Brother Chu here?” Liang Yuan looked at Chu Ming.

”Fierce guard, delicate Scholar, and energetic Scholar—now that’s a proper lineup,” Liang Yuan said.

”...”

...

East City is the busiest part of Baiyuan County, lined with shops.

Restaurants, inns, gambling houses, clothing stores, blacksmiths, Mist Rain Tower...

You can eat, drink, play, whatever you like, so long as you have silver.

All in all, it’s basically Baiyuan County’s ”commercial district.”

On the bluestone main road, Chu Ming was dressed as a Scholar at the front, behind him was the fierce Ning Hao gripping his sabre, followed by Scholar Liang Yuan carrying four scrolls.

”Sir, want something to eat? Our Immortal Brew Tower has just launched Dream Immortal Wine—don’t miss it, if you pass by!”

”Young master, need a room? My Eastern Inn is the number one inn in Baiyuan County, and the ladies from the Mist Rain Tower even come upstairs to serve!”

”Young master, don’t listen to him! Our Mist Rain Tower girls never leave the building—those ones at Eastern Inn aren’t girls, they’re just broken branches from who-knows-where!”

”...”

The road was full of passersby, but at a glance, Chu Ming and his group looked anything but ordinary, attracting plenty of shopkeepers trying to win them over.

”Out of the way!” Ning Hao, looking every bit the fierce man, raised his sword and growled, instantly scaring away the crowd that had gathered around them.

The three did not stop, walking for a long while before crossing the bustling district, then through a few quieter minor ”business areas”, winding their way to a tall stone archway.