Song Mu had been in this world for seven days now. Several friends, fellow scholars, and families of the same literary lineage had come to visit him, bringing some supplements that helped him recover significantly. However, his head still occasionally felt a bit foggy, which Song Mu attributed to absorbing the memories of the original host.

On this sunny day, Song Liangda finally allowed Song Mu to go out for a walk.

Song Mu was delighted to finally step out of the courtyard and truly experience this strange, ancient world.

The Song family courtyard was located in the northern part of Shiyang County. It was a small, elegant courtyard, the last vestige of the Song family’s dignity. After informing his uncle and aunt, Song Mu straightened his heavily wrinkled plain white robe and stepped out of the courtyard.

After turning a corner in an alley, the scene in front of him suddenly became lively. A wide street appeared before his eyes. The ground was solidly packed with red soil sprinkled with fine sand. On both sides of the street were low, one- or two-story brick and wooden shops, their entrances adorned with various signs. Vendors shouted continuously, and children laughed and played in the street.

Song Mu stood dazed at the entrance of the alley for a moment, listening to the noisy sounds and taking in the bustling street scene. His heart was filled with a sense of wonder.

What he had once only faintly seen in ancient paintings was now vividly displayed right before his eyes.

After standing and observing for a while, Song Mu began walking forward. As he strolled down the sunlit avenue, he suddenly felt very much alive, vibrantly alive.

“Make way! Move aside! Can’t you see?!”

At that moment, a shout came from the street behind him, followed by a few exclamations. Suddenly, a large hand pushed Song Mu from behind.

Stumbling, Song Mu grabbed a nearby stall to steady himself. When he turned around, he saw several men dressed in gray, looking like house servants, rudely shoving pedestrians aside. Behind them, four burly servants were carrying a sedan chair, the creaking of its wooden frame clearly audible.

“Hm? Stop!”

As the sedan chair passed by Song Mu, a voice of suspicion came from inside, followed by someone emerging from the chair. The next moment, a man lifted the curtain and stepped out.

Seeing who it was, Song Mu inwardly groaned.

The person who stepped out of the sedan chair was a tall, thin man, about the same age as Song Mu. His head was wrapped in a pink scarf, he wore a pink robe, and held a folding fan with pink fan bones. Pink boots covered his feet as he approached Song Mu with a swagger.

Had this been a graceful young gentleman, Song Mu might have admired his elegance. However, this man had an overly long face, a flat nose, half-hidden eyes, and a few sparse, faint mustache hairs on his upper lip, making him quite unsightly.

Song Mu recognized him at once. This was Qi Dazuo, the second son of the Qi family, another literary lineage in the northern part of the city. Song Mu remembered him as one of the people who often enjoyed bullying him, and one of those who had encouraged him to leave the city that day.

“Isn’t this the sole heir of the Song family? What? Back from the dead? I heard you got so engrossed in studying a few days ago that you went crazy and ran off to Guiyang by yourself?”

Qi Dazuo stepped forward, opening his folding fan with a mischievous grin, the fan revealing a painting of peach blossoms. He imitated a mocking gesture, half-hiding his face, and gazed at Song Mu with lazy, mocking eyes.

“I also heard that at night, fox demons appear in Guiyang, disguising themselves as peerless beauties, looking ever so pitiful, draining the yang energy of men. When the butcher Wang found you and brought you back, I heard your clothes were in disarray, and you looked just like a dead fish.”

“Could it be that you had a delightful time with a fox demon at Guiyang? Come on, why don’t you tell us about your romantic encounter, and maybe Master Qi will reward you with a few copper coins to buy some tonics at the Rejuvenation Hall! Haha!”

Qi Dazuo squinted as he spoke, his servants laughing mockingly behind him. Even passersby cast strange glances at Song Mu.

It was impossible for Song Mu not to feel ashamed, but at that moment, he had his own plans. He was determined to reclaim his dignity.

“Hearing Master Qi speak so vividly, you must be quite familiar with Guiyang. You seem to know all about these fox demons. Have you seen one yourself?”

“And let me ask you, Master Qi, why did you leave me alone at Guiyang that day? Was it intentional?”

“How dare you slander our Master Qi!”

A fierce-looking servant jumped out and cursed at Song Mu, but Song Mu merely glanced at him.

In that moment, the servant felt as if a tiger had locked eyes on him—a pair of eyes filled with murderous intent.

The servant involuntarily shivered, swallowing the words he was about to say. Then, Song Mu spoke.

“Master Qi, your dog is barking too much, it’s hurting my eyes.”

With that, Song Mu turned to leave. The other servants, realizing they had just been insulted, were about to step forward, and Qi Dazuo’s face darkened as he watched Song Mu walk away.

“You dare speak to me like that!”
The servant, who had been held back, was about to step forward when Song Mu suddenly let out a cold laugh.

“Observe the rat, it has a body; But a man without propriety, Why does he not swiftly die?“^[1]The full title of the poem is “Xiang Shu” (相鼠), which translates to “Observe the Rat” one of the oldest collections of Chinese poetry.

These words burst from Song Mu’s mouth, and they seemed to turn into a cold wind, causing the servants’ hair to stand on end and their hearts to race with fear.

The servant at the front suddenly clutched his chest, spitting out a mouthful of blood, then collapsed to the ground, looking gravely injured.

“A battle of Literary powers? No, this can’t be! How could a mere licentiate wield the literary power like a scholar?”

Qi Dazuo’s face changed as he put away his fan, staring at Song Mu in shock. The surrounding townspeople, hearing the commotion, began to step back, their eyes avoiding Song Mu.

In this literary dynasty, scholars were highly revered. Scholars who had accumulated enough literary energy could use poems, essays, and songs to kill ordinary people.

Song Mu, of course, was not yet a scholar. His licentiate status merely achieved by the previous owner’s studying hard leading to this bodies weak constitution but the words he had just spoken came from his heart. In his fury, they had slipped out unconsciously.

These words came from an ancient text, The Book of Songs, but this time, the annotation beneath the ancient phrase wasn’t just an explanation of its meaning—it was a method of channeling literary energy into battle strength!

The Song family’s ancestors had left behind this knowledge, and it seemed that the Anthology of Ancient and Modern Poetry, a book Song Mu had bought from an antique market, had absorbed it. His emotions had triggered the release of this literary power!

Without paying attention to the barking dogs behind him, Song Mu closed his eyes, sensing something strange in his mind.

It was the Comprehensive Anthology of Ancient and Modern Poetry that he had bought, and now, the first few pages of the book glowed with golden light, displaying five large characters: Song’s Annotations on Ancient Words.

The phrase he had just spoken came from this text, but its annotation beneath was not a literal interpretation. Instead, it showed how to harness literary energy for combat!

Scholars cultivate their minds through literature, accumulating literary energy over time. Once they are able to channel this energy, they can create literary power, which scholars use to forge their path in the world!

Song Mu ignored the clamor behind him. The servants, seeing him standing still, heard Qi Dazuo’s words and became even more fearful.

Qi Dazuo, too, was astonished. The frail Song Mu, once timid and weak, had become so formidable in just a few days?

Could it be the ancient book mentioned by Pan Wenhao?

Yes, it must be that he had understood the ancient book left by his ancestors!

Qi Dazuo’s mind raced. Everyone in Shiyang County knew that the Song family had produced 13 scholars over 17 generations. It was an extraordinary literary lineage. Throughout the entire Ji Prefecture, spanning hundreds of years, there had been only 200 scholars. The Song family’s ancestral treasures must be priceless!

“Zhang Er, he attacked me for no reason. Arrest him and take him to the county office to be tried!”

Qi Dazuo shouted, scheming how to get his magistrate uncle to help extract the secret of literary power from Song Mu.

“I should have taken that ancient book from him long ago. There would have been no need to trick him into leaving the city and causing all this trouble.”

“Hurry up and arrest him! He was the first to attack, everyone saw it!”

Qi Dazuo yelled, and the servants, gritting their teeth, prepared to capture Song Mu.

At that moment, a ruler suddenly appeared behind Song Mu, and a stern voice came from the corner of the street.

“Who dares to make a move?”