Chapter 1253: Chapter 1250: The Pen Walks the Dragon-Snake (2nd Update)

Whoosh!

All heads turned in unison, and all eyes immediately focused on the person speaking.

Among the crowd, Xiao Rui was no exception, but when she saw who was speaking, her eyes couldn’t help but gradually widen.

There stood Xue An, calm and serene, offering a slight smile to Xing Yuhe, “I happen to know how to write a few characters, and now that I am staying in the city, it is only right for me to help!”

Hearing his words, Xing Yuhe was slightly taken aback and then looked deep into Xue An’s eyes and nodded with a smile, “If that’s the case, then we are grateful for your assistance!”

However, Xing Yushu was not quite satisfied with this decision, but since his grandfather had already agreed, he had nothing to say and could only cast a cold glance at Xue An before going down to prepare.

Pressed for time, no one dared to delay, and everyone started to bustle about.

Xiao Rui approached timidly, expressing her admiration: “Big brother, you can write as well?”

Xue An nodded with a smile, “Yes, I can!”

“Wow, that’s so amazing!” Admiration sparkled in Xiao Rui’s eyes.

Xue An smiled, “Would you like to learn?”

“I… can I?” Xiao Rui pointed at herself, asking incredulously.

“Why not, as long as you want to learn, of course you can!”

Xiao Rui almost jumped up from the ground, her face bright with excitement as she said, “Thank you, big brother!”

At this moment, Xiao Rui’s mother also came over, but this time, the middle-aged woman no longer appeared wary of Xue An, instead nodding with a hint of respect.

It wasn’t just her, everyone around looked at Xue An with respect in their eyes.

After all, for them, a person who could write was worthy of respect.

Just like Xing Yuhe, who had saved the entire town, he was indeed a truly capable person.

Moreover, Xue An was now about to help with the repair of the city wall’s Talisman Spells, garnering even more respect from the people.

The population within the town was not too large, but with the safety of each individual at stake, there was no need for mobilization; people began to work as quickly as they could on their own accord.

Soon enough, the elaborate preparations were ready.

Xing Yuhe lay on a specially made sickbed, directing everyone.

The outside of the town had already become a busy construction site, with people working in an orderly manner.

The men were responsible for tasks requiring heavy physical labor like laying stones, while the women applied specially made mortar to fill the gaps, ensuring the wall’s solidity.

Even children like Xiao Rui were not idle, trying their best to assist in any way they could.

Everyone was busily engaged, and despite the hard work, no one complained for fear of their lives; instead, they focused on reinforcing the walls.

But what they were doing was more of a psychological comfort; the real protection would come from the Talisman Spells on the walls.

Due to the urgency, as soon as a section of the wall was repaired, Xing Yushu would immediately begin the restoration process.

Despite it being his first time completing the Talisman Spells independently, his grandfather’s guidance made the process go rather smoothly.

However, engraving Talisman Spells is an extremely meticulous and rigorous process, where any mistake could render all previous efforts useless.

Add to that Xing Yushu’s lack of experience, so the idea of him single-handedly repairing so many Talisman Spells in just three days was almost impossible.

That is why Xing Yuhe was looking for someone who could write.

He had Xing Yushu first outline the patterns of the Talisman Spells to avoid any mistakes, with Xue An responsible for completing the remaining steps afterwards.

Though it sounded easy, in reality, it was quite difficult.

After all, the patterns of these Talisman Spells are often extremely complex, and a slight carelessness in the brushwork can lead to errors.

Therefore, Xing Yuhe originally intended to let Xue An adjust before getting back to work, but unexpectedly, when Xue An picked up the brush, he easily completed all the Talisman Spells required for copying.

Moreover, the lines were clear and distinct, of very high quality.

This stunned both Xing Yuhe and Xing Yushu.

As for Xue An, he just smiled, “I forgot to tell you guys, I used to love painting, so these lines are really simple for me!”

This answer eased Xing Yuhe’s concern about the progress of the work, and he nodded with a laugh, “Young Master Xue truly has distinguished talent and knowledge, impressive!”

Although Xing Yushu had always found Xue An a bit awkward, at this moment he had to bow his head and silently acknowledged.

This guy is not without skill after all!

As for the other people in the small town, they respected Xue An even more, always addressing him as ‘Master’.

The composed demeanor of Xue An, along with his ever-smiling face, also won over many people’s favor.

It even caused many young girls in the town to have hearts aflutter, often seeking various opportunities to talk to Xue An.

But no matter who it was, Xue An would always just smile and nod, his expression full of aloofness, never showing any extra closeness to any girl.

This left many of the girls deeply dejected.

However, Xue An was very close to Xiao Rui and the other children, often taking out candies to reward them.

This quickly turned him into the children’s hero in the town, becoming the idol in these kids’ hearts.

Especially Xiao Rui, who had pretty much become Xue An’s little sidekick.

Whenever there was free time, a group of children would gather around Xue An to listen to his tellings of strange and wondrous tales.

Today was no exception.

During the rest time after lunch, Xue An finished telling a segment about Sun Wukong making a ruckus in the Heavenly Palace.

The story made the children’s eyes shine with excitement.

“Wow, is there really such an amazing monkey?”

“Yeah! It sounds so thrilling!”

The adults couldn’t help but click their tongues in admiration as well.

Only Xing Yushu watched from a distance with a touch of indifference, but his heart was somewhat stirred.

Because he suddenly remembered his and his grandfather’s current predicament, which was so similar to Sun Wukong being suppressed under Five Finger Mountain.

Regrettably, he didn’t possess the monkey’s formidable power! Xing Yushu felt a tinge of sadness in his heart.

At that moment, Xiao Rui suddenly said, “Big brother, are you going to teach us calligraphy today?”

Since Xue An had previously promised this little girl, whenever he had time during the past few days, he would teach them how to write.

Speaking of which, the script here seemed to be interconnected with the ancient script of the Hua Clan, yet these people were certainly not of the Hua Clan.

This inevitably deepened the thread of curiosity in Xue An’s heart.

However, at this moment, when he heard Xiao Rui’s words, he couldn’t help but smile slightly, “Today, I won’t teach you writing, how about I paint a picture for you instead?”

“Painting? Yay, yay!” Xiao Rui and the other children cheered excitedly.

Xue An smiled faintly, then picked up the brush and ink, went in front of the city gate, looked up to examine the slightly dilapidated gate for a few moments, then his brush danced like a Dragon-Snake as he began to paint on the gate.