Chapter 68: Must Have Met an Immortal
Outside Anqing County, on the Fu family’s country estate…
A bamboo cottage stood right next to the fields. Its windows had been pushed open wide upwards and propped up with wooden poles, inviting the spring breeze and sunlight inside.
Outside, countless mountain peaks overlapped like a painting.
Inside, a scholar sat lazily, with all the necessities such as brushes, ink, books and ink-stone on the table. There was also a pile of rough straw paper. Some papers were held down by paperweights, while others lay scattered casually on the table. All were covered in small writing. The spring breeze carried the scent of ink throughout the room which was intoxicating when sniffed.
A bamboo basket at the side was filled with crumpled paper balls.
The scholar picked up a few recently-written sheets, scrutinizing them closely, occasionally making corrections and pondering deeply.
There were rumors in Nianping County about mantises that could eat people’s shadows. Locals avoided mantises, especially on bright sunny days. It was said that a newly-appointed county magistrate didn’t believe the tales. One day, while out on an inspection tour, he sat briefly in the fields and a mantis truly began eating his shadow.
By the time he discovered it, half of his shadow had already been eaten. Now, no matter what time the county magistrate went out and how sunny the sun was, he only had half a shadow left.
The scholar had paid a special visit and confirmed this wasn’t just a rumor.