65: Chapter 65 Senior Brother, you really know how?

After a brief silence below the stage, someone immediately lost their patience. A scholar wearing a cyan robe and holding a folding fan took a step forward.

"I'll do it!"

With his head held high and chest puffed out, he walked to the screen, swaying his head as he studied it for a long while. Then, he snapped his fan shut and said loudly, "I have it!"

"Clouds remind one of her clothes, flowers of her face; the spring breeze brushes the railing, the dew is thick and fragrant."

"A beauty's smile can topple a kingdom; I would gladly die as a hero beneath her skirt!"

As his voice fell, the entire venue went silent for a moment before erupting into a roar of laughter.

"Hahaha, you call that a poem?"

"Vulgar, simply utterly vulgar!"

The scholar's face turned beet red from the laughter, and he slunk back into the crowd in disgrace.

Next, several more people refused to believe their luck and stepped forward to try. Without exception, the lines they added were like a dog's tail grafted onto a mink, drawing bursts of ridicule.

Behind the gauze curtain, that graceful figure remained silent. Even the sound of the pipa never stopped, as if she were completely indifferent to everything.

Just as the crowd was beginning to feel disappointed, thinking that no one would be able to win her favor tonight, the crowd suddenly parted to both sides.

A Young Master dressed in a brocade robe with a face as fair as jade slowly walked in, surrounded by a group of servants.

"It's Young Master Xu!"

"Xu Wencai of Zhulu Academy, Young Master Xu!"

"He is a famous talent in our Xiushan Prefecture. It's said that in last year's academy examination, he easily took the top spot!"

Exclamations rang out from the crowd, and everyone's attention was instantly drawn to him.

With a conceited smile on his face, Xu Wencai enjoyed the adoration of the crowd. He walked to the front of the stage and gave the half-finished poem a casual glance, revealing a confident smirk.

"Trivial tricks."

He cleared his throat and recited loudly: "Clouds remind one of her clothes, flowers of her face; the spring breeze brushes the railing, the dew is thick and fragrant."

"If you ask where the Fairy can be found, she is right here amidst the smoke and clouds."

As soon as these lines were spoken, the hall immediately became quiet.

Although it wasn't as stunning as the first two lines, the Concept was far-reaching and the parallelism was quite neat, far beyond the reach of those previous 'rotten melons and cracked dates'.

"Good!"

"As expected of Young Master Xu!"

Cheers rose one after another.

The look of triumph on Xu Wencai's face grew even stronger. He gave a suave cupped-fist salute toward the gauze curtain.

"Miss Nishang, does this humble one's second half find favor in your Dharma Eye?"

A moment later, a female voice so gentle it could practically drip water came from behind the gauze curtain.

"Young Master Xu is overflowing with talent; Nishang is impressed."

Just that one sentence, and nothing more followed.

The smile on Xu Wencai's face froze.

This was praise, but it was not an invitation.

Unwilling to give up, he raised his voice: "Miss Nishang, I'm afraid there is no one else in this place who can compose a better poem than I."

"Miss, you may have no other choice."

These words carried a hint of coercion.

Although the people present were dissatisfied, no one refuted him. After all, Xu Wencai's poem was indeed the best so far.

Behind the gauze curtain, silence fell once again.

In this delicate standoff, a clear youthful voice suddenly rang out.

"Who says there's no one?"

Everyone looked toward the source of the sound and saw Zhang Shan standing out, his somewhat childish face filled with annoyance.

Xu Wencai glanced at him. Seeing his martial artist's attire, he couldn't help but sneer.

"Oh? Could it be that this little brother also understands poetry and lyrics?"

Zhang Shan was choked by the remark, his face flushing red; he didn't know a damn thing about poetry.

But he couldn't stand Xu Wencai's arrogance, acting all high and mighty and looking down on martial artists.

He suddenly turned around, grabbed Chen Fan behind him, and pushed him in front of everyone.

"My Senior Brother understands!"

"My Senior Brother is a Dragon among men! Poetry, lyrics, songs, and odes—he's proficient in them all! Dealing with you is more than enough!"

Chen Fan: "..."

His whole body went numb.

Good for you, Zhang Shan, you've learned some bad habits! Pitting your Senior Brother, are you?

In an instant, over a hundred pairs of eyes in the hall focused squarely on Chen Fan. There was curiosity, there was doubt, but mostly there was disbelief.

Xu Wencai looked Chen Fan up and down. Seeing how ordinary he appeared, his smile became even more contemptuous.

"Him?"

"A martial boor who doesn't even wear a long scholar's robe, fit to discuss poetry?"

"Kid, don't try to seek attention here, just beat it!"

The surrounding Longxing Sect Disciples were all filled with righteous indignation and were about to step forward to argue.

Chen Fan, however, raised his hand and stopped them.

He sighed in his heart.

Fine, fine. Since I've been put on the spot like this, I have no choice but to show off.

Facing Xu Wencai's ridicule, the hall full of doubt, and a searching gaze coming from behind the gauze curtain...

Chen Fan didn't look at anyone.

He just gazed at the characters on the screen, as if recalling something, or perhaps just speaking offhandedly.

He nonchalantly uttered the second half.

"If not encountered on the peaks of Jade Mountain,"

"Then surely met beneath the moon at the Jasper Terrace."

As his voice fell.

The entire Yihong Brothel fell into a deathly silence.

So quiet a needle could be heard dropping.

All the clamor, all the noise, all the doubt—at this moment, they were completely crushed and turned into nothingness.

The people who were laughing just a moment ago now had their eyes wide open and their mouths agape, like ducks being strangled by the neck, unable to say a single word.

The expressions on their faces shifted from disdain to bewilderment, then to shock, and finally transformed into a near-pilgrimage-like fervor!

"Heavens... a voice from the heavens!"

"A divine stroke! This is the true divine stroke!"

No one knew who shouted first, but the entire hall instantly exploded like a ladle of cold water being thrown into boiling oil!

"My God! This poem should only exist in the heavens; how often can it be heard in the mortal world!"

"I have studied the books of sages for twenty years, and only today do I know what a Poet Immortal is!"

Xu Wencai stood frozen on the spot. His handsome face was drained of blood, turning deathly pale.

He murmured those two lines of poetry repeatedly, his body trembling uncontrollably.

He lost.

He lost utterly and completely, his dignity shredded.

His meager talent was as insignificant as dust before these two lines of poetry.

Zhang Shan and the other Senior and Junior Brothers of the Longxing Sect were even more petrified.

They looked at Chen Fan's back—the Senior Brother who usually took them out for drinks and music, who was so easygoing he didn't have a hint of pretension.

At this moment, he seemed so... profound and unfathomable.

Zhang Shan swallowed hard, leaned in toward Chen Fan, and asked in a dreamlike tone.

"Senior Brother... you... you actually know how?"

However, Chen Fan did not answer him.

Because, the very moment his voice fell.

Upon the high stage, the gauze curtain that had remained still was gently pulled aside by a pale, delicate hand.

"This Young Master..."