119 Marketplace (Part 3)

"What is it?"

Observing the young man who seemed ignorant of the ways of the world, Qishan restrained the strange feeling in his heart. 

"Pacifying the world, do you truly dare to dream such grand dreams? When one is impoverished, one looks after oneself, but when one is successful, one helps the world. When even sustenance is a concern, do you aspire to aid the world and benefit all beings?"

"And why not?"

Shen Tang's words initially began as playful banter with Zhai Le, but Qishan's inquiry stirred up a sense of defiance within her. She refused to retreat, her words ringing with conviction!

"Even a commoner has lofty ambitions! As long as there is warmth in one's heart, one will not remain indifferent to the plight of these common people."

So now even boasting in this world requires taxation? If one doesn't dare to dream at all, then it's truly the end.

"I am young and vigorous, capable of articulating thoughts. Why then should I not dare to dream? Even Du Shaoling, drifting in Shu, destitute and alone, with only hungry children and an elderly wife by his side, could still exclaim, 'How I long for a spacious house...' "

A sudden change occurred! Shen Tang only uttered four words, but in an instant, the literary air that had filled the study was completely depleted, not a trace remaining!

A profound sense of powerlessness spread throughout her limbs, causing her vision to darken and her legs to weaken, nearly causing her to collapse forward.

If it weren't for Zhai Le's quick reflexes in grabbing her shoulder, her face would have surely met the ground.

"Shen Xiong! Shen Xiong, what's wrong with you!"

This sudden turn of events also startled Qishan.

"Shen Yuli? Yuli!"

He initially thought it was a recurrence of Shen Tang's old ailment, but upon feeling her pulse, he realized something was amiss—weak and feeble, her literary spirit was in decline.

This was clearly a sign of depleted literary energy. Even Zhai Le, with his half-baked medical skills, could discern it.

The two exchanged glances. The prerequisite for literary energy depletion was that Shen Tang had just used a particularly dominant literary spirit that exceeded her tolerance limit. The problem was—

The three of them had been together just now! When had Shen Tang used such a literary spirit?

"As fire burns, new life emerges with the spring breeze."

Without dwelling on this layer of speculation, Qishan pressed his lips together and activated his literary spirit to assist Shen Tang in recovering her literary energy. In just a moment, a hint of color returned to her deathly pale face, and the suffocating weakness, akin to drowning, alleviated significantly, allowing her to barely stand on her own.

"Yuli, what just happened?" Qishan asked.

Shen Tang herself was at a loss. She replied, "I don't know either. Suddenly, everything started spinning, and I felt weak and uncomfortable all over..."

"Did you use any literary spirit? Shen Xiong, surely you would know?" Zhai Le's tone shifted from casual to extremely serious. "One should not lightly attempt unfamiliar literary spirits, that's common knowledge!"

Unfamiliar... Literary spirit?

Qishan frowned as he recalled something, then his brow slowly relaxed. He said, "Just now, Shen Xiaolangjun meant to say, 'How I long for a spacious house, where a great shelter shelters all the cold-hearted fellows of the world'?"

Shen Tang shuddered at these words. The sensation of her literary energy being completely drained was quite dreadful, and she had no desire to experience it a second time, but—

"Why is it that you're fine?" she asked.

Qishan's eyes held a complex expression. "Because to me, it's just an ordinary phrase. Naturally, I can say it, and not only can I, but Zhai Xiaolangjun can as well. Repeat it for him."

Zhai Le felt puzzled, but he repeated it nonetheless.

Sure enough, nothing happened.

Shen Tang took a moment to catch on to what was meant. With wide eyes filled with astonishment, she asked, "Why is it like this?"

Qishan explained, "You triggered that particular literary spirit. It simply failed due to insufficient literary energy."

Shen Tang protested, "But I didn't..."

Qishan advised, "Be more careful next time."

While this was said, he still harbored many unresolved doubts. For instance—why did that particular literary spirit completely surpass Shen Xiaolangjun's tolerance limit, draining her literary energy entirely, yet resulting in mere weakness?

In past instances, the protagonist would invariably either suffer backlash to their literary mansion or face a shortened lifespan.

Compared to them, Shen Xiaolangjun was truly an anomaly.

Could it be related to that imperial seal?

"How can I be more careful? Maybe I should just practice silent meditation..." Shen Tang once again felt stifled—this world was simply unfriendly to chatterboxes. The last time she felt this stifled was when Gu Chi, the bane of chatterboxes, was around. "Not talking might kill me!"

Who could have imagined that uttering a single sentence could render oneself incapacitated?

Zhai Le had to remind her.

"Shen Xiong, activating a literary spirit isn't about reciting it with your mouth..."

Orating the literary spirit was meant to enhance precision and success rate! The true activation of the literary spirit relied on the "mind." However, not everyone could achieve a single-minded focus. Once distracted, the literary spirit would either fail or its effects greatly diminished, hence the need for "oral recitation" as an aid.

Shen Tang felt the urge to retreat.

Could she not even think anymore???

Fortunately, things weren't as dire as that.

"Control your literary spirit properly, and refrain from activating it too lightly."

After all, Qishan was an experienced figure. He had a certain understanding of Shen Tang, and with a bit of thought, he identified the problem—Shen Xiaolangjun lacked common knowledge, and things that others took for granted, "he" might not know. Following this line of thought led to the crux of the matter.

In short, Shen Tang didn't know how to control her literary spirit.

Shen Tang felt a sense of disdain directed at her.

"Where exactly am I lacking control?" she retorted.

With so many buns, green plums, rock candies, and even wine stored in the village, all of them were created by her literary spirit. If this were a video game, her skill would have been maxed out long ago. How could this person say she lacked control over her literary spirit???

Qishan felt the urge to roll his eyes. "Because what you consider 'control' and what we consider 'control' are completely different."

Shen Tang insisted on getting to the bottom of it. "How are they different?"

Qishan hesitated for a moment before replying. "Well..."

As it turned out, they were vastly different.

Ordinary literary artists could control the actual effects of their literary spirits by adjusting the amount of literary energy, either enhancing or weakening them. Shen Tang simply skipped this step. 

To liken the literary spirit to a production line, the literary energy of the Dan Mansion served as the raw material, and the effects of the literary spirit were the final products. Literary artists controlled the production line to adjust various raw materials based on the instructions of the literary spirit, ultimately producing the desired products. This was the norm.

Shen Tang's situation, however, was like being a negligent shopkeeper who, upon receiving an order, directly opened the production line without checking if the raw materials were sufficient. They just stepped on the accelerator at full throttle, with maximum efficiency. But once the raw materials were depleted without producing even half-finished products, wouldn't they be left dumbfounded?

Then, Qishan presented compelling evidence of Shen Tang's inability to control her literary spirit, leaving her speechless.

"If you truly had mastery over it, why do you only create one bun each time? Clearly, you could fill the entire bamboo basket in one go."

Shen Tang: "???"

Shen Tang: "!!!"

Seeing Shen Tang's expression, Qishan knew he was right.

He sighed. "It's okay. Go back and work on your weaknesses. With Shen Xiaolangjun's talent, it shouldn't take long. If you can control it completely, similar incidents of loss of control shouldn't occur."