Chapter Fifty-Five: The losing end

Yeah! It's been more than ten days already. Is she still waiting for me?

"Shh," he let out a heavy sigh.

The day he returned, he was given a severe flogging, and before he could recover, he was locked up by his master in the Ink Extending Pavilion.

It had been more than ten days since then, and he had been confined to the Ink Extending Pavilion by his master, tasked with copying the sect rules a thousand times.

A thousand times wouldn't be so frightening, but what was terrifying was that the sect rules of Fusang totaled two thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, with each one consisting of no less than a hundred characters.

Until today, there were still a hundred more times to go. Nan Xianyi gritted his teeth.

He thought to himself: No, I can't go along with what my master said anymore. More than a thousand times! Isn't that driving someone to death?

Usually, only a hundred times was the punishment, but this time, for some reason, it was a thousand times. If he didn't finish, he wouldn't be allowed to leave!

Wasn't this clearly an attempt to trap him in Fusang?

Nan Xianyi suddenly sat up like a corpse revived, scanning the surroundings. The boundary on the wall emitted a golden light.

Humph! If they won't let me out, then I'll have to force my way out.

With that, he recited a spell and struck upwards.

"Boom!"

The light wave collided with the boundary, making a crashing sound.

However, the result was not what he expected. Instead of breaking the boundary, the light wave rebounded.

This was something Nan Xianyi hadn't anticipated. Just as the light wave was about to hit him, he instinctively dodged to the side.

"Boom!" An even louder cracking sound was followed by the sound of books falling.

Even without turning around, he knew what had happened. A bad premonition surged in his heart.

Before he could take a step, the door was already open.

As the Lingxuan Emperor entered, he happened to witness the scene of the bookshelf collapsing, infuriating him to the extreme.

"You! Just because you were punished to copy the sect rules a few more times, you want to dismantle my Ink Extending Pavilion? If I let you go on like this, I'm afraid I'll have to sell Fusang."

"Clean up this mess by the end of the day, or you can forget about dinner."

With that, he swept his sleeves and left.

Leaving Nan Xianyi standing alone in place, he didn't say a word from beginning to end, nor did he move a single step.

Rather than being an observer, he seemed more like an outsider, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him.

"Crash!" Several books that were barely hanging on finally fell, breaking the silence in the air.

Nan Xianyi looked at the scattered books on the ground, sighed helplessly, and rubbed his forehead.

Tens of thousands of books! When will this be over? Moreover, the library had rules that each type of book had to be returned to its designated location.

Indeed, it was true what they said, "To lose the chicken and the rice." Now he truly understood the meaning of that phrase.

Before long, night fell, and the red glow rising in the sky was replaced by a layer of dark blue, resembling starlight.

Most of the scattered books had been put away, but there were still many piled up in the corners.

These books were classified and placed in fixed locations, some even on high platforms that required a ladder to reach.

Nan Xianyi first arranged the books on the lower level, then worked his way up. Now, only the top two levels were left.

Although it was nearing the end, he was already weak and feeble.

The pain on his back spread to his arms, and every movement was excruciating, especially his fingers, which were stiff and powerless.

Whether it was because he hadn't eaten or because of the pain in his back, he felt dizzy and nauseous.

The bamboo slip slipped from his hand, and he fell from the ladder, feeling lightheaded.