Chapter 120: Lu Guangyan

  The next day on the playground, none of the 17 instructors from the previous day showed up, and they collectively disappeared. Only Bai Zhan Chi came, and he was much more subdued. At 8:30, 17 new instructors were dispatched from the Armed Police Corps, these instructors were relatively young, some were only three years older than the freshmen, and everyone quickly became familiar with each other.

  And the intensity of this batch of instructors' training was obviously very low, just standing in formation and posing. During breaks, they would also chat with students, telling strange stories, such as the theft case at Panjiayuan a few days ago, where a group of thieves stole from an antique shop in Panjiayuan, ignoring all the antiques in the room and only stealing a few pieces of cut green stone.

  Xuan Qi smiled but didn't speak, it seemed that the emergence of the Heavenly Spirit Treasure had already caught the attention of the Xuanmen people. Fortunately, he had Lao Gui, otherwise, things would have gotten much more complicated.

  People always measure by comparison. If the bearded ones are Tibetan mastiffs that dare to challenge fierce tigers, then the new instructors are a flock of lambs, not insulting them, but they have experienced too little. And Bai Zhan is a sheepdog, with a ferocious expression towards the lambs, but once he encounters a real fierce beast, he will immediately become flustered and retreat in disarray.

  Lao Ding asked in Xuan Qi's ear: "You've thought about it for a whole night, have you figured it out?"

  "A gentleman is open and aboveboard, but he can't stand on a precarious wall." Xuan Qi said in a low voice: "I'm just a mortal. Are you sure this flesh and blood body can withstand bullets?"

  The hypocritical old man showed no mercy, directly exposing Xuan Qi: "If you didn't want to take action, why did you still give him your phone number?"

  "Are you still coming with me?" Xuan Qi's eyes sparkled: "If you think we can make it, let's go and rescue them. If you don't think so, then we'll just take a call and give remote instructions."

  "The cunning and shameless" old turtle realized that he had stepped into Xuan Qi's trap. Although his mouth was not pleased, his heart was not so: "Just now you also heard that the birth of An Hún Yù has already attracted the attention of other Xuan Men. If you want to stand firm in Huá Xià Xuan Men, you must have your own power. I've seen these seventeen men, they are all loyal and honest people. This time they fell into danger, it was also the fault of their superiors. As long as you show them kindness, they will surely repay you heavily."

  Lao Ding said and opened another eight trigrams in Xuan Qi's eyes: "I also drew a divination for you. After calculating, it is a great auspice to help them with no danger. Whether to do or not to do, you decide for yourself."

  "There's no harm in doing something that only has benefits, so why not do it?" Xuan Qi also felt the urgency of time and wanted to revive the orthodox school of Xuanmen. To do this, he needed his own power, and the Stabbing Blade Squad would inevitably be incorporated under his command.

  After a day of training, Su Mengxue found Xuan Qi and asked him to accompany her to visit Lu Guangyan. Bai Zhangyi, who had been scolded by Xuan Qi earlier, was now subdued. He only dared to glare from a distance, not daring to come forward and cause trouble.

  A few days ago, Su Mengxue wanted to visit Lu Guangyan, but heard that he was recuperating at home. After the military training at the beginning of school, it wasn't until today that she had time, and she brought Xuan Qi along because Lu Guangyan knew that Su Mengxue and Xuan Qi were acquainted, so he asked both children to come.

  Knock open the Lu family's door, and Lu Guangyan's face reveals a smile: "Mingxue, you're here to buy something, how can you still be buying things? When you leave, you must take them with you." He says, looking at Xuanqi: "The other day, thanks to you. The doctor said that if it weren't for your timely treatment, I would have gone to see Marx already."

  Xuan Qi smiled faintly, unsure of how to respond. Dealing with human emotions was still a bit too difficult for Xuan Qi, this was his current biggest weakness.

  Su Mengxue seemed calm: "This gift, as long as you take a look, you will definitely like it."

  Three people walked into the house chatting, Lu Guangyan had already brewed a pot of Dongding Oolong tea, poured a cup for each of the two children, and then looked at Su Mingxue opening the box. The coral red vase appeared in front of Lu Guangyan, who was still surprised: "Isn't this the Qianlong-style coral red enamel peony vase from Old Wei's store? It's priced at 500,000 yuan, too expensive, I can't accept it."

  As the antique craze swept through, whether it was genuine interest or just following the trend, ancient artifacts and paintings became all the rage in Beijing's high society. As the principal of Beiqing University, I naturally had some exposure to this field due to my surroundings. I even got to see with my own eyes the famous Qing Dynasty Qianlong period coral red enamel "Happy Magpie Reporting Good News" reward vase from Jiguxuan.

  "This is the one." Su Mingxue's eyes sparkled with pride: "But it wasn't sold for 500,000, instead it was to be given to us, because this bottle had a wrong name"

  Su Mengxue handed the small ticket to Lu Guangyan, who put on his glasses and took a closer look. A smile immediately appeared at the corner of his mouth: "So that's it, so that's it!" He was momentarily delighted, like an old mischievous child: "I said this bottle's year didn't match, turns out it's a Republic-era imitation, what a great Republic-era imitation, indeed it's also cleverly made."

  Lu Guangyan and Su Binglin have been friends for many years. Lu Guangyan also knew that Su Binglin was wealthy, so he put the bottle away and said to Su Xue: "I can't just take something from Old Su for nothing, you can choose any calligraphy or painting from my studio."

  Lu Guangyan is not only the principal of Beiqing, but also has a deep attainments in ink painting, studying under Baoshi Old Man, especially good at mountain and stone painting. His cursive script is unique and influential in the northern art world. In the calligraphy and painting circle, Lu's works have reached a price of 100,000 yuan per foot, and this price will continue to rise with the heat of the art market as Lu Guangyan gradually ages.

  Su Mengxue nodded and responded in a sweet voice, leading Xuan Qi into the painting room next to the living room. The framed paintings exuded a hint of elegant spirit, arranged like living objects that formed a special small community.

  Xuan Qi followed Su Mang Xue to gaze at the paintings in the house. The heavy ink and bright colors of the strange rocks, the flowing clouds and water of the wild grass, made Xuan Qi involuntarily sink into them. The elegant lines seemed to be carved with a knife, yet also flowed like clouds and water, unrestrained and unbridled. The bold and free-spirited words came alive one by one, and Xuan Qi found some inspiration from them. Standing in front of the worktable, he picked up the wolf hair brush, dipped it into the inkstone's thick ink, and began to write on the rice paper with a flourish.

  Lu Guangyan's eyes flickered with a strange color as he caught up to Su Mengxue, who was about to go forward. He slightly shook his head at her, signaling her to be quiet and not disturb Xuan Qi.

  Xuan Qi is now in the realm of Xuan Zhi You Xuan, writing one Dao character after another with a brush, Xuan is cultivating the Dao, and there are countless principles in this world, all boiling down to one Dao character. Xuan Qi freely and effortlessly writes his Dao characters on rice paper, stroke by stroke, with a flourish and a dash. His mind is completely immersed, using elegant and free-spirited wild script, majestic and unrestrained in seeking the Dao.

  When the last stroke fell, Xuan Qi felt a void under his brush, and the wolf hair brush surprisingly penetrated through the paper. On the entire large rice paper, more than 300 Taoist characters appeared, and these Taoist characters were arranged in an irregular shape to form another large Taoist character.

  Lu Guangyan looked at Xuan Qi as he woke up from the realm of Xuan Zhi You Xuan, and couldn't help but walk forward, looking at the Dao characters that seemed to be scribbled like a child's drawing. His eyebrows furrowed in concern, but then flashed with delight. The naturalness of his Dao method was unique, seemingly chaotic yet actually containing the hidden meaning of the Heavenly Way.

  Looking back on the long history of calligraphy and painting, works that have been passed down through generations, such as Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion", were also written in a moment of inspiration, with corrections made after mistakes. They perfectly embody the artist's state of mind and technique. Even if Wang Xizhi rewrote the "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion" later on, no matter how hard he tried, he could not recapture the original mood.

  Of course, this doesn't mean that Xuán Qì's calligraphy can be compared to the great Wáng Xīzhī. This painting-like Daoist character chart is technically a mess, completely lacking in skill, but its spirit is indeed extraordinary. In Lú Guǎngyán's eyes, Xuán Qì was an unpolished gem, and with just a bit of refinement, he would shine brightly.

  Lu Guangyan was overjoyed and treasured the Daoist calligraphy as if it were a precious treasure, regardless of whether Xuan Qi agreed or not. If Xuan Qi truly refused, Lu Guangyan planned to be stubborn and unreasonable, even crying if necessary, to get his hands on this piece of calligraphy. In terms of technique, Lu Guangyan's skills had already reached near perfection, but what he lacked was spiritual enlightenment. This piece of calligraphy seemed like a key that could unlock the highest door.

  Lao Ding whispered in Xuan Qi's ear: "When you write cursive script, do you feel an unprecedented sense of intoxication and freedom?" Seeing Xuan Qi nod, Lao Ding continued: "Actually, the Taoist method and array method are interconnected. Calligraphy is using lively lines to form a more lively text, while array method is using one line after another to form a circuit node. If you can combine calligraphy and array method, then you..."

  No need to say more, Xuan Qi already understood. Looking at Lu Guangyan who seemed to be acting spoiled, Xuan Qi said: "This can indeed send you away, but you have to teach me the basic knowledge of calligraphy."

  "There is no shortcut to mastering calligraphy, diligent study and bitter practice will inevitably lead to great success. I'll give you some model letters to copy first, focus on the form, then the spirit. After that, absorb and integrate the strengths of various schools, and you'll naturally develop your own style." Lu Guangyan's expression turned serious when discussing professional knowledge: "Go buy some rice paper and ink, starting tomorrow, write 10,000 characters every day. Once you're proficient, we can discuss and refine further."

  Lu Guangyan, who was overjoyed at the sight of hunting, subtly touched the door and didn't stay long. He rolled up two calligraphy and painting works, took out a package of tool books and handed them directly to the two men, then sent them off. Lu Guangyan stayed in his study, gazing at the artistic conception of Xuan Qi's calligraphy, repeatedly copying it. Three years later, he indeed became the number one master of calligraphy and painting in modern Chinese literary world.

  When he was about to pass away, he dictated his memoirs to others. He particularly introduced the Taoist couplet, which caused a sensation in the calligraphy and painting world again after many years, when the Taoist couplet written by Xuán Qǐ reappeared.

  The little fish and shrimp can't see the door, and they all think this is just a child's scribble. The calligraphy masters who are about to become a school of their own can see the Taoist rhyme contained in these characters, as well as the sense of unity between heaven and man, and drive away those small fish and shrimp. After that, they forget to sleep and eat, imitating and trying to push open that big door. When they all become masters, the name "Xuan Qi" spreads throughout the calligraphy and painting world, although there is only one work, but it is revered as the master of the masters. Of course, this is a later story.