Chapter 144 - Calligraphy Master Gui Yuanzhang (2/2)
Last time, they had come late at night and didn’t pay attention to the surrounding scenery. This time, they got a closer look. Xiao Lou found that the back of the villa had a large bamboo forest. The green bamboo forest surrounded by streams made people mistakenly think that they had come to a high seclusion area in a martial arts novel.
Xue Mingyue was waiting for them at the door. She saw Xiao Lou and greeted him before bringing everyone into the house.
The old gentleman with grey hair was making tea. The fragrance of tea spread throughout the room. Once he heard the footsteps, he looked up slowly with gentle eyes. “The guests are here. Please sit down and have a cup of tea first. Then we’ll have lunch together later.”
Seeing Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang sitting by the side of Old Gui, the others also quickly found a seat.
This was the first time they met the president of the legendary Distant Guild and couldn’t believe it. Old Gui was 60 years old, right? How did he live in this cruel Card World?
Gui Yuanzhang might be old but he wasn’t hunched over or look old. Sitting there, he was as upright as the bamboo planted at the villa. The skin of his hand had lost moisture and the wrinkles were obvious. However, his fingers were very stable when he lifted the teapot and not the slightest tremor could be seen.
He handed the teacups to the group and spoke while pouring tea.”This is the new tea this year, green bamboo leaf. The people of this world don’t like to drink tea and I used a lot of effort to have people buy it.”
Xiao Lou knew more about this old man than any of his teammates.
Gui Yuanzhang was a famous master of calligraphy in reality. He was the vice president of the National Painting and Calligraphy a.s.sociation. He could write well and copy the handwriting of many ancient celebrities. Xiao Lou’s father was a calligrapher and had some friends.h.i.+p with Old Gui. He also had a collection of Old Gui’s calligraphy.
It was said that Old Gui was proficient in tea ceremony and his students gave him tea every time he visited. The rumours were true. Old Gui was very particular with his tea making. Xiao Lou politely took a sip from the cup. The fragrance was particularly refres.h.i.+ng. He seldom drank tea normally but the tea made by Mr Gui was really special.
Gui Yuanzhang poured tea for everyone before asking, “Did the first World Weekly go smoothly?”
Xiao Lou replied, “Overall it was smooth.”
Then Gui Yuanzhang glanced at Yu Hanjiang. “I heard you killed 56 sharks?”
Everyone was surprised he knew about it. Then Xiao Lou soon asked, “Did the Intelligence Bureau tell you?”
Gui Yuanzhang smiled. “Yes, you are newcomers yet brave. My eyes weren’t wrong.”
Yu Hanjiang directly spoke. “Senior, what do you want to tell us?”
Since his brother had him come to Old Gui, there must be something to explain. Sure enough, Gui Yuanzhang didn’t beat around the bush. He simply said, “You need to clear the B-grade secret rooms as soon as possible. I have prepared some cards here to help you.”
He glanced at Xue Mingyue and the long-haired beauty immediately brought out a card pack.
She handed the card pack to Yu Hanjiang and smiled. “These are material cards prepared by our guild.”
Gui Yuanzhang nodded. “There is no life-threatening danger in the low grade Hearts room. You can clear the instance if you solve the mystery in time. There are no hunters in the low grade Diamonds room. You just need to find a way out of the maze and break the mechanism. Clubs is just a lottery. The most dangerous one is Spades.”
Old Mo had met hunters in the Diamonds room because it was a World Weekly. However, there would be no hunters in the fixed secret rooms below J of Diamonds.
Xiao Lou wondered, “Senior, can I ask what level the elite team of the Distant Guild reached?”
Gui Yuanzhang replied, “The elite teams of the Distant Guild, Fallen Court and Luoying Pavilion have reached the S-grade secret rooms. There are no more than 50 people. However, we had to stop and didn’t dare continue moving on because the difficulty of the S-grade rooms will increase one level from the A-grade rooms. I had told you before that there was a very powerful team who was wiped out in the S-grade secret room.”
Lu Jiuchuan had apparently made a good call with the old man. Old Gui deliberately concealed about the team. In fact, the team led by Lu Jiuchuan wasn’t destroyed and Old Gui was one of the surviving members.
Xiao Lou didn’t pierce his words and picked up the card pack to take a look. The card pack sent was quite rich.
Eight of the B-grade ‘Wash Bag’ was given directly. It could be opened for a towel, toothbrush, cup, shampoo and shower gel.
There were the B-grade Laundry Liquid and Dryer that the girl had lent them in the previous World Weekly.
There was the B-grade Double Tent that was a waterproof tent useful in the wilderness. It held up to two people and came with pillows and blankets. Four copies of this card were given.
The B-grade card Travel Backpack could accommodate a large number of materials and there were also four copies. In addition, there were some Needles, Iron Pot, Chopsticks and other daily necessities.
The group was stunned. Old Gui was like an NPC who gave rewards. He gave so many supplies at once! Xiao Lou originally intended to go to the card market to buy some material cards. He hadn’t expected Old Gui to prepare all of them.
He looked at Old Gui in a grateful manner. “Senior, thank you. These cards are very practical.”
Gui Yuanzhang smiled. “You’re welcome. Most of these material cards come from the rewards for the World Weekly and the draw in the Clubs room. They will be more useful in the Spades survival room. In addition to Spades and Hearts, the later Diamonds and Clubs room will be harder. Material cards in those two rooms are fine. If you want to enhance your strength, you need to gain more control and combat cards.”
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were very clear about this. The S-grade Clubs room was no longer playing cards or drawing cards. It was direct PK against hunters. In the case when there was 10 times the number of people, wouldn’t it be impossible to smash an iron pot with chopsticks? These pots, pans and shampoo would make the conditions of the survival rooms better.
The key to survival depended on combat cards. For example, the four weapon cards that Yu Hanjiang drew were very strong, such as the Night Devil Saber, Bloodthirsty Golden Shark, Silver Moon and Star Blade. However, It wasn’t enough of Yu Hanjiang was the only output in the team!
Just then, Gui Yuanzhang suddenly took out a pen and smiled. “Are you confused about how I managed to live in the Card World when I’m an old man?”
In front of everyone’s curious eyes, he stood up and gently waved the brush in his hand.
They saw the air in front of them form dramatic fluctuations, like there was a gust of wind. Everyone’s teacups were blown into the air by this air flow! Then his strokes slowed down and he drew a beautiful arc. The teacups quickly lined up in a circle. Finally, his brush moved down and all the teacups returned to their original positions in an instant!
Throughout the process, not a single bit of liquid in the cup had poured out!
The jaws of Ye Qi, Liu Qiao and the others almost fell off while Xiao Lou’s face was full of shock. It was like watching a martial arts blockbuster on the spot. The white-haired Old Gui was like a martial artist who held a brush and killed enemies with it.
Old Gui took back the brush and spoke calmly. “I can survive by relying on this brush in my hand.”
The group was full of admiration.
Old Gui actually had a very strong card in his hand. He could use the brush to make the target float in the air as well as control the trajectory of the target in the air! In contrast, Xiao Lou’s floating Compa.s.s was simply child-like.
Old Gui’s eyes slowly swept across the group. “In the Card World, the real essence is the cards. As long as you have good cards and use them flexibly, you will have a frightening combat power no matter how old, weak or sick.”
He paused and lowered his voice before speaking earnestly. “This is why I called you here today. I wanted to tell you to never underestimate your strength. This is a magical world. Believe in yourself and you can create miracles.”
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