Chapter 17 - Novelist School.

"Novelist School? Is that the novelist who writes stories?"

"No, no, no, it's the Novelist School that records facts." Hearing Xu Xuan's question, the man beside him corrected Xu Xuan while patting the dust off his body.

"And you have the nerve to say that everything you write is factual? It's clearly all fabricated stuff." Hearing the other party's words, Xiaozhuang once again grabbed his collar in dissatisfaction: "Forget it, let's just kill this trash."

"Killing people is against the law!"

"Killing you Novelist School members is eliminating harm for the people, so I won't have any psychological burden. As for breaking the law, let the Chu people come and arrest me!"

"Hey, hey, you're also a prominent figure, don't always resort to fighting and killing." Listening to Xiaozhuang's words, who immediately wanted to kill him, the Novelist School member argued with dissatisfaction: "You are clearly also a prominent figure, yet you want to make things difficult for a small official like me?"

"Small official? Is he an official?" Hearing the other party's words, Xu Xuan asked in confusion.

"That's right, you probably didn't travel much down the mountain before the Sword Hall incident. Almost all of the Novelist School members are officials who work for the kings of various states, specifically to record the words and deeds, rumors, livelihoods, or strange events of the local people."

"Then aren't you supposed to accurately record what you see and hear?" Hearing the other party's words, Xu Xuan was a little confused.

"But they often misinterpret and modify reality, then report it. Sometimes they even integrate the collected stories, heavily modify them, and then publish them on bamboo slips for the world to see." Xiaozhuang said with dissatisfaction: "I've been slandered quite a bit by these guys in the past."

"Embellishment, we just embellished it a bit. Besides, Miss Zhuang, you are very famous. Naturally, there are many stories about you. You know, we've written many good things about you and added a lot of mystery to your image among the common folk. Just for that, you have no reason to be so rude to us, do you?"

"Yes, it's written quite well, but unfortunately, it's not me." Hearing the other party's words, Xiaozhuang said with an unfriendly expression.

"Saying that makes me so sad. We always thought you were from the same school as us." Looking at Xiaozhuang, the man said something that surprised Xu Xuan.

"I have nothing to do with you. After all, I'm just an ordinary person, stop chasing me."

"Many of us think you are an incredible senior! Some even suggested you become the leader of the Novelist School! After all, the Novelist School is currently without a leader." The Novelist School man, wearing a veil with a giant eye drawn on it, suddenly approached Xiaozhuang and said seriously. But the next second, he was punched away by Xiaozhuang again.

"Hey, hey, won't he be alright?"

"Don't worry, he won't die." Xiaozhuang said with dissatisfaction.

"But his face is bleeding under the veil." Looking at the person who rolled away, Xu Xuan couldn't help but complain.

"I'm fine. Being beaten by Miss Zhuang is a blessing I couldn't ask for. You know, there aren't many people in this world that Miss Zhuang clearly dislikes so much!" Hearing Xu Xuan's words, the Novelist School member stood up again and said in a very proud tone.

"What kind of perverted statement is that?"

"By the way, young swordsman, I actually came to find you this time. Can I talk to you? Of course, in return, I can answer all your previous questions." As if suddenly remembering something, he said to Xu Xuan: "Actually, ever since I heard about someone like you appearing beside Master Mo, I've been very curious about you. How about it? Give me a chance to treat you to a meal. Of course, Miss Zhuang can also come along. The location is the best restaurant in this city, Xianwei Restaurant. How does that sound?"

"Don't listen to him, nothing good comes from being involved with this guy." Hearing the other party's invitation, Xiaozhuang immediately said to Xu Xuan.

"I'm willing to pay for whatever you eat." The Novelist School member spoke again: "Also, you can make any requests. Don't worry, I swear on my conscience that I have absolutely no ill intentions."

"..." Hearing the other party's words, Xiaozhuang fell into a brief silence, then suddenly said: "There is indeed one request, I want to see your face. I've met many people from the Novelist School, but I've never seen the true face of any Novelist School member until now. Will you let me see your face? If you let me see your face, I'll agree."

"Hey, hey, this completely disregards my decision." Hearing Xiaozhuang's words, Xu Xuan couldn't help but say: "However, since coming to Dongchu City, I do have many questions I want to ask. A local official who specifically investigates public sentiment should be able to help a lot."

"Uh, the reason we cover our faces is to prevent being harmed after our true identities are exposed! After all, we have quite a few enemies."

"Hmph, scared now?" Xiaozhuang said, puffing out her chest. Xu Xuan, from the side, couldn't help but confirm again. It was very soft, very full, completely different from the flatness he saw at noon, but he was sure he had touched the same person. He just couldn't understand why the girl had grown so remarkably in one afternoon.

"Alright, I promise you, as long as you accept my invitation, I will remove my black veil and let you see to your heart's content. Also, I promise to tell you my name. How about that?"

"Very good, let's go." Hearing the other party's words, Xiaozhuang finally nodded. As for Xu Xuan, he followed behind the two towards a seemingly luxurious three-story building in the city. Upon entering, Xiaozhuang unceremoniously ordered the best room and the most expensive food and wine, clearly intending to make the other party pay dearly.

It was then that Xu Xuan noticed that despite being such a large restaurant, there weren't many customers. And it should have been dinner time. What puzzled Xu Xuan most was that this restaurant required payment upfront for dinner in the afternoon. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

"Well, first, let me introduce myself. I am Liu Xian of the Novelist School." The Novelist School member cupped his hands and bowed to the two, then sat down at the table.

"Sword Hall, Jianxuan." Xu Xuan cupped his hands to the other party, then sat down. As for Xiaozhuang, she completely ignored the other party, sat directly in her seat, and then began to urge the waiter to bring the wine.

"Oh, Sword Hall? I heard from fellow disciples that the Mist Realm moved to the Sword Hall's mountain gate, which means the current Sword Hall's base should have been completely assimilated by the Mist Realm, right? I wonder where you were at that time?" As he spoke, Liu Xian saw the iron chain on Xu Xuan's arm and the Chiyou Sword on his back: "I understand, you must have stolen the mountain gate's treasure to escape, and then used its power to break out. But there's no other way, after all, these matters involve one's survival, and humanity, at the moment of facing life and death, often reveals its dark side, just as Master Xun said, human nature is inherently evil. No, no, no, one shouldn't think so simply. It should be that there were long-standing grievances among your fellow disciples. After all, sword cultivators are about survival of the fittest. Competition among fellow disciples must be extremely fierce, even resorting to various dirty tricks. And then, both your master and disciples had their own schemes, and you were the one who had the last laugh, taking advantage of everyone's inattention to ambush and obtain the sect's divine artifact, then using this artifact to escape the Mist Realm. As the saying goes, fellow disciples should be close, but alas, they entered the Sword Hall in this life! Hahaha, interesting. I can go back and report to the King of Chu, record it, mission accomplished."

The next instant, a cold light flashed, and the Chiyou Sword unsheathed, bringing a sharp aura directly towards the other party's face. However, the long sword ultimately did not pierce Liu Xian's body, because a finger appeared out of nowhere and pressed against the long sword, actually forcing Xu Xuan's thrusting sword down onto the table.

"Now I understand why these guys are so hated." Looking at Xiaozhuang's playful expression, Xu Xuan said helplessly. Then he retracted his long sword.

"Sorry, old habits."

"You know nothing, yet you fabricated so much based on so little information?" Looking at Liu Xian, Xu Xuan said in surprise: "You don't report to the king like this, do you?"

"Yes, that's how we usually record things."

"Then aren't you constantly deceiving your king?" Hearing the other party's words, Xu Xuan was somewhat shocked by what he said.

"It's not that I deceive the king, but that the king wishes to be deceived by us in this way." Hearing Xu Xuan's words, Liu Xian merely said calmly.

"What do you mean? Isn't your job to truly record the lives of the common people? In other words, it's one of the ways for the king to understand his subjects." Hearing the other party's words, Xu Xuan said in surprise: "Tampering with the truth and fabricating stories like this isn't something people of the Hundred Schools should do, is it?"

"Yes, perhaps we should truthfully record how many people live on this street, how many common folk there are, how they usually eat, dress, and spend, what has happened in the city recently, what rumors there are, or what prices have changed, and so on." Liu Xian's tone was neither hurried nor slow: "Then organize it into local records and report it to the kings. And then what? What's the point?"

"Is it meaningless for the king to understand the true situation of the locality?"

"I don't know about other states, but at least in the Eastern Chu State, it's meaningless. Most of those records will be stored for a few decades, then burned as firewood." Hearing Xu Xuan's words, Liu Xian corrected: "Those things, those who should know will naturally know, and even without recording, everyone in the world knows clearly. Those who shouldn't know will naturally not know, and even if recorded, the king won't read them."

"You mean they won't read them?"

"How many villages are there in just one Eastern Chu State? And how many cities?" Liu Xian asked Xu Xuan: "How many cities are there in the Nine Provinces of the world? Do they need to understand each and every one? Those dry numbers mean nothing to them. They care about national affairs, world affairs, and matters of power. Not these trivial little things. So even if we write truthfully, the kings won't read them. Compared to our records, they trust the words of the literati and officials who advise them more. The words of these people can represent the people, while our records cannot represent the people of the world at all. However, our stories are another matter; kings very much enjoy reading interesting stories from various places."