"..." Tang Xuan’s face showed even more regret, "Brother Xiao, you... sigh... forget it, the item is yours now."
The sacrificial statue of the Luoyu Tribe?
Chu Ming’s eyes flickered.
The Great Qin Dynasty consists of thirteen tribes and more than a hundred clans, among which the Luoyu Tribe is one of the top-ranking tribes, powerful and mysterious.
"Then many thanks to Brother Tang." Xiao Wen held the sculpture, liking it more the longer he looked at it.
"It’s getting late, Brother Tang, shall we call it a night?"
"Brother Xiao wins sothing and wants to leave?"
"Been on the road all day, really tired."
"True," Tang Xuan looked at the Shan County Magistrate, "County Magistrate Zhang, have the accommodations for the distinguished guests been arranged?"
County Magistrate Zhang hurriedly bowed, "Reporting to Lord Tang, all have been arranged."
"Lead the way then."
"Yes."
The Shan County Magistrate bowed and led the way.
Monts later, Chu Ming and the others arrived at the back courtyard of the County Governnt.
"This courtyard has been cleaned thoroughly," Brother Tang pushed open a room door, "Is Brother Xiao satisfied?"
Xiao Wen looked into the room, his eyes lit up imdiately, "Wow, why are there so many books?"
Inside the room, rows upon rows of bookshelves were filled with books, particularly conspicuous.
"Reporting to Xiao Jieshi, this courtyard is called Book Garden, where the accumulation of books creates a scholarly atmosphere, a feature of our Shan County Book Garden."
Shan County Magistrate Zhang bowed and replied, "I heard that Commissioner of Canal Transport Mr. Chu loves reading, so I took the liberty of arranging this for him..."
Book Garden? Feature?
Under the ticulous observation of the Sword Gourd Spirit, the books in the room seed to have been just placed there.
A feature made on a whim?
Chu Ming maintained a calm expression, not showing any reaction.
Tang Xuan first used a strategy of giving a gift only to take it back, sending the sculpture with a forbidden object to Xiao Wen, then arranged a room full of books.
He wanted to see what exactly this person intended to do.
"Haha, the arrangents are fine." Xiao Wen waved his hand, "Brother Tang, County Magistrate Zhang, it is indeed late, we still have to travel tomorrow, let’s all rest."
"I see Brother Xiao is eager to play with the newly acquired treasure?" Tang Xuan reluctantly eyed the Purple Sandalwood Spirit Wood.
"Alright, alright, I’ll study it for a few days and return it to Brother Tang when back in Qin Capital."
"No need, lost is lost."
"..."
Tang Xuan, the Shan County Magistrate, and others left, and Chu Ming, Shen Yu, and the others entered the room to rest.
Inside the room.
Chu Ming looked at the room full of books, his gaze flickering.
He walked to the bookshelf, took down ten books, and placed them on the desk.
At the sa ti, the Sword Gourd Spirit spread out to survey the outside situation.
Surprisingly, there was no one outside spying, which was sowhat unexpected.
He directed the Sword Gourd Spirit to minutely examine the books on the bookshelf.
There were no hidden toxins; the books seed normal.
He opened the first book, a not-too-thick collection of poetry, flipping through page by page, and in less than the ti it took to drink a cup of tea, he had finished the book.
"Strange, the order and rhythm of the poems are different from the ones I’ve read before."
Chu Ming felt both pleased and puzzled.
New books, new content, ant that the reading progress could finally increase.
Then he moved on to the second book.
This was also a collection of poetry, and similarly, it took less than the ti for a cup of tea to finish reading.
"This book’s order and aning of the poems are different again."
His sense of puzzlent increased once more.
He continued with the third book, the fourth book...
Among the ten books, six were poetry, two were dical, and two were on governance.
Upon finishing them all, his brows slightly furrowed.
"These books, on the surface, appear ordinary and common, but within them..."
In recent months, using the various effects of reading, Chu Ming had read at least fifty to sixty percent of all books in the Great Qin Dynasty.
Yet none of these ten books were ones he had read before.
On the panel.
[Reading: Nothing Escapes the Eye]
[Progress: 57/100]
[Effects: Ten lines at a glance, photographic mory, integration, inference, nothing escapes the eye]
After a long period of inactivity, the progress had increased significantly due to the ten books.
He turned his gaze to the wall full of bookshelves.
If ten books increased the progress this much, what if he finished them all?
Chu Ming stood up, walked to the bookshelf, took out a book, and started reading on the spot.
After finishing, he returned the book and picked the next one.
Repeating like this, the books on the bookshelf converted into progress.
anwhile, with the influx of these books, the Sea of Consciousness expanded continuously.
By midnight, half of the books on the bookshelf had been touched.
Chu Ming lowered his eyes, staring at the book in hand, flipping through page by page, until closing it, he finally found the answer to his doubts.
"These books are not from within the Great Qin Dynasty, but books from foreign countries."
The book in his hand was about how to manage sand and grasslands, which happened to be similar to the contents he obtained in the Nine Hordes Kingdom’s Kuirong Zhi.
"Foreign books..."
Chu Ming’s gaze deepened as he placed the book back and continued with the next one.
Near sunrise, the entire wall of bookshelves had been absorbed into the Sea of Consciousness Lake.
On the panel.
[Reading: Nothing Escapes the Eye]
[Progress: 99/100]
[Effects: Ten lines at a glance, photographic mory, integration, inference, nothing escapes the eye]
The progress reached ’99’ after completing about seventy percent of the books, and even reading new ones did not increase it further.
Fortunately, the Sea of Consciousness Lake expanded by about thirty percent, an unexpected gain.
Chu Ming stretched his neck and limbs, returned to the desk, where the Sea of Consciousness Lake hovered with a night’s worth of results.
Five hundred ninety-seven books, most from foreign countries, covered poetry, literature, culture, history, geography, governance, political history, and more.
Yet... among them were thirty-six forbidden books.
"Forbidden books... forbidden objects..."
Chu Ming’s gaze was profound, roughly guessing what the River Transport Headquarters Tang Xuan intended to do.
Subsequently, he controlled the Sword Gourd Spirit to look at the room beside him.
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