Chapter 757 - 454: The Eight Principles of Yong (Part 2)

Duan Rong started, and on the paper, wrote a big "eternal" character and then asked Ruyi to copy it.

While Ruyi was copying, Duan Rong was beside her, watching and occasionally pointing out a thing or two, sometimes even grabbing her hand to write a few strokes. Every time this happened, a shy blush would bloom on Ruyi’s face.

After Ruyi had been copying for half an hour, Duan Rong began to teach her how to break down the strokes, explaining each one in detail.

Ruyi’s writing already had some foundation, and with Duan Rong, a master of calligraphy, guiding her, it quickly felt reborn.

Ruyi looked at the characters she had written and was quite surprised, asking, "Sir, what method are you teaching me? How is it that after just a little more than an hour, my writing... my writing... has changed?"

Although Ruyi experienced it personally, and those characters on the posts were all written by her, she still felt completely puzzled.

Duan Rong smiled gently and said, "This is the Eight Principles of Yong!"

"The Eight Principles of Yong?" Ruyi heard and understood partially.

Duan Rong continued, "This method uses the eight strokes of the character ’eternal’ as an example to explain the techniques of regular script. So, the dot is a point, the horizontal stroke is a pull, the vertical stroke is a press, the hook is a lift, the reverse horizontal is a flick, the long sweep is a drag, the short sweep is a peck, the press is a twist. With these eight methods, one can master all the characters in the world!"

"Master all the characters in the world?" Ruyi stood there holding her pen, her eyes shining as she gazed at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong seemed oblivious and continued, "I teach you with this method, to correct the source! The time might be short, but if the foundation is correct, the effects naturally become apparent."

"The ’eternal’ character I wrote, you can keep it and copy it daily. If you’re diligent, you won’t have to worry about not being a great master in a year!" Duan Rong said, then smiled slightly.

Ruyi solemnly collected the ’eternal’ character written by Duan Rong.

Now that the matter was done, Duan Rong stayed in the villa teaching Ruyi how to write, spending his days very pleasantly.

In the evening, having just finished dinner and a few sips of tea, Zhu Zhengfu came to visit.

Ruyi served the tea and then left, leaving only the two men alone in the room.

Zhu Zhengfu reported the information collected by the spies he had deployed in Divine Cloud Prefecture to Duan Rong.

After the chaos of last night, Li Shensi had died in madness, and the bizarre and terrifying rhino deity incident had completely spread throughout Divine Cloud Prefecture.

The storytellers in all the major teahouses were narrating the incident, with some even beginning to fabricate the rhino deity’s biography, saying the rhino deity had appeared in the Western Regions over a hundred years ago and had once clashed with the hard-working Zen monks of the Dharma Image Sect. None survived.

Moreover, it’s said that the rhino deity had been cultivating for thousands of years.

The story was described vividly, and the populace believed it to be true.

Many people started enshrining images of the rhino deity in the altars in their homes.

This event caused the street artists to make a fortune...

Since then, Zhu Zhengfu visited every evening to pay respects and report the daily information gathered from the spies to Duan Rong.

The next day, an incident occurred.

At Taihe Building, a storyteller openly declared that the rhino deity was fake, manipulated by someone to deceive the people. Li Shensi, Master Li, had been politically assassinated, just like his predecessor, Zhu Shizhong.

Hearing Zhu Zhengfu recount this part, Duan Rong’s heart skipped a beat, but he quickly composed himself.

Indeed, Zhu Zhengfu continued, saying that the storyteller was beaten unconscious by the audience, accused of desecrating the rhino deity. If it weren’t for the government’s arrival to protect him, he might not have escaped death.

Many people clamored for the storyteller to be imprisoned and burned in front of the rhino deity’s temple once it was built, to prevent the deity from getting angry and bringing disaster to Divine Cloud Prefecture.

Duan Rong suddenly asked, "Master Zhu, at which teahouse did you say this storyteller was?"

Zhu Zhengfu replied, "Sir, it was Taihe Building."

Duan Rong’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. Taihe Building again. When he first moved into the villa, the first person to sneak in late at night to investigate was a waiter from Taihe Building, and this storyteller was also there.

Duan Rong didn’t believe such a coincidence could exist.

Clearly, there was something suspicious about Taihe Building. It’s quite possible that it’s a key point in Ge Rusong’s network of spies in the mortal world. And very likely, it’s an important one.

After all, the private rooms at Taihe Building are permanently reserved by the great and powerful of Divine Cloud Prefecture. If all their secret conversations inside are secretly being monitored...

Then what secret does Divine Cloud Prefecture have to Ge Rusong?

The storyteller in Taihe Building obviously intended to try to redirect public opinion back to the political whirlpool. But he or his backers clearly underestimated the impact of the story Duan Rong had spread.

Through six days of monitoring public sentiment, Duan Rong directly captured the lifeline of city rumors. That was the rhino deity seen with their own eyes up on the Celestial Altar, how could a storyteller’s few empty words turn the tide?

After this incident, Ge Rusong would certainly abandon such attempts.

On the third day, construction for the rhino deity’s temple began outside the city.

It was not built near the Mountain God Temple at Wuji Mountain because Wuji Mountain was a place for offering sacrifices to heaven, and the government would not allow it.